montana_charlie
10-21-2006, 03:28 PM
The first time I went out to shoot my Sharps rifle, I was collecting the 'little things' I would need at the bench. That's when I realized I had made no attempt to get a blow tube.
After a quick search, I found an old piece of surgical tubing that looked like it would do. Outside diameter is 7/16 and inside it's 5/16. Being pretty limber, the piece I had was a bit too long, so I cut three inches off and tossed that piece on my reloading bench.
Recently, I noticed powder granules were 'splashing' out of the case when I dumped it through a drop tube. Not many...but a scale-weighed charge deserves to wind up in the case without missing particles. Back to that chunk of surgical tubing.
Using a 3/8 dowel as a 'mandrel', I sliced off a thin ring which fit snugly on the end of the drop tube (like an o-ring)...sealing the case mouth against splashing.
So, yesterday I was weighing bullets. These are .45 grooveless with a pretty 'thin' nose, and picking them out of a styrofoam block was a trick, even if I placed them with empty holes between bullets. The only way to grip the noses was to dig in a bit with a fingernail. Not a good solution.
Seeing that surgical tubing laying there, I stuffed one end down on the next bullet, and simply picked it up like I had a 'lead magnet'. Squeezing a few times on the tube just above the bullet makes it release.
The stuff is made in a variety of sizes, so I bet you can find one to fit any bullet you have trouble picking up by the nose.
CM
After a quick search, I found an old piece of surgical tubing that looked like it would do. Outside diameter is 7/16 and inside it's 5/16. Being pretty limber, the piece I had was a bit too long, so I cut three inches off and tossed that piece on my reloading bench.
Recently, I noticed powder granules were 'splashing' out of the case when I dumped it through a drop tube. Not many...but a scale-weighed charge deserves to wind up in the case without missing particles. Back to that chunk of surgical tubing.
Using a 3/8 dowel as a 'mandrel', I sliced off a thin ring which fit snugly on the end of the drop tube (like an o-ring)...sealing the case mouth against splashing.
So, yesterday I was weighing bullets. These are .45 grooveless with a pretty 'thin' nose, and picking them out of a styrofoam block was a trick, even if I placed them with empty holes between bullets. The only way to grip the noses was to dig in a bit with a fingernail. Not a good solution.
Seeing that surgical tubing laying there, I stuffed one end down on the next bullet, and simply picked it up like I had a 'lead magnet'. Squeezing a few times on the tube just above the bullet makes it release.
The stuff is made in a variety of sizes, so I bet you can find one to fit any bullet you have trouble picking up by the nose.
CM