I'm going to start posting some of my reloading projects, in case anyone cares to be inspired (or nauseated) by them.
I'm an unrepentant tinkerer. Sometimes my tinkering results in silly, useless stuff, and other times, somewhat useful stuff. In this case, the result is probably somewhere in between. It's a simple, mechanical round counter that also works as a catch bin for finished rounds. Using a mechanical counter (found on eBay, about $12) a standard poly bin, a piece of plastic from an old PC printer paper tray, and some small bits and pieces, I came up with this:
The plastic "lid" made from the printer tray has a small coutout, under which a hinged trap door (from the same material) is fastened. A piece of semi-flexible wire is fixed to the moving side of the trap door. The other end of the wire is attached to the mechanical counter's actuator arm.
When a finished round comes out of the press, I simply drop it on the trap door and give a gentle push down. The counter clicks, the round rolls down the trap door into the poly bin (which is removable), and then the door springs closed again as the mechanical counter arm spring returns the arm back to it's starting position.
Obviously, one can count keep track of round count simply by placing them in a partitioned cartridge box, but this mechanism is much faster, saving me a few seconds per round simply by reducing the amount of motion and dexterity employed to handle a finished round. I don't have to look when dumping the round through the trap door, nor think about how many rounds I've completed. A glance at the counter lets me know my progress.
Here's what it looks like if you step back a bit. The counter is positioned near my left hand when I am seated at the press, making it a very quick motion to drop the finished round through the counter.
I'm an unrepentant tinkerer. Sometimes my tinkering results in silly, useless stuff, and other times, somewhat useful stuff. In this case, the result is probably somewhere in between. It's a simple, mechanical round counter that also works as a catch bin for finished rounds. Using a mechanical counter (found on eBay, about $12) a standard poly bin, a piece of plastic from an old PC printer paper tray, and some small bits and pieces, I came up with this:
The plastic "lid" made from the printer tray has a small coutout, under which a hinged trap door (from the same material) is fastened. A piece of semi-flexible wire is fixed to the moving side of the trap door. The other end of the wire is attached to the mechanical counter's actuator arm.
When a finished round comes out of the press, I simply drop it on the trap door and give a gentle push down. The counter clicks, the round rolls down the trap door into the poly bin (which is removable), and then the door springs closed again as the mechanical counter arm spring returns the arm back to it's starting position.
Obviously, one can count keep track of round count simply by placing them in a partitioned cartridge box, but this mechanism is much faster, saving me a few seconds per round simply by reducing the amount of motion and dexterity employed to handle a finished round. I don't have to look when dumping the round through the trap door, nor think about how many rounds I've completed. A glance at the counter lets me know my progress.
Here's what it looks like if you step back a bit. The counter is positioned near my left hand when I am seated at the press, making it a very quick motion to drop the finished round through the counter.
Last edited:
