Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

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earlmck
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Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

Post by earlmck »

One of my favorite gun writers, George Nonte, wrote an article for Handloader magazine Jan/Feb 1970 titled "Handloads by the Bushel". I was freshly returned from four years with Uncle Sam's Navy and was waaay behind on my reloading, especially the 357 Python revolver that I'd acquired with some of those first Seaman Recruit paychecks. So the very title grabbed my attention and I absorbed his tips on "going into serious production". This was 35 years before I acquired a progressive machine for which you don't ever need the Nonte Shuffle but I do plenty on the old A2 press yet so I've been using his "double shuffle" technique for over 52 years it appears.
2Nontepic190.jpg

And the other day I noticed that my less experienced reloading buddy who has only been at it for barely 30 years -- well he wasn't using the shuffle and he shoulda' been. He was placing a case in the shell holder, sizing the case, removing the case to place in a tray, and them picking up another case and putting in the shell holder. That makes an extra trip for the left hand/arm that isn't needed with the shuffle.

Occurs to me that he's not the only experienced reloader who might not know the Nonte shuffle so I took some pics today to illustrate.

Here's the pitch: you've got a bin of fired cases and you're running them through a step (neck sizing some 25/20's in this case) and placing them into a tray (or second bin as the case may be)
2dishtotray181.jpg
First case gets sized while you are picking up a second case between thumb and first finger and bring second case over to the press
2aThumbnFirst183.jpg
Grab sized case between first and second finger and remove from shellholder
2bThumbnfirstnsecond185.jpg
Place unsized case into shellholder while still holding processed case between first and second fingers
2cfirstnsecond187.jpg
Place sized case into tray;
2cPlaceinTray188.jpg
then pick up third case between thumb and first finger while right hand is working press handle. Rinse and repeat.

As I re-read the article I see I've been doing it backward: Nonte actually picks up case 2 between first and second fingers and removes the sized case with thumb and first finger. But since I am usually picking out of a bin it is easier for me to use thumb and first for that. But either way you want to do it saves a second trip with the left hand.

Postscript here: I played with both ways a bit and my version of the Nonte shuffle is clearly better (at least for my fat fingers), so there ya' go George!
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Nath
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Re: Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

Post by Nath »

I use to do similar Earl.
You should of seen me doing 12g on a Lee loadall2.
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Re: Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

Post by Tycer »

Gee. And here my ego thought I had thunk up something special. 🤣
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JimT
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Re: Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

Post by JimT »

I do it once in a great while. I do not normally reload in any kind of hurry. I have plenty of time. My Dad used that method. He taught me to reload in the 1950's and he was using it back then on a big old Pacific single stage press. He started reloading in the 1930's.
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Re: Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

Post by 765x53 »

My "case kicker" makes the shuffle unnecessary.
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Re: Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

Post by Dusty Texian »

JimT wrote: Mon Aug 01, 2022 8:35 am I do it once in a great while. I do not normally reload in any kind of hurry. I have plenty of time. My Dad used that method. He taught me to reload in the 1950's and he was using it back then on a big old Pacific single stage press. He started reloading in the 1930's.
Still have my Dad's old blue Pacific press , white rubber handle on the leaver . I use the Rock Chucker most , but still use the old Pacific from time to time , just because .
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Re: Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

Post by AJMD429 »

.
LOL - when I'm teaching Nurse Practitioner students (I gave up on med students; so few actually want to learn anything) I teach them how to make sure pap smears are painless and speedy, and a big part of that is pretty much the same switch-a-roo thing with brush and scraper...a couple years ago while explaining that to the student the patient chimed in, who was a machinist, and she said she learned the same thing making tank parts for the local military contractor; have a part in-hand and swap it out versus the extra time and movement wasted otherwise.

I guess it is a universally applicable efficiency technique... :D
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Re: Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Doc: HAVE MERCY! If anyone ever asks me what the Nonte Shuffle has in common with a PAP smear, I am afraid I will know the answer! :lol:
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Re: Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

Post by marlinman93 »

George Nonte was a very knowledgeable hand loader, and one of the first books I ever bought was Nonte's Guide to Cartridge Conversions. It was a great asset to helping me discover what cases could be reformed and shaped to make into old cartridges. Unfortunately it was outdated a bit even 45 years ago when I started, soo often the donor cases for obscure cartridges were also obsolete, and couldn't be found either. Still many were available, and I enjoyed perusing my copy and using it often.
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earlmck
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Re: Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

Post by earlmck »

JimT wrote: Mon Aug 01, 2022 8:35 am I do it once in a great while. I do not normally reload in any kind of hurry. I have plenty of time. My Dad used that method. He taught me to reload in the 1950's and he was using it back then on a big old Pacific single stage press. He started reloading in the 1930's.
AJMD429 wrote: Mon Aug 01, 2022 8:42 pm I guess it is a universally applicable efficiency technique... :D
And to be fair to George Nonte he did not make any claim of origination for this move which he called the "double shuffle". He is just the only one to explain it to me and to advocate for the technique out of all the "how to reload" articles I have read over the years. I've been the one thinking of it as the "Nonte Shuffle" for all these years and have called it that when I taught kids/gkids/ggkids to load shells. They never knew of George Nonte and so probably think of it as the "Grandpa Shuffle".

A large part of my reloading is still done on the single-stage RCBS A2 (though sometimes I have resized/primed/belled on the progressive ahead of time) and unless I am messing around with small number of cartridges while I work out some new technique I soon have the "shuffle" going.
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JimT
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Re: Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

Post by JimT »

I like "Grandpa Shuffle" ... although I have a great respect for George Nonte. I was privileged to meet him once, man many years ago.
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Re: Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

Post by KWK »

I read of it in an article by Dean Grenell circa 1995 and still use it.
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Re: Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

Post by samsi »

Dusty Texian wrote: Mon Aug 01, 2022 5:53 pm
JimT wrote: Mon Aug 01, 2022 8:35 am I do it once in a great while. I do not normally reload in any kind of hurry. I have plenty of time. My Dad used that method. He taught me to reload in the 1950's and he was using it back then on a big old Pacific single stage press. He started reloading in the 1930's.
Still have my Dad's old blue Pacific press , white rubber handle on the leaver . I use the Rock Chucker most , but still use the old Pacific from time to time , just because .
I've still got one of those Pacific's too, was my first press though I probably haven't used it for 20 years now.

I'm with Jim on the Shuffle, I've done it, but I kind of look at reloading like meditation time - the Shuffle interferes with my Zen... :D
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Re: Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

Post by Griff »

I don't know if what I do would be considered a "shuffle" when I'm sizing & priming cases on the single stage press. I will sometimes pick up 2 cases in my left hand putting the 1st case in the shell-holder then run the press with my right; then take the case from the holder with my right hand, then place the 2nd case in the holder with my left, run the press thru its stroke, picking up 2 moare cases in the left, and repeat. I do the same when I'm belling case mouths also. But never when seating and crimping, which I typically do in the same action. I don't, however, continuously do this thru the entire number of cases I'm loading. With the single stage I generally only load up 50 rounds at a time from start to finish. I will, however, sometimes load 2 or 3 - 50 round boxes at a single sitting. I don't know if I'm actually saving any time over just picking up a single case in my left hand.
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Re: Handloads by the Bushel -- the Nonte shuffle

Post by Dusty Texian »

The older I get the fatter my fingers get , shuffle with them is out of the question . I load very deliberately slow equals joyful relaxation . I seem to double check and even triple check maybe to much but that's been my method for over 50 yrs. now . I check to make sure the case is up against the shell holder probably twice on every case before sending it up . Slow and methodic wins the race . No matter how you get there consistency is key .
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