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

Easy way to measure 800 40S&W cases by volume?


Recommended Posts

Years ago I counted out the number of .40 S&W cases that my new brass tumbler could clean at a time, dumped them in a three pound coffee can and marked the can so I could just measure them out by volume instead of counting each time. That worked well, but now that tumbler has died and I have a new one of different capacity. Does anyone have any suggestions besides counting 800 cases one by one to determine the proper volume load for my new tumbler?

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a very specific, scientific method for doing this...

1. Fill tumbler 2/3 full with brass.

2. Top off with media

3. Turn on tumbler

4. Return in 2 hours and remove brass

5. Repeat as necessary

Sometimes I will drink beer between 3 & 4

Edited by Shadyscott999
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a very specific, scientific method for doing this...

1. Fill tumbler 2/3 full with brass.

2. Top off with media

3. Turn on tumbler

4. Return in 2 hours and remove brass

5. Repeat as necessary

Sometimes I will drink beer between 3 & 4

You're doing it all wrong!

Drink a beer between 1 & 2

Drink a beer between 2 & 3.

Drink a beer between 3 & 4.

Don't do any reloading afterward.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a very specific, scientific method for doing this...

1. Fill tumbler 2/3 full with brass.

2. Top off with media

3. Turn on tumbler

4. Return in 2 hours and remove brass

5. Repeat as necessary

Sometimes I will drink beer between 3 & 4

You actually number the steps? :surprise:

I will have to give that a try, thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a very specific, scientific method for doing this...

1. Fill tumbler 2/3 full with brass.

2. Top off with media

3. Turn on tumbler

4. Return in 2 hours and remove brass

5. Repeat as necessary

Sometimes I will drink beer between 3 & 4

You actually number the steps? :surprise:

I will have to give that a try, thanks!

When I am feeling especially spry, I use roman numerals.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, I'll add all those methods together and go for it. But I'm not sure I can handle that much beer.

The reason I asked was that the directions with the new tumbler said to fill the bowl 2/3 with media and then dump in the brass cases.

Edited by jmbaccolyte
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tend to count all of my brass due to nothing other than being OCD. I have found the best way to count brass is use the plastic inserts that come with a box of .45 acp ammo. Put your brass into a big container and scoop them out with the plastic piece, and boom you have 50 pieces. The brass tends to fall in headstamp down so I run my fingers over the brass and make sure they are all the same caliber (very obvious if not) and check for cracks. Then place an empty plastic thing over that one and flip them over to check your head stamps. Then put it in the stack (or container if you only have a couple) and count out to 16 to get your 800 pieces. Should take all of 5 minutes :cheers:

Edited by FlightMurse
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I've got that big cleaner from Dillon and I don't think you can fill that thing up..

I put a coffee can full of 40 in it and go to bed,,the timer will cut it off..

No beer Tequila ,,don't have any regrets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Try this for a quick guess at cases per pound...

9mm, 59.46gr/ea, 117.7cases/#, 8.5#/1000

38spl, 68.06gr/ea, 102.8cases/#, 9.7#/1000

40s&w, 70.1gr/ea, 99.9cases/#, 10#/1000

.357mag, 78.3gr/ea, 89.4cases/#, 11.2#/1000

.45acp, 89.58gr/ea, 78.1cases/#, 12.8#/1000

.223, 95.28gr/ea , 73.5cases/#, 13.6#/1000

.44mag, 114.38gr/ea, 61.2cases/#, 16.3#/1000

50bmg, 865.26gr/ea, 8.1cases/#, 123.5#/1000

All weights are uncleaned fired cases with the primer remaining.

Individual case weights were derived using an average of mixed brass weights (except 50bmg)

So, if you picked up 8#s of 45 brass: 8# X 78.1cases/# = 625 cases+/-

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Believe it or not there is engineering theory for this. There are equations for working this sort of thing out so as to work out the amount of packing in distillation columns. Some packings are cylindrical in shape so it should be possible to use the maths for cases as well. It can also be used to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar to win prizes at fairs.

But it's been more than 20 years and I would have to dig a lot in my books to find the right equations

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

If you have a scale, that will be the best and usually most accurate method for case counting. The two minutes of time to weigh some brass more than makes up for the extra case or two that might get through. But if you have lots of extra time on your hands, you could always count each case. I always loose track around 100 and then scratch my head and start over.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...