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View Full Version : Reloading Equipment You Bought But Rarely or Never Use


scotchblade
09-23-2014, 10:55 AM
Mine would be two LE Wilson cartridge gauges and a Redding powder trickler. It should be noted that I plink for fun, I'm not a serious target shooter.

The Wilsons are 9mm and 45 ACP. I used them in the beginning to check size but don't notice any difference if I use them or not.

The Redding still sits in the box as I never have a need to trickle. My Uniflow gives me accurate enough throws without having to tweak further.

One thing I do still use are my Lee dippers for those days when I want something quick and in low quantity.

Carcassonne
09-23-2014, 11:21 AM
Lyman case trimmer.



.

roc_my_tims
09-23-2014, 11:30 AM
Haha this post is going to get good. Im new to reloading but ill say i dont use 3 of the 4 scales ive aquired.

Trickler either but i see a use for it when dropping rifle powder batch loading.

3rd and 4th manual i purchased, true you can never have too many. But i google answers more than opening the books sadly.

Hand deburring tools

3 of the 4 funnels ive collected

Im sure ill think of more later or if i was near my bench. Have no regrets though. You buy what you need when you think you need it.

MongooseV8
09-23-2014, 11:41 AM
A Redding T7 lol.

'ol shooter
09-23-2014, 11:48 AM
I bought the RC kit about 1979, never used the scale, trickler, or powder dispenser. About two months ago, out of curiosity I tried the scale against my Chargemaster, and they agreed completely. Tried out the powder dispenser, and was surprised how well it metered Titegroup, so now the Chargemaster does duty as a check scale when loading pistol ammo.

M1NM
09-23-2014, 11:49 AM
If I'm going to load just a few - like for the 458 Win Mag - I'll use the Lee dippers to get close and finish it off with the RCBS trickler. Otherwise they sit unused.

kouye
09-23-2014, 1:01 PM
Some things become obsolete when I upgrade equipment...

Redding Trickler(s) - Used a couple of times, none since I got my RCBS Chargemaster
Hornady Concentricity Gauge - Used a couple of times
Case Gauges - Never used
Lyman Cordless Case Trimmer - Used once
Harrell's Precision Powder Measure - Used a couple of times, none since I got my RCBS Chargemaster
Dillon RT1200 Case Trimmer - Never used. I use a LE Wilson Case Trimmer with a drill
Dillon Eliminator Triple Poise Beam Scale - No longer used since I got my RCBS Chargemaster

Pauliedad
09-23-2014, 1:15 PM
I bought too many Dillon quick change kits.
You get a powder drop with die, tool head, and stand.
Separate tool heads make change over a breeze and the stand makes for easy storage but who needs 8 powder drops?
Only use those on pistol calibers and 3 or 4 would have been plenty. I use them but only so they don't sit there making fun of me.
Figured out to order ala carte now.

ptmn
09-23-2014, 3:48 PM
Oh I have one that ALL Lee users can relate to...their old style round containers that their Die Sets used to be packaged in. They don't stack up and they waste a lot of storage space. I tossed them all and bought the square orange Lyman cases for my Lee dies

Mike402
09-23-2014, 4:00 PM
Dillon RT1200. I bought it & trimmed 5,000 LC once fired cases over the course of the summer. Since I'm using an RCBS X-die to prevent growth, I'll probably never need to trim another 5.56 case again.

Jon Road King
09-23-2014, 5:01 PM
Picked up a Lyman E-ZEE powder trickler early on for .308. Only use I get out of it now is to knock it over constantly while reaching for something else on my shelf it happens to be near. Little bastage is top heavy and usually has a domino effect on my shelf, spinning and tumbling, knocking all sorts of crap off my shelf. I swear to god it takes 2 minutes to complete a fall too... amazing how one little piece of plastic with a rod hanging out of it can cause so much constant havoc.

But I don't use it at all since it's quicker to trickle by hand using that little brass dish that comes with my RCBS beam scale. Speaking of which, that RCBS beam scale never gets used, other than that little brass dish that hangs on it. Man, I use the hell out of that little brass dish (and reaching for that little brass dish is usually why I knock over the Lyman powder trickler). Man I love that little brass dish though... handy dandy! I would get rid of that beam scale if it wasn't for that wonderful, little bass dish.

I have an RCBS funnel too. But honestly, I use it quite a bit... to fill my Jack Daniels flask. Guess I don't use it much for reloading though, so it counts in the spirit of the thread.

Other than that, I haven't had to use my RCBS stuck case puller yet, but I don't really count it as un-used gear. That little sucker is insurance...

knucklehead0202
09-23-2014, 5:59 PM
Oh I have one that ALL Lee users can relate to...their old style round containers that their Die Sets used to be packaged in. They don't stack up and they waste a lot of storage space. I tossed them all and bought the square orange Lyman cases for my Lee dies

Lol, amen to that, I only had a couple, most of my sets have the newer square ones. Only have one set left in the round box. Also , my forster collet-type bullet puller. Started using it to pull down old surplus but found that the hammer puller was way quicker and didn't booger up bullets.

Jeff213
09-23-2014, 7:02 PM
I never use the lee universal decapper... I just have a bunch of spare rcbs pins and use rcbs to decap military brass now. I have only broken 1 pin in thousands of rounds anyway.

I don't use my balance scales anymore, only my digital scale now. One thing I got rid of and wish I had kept was the lee powder dispenser. I got rid of it a long time ago when I got my lyman powder dispenser, which is FAR superior, but I occasionally have a need to setup a second powder measure which I do not have when playing with those super dangerous duplex powder loads that I dabble in.

thenodnarb
09-23-2014, 7:10 PM
whatever you have that you don't think you'll use, like the trickler, keep it. One day you'll want it. I did this with my balance beam scale. I got rid of it when I got my digital scale. Now I wish I'd kept it. I thought the trickler was useless as well. Glad I kept it. Now I use it all the time for rifle rounds.

gunboat
09-23-2014, 7:48 PM
That is an easy one -
Sinclair bullet seating gauge --
beautiful tool -- but for me, it is easier to make a dummy cartridge -

Rider1k
09-23-2014, 7:53 PM
The funnel , deburring tool and scale that came with my set up.

Rider1k
09-23-2014, 7:54 PM
Ohhh and my trickler

Pauliedad
09-23-2014, 8:06 PM
Interesting that there are so many tricklers mentioned.
For a 0.1 or 0.2 grain increase its the only way to go I think.

mskochinski
09-23-2014, 8:45 PM
really you guys don't use your case gauges? Now is that because it's for pistol and it's not needed? I use mine religiously for my rifle loads.

BigBronco
09-23-2014, 8:50 PM
Oh God there is not enough band with for my response.
Short answer.

Yes, I personally own 14 single station presses , 15 scales, 14 powder measures 10 hand priming tools, 50 sets of dies 7 shotshell presses. I need a 12 step program for reloading equipment. This is not including the club gear in the garage.

Don't get me started on the 30 plus recurve bows I own, 20 vintage tobacco pipes and I don't even smoke.

Then there are the manuals. I really like old manuals..

Psychbiker
09-23-2014, 9:21 PM
Bought a bunch of quick Change powder inserts and powder drop linkage to make caliber change over easier going from pistol to rifle on the LNL.

Too lazy and been doing rifle on the single stage.

Twystd1
09-23-2014, 9:36 PM
BIG Hollwood press. It's good for the DTC round. Thats all I use it for.

If it wasn't so dam purdy. I would take it off the bench.

-T

SnakeEye
09-23-2014, 9:54 PM
Case trimmer and inertia hammer style bullet puller. Loading straight case handgun cartridges and never used either of em.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

ziconceo
09-23-2014, 10:36 PM
Bought 8mm mauser casting and sizing dies...never used them because the 8mm rifle I got turned out to be a fake and I returned it....

stilly
09-23-2014, 11:10 PM
9mm brass trimmer...

Oh and now my CTS trimmers since my TRIM-IT seems to be killer...

Oh and several Hornady PTX bushings for the lock n load dropper...

GW
09-24-2014, 6:02 AM
MEC Shotgun relaoder. I've had it for years and haven't loaded a single shell.

Mike402
09-24-2014, 7:08 AM
Folks...we have our winner :D

Oh God there is not enough band with for my response.
Short answer.

Yes, I personally own 14 single station presses , 15 scales, 14 powder measures 10 hand priming tools, 50 sets of dies 7 shotshell presses. I need a 12 step program for reloading equipment. This is not including the club gear in the garage.

Don't get me started on the 30 plus recurve bows I own, 20 vintage tobacco pipes and I don't even smoke.

Then there are the manuals. I really like old manuals..

Capybara
09-24-2014, 7:33 AM
Oh God there is not enough band with for my response.
Short answer.

Yes, I personally own 14 single station presses , 15 scales, 14 powder measures 10 hand priming tools, 50 sets of dies 7 shotshell presses. I need a 12 step program for reloading equipment. This is not including the club gear in the garage.

Don't get me started on the 30 plus recurve bows I own, 20 vintage tobacco pipes and I don't even smoke.

Then there are the manuals. I really like old manuals..

Sounds like you could have a hell of a garage sale.

8mmFMJ
09-24-2014, 7:48 AM
Bought 8mm mauser casting and sizing dies...never used them because the 8mm rifle I got turned out to be a fake and I returned it....

If I would have known before yesterday I would have bought it. What do you want to sell it for?



I don't have anything that I don't use surprisingly. Maybe the primer pocket reamer but that came with my case trimmer setup.

45R
09-24-2014, 7:54 AM
I have a few things that I don't use.

Measuring Cups (used once before I had my powder thrower set up)
Lyman brass prep (chamfer, deburring and pocket reamer tool)
Lee .223 case length gauge and trimmer for .223 (upgraded to a TriCutter)

JMP
09-24-2014, 8:19 AM
I could go on all day, but I'll say my Dillon 650. It does big batches quickly, then sits for months unused.

cocorador
09-24-2014, 8:47 AM
I bought several different powder dispensers in the early 80's and I only used 1 until 2012. When I got into precision rifle, I just switch out dispensers and have all them set to my favorite charges. Also, this was the first time I used my powder trickler. I never thought I'd use it.

Now I own another powder dispenser for IMR powders. A quick measure works perfect. I just cant get Hogdon at the moment and started using more IMR.

Khromo
09-24-2014, 10:04 AM
1. I bought two new Lee hand priming tools when my original, decades old one wore out.

They are little frustration factories! A true PIA piece of equipment. I replaced them with RCBS universals, which work fine.

2. NECO concentricity gauge. This tool, with the expensive GEM indicator, is a real bear to set up, although it works fine and performs several jobs. I almost always reach for the Sinclair concentricity gauge or the Redding case neck thickness gauge and get pretty much the same results with no headaches setting up, and a much more attractive price tag!

In fairness to the NECO, I could probably devote more time to learning the set up procedure.

fguffey
09-24-2014, 11:35 AM
Yes I do, I have equipment I do not use, it is a JIC thing, I have the equipment 'just in case'------ I need it.

F. Guffey

Khromo
09-24-2014, 1:08 PM
Oh God there is not enough band with for my response.
Short answer.

Yes, I personally own 14 single station presses , 15 scales, 14 powder measures 10 hand priming tools, 50 sets of dies 7 shotshell presses. I need a 12 step program for reloading equipment. This is not including the club gear in the garage.

Don't get me started on the 30 plus recurve bows I own, 20 vintage tobacco pipes and I don't even smoke.

Then there are the manuals. I really like old manuals..

Thanks for posting, BB. For a minute there, I felt slightly more closer to normal.

Dark Mod
09-24-2014, 2:29 PM
RCBS stuck case remover

Dillon Super Swage ( really only swage .223 and haven't needed it since I got a 1050)

Lee beam scale

9mm, .40 case gauge

Lee trimmers for most calibers

xfer42
09-24-2014, 2:40 PM
Lee Loader (.270 win)
Lee Load Master.

I got married, had a kid, was in the middle of a CNC retrofit for a mill, and house hunting. Too many projects. Reloading was on borrowed time, and decided to buy a Dillon XL 650 to replace the loadmaster. Finished the CNC and cut out the tool heads for it.

Pauliedad
09-24-2014, 2:57 PM
Lee Loader (.270 win)
Lee Load Master.

I got married, had a kid, was in the middle of a CNC retrofit for a mill, and house hunting. Too many projects. Reloading was on borrowed time, and decided to buy a Dillon XL 650 to replace the loadmaster. Finished the CNC and cut out the tool heads for it.

Life will get in the way of hobbies. That's for sure.
You made your own 650 tool heads?
I assume you're already in the trade? That's gotta be a fair amount of tooling for some $20 heads.

Would love to see a pick of those.

xfer42
09-24-2014, 3:12 PM
Life will get in the way of hobbies. That's for sure.
You made your own 650 tool heads?
I assume you're already in the trade? That's gotta be a fair amount of tooling for some $20 heads.

Would love to see a pick of those.


Theres one real one in there. It has the extra hole. The rest are home made. I never worked a mill. I bought one, and the first project was to make motor brackets for CNC. The first CNC test was a bullet button, and the second was tool heads. At the time, those heads were $29 each (cast only) from Dillon. I made 12 of them... they cost about $7 each to make. Im not a machinist, just a Linux geek that sits behind a computer all day. I considered the work involved as machining lessons.
356899

twotacocombo
09-24-2014, 3:28 PM
Bullet puller.

Because I never make mistakes :)

Eljay
09-24-2014, 3:39 PM
Nothing major. 9mm and .45 case gauges because I bought the hundo case gauges (does 100 at a time) and there's no way I'm going back to the singles. Trimmer for 45 Colt (not ACP, long colt) because that's the first handgun cartridge I started reloading and I didn't realize basically nobody trims those.

Don the savage
09-24-2014, 8:33 PM
Oh I have one that ALL Lee users can relate to...their old style round containers that their Die Sets used to be packaged in. They don't stack up and they waste a lot of storage space. I tossed them all and bought the square orange Lyman cases for my Lee dies

Unless you leave your dies, set, on the turret and need to store the turret. Then the flat die boxes suck immensly.

Pauliedad
09-26-2014, 3:33 PM
Theres one real one in there. It has the extra hole. The rest are home made. I never worked a mill. I bought one, and the first project was to make motor brackets for CNC. The first CNC test was a bullet button, and the second was tool heads. At the time, those heads were $29 each (cast only) from Dillon. I made 12 of them... they cost about $7 each to make. Im not a machinist, just a Linux geek that sits behind a computer all day. I considered the work involved as machining lessons.
356899

Very cool. Did you find plans or do take offs from the dillon tool head?

xfer42
09-26-2014, 5:35 PM
Very cool. Did you find plans or do take offs from the dillon tool head?

Thanks.

I took measurements of a real tool head. The first one or two were fun, the rest painfully sucked. They each took at least two hours to complete (probably much more), but I figured I had to go through it to learn about feeds and speeds and best zeroing and setup practices. I made blanks that fit nicely onto the top, then used a customized punch mounted in a .223 case to mark the 5 station holes. I used a piece of sharpened allen wrench, mounted on the shell plate bolt, to mark the center hole.