Case Sorter

[HuskySig]

I bought the set of Shell Sorters back in December. I think they work great. I get most of my brass from an indoor range nearby. The 9mm black pan leaves an assortment of .380 Auto, 9mm, .38 Super/Comp that does need to be gone through by hand. Unless you're absolutely certain about what you picked up. Not too many .38 Super/Comp range rentals. My biggest problem is with the .380 Auto, it's a pain but easy to spot when I pull a hand full of brass to lube before loading.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with Shell Sorter. It has definitely saved me quite a bit of time and energy so far.

mattk

[Merlin Orr]

Got a set and have now spent about an hour with the trays. No magic bullet but it is money well spent IMO. The 9mm bucket will have to be completely resorted to make sure all of the variants are separated.

[Merlin Orr]

sorting .45-.40-smaller is OK,but what about 9mm-38-super and 38 supercomp or Lapua or TJ? If I still have to sort all that I might as well just do the 6 bucket toss I currently do. You all know it, 1 bucket of range brass and 5 buckets to sort into, a TV with a good movie and an hour or so of so-called spare time. Pick-Look-Toss repeat.

Jim

6 bucket toss....

[Tom S.]

Merlin:

I'm impressed! Nice set up.

Edited April 14, 2008 by Tom S.

[Merlin Orr]

Merlin:

I'm impressed! Nice set up.

I know this will sound like a small point ... But ... If you don't use a really smooth and high quality piece of plywood the brass (and your hand) will drag on the grain and it does not work worth a damn.

[Larry White]

Merlin:

I'm impressed! Nice set up.

I know this will sound like a small point ... But ... If you don't use a really smooth and high quality piece of plywood the brass (and your hand) will drag on the grain and it does not work worth a damn.

Now wait just a dogone minute, I thought that was the vibaprime research and development facitity. Where is my coffee cup? Where is the roll of tape? Well maybe its not the same place, hard to tell without 50000 primers stacked all over it.---------Larry

Edited April 14, 2008 by Larry White

[Paul Santiago]

Got mine today.

35 minutes, 5 gallons of brass, (.45,40,9mm, six .380's , four .22's).

I'm satisfied with it!!

[adiksaputok]

+1 i have been looking for the vibraprime maybe it is in the safe

Merlin:

I'm impressed! Nice set up.

I know this will sound like a small point ... But ... If you don't use a really smooth and high quality piece of plywood the brass (and your hand) will drag on the grain and it does not work worth a damn.

Now wait just a dogone minute, I thought that was the vibaprime research and development facitity. Where is my coffee cup? Where is the roll of tape? Well maybe its not the same place, hard to tell without 50000 primers stacked all over it.---------Larry

[pdice]

Do you just shake the sorters and the shells fall through? How much brass do you normally get out of a 5 gallon bucket of 45?

[jmorris]

If that’s a trick question I’d say 5 gallons, if its full.

The following numbers are close.

9MM = 8500-9000 pieces

.40 S&W = 7000-7500 pieces

.45 ACP = 3800-4000 pieces

[Paul Santiago]

Do you just shake the sorters and the shells fall through?

yup. a little stirring helps if you've filled it up

[Jim Norman]

Got mine.

Wondering?

Put sorter on top of bucket, attach or build some sort of vibrator, start with .45 tray, all the rest falls into bucket, save 45's, then repeat with 40 tray, ditto 9 tray. Have to sort .38 super, .38 supercomp but I wonder...

Jim

[pdice]

Got mine.

Wondering?

Put sorter on top of bucket, attach or build some sort of vibrator, start with .45 tray, all the rest falls into bucket, save 45's, then repeat with 40 tray, ditto 9 tray. Have to sort .38 super, .38 supercomp but I wonder...

Jim

I still haven't figured out what this guy is using, but if anyone can figure it out, that vibe tool might work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP0zqX8DAXQ

[Larry White]

Got mine.

Wondering?

Put sorter on top of bucket, attach or build some sort of vibrator, start with .45 tray, all the rest falls into bucket, save 45's, then repeat with 40 tray, ditto 9 tray. Have to sort .38 super, .38 supercomp but I wonder...

Jim

I still haven't figured out what this guy is using, but if anyone can figure it out, that vibe tool might work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP0zqX8DAXQ

I dont think a handheld viberator is going to have enough power to shake a bowl full of brass. I was thinking about a rack on top of a dillon tumbler, should work.--------------Larry

[HSMITH]

LMAO@viberator, you never know Larry, they might have an industrial strength unit for those hard to reach spots or something. I am thinking cordless drill and counterweight to shake it without working very hard.......

I am a bazy lastard, and I have a bunch of brass to sort, gonna go order it.

[Larry White]

LMAO@viberator, you never know Larry, they might have an industrial strength unit for those hard to reach spots or something. I am thinking cordless drill and counterweight to shake it without working very hard.......

I am a bazy lastard, and I have a bunch of brass to sort, gonna go order it.

Howard, there was a woman who lived upstairs from me had one that sounded like it had a 250 Yamaha on it. Thought about going up there a time or two but knew I was out of my league. Scared me .--------Larry

[HSMITH]

I didn't think Texans got scared Larry? I figured you'd a tied off a 2x4 across your ass and gone in with your gun loaded. Help the poor dear out as best you could LOL.

She would have scared me too!!!

Ordered the sorter, should take a lot of the pain out of going through all my brass.

[Larry White]

Wasnt worried bout gettin in, was worried bout gettin out.--------------Larry

[HSMITH]

The 2x4 would have kept you more or less at the surface LOL.

[slavex]

the guy with that Lee setup is a genius. I've got a few ideas on how to fix mine up now (the girlfriend shouldn't notice one toy being butchered for science!)

edited to add,

OK, I used some thin cardboard to make the spacer in the back of the Lee primer tool. folded another piece around the primer tool to cover the tube when in place, and then put another piece of cardboard between that wrap and the tube (so 3 pieces of cardboard in the back and one in the front. Hockey taped it together and put a piece of thin clear plastic over the exposed area of the primer path (cut to fit). filled the tray with primers, inserted tube, and placed against my tumbler (both the Dillon and the Midway worked equally well), 100 primers in about 20 seconds of vibrating. Rotate the tray a bit and hold on an angle, and away it goes. half the time and effort (at least) of loading by hand. Using the clear plastic over the pathway you can watch to make sure each primer drops in the right way too. I'll try and take pics tomorrow. I tried using the vibrations from the tumblers to flip the primers in the tray, but it's too much. If I can salvage something from the old "toy" box, I might be able to get a speed controlled vibe mounted to the bottom of the tray to do everything. we shall see!

Edited April 22, 2008 by slavex

[vluc]

Another testimonial on the product. 5 gallon bucket full to the top of .40, .45, 38 Super and 9mm. About an hour to sort it all, counting the time spent separating out the .38 Super from the 9mm.

Might be costly, but my time is worth it.

[slavex]

got my shell sorters the other day. a 5 gallon pail of mixed 9mm and .40 and .45 took about 1/2 an hour. a pail of 9 and .40 took about 15 to 20 minutes (mostly 9mm). I also resorted all my clean 9mm to get those nasty .40's that made it through my hand sorting. a surprising number of them.

I've been thinking about grabbing one of those stand up vibrating belt things that you see advertised in workout mags and such. you know you stand on the platform, put the belt on and turn the machine on and it shakes the crap out of you? put one of those around a 5gal pail with the sorter tray on it, and just dump the brass in. emptying the tray when need be. then when the bucket is full, go to the next size tray and repeat.

if I'm sorting a small amount of brass I leave the 3 trays nested together, fill the top one, shake, put it aside when down, grab the next one, shake and repeat. I really like how it sorts the rocks and dirt and debris out of the brass too. I'd Dremeled a Midway media separator to allow .22 cases to fall out and had been using that with my brass for a long time. these trays work much better.

[shellsorter]

got my shell sorters the other day. a 5 gallon pail of mixed 9mm and .40 and .45 took about 1/2 an hour. a pail of 9 and .40 took about 15 to 20 minutes (mostly 9mm). I also resorted all my clean 9mm to get those nasty .40's that made it through my hand sorting. a surprising number of them.

I've been thinking about grabbing one of those stand up vibrating belt things that you see advertised in workout mags and such. you know you stand on the platform, put the belt on and turn the machine on and it shakes the crap out of you? put one of those around a 5gal pail with the sorter tray on it, and just dump the brass in. emptying the tray when need be. then when the bucket is full, go to the next size tray and repeat.

if I'm sorting a small amount of brass I leave the 3 trays nested together, fill the top one, shake, put it aside when down, grab the next one, shake and repeat. I really like how it sorts the rocks and dirt and debris out of the brass too. I'd Dremeled a Midway media separator to allow .22 cases to fall out and had been using that with my brass for a long time. these trays work much better.

Thanks for that great review!

An open question to all interested... We're working on a way to sort .380 from 9mm. We're considering an aluminum plate with the same slot pattern that would sit in one of the existing shell sorter pans. Since it is aluminum and is machined, it would be somewhat costly, probably around $16. We have a prototype, and it works well. If you would be interested, please let me know, we're trying to gauge interest before we do this.

Jeff

jeff@shellsorter.com

[John2A]

I would be interested most of my shooting is indoors and 80% of the brass I take home tends to be .380.

[Tim Egan]

An open question to all interested... We're working on a way to sort .380 from 9mm. We're considering an aluminum plate with the same slot pattern that would sit in one of the existing shell sorter pans. Since it is aluminum and is machined, it would be somewhat costly, probably around $16. We have a prototype, and it works well. If you would be interested, please let me know, we're trying to gauge interest before we do this.

Jeff

jeff@shellsorter.com

Jeff,

I just ordered a set, based upon reviews in this forum. Glad to see you've been picked up by Dillon as well.

Since you can take the .380 from the 9mm, how about a way to take .38 super / comp out as well??

That, and have it make coffee and you've got a deal!

TimE