Thrifty Reloading Tips--- List yours - Page 4

OP'S WORLD · September 16, 2006, 06:59 PM

I bought an RCBS powder trickler and the darn thing kept moving around on me when i used it.So i turned it over and poured lead in the base cavity and filled it up. Once it cooled i the siliconed it in permanantly. It does not move nearly as much now,and weighs 3x what it did originaly.

Edward429451 · September 18, 2006, 11:55 AM

Thats cool.

Wild Bill Bucks · September 18, 2006, 03:32 PM

A little off subject, but I found that if I run my used pyrodex boxes through my table saw and cut them off about 3/8" thick, they make excellent shell holders for my .44 magnum loads on the loading bench. I also buy my sabots in bulk, and buy my bullets for them in bulk. The boxes, cut down, serve as excellent holders for my muzzle loader sabot and bullet combinations, to take to the range.

flutedchamber · September 19, 2006, 10:35 PM

This is not a time saving trick, per se. The vibration that any case cleaner creates, whether it be vibratory or tumbler is more than enough to cause powder packing inside of any type powder measuring device. This will cause overloads because of settling, hangups because of settling, and perhaps if the powder is very close to the source of vibration, it may change the burn rate of the powder itself. Just a word of caution. It is not much fun to turn a gun into a grenade.

Keep your vibratory cleaners and tumblers away from any stored powder and be safe.

Superhornet · September 22, 2006, 07:25 AM

One of the greatest tips of all------I have my wife and daughter lube, size, trim, tumble and then prime all my rifle brass. I of course do the hard part of powder and bullet...works good...

sleeping dog · September 22, 2006, 09:21 AM

Superhornet, the topic is about saving money. Having a wife and daughter may be a couple of blessings, but it ain't cheap!

I get pretzels in giant plastic jars. Those are great for keeping brass in various stages of prep. Wash out the salt first, it's probably corrosive.

Regards.

Edward429451 · November 9, 2006, 03:08 PM

Revive this good ol thread!

Make your own bullet lube. I had no clue how easy this stuff was to make until I tried it. I havent actually shot any bullets with it yet by by comparing it to commercial Alox, saeco green, and red rooster...I know its going to work fine. It took about 30 -40 minutes to make ~120 dollars worth of lube for an outlay of about 30 bucks. I can already tell that I'll never buy commercial lube again.

The recipe list is short and can be tweaked to your particular application with ease. It's:

2 Tablespoons mineral oil
1 Tablespoon castor oil
1 Tablespoon Ivory, or homemade soap (grated)
1 Tablespoon Lanolin
Beeswax - Piece approximately 3 1/2" X 3 1/2" X 1 "

The Lube is called Felix World Famous Lube (FWFL) and complete instructions can be found at:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...highlight=FWFL

Da man "Felix" is there and is happy to answer questions, he's a good gent. Don't be confused by some of the banter, it really is easier than some guys make it sound. I used measuring spoons and it came out perfect.

cpaspr · November 9, 2006, 04:35 PM

My dad would use 50% beeswax, 50% parafin. Melt and mix, let cool. Set all the bullets needing lubing base down in a pie pan. Put on the stovetop on low and add enough chunks of lube mix till the melted mixture covered the grooves on the bullets. Remove from heat and let cool. The bullets can now be popped out with your thumb.

The real time saver comes on the next and subsequent batches. Simply turn the "holey" wax over, insert new bullets needing lube, add the pie pan and flip the whole thing back upright. Place on the burner just long enough for the wax to melt and flow, then remove from heat and allow to cool. Repeat as necessary to lube all your bullets. Add small amounts of lube mix wax as needed to keep the grooves covered.

CrustyFN · November 9, 2006, 10:09 PM

Take a fabric softener sheet for your dryer, cut it into 1" squares and add it to your tumbler. It will keep dust from sticking to your cases and will collect the dirt so your media will stay a lot cleaner.

RevoRick · November 9, 2006, 10:24 PM

Tumbler trick sounds great. Can hardly wait to try it. I use a plastic grit made of recycled pop and other plastic containers to tumble brass. It cleans great but most of the dust and crud doesn't stick to it but instead settles in the bottom of the tumbler or lightly adheres to the casings. This could be the answer to my prayers.

ps - I use the plastic grit as I can wash it and use it over and over.

flutedchamber · November 9, 2006, 11:45 PM

I use cat litter containers to store brass in. The type I buy, Exqusicat crystals from Petsmart comes in a two gallon clear plastic jug with a screw on cap with a pour spout type flapper on it. The jugs are strong, easy to label, and the top makes pouring easy, especially if you use it to store your ground walnut media.

shooter chef · November 12, 2006, 12:21 AM

I always let my wife try out my new loads first... she likes the excitement...lol
I use different colored markers on the bottom of my loads to differentiate between the different grains I use per rounds.

Scott5 · November 12, 2006, 12:34 AM

Use old media that you were going to throw out to fill the your rifle rest bags.
It's a lot lighter than sand and almost dirt cheap.

A lot of people tell you that you can't shoot cast bullets faster than 1000 fps because of leading the barrel - wrong.
I took some MICA and a bunch of cast bullets both 357 and 9mm and put them in 6 oz. Butter tub, rolled the bullets around in it and shot them at medium velocity.

Now I can shoot cast in my 9mm's and 357's as fast as jacketed.

Happy shooting
Scott5

HiPowering Along · November 15, 2006, 11:53 PM

Always keep at least two empty primer boxes (lg and small) around - you'll have a place to put the primers when you change from small to large calibers (can you tell I got caught with this one?

)

The small plastic 50 round .22 boxes (translucent blue, can't remember the brand right off) make great containers for your case gauges. One box holds the .45, .38/.357 and 9mm Dillon case gauges quite well - a small piece of foam cut to fit keeps them from rolling around in the box. Beats the heck out of constantly looking for them when they roll to the back of the cabinet!

safeshot · November 16, 2006, 06:45 PM

I will try the dryer sheet deal for sure. The .22 boxes are stingers CCI.

I use imperial sizing wax and carbide buttons like eirlier mentioned I lube every two to three cases and do not have to clean the dies as much, when I clean dies I use the long q-tips.

These are little things but the best tip I have is get a manet mirror type deal a miror on a stick or somthing like that and stick it to where you can see down in the case after a powder measure has dropped a charge. I use this on a dillon square deal B sence it doesn't have a powder check.

The next tip I have is DO NOT RELOAD IF YOU CAN NOT CLEAR YOUR MIND!!!!

SS

OneInTheChamber · November 16, 2006, 10:37 PM

I'll keep what I started going:

1. Collect EVERY caliber of common brass you find. If you don't shoot that caliber; save it. You may in the future. If you want cash for it; eBay it. You can get $25-$35 per 500 of common rifle and pistol calibers.

2. Get a hand priming tool. That way you can prime cases as you watch TV or such. I do this for the rifle calibers that I do single stage.

3. Always, always, always mark what kind of primers are in a feeder. You can't visually tell a rifle from a pistol primer; and you need to never, ever mix them up. It just makes good sense; and its free.

3. Always store lead shot in a separate bag than what you initially opened. That way; you don't spill thousands of little pieces of round lead all over the garage floor (been there, done that, and cleaned it up too).

frankxd · November 17, 2006, 10:16 AM

Here is a tip to save a ton of money on reloading supplies:

Get your C&R license and send a copy to Midway and Brownells and request to receive dealer pricing. The C&R license costs $30 for 3 years. You will save more than this on your first order.

When I first got into reloading, I bought all of my equipment from Midway. I saved almost $200 on my initial set-up!

Note: Go to surplusrifle.com for info on obtaining your C&R license.

hotwls13 · November 17, 2006, 12:07 PM

^^^FrankXD, what would you say is the average discount at Midway? I recently sent off for my C&R and hope to have it in about a month.

OneInTheChamber · November 18, 2006, 11:17 PM

Mods: Can this be tacked or made a Sticky so it doesn't slip away. There is a lot of valuable knowledge within these pages.

mrawesome22 · November 18, 2006, 11:42 PM

I give my vote for sticky.

CrustyFN · November 19, 2006, 02:47 PM

A sticky is a great idea.

RevoRick · November 19, 2006, 02:52 PM

I also agree with the sticky. This is and great reference for me now and will be into the future.

swmike · November 19, 2006, 07:44 PM

I had a bunch of cases to trim and got tired of using my old RCBS Case trimmer. Took a Lee Case Trimmer, locked the shell holder in a drill press vice, chucked the trimmer in the drill press (a $39 Harbor Freight Bench Top Drill Press) and trimmed 500 cases that afternoon. I set the drill press on the slowest setting and let the vise "float" on the table so it would align with the trimmer easily.

I also use the drill press to clean primer pockets and cut the military crimp out. Unlike those case prep stations where the work is done on the bottom while you are looking at the top, you can see what is happening without having to turn the case over.

frankxd · November 22, 2006, 09:39 AM

Quote:

^^^FrankXD, what would you say is the average discount at Midway? I recently sent off for my C&R and hope to have it in about a month.

There really is no average discount. On some items, the discount is only a couple of pennies while on others it is up to 40%

. On my last order, I bought a Streamlight TRL-1 for my buddy. List price was $129.99; I paid $92.99

. That's the other cool part about it- I never seem to have to pay for shipping anymore, because my friends always have a list of items to purchase for them.

If I had to guess on an average savings, I'd say about 20%.

cpaspr · November 22, 2006, 11:06 AM

and is there a requirement that you ACTUALLY HAVE curios and relics that you've collected, or simply that you might in the future?

September 16, 2006, 06:59 PM	#76
OP'S WORLD Junior Member Join Date: September 16, 2006 Posts: 5	powder trickler I bought an RCBS powder trickler and the darn thing kept moving around on me when i used it.So i turned it over and poured lead in the base cavity and filled it up. Once it cooled i the siliconed it in permanantly. It does not move nearly as much now,and weighs 3x what it did originaly.

September 19, 2006, 10:35 PM	#79
flutedchamber Member Join Date: July 14, 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 61	Case tumblers and benchtops This is not a time saving trick, per se. The vibration that any case cleaner creates, whether it be vibratory or tumbler is more than enough to cause powder packing inside of any type powder measuring device. This will cause overloads because of settling, hangups because of settling, and perhaps if the powder is very close to the source of vibration, it may change the burn rate of the powder itself. Just a word of caution. It is not much fun to turn a gun into a grenade. Keep your vibratory cleaners and tumblers away from any stored powder and be safe.

November 9, 2006, 04:35 PM	#83
cpaspr Senior Member Join Date: October 20, 2005 Location: Oregon Posts: 304	Homemade bullet lube My dad would use 50% beeswax, 50% parafin. Melt and mix, let cool. Set all the bullets needing lubing base down in a pie pan. Put on the stovetop on low and add enough chunks of lube mix till the melted mixture covered the grooves on the bullets. Remove from heat and let cool. The bullets can now be popped out with your thumb. The real time saver comes on the next and subsequent batches. Simply turn the "holey" wax over, insert new bullets needing lube, add the pie pan and flip the whole thing back upright. Place on the burner just long enough for the wax to melt and flow, then remove from heat and allow to cool. Repeat as necessary to lube all your bullets. Add small amounts of lube mix wax as needed to keep the grooves covered.

November 9, 2006, 10:09 PM	#84
CrustyFN Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2006 Location: West Virginia Posts: 2,258	Take a fabric softener sheet for your dryer, cut it into 1" squares and add it to your tumbler. It will keep dust from sticking to your cases and will collect the dirt so your media will stay a lot cleaner. __________________ I don't ever remember being absent minded.

November 9, 2006, 10:24 PM	#85
RevoRick Senior Member Join Date: February 19, 2005 Location: Minnesota Posts: 201	Tumbler trick sounds great. Can hardly wait to try it. I use a plastic grit made of recycled pop and other plastic containers to tumble brass. It cleans great but most of the dust and crud doesn't stick to it but instead settles in the bottom of the tumbler or lightly adheres to the casings. This could be the answer to my prayers. ps - I use the plastic grit as I can wash it and use it over and over. __________________ Criminals thrive on the indulgence of an understanding society DW 10mm CBOB, 10mm Experimental, .45 Pointman GD, .45 Patriot CCO. DW 744 VH .44 6", 715 VH .357 4". Fusion 10mm Longslide XM-10 Tactical Hunter. Glock 19c, Browning Buckmark, S&W 686 .357 4", 629 .44mag 8 3/8". Uberti Cattleman .45LC. http://www.1911auto.org/forum/index.php?referrerid=24

September 18, 2006, 11:55 AM	#77
Edward429451 Junior member Join Date: November 12, 2000 Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado Posts: 9,494	Thats cool.

September 18, 2006, 03:32 PM	#78
Wild Bill Bucks Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 2005 Location: Southeastern Oklahoma, Next door to Sasquatch Posts: 1,266	A little off subject, but I found that if I run my used pyrodex boxes through my table saw and cut them off about 3/8" thick, they make excellent shell holders for my .44 magnum loads on the loading bench. I also buy my sabots in bulk, and buy my bullets for them in bulk. The boxes, cut down, serve as excellent holders for my muzzle loader sabot and bullet combinations, to take to the range.

September 22, 2006, 07:25 AM	#80
Superhornet Senior Member Join Date: March 24, 2005 Location: florida Posts: 292	One of the greatest tips of all------I have my wife and daughter lube, size, trim, tumble and then prime all my rifle brass. I of course do the hard part of powder and bullet...works good...

September 22, 2006, 09:21 AM	#81
sleeping dog Senior Member Join Date: March 2, 2000 Location: MI Posts: 536	Superhornet, the topic is about saving money. Having a wife and daughter may be a couple of blessings, but it ain't cheap! I get pretzels in giant plastic jars. Those are great for keeping brass in various stages of prep. Wash out the salt first, it's probably corrosive. Regards.

November 9, 2006, 03:08 PM	#82
Edward429451 Junior member Join Date: November 12, 2000 Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado Posts: 9,494	Revive this good ol thread! Make your own bullet lube. I had no clue how easy this stuff was to make until I tried it. I havent actually shot any bullets with it yet by by comparing it to commercial Alox, saeco green, and red rooster...I know its going to work fine. It took about 30 -40 minutes to make ~120 dollars worth of lube for an outlay of about 30 bucks. I can already tell that I'll never buy commercial lube again. The recipe list is short and can be tweaked to your particular application with ease. It's: 2 Tablespoons mineral oil 1 Tablespoon castor oil 1 Tablespoon Ivory, or homemade soap (grated) 1 Tablespoon Lanolin Beeswax - Piece approximately 3 1/2" X 3 1/2" X 1 " The Lube is called Felix World Famous Lube (FWFL) and complete instructions can be found at: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...highlight=FWFL Da man "Felix" is there and is happy to answer questions, he's a good gent. Don't be confused by some of the banter, it really is easier than some guys make it sound. I used measuring spoons and it came out perfect.

November 9, 2006, 11:45 PM	#86
flutedchamber Member Join Date: July 14, 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 61	I use cat litter containers to store brass in. The type I buy, Exqusicat crystals from Petsmart comes in a two gallon clear plastic jug with a screw on cap with a pour spout type flapper on it. The jugs are strong, easy to label, and the top makes pouring easy, especially if you use it to store your ground walnut media.

November 12, 2006, 12:21 AM	#87
shooter chef Senior Member Join Date: November 2, 2006 Location: Northeast, Ohio Posts: 106	I always let my wife try out my new loads first... she likes the excitement...lol I use different colored markers on the bottom of my loads to differentiate between the different grains I use per rounds. __________________ "You're grounded"... My wife

November 12, 2006, 12:34 AM	#88
Scott5 Senior Member Join Date: November 25, 2004 Posts: 134	Use old media that you were going to throw out to fill the your rifle rest bags. It's a lot lighter than sand and almost dirt cheap. A lot of people tell you that you can't shoot cast bullets faster than 1000 fps because of leading the barrel - wrong. I took some MICA and a bunch of cast bullets both 357 and 9mm and put them in 6 oz. Butter tub, rolled the bullets around in it and shot them at medium velocity. Now I can shoot cast in my 9mm's and 357's as fast as jacketed. Happy shooting Scott5

November 15, 2006, 11:53 PM	#89
HiPowering Along Senior Member Join Date: January 1, 2006 Location: PA - Land of taxes, potholes and unfortunately Ed "Gun Grabbin' Fast Eddie" Rendell Posts: 254	Always keep at least two empty primer boxes (lg and small) around - you'll have a place to put the primers when you change from small to large calibers (can you tell I got caught with this one? ) The small plastic 50 round .22 boxes (translucent blue, can't remember the brand right off) make great containers for your case gauges. One box holds the .45, .38/.357 and 9mm Dillon case gauges quite well - a small piece of foam cut to fit keeps them from rolling around in the box. Beats the heck out of constantly looking for them when they roll to the back of the cabinet! __________________ HP'ing Along - - - - - - - - - - - - - *"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."* - One of the greatest sentences ever written into an instrument of democracy.

November 16, 2006, 06:45 PM	#90
safeshot Junior Member Join Date: November 16, 2006 Posts: 5	I will try the dryer sheet deal for sure. The .22 boxes are stingers CCI. I use imperial sizing wax and carbide buttons like eirlier mentioned I lube every two to three cases and do not have to clean the dies as much, when I clean dies I use the long q-tips. These are little things but the best tip I have is get a manet mirror type deal a miror on a stick or somthing like that and stick it to where you can see down in the case after a powder measure has dropped a charge. I use this on a dillon square deal B sence it doesn't have a powder check. The next tip I have is DO NOT RELOAD IF YOU CAN NOT CLEAR YOUR MIND!!!! SS

November 16, 2006, 10:37 PM	#91
OneInTheChamber Senior Member Join Date: December 12, 2005 Posts: 789	I'll keep what I started going: 1. Collect EVERY caliber of common brass you find. If you don't shoot that caliber; save it. You may in the future. If you want cash for it; eBay it. You can get $25-$35 per 500 of common rifle and pistol calibers. 2. Get a hand priming tool. That way you can prime cases as you watch TV or such. I do this for the rifle calibers that I do single stage. 3. Always, always, always mark what kind of primers are in a feeder. You can't visually tell a rifle from a pistol primer; and you need to never, ever mix them up. It just makes good sense; and its free. 3. Always store lead shot in a separate bag than what you initially opened. That way; you don't spill thousands of little pieces of round lead all over the garage floor (been there, done that, and cleaned it up too). __________________ Insert witty, comical, and/or significant quote here.

November 17, 2006, 10:16 AM	#92
frankxd Senior Member Join Date: July 31, 2006 Posts: 211	Here is a tip to save a ton of money on reloading supplies: Get your C&R license and send a copy to Midway and Brownells and request to receive dealer pricing. The C&R license costs $30 for 3 years. You will save more than this on your first order. When I first got into reloading, I bought all of my equipment from Midway. I saved almost $200 on my initial set-up! Note: Go to surplusrifle.com for info on obtaining your C&R license.

November 17, 2006, 12:07 PM	#93
hotwls13 Member Join Date: March 2, 2005 Location: Bakersfield, CA Posts: 68	^^^FrankXD, what would you say is the average discount at Midway? I recently sent off for my C&R and hope to have it in about a month. __________________ "Speak softly and carry a big stick " Theodore Roosevelt

November 18, 2006, 11:17 PM	#94
OneInTheChamber Senior Member Join Date: December 12, 2005 Posts: 789	Mods: Can this be tacked or made a Sticky so it doesn't slip away. There is a lot of valuable knowledge within these pages. __________________ Insert witty, comical, and/or significant quote here.

November 18, 2006, 11:42 PM	#95
mrawesome22 Senior Member Join Date: November 9, 2005 Location: Ohio, Appalachia's foothills. Posts: 3,779	I give my vote for sticky.

November 19, 2006, 02:47 PM	#96
CrustyFN Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2006 Location: West Virginia Posts: 2,258	A sticky is a great idea. __________________ I don't ever remember being absent minded.

November 19, 2006, 02:52 PM	#97
RevoRick Senior Member Join Date: February 19, 2005 Location: Minnesota Posts: 201	I also agree with the sticky. This is and great reference for me now and will be into the future. __________________ Criminals thrive on the indulgence of an understanding society DW 10mm CBOB, 10mm Experimental, .45 Pointman GD, .45 Patriot CCO. DW 744 VH .44 6", 715 VH .357 4". Fusion 10mm Longslide XM-10 Tactical Hunter. Glock 19c, Browning Buckmark, S&W 686 .357 4", 629 .44mag 8 3/8". Uberti Cattleman .45LC. http://www.1911auto.org/forum/index.php?referrerid=24

November 19, 2006, 07:44 PM	#98
swmike Senior Member Join Date: June 25, 2005 Location: Marysville, WA Posts: 670	I had a bunch of cases to trim and got tired of using my old RCBS Case trimmer. Took a Lee Case Trimmer, locked the shell holder in a drill press vice, chucked the trimmer in the drill press (a $39 Harbor Freight Bench Top Drill Press) and trimmed 500 cases that afternoon. I set the drill press on the slowest setting and let the vise "float" on the table so it would align with the trimmer easily. I also use the drill press to clean primer pockets and cut the military crimp out. Unlike those case prep stations where the work is done on the bottom while you are looking at the top, you can see what is happening without having to turn the case over. __________________ My definition of Gun Control--- A steady grip and hitting your target. "In God we trust, all others are suspects." "If I shoot all the ammo I am carrying, either I won't need any more, or more won't be of any help". ____________________________________________

November 22, 2006, 11:06 AM	#100
cpaspr Senior Member Join Date: October 20, 2005 Location: Oregon Posts: 304	I looked into a C&R FFL, and is there a requirement that you ACTUALLY HAVE curios and relics that you've collected, or simply that you might in the future?