Interesting or unique tools out there?

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
OK, here is a demooner I made from a piece of scrap rod stock. After I made it I looked at it and decided that if somebody had a shot out 1911 style barrel they could ream the chamber out a little for ease of use and put a piece of rubber tubing on it for a handle and have essentially the same thing. It works pretty well, just a twist of the wrist does it.

demooner2.jpg
 

Ian

Notorious member
Good idea, Keith, if I ever get around to rebarreling the basket-case Model 25 I have a nearly new junk barrel off of a Colt Commander that will serve the de-mooning purpose.

I'll be happy to take you up on your offer, I always regretted not having some way to catch bullets.
 
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KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
I've heard people doing the golf club thing and being very satisfied with the end result. I don't golf but I have lots of scrap steel laying around.
 

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
A select few of you know what this is and may even have a set of your own.

View attachment 25102
Yep, I have a set. Right spiffy, too, at least for my usage, and is not part of my downsizing project. Had to employ the drill press and a file to fabricate a longer push rod out of all-thread.

Ian, for a bullet catcher I glued a plastic soda bottle cap to the top of the aluminum block and screw on a plastic bottle that I cut the bottom off of.

Prior to Ian's post I thought about showing off my left-handed screwdriver. Thanks, Ian, for saving me from myself.
 
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KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
462 - If you want one of he redesigned catch bottle adapters I'll be glad to send you one, same deal, just pay for postage. Send me your current address. I would like feedback from you and Ian whenever you use them so I know they work as well as I hope they would.

I increased the length of the pushrods a little on the 2nd generation so the bullets would completely clear the die body, sorry you had to make your own.

I was thinking of re-offering these for sale but they are so labor intensive that I would have to charge more for them, I'm no longer a hobbyist and I have to charge professional machine shop rates and the price of materials is a lot higher now. But I would consider it. With everyone going to PC now a good push thru sizer setup might prove to be popular. But it wouldn't be at LEE prices although I think the quality would be better.
 

sdj

New Member
A mod to the Lee push thru sizer push rod. A spring and a sliding sleeve. The sleeve holds the bullet on the top of the rod so it doesn’t falloff. Not a huge issue with larger diameters but with 30 and under it can be a pain in the arse.

At some point with the right tools your mind is the most important and unique tool at the loading bench.
I have thought thru many situations and found a way to make hints happen. Is t always pretty and it doesn’t always work well but it is always a good learning lesson.

Never, ever stop dreaming!

View attachment 24895View attachment 24896
I have been thinking of something like this for nose sizing some bullets, 30 cal and some larger ones, 453 down to 446
 

Ian

Notorious member
I experimented with longer pushrods but found that with the larger calibers it took too much force on the press handle to start the bullet into the die due to loss of mechanical advantage, so I just live with the "POP" and hold my hand over the top to keep the bullets from hitting the ceiling. The only time I had to use a longer rod was with pointed bullets.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I have been thinking of something like this for nose sizing some bullets, 30 cal and some larger ones, 453 down to 446

You'll have a lot of trouble sizing a nose six thousandths and getting it back out again. I "clean up" 500-grain powder coated cast bullet noses to chamber in my .458 Socom using a .452" die in my Lyman 45 Lubrisizer, only squeezing a little more than a thousandth and the slick coating helping but still takes some force to eject.
 

Rockydoc

Well-Known Member
Well, there is a Hollywood standard single stage press. I got two old All American Lyman Turret presses. There's the earthly remains of a B&M single stage loading tool. Added in the mess is a pile of 310 handles and dies.

In a mis-marked box was a set of Hollywood 240 Gebby Super Varminter /6mm-06 forming and sizing dies. I may be missing a bullet seater. Forming dies work very well making 240 cases from 270 cases. My rifle is chambered to use the 270 cases. In current use there are some RCBS dies from the 1960's

I hit the jackpot on an estate sale buying 50 or so sets of molds of different makes. Some of the bullets are long obsolete. Getting into this stuff can pull somebody into an alternate universe.
How do you find estate sales of gun related items?
 

sdj

New Member
You'll have a lot of trouble sizing a nose six thousandths and getting it back out again. I "clean up" 500-grain powder coated cast bullet noses to chamber in my .458 Socom using a .452" die in my Lyman 45 Lubrisizer, only squeezing a little more than a thousandth and the slick coating helping but still takes some force to eject.
I have to come up with a way to size the nose down on 457125 cast from 1 part tin to 20 parts lead to shoot in tite bore 45 70 highwall
 

Rockydoc

Well-Known Member
OK, here is a demooner I made from a piece of scrap rod stock. After I made it I looked at it and decided that if somebody had a shot out 1911 style barrel they could ream the chamber out a little for ease of use and put a piece of rubber tubing on it for a handle and have essentially the same thing. It works pretty well, just a twist of the wrist does it.

View attachment 25103
What is a “demooner“ ? What is it used for?
 

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
It is used to remove fired .45 ACP cases from moon clips which are used in revolvers such as a S&W 25/625 series.
 

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
Keith, I'll take you up on the bullet catcher. PM to follow.

When I owned the Canadian military proofed S&W Second Model Hand Ejector I made a de-mooner from a piece of PVC pipe. Fortunately I don't golf so didn't have a club to sacrifice, and didn't want the embarrassment of being seen buying a used one.
 
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JonB

Halcyon member
I love my second generation "push-through conversion for Lyman or RCBS bullet sizing "H" dies, made by KeithB"
I never used the bottle catcher attachment, never even tried mounting it. I even tried to convince Keith to not include it with my order, but He persisted on the chance I re-sell the kit. Surely a wise decision that someone will appreciate someday in the future.

Here is the Press with DIY upside-down mount, that I use with Keith's kit and Lee dies.
upside down press stand Jan2022 550px.jpg
 

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
That makes a whole lot of sense to mount it upside down and have the bullets drop out the bottom. Nice work on the stand!
 

JonB

Halcyon member
While I had the camera in the casting/reloading room, I took a few more photos of
my unusual, interesting, and unique specialty tools.

Lee hardness tester with toy plastic microscope stand and dedicated press
Hardness tester stand Jan2022 550px.jpg

Ideal lube-sizer #1 with repairs and Mods.
whoever did the brazing, did a real good job, as alignment is as near perfect as I can tell.
Ideal ONE mods Jan2022 550px.jpg

Lyman 45 Heavy Duty DIY handle and linkage
Lyman 45 HD handle linkage Jan2022 550px.jpg

MannyCA percussion cap maker
MannyCA Cap maker Jan2022 550px.jpg

Round reloading bench
round bench Jan2022 700px.jpg