Iowegan

Based on a suggestion from Song Dawg, here's a place to post those valuable tips and tricks you learned about firearms related topics. If this works out, maybe we can have Keith make a new forum for it. I'll start off by referencing billt's excellent suggestion for using dish racks in your gun safe. See: http://www.rugerforum.net/showthread.php?t=8292 Thanks Song Dawg!

Iowegan

I'll break the ice ....

For all you Dillon 550 owners ... you may have noticed the very disturbing light dents in your seated primers. This comes from powder pucky and tumbler media that gets under the shell holder, rolls around, then drops into the primer punch cup. When you prime a case, the crud makes small dents in the primer. Although this really doesn't bother the function of the ammo, it does look bad.

Here's my solution: use a Dremmel with a cutting disk and cut a "crud channel" in the ram's base. As the shell holder is rotated, crud will get picked up by the channel and diverted to the live ammo tray. No more primer dents!!

Cutter

Thank you Iowegan. You have solved a problem that has been bothering me about my reloads appearance for some time, with a neat permanent fix. It seems that I am always cleaning the primer punch but can't stay ahead of the buildup. Now I need to make this modification, empty some brass, and then load some unblemished rounds!

SAJohn

If you ever have to repair a crack in a gunstock or forearm, first heat the wood in your oven to about 200 deg F. This will expand a tight crack. Mix epoxy after hunting outside for a mediam size bird wing feather. Dip the feather in the epoxy then slide the feather into the crack to deposit the epoxy. A bird feather will slide in there better than anything else I have ever tried. Then, of course, clamp the wood while the epoxy is hardening.

SAJohn

Neophyte

Iowegan: Sir; did you ''channel'' all 550 :shell holders? Or were you just having the problem on one in particular.
Questions with answers are ""outstanding

Tips and Tricks

Song Dawg

Here's few tools I've used to enhance shooting on the cheap!

Here's an easy way to open up that barrel channel to accommodate a bull barrel.
Wrap an electrical sweep with progressive sand papers. It provides an east effect solution with a handle.



A simple pull thru pocket size bore cleaner can be made from .095 weed wacker line. Simply cut an appropriate length of line...melt on end into a small ball and cut the other on the bias for patch piercing and coil & place in a disgarded chew can.



A discarded plastic chlorine bucket can be modified to become a great shooting /range box and bench seat. How to's on request.





I'm happy to help on any of these!

SD

Neophyte

What about YOUR reloading Equipment.

For us wanna-bees

How about sharing with thoughts and feelings about yours, theirs', them and those.

How about PICTURES

How about SHOP set-ups

How about "Special" tools, tooling

Make this into LIBRARY deal.

Add to this; I may not be asking correctly. Let it be specifically "Reloading Equipment-shop thinking" based

Thanks; Craig

daizee

I've been having lead & carbon buildup problems in my S&W .38 cylinder immediately at the end of the cartridge mouths inside the chambers. It is *incredibly* difficult to get out. I've used brushes, coil brushes, solvents, patches, copper and graphite scrapers (ends of tubing).

Last time cleaning I well full-bore (pardon) on an idea I had earlier:

The .357 dies were already sitting in the progressive press, so I grabbed a .357 empty from my utility brass box and ran it into the mouth-expander die (no powder in the hopper). Then I tapped it into a .38 chamber with the rubberized back of a screwdriver. Ta-da! the ring is scraped loose 360-degrees around the chamber. The ejector star will loosen the overlong cartridge easily. I ran the brass back into the die for each chamber, and the problem was 98% gone in 5 minutes following a quick brushing to get the loose scum out.

Now there's the lead sheeting problem around the chamber mouths after the chamber taper... That's another story. Maybe Lewis Lead Remover is in my future. I'm almost done with these troublesome target bullets. Hopefully my new batch will be less leady.

-Daizee

Iowegan

Neophyte, I should have been a bit more specific. The part in the photo is not the shell holder ... it's the top of the ram where the shell holder sits. It's a one time modification that fixes the crud problem no matter what shell holder you use.

As for the other suggestions ... all valid but we already have a reloading forum that should cover everything you listed.

P.S. Good tips guys!

Neophyte

Iowegan: Sir; thanks for the clarification with.

Now; the Reloading Equiptment Only or what-ever. Finding anything with 'Search" just doesn't work for me.
Gets discouraging at times" VERY discouraging.

Song Dawg

Consider this remedy for the most common problem on the most popular Ruger!
Here's a "How to" on tweaking and cleaning the BX-1 Mag on a 10/22.
Many FTF's and jams can be traced to the BX-1 Mag not being clean or tensioned properly even when new.

http://www.heypete.com/pete/shooting/rugermag.html

SD

billt

I'll share something I finally acted on after toying with the idea for a long time. I purchased an Ultrasonic Cleaner for the sole purpose of cleaning really dirty firearm components like bolt and carrier assemblies from AR-15's, single action revolver cylinders, and bolts and magazines from military bolt action rifles that are packed with Cosmoline. What kept me from this for the longest time was cost. Ultrasonic Cleaners of enough size and capacity are usually too expensive to make them feasible. I bought this unit from Harbor Freight Tools for $80.00:



http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/...bCategoryName=

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/...bCategoryName=

They carry several different units, all at reasonable prices. They also have small, inexpensive, portable air compressors. (I'll get to that in a minute). I've found the quality to be satisfactory for the task at hand. This unit has heat, but it isn't powerful enough to heat the water fast enough for the short cycle time the unit is used for, (usually around 8 minutes for most cleaning jobs.) So I heat the water on the stove before I put it into the unit until it's just hot enough to allow me to dip my finger in it without having to pull it out. I also add some dish washing detergent like Palmolive, or Joy. I've found it will remove the worst crud and gunk in short order. One thing I would mention is not to clean Aluminium parts in it. Aluminum is not a very dense material and can be subjected to a phenomenon known as cavitation. The bubbles generated by the Ultrasonic process itself can erode the surface enough to cause a frosting effect. But for steel it couldn't work much better. Afterward I rinse in hot tap water, then blow everything dry with compressed air, then flood everything liberally with WD-40 which can be purchased by the gallon for not much more than double gasoline at today's prices. The WD-40 I use for just displacing any water that might remain from the Ultrasonic cleaning and rinsing process. I then blow everything off again, lubricate, and I'm good to go. There is no odor or mess afterward to clean up. Just dump the soap and water cleaning solution down the drain. This process is great for cleaning magazines without having to disassemble them. I keep a large glass jar full of WD-40 for soaking them afterward, then blow dry. They come out spotless. This is the fastest, easiest, and best way to clean several different firearms components I have found yet. It is also great for cleaning small amounts of cartridge brass before polishing and reloading. They will come out looking better than factory ammo. The only thing governing it's use is the size of the unit itself, and your imagination. Bill T.

Doc45

This happened to me the other night. I had to pull several bullets and in getting my bullet puller ready (the hammer kind from RCBS) I dropped the collet and that little black rubber O-ring went to parts unkown. I really wanted to get these five bullets taken care of so I grabbed a shell holder and used that in the puller. Worked GREAT. That O-ring can stay where ever it's at.

kansas45

I tried that same thing with the shell holder awhile back, Doc. It does work pretty darn good!

MtJerry

I had a reloading accident about 2 years ago using a shell holder instead of the collet supplied with the puller.

Here is a thread where I described the incident and provided some pictures. Please read the whole thread as it took some investigating to figure it out.

http://www.familyfriendsfirearms.com...ading+accident

In short, using a shell holder in an inertial puller caused a cartridge to detonate in my garage. I do not recommend anyone use a shell holder instead of the supplied. collet.

Doc45

MtJerry, I just read your thread and what was said makes a good reason for not using a shell holder. I went home and checked and yes, there is the chance of the primer contacting the shell holder. Maybe this was not such a good idea. Thank you for your input.

MtJerry

Mistakes can be hard lessons, it's better when we don't have to go thru what others have experienced.

My pleasure ... be safe.

daizee

I really like the weed-whacker line pull-thru patch cleaner.
(I use wee-whacker line crimped back on itself as a chamber safety indicator.)

For cleaning a pesky .17hmr, the tools in my kit are cumbersome.
Turns out that felt airgun cleaning pellets are *great* for this job. They're designed for a .177 bore, so they're oversize. Just roll them a little between your fingers and soak them with a copper solvent. Push each one thru maybe twice, and do this a few times. Voila! What a difference. No bent rods, no torn platic jag threads, etc.

-Daizee

nicholst55

Another tip to get epoxy down into a crack is to use some low-pressure compressed air. The 'canned air' they sell for cleaning computer keyboards works very well. If you or your kids are paintballers and use a SCUBA tank as an air source, that would also work well.

jeepincalifornia

This has been discussed but I didn't see it in this thread:

A ridiculously easy to make homemade "thumbsaver" for loading those Ruger Mark "X" magazines. I made this right before taking out my new Mark III last weekend; and I went through a box of Winchester 333's and my thumb didn't feel a thing. It took very little effort to use, especially when positioning the bottom of the mag on the shooting bench and using my fingers to push down...

I drilled a few holes just smaller than the width of a mag, then shaped them to fit with a few files (square and round); and a little sanding finished it off. It didn't take more than 15 minutes. And the best part, of course, was that the little piece of scrap wood was just layin' around.

Even blurry cell phone pictures speak a thousand words!

Attached Images

	Mark III magazine and home thumb-saver.jpg (76.4 KB, 102 views)
	Mark III magazine and home thumb-saver, DEMO.jpg (71.5 KB, 110 views)

billt

http://www.magloader.com/

These work great on centerfire pistol rounds. I always keep several in my shooting bag. It allows you to get that last round in all of the Hi-Caps without busting your thumb. Bill T.

Flahotrod

^^^
That's a good idea. I have not seen them before. I'll have to pick up some when I see them.

CodyBrown

If I'm only pulling a small amount of bullets, I place the correct shellholder in my rcbs single stage press with no dies in it. I raise the ram up, grab the bullet with a pair of lineman pliers (the crimping section) and lower the ram. Pulls the bullet with no problems. I don't have a bullet puller of any kind, so that's how I use it. I lose the bullet, but everything else is fine.

gobetween

For loading Mark I/II/III magazines: a small, thick nylon washer slipped over the stud on the side works great. It's easy on the thumb, requires no whittling, and they're cheap enough to buy by the dozen (for when your thumb slips off while loading and it ends up forward of the firing line—haha).

cvnhank

Excellent Idea! Hank

c.r.

Don't know if this is a tip or trick, but it makes things just a little easier during one of my reloading steps.

I only reload for revolvers right now, so at the range when I finish a cylinder, i return the casing back to the plastic, flip top, reloading case.

I have a dedicated depriming press and use the lee depriming die. I deprime before tumbling.

well if i turn my plastic reloading case upside down and flip it open, almost all the cases will stay upright on the case lid and be in the perfect position for me to grab one or two at at time so that i can quickly place them into my shell holder.

It helps prevent from fumbling around with the cases when I dump them all in a container (you know to get them in your hand correctly so you can place them in the shell holder) and it's a lot easier to grab them compared to having left them in the plastic reloading case and picking each one out of its slot.

C.R.

lakota

Put a little piece of steel wool in one of those nut setters for electric drills and chuck it in your drill. Use it to polish the case mouth after chamfering and deburring.

rtyson

I will pick up a bag of nylon washers on the way home this evening...
Thanx

h2o4lf

The chew can is a great idea for another great idea the weed whacker line bore cleaner. Thanks for the ideas.

whitewizard

This magazine loader is VERY cool!

gb6491

I like it!

Here's a field expedient thumb saver that is only a soda (or bottled water) away :


Regards,
Greg

spent casings

Bottle cap is a great on-the-go McGyver type rig. Thumbs up!

Dave