Speed loaders/Capper

[sgtt]

Another newby question or two.  Are there any speedloaders and cappers that work well?

[LanceR]

Well Sgt T, the particular model of rifle/shotgun can change the advice you might get so that would help.  Also, are you using loose powder, pellets, sticks etc.  Ball, bore sized conical, shot or bullet/sabot projectile choices matter somewhat also.

So, what firearm, load and powder are you using?

Welcome to the sport.

Lance

[sgtt]

Aw yes.  I will be using an TC Omega.  .50 cal. My preference will be Blackhorn 209 and Hornady 300 grn FPB.

[LanceR]

Those are good choices all around.  The TC has a tight bore that is a couple of thousandths of an inch tighter than most others.  Many bullet/sabot combinations can be tough to load.  Two sabots that do very well for many TC shooters are the Magnum Muzzleloading Products HPH-24 which is a few thousandths thinner than a "normal" sabot and the black Harvester Muzzling Crushed Rib sabot.  Both can be had directly from the makers or some retailers.

http://www.harvestermuzzleloading.com

http://www.mmpsabots.com/

I hunt in cold weather with heavy gloves on and never found any factory speed loader (for loose powder) to be any faster and easier to use than a 35mm film can.  Anyplace that processes film will have the cans for the asking.

BH209 wants a standard primer.  The CCI 209M, Federal 209A and Winchester 209 (NOT the  Win 209 777 primer) are all good choices.  Avoid any "muzzleloading" primer.  They are all less energetic than standard primers and they only exist to cut down on the crud ejected back into the action of some rifles when using 777 etc.  A breech mechanism and breech plug that seal correctly don't have the blowback issues, anyway.

If you buy one of the magazine style cappers that has the see through top and spring loaded feed mechanism be sure to check out how well it feeds the primer you pick.  Some cappers, due to different primer heights, jam up.  I tried three styles until I gave up since all jammed with at least one style of primer.  Other folks hopefully have some advice for us.

The Omega really doesn't need a capper so you may decide to just go with loose primers.

Lance

[Underclocked]

I have found no better 209 capper than the straight line brass 209 capper such as the one produced by Tedd Cash.



I always replace the spring loop with a key ring - more positive stop and doesn't come off by accident.

Speed loaders are sort of a joke for me.  Me and speed just don't go together.  But this one is a fairly good design



The powder is located in the capped end, there is a place for a cap built into the lid.  The projectile goes into the other end as shown and there is a built in starter.  Two problems I have with this design - one is the cap on the powder section keeps coming open if carried in a pocket and the other is that using the starter function can caused pinched flesh on the hand holding the body.   

I just use capped tubes such as the ones sold by Lane for both powder charges and bullets.   Two or three powder tubes and a tube with two or three bullets should be more than sufficient for a day of big game hunting.   The tubes are also useful for carrying pre-measured charges to the range.

[LanceR]

Underclocked, I've used the same capper for my Winchester (CVA) rifles but can't use a capped for my Savage so I just keep some loose primers in a waterproof pocket with the rest of my loading stuff.  I also had issues with the spring coming off the capper and just put a twist tie around it.  I like that capper a lot since it fits into tight places that the molder plastic ones sometimes cant and it has no issues with primer height.

Lance

[Jim_Ole_Timer]

I keep a dozen or so primers in a small pill bottle. Keeps them dry and clean, and I always know where they are. I gave up on the capper altogether.   

[Forestclimber]

I like Ted Cash.

[johnnyb]

+ 1 on the Ted Cash capper, been using them for years. As for speed loaders, I use the Butler Creek Loaders.