The file 'Bullet Feeding Die 38/357 3D Printer Model' is (stl) file type, size is 1.1MB.
I started with the idea of making a bullet feeding die for my Lee Classic Turret Press. With pistol brass, especially 38/357 for revolvers, you don't really need the fourth crimping die as the seating die can perform a slight roll crimp. Sure I could just buy a feeding die and retrofit it for the Lee press, but that's not me.
Simple - Print everything, no pins, no screws, no springs required. May need sand paper/file/razor for fitting, depending on your printer's first layer quality.
Low Stress - The prongs bend minimally when dropping a bullet. Should handle at least a few hundred bullets depending on the material.
Cheap - Even when they do break, it's fraction of a penny to replace. Such a small part is the only moving part of the whole system.
The difficulty lies in the prongs.Too loose and they don't hold the stack especially if there's a long column of bullets. You can get double drops or the grand failure, everything comes out the bottom, like diarrhea. Too stiff and they cause friction, resulting in stuck bullets. So the last few bullets may not feed properly. Cast bullets with sharp bases are more prone to this. Plated/heavy/filleted base bullets do better. Between the two, its probably best to have stiffer prongs as you can just refill the tube and never load the last few bullets.
Known issues:
If anyone's looking for a light challenge, try designing a better cap + tube system. What I made is pretty rudimentary. Or a way to easily load the tube.
Cap.stl | 428.0KB | |
Insert.stl | 388.6KB | |
Nut.stl | 243.0KB | |
Prong_v5.stl | 30.9KB | |
Thread.stl | 1.7MB | |
Tube.stl | 155.7KB |