Lee Loader

Someone, not long ago, posted a case holder that I think was 3 D printed? I'm very interested in buying one of getting the computer plans for making one. My son has a one of those printer. My old fingers are complaining every time I uniform primer pockets or ream out crimps. So PLEASE help out a ornery old grump's fingers and remind me where to find that post or send me in the right direction.

Finger Saver. There are two sizes of shell holders and I'm willing to bet you have both.

Lee Trimmer Shellholder Finger Saver

I love these things. I bought some more this morning being I retrieved the links rather than the topic.

I did but I gave the priming type away after I got the 3 jaw chuck. Still love the 3 jaw chuck but it's the primer end, the case head, I need to do work on. The 3 jaw chuck precludes working on that end of the case and this looks like it will too.

My finger joints need help to do primer pocket jobs (crimp removal and uniforming).

Any other suggestions for gripping a case ?

daboone wrote: My finger joints need help to do primer pocket jobs (crimp removal and uniforming)?

I figured so I stayed quiet. I first mentioned the linked doo-dad above when I was having trouble with the trimmer shell holder for 5.56X45.

I've been thinking about this, always dangerous, and one of my son and our own LarryW came up with good suggestions.

1) shoving a dowel with a rubber band wrapped on the end ( and a handle on the other end) then twisted into the case mouth does work keeping the case from twisting / spinning while uniforming the primer pockets.

2) using those moto tool sanding drum mandrels attached to a handle. As yet untested but will be investigated.

Any of you brainiacs PLEASE add to this list.

[quote="daboone"]I've been thinking about this, always dangerous, and one of my son and our own LarryW came up with good suggestions.

1) shoving a dowel with a rubber band wrapped on the end ( and a handle on the other end) then twisted into the case mouth does work keeping the case from twisting / spinning while uniforming the primer pockets.

2) using those moto tool sanding drum mandrels attached to a handle. As yet untested but will be investigated.

Would be nice to find something that will do that job alright. I use a cheap glove from Harbor Freight with rubber "grip", the gray and yellow ones, and that "helps" a lot, but it still puts a strain on the fingers after a hundred or so 9mm's, especially those Aguila brand, man some of those primer pockets are TIGHT.. I did see a "tool" for holding brass (I think it's kinda caliber specific) advertised and it looks like a good idea as far as it goes. Problem is it costs 85.00 bucks which, to me anyway, looks like it should cost about 10 bucks. It does not appear to be enough of an engineering marvel to command that kind of price. Actually looks like a cheap pair of crimping pliers. Oh well, what do I know . (sour said the fox) If you find something that works, and that dowel thing seems worth a look, but I'm not sure it would hold one of those nasty little 9mm cases.

Before I started tumbling brass, whenever I wanted some "BBQ" ammo I just pushed a case on a tapered hardwood dowel chucked in a drill. The mandrel (dowel) held the case tight enough to allow polishing by tightly gripping a wad of steel wool around the case...

For cleaning and uniforming primer pockets and holes I came up with this. It can also be used to bevel out crimps but I use a press mounted swager for that. Tubing is available from a hardware store or perhaps auto store. Thick wall tubing is required. It will eventually stretch a bit but a bath in really hot water will tighten it up. It's ID can be expended by putting in a case and heating it with your DW's hair dryer on the hot setting. I used just enough tubing proud of the dowel to hold the case without making it hard to remove. The dowel is tight in the tubing so it doesn't slip off easily. The tube end of the dowel is turned down to loosely fit the ID of the case neck. This aids in stiffness and alignment. The dowel is painted as is the wooden knob. This helps keep it hard, clean and easy to hold. I got dowel and wooden knob from a craft store. If a case sticks, I use a shell holder to remove it. It happens but not often. I have done runs of up to 100 9mm cases but can't attest to it holding up to larger volumes. The longer tube is for bottleneck cases such as the 8mm shown.

Slick

Make smoke,

Sweet, now we're gettin somewhere...