What cheap accessory is your most valuable

[goldfacade]

I find that Dillon's ammo boxes are indespensible to me. I'm not real careful in the transportation of my reloads(more than once I've driven off with ammo on my trucks bumper). The Frankford Arsenal box lids break off after just a few uses, but the Dillon's last much longer. A cheap accessory that is worth its weight in gold in keeping your beautiful reloads from being scattered in the street.

Whats yours?

[Unclenick]

Once bought a really wimpy little light-weight staple gun from K-mart. It couldn't drive staples into anything much harder than balsa wood, but for hanging targets on cardboard it is still just perfect. $2, maybe, from one of those mixed tool bin displays.

Fiberglass window screen. Staple it to a stick and let the bottom hang loose. Dangle it from the shooting seat to decelerated and drop ejected brass that was on its way to Never Never land. If the wind isn't busy on shooting day, hang one off the scope stand to stop your neighbor's brass from landing in your shooting jacket collar.

Can't get 'em anymore, but back in the days before PC's and layout software, we made camera-ready circuit board artwork with little black peel-off stick-on tape donuts for through-hole circuit board pads. I'd keep a couple of sizes of those in my shooting box or in my rifle kit folding chair pockets. They could be placed anywhere on my glasses to create an aperture to increase depth of field and clear up the sight picture.

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

coffee can for holding brass
spaghetti jars for holding boolits

[tomh1426]

Theirs a bunch of little cheap stuff I couldnt do without.
At the range I throw all my brass into a coffee can.
When I get home I tumble my brass and dump everything into a dollar store punch bowl, then pour it threw the strainer back into the tumbler.
From thier it goes into some cheap glad tubaware, then I work the brass in batches, from one tubaware to another.
After I prime Its on to the loading block, best couple bucks you'll ever spend.
when Im all done they get put into blue mtm cases.
All cheap stuff I couldnt do without and Im sure Im missing some!

[RidgwayCO]

1) Redding's Imperial sizing die wax. Makes resizing rifle cases so easy, I don't know why you'd use anything else. Plus a tin seems to last forever.

2) A large aluminum funnel. I use this every time I reload to put powder from the powder measure back into its original container. Never any static cling as can happen with plastic.

3) 5"x8" index cards. I created one to keep all the necessary information I need about every caliber I reload (max case length, trim-to case length, max cartridge overall length, shell holder number, and loading tray number). I also have a couple that help me fine tune loads with the Lee Pro Auto Disk measure. These cards live on my reloading bench, as they save me an enormous amount of time, especially the cards that help me figure out which Lee cavities (or combination of cavities) to use to get the weight of powder I want.

4) Desktop calculator with large display. I use this all the time to help fine-tune loads.

[Unclenick]

"Tubaware". I love it. I'm going to steal that at the first opportunity.

[BigJimP]

A "case gague" for under $ 15 for each caliber I reload......

I check each round with the case gague as I box it up / any round that does not slide in easily ( and be flush ) and drop out easily is rejected. It means you catch the occasional case with a little burr on it, or a crack in the case that opened up after you loaded it - all of which could or would be feeding problems. I buy mine from Dillon.

[Sevens]

I find myself wanting to comment MORE on the replies than I do on my own cheap stuff. I'll do both!

Imperial sizing wax-- great stuff. Can't call it cheap when you buy it (like 7 or 8 bucks a tin, isnt' it?) but when you spend years using it and it still looks like you haven't used any, then you know how cheap it was. The stuff is terrific and lasts forever. I wouldn't call the stuff "Redding", Redding bought 'em but they were around for a lifetime before Redding slapped their name on it.

Ammo boxes: I haven't used the Dillon, but I've used MTM, Frankford Arsenal and the older Midway boxes. My favorite-- Berry's. Berry's is better than all the others, IMO. They seem to have a slightly more flexible plastic that keeps them from chipping or cracking. They also stack nicely and sit together well. I prefer them clear so I have a quick view as to the contents. Berry's even ships them free just like they do with their bullets. If you don't have any ammo boxes and you are in the market, I recommend them over the others.

My two cheapest necessities at the load bench? First would be Dixie cups. Like the tiny size kids use in the bathroom. How cheap am I... I've been using the same single dumb little Dixie cup for 5+ years. I dump all wayward powder in it while I'm working, and back in to the can or measure with it.

The other cheap necessity: Sno-cone cones! I cut the tip off them and they become nice little utility funnels. Not for charging cases, obviously, but when I empty the powder measure back in to the can or bottle or that sort of thing. They are perfect. Sno-cones with the bottom cut off ends up giving you a cheap funnel much like the giveaway funnels at gas stations (that you don't see any more.)

I also use a heap of plastic containers for brass and I always keep a stack of Cool-whip containers at the load bench for brass I'm currently working on.

[flashhole]

Fine steel wool and fine emory cloth.

Lee case length gauge trimmers.

Q-tips with the wood handle.

Shot glass size containers.

El Cheapo plastic Walmart organizing bins.

Die ring wrench.

Small plastic funnel that I bought for 50 cents at a gun show.

Square primer tray, another 50 purchase at a gun show.

Spray bottle filled with 409.

And my all time favorite cheap (read free) accessories are the plastic cartridge holders that people toss at the range when they shoot a box of ammo. They are great for batch processing brass.

[armoredman]

$5 dollar plastic filing cabinet all of 8 inches high, holds all kinds of stuff.

[steven-223]

the lee case trimmer especialy the drill shellholder

[flashhole]

I should have added a magnifying glass and ziplock baggies to my first post.

[Inspector3711]

My staple gun... Home Depot $7... Works like the fancy Power Shot stapler but is $15 cheaper and is made from top grade chicom plastic. This makes it very light for the range bag.

Planters peanut cans and the big sour cream tubs from costco for brass. I also can fit about 100 loaded .223 rounds in a peanut can.

My Harbor Freight two drum tumbler.

[tmd47762]

A broken aluminum turkey baster. The bulb was destroyed by dry rot, but with a bit of modification it makes a great funnel for 9mm and fits the threads on my powder measure.

Ink-jet printer paper and a cheap paint brush. This is the only way I can manage to pick up the powder that my MEC charge bar loves to throw everywhere (SR7625 is the worst culprit).

A "Steel Recycles!" promotional give away magnet. It came with all these little steel recycling symbols that stuck to the strong plastic encased magnet. Those get put aside after coming back from the range. With this little charm I can just grab any brass that looks decent on the ground and swipe it over the sorting box and magically remove all the Wolf cases.

[duck911]

Without a doubt, my RCBS powder trickler. I cannot imagine loading rifle rounds without being able to trickle up to the proper amount (I hand weigh every load)

--Duck911

[Rembrandt]

Convex truck mirror for viewing inside case feeder...

[flashhole]

Now that's cool!

[sundog]

A piece of stiff wire, straightened, and a very short 90d bend on the end to make a 'feela gage' to test for pending head separation in in cases. Coat hanger, heavy paper clip, etc., work equally well. I been using the same piece of wire coat hanger for many, many years. How's that for cheap? And useful?

[K.W.]

LEE´s RGB die sets .222Rem and .30-06Spr. Only 28€ / piece. ($39)

[roy reali]

Q-tips with the wood handle.

Ditto on that one!

[Farmland]

Plastic bags, Zip Lock type for storing reloaded ammunition.

[Rembrandt]

Not really the cheapest item, but it has been invaluable.....vac sealer for packaging brass and ammo.

[robphillips]

frankford arsenal vibraprime

[castnblast]

Lee Case Length gauges. You can't screw up your case trim w/ one of these.

[Jeff H]

All the empty 3lb coffee that I take from the office once they are empty. Free is good.