After seeing this thread, I decided to build myself a bullet feeder.





http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/349969__28_00_Bullet_feeder_for_Any_Progressive.html
I went to Home Depot today, and got myself eight 3/4" hitch pins, a bottle of PVC cement, two 1/2"x10' sticks of "FlowGuard Gold CPVC" pipe, and four 1/2" CPVC couplers. The 1/2" CPVC pipe is a slip fit for the bullet feed die. With .mil discount, I was out the door at $20.59. This shopping list will make four feed tubes.
Last weekend, I ordered myself a Hornady .45 bullet feed die from Grafs.
I think it was around 28 bucks or so. It's easy to set up, and has very few parts. The small parts are all metal, so they outta last.








Bullets go in here.








Bullets come out here.








Here's the die disassembled. There are two tubes, which tread together. Inside, are two collets, labled A and B. All A does is ensure that the bullets drop straight into B, and land squarely inside.








Collet B is the important part. It's got a small ring machined about halfway into it, that holds the bullets. When a case comes up, it spreads the fingers of the collet, allowing the bullet to drop down into the case mouth. Because Collet A lined the bullet up, it drops straight down, and assuming your powder thru expander is set up correctly, it will stick. The weight of the bullets above will help drop the bullet down into the case as well.










 

Here is the die installed in the press. For simplicity, I removed the seating die, and my powder cop die.







The die holds 8 bullets.





Like I said before, the 1/2" CPVC(whatever the hell that is) is a slip fit into the bullet feed die.





I thought that with the weight of the bullet column, the base of my bullet feeder would need some reinforcement. The pipe slips into the die 1/2". The pipe slips into the coupler 1/2". I want to ensure that the base of the coupler sat firmly against the top of the die, so I cut off a piece of pipe 15/16" long. I glued the coupler and 15/16" piece on with PVC cement. I also marked a hole about 1/4" above the coupler, and drilled it to 1/8" for the hitch pin.

Very nice! Post up some video when it is done. Do you have to flare the case mouth extra to feed the bullet or is the standard flare enough for reliable feeding.

what is the pin for

The longest bullet I would feed would be the 230 grain FMJ. The Hornady bullets measure out at .643" 50 of them would be 32.15". I rounded this up to 34, and cut a section of pipe 34" long. I drilled another 1/8" hole about a half inch from the top, for the second hitch pin.







Here it is, installed in the press.

So the bullets don't fall out.



 

Now it's time for my low bullet alarm system. I used a Sharpie, and marked a series of holes at the base of the tube. I drilled 1/8" pilot holes, then 7/16" holes. I used 7/16" because it was in the box of bits. You can use whatever size you feel is best for you. Be careful not to go too large and weaken the tube.














I forgot to mention that I purchased a 3/8" dowel. I filled the feed die with the 8 bullets it holes, put the dowel inside the tube, and installed the feeder into the die. I marked the rod at the top hole, and bottom hole.







 

From the top mark on my rod, I went up a half inch, and cut it off. I masked off the rod just below the bottom hole, and sprayed the rod bright orange with some paint I found in the garage.






Here it is, installed at the top of a column of 50 bullets.





When the tube has bullets left, it looks like this.





When it hits 0 bullets, all the holes are orange. Time to fill up.





 

Here is a completed bullet feed tube. To fill it, you install a hitch pin at the base, drop 50 bullets in at the top in the correct orientation, and then put a hitch pin in to the top, to keep them from accidentally falling out. Then, you press the entire thing into the feed die, and remove the bottom hitch pin. Clunk! All the bullets will drop down and begin to feed.




Supervised by Lucille, my shop foreman, I tossed a .45 ACP case into station one, full length sized it, brought it around to station two, and expanded it. I did not seat a primer or charge it with powder. All I did was expand it. By necessity, the PTX die expands it a bit more than you normally would.

























The weight of the bullet column above drops bullets into the case mouth with some authority when full, seating it just a hair. As you can see, the bullet was pushed in pretty hard by the bullets above. This one shows where the bullet below dented it as it came down.













 

Just a little bit of extra flare, to hold the bullet securely as the press auto indexes around to station five. I'm still unpacking from the move. Maybe next weekend I'll get around to rolling some .45 up.



One thing that you must keep in mind when using a bullet feeder is that you have to use a station on your press to do so. In my normal setup, I size/deprime, powder drop/expand, powder check, seat, then taper crimp. With the feeder taking up a station, I had to give up either the taper crimp die, or the powder cop die. I chose to give up the taper crimp die, and adjust my seating die so it will seat and crimp.





 

Nice.

I really want an automated bullet feeder but I am curious why they are only available for pistol calibers?

Probably because rifle is a pain in the ass to feed. RCBS has one for .223 and .308.



 

Copy that. That is what I figured...

Nicely done.

Very cool!

I like the idea but I have a low ceiling and I don't think it would hold much in the tube..

cool

Forgot to mention...you must deburr the ends and bevel the inside edges of the joints to ensure bullets don't hang up.

This is fantastic! Thank you very much.
I think I'll be adding this to my 650 as soon as I have the time to get back into reloading. I could see making half a dozen tubes and loading pretty fast for 20-30 minutes at a time.

Very cool!