Sharing reloading tool tricks

[JackQuest]

Hopefully enough "Eureka" events get documented here to become a Sticky.

If I am posting something someone else discovered in the past, I apologize.

For range brass, and following the system developed by Bruce B (gone but not forgotten) I process 7.62x51 for my Springfield SOCOM by decapping, tumbling clean, sizing in an RCBS X-sizer and then using my Wilson trimmer to cut down each case to uniforimity.

Then comes the less joyful job of removing flashing from the necks and the crimp from the primer pocket. Fingers and wrists were never impervious to repetitive motion but things only get worse with added decades. Staring at the brass "Eureka" hit!

My Wilson reamer is the 17 to 50 caliber one. In the end to trim the outside of necks is a steel pin pressed into the too (neck mandrel). There are 3 (three) cutters - and there are 3 jaws in my rechargeable drill!

The mandrel just fits into the drill chuck! Make sure you run it clockwise (righty-tighty) and in the slow speed (if you have that option). Doesn't work on the outside of the case mouths, but does the other 2 cuts just great.

Please post your own "Eureka" moments that made a case preparation job a lot simpler, cleaner and/or faster.

259671

[nawagner]

I like that idea and will definitely use it that way next time!

I'm sure others have this figured out already... I use the plastic cases that purchased ammo come in as shell holders.

[Winger Ed.]

I haven't seen it offered in awhile, but Midway used to sell an adapter those would fit in and had a 1/4" shaft on the end.
With it, you could use both ends.

You could put it in a drill press, run it slow, leave the press all the way up, and bump your cases up against it.
Years ago, I scrounged an old and tired lathe. I put the tool in it now for doing cases.

[stevenjay1]

Well I'll add to this as my "Eureka" moment....when I realized that using a different brand of shell rather then the one I used to set the dies. For some reason I decided to use a Lee shell holder rather then the RCBS #3 that I used to set my 45 ACP dies. Luck was on my side as I only loaded 50 rounds to test a different powder. When I got to the range I was unable to load the mags, the rounds were too long. I went back home and reviewed my reloading procedure and the only thing that was different was the Lee shell holder. Long story short, I found that the Lee and the RCBS were different different heights from where the base of the cartridge case sets. In this case, the Lee was lower and did not allow the bullet to be seated as deep as it did with the RCBS shell holder. Also, the tapered crimp was light as well. Lesson well and hard learned. I hope this makes sense. Steve

[Nueces]

For a while, after battery operated power screw drivers came out, folks would publish designs for adapter bases such that a driver could be used to power a case trimmer. It don't gots to be that messy.

I bought a short flexible cable with quarter inch hexes on the ends, male and female. Appears to have been made from thick speedometer cable. Was designed for use with small sockets. Female end attaches to the handle adapter on a Forster trimmer, male end is held in a drill/driver chuck. No other mounting is necessary. At idle, the cable is stiff enough to support the plastic cased drill/driver and, in use, stiff enough to take the pressure.

[JackQuest]

stevenjay1:
Shell holders not being too expensive I've put one in each die set box for that caliber. I use everything in the box when loading and don't trade parts, ever. And even if I unload a weapon and don't load its caliper I never trade away tooling.

[stevenjay1]

Jack, that’s not a bad idea. I reload a lot of different calibers and have learned to be careful.

[dverna]

stevenjay1:
Shell holders not being too expensive I've put one in each die set box for that caliber. I use everything in the box when loading and don't trade parts, ever. And even if I unload a weapon and don't load its caliper I never trade away tooling.

Great idea and simple too.

[lightman]

Theres nothing new or exciting here from me. But heres a few things that I do.

Case prep---- I use a battery drill a lot. I have a plastic tub, like they issue you when you check in at the hospital, to catch chips. I'll sit in front of the tv and work on brass, much like an old lady shelling peas.

I keep a 50 BMG bullet and a polished center punch on my loading bench for straightening out bent case mouths. The punch is mostly for rifle. The bullet with its boattail works well for pistol. A dental pick is also a handy tool. I also keep a small file and some 1200 grit emory cloth and some 4/0 steel wool on my bench, good for the occasional rough spot or burr. A wire tooth/guncleaning brush is also handy.

When I'm resizing lubed bottleneck cases I keep a rag in my right hand. As I pick up a case in my left hand I'll wipe off the neck and shoulder area before sizing it. This reduces the lube dents and still leaves enough lube to do the job.

There are probably other things that I do to reduce the amount of hand motion or to make other jobs easier that I'm forgetting at the moment.

Bazoo's post about using a dummy cartridge for quickly setting up a seating die reminded me that I use a dummy case to set up a case trimmer.

[dangitgriff]

Can you skip the case lube if you just neck-size rifle brass?

[BNE]

259776

This is how I hold it for the other side. Not rocket science, but it works. Masking tape and a pvc joint. It works. I clamp the drill in a vice, lock it on at a slow speed and de-burr away.

BNE

[Bazoo]

I make dummy cartridges to help setup of the seat crimp die. When I'm done loading and put the die back in the box, I put the dummy it's set for in the die, so next time I know what it's set for.

I label my Lyman case trimmer what it's set for when done with a batch.

And I label my powder measure what it's set for. I write on a slip of paper what powder and charge when I'm doing a batch, and use a rubber band to attach it. That way If I pause for a day or two I'm confident upon return what's in the hopper. All is required is a cursory check to verify weight. Then when I'm done and empty the measure I leave it labeled. I have two measures and, and often times I have one already set for what I'm working on.

[lightman]

Can you skip the case lube if you just neck-size rifle brass?

You probably could. I just use my fingertips to put just a little on the neck. Usually Imperial.

[Zingger]

I have used a #2 countersink for the removal of crimps on 223. Great thought!

Have made the switch over to using Bag Balm as a case lube- it made resizing the 444 marlin a whole lot easier!

[leadhead]

Years ago, I bought a Lyman de burring tool that chamfers both inside
and outside at the same time. Meant to be used by hand, but I put it in
my drill press and when it's set up right, it works really well. It has a
little flipper on the side that has to be adjusted to chamfer the outside
of the neck. I only use it on rifle cases after I trim them.
Denny

[blackthorn]

I bought a set of Lee shell holders and I set my dies using the appropriate holder. No more worry over if I have a different height holder!

[toot]

Hopefully enough "Eureka" events get documented here to become a Sticky.

If I am posting something someone else discovered in the past, I apologize.

For range brass, and following the system developed by Bruce B (gone but not forgotten) I process 7.62x51 for my Springfield SOCOM by decapping, tumbling clean, sizing in an RCBS X-sizer and then using my Wilson trimmer to cut down each case to uniforimity.

Then comes the less joyful job of removing flashing from the necks and the crimp from the primer pocket. Fingers and wrists were never impervious to repetitive motion but things only get worse with added decades. Staring at the brass "Eureka" hit!

My Wilson reamer is the 17 to 50 caliber one. In the end to trim the outside of necks is a steel pin pressed into the too (neck mandrel). There are 3 (three) cutters - and there are 3 jaws in my rechargeable drill!

The mandrel just fits into the drill chuck! Make sure you run it clockwise (righty-tighty) and in the slow speed (if you have that option). Doesn't work on the outside of the case mouths, but does the other 2 cuts just great.

Please post your own "Eureka" moments that made a case preparation job a lot simpler, cleaner and/or faster.

259671JackQuest, great idea! thanks for sharing it with us.

[toot]

BNE, now that is a novel idea, I rely like it. so simple!.

[Huvius]

I keep a 50 BMG bullet and a polished center punch on my loading bench for straightening out bent case mouths.

I keep a 338 Lapua case on my bench for the same reason. Use it to round out or give a little flare to the case mouth.
Comes in handy when you drop a case and it lands on the mouth - sort of toast always landing jelly side down...

As for my other tricks, I've found that a light crimp on a 45 cal. rifle case can be accomplished by kissing the case mouth with a 30'06 fls die.

[Bazoo]

I also keep a dummy for case trimmer setup.

[Dapaki]

I love all the great suggestions guys!

I keep my Lyman deburrer in my little lathe, set it as slow as she will turn. I have dummy cases set up for all my loads (seater) but will definitely do the same for my trimmer now!

I turned a simple punch for my .224" LEE sizer, made it an inch longer than the OEM one and reduced the stem by .005 to remove the lip from fired .22 cases. I mail them off to a swager and get some finished bullets for doing the part he hates the most!

I also turned a neck flare tool for .223 cases pre set to .005 bell so I dont shear off the PC when setting cast boolits.

Does homemade resizing lube count? 4 oz bottle of liquid Lanolin added to a 32 oz bottle of 99% isopropyl alcohol. No case dents when dried!

[tankgunner59]

Can you skip the case lube if you just neck-size rifle brass?

I have neck sizing dies for all of my bolt gun cases and I don't use any lube on any of them to neck size. I use the Lee Collet Neck Sizing dies and the instructions say you don't need lube with them, and I have never had any problems. Since they don't make a neck sizing die for 7.62X54R I use a F/L Sizing die, I set it up by putting a nickel on top of the shell holder and set the die up touching the nickel. I had to fine tune the adjustment a little but it works great.

[David2011]

Sometimes a handmade tool does a job better than anything off-the-shelf. As an RC modeler, I have a supply of music wire on hand. If you're not familiar, music wire is a tough low carbon spring steel available at hobby shops. One of the tools I made from it is 1/16" wire about 4" long and ground to a tapered point about 3/8"-1/2" long. The other end was heated and bent over 180° on itself for a very short distance to keep it from rolling. It's not for anything specific but I have found myself reaching for it frequently. Another similar tool has a flat end that is polished to a slight dome. It's made of .078" or 3/32" wire. Another one is ground to a chisel tip like a screwdriver but to a fine edge. I keep all of them plus the shank of an old ice pick on the shelf behind the presses. They're handy for clearing media from a flash hole (blunt tip) and all sorts of fine operations/repairs/clearing out of foreign material. This suggestion probably sounds useless but trust me, mine have become invaluable since I made them many years ago. No pics; haven't built the shop yet since moving so I can't access anything.

[Bazoo]

I don't have it anymore but I'm looking to make one. I had a 1/8" brass rod that I filed a taper on one end and used very effectively for a carbon scraper and general rag and patch pusher.

[redhawk0]

On my RC-II press I had trouble with depriming where the expelled primers would "ping" all over the room. I see guys with fancy primer catchers...but I found that a good old fashioned drinking straw cut to the slot length and pressed in will slow down the expelled primers enough that they land in the supplied primer cup. The best straws were from Burger King...they had a larger diameter.

redhawk

[Rich/WIS]

Used the same method as the OP and then a socket (forgot which size) with the de-burring tool reversed. Used one of the drill to square drive adapters to chuck it in the drill and apiece of tape to keep the de-burring tool from falling out of the socket. When I got the Lyman tool that comes as a set with chamfer and primer pocket cleaners housed in the in the handle (gold colored aluminum) cut about 1.5" off the tip end of a broken cleaning rod and chuck the rod in my drill and then screw whatever tool I want into it. Found another useful tool was a drill chuck that threads onto the end of the shaft on my bench grinder. Can use it almost like a lathe with the part held in the chuck and spun by the grinder. Chucked a counter bore into it and removed the crimp from 2K 5.56 brass slicker than owl poop on a greased log.

[GONRA]

Like some of ya'll GONRA puts proper "shell holder / shell holder insert" in each die box too. At 83 years olde - its pretty much "a necessity".....

[ScotMc]

Can you skip the case lube if you just neck-size rifle brass?

You can, I prefer to lube the necks with Imperial graphite with the small ceramic balls that hold the graphite. Just dip the neck into the small jar. Eliminates any possibility of lube contaminating your powder. Also eliminates that dry screeching noise when you neck size

[ipopum]

This is not my idea but have used it for years . For deburring after case trimming use a nut driver filled with steel wool in a drill on slow speed .

It will do both the inside and the outside of the case.

[pertnear]

This is not my idea but have used it for years . For deburring after case trimming use a nut driver filled with steel wool in a drill on slow speed .

It will do both the inside and the outside of the case.

Hmmmmmm....Thanks - I'll have to try this one!! :Bright idea:

[dverna]

This is not my idea but have used it for years . For deburring after case trimming use a nut driver filled with steel wool in a drill on slow speed .

It will do both the inside and the outside of the case.

Seems like a good one!!!

[OS OK]

Good thread . . .
Between seeing other hand-loader's benches and how they are set up, or having read a 'tip-N-trick' article, or having a friend who is innovative and shares with me...or just having that light bulb come on in my head...over the years my shop has filled with these 'ahhh-haaa' & 'Eureka' moments...

I went down to the shop to photograph a single item for this post and realized after looking around a bit...these moments are everywhere in here.
Take this photo for instance...
https://i.imgur.com/66r7y6f.jpg

top center> my powder trickler has an old radio knob stuck on the small knurled shaft that makes it easy to trickle very gently with one finger and without disturbing the digital scale it usually sits on.

right side> in front of the scale there's an old magnifying glass held in a yellow broken plastic clamp...makes it 'easy-peezy' to trickle into the beam scale and see perfectly my load workups with my old eyes.

center right> my dippers used most often sit in a plastic cartridge holder that comes in the box of ammo from the store, and the one by itself sits on top of a rattle can paint lid for powder with a bamboo skewer glued across the top of it to rake my dippers off level.

center left> my hand case trimmer has a little piece of red plastic tubing stuck on the shaft you fellas have been chucking in a drill motor, when you place a case over the plastic stub it will center much better on the trimmer without getting caught on one of the three sides...this isn't a perfect cure for miss-allignment but it certainly is a big help.
Below that is the adapter you can buy locally to use that hand trimmer in a drill motor and have access to the inside case trimmer too.

below that> on the case trimmer I have a home-spun adapter for the drill motor, a broken hex adapter welded to a grade 8 allen screw that replaces the handle screw...at the time I made this, I wasn't aware you can just buy these things at the store....duuuuh! But it still works just fine.

right of the drill motor> you see a cartridge checker and a shell holder, they are sitting on a 1"x1/2"x2" magnet...they stay where I set them and I don't knock them off the bench so much or loose them.
Better than a magnet for the shell holders, I have a little wood plank I drilled out so I could glue in little dowels to hold the shell holders that were either in a die box or a drawer...constantly had to make sure the one I found was the one I needed...this way they 'should be' located where I put them after use.

https://i.imgur.com/yeXrCru.jpg

Over by the RockChucker on the left side you see my Imperial sizing wax can sitting on a magnet also...nothing is worse than to let it slip off the table to the floor and get the wax dusty & gritty...that magnet keeps that tin right where I want it.

below the case trimmer> is an old Lee 2 cav. mould that a good friend, 'Backyard Inventor' modified for me for a surprise...this is an extreme 'Ahhh-haaa' moment for me. I can cast uniform slugs of the lead I use and have them for BHN testing...no more filing flats on the sides of the casts for testing.
When I preheat my moulds for casting, I put this one in the mould oven and when the melt is ready, I take about 3 samples of that lead...one I'll test on cast day and the other slugs I can test at a later date to see how much and how fast the lead hardens with time.

https://i.imgur.com/SSiE5PA.jpg

A terrific improvement for testing because I can adjust the test dimple die so that the press will cam over...yes cam over and I can time the dimple for the 30 seconds without trying to hold that press lever still at some point in-between, all the time the plunger top is exactly flush with the top of the die...again 'easy-peezy', I just love this!

https://i.imgur.com/gyI5O27.jpg

I could go on and on...everywhere in the shop is something, some little something that has made life better, casting or loading or testing rounds in my home-spun lead bullet catcher out back of the shop...just a few more and I'll quit...
Below is a cheap little screw & bolt box from Harbor Freight...it has worked out terrific for storing unused steel moulds coated in 'mineral oil'...another tip an East Coast friend told me about. I cut an artist brush to fit inside the bottle and keep it there. Mineral oil cooks off the mould quickly and doesn't leave those 'gas wrinkles' you have to stop and clean. I just quickly hit my oiled mould with some brake cleaner in the cavity only and let the oil stay on the outside of the mould to form a protective patina...no more rust. WD40 had let me down many times, no more of that.

https://i.imgur.com/95EJ6Fb.jpg

Dummy Rounds> handy little inert works that will save so much time in die set-up or in checking to see if they will cycle in a lever rifle, they have multiple uses...here the idea is to keep track of them & locate them quickly, they tend to get lost if they are left in the die box or put together in a can or drawer.

https://i.imgur.com/qwQaG0T.jpg

OK...that's enough for now, I dare not to go to the casting bench and get started there, I'd prolly run out of room here.
'AaaaHaaa' & 'Eureka' moments ... those moments where I always think to myself . . . "Now why didn't I think of that!"

[georgerkahn]

Nothing really super-Eureka, but I have two Thumler's Tumblers and unscrewing and re-screwing those six wing nuts on each became quite a tiresome chore. I took a hex-to-1/4" square drive adapter for a cordless screwdriver and then went though my assorted 1/4"-drive sockets to find one slightly bigger than the centre-nut part of the wing nut. I then clamped said socket in a small vise, and using the grinding disk on a Dremel tool, ground/cut out two slots -- one on each side -- to accommodate the wings. To be OCD, I then epoxied (J-D Weld) the socket to drive-adapter, then dropping in a small round magnet.
NOW -- I just put this custom adapter over a wingnut, run (Milwaukee 2.4Volt screwdriver) in reverse, and may remove wingnut from adapter after it is unscrewed -- times six -- for each drum. To reinstall, simply put a wingnut into the adapter -- magnet holds it in place -- and fasten away. I even have a Harbor Freight magnet parts tray "stuck" to Tumbler's end to store wingnuts and washers as I'm both disassembling as well as putting lid back on.
Friends have seen these, and either made copies, and on a few occasions, or, I gifted them mine -- for me to make another.
geo

[ndnchf]

A lot of us use the Harbor Freight mini chop saw for cutting down cartridge cases. It really works well. But cutting cases to the exact same length can be problematic. What I do is turn a mandrel a little smaller than the case mouth with a stop shoulder on it. I put this in the mini vise, adjusting its position so when a case is slipped on, up against the shoulder, it cuts the case about .025" longer than needed. When I bring the saw blade down, I cut about 2/3rds of the way through the case. Then rotate the case 180 degrees and finish the cut.

Then I deburr inside the case mouth and trim to final length on a precision trimmer.

[ipopum]

Hey guyes these are some great ideas.

If I am loading only a few loads that need the neck expanded I use an old bottle neck case that will slip inside the case needing flaring.

Such as a 30 cal. I will use a 243 . the neck slips inside the 30 and the243 shoulder will flare the 30 cal brass.

[Three44s]

A lot of us use the Harbor Freight mini chop saw for cutting down cartridge cases. It really works well. But cutting cases to the exact same length can be problematic. What I do is turn a mandrel a little smaller than the case mouth with a stop shoulder on it. I put this in the mini vise, adjusting its position so when a case is slipped on, up against the shoulder, it cuts the case about .025" longer than needed. When I bring the saw blade down, I cut about 2/3rds of the way through the case. Then rotate the case 180 degrees and finish the cut.

Then I deburr inside the case mouth and trim to final length on a precision trimmer.

Now that hits the spot in my camp!

I knew there had to be a better way and was holding off buying one of those chop saws until a long got bulb went off or something, because I wanted to avoid butchering a bunch of brass.

Thank you for sharing that!

Three44s

[Three44s]

There have been a lot of innovative tips here thus far, honorable mention goes to OS OK for a plethora of good noggin’ usage .....

I have just a couple on the top of my feeble brain:

My first is I keep a number of shell holders in any given size. The reason is that I will have one in my press, another in my RCBS hand held priming tool, another in my RCBS standard bench priming seater tool (I use it to firm up my seating and take care of any high primers rather than over stress the pot metal hand tool to do the same).

So my solution is that I have 2 of those Harbor Freight organizer boxes with independent trays and a snap down lid and the multiple shell holders of the same size has it’s own compartment. It takes two boxes because I do a lot of different cartridges and have quite a collection of holders.

The second tip is a technique: I read this from a gun magazine years ago about bullet seating (Rick Jamisson’s Column). It involves starting each bullet more carefully. As I raise the ram I just enter the bullet into the case mouth slightly. As the ram lowers I use my off hand to rotate the cartridge several degrees, say 60, and then raise the ram again. The trick is to only seat the bullet ever so slightly deeper, not much and upon lowering the ram, rotate the case again, about 60 degrees. You can taylor your method as you see fit. Generally by the second re-push I am ready to go ahead and send the bullet “home”.

The reason for this added effort is that the seating die is used to re-adjust the centerline of the bullet a couple of times in case it was a little tipped out of alingement the first time. You need to refrain from seeking the bullet too deeply too soon because the seating stem can not salvage good centering of a crookedly seated bullet if it is too far into the case before you rotate and re-push the bullet.

Three44s

[15meter]

I like that idea and will definitely use it that way next time!

I'm sure others have this figured out already... I use the plastic cases that purchased ammo come in as shell holders.

I use the 50 round plastic inserts from pistol ammo to hold sized/lubed boolis, protects them nicely, stacks and stores well and allows me a quick count on how many I've got cast and ready to load.

[gwpercle]

stevenjay1:
Shell holders not being too expensive I've put one in each die set box for that caliber. I use everything in the box when loading and don't trade parts, ever. And even if I unload a weapon and don't load its caliper I never trade away tooling.

This is a good tip and I would like to add to match the shell holder brand to the die brand .
Not all shell holders are the same ... die manufacturers make their dies to work properly with their shell holders ... using another can , not always but can cause problems .
A Lee shell holder gave me problems with some CH dies...when I remembered I usually used a CH holder and swapped it for the Lee ...problem solved .
Gary

[gunther]

If your town has a rotary street sweeper, they have "Broom straws" that are about 10 inches long and 1/8 inch wide, of pretty good spring steel, that show up in gutters. They can scrape primer pockets and clean stuff out of range pickup brass. A dremel cut-off wheel can put a notch in one end and a hook in the side of the other end to make a spring tool. These are handy when you change the trigger spring in a Ruger single action. Or narrow down one end to clean the extractor recess on a 22 auto.

[1hole]

Can you skip the case lube if you just neck-size rifle brass?

Sure, you can. But you shouldn't.

Jamming dry brass into a polished steel hole is certain to produce brass galling onto the steel. Microscopic bits of brass will be as firmly attached as if it were welded and the bits grow over time and the case necks will soon begin to look like the sizer is scratched; that's not good. A tad of case lube on the necks will prevent galling and lubing is much less a PITA than removing galling from sizer dies.

[1hole]

For best rifle accuracy I do my sizing with a body/shoulder die and then size the necks with Lee's "Collet Neck Die"; that combo gives me the straightest possible necks with the least possible fuss. The "problem" is the cost of buying several dedicated (and overpriced) body dies can get high in a hurry. My solution, at least with a few calibers, is to use an FL die of a larger neck diameter within the same family as a body die.

A .35 Whelen FL die works fine as a body and shoulder bump die for .30-06; .30-06 works for .280 Rem and .270 Win; .270 works for .25-06. Then a .358 Win FL die works for .308; .308 works for 7mm-08; 7mm-08 for .260 Rem; .260 Rem for .243 Win. A .250 Savage FL works fine for the .22-250. And there are a few others that will work well, including a few Magnums.

An alternative is to get a used FL sizer for cheep and drill out the neck about 10-15 thou larger than original. Sizers are case hardened more than a woodpecker's pecker and that means we must use a carbide drill bit; I use cheep (Walmart, etc.) concrete bits and grind each one down as necessary. For that I use a drill press with the case firmly held in a padded vise. I quickly learned to drill "up" (drill from the bottom of the die) to avoid ending up with rough burrs at the new neck:shoulder junction.

Ref. shell holders by brand:

I have some 30+ shell holders from various brands; quite a few are mixed duplicates for the same head size. I've measured them all from head to shelf and each one is within the normal SAAMI specification of .125", +0", -.003". I use them indiscriminately by brand and, in some 50+ years of handloading have never had any difficulty. But ...

Knowing that brass work hardens from use and therefore the spring back changes a tad with each firing I've never bought into "set it and forget it" sizer adjustments for bottle neck cases. I use accurate fired vs. sized case comparator tools (RCBS' "Precision Case Mic" and/or Hornady's dial caliper mounted shoulder device) and adjust my shoulders where I want them each time they're loaded.