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Thread: Least Useful Equipment

  1. #21
    Boolit Master


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    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!

  2. #22
    Boolit Master
    dtknowles's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mk42gunner View Post
    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.
    Words are weapons sharper than knives - INXS

    The pen is mightier than the sword - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

    The tongue is mightier than the blade - Euripides

  3. #23
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by HWooldridge View Post
    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.
    Words are weapons sharper than knives - INXS

    The pen is mightier than the sword - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

    The tongue is mightier than the blade - Euripides

  4. #24
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by dtknowles View Post
    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.

  5. #25
    Boolit Master
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    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.

  6. #26
    Boolit Grand Master


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

  7. #27
    Boolit Bub 460S&W's Avatar
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    For me it was the quick change powder thrower on the Hornady powder thrower.

  8. #28
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by GregLaROCHE View Post
    The dies I have for calibers that I don’t have the guns that shoot them.
    I have some of those, too...

  9. #29
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Land Owner View Post
    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!'


    a m e r i c a n p r a v d a

    Be a Patriot . . . expose their lies!

    “In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” G. Orwell

  10. #30
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by GregLaROCHE View Post
    The dies I have for calibers that I don’t have the guns that shoot them.
    That’s pretty easy to fix.

  11. #31
    Boolit Master



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    Quote Originally Posted by jetinteriorguy View Post
    The Lee folding primer tray.
    We have a winner!
    Mustang

    "In the beginning... the patriot is a scarce man, and brave and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain.

  12. #32
    Boolit Buddy
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    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.

  13. #33
    Boolit Master


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    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.

  14. #34
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by wv109323 View Post
    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.

  15. #35
    Boolit Buddy
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    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.

  16. #36
    Boolit Grand Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by jetinteriorguy View Post
    That’s pretty easy to fix.
    Yea, but I keep thinking maybe it get one of those guns one day.

  17. #37
    Boolit Grand Master
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    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????

  18. #38
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by GregLaROCHE View Post
    Yea, but I keep thinking maybe it get one of those guns one day.
    That’s pretty much what I was ‘aiming’ for.

  19. #39
    Boolit Master
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    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.
    Warning: I know Judo. If you force me to prove it I'll shoot you.

  20. #40
    Boolit Grand Master


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    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.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check