My Bullet Trays

[303british.com]

I've seen some threads where people were asking about bullet trays. There are some really nice plastic ones out there, complete with self aligning jackets and cores. I believe one or two gentlemen at the BR Central site sell them. Anyway, I can't afford them, so I did it like many of you did: I used my drill press.

I used a 0.250" brad point and drilled it into some scrap wood 0.250 of an inch. 200 holes. I made a the paper template using a basic drawing program. They're just dots, equally spaced, glued to the scrap wood. Then I taped over top of everything to stop the paper from ripping when I drilled. If any of you use a scroll saw, you'll recognize this as the way to lay paper patterns onto wood.

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/S_Redgwell/Bullet%20Making/tray1_zps80c39d7c.jpg

After the holes are in them, you scrape off the rest of the glue and sand everything down. Then stain and seal.

I haven't done the staining and sealing part because I'm lazy. :) After teh bullets are made, I weigh and bag them, then put them in labeled boxes.

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/S_Redgwell/Bullet%20Making/BulletBox.jpg

[MOcaster]

Ok, so let me get this straight. You drill a 1/4 inch hole a 1/4 inch deep into the wood, shake/drop/somehow get cases/jackets into the holes, do the same with cores in another tray, then line the trays up and dump the cores into the jackets?

[303british.com]

No, it's all done manually. I lube the jackets, put them in the tray, and place the cores into the jackets one at a time. It would be nice to be able to shake and drop so that everything would line up, but I have to do it the old fashioned way. :(

[supe47]

You could make an upper tray with the exact same hole pattern 1/2-5/8" thick. I use a radius style center drill for the funnel on the upper tray. If you make the opening of the funnel .450" wide a derimmed 22LR case will position itself heavy end down and fall right in. Cores will have no problem following. I tried a straight edge funnel but the jacket/cases hang up before they fall all the way in. This was a prototype model. I now use only PVCX. I bought my radius style center drill from Enco. It works.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=64643&d=1363744819

[303british.com]

I will try and rig something up like that. It would be easier and quicker!

[Smokin7mm]

Do these trays work if the jackets are already lubed? I lube all my jackets first rather than lubing individually after the core is inserted.
Bret

[plus1hdcp]

@ supe47 - is this what you used

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?PMPAGE=61&PARTPG=INLMK32

[R.Ph. 380]

I picked this up about 5 to 6 months ago. At the time it was 47.00 US and has now gone up. I can drop 100 jackets and immediately drop in all the cores and they're ready for swaging within 10 minutes of getting tis out of the box. A #2 sized capsule for the plate sizes is what I ordered and it works perfectly.

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/441791187/Manual_capsule_filling_machine_SL_100.html?s=p

I was skeptical but it works and works fast.

Bill

[supe47]

plu1- I believe it was part #619-2298 size #6. I cut it in half and dulled one of the cutters. It cuts soft stuff pretty aggressively. I also made one out of a 1/2" bolt with a drill press, grinder and dremel tool. I used a 15/64" drill for my hole size (.234"). If you have a plastics dealer near check and see if they have a cut-off bin. I made my first couple with scrap pieces @ $1 a lb. PVC or PVCX works easily and can be bonded with PVC bonder from Home Depot.
R.Ph.380- I was wondering how they would work. I remember in the "tray" thread that someone was going to order one but never heard any feedback about how well they worked. What was your delivery time.

[303british.com]

...R.Ph.380 - I was wondering how they would work. I remember in the "tray" thread that someone was going to order one but never heard any feedback about how well they worked. What was your delivery time.

Yes, if you could provide any additional info, we'd appreciate it. I sure would like to stop doing this part by hand!

[supe47]

303brit- Bumped a thread for your perusal.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?188521-Faster-way-of-seating-cores&highlight=faster+way+to+seat+cores

[R.Ph. 380]

Yes, if you could provide any additional info, we'd appreciate it. I sure would like to stop doing this part by hand!

Once I ordered, it was just about exactly5 weeks before it came in. Part of the delay was the fact that when I first ordered, I neglected to specify the size of "capsule" that I wanted to make. Jair Lee sent me an e-mail about a week later and I replied that I wanted plates for a #2 capsule, which is 0.25" in diameter. The "machine came in just 3 weeks later by FedEx International. No shipping notice, it just showed up.

Now, I can put the secondary plate on the base, then the top plate, which has the countersunk drilled holes. Spread a batch of jackets over the plate and they just start dropping in base first in 99% of the cases. The ones that fall in upside down are easy to change out by just pushing down against the spring tension and they stand up to be upended. The extra jackets of course, just partially fall into the filled slots and are easy to pour off. Then I shake a batch of cores on the plate and they fall into the open mouthed cases just like they were programmed for it. The extras stand up higher and are easy to pour off. Remove the top plate and start putting them in the coreseat die one at a time.

All in all, the entire process took around 7 to 10 minutes, and that was figuring out which plate to use first. The English language manual is on the website instead of included. I'm not just real accomplished at reading Mandarin but the pictures were pretty. I sure would hate to have to do them one at a time. This has really spoiled me for quickness.

Bill

[supe47]

" This has really spoiled me for quickness." I hear that. Have you tried doing the shaky thing with the seated cores? Sets 'em up ready for point forming. Should work the same way.

[303british.com]

303brit- Bumped a thread for your perusal.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?188521-Faster-way-of-seating-cores&highlight=faster+way+to+seat+cores

That was an interesting thread. I have two questions. Do your trays work with .500 and .705 inch jackets? Are you still making them? :smile:

For me, getting the jackets and cores into trays and chopping cores are my two least favourite things. Your trays would eliminate one of these things. That would bring a smile to my face!

[supe47]

I don't know if all .500" jackets would fall like the .705" jackets do. You most likely would have a few more upside down jackets. Jacket length determines the size of the "funnel" opening. The trays I made have a funnel opening of about .450". The funnel opening to overall jacket length ratio that I found works is funnel opening= 60% of jacket length. So .705 X .60= .423". I've tried 'em with .800" jackets but not with anything shorter than .705". Also, the trays I made have a 3/8" base tray. That would mean you'd only have 1/8" sticking up to grab. If I make another run I'm going to try a 1/4" base tray and a 5/8" top tray. I still have a couple complete sets with the 3/8" upper and lowers plates. If you have a drill press they're not hard to make. My first prototype models were made of plywood. I went to PVCX because i didn't want to make anything for other people out of wood. Two plates with the exact same hole pattern and some way to keep them properly aligned (I use locator pins) and a way to make a radius countersink on the top plate (I ground one out of the shank of a 1/2" bolt, kind of like the reamers they're making for the homemade dies in this SWAGING section), a drill (I used a 15/64") and a fence to keep all those rascals from rolling off. 303brit- looks like you found a way to make your hole pattern aesthetically pleasing so a 1/2" or 5/8" top plate and a fence would be all you have to make. If you want one of mine, PM me for specs. If you notice, I didn't post in the vendors or for sale section. I didn't make these trays with a substantial profit in mind . With all the cutting, drill press handle pulling and gluing I probably made less than 25% of minimum wage. It was my "waiting for my dies" project.