Jump to content
Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

rmantoo

Classified
  • Posts

    120
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by rmantoo

  1. There is already a patent on exactly this. Several, actually. Both utility and design, for that matter, X 6, iirc. WHoever figures this out can give them out, or give them the programming, etc, but if they start selling them they are likely going to have legal problems.
  2. Had a few hours today...this is as far as I got, but it's some progress, at least.
  3. WOW Quiller, your room is awesome!! The cabinet over/around your safe is one of the best ideas I've seen, EXACTLY the kind of thing I'd never have thought of but is nonetheless an excellent concept and execution, and I def will be copying it in the gun room. Likewise, great minds kinda think alike: A buddy does bath/kitchen/general remodeling, and gave me enough of his left over vinyl plank flooring to do both the reloading and gun rooms, so that is coming. I really like the idea of repurposing stuff- your bowling lane benchtop is amazing. Thank you SO much for replying. You've definitely given me some great ideas. I'll keep updating this thread as I make progress.
  4. Some of you guys have some AMAZING reloading rooms... so... help, please: My reloading room is kinda tiny... 76 1/2" x 97 3/4". I built workbenches, with shelving below, along the Southern and Western walls. I REALLY need more storage. My benches are in a constant state of "Organize, work, entropy: Repeat," and it's frustrating, to say the least... So, I'm either going to buy and hang Home Depot's Hampton bay cabinets, like these: https://www.homedepot.com/collection/kitchen-cabinets-cabinet-hardware/unfinished-wall-cabinets-in-beech ...or I'm going to build my own shelving to match those I built below the work benches. Several of these pics were taken using the panorama function on my phone, so some of them look...weird... the apparent curves in the ceiling are due to my not using the panorama function until today...and sucking at it... the walls are plumb and straight- promise Ok. SO, now you see the physical limitations. What you're not seeing is my reloaders: I just sold my 1050s, which are being replaced by a Mk7 Apex. It will go on the long bench on the Southern wall, right in front of the "Secede" sticker. Just in front of all of the reloading die boxes is an Inline Fabrication mounting plate recessed into the bench top. That bench is the reloading machine bench, and the bench along the Eastern wall is where I work on guns, and where I set up my RCBS Chargemaster and loading blocks/powders, measuring/case prep stuff... My 1050s were both mounted on Mk7 base plates, which were, in turn, bolted to pieces of 3/4" plywood with felt on the bottom to protect the bench top, and grab handles on both sides so I could easily pick up the entire thing and move into another room- I will most probably do the same thing to the Apex when it arrives. The Glove box holder will come down. I will be getting rid of the room air conditioner and replacing it with a mini-split system w/the vent mounted in the center of the ceiling. Goal: I want to get EVERYTHING off of the tops of the benches except whatever I'm working on at the moment. I'm TERRIBLE at aesthetics, and generally have to rely on others for guidance in this area. I am a decent carpenter, so I can easily build shelving, but there's no way I could ever keep it looking organized and neat...to say nothing of dusted... So I'm leaning towards cabinetry, with LED lighting on the bottom...But as small as the room is, will that overpower it? I'd paint them all white, so that will help. If I use 30" tall cabinets, That will leave 12" above the top of the cabinets if I mount them to where the bottoms are about level with the bottom of the glove box... Or, I could do 36" tall cabinets, mount them a bit higher, right up to the ceiling, and I'd have a bit more room below... I'm thinking of EITHER doing just the entire Southern wall in cabinets (Hampton style, above), which would give me room for a computer monitor and some handgun displays on the Eastern wall... If I do that, I'd likely build a shelf on the Northern and Western walls, just above the door frames... ...OR starting with a corner cabinet at the intersection of the Eastern and Southern walls, then filling both of those walls with cabinets... The stainless rack on the North/Western walls will stay- it's pretty dang effective and handy... Any suggestion, help, etc?
  5. I don't shoot open... Only Limited, SS, CO, and PCC... That's why I cycle through all 3 of the above: If one doesn't have stock, or isn't taking orders, so far when I've needed bullets, at least, 1 of the 3 does.
  6. Bayou Bullets. Blue Bullets. Xtreme. Bullets are the one thing I've had zero problems with- if one of the 3 above are out, at least 1 of the other 2 have had plenty in stock.
  7. I've been 3d printing for about 2 years now. There is a bit of a learning curve at first, but imho, anyone who can navigate online forums, post pics, AND who can also assemble and keep a progressive press running can 3d print. I use an Ender Pro. Purchased from amazon for $208 on sale in Jan, 2019 while recovering from a broken ankle. For the first month, I only printed knick knacks and accessories for the printer itself, getting the hang of it. For the next year or so, I printed a few hundred handgun wall mounts like this: I set out to make what started as a 200% sized version (I want to be able to dump in at least 300 bullets, or about 7 minutes worth, minimum, at a time) but morphed into a 272% sized version.... and eventually dropped it all and bought a Mr. Bulletfeeder Pro. I've easily spent upwards of 200 hours working on some of the bulletfeeder files, and my printer worked for at least a few hundred hours doing prints for it, and although I've gotten pretty good w/Fusion 360, and manipulating dimensions and experimenting with different PLA and PETG (types of filament). My bottom line--for me only-- is that although I print a lot of other stuff, I won't be trying to make a 3d printed bullet or case feeder work... It feels like I'm about to type the backstory to a Luke Combs or George Jones song: PLA breaks down (due to heat, time, and UV exposure, and maybe some other stuff I don't know about. I live in Texas, and experimenting with my original handgun wall mounts led me to printing in carbon fiber reinforced PETG, because you can leave it in the back of a Ford Expedition in the Texas heat, in August, for a few weeks, and it will neither melt, nor droop/run, whereas 'regular' PLA will. ANYway...at the point that I realized I'd sunk 2 long week's worth of work into it, and still didn't have even a moderately successful Beta, I threw in the towel. I'm not saying don't do it: I'm simply saying go with the existing files and you'll likely have a much easier, and successful, experience than I did. Good luck! (and don't try and drastically modify the bulletfeeder...lol)
  8. https://www.amazon.com/Frankford-Arsenal-Universal-Automatic-Reloading/dp/B00BQ6A3Y0 Quite a bit faster than pecking.
  9. I'll volunteer as a 3d printer/tester if you need. I have an Ender pro, and print a lot of stuff. I'd be happy to help out in printing different versions or parts if you need. This is an AMAZING project! Fingerblaster are you posting this anywhere else?
  10. The only gunsmiths I personally know work on just about anything, but they don't manufacture or cnc, for the most part. None have any suggestions on this so I thought I'd try here. I want an AR lower that will take different magazines. Some companies have teased it over the years, but no results. I am confident in my design abilities (I mostly work in fusion360 and solidworks, but can use several others) I know ZERO about the business side of prototyping, and I don't have any relevant machining experience. Is this a common thing in the ffl/manufacturing world? Any help on how it works? Is prototyping, when done to outside (Customer provided) plans, materials plus labor plus machine time? Or do they also bid on projects? I expect this will take at least 5 iterations, and possibly as many as X to a large power... Anyone have any recommendations as to which gunsmiths/companies/people I might approach about this? Thanks, Robert
  11. I almost exclusively pocket carry (99% of the time) a P365 in my front right pocket. No way that would work with an optic on it, and that my absolute favorite style of carry.
  12. I’ve gone back and forth from irons to red dot in uspsa for several years, and have always been frustrated with red dots because I’m almost always slower, both subjectively, in that I feel slow, and objectively, as my uspsa/3gun performance is universally worse when shooting with dots. soooo, after reading this thread, I put tape on my g34’s vortex and spent 10-11 minutes drawing and presenting. First slow, and gradually speeding up. The next day I went to the range for live fire practice. Again, painters tape over front lens. When working on patterning new muscle memory I do intense, short sessions with multiple reps, so I ran Brian’s Transition Drill 3 times, VERY slowly, trying to draw and present as intentionally and with as much focus on each step as I could, and to make sure I executed as close to perfect as I could. I paused long enough to police up some brass left by previous shooters, then ran the drill again, trying to go at a natural place, no rushing, no trigger braking unless I was certain of calling the shot an A, focusing on NOT focusing on the dot or gun. Ran the drill 9 times, then took another break By the time I ran it 27 times I was confident that I’m not going back to irons except when concealed carrying. my average time on the transition drill is now firmly 1.2 seconds faster with the red dot than irons. I’ve run this drill at least 1000 in the last 9 years (I wouldn’t be surprised if the actual number was 3 or4 times that) and I’m pretty shocked, because my red dot times have always been slower. THANKS guys!!
  13. This is such a neat little press; I’ll be greatly surprised if it isn’t around for a very long time. I think it hits a sweet spot of utility in many ways. i bought one on a whim, and will keep it for various uses. I actually like it far more than my turret press!
  14. thanks for all of the replies! My primary motivation is having a seperate powder check station. I know, lots of ways to work around it, but I have been dissatisfied with that particular aspect of the 1050 since I added a bullet feeder several years ago. Likewise, my bench isn’t big enough to permanently mount 2 progressive reloaders, so I only rarely -twice- have used the super since I got it.
  15. I currently have an RL1050 running a Mk7 Pro, and a Super 1050 manually operated. I reload anywhere between 30k and 70k a year. Most of my loads are 9mm, .40, 45acp, long colt, 556/223, 308, and 6.5 grendel and creedmoor. I have 6 tool heads- all of those calibers except long colt are set up, so it's easy to swap calibers.... I only rarely set up the super 1050- most of the time I will swap toolheads/priming systems and keep the rl1050 rocking. I'm so spoiled by the autodrive that I hate using the super manually. I think I could sell both my 1050s and all of the accessories for them for about enough to get an Apex or evo, loaded with all the sensors... Is there any compelling reason NOT to sell all of the above and buy a MK7 apex or evo, then put it under my autodrive? I've read about everything I can find aobut them, including every thread here on benos...can't find any major negatives, but figured I'd ask. THanks in advance, robert
  16. That event, much like setting off primers in the feed tube on the press, is something I would rather not personally experience.
  17. HOLY CRAP! I didn't know that about one shot. I mostly use dillon, but I do have 2 cans of one shot that I will randomly, for no specific reason, use instead.
  18. I see people talking about having to lube in bags & such... I just dump brass into my casefeeder and then spray liberally with dillon case lube. The rotation of the feeder plate seems to spread it enough to take care of it for me. Of course, this all goes back to my goal of using the fewest possible steps, and streamlining those steps as much as possible... and since I'm using a Mark 7 pro, I'm not too worried if lever effort is higher than if I took time to lube them better.
  19. I've quit using pins, too. I now use water and about a capful of Brass Juice. 30-45 minutes in my thumblers tumbler cleans about as well as 75-90 minutes with pins... LOVE this stuff!! (not affiliated with the company, at all, btw) Big advantage to me, besides no straining of pins, is that the water and brass juice solution can be reused at least 5-6 times, so there's one more step cut out of much of my reloading chores.
  20. The smartass in me says I've never known of any regiment even owning a 1050, let alone cleaning one The helper in me says I vacuum it or blow it off with compressed air (I have an air compressor plumbed into my reloading room) about 1-2 times an hour while running, more often if I have a powder spill or problem, and lube it and wipe down at every caliber change. I do a deep clean once every 6-9 months. Several of my shell plates, case plungers, and primer bars are Robar NP3+ coated, and that seems to have helped a bit with both friction, and with gunk sticking to various reciprocating parts. I may well be simply fooling myself about that, but I'm confident enough about it that I"m about to send one of my 1050s major parts off to Robar to have them NP3+ coated, as well. I think that will help a bit with both friction, and with keeping them clean.
  21. I'll be the lone dissenter: I won't pay more than 60% of dillon prices for a machine in good condition, and 50% if it's rough. Used Dillon prices are all coming down, imho. Pressure from the top side due to Mark 7s...evidently causing people to dump 1050s, which in turn is putting pricing pressure on 650s and 550s, too. In the last 6 months I've definitely encountered more sub $1000 1050s than at any time in the last 10 years.
  22. That's why I'm asking: On the one hand, it seems kinda simple...but on the other hand, I really didn't think there would be a lot of people dumping a $2k machine after purchasing a $5-12k machine... I have 4 1050s, 2 are now rocking Mark 7 pros. I want a revo, but if and when I get one (not happening any time soon) I'll keep the 1050s for processing and for loading lower volume calibers. I thought that the Revolution's primary customers would be high volume reloaders, not people likely to only load one caliber, or to only load virgin, new brass.
  23. About 8? ish years ago, I bought a used RL1050 for ~$800. At the time, it was a smoking deal... 3 tool heads/powder droppers, 4 case feeder plates, multiple dies. About 2-4 years ago, Supers and RLs were basically going for $1200 for good deals, and 1400-1500 on average- all used, of course. January of this year I bought 2 more supers for less than $1000- one of them had 2 extra loaded tool heads. (one for me and one for my brother) Now it looks like overall 1050s are running right about $1000 in local sales on craigslist and also sometimes on ebay (4 supers sold for 800-850 on ebay in april and may). My opinion is that for every Mark 7 Evo or Revo sold, something like .6 or .7 dillon 1050s are being sold off by long-term owners, and that's pushing the used market down. Is anyone else seeing/noticing this, or have I simply been seeing the aberrations, not even close to averages?
  24. WOW!! Good Catch! I've been having the same issue, just went and looked at mine, and while it's not as severe as yours on the left, it's definitely worn... I'll be replacing it ASAP.
×
×
  • Create New...