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Old February 27, 2014, 03:20 AM   #1
nemesiss45
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DIY projects, lets see em.

as much as I want to go out and spend tons of money on reloading, I have to keep myself on a pretty tight budget... at least if I want to be able to afford components. That said, when I can rig something up with stuff I have laying around the house to save a few bucks, I'm all over it. here are a few of my little projects that have either saved me a couple bucks or filled a need when I needed it filled.

Powder drop tube made from a silicone nozzle. the cap is drilled smaller to dump into .223, the nozzle is cut to dump longer cut extruded powders. I made it because I got the powder measure used and it had no drop tube.


I made this because I had a set of wooden trays for .223 and really like them compared to plastic. I figured I had wood, a drill press, and 15 minutes to kill. I'd like to re-do them in oak, but with wood prices how they are, it might be just as cheap to buy some.


This is a OAL gauge project from another post I saw. my own take on it. that is a 12" brake line from the auto parts store, soldered into a drilled out .308 case. a #8 metric screw and nut are soldered onto a hole in the back to lock the rod in place (with a larger not soldered to the head for easy turing) I have a piece of bar stock in it, but a cleaning rod will fit... I just didn't want to mar up a cleaning rod with the set screw. I think I may toss this one or try to rework it because I don't feel I can trust it to the thousandth of an inch.


Did this one tonight. Just got tired of picking up the calipers every time I seated a bullet.


This is a kydex cheek riser I built because I wanted one and didn't want to pay $40 for one someone else made. the kydex cost me $8, the star knobs and step bolts cost me another $7. and I got to cut it to fit just how I wanted it.





So what are some projects you all have made?
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Old February 27, 2014, 08:32 PM   #2
MountainFab
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I need my reloading press to be removable so I cut a piece of angle and drilled and tapped it and mounted the press to it. I clamp it in my wood workers vise that sits up under the bench.





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Old February 28, 2014, 01:06 AM   #3
jmorris
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Here are a few that I have built.

Automatic brass sorter



Automated annealing machine





Automated roll sizer




Bullet feeders




Case feeder

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Old February 28, 2014, 01:07 AM   #4
jmorris
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Moon clip loader



Even did a case feed conversion on a SD

This one is a video too, click on the photo.

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Old February 28, 2014, 01:08 AM   #5
jmorris
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Automatic bullet caster










Automatic bullet sizer



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Old February 28, 2014, 01:16 AM   #6
jmorris
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This is a video of one of the computer controled reloaders I have set up.



Another video of a device I built to cull SPP brass from large while loading.

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Old February 28, 2014, 04:12 AM   #7
nemesiss45
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dang guys, now my projects look like a kindergartner's finger painting lol. I wish I had room for an automatic brass sorter. awesome.
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Old February 28, 2014, 07:00 AM   #8
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Love that Moon Clip loader, a small market, but I imagine you could sell a bunch.
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Old February 28, 2014, 10:12 AM   #9
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Yeah, holy carp dude. Now I don't want to post anything else .
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Old February 28, 2014, 02:14 PM   #10
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Replaceable blade, adjustable shotshell hull trimmer from the junk box, a computer case, and a piece of door jamb:



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Old February 28, 2014, 02:50 PM   #11
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RCBS Pro 2000 $50 case feeder (Loads 9mm to .308 without expensive conversions).... click on the picture:


A $20 tube collator to go with it. Lee style but with a big difference! Loads 9mm to .308 100% base-down. (click the link below...again a video)

http://s935.photobucket.com/user/gst...ator1.mp4.html

Or how about a simple $2 fix on a Rock Chucker 2 to eject primers 100% into a can on the floor. click the picture again:


Last edited by GWS; February 28, 2014 at 03:09 PM.
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Old March 1, 2014, 02:04 AM   #12
jmorris
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Quote:
RCBS Pro 2000 $50 case feeder (Loads 9mm to .308 without expensive conversions).... click on the picture:
Do you have photos or a video of how it works?

Edit, I can see it works great but the method in that it works.
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Old March 1, 2014, 03:52 AM   #13
MountainFab
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JMorris, that brass sorter is great, it looks like a mini incline screen.
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Old March 1, 2014, 03:56 AM   #14
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I guess I'll throw these out too, even though JMorris is making me feel a bit self conscious .





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Old March 1, 2014, 11:07 PM   #15
GWS
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Quote:
Quote by jmorris:
RCBS Pro 2000 $50 case feeder (Loads 9mm to .308 without expensive conversions).... click on the picture:
Do you have photos or a video of how it works?

Edit, I can see it works great but the method in that it works.
jmorris: The picture below gives you a birds eye.....I wasn't kidding about the $50....and 1/2 of that was buying a 12x12x1 slab of UHMW sheet, of which I only used aprox. 1x1x6. You can see by the picture that there's very little to it. No motors. The only locomotion is the articulated case shuttle that spring-returns, and my left hand simply pushes the shuttle and releases it. Yeah it's simple, but that "personal" control is what makes it possible to advance the press independent from feeding brass. (as demoed in the video) What it can't do is work without an operator, like your motorized 1050 technically can.

I stewed for a couple of weeks trying to figure a way to make the press stroke both auto-advance the shellplate and feed a case. But then I discovered not only did it not need it, but that such would over complicate and make it more unreliable. As the video shows, a left hand that no longer has to feed bullets or cases....and has nothing else to do can shuttle the cases just as fast as the expensive machines.

I had to think outside the box on this one, mostly due the the fact that the press design using the APS primer system did not offer space for a feeding mechanism that was connected to the ram to be raised with it, where a bent rod could push a shuttle & case into the shellplate like other presses do it. My shuttle is stationary at the bottom of the stroke where it both primes and feeds cases.

I haven't made any more videos, but if you click on this Photo Bucket site link, you can follow the slide show pushing the arrow on the right.

The only caliber specific parts needed are the pvc pipe fittings I carved to allow that caliber's case to slide under it. Then clear tubing glued inside was fit so that when cases dropped they would not tip over. The shuttle being low against only the base of tall brass keeps it from tipping before it makes it to the shellplate.

I probably should do a short video to demonstrate that, I guess. The hardest part of the project was shaping the parts and mounting the shuttle....luckily RCBS provided the mounting holes intended to be used by their primer tube conversion. You can tell I had no machinery to cut the slots in the shuttle runner. That is a bit rough done with a drill, and a file.


Last edited by GWS; March 2, 2014 at 11:50 AM.
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Old March 2, 2014, 12:58 AM   #16
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Holy heck jmorris, those are incredible!! What in the heck do you do for a living? I consider myself a rather handy guy, but I would have no idea where to even begin on some of those designs.
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