? ? On a Budget ? ?

[Ben]

I remember when I was starting to handload in the early 60's. Wow, it seemed like a small fortune to buy those new $8.00 Herter reloading dies, the .40 cents a pack for the primers and the $1.75 for a pound of Hodgdon Surplus H-4831.

For some today it is just as tough. Money is a real problem to beginners who want to shoot cast bullets.

You aren't going to load a cast bullet ( with any hopes of decent accuracy ) unless you have some mechanism to flare the neck of the case. Using pistol dies, you have an expander die, but beginners loading the 30-30, 308 Win., or the 30-06 usually have a 2 die set and have no inexpensive way to flare the neck of a case prior to seating a cast bullet.

40 years ago , I made tools like this one that I made today. I'll offer this one to a young local reloader who wants to shoot some .30 cal. cast bullets but is on a tight budget and cannot afford a Lyman M-Die, an RCBS Neck Expander die, or the Lee Universal Expander.

I hope that you or a friend that you know can use this idea.

The tool is made from a hardened bolt that was .372 " in diameter. I chucked the bolt in my drill press and took a good quality flat file and shaped the bolt. I fitted a piece of American walnut to the expander plug.

http://i1155.photobucket.com/albums/p545/Ben35049/007_zpsa9e4fb89.jpg (http://s1155.photobucket.com/user/Ben35049/media/007_zpsa9e4fb89.jpg.html)

http://i1155.photobucket.com/albums/p545/Ben35049/008_zps366c9dd8.jpg (http://s1155.photobucket.com/user/Ben35049/media/008_zps366c9dd8.jpg.html)

http://i1155.photobucket.com/albums/p545/Ben35049/010_zps43c0f06c.jpg (http://s1155.photobucket.com/user/Ben35049/media/010_zps43c0f06c.jpg.html)


http://i1155.photobucket.com/albums/p545/Ben35049/011_zpsd6d2cefe.jpg (http://s1155.photobucket.com/user/Ben35049/media/011_zpsd6d2cefe.jpg.html)

[VHoward]

Awesome.

[Ben]

Cheap, and simple, but sometimes those are the things that work the best.

Ben

[GhostHawk]

I cheated, I used a small center punch with the right taper and a single tap with a small hammer until I could save for the lee expander tool.

In some respects, I still prefer the center punch!

I think it was reading the description for a set of Lee pistol dies that caused the "Ahah" moment.

[Ben]

GhostHawk


Yes, I've used the center punch, just select one ( as you have ) that offers the cast bullet a gentle taper start into the case neck.

[claude]

A tip I learned that works well, is to use a pair of needle nose pliers inserted nose first in the neck and give a gentle twist.

[nagantguy]

Great tool, I've been looking for something like it, I have used the pliers and now use a punch I found d that is about a perfect fit but still wanting to go the Lee route but y'all know how that goes have the $15 or $20 bucks and something popes up and poof goes your loot.

[williamwaco]

A tip I learned that works well, is to use a pair of needle nose pliers inserted nose first in the neck and give a gentle twist.

This also works well for repairing "steped-on" cases.

[fatnhappy]

I used to use a plumb bob. I had to use it again last month for a caliber I don't ordinarily load.

[Ben]

More than 1 way to skin a cat............

[fatnhappy]

aye..

[dikman]

Why do people keep picking on cats?:sad: Why not a dog?

[Green Frog]

Why do people keep picking on cats?:sad: Why not a dog?

I've never been irritated enough at a dog to want to skin him! ;)

[dikman]

I have......:Fire:

[bedbugbilly]

Great post Ben! A cheap yet great solution!

I well remember waiting for the Herter's catalog to arrive - what a "wish book" it was. Today, there are so many gadgets and gimmicks out there that one sometimes feels they need them all to reload. . . . we sometimes forget that there are simple and cheap resolutions that work just as well!

Thanks for sharing!

[Ickisrulz]

Another good idea from Ben. But, is anyone on this forum on a budget?

[Ben]

Thanks fellows, .....yes.....sometimes it doesn't take a bank roll to shoot a good group with your favorite deer rifle.

Ben

[dikman]

Another good idea from Ben. But, is anyone on this forum on a budget?

I would hazard a guess that the answer would be "yes". Not everyone is in the fortunate position of being able to buy something as soon as they see it. I've been tracking my expenses since getting into this shooting thing a couple of years ago, and looking at what I've spent I couldn't have afforded a lot of this when I worked for a living!

I still enjoy seeing what others can come up with in the way of simple, inexpensive solutions and I also enjoy making a lot of the gear myself, if possible.

[Remiel]

Another good idea from Ben. But, is anyone on this forum on a budget?
i am, as is my dad, we got into reloading and casting together

[Ickisrulz]

Of course I know people are on budgets, but many posts on here are about buying this and that and not too many about exercising much restraint. This gets even worse with other peoples' money. Many times a guy will ask, "Should I buy x or y?" At least one reply will be to get both.

[gwpercle]

Needle nosed pliers , I didn't have the skill to make a "special tool ". It does work .

[gwpercle]

Another good idea from Ben. But, is anyone on this forum on a budget?
Seems like I've been on a budget my entire life. Being poor leads you to be creative with what you do and how you do it. Remember, there is always more than one way to skin a cat.

[dikman]

....or dog.

[EMC45]

I have used the needle nose and twist method and my favorite (before I got the Lee Universal) was to use a automatic punch tapped with a hammer. The taper on the body was just the right size to flare my .308 caliber cases.

[paul h]

I use a 1/8"-1/2" reamer for bottle neck cartridges, works like a champ and not to expensive at a hardware store or from Amazon

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31G1P0ffcDL._SX355_.jpg

[MaLar]

Another good idea from Ben. But, is anyone on this forum on a budget?
A budget would be a step up here.

[Dave Bulla]

Yea, a budget implies you have some choice on where your money gets spent...

[s1120]

I used the neddlenose trick, and did not care for it. I have a oddball mismatch die that was in a box of stuff that has a small taper in the inside that works well, but is a bear to setup correctly. Ill try making a punch like that. Im also in a budget. Not that I cant afford it, but with kids, wife, house, bills etc.... well we have all been there. Luckly I was brought up to know that you first try to make/work with what you have, before you spend. If nothing else you have/can build works... then you go out and buy.

[6bg6ga]

Thanks, the thread brought back memories.

[blueeyephil]

I've been one that can usually afford to buy a tool when I want or need it, but I've been watching youtube videos this last week on forge making and black smithing. Brings home the idea that you can make what you need with a little ingenuity and some hard work. Lots of ways to skin the cats and occasional the DOG:bigsmyl2:. Enjoyed reading some of those ideas.

[dikman]

More than "some" hard work!;) But good fun, nevertheless. S1120, I was brought up the same. I'll usually try and make something first, if that doesn't work try and modify an existing "something" (I'm particularly good at that :smile:) and if that doesn't work then I let the moths out of the wallet!

[karlrudin]

This might be off topic, but I did make a bad mold work better through innovation. The mold I bought had the area where the gas check poured to large no matter what I did. The rest of the bullet was in spec so I started thinking how to solve the problem, which was the check area. So remove it. I went to my local hardware store and bought a Forstner drill bit a little larger than the diameter of my bullet, which was 8mm. I took to small blocks of wood, clamped them together and drilled a 1/2 deep whole at the junction of the 2 blocks with a 5/16 drill bit. I took one of my cast bullets and put it in the hole I just drilled and put it in the drill press vise, tightening just enough to hold the bullet still. Poor man's v blocks. Then I chucked up the Forstner bit. I drill the base of the bullet until the check area was removed. To those who don't know, a Forstner bit is used for drilling a square bottoming hole in wood. This time it was used to put a square bottom on a lead bullet. Groups tightened up because I was using square base bullets, instead of using a gas checked bullet with no gas check. Cost $15 total. Now I can still use the mold and shoot my k-98. Just saying.

[woodbutcher]

:shock: Around our house budget wise,is like the Missus said the other day."Honey,we`re so poor we can`t even pay attention".:shock:
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[KuunLB]

what a wonderful idea, love the ingenuity! A friend has learned i got into reloading so has asked me to load some .308 for him. i've never loaded .308 before so knowing i've got to flare the mouth is a good thing! i'll prolly end up improvising something myself, i've always been good a re-purposing things i have on hand.


Another good idea from Ben. But, is anyone on this forum on a budget?

in this day and age, who isn't? it almost seems futile to even budget, as there never seems to be enough incoming to compensate the outgoing with a family.

[woodbutcher]

:bigsmyl2: Then too,like my Father used to say"If it were`nt for the outgo,the income would be pretty good".
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[mold maker]

Well, I get mail addressed to "Bakers Poor House". The USPS can't be wrong.

[clearcut]

When I started loading cast in rifle cases I had the same problem I just used a empty .223 case and a small hammer and I still do now.
CC

[gbrown]

That's what I love about this forum. Innovation and tricks for the new and old. I've made similar tools--necessity is the mother of invention. It's just good brain exercise to devise and make things. Like making Kake Cutters out of old, odd cases and nails, even though you could afford the "Store Bought." Yes, I was a 16 yo kid when I started reloading and the minimum wage was $1.25/hr. The $19.00 C&H press on the clearance table was a big ticket item for me and pushed the budget back then. (That equaled 15 hours of hard work.) I still use it. For young people who want to do this, they don't have the money to spend when there are young'uns to clothe and feed and the economy isn't as healthy as some would want us to believe. Good going, Ben. Great Thread!

[Wayne Smith]

I was loading some old 38 Special on my TrueLine Jr and kept breaking the primer pin. I found out that the RCBS headed pin really doesn't fit! I had a thought and went out to the garage and checked my brads. Found one that fit tight and works well when snipped off. Unfortunately the lable was gone. Now I've got to figure out what diameter they are!

[Harter66]

That $40 Kung Pow drill press I bough 15 yr ago with a house full of teens has paid off a dozen or so times. I think this was an 8mm expander to get up to 325.
I have a whole box full of pins like this like the 314 that flairs for the by 39 124610

For those that I don't have a pin for or don't load enough to make 1 for I have a 20mm cannon bullet . It was drilled and taped for 1/4 20 so I use it on new brass to polish the chamfer too.

[Dixiejack]

These two pages of ingenious ideas for home grown expander tools sure brought back some memories of when I first started reloading back in the early 1960s. My favorite expander tool and still is a pair of needle nose pliers.
Now, I would like to hear of some cheap (but very functional) home grown crimping tools.

[WILCO]

A friend has learned i got into reloading so has asked me to load some .308 for him. i've never loaded .308 before so knowing i've got to flare the mouth is a good thing!

:hijack: I never reload anything for anybody. I'll show them how to get started with a manual and answer questions from there. Something goes wrong, watch how fast your friend uses the above quote against you. :hijack:

[Dixiejack]

Roger that, Wilco. Out. [smilie=s:

[glockmeister]

Ben, great idea you have there, think I'll make a few up just for fun. I like it that the flaring tool you made will go to your young friend on a budget, I'll say thanks for him, we all need help sometime. Take care, John.

[country gent]

A pair of wire strippers with a stop added and the wire stripper cut out to caliber could be used to crimp, would be labor intensive and require a good eye as to placement. I seen an old timer use a flat punch and hammer to put a 3 spot crimp on 45-70s once. Again labor intensive and hard to maintain consistency.

[michiganmike]

Am I on a budget? Yes, I am. My wife and I have done simple things for the last 36 years that have placed us in a good spot. Things like not spending money we don't have. Paying our bills on time, not buying more house than we need. Saving and investing. I'm now retired and my wife will follow in the next year or two. We will be able to do many of the things we've been looking forward to.

I grew up on a small farm in NW Wisconsin. My father was a carpenter. Both mother and father lived through the Great Depression. The both learned to be frugal. My father kept a pile of what looked like junk in the machine shed. But he know how to improvise. And when he needed something from that "junk" he know exactly where it was.

Some of that rubbed off on me. Like some of the others above I have used tapered punches, plumb bobs, and needle nosed tires to flare cases. And I have made specialized tools as needed from "junk" I have lying around my shop. I like doing it; challenges the mind an imagination.

MichiganMike

[clearcut]

I just went to the doctor and asked for some of those things they look in your ears with they make good little powder funnels.The small ones work on .223 or in my black powder horn.
CC

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

I came up with what I think is the cheapest possible reloading , these are not the long range high power target rounds but good enough to take game if your patient

I call it guerrilla reloading you need

a fired case from your gun or one that chambers well, fired from your gun is best

a way to get the old primer out , nail set , 1/16 punch , small screw driver , ice pick , I prefer the 1/16 punch , found 2 ways that worked decent put the punch up the inside of the case and tap the head at the rim with a scrap of wood or have a scrap of wood with a hole drilled in it and set the case over the hole and tap the punch with the wood scrap

a way to set the new primer in , a scrap of hard wood to set the primer on push the case down over it then insert a bolt that fits just inside the case mouth down and tap on it pushing the case over the primer

now for powder , here is where you do need a scale to find out what volumetric measures will work for your powder , in one load I found a 22lr case full was a good place to start but you need to measure and decide for yourself what is right , some copper wire wrapped around the case made a usable scoop

then thumb seat the cast boolit in the case I used mostly lee 314-90swc but also used some c309-170rf with no gas check

if needed I would add just a touch of flair with a pair of needle nosed pliers but also tried just adding a champer with the tip of my knife on the case and that worked also

load and shoot

repeat

I tried them in some fat 30s and some normal 308 30s

in one case I used a center punch and a drill bit to turn a berdan primed 7.62x39 into a boxer then loaded in this way and fired from an AK
single loading an AK is slow but it worked

I found the chamber so generous on the Ak that if I was carrying it any distance I would dimple the neck of the case to hold the boolit better , dimples at the bottom of the neck kept round balls from falling into the case

if you understand the process the is a lot that can be done

my goal with this experiment was to find otherwise non reloading tools that could be used to reload rounds , that could be found in most any house , besides powder primer and projectile

and it all had to fit in the pocket of a coat

[tmc-okc]

I have been reloading for over 45 years. I started with a set of 310 dies for a 22-250 and a powder dipper made from a 357 Mag case soldered to a piece of copper wire twisted to form a handle. Over the years I have made numerous tools instead of purchasing them. MANY years ago I started shooting Speer plastic bullets in the garage for fun and as a way to introduce my son & daughter to shooting. I didn't like the Speer plastic cases & bullets so I found a source for rubber bullets and modified 38 Special cases for indoor shooting. I had reloading dies that would deprime the cases but that process was too slow. I took a 3 inch long round rod of aluminum and turned id down using my drill press and a file to get it to the inside diameter of the 38 cases and then turned a tip small enough to go into the flash hole and long enough to knock out the spent primer. I used a 3 x 3 inch piece of oak and drilled a hole about 3/16 inch deep slightly larger than the case rim for the case rim to sit in. Then drilled a hole the rest of the way thru the block large enough for the spent primer to fall thru. I used a second block the same size and drilled a 1 inch hole in it and glued the first block over the second block creating a large cavity to collect multiple spent primers. I then took a wood dowel about 1/2 inch longer than the 38 case and turned it in my drill press to the inside diameter of the case, drilled a 3/8 inch deep hole in the wood block and glued the dowel in place on the top of the blocks just to one side. the dowel is sized so the case will not contact the wood block. I place the case rim in the small hole and use the aluminum punch to knock out the primer then invert the case over the dowel and place the primer over the primer pocket and using a small leather mallet I seat the primer. I selected 50 38 Spec. cases to be used for the rubber bullets and drilled out the flash hole to allow the primer gas to flow without much restriction.
I am anal about safety so I used a Dremel tool and cut a notch in the side of the case rim so it is VERY visible and is a flag that the case isn't to be used for normal 38 Spec. cartridges. I used a piece of soft pine and created a loading block for the 50 38 Spec. cases and glued it into an old cigar box. The cigar box contains the 50 cases, the de-priming block, the aluminum de-priming tool and the small leather hammer. The cigar box sits in my cabinet until we need it.
I don't have any discretionary spending money and make do with what I have. Buying only what I need or want when I can scrounge the extra dollars. A budget is what someone uses to make sure everyone else gets paid on time. Savings are dollars left over after paying everyone else listed on the budget. LOL
Ron H