Reloading Tools I Regret Buying

hello everybody Joe here along with my reloading buddy Jake I've been reloading for almost 40 years and have written extensively about outdoor activities survival our Second Amendment rights and reloading I hope these tips will help with online shopping so prevalent these days it's easier than ever to buy items that don't provide a positive feedback or high level of satisfaction I wanted to share some of my experiences so that others may avoid regret essentially these items work as advertised what follows is only my opinion on their usefulness or return on investment our first item is the Franklin Arsenal case prep center it cost about a hundred and twenty dollars this multi-purpose tool is of heavy robust construction and seems to be well-made it has a storage bin in the top that I always struggle to open spare Kaulitz and different attachments are stored there this is what the storage partner looks like after manipulation with a screwdriver and about a foul language essentially this tool performs four functions champ diver primer pocket swagger and case trim with the exception of case trimming all of these work well and would likely be a time saver when dealing with large batches of brass problem is I bought this product primarily to trend cases and that's where it disappoints the trim lengths on this machine is indexed off of the cases shoulder that means if you had any stretching in the body of the case you're gonna get a different length every time you can see here the base or the head of the case is sticking out with the termeh if my rifle stretched it out there I'm not gonna cut anything off of the neck I've been unable to get consistent trim links using this machine maybe I'm missing something here but Jake and I can't think of a single scenario were indexing off the case as shoulder rather than the overall length is going to work or be beneficial our next product is the powder cop by Hornady with the size shape and threading of a typical reloading die it is designed to be used with progressive presses this locking ring allows you to adjust for different calibers the design is fairly straightforward as a charged case moves through your progressive stations the powder inside the case pushes up this Ram with a double load of powder it should push it up very high without any powder it shouldn't move at all I can't fall pointing here this product actually works as advertised I think the problem is primarily with me this is a typical setup when I'm using my progressive press I've got my powder drop here and an open space between the powder and the seeding dye I'll insert the powder cop in the proper station my first issue is one of accuracy and timing the powder cops Decatur only works after the powder charge on the next case while the shell plate holder is fully raised you have to remember to look at that little white band and try to judge its height during everything else that's going on while working with a progressive press my second issue involves the tools accuracy while it would probably do a pretty good job of indicating a double load in a case or no load in a case what I'm primarily worried about is a partial powder drop that's where I've had problems before my lack of attention span is also partially to blame for my regrets and having purchased this tool going on when you're using a progressive press did the previous bullet see properly did it fall into the tray did I bend the case because the dye is dirty I'm doing everything from looking at the powder throws arm to checking the tension on the previously primed case having to focus on one more thing like that little bitty white ring sticking up I've just found it to be very difficult and not all that useful this product cost nearly $40 and really it does what it says it will do I can't be upset about that my issue is the practicality on a progressive press and the complicated processes that are going on it spends most of its days now unused sitting on my reloading bench our next product is from horrid is well the lock and load light strip it cost about eighteen dollars it consists of a thin strip of LED lights with an adhesive backing that you plug into the wall it was designed to fit on a reloading press it does a nice job of illuminating the work area and I appreciate the extra light I installed it using alcohol swabs as per the instructions making sure the effort area behind the adhesive was nice and clean and dry this is what the illumination looks like or you're standing above it the problem is that adhesive strip keeps failing it bows out and occasionally gets so loose it interferes with my press I'm constantly having to push it back on and just about ready to chuck the whole thing or get out a tube of superglue which I shouldn't have to do the final product we'll be discussing is the RCBS case master concentricity gauging tool this is a multi-purpose device that includes a gauge center post a set of movable anvils and other options that can perform a variety of tasks on your cases this includes measuring for neck thickness and also can be used to check for case separation it cost about $100 to check for run-out you space the blocks properly for the caliber you're using and slowly rotate the bullet underneath the ball gauge the problem is is sometimes just putting your finger on the bullet to rotate it causes the gauge to jump and can give an inaccurate reading this can become very frustrating I thought $100 was a bargain for getting several tools and one in reality none of this products features work very well any level of accuracy you must be very delicate and have the cartridge perfectly balanced between the anvils or blocks another use of this product is to measure case neck thickness you can rotate the gauge around to this little pendulum that has a movable cylinder here's a close-up as you insert the case neck into the product it moves the cylinder up and down and thus causes the ball gauge to measure the metals thickness right underneath the cylinder is a post and that's where you're supposed to stick the case in order to measure the next thickness and that's where the problem really begins with this method the instructions recommend that you rotate the case six times each movement measuring a small section of the neck wall if the cases mouth is not tight against the post or you wiggle it all with your fingers then you get an accurate reading pretty soon as you're doing those six rotations you can have the gauge jumping all over the place and have no idea how thick your neck wall actually is this process slow inefficient and there are a lot better tools on the market to accomplish this measurement Jake and I hope this video proved useful and never forget

Channel: Joe Nobody

Views: 34,942

Keywords: reloading, Franklin Arsenel Case Prep Center, Hornaday Powder Cop, RCBS Case Master Concentricity Gauging Tool, Hornaday LED Light Strip

Id: eklDmmeveVY

Length: 9min 49sec (589 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 15 2019