Drop tube and stand, whut's yers like?

[Dick Dastardly]

Ho the fire,

I made me a brand spankin new drop tube and stand.  Did it from experience.  Since I've not seen any "plans", I'm wonderin' whut others do for a drop tube?

I'll get round to postin' some photos soon nuff, but I'm curious about others experience with drop tubes.  Also, how fast do ya dump yer powder down the tube?  Does anybody use viberation to "settle" the charge?  If so, how ya do it?

Thanks,

DD-DLoS

[Fox Creek Kid]

I use a regular drop tube as sold by Buffalo Arms that is a 24" drop thru a brass tube. The top has a large wooden funnel/bowl. There's only one problem with drop tubing: no human being can pour the same rate every time & rate of pour does affect the powder column height.  That's why I use a compression die to just "kiss" my dropped powder to a set height, hence the same powder column heights on all cartridges. I won't go into compression here as that is another world and all bets are off. 

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Two pieces of 2 by 4 lumber, and a 2 foot bit of copper plumbing.  Plastic funnel on top and a diameter reducing fitting on the bottom.

[Virgil Ray Hality]

I use a Shiloh Creek drop tube.  You can see one here: http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,1218.htm

The best feature is the multiple gromets. One to limit tube travel and a very wide one to seal the shell case so owder does not splash out. 

I don't vibrate the case.  I just use a compression die.  My set upi is the same as what FCK describes. 

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Howdy Dick, and all y'all!

My best friend is an HVAC (Heating & Air Cond.) expert/ commercial installer.  He has a tool that will both swage and flare tubing.  We took about 30" of copper tubing, swaged one end and flared the other.  It fit an old Kodak photo chemical funnel in one end and the other end fits over any case of 44 or 45 dimensions.  (It might work for others, we just haven't tried them.)  I set the cases to be filled on the floor in a loading block.  (Thanks again, Ornery Orr for that high walled case block you made for 45-70 - it works great!)  When filled, I gently tap the sides to settle the powder, then during the loading sequence, I compress them with a Compression die I made.  I don't use a stand, 'cause when the loading blocks are on the floor, the length of the tubing makes it easy to pour in the powder at about chin level.

[Dick Dastardly]

I'm thinkn' of takin' all the good advice here and workin' it into a kind of a plan that I kin include with my Big Lube^tm rifle boolit molds.  There's lots of handy pards out there whut cud take advantage of a straight forward here's how to do it with a photo or two home made drop tube arrangement.

Nothing against store bought ones, cept that's been done and wealthyer pards kin already go there.  What I want to do is make a good workin' drop tube rig available to any shooter that has some gift for usin' tools.

Keep 'em commin'.

Thanks,

DD-DLoS

[Cuts Crooked]

I'll get round to postin' some photos soon nuff, but I'm curious about others experience with drop tubes.  Also, how fast do ya dump yer powder down the tube?  Does anybody use viberation to "settle" the charge?  If so, how ya do it?

Hi DD,

Yup! I "settle" powder by vibrating it. I have used a drop tube that I borrowed from a friend, and then touched the filled case to my tumbler while it was turned on...and watched the level of the powder drop in the case!

Now I jist touch the case filled with powder to my tumbler and count to 3 before setting it aside and filling the next one. I also use a "compression die" that is actually one of the unused stations on my Bair shotshell press! (Don't ask, I can do it, but I cain't describe it!  It involves the use of a 38S&W shell case! )

[Lars]

Cuts,

I am another non-drop-tube user that has seen the same additional settling of powder on vibration. In those few situations where I need more powder in the case or lower level of powder I use vibration. I get very reproducable powder levels, in part because I always use weighed charges. With excellent bullets these loads have given really nice groups.

What I have never seen is a really excellent comparison of drop tube versus vibration on such measurables as spread in muzzle velocities and group size at extended ranges (300-500 yards).

Might be nice to do a very controlled experiment, using very high quality bullets (+/- 0,5 grain in weight, or less) known to give excellent long range performance, totally round bullets (to standards of really high quality molds), precisely identical alloy suited to high precision, long range shooting, use of only one high quality lube (SPG), cases prepared to standards of winners in national BPCR matches, primers and primer seating done to same standards, etc. Of course, one would need a national-champion-level shooter to do the shooting.

Lars

[Cuts Crooked]

PG), cases prepared to standards of winners in national BPCR matches, primers and primer seating done to same standards, etc. Of course, one would need a national-champion-level shooter to do the shooting.

Lars

You got that right!!!!!! I can load the best rounds I can make and shoot them from a bench and get the best groups I am capable of, and then let a local shooter of considerable skill use the same gun & loads...and he can cut group sizes in half compared to mine!

[Dick Dastardly]

Ho Cuts,

I picked up a neat lil press for compressin' my powder.  Firsr, I drop it, then I shake it, then I  compress it.  This thing was at a surplus store.  It's massive but compact and uses a rack and pinion to run the plunger.  It really does compress powder.

I'll take some photos tonight and put 'em up to look at.

DD-DLoS

[Fox Creek Kid]

Go here & get smarter! 

http://www.bpcr.net/index-a.htm

Go to Technical Info then scroll down on "How to charge cases....."

[sundance44`s]

Im gonna have one soon .... just as soon as the spring comes and i can get back in the woods where i keep the ole wiskey still hid .. i think i left some spare copper tubein laying around there and maybe even a funnal.

[Driftwood Johnson]

I use the rather large diameter two piece 24" aluminum tube that came with my Lyman BP powder measure. I made up a stand for the tube out of oak that looks pretty much exactly like the stand Cabella's sells. I made up a bunch of loading blocks that will hold 20 45-70 cases each and I run them by the drop tube, one at a time.

I use a compression die that I bought from Buffalo Arms. It threads into the body of the 'neck belling' die. I use an RCBS set of dies.

[Dick Dastardly]

Ho Fox Creek Kid,

Interesting article.  I read it and feel it has merit.  Some will prefer to use a drop tube and others will use viberation, some will use both.  The author pretty well made his case clear enough.  He noted that either method will benefit from compressing the powder before seating the bullet.  No surprises there.

One thing that I felt was surprising was that he felt that either method will give good results if the column of powder being compressed was the same height.  In other words, neither settling method was "better" than the other.  I feel that he made a good point when he said that the method of measuring the powder had to be very consistant.  Perhaps that's one reason the LEE auto disk does such a good job.  I consistantly get a SD between 2fps and 4fps from my main match 44 Magnum ammo.

DD-DLoS

[sundance44`s]

Giveing it some thought i`m thinking about just useing the viberation method for settleing the powder , there`s lots of things around the house that could be used for this .. my large bullet tumbler probally will hold my loading block on top ..or maybe the clothes dryer its nice and flat .. the washing machine might be a little agressive haha ,.,. save it for something else .. really though i think i`ll try the clothes dryer its not agressive and nice and flat on top , might be just the ticket ..

[Dick Dastardly]

Ho Sundance44,

Jest don't go and spill no Holy Black on that cloths dryer.  It has a HEAT source.  I'd not want to hear about another dryer fire, this time accellerated by black powder .

DD-DLoS

[sundance44`s]

I do find it interesting though that even after useing a drop tube you can still tap the cases and settle the powder even more ...if fact quite a bit ... i wounder what method they used in the 1800`s what ever they did it must have been quite affective .. for the 44/40 to have had 40gr of powder and the 45/70 to have had 70gr ..expecially with the 500 gr bullets in the 45/70 ...( don`t worrie Dick i`ll turn the dryer on air dry only ) wouldn`t want a dryer fire , might put the laundry woman out of work . 

[Wills Point Pete]

 Sundance, bear in mind that the cases were quite different, then.It is a lot easier to get more BP into those old baloon head cases. My Grandfather shot his Dad's buffalo gun. He used a drop tube about three feet long. When he first dropped the powder in the tube it didn't all go in the case, he would tap the side of the case with a metal straight edge for a while and once the powder had settled he's jam a wad and bullet down on top. If I recall correctly it took over a minute to charge the case. Not that anyone minded how long it took to load the ammo, the way those old fashioned stocks handled recoil no one wanted to shoot those old guns for long strings.

[sundance44`s]

Yea your right i forgot about the baloon head cases .. that would make some difference ... and your right i don`t care how long it takes to load my 45/70 cases ..it takes me a long time to shoot 20 rounds too ..i gotta try and remember to push the butt end into my shoulder on that first shot .. or i get all i want from that first one ..