case fillers

[45x4]

Veral:

I read through the posts made since I logged on last, and read about case fillers.  I wondered if there is a plastic filler cheaper than shot buffer for us penney pinchers!  I checked out the price of  shot buffer this week to replace my old bag and was shocked!

Cream of wheat is by far the best buy, but I would rather use plastic if affordable for large volume shooters.

[Veral]

  Cream of wheat if fine if you dry it well in an oven at about 130 deg for an hour before using it.  Do it each time you set up to reload, as it is hydroscopic, and the moisture it picks up can kill some powder.
  If you check the internet I suspect you could find a good price on the plastic buffer though, and it doesn't take much if the case is pretty full of powder, which is where any filler works best.  If the stack of filler is too long it becomes a broken bullet base as it exits the muzzle, which isn't condusive to accuracy.

  I did a little experimenting many years ago with sawdust, with results that indicated more experimentation was in order, but it needs to be run through a screen so you don't have chips getting in the way.  I didn't have a proper mesh screen, and had several container of shot buffer so never tried sawdust again.  I think the sawdust should be hardwood, of any flavor, not pine, which contains rosin, which is a super flux, but very very little.  It may be an asset or a detriment, I don't know.  Don't hesitate to try it if you give sawdust a whirl though.  Also, keep your sawdust in a real dry place or dry it like cream of wheat.  It can hold a lot of moisture, though it isn't as hydroscopic as the ceral.

[BBF]

I use cotton balls in some of the 45-70 loads. The balls are not uniform in weight so I snip away on them to get an even 1 grain portion.

[Veral]

  Try Precision Reloading.  I think you can get them on the net.  If not let me know, as I'm not even sure they are still in business.  But their prices were good when I bought some last time, over 10 years ago.

  Don't use cotton, kapok or any fiber as a filler.  It is used by many reloaders without problems, but will ring your barrel for sure if it gets pushed down so there is a gap between it and the bullet.  It does help powder ignition uniformity, but that is only a secondary objective for why I presented the use of fillered loads.  The goal I was getting at is to provide a wiper behind the bullet to wipe up any lead that might melt from the bullet and smear the bore.  It comes out clean every shot when it is wiped while still molten by the wad of buffer, cream of wheat, etc.

   I don't know why I never thought of trying wheat bran, which is available in most health food stores, and is very inexpensive.  Be sure it is dry and put in enough to get good compression.  It should work as well as plastic buffer, and will have the advantage of being easily compressed.  Hopefully some of you readers who have experiance with plastic buffer will try bran and inform me and the readers on how it works.  Another source for it is in most animal feed stores, where it is often sold from bulk bins for horses, and in 50 pound bags, for those who reload a lot.  It is inexpensive in health food stores and CHEAP in feed stores.

[45x4]

Veral:
I checked with Precision Reloading and found they are indeed less expensive than others for this product.  I just paid $10 for a half pound, where precision quotes about $43 for 10 pounds.

They state that their buffer is small, very small, and will creep into the shot column with out vibration.  Will this then mix with the powder?

[Veral]

  They didn't make that claim when I purchased last.  Yet I see no reason it will make the slightest difference as most powders are finer than any shot that would get buffered.  If it does migrate down into the coarser stick powders it will not alter combustion.  I knew one shooter that believed the loads did not even need be compressed, but just dropped some buffer in on top of the powder and let it mix up.  He claimed excellent results. - I'm only telling you about him because his method didn't hurt combustion.  I DEFINATELY recommend ONLY compressed loads when using plastic buffer as the purpose is to confine the powder and to form a WAD of plastic behind the bullet, with which to wipe off any freshly melted lead from the bullet.