Least Useful Equipment

[Land Owner]

What is a "most useful" list (not trying to hijack that thread) without a "least useful" list, which for me is the PACT Digital Powder Dispenser. Don't get me wrong, the PACT is a fine piece of equipment. It does what it is supposed to do, but in a less-than-timely manner. I can manually throw two beam scale charges to every one of the mostly expensive and slow "automated" dispenser charges, so it sits, brand new, used twice, and is ~15-years old.

[pworley1]

Lee hand primer

[jetinteriorguy]

The Lee folding primer tray.

[JimB..]

I love all my toys equally.

I’ve only been reloading for about 15 years, and I read a lot here and elsewhere that helped me mostly avoid equipment that doesn’t perform. The thing that comes to mind is one of the super-duper depriming dies, I’m sure it’s awesome but it’s too tall to work in the co-ax press or lee app so there it sits.

As the coffee brews I realize that the Lee FCD for pistol calibers is the winner in this category, I’ve given them all away.

[35isit]

Steel pin cleaning of cases. I have the Harbor Freight tumbler. Too much work. Plus there are boxes with their wares in them all over my shop that are equally useless to me.

[lotech]

Sinclair concentricity gauge;works very well, but I almost never find a concentricity problem. Haven't in years and it was minor then. I've found it best not to even gauge rounds if accuracy is good.

[brass410]

equipment=tool=cat (everything else is essential thats my story if any further acquisitions are to occur)

[remy3424]

I would list the Lee hand primer in my most used list, and a RCBS concentricty tool/gauge as one of my least used pieces of equipment. I remember a similar thread years ago and someone put their media removal cage, the tub with the cage you dump everything out of the tumbler into...spin about 6 times and all the media is removed, as a least used...I also use that every time cases get cleaned, GREAT tool also.

Another tool, not used is the Plus height shell holders (Redding), I think I might find shorter ones more useful.

[schutzen-jager]

jmho - powder coating equipment + digital scales

[Froogal]

lee hand primer

this!!

[omgb]

Lyman PA dies. All new dies do an excellent job of alignment, no need for the PA dies. Next would be my hand priming tools, Hornady and Lee. Too much fiddling for too little return. I also have an old Ideal #5 powder measure. There are better powder dumps out there so I never use it. The title of Most Useless Tool has to go to my Hornady bullet feed dies. What pieces of feces those things are. They don't drop a bullet or they drop all of the bullets at once, and worse, they are incompatible with cast lead bullets. Junk, just plain useless junk. Sorry Hornady, but they cant all be winners.

[sierra1911]

What is a "most useful" list (not trying to hijack that thread) without a "least useful" list, which for me is the PACT Digital Powder Dispenser. Don't get me wrong, the PACT is a fine piece of equipment. It does what it is supposed to do, but in a less-than-timely manner. I can manually throw two beam scale charges to every one of the mostly expensive and slow "automated" dispenser charges, so it sits, brand new, used twice, and is ~15-years old.

I use my PACT Dispenser when loading Wby 30-378 at near 100 grains. Trick is to scoop most of the powder for each round into the scale’s pan before hitting the Dispense button.

[Land Owner]

^^^ That is a solution which makes SO MUCH sense! ^^^

It does take up a lot of space on the benchtop.

[dtknowles]

I use my PACT Dispenser when loading Wby 30-378 at near 100 grains. Trick is to scoop most of the powder for each round into the scale’s pan before hitting the Dispense button.

You could use a powder measure set to just under your charge weight and use it like an automated trickler.

[elmacgyver0]

Bullet Lube

[Noah Zark]

A borescope. I don't own one but two shooting buds own them. One's a 1000 yd shooter so he checks his rifle bores for accuracy robbing wear. That's a real reason to own one.

The other bud is more of a gun acquirer, and he religiously checks the bores of each firearm purchased. Why, I don't know. He's at best a casual plinker, and does not compete. Doesn't scrupulously clean the bores. For him, owning a $750 borescope is like a dog chasing a truck, at the red light the dog just stands there looking at the truck, and my bud examines the bore like a gastroenterologist performing a colonoscopy but doesn't do anything to the bores or about their condition.

Noah

PS, I most always prime rifle cases with a Lee auto hand primer and have so since the mid 80s. Otherwise I prime with a 310 tool priming die. For pistol cartridges, one of the Dillon SDBs or 550s handles the chore. I have two of each, and one of each is kept permanently set up for either small or large primers to avoid the hassle of a size switch.

N.

[porthos]

funny; the only priming tool that i use is the original lee with the screw in shell holders. i can adjust the seating depth. i've removed the priming arms from all of my presses. i belive that is the poorest way to prime a case.

[HWooldridge]

I’ll be happy to take every unwanted Lee hand primer anyone wants to part with. Have used mine for over 40 years and never had a problem.

My most unused tool is my Lyman case trimmer - it’s in the original box and I may have used it twice in that same time frame.

[Mk42gunner]

Least useful "normal" tool for reloading to me, has to be the powder trickler.

I learned to reload rifle cartridges by dipping powder from a coffee cup with a teaspoon into the scale pan. Seems like all the magazines recommended using a powder trickler, so I bought one.

Didn't like it so I traded it away.

I did this two or three times, thinking I was missing something. No they are just abominably slow to use. I can weigh a charge quicker by using a dipper and adding a few granules of powder from the dipper in less than half the time it takes to switch to the dreaded trickler.

I did wise up and kept the last one, just in case I ever think I want to use one again.

Robert

[Finster101]

I use my PACT Dispenser when loading Wby 30-378 at near 100 grains. Trick is to scoop most of the powder for each round into the scale’s pan before hitting the Dispense button.

I recently found five 30-378 spent cases in a box of gear that I purchased and had to do a Google search on it. That must be near a canon when fired.

[deltaenterprizes]

All of our equipment will be on the never used list if the primer situation doesn’t get better soon!
The price of components is going to drive me out of reloading completely!
I will be shooting a lot more cast boolits in rifles with jacketed 30 cal going for $40/100!

[dtknowles]

Least useful "normal" tool for reloading to me, has to be the powder trickler.

I learned to reload rifle cartridges by dipping powder from a coffee cup with a teaspoon into the scale pan. Seems like all the magazines recommended using a powder trickler, so I bought one.

Didn't like it so I traded it away.

I did this two or three times, thinking I was missing something. No they are just abominably slow to use. I can weigh a charge quicker by using a dipper and adding a few granules of powder from the dipper in less than half the time it takes to switch to the dreaded trickler.

I did wise up and kept the last one, just in case I ever think I want to use one again.

Robert

yeah I sold my trickler, I have a tiny spoon that is way faster.

[dtknowles]

I’ll be happy to take every unwanted Lee hand primer anyone wants to part with. Have used mine for over 40 years and never had a problem.

My most unused tool is my Lyman case trimmer - it’s in the original box and I may have used it twice in that same time frame.

I did not like the Lee hand primer because you had to handle every primer. I got the one with the round trays and liked it except I kept breaking the levers, they were deliberately weak, and I had a lot of tight primer pockets. I got the new one with the square trays and love it. I sold my original hand primer.

[HWooldridge]

I did not like the Lee hand primer because you had to handle every primer. I got the one with the round trays and liked it except I kept breaking the levers, they were deliberately weak, and I had a lot of tight primer pockets. I got the new one with the square trays and love it. I sold my original hand primer.

I have the old design and never had too much trouble handling individual primers. I dump a few into a small plastic bowl then sit in front of the TV and prime away. I seldom load more than 200 of anything in a single session so just wasn’t an inconvenience for me.

[rbuck351]

The manual powder trickler. I have a couple. After using one a time or two I found using a powder thrower and a powder scoop made from a 22 short case to be faster and easier.

[GregLaROCHE]

The dies I have for calibers that I don’t have the guns that shoot them.

[460S&W]

For me it was the quick change powder thrower on the Hornady powder thrower.

[HWooldridge]

The dies I have for calibers that I don’t have the guns that shoot them.

I have some of those, too...

[OS OK]

What is a "most useful" list (not trying to hijack that thread) without a "least useful" list, which for me is the PACT Digital Powder Dispenser. Don't get me wrong, the PACT is a fine piece of equipment. It does what it is supposed to do, but in a less-than-timely manner. I can manually throw two beam scale charges to every one of the mostly expensive and slow "automated" dispenser charges, so it sits, brand new, used twice, and is ~15-years old.


"Try this...?"

Slow Auto Powder Dispenser _ "LET'S SOUP'EM-UP SOME!'


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KegSaOzpWMU

[jetinteriorguy]

The dies I have for calibers that I don’t have the guns that shoot them.

That’s pretty easy to fix.

[MUSTANG]

The Lee folding primer tray.

We have a winner!
[smilie=w::goodpost:[smilie=l:

[BJung]

I once owned the original RCBS handprimer because I didn't like the difficulty changing the shell holder. I preferred and still prefer the old Lee handprimer. I think my RCBS Piggy-Back is a close second. It rarely could index by itself and it too additional effort to rotate the turning unit by hand.

[wv109323]

I have a collet type bullet puller. You can not pull most pistol bullets because there is not enough exposed bullet diameter to grab ahold of. With rifle bullets it grabs the bullets and the teeth of the collet scars the bullet.

[JimB..]

I have a collet type bullet puller. You can not pull most pistol bullets because there is not enough exposed bullet diameter to grab ahold of. With rifle bullets it grabs the bullets and the teeth of the collet scars the bullet.

I had problems with mine until I lubricated the threads, now it pulls pistol bullets like a champ and is a lot easier on the hands too. Mine is RCBS.

[Chena]

I had a Lyman case length trimmer that worked - poorly. It and the neck thickness add-ons went down the road. My flirtation with 310 hand tools also ended quickly.

[GregLaROCHE]

That’s pretty easy to fix.

Yea, but I keep thinking maybe it get one of those guns one day.

[abunaitoo]

While not useless, it just never worked reliably.
Lee 1000 primer feeder.
Always have to watch for every pull of the handle.
I gave up on it, and just prime all cases before starting.
Another one that works, but is not worth the trouble is the RCBS lube die.
It's just a mess.
Do they even still make it????

[jetinteriorguy]

Yea, but I keep thinking maybe it get one of those guns one day.

That’s pretty much what I was ‘aiming’ for.

[JSnover]

My lead thermometer. Bought it before I knew what I was doing (because you Must Know the Exact Temperature of your lead, right?), used it for about 6 months... I haven't needed it in over ten years.

[megasupermagnum]

I don't understand if you want to hear what is the least useful to me, or what is honestly not useful to hardly anybody. I'm reading through this thread and every single answer so far has been for products that serve a good purpose to many people, but apparently are not useful to them. The concentricity jig for example, maybe not useful to that person, but you wont find a precision rifle shooter without one. I guess a case could be made that you would be better off with a dial indicator and some v blocks instead. Some kind of concentricity gauge is a tool you can not live without if you are trying to produce top quality rifle ammo. I'm trying to think of anything I have that is a true gimmick with no real benefit. Ok, I just thought of an interesting one... quick change bushings. I say that as a person who has quick change bushings on most of my reloading dies. My presses all take Lee quick change bushings, some of them only take bushings like the Lee APP. So I use them. If everything instead was standard 7/8" thread my life would be just fine without the bushings. Any time advantage is so miniscule it isn't worth a penny. This does come with a caveat. Lees recent switch to using bushings instead of turret heads on their progressive and turret presses does offer a real advantage. I load on a number of presses so I never left my dies in one turret head. By using bushings I get two big advantages of having much easier installation, as well as quickly removing them for any issues, or dumping powder when I'm done. Still, of what I own quick change bushings are the least useful kit I own, and I would not loose sleep if they were gone tomorrow.

[dtknowles]

I have the old design and never had too much trouble handling individual primers. I dump a few into a small plastic bowl then sit in front of the TV and prime away. I seldom load more than 200 of anything in a single session so just wasn’t an inconvenience for me.

Yeah, it did not slow me down much but I was thinking I should not be touching primers, I guess if you wash and dry your hands you would not kill any primers. If I don't touch the primers I don't have to worry if my hands are clean. I often have oil or lube on my fingers, I am just a dirty bird.

Tim

[dtknowles]

The dies I have for calibers that I don’t have the guns that shoot them.

Well, that does not make them useless. If you got them for a good price they are an investment. Yes, I have a few die sets that I don't have guns for but I might someday or I will sell them for a profit some day. Just don't over pay for them.

Tim

[kevin c]

Least: The Lyman EZee case length gauge I bought my first year reloading. I have literally NEVER used it. Ditto every Bore Snake I own (one for every caliber).

Most: Gotta be the Dillon SDB I bought over a quarter century ago. Every part except the dies and ram has been replaced gratis by Dillon, some parts two or three times. I’d have to check my reloading logs, but it must have averaged at least 10K rounds a year over all that time (the only press I’ve used - I even had a 750, looked at it for a while, and turned around and sold it without ever putting it together).

[Land Owner]

I don't understand if you want to hear what is the least useful to me, or what is honestly not useful to hardly anybody.

It is all academic anyway, whether to you or to everyone. It's entertaining, something to write about, gripe about, "praise" from the other side, maybe find a "simple fix", or through "enough" gripes, avoid.

[Rich/WIS]

Toss up between a lead hardness tester and chronograph. Once I satisfierd my curiosity about my alloy and velocity of my "standard" loads haven't used either in years. Reading some of the posts it is interesting to see what members use and don't. Guess I'm an odd ball as my favorite seating dies for cast bullets are the Lyman P-A dies.

[NObamain2012]

My Hollywood turret press. Does not have compound leverage, 7 Inches of ram travel, and too clumsy for any normal cartridge. If I didn't inherit from my passing grandfather, it would be some one else's a long time ago.

[perotter]

I once owned the original RCBS handprimer because I didn't like the difficulty changing the shell holder. I preferred and still prefer the old Lee handprimer. I think my RCBS Piggy-Back is a close second. It rarely could index by itself and it too additional effort to rotate the turning unit by hand.

My two picks also.

[uscra112]

Well, it would be a progressive loading machine if I had one, but I don't because it would be so useless. The most useless tool(s) that I DO have are the Lee dies with the Slip-o-Matic decapping stem. But they can be made useful by tackwelding the stem to the nut once it's adjusted.

[M-Tecs]

I find these types of threads interesting and grounding. It's easy to get tunnel vision thinking the way I am doing it is the only or best way. Some of the listed list least useful items by others are my most useful items. Same for what I find most useful. Other have no use for them.

[Shawlerbrook]

Bullet puller( watch the next reloading session I will finally need to use it),

[Harter66]

I've not used a hand priming tool .
I do have the Lee ram prime it is acceptable , probably should have bought the RCBS.......

I have a Herters , Forster , and RCBS pro trim each of which have met my needs . I bought the Forster for a cartridge I was forming that left a neck doughnut that reaming wouldn't fix so I would be able to neck turn the cases . Found a better donor case no more lumpy necks . I do salvage a lot of cracked necks via the ever shorter case and not popular/available cartridges so these extra trimmers get a fair bit of use in their preferred areas .

The Lee chamfer deburring tool is without a doubt the single both creative designed tool that is pure genius on paper and wasted space in hand , this wins most useless .
The RCBS and Lyman bullet style tools run a close second as the indiscretions of youth and broken hand and wrist bones catch up with me . The fancy 2 piece storage tube design with 4 tools of the Lyman VLD tool is a major improvement.

The canlure tool has been used once since I bought to check it out . I needed it for a project that changed direction . Very useful just unused .

[MostlyLeverGuns]

RCBS Sonic Case Cleaner, very slow, cases do not look particularly good, very slow cleaning primer pockets. Forster Case Trimmer, slower than the L E Wilson trimmer and not as accurate.

[Jtarm]

Steel pin cleaning of cases. I have the Harbor Freight tumbler. Too much work. Plus there are boxes with their wares in them all over my shop that are equally useless to me.

Second that. I asked for a Frankfort FART for Christmas a couple years back. It’s been used once.

I couldn’t even tell what dark corner of the shop it’s currently taking up space in.

[ascast]

Any form of "primer pocket reamer" made of metal. Does anybody actually use these? Handheld, gauging- cant possible uniform anything. I use wood dowels to clean pockets.

[imashooter2]

A Lee Ram Prime. I have a fair pile of equipment from all makers including Lee, but that Ram Prime is just not a good tool.

[G W Wade]

I have read everyones critique of useless reloading tools and have done a lot of thinking. I do not buy extras without feeling a need to improve things. Finally, last night it hit me. The most worthless item in my reloading equipment is the spent primer catchers on both my Dllon 550's and the Rockchucker. GW

[uscra112]

Good point. The "catcher" on my RCBS Junior actually catches about one in ten.

[jetinteriorguy]

Well, it would be a progressive loading machine if I had one, but I don't because it would be so useless. The most useless tool(s) that I DO have are the Lee dies with the Slip-o-Matic decapping stem. But they can be made useful by tackwelding the stem to the nut once it's adjusted.

It’s easy to fix the decapping stem in Lee dies so they only slip when needed to protect the pin. First, make sure both the collet and stem have absolutely no oil or lube on them, even the slightest hint of oil will make them slip. Second, use some rough sandpaper to rough up the stem for added resistance to slipping. Then proper adjustment of the collet will hold under any normal circumstances while still slipping if you hit some kind of obstruction. This does take a little effort and some playing with the collet tension but once set works well. I use the Universal decapping die so you don’t have to set every sizing die, I just crank the sizing decapping pins fairly good so they are tight enough to clear the flash hole of any possible debris such as a piece of polishing media.

[jetinteriorguy]

There are a couple of neat primer catcher add ons you can get on Etsy pretty cheap. In reply to post #56, this is for the Dillon 550.

[uscra112]

"Proper adjustment" of the collet nut still requires a 10" box wrench on the nut and equally long open-end on the die body. Ridiculous. I designed fixtures and tools for automotive plants during in my engineering career, and I'd be ashamed if I'd turned out something like that. GM would have thrown it back in my face, too, and rightly so.

[megasupermagnum]

"Proper adjustment" of the collet nut still requires a 10" box wrench on the nut and equally long open-end on the die body. Ridiculous. I designed fixtures and tools for automotive plants during in my engineering career, and I'd be ashamed if I'd turned out something like that. GM would have thrown it back in my face, too, and rightly so.

What other tool should you use? It isn't like I need to gorilla tighten my Lee dies. Doubt I put more than 10 ftlbs on mine. I don't do anything to the stems, I use my dies right out of the box. I just don't see what's wrong with needing a wrench. Most of my dies have been working for many years and I've not had to touch them again. It's not like you have to mess with them regularly.

[JimB..]

The lee depriming pin in a collet is not great with crimped brass.
The RCBS depriming pin with the internal spring is not great for anything.

[georgerkahn]

Being slightly (slightly???) OCD, when I bought my Dillon, 550B I *HAD* to have a Dillon metal primer flip tray. I tried it a couple, maybe three times, and ALWAYS go back to -- which I've used exclusively for at least 40 years -- the small, squarish RCBS plastic tray. Yup -- I still have the Dillon; but, never ever use it. Clearly my very much most useless reloading room item.

[imashooter2]

Being slightly (slightly???) OCD, when I bought my Dillon, 550B I *HAD* to have a Dillon metal primer flip tray. I tried it a couple, maybe three times, and ALWAYS go back to -- which I've used exclusively for at least 40 years -- the small, squarish RCBS plastic tray. Yup -- I still have the Dillon; but, never ever use it. Clearly my very much most useless reloading room item.

Don’t use many Federal primers eh? Love that big Dillon tray with my Federal packaging.

[deces]

What is a "most useful" list (not trying to hijack that thread) without a "least useful" list, which for me is the PACT Digital Powder Dispenser. Don't get me wrong, the PACT is a fine piece of equipment. It does what it is supposed to do, but in a less-than-timely manner. I can manually throw two beam scale charges to every one of the mostly expensive and slow "automated" dispenser charges, so it sits, brand new, used twice, and is ~15-years old.

Pact did upgrade the powder thrower, first they made the main tube larger and they changed the board. I'm a fan.

[414gates]

My son got himself a wet tumbler with pins, it came as a package deal with a press he wanted.

He never used it. I never used it. Neither of us want to use it. So it sits there.

[Lloyd Smale]

What is a "most useful" list (not trying to hijack that thread) without a "least useful" list, which for me is the PACT Digital Powder Dispenser. Don't get me wrong, the PACT is a fine piece of equipment. It does what it is supposed to do, but in a less-than-timely manner. I can manually throw two beam scale charges to every one of the mostly expensive and slow "automated" dispenser charges, so it sits, brand new, used twice, and is ~15-years old.

ive loaded thousands on mine and will be lost when it dies. i bought a lyman for a back up but it collects dust. cant stand that you have to warm it up for 15 minutes. reason your loading faster without it is your using it wrong. put your cases in a loading block and charge one and the start the dispenser for the next charge and while your waiting seat a bullet in the already charged case. now i dont use it for ball power because a powder drop will do it faster and accurately but they dont work for crap with stick powders. honestly anything i load with ball powers for rifles a i do on my 550

[Bent Ramrod]

For me, it’s the Quinetics allegedly “universal” shell holder for reloading presses. The gap between what it’s imagined to be and what it actually is couldn’t possibly be greater.

It has three little bits inside that are supposed to surround and grip any case rim, and seat solidly when the case is pushed into the sizing die. They are supposed to stay in place when the case is pulled back out, and then break loose when the operator grabs and rocks the case from side to side.

In practice, the thing often lets loose of the case when it is up in the sizing die. This means removal of the universal holder, and sliding a regular shell holder into the ram while holding the lever so the top of the ram is just close enough to the case rim so it slides over the rim and into the shell holder slot at the same time. This is a three-hand operation, also requiring a lot of sulphurous incantations to work.

Equally often, the holder will not let loose its grip on the shell rim after removal, without a lot of extra wiggling, jiggling and more inappropriate language. I would say that the use of this gimmick increases the time needed to process a given box of cases by a factor of three or four.

So it sits on a shelf on my bench in its little box, with the instructions. Every now and then, when the lady in the leather dress, spiked dog collar, 6” heels, fishnet stockings and cat-o’-nine-tails is busy with another client, I take the thing out to see if the “issues” with it aren’t really just a failure of my technique, or my inadequate understanding of the instructions, or a deep and incorrigible flaw in my character.

The answer is always “Nope.”

[rintinglen]

The manual powder trickler. I have a couple. After using one a time or two I found using a powder thrower and a powder scoop made from a 22 short case to be faster and easier.
Gets my vote. I use a LEE powder scoop. Works faster and takes up less space.

[metricmonkeywrench]

Sat back and watched this thread a bit before responding, My "least useful" is actually 2 procured during my "hunting and gathering" phase of reloading equipment acquisition. The first is a Hornady universal decapping die, after the first initial use to try it out it now languishes up on the shelf. The die/press is in the house and the dry tumbler is out in the garage and attempts to dry tumble without primers leads me to having to poke media out od all the flash holes. I have no intention to go to wet/pin tumbling. The second is a RCBS collet puller with a couple collets. I don't do much jacketed bullet/brass recovery and my only real attempt at pulling a cast bullet left me with a mangled chunk of lead. Electricians pliers on the press downstroke is much simpler quicker since all the bullets end up going back into the pot anyway and i can save the powder (if known) instead of loosing it in the kinetic hammer.

I do keep them around as that "tool in the toolbox" for the day I might need them but as is if they were to walk off i probably would not notice for a verry long time.

[Lloyd Smale]

mine would be the pro 1000 and promaster i bought years ago. after a few months the 1000 ended up in the pond and the promaster would be there too but my neighbor said he would take it. he had it for about 3 months of frustration and gave it to someone else and bought a 550. hopefully someone he didnt like.

[deces]

For me, it’s the Quinetics allegedly “universal” shell holder for reloading presses. The gap between what it’s imagined to be and what it actually is couldn’t possibly be greater.

It has three little bits inside that are supposed to surround and grip any case rim, and seat solidly when the case is pushed into the sizing die. They are supposed to stay in place when the case is pulled back out, and then break loose when the operator grabs and rocks the case from side to side.

In practice, the thing often lets loose of the case when it is up in the sizing die. This means removal of the universal holder, and sliding a regular shell holder into the ram while holding the lever so the top of the ram is just close enough to the case rim so it slides over the rim and into the shell holder slot at the same time. This is a three-hand operation, also requiring a lot of sulphurous incantations to work.

Equally often, the holder will not let loose its grip on the shell rim after removal, without a lot of extra wiggling, jiggling and more inappropriate language. I would say that the use of this gimmick increases the time needed to process a given box of cases by a factor of three or four.

So it sits on a shelf on my bench in its little box, with the instructions. Every now and then, when the lady in the leather dress, spiked dog collar, 6” heels, fishnet stockings and cat-o’-nine-tails is busy with another client, I take the thing out to see if the “issues” with it aren’t really just a failure of my technique, or my inadequate understanding of the instructions, or a deep and incorrigible flaw in my character.

The answer is always “Nope.”

I think that special shell holder is only practical when neck sizing or seating a boolit.

[gwpercle]

Least useful is a electronic powder scale .
On paper it looks like a good idea ... in practice and real life use ... it Sucks Rocks !

I'll take a good old fashioned beam scale any day when it comes time to weigh powder .

Gary

[jimlj]

I'm glad I read this. I had it in my mind I needed an electronic scale.
My most worthless *** is a Lee "universal" shell holder allegedly for 9mm and 40. Works great for ruining 9mm brass and sticking cases in a die. If I ever want to re-learn my oilfield language I'll buy another one.

[M-Tecs]

I'm glad I read this. I had it in my mind I needed an electronic scale.
My most worthless *** is a Lee "universal" shell holder allegedly for 9mm and 40. Works great for ruining 9mm brass and sticking cases in a die. If I ever want to re-learn my oilfield language I'll buy another one.

Not all electronic scales are created equal. Since 2008 when I started using the Denver Instrument MXX-123 my RCBS 304, RCBS 1010 and RCBS 505 have not been used much (almost never). Same for several other lesser digital scales.

If I had to replace my Denver Instruments MXX-123 it would be this one https://www.creedmoorsports.com/product/creedmoor-reloading-scale-trx-925-precision/creedmoor_sports_brand

[jmorris]

^^^ That is a solution which makes SO MUCH sense! ^^^

It does take up a lot of space on the benchtop.

Instead of a dipper I just mounted a measure to throw an “under” charge and trickle up. I just use a photo electric switch that shuts off the trickler when the beam is level. Throws within two hundredths of a grain (1 kernel of IMR3031).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GYWgAdKzHs

[jmorris]

What other tool should you use? It isn't like I need to gorilla tighten my Lee dies. Doubt I put more than 10 ftlbs on mine. I don't do anything to the stems, I use my dies right out of the box. I just don't see what's wrong with needing a wrench. Most of my dies have been working for many years and I've not had to touch them again. It's not like you have to mess with them regularly.

I am one of those that see the collet retaining the decapping pin as a feature, if you don’t have it too tight and wind up breaking the pin anyway.

The 1/8 NPT collet is a smart idea that doesn’t require anything special to utilize, I have used them in my past projects as well.

I run them as loose as I can without the pin raising when decapping.

I just checked the torque on my Lee universal decapping die with a witness mark and applying force until it tightened further ~20ft/lb is where it moved.

[ascast]

ANOTHER CANDIDATE HAS COME TO MIND - THE OLD lACHMULLER BENCH PRIMING TOOL. ( I really hate that, the caps thing- ) The primer tool was a one at a time hand feed both primer and case deal. No wonder they have all been sent to the scrape heap.

BTW the p[owder dribblers can be sped up by adapting a cordless screw driver.

[uscra112]

Instead of a dipper I just mounted a measure to throw an “under” charge and trickle up. I just use a photo electric switch that shuts off the trickler when the beam is level. Throws within two hundredths of a grain (1 kernel of IMR3031).

I have a commercially made optically switched dispenser like that. A gunshow curiosity. It's so useless that I forgot I have it until you mentioned it.

[greybuff]

All of the different hand priming tools that I have tried. Ended up with an RCBS bench model that I modified the handle on. I cut the handle off and re-welded it in a vertical position so it doesn't hang off the bench and you pull on the handle to seat a primer.
Also the several different case trimmers that I've had. Went with an LE Wislon and love it. Easy to use and extremely repeatable.