10 vital reloading supplies Midway won't sell you

[curiousgeorge]

Wow. I think that I have or have used every one of the things listed above.

I know that we all have our own little oddities about doing things, but I bet all of us do a bunch of stuff the same, and I am not talking about the actual loading procedures, but the little tricks and time saving tools that we have made or accumulated. Pretty neat fraternity that we belong to, wouldn't you say.

Steve

[Calamity Jake]

Even if midway sold the items on your list I wouldn't pay there price for em.

As for the wood dowl for slugging------------NEVER!!!!!!!!

1/4" brass rod or maybe 5/16 if over 30 cal.

[megafatcat]

#1 A VERY understanding wife.

[Duckiller]

A 7/16" brass rod works to remove wads from shotguns or stuck bullets from a 45ACP. Got a box of 500 loaded in a Dillion that don't go bang real good. Will have to spend a day at the range to at least recover the brass.
Wife has been sick and was getting IV antibiotics from a home care nurse. Among left over supplies are saline injectors without sharp needles. Can't use them to blow up worms and night crawlers , would they work as silicone grease injectors?

[nwellons]

I store many of my supplies in extra drawers of a metal tool cabinet. For labels, I use white spray paint on the flat advertising magnets that you get free. You can then cut to size and label with a Sharpie. I even draw a border around the magnets with a colored Sharpie to differentiate reloading supply drawers from tool drawers.

[watkibe]

The idea for this post came about when I was trying to help my brother get set up in reloading and casting. He had his nose stuck in all the catalogs and websites, which of course you have to do; but I couldn't help telling him that a lot of the important stuff isn't in those catalogs. Of course, I since have always discovered the best way to do anything. I feel obligated to share it with anyone not actively fleeing me to avoid hearing about The Right Way to Do Things.

When I had the farm, I discovered that the way to make sure a chore gets done is to make it as simple, quick and easy as possible. I now practice that principle in all of my affairs, lol.

Thanks a lot to all who contributed, including both the pro- and con- dowel contingencies, lol. I agree with someone's idea, that a set of plastic rods, maybe polypro, would be an unobjectionable alternative to wooden dowels on most counts; probably excepting cost !!!

[watkibe]

Some items I forgot: 1.) magnifying glasses. I have a handheld, and also one of those circular lamps with a large magnifying glass in the center. 2.) A large steel cooking pot with a lid and steel collander that fit (must fit well) for use when using liquid case cleaners. 3.) canned air (can't afford a compressor yet, but handy for cleaning), and 4.) non-chlorinated brake cleaner or other spray cleaner of your choice for de-greasing parts.

[Simonpie]

Years ago in my bachelor days I and a couple roommates used to do fab projects in the garage. Motorcycle hot rod stuff. Getting frustrated trying to find a Sharpie, one roommate went to Costco and bought a 50 pack box. He threw handfulls all over the garage. There was always one around when you wanted it.

[geargnasher]

This is a good idea, but I really hate the labels that are difficult to remove cleanly when you want to change them. I much prefer a roll of masking tape for this purpose. Easy on, easy off and cheap.

-ktw

+1 on the masking tape, I use the blue painter's tape (prettier!) in 1" and 1.5" for most of my labels, got tired of paying $5/100 at OfficeMax and they either stuck forever (like to plastic) of fell off (paper, cardboard, ammo boxes) of stuff I put them on. I store the tape in a stack with a couple of sharpies stuck in the middle, sharpie ink sticks to the tape but ballpoint pen not so much.

The other most used accessories on my bench that DIDN'T come from Midway are 400-grit emery paper (can't keep enough of it around), Johnson's Q-tips (NO generics here), glass bottles of Ed's Red, Bullplate sprue/press/lead pot/bore/trigger lube, Berryman brake cleaner (hard to keep enough of that around, too), red mechanic's rags (well used and washed, less lint than new ones), a LUTZ retractable utility knife, a few heavy steel coathangers, old bath towels, and several cheap spring-clamp spotlamps with aluminum reflectors.

I don't know about the rest of you, but if I couldn't have shop air piped into my reloading room I seriously think I'd have to give up this whole hobby. I have forgotten how to clean a gun, a press, primer feed tray, powder measure, plastic cartridge box, computer, or the bench without an air blower and a 25' hose reel.

Gear

[geargnasher]

Years ago in my bachelor days I and a couple roommates used to do fab projects in the garage. Motorcycle hot rod stuff. Getting frustrated trying to find a Sharpie, one roommate went to Costco and bought a 50 pack box. He threw handfulls all over the garage. There was always one around when you wanted it.

That's funny. I did the same thing with tape measures, carpenter pencils, 16-oz ball-peen hammers, pliers, and crescent wrenches. I bought about $300 worth of them some years ago at Harbor Freight and distributed them between the cars, shops, house, tool boxes, reloading room, and yard. I've since calculated my "saturation point" for tools. I have to have a minimum quantity of five of something on the premises to reliably be able to find ONE at any given moment. I expect the saturation point number to increase as I age.

Gear

[badbob454]

i use sharpies to write on my 50 cal boxes of ammo , and my folgers plastic coffee cans wipes off with brake cleaner , for my brass and boolits . .i'm too cheap for wax paper, i lube my boolits in lee alox and some solvent to wet it down , then lay it in a cardboard box and let it dry shake it loose and put it in a folgers can...

[warf73]

I don't know about the rest of you, but if I couldn't have shop air piped into my reloading room I seriously think I'd have to give up this whole hobby. I have forgotten how to clean a gun, a press, primer feed tray, powder measure, plastic cartridge box, computer, or the bench without an air blower and a 25' hose reel.

Gear

LOL Gear

I don't have a air hose to my reloading room I just pucker up and blow.

[jeff423]

You can actually buy "squib rods" They are made of brass and are sized for different calibers. I think I got an assortment of 4 for $25. I bought these after using pine and oak dowels. No problems with splinters.

Jeff