Minky Posted September 7 Report Share Posted September 7 I've been TOLD.... Do something with all of this cartridge stuff..!!!. I shoot and reloaded 28, 20 and 12, but mainly 28 followed by 20s. I have a LOT of 28 cases. But I have found a bit of a problem manually sorting out the 65s from the 70s. I only want the 70s because that's what my MEC sizemaster is set up for. I know that there is a convertion kit available but I'd still have to sort out cases. Anyone out there know of a sorting device of some sort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minky Posted September 7 Author Report Share Posted September 7 I've been TOLD.... Do something with all of this cartridge stuff..!!!. I shoot and reloaded 28, 20 and 12, but mainly 28 followed by 20s. I have a LOT of 28 cases. But I have found a bit of a problem manually sorting out the 65s from the 70s. I only want the 70s because that's what my MEC sizemaster is set up for. I know that there is a convertion kit available but I'd still have to sort out cases. Anyone out there know of a sorting device of some sort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarecrow243 Posted September 7 Report Share Posted September 7 most cases have the size written on them so how is it hard to sort them out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 Make yourself a gauge or two. One that will stop over length cartridges going through and throw those away if you are not going to cut them down. Then one that will not let the length you want through, that will separate the short ones you then throw away. Result, three piles of different length shells, some of which you can use and others that you can dispose of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Best Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 1 hour ago, TIGHTCHOKE said: Make yourself a gauge or two. One that will stop over length cartridges going through and throw those away if you are not going to cut them down. Then one that will not let the length you want through, that will separate the short ones you then throw away. Result, three piles of different length shells, some of which you can use and others that you can dispose of. Did you do Rocket Science at school?😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donkey Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 Use a wood dowel insert into desired shell ,mark dowel,repeat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 38 minutes ago, London Best said: Did you do Rocket Science at school?😉 No, I did it in the Royal Air Force............................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave53 Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 Make a go / no go gauge. Wood, plastic or metal. For 2.5 (65m). 2.75 (70mm) won't fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 12 hours ago, Minky said: I've been TOLD.... Do something with all of this cartridge stuff..!!!. I shoot and reloaded 28, 20 and 12, but mainly 28 followed by 20s. I have a LOT of 28 cases. But I have found a bit of a problem manually sorting out the 65s from the 70s. I only want the 70s because that's what my MEC sizemaster is set up for. I know that there is a convertion kit available but I'd still have to sort out cases. Anyone out there know of a sorting device of some sort. A tape measure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minky Posted September 8 Author Report Share Posted September 8 17 minutes ago, Old Boggy said: A tape measure 😄 well thats true but we're talking feedsack amouts. At the moment I am using a kitchen tray and loading the cases on and visually selecting the short ones. Its easy but there's got to be a better way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 1 minute ago, Minky said: 😄 well thats true but we're talking feedsack amouts. At the moment I am using a kitchen tray and loading the cases on and visually selecting the short ones. Its easy but there's got to be a better way. Sorry, a bit of a tongue in cheek reply, but as Dave53 has said, maybe make a gauge in wood (easiest) that takes the 65s but not the 70s, so the 65s go through and get discarded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minky Posted September 8 Author Report Share Posted September 8 11 hours ago, scarecrow243 said: most cases have the size written on them so how is it hard to sort them out 1 hour ago, Dave53 said: Make a go / no go gauge. Wood, plastic or metal. For 2.5 (65m). 2.75 (70mm) won't fit. Most of the printed is fairly vague or smudged. Again it is the sheer amount. Feedsacks of them. initially I have enlisted some help from grandchildren and made a game out of it. Their nimble little fingers seem quite good at it. But the novelty soon wears off. I was thinking about some kind of board ramp that the cartridges could be rolled down. But I think that it would just be a log jamb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbrowning2 Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 scales? 70mm should weigh more than the 65mm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKD Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 How about making a height scale set at 66mm,,,,, easy to swipe each cartridge,,,, pass through left, don't pass through right ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minky Posted September 8 Author Report Share Posted September 8 15 hours ago, scarecrow243 said: most cases have the size written on them so how is it hard to sort them out Most replies aren't suitable because of the sheer amount of cases. It would be relatively simple if it was just a box or two that had gotten mixed but I'm dealing with thousands. Feed sacks of mixed 28g cases. A lot of the cases have been bought from Clay game for reloading and have nothing printed on the case tubes at all and the other cases have the printing fairly well smudged and the text size is very small to start with. I've found that if I put a couple of handfuls in a BIG plastic box and tilt it, then roll the cases the short ones can be identified straight away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKD Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 6 minutes ago, Minky said: Most replies aren't suitable because of the sheer amount of cases. It would be relatively simple if it was just a box or two that had gotten mixed but I'm dealing with thousands. Feed sacks of mixed 28g cases. A lot of the cases have been bought from Clay game for reloading and have nothing printed on the case tubes at all and the other cases have the printing fairly well smudged and the text size is very small to start with. I've found that if I put a couple of handfuls in a BIG plastic box and tilt it, then roll the cases the short ones can be identified straight away. Best option I can think of is,,,,,,, get someone else to do it ! 🤭😆🤣 And no, that's not an offer ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old farrier Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 Well to be fair you should check each case for condition before de priming and resizing can’t see it’s that hard to measure each case on initial inspection just my thoughts OF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enfieldspares Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 A gauge made as a simple letter [ shape where the gap between the two legs or arms is 65mm. Can be made from wood or cut with tin snips from sheet metal. Or get a known fired 70mm case and pick up the case you want to compare and if the same length keep. If you want to get fancy get two 70mm cases and glue them side by side with, say, a 1" gap between them, on a block of wood and use that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarecrow243 Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 its not going to be possible to make something that will keep 70mm apart from 65mm cases they only way is by hand ie make an L shape out of wood so the vertical is 70mm when the case sits on the horizontal bit of wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minky Posted September 8 Author Report Share Posted September 8 (edited) Every idea so far is viable but there is several thousand cartridges to sort through and doing every case individually would be a pain in the rudder. I've done them now and the best quickest way is to get the cattle feed bag and tip an amount .. 150..200 into a big plastic box. I tipped the box up on one corner and gave it a bit of a shake. this caused the cases to stand up racked along the side. This made it simple to pick up handfulls and put them on a tray. When the cases are on the tray pushed into a square formation it is visually easy to remove the 65s that I dont want and these have been put into the bin. If I had to check each individual case they probably would all have gone in the bin and I would have bought new primed cases. Edited September 9 by Minky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minky Posted September 9 Author Report Share Posted September 9 A few pictures of the cases. when you get a load of cases on the tray it is easy to see the short ones as indicated in the line up. Also it is easy to pull out any major abnormalities like the case that has disintegrated. I have never ever seen this problem until this last year when we went on a simulated driven clay/game shoot. At lunchtime one of the guns said that his cases were ripping apart. We all looked blank but on inspection I had quite a lot that had split/ melted down the case and in some instances the whole crimp area had been ripped off and gone. What happened I don't know but as far as I am concerned there was no difference to any shot. whether the whole lot went ups the barrel like a cut shell I don't know . nothing was obvious and the recoil was the same and the clays were broken the same. I took quite a few pictures of case damage. I was shooting with an AyA No.2 in 28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enfieldspares Posted September 9 Report Share Posted September 9 7 hours ago, Minky said: I was shooting with an AyA No.2 in 28 Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted September 9 Report Share Posted September 9 Well at least they are the PROPER colour............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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