They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so...
Let's see some pictures of your BPCR drop tubes!
Gonna be loading soon for .45/70, and possibly .44-40 WCF in BPCR, so need to concoct a drop tube. I have a pretty good *vague* idea of what I want to build, but actually seeing what works for others usually saves mistakes, headaches and wasted materials as well.
Whattya got?
"Are you gonna pull those pistols, or whistle Dixie?"
drop tubes are no big deal to make. i use a 29" aluminum arrow shaft with an aluminum funnel glued and taped at one end, some wood stuck together to hold up the arrow shaft in screw eyes, a set screw collet to adjust the height of the tube, a piece of computer mouse pad over the business end of the tube to keep the kernals from popping out of the case.
Nice! See, I like the fact you bored a hole to keep the case upright. Might not have figured that out until I tipped a case or two. I should have a few Easton aluminum shafts floating about from my 'pre-woody' days.
"Are you gonna pull those pistols, or whistle Dixie?"
I like the double funnel setup - clever ! - I will copy that to mine - dunno about the elecric motor ? - I guess I dont trust myself to keep things clean enough for that to be safe.Originally Posted by BrentD
A Lyman 55 measure, operated gently on the dump side of the throw, will trickle and settle a charge as well as it will ever get by any means.
To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, the trouble with many shooting experts is not that they're ignorant; its just that they know so much that isn't so.
hmmmmmm ........I reckon I would take a bet on that setup of Brents above
Dan, try filling your .45-70s with 82 grs of Swiss 1.5f. If you get one done, then tell me how fast you can load 100 of them.
I am rather inexperienced when it comes to black powder, but I just do not understand the concept of the drop tube. If you have already determined how MUCH powder is needed in the shell, and you will be compressing that amount to eliminate the air space, what difference does it make if you use a drop tube or simply use a funnel to put the powder in the shell?
Because, simply put...if you don't trickle, it won't fit.
Wow...some hi-tech stuff there! Brent, can you explain the electric gizmos for us weak-minded folks?
"Are you gonna pull those pistols, or whistle Dixie?"
Waukegan........ah, good ole Waukegan. I remember taking a train there for my first liberty from Great Lakes. Ah, the fond memories. Lol
Ok, Cap, here's some images of how I did mine when I got bitten by BP.
I used some scrap poplar 3/4" X 2 inches wide stock from work, and a few pieces of 3/4" plywood on the base and short back. After sanding the long 2" x 3/4" x 39" on all sides with 150 grit, I made two cuts off one end. Each cut was 2". They became the supports for the tube and were married to the vertical support. I cleaned up all sides, ends, and edges. Stained with minwax jocobean stain and let dry for 24 hours at 70 degrees. I picked up the 36" X 1/2" aluminum tube from home depot. I got a package of 5 water pipe support brackets from lowes to support the tube, of which I used two, saving the rest for the next stand, lol. I picked up 2 hex headed plated 1"x 3/8" bolts from home depot which after drilling with the correct drill size I then tapped the holes in the plastic brackets to fit the bolts which now hold the tube at the height I need, but can be easily raised or lowered if needed with just the twist of my finger for the correct firmness needed. I used some wood screws to hold it all together. The finish was just two good coats of a wood sanding sealer buffed with #0000 steel wool also from home depot. I did take the aluminum tube and chuck it in my drill and spin it while going up and down the length of it with a piece of wet 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper to inhance the finish on the tube. For the spout end I cut off the ends of a number of empty caulking tubes from work and carefully warmed them up with a heat gun set on low and then stretched them over a tool bolt/nut socket so they fit easily, but snugly onto the tube. (Do not attempt to sand the inside of the spout. It only makes it harder for the powder to slide through easily. ) The trays I use vary. Some are short and hold 5 shells others are longer and hold 10. The base is 11" x 13", the back is 4-1/2" x 13" the height of the drop is about 43". The funnel is a RCBS 22-45, which as soon as I locate a good looking and functionally fitting funnel will be replaced.
Lots of fun making this, good luck and have fun too.
Bolt hole drilled and tapped
Bolt I used from Home Depot
Tube supports from Lowe's, Home Depot did not have right one.
The drop tube gets more powder in the case in a more consistent manner Making compressing more consistent from top to bottom. Getting a charge in the case so it can be compressed 1 time saves a lot of time over dropping part of the charge compress, drop rest of charge and compress. I use a 3ft drop tube with a slow trickle like pour. There a lot of difference in the charge heights between poured in with a funnel and the tube. You see a bigger difference with the coarser powders like 1F and 1 1/2F.
Years ago a writer was playing with a spiral drop tube with smokeless powders. A Pyrex tube heated and wound into a coil. A 36" drop tube only stood 20" tall or so. Stick powders were "alighned" thru the tube stacking tighter into the case. If I remember the tube was at around a 45* angle in the coil and about 1 1/2" in dia.
It took me awhile to figure that one out but I think it vibrates the metal arm that holds the top funnel. Small motor that is slightly out of balance when spinning. Can't tell what he put on the shaft to make it out of balance.
As a for instance. I have determined a .45 Colt shell will hold 1.6cc of 3F. I can use the LEE dipper of that size and put exactly 1.6cc directly into the shell. How is a drop tube going to help?
The top funnel has a small aperture that slows the pour (so I don't have to pour the powder slowly). The motor vibrates so the powder in the top funnel does not bridge and clog.
The second funnel catches the powder from the first funnel and slides it down the tube which is spring loaded so it sits snugly on top of the case which is held in a depression in the bottom shaft.
The motor is a 3V DC motor I bought from Radio Shack when Radio Shack was a real place. You can find them on ebay and Amazon easily or order from RS on line. It has a 70 gr .25 caliber bullet mounted on the locking screw of the shaft collar so it makes things out of balance and the aluminum strap piece (Lowes) flexes as the motor vibrates. There is a battery pack for 2 Dcell batteries and a toggle switch thrown into the mix. The entire things C-clamps to a stable next to my loading bench (not on the bench as that screws with my balance).
Loading sequence is simply to drop a charge into a pan, weigh on the scale and adjust to 82.0 grns, then hit the switch on the drop tube and dump powder into the top funnel. While that trickles down, I am measuring and weighing the next charge and by the time the powder has settled in the shell, I am ready to pitch the next pan of powder into the top funnel.
The whole thing is probably over engineered but it makes loading go fast and it makes each case very uniformly packed and settled. Works like a charm and I would not be without it.
You could probably use an electric tooth brush or beard trimmer or other appliances for vibration, but this is what works for me.
How did you determine that the scoop holds 1.6cc, and by the way stop using those dippers and using weights and measures that don't equate to anything. Chances are that the scoop would hold much more powder if it was properly drop tubed. Drop tubing compresses the whole powder column whereas compressing it with a die compresses the top of the charge most.
If you don't use the dippers, or other means of weights and measures, how do you know how much powder to pour into the drop tube?
Put your 1.66cc into a shell. Now pick up the shell and tap it lightly on your bench 20 times. You will now see there is extra room in the shell for more powder. This is the effect that trickling down a long tube has...it allows the powder to pack closely together rather than having air spaces between the kernels of powder. Putting that shell on a vibrating surface will give you the same effect.
Some amazing workmanship, guys. I am impressed!
"Are you gonna pull those pistols, or whistle Dixie?"
As I mentioned in my post I have extra tube supports for another drop tube. I'll start that one next month, and I'm going to set it up to use my No. 5 black powder measure by Ideal mounted to the top of the tube. This is going to be another fun to do project. Will spend some time thinking about the type of wood and the stain on this one.
Maybe a nice rich red cedar stain to go with the black of the measure. Oh, here's the measure.
Very nice! That's a dedicated Black Powder measure, correct?As I mentioned in my post I have extra tube supports for another drop tube. I'll start that one next month, and I'm going to set it up to use my No. 5 black powder measure by Ideal mounted to the top of the tube. This is going to be another fun to do project. Will spend some time thinking about the type of wood and the stain on this one.
Maybe a nice rich red cedar stain to go with the black of the measure. Oh, here's the measure.
Thought about buying RCBS's version, but it's crazy expensive (I guess due to the brass used instead of plastic). I'd love to see the construction of your new measure/tube as you're building it.
"Are you gonna pull those pistols, or whistle Dixie?"
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