No Loading Tools??

[Blaine]

As an adjunct to my other post, let's talk about loading with ZERO loading tools. Let's assume that you've a nice 1894 in, say, .44mag.......Poke out the old primer with a nail, carefully press in a new primer after cleaning the brass and the primer hole. A nice, conservative guess of Blue Dot, paperpatch the bullet with wax paper or lubed bond paper to the proper OAL, then trim the wax paper or bond paper...you get the idea...load one at a time to avoid The Big Bang....actually, as I think this thru, if you leave the bullet a hair long in the OAL, it will seat itself closing the action........If your are out and and out screwed, this could see you thru for ammo.

[Modoc ED]

Your "conservative guess" of Blue Dot is where your theory falls apart. Very easy to overdo the SWAG and blow up the gun. Cut the length of a few (say 3) cases to hold the correct amount of powder and carry one in yer pocket, one in yer truck, and one in yer car or whatever else.

BUT having said the above, I'd say it's doable.

[Blaine]

Your "conservative guess" of Blue Dot is where your theory falls apart. Very easy to overdo the SWAG and blow up the gun. Cut the length of a few (say 3) cases to hold the correct amount of powder and carry one in yer pocket, one in yer truck, and one in yer car or whatever else.

BUT having said the above, I'd say it's doable.

I agree......I was pre-supposing some dippers

[kimwcook]

Just use blackpowder and fill the case to the bottom of the bullet with a little compression. Done.

[Malamute]

What bullet are you using? I was wondering why you would patch it with paper?

For under $20 you can have a usable loader handy, the Lee loaders. I prefer the Lyman tools, but the Lee's work. I have a couple in calibers I don't have Lyman tools for. I keep a loader in my road gear for whatever I may be travelling with, along with a full length size die so I can size on someone elses press if need be. Would be good to have in your emergency gear, tho as you said, you can improvise.

I throw in a couple Lee dippers in my Lyman sets, with a hand written chart of common powders and charges for the couple I put in with it.

The old buffalo hunters didnt have a lot of tool to work with. No sizing generally, just de- and re-cap, charge with powder from a volume or cup measure, thumb seat a cast and often paper patched (designed as such with no lube grooves) bullet, sometimes a light crimp. Works fine in single shots. Some crimp would help a repeater. The early Lyman or Winchester loading tools didnt resize the neck, but crimped.

[Old Ironsights]

Just get TM 31-210...

[Modoc ED]

Just get TM 31-210...

You missed the point of the thread -- "No Loading Tools??"

"BlaineG" was raising the question -- Could you reload without tools?

[Old Ironsights]

Yep.

Not only can I load without loading tools, but I can load without bullets or new primers as well.

THe process Blaine described is essentilly the one from the TM, though they don't use paper patching.

The TM also describes how to:

(A) De-anvil a primer, flatten it, then refill it with a workable detonating coposition, reset the anvil & reseat in the case...

(B) Make propellant for the case

(C) use a mild steel bolt as a bullet

Tools needed: Hacksaw (to remove bolt head) Nail to punch & de-anvil primer, a vice is nice... and they call for one, but you can do without... and assorted kitchen implements to make the propellants.

It's a good manual to read & learn...

[jeepnik]

Don't think I'd try. I have a couple of the Lee Hand press setups. I usually take one along when I go out. Heck, you should see the faces on some people when you sit down in the evening and start making ammo.

[Old Ironsights]

Don't think I'd try. I have a couple of the Lee Hand press setups. I usually take one along when I go out. Heck, you should see the faces on some people when you sit down in the evening and start making ammo.

Why not? it's really pretty easy....

Oh lookey... it's actually online... http://onlinebooks.110mb.com/tm%2031-21 ... -03-05.htm



Read and learn Grasshoppers...

[marlinman93]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster!

[Old Ironsights]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster!

No, it's a recipe used in times of desperation &/or duress.

I didn't say it was safe... just that it works.

[Blaine]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster!

No, it's a recipe used in times of desperation &/or duress.

I didn't say it was safe... just that it works.

Kind of like Riding a Harley, or shooting with Bear 45/70

[Bear 45/70]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster!

No, it's a recipe used in times of desperation &/or duress.

I didn't say it was safe... just that it works.

Kind of like Riding a Harley, or shooting with Bear 45/70

A Honda rider has the nerve to compare me to a Harley? Now that takes a major case of ignoring the facts as you know them. But you good liberals do that a lot. Get ready for this.

[Blaine]

The only way you (either one of us) could move that fast is with rockets strapped to your big butt...... I was gonna say on your quad, but you'd wreck it before ya got to me.

[Sixgun]

'Ya know somethin'? If I ever got that far down, as with no loading equipment etc., I would load one bullet and blow my brains out. Life ain't worth livin' without the proper toys----------Sixgun

[jhrosier]

BlaineG,

I have "made do" with scrounged or improvised tools as you suggest.
The only limits are your imagineation and skill with hand tools.
The only way to get good with tools is through experience.
After you mess up a bunch of stuff, you will learn what not to do.

A serviceable neck-sizing die can be made from a piece of scrap metal with a hole drilled through, sanded to size and champhered to lead in the neck.

I made a very usable priming tool for the .577 Snyder cartridge using scrap metal, a hand drill, file, and hacksaw.
The neck sizer die was made the same way from a scrap of 1/2" steel.

If you have acess to a drill press, bench lathe and milling machine it is easier, but simple hand tools will get the job done (without attracting unwanted attention.)

Jack

[kimwcook]

If it gets so bad I'm trying to reload my rounds on a rock I'm gonna find a way to procure some from someone else.

[Blaine]

'Ya know somethin'? If I ever got that far down, as with no loading equipment etc., I would load one bullet and blow my brains out. Life ain't worth livin' without the proper toys----------Sixgun

If it gets that far, please don't do that...you will be needed in the foxhole, Sir....

[Bear 45/70]

The only way you (either one of us) could move that fast is with rockets strapped to your big butt...... I was gonna say on your quad, but you'd wreck it before ya got to me.

I haven't been upside down since I quite doing this stuff. As to of that, as slow as you waddle even my wife could run your sorry butt down.

[Gaucho Gringo]

People have been improvising or making do with what they have for centuries. One time years ago I was out hunting with a couple of friends in my $50.00 1950 Chev PU when the engine quit 30 miles from the nearest town. We discovered that the distributor cap rotor had self destructed the metal tang that connected to the coil wire contact. We had a toolbox and we made a new one out of pop can. It worked well enough to get us to an auto parts store. Don't underestimate the ability of people to make do with what they have.

[AmBraCol]

Just get TM 31-210...

You missed the point of the thread -- "No Loading Tools??"

"BlaineG" was raising the question -- Could you reload without tools?

Been there, done that. 7.62 X 25 in an old original broom handle. Only some berdan primed cases. Drill out pin with tiny bit. Punch out with nail. Seat boxer small pistol primer. Dump in a 22 case of bullseye. Seat 30 caliber bullet with thumb pressure. Low pressure load, was able to get two or three loadings prior to case expanding to point of not holding new bullet. It's doable. Much easier to do in a straightwall case than a bottle neck one. As mentioned elsewhere in the thread, it's easiest with black powder.

[AmBraCol]

People have been improvising or making do with what they have for centuries. One time years ago I was out hunting with a couple of friends in my $50.00 1950 Chev PU when the engine quit 30 miles from the nearest town. We discovered that the distributor cap rotor had self destructed the metal tang that connected to the coil wire contact. We had a toolbox and we made a new one out of pop can. It worked well enough to get us to an auto parts store. Don't underestimate the ability of people to make do with what they have.

Been there, done similar. Had the float in my Ford built Jeep's carburetor fail. The plastic pulled out of the holes in the metal tab that held it in place on a back road in NE Brazil. Built a fire on the side of the road and used a bobby pin I got from one of my passengers to melt the plastic back into place. Soldered a piece of wire onto a rotor one time to get it to carry the spark to the tip. I've also reloaded Blazer aluminum cartridge cases. One can do more with a bit of ingenuity than folks would believe. And reloading is not as complicated as some folks would lead you to believe. My first reloading setup for full brass shotshells was a knife point for removing the old primer. The flat of the blade to tap in the new one. A 38 spl case to measure the black powder and a piece of dowel to seat the wad. Counted out the individual TTT buckshot and then seated another wad on top with the dowel. All very low tech, to say the least...