Cheap bullet tubes for Hornady bullet feeder die.

[HDMontana]

I'm in the process of getting my new lnl ap up and running. I was loading a few 45acp rounds to get a feel for the press. I had a hornady .45 bullet feeder die but was waiting on tubes to arrive in the mail. Going the cheap tube route rather than buying the expensive mechanical loader. I got to thinking of what tube material I had that might work. I got a short piece of 1/2" plastic pex pipe and tried it to see if it would fit into top of hornady feeder die. It was ever so slightly bigger but you could work it down in. I dropped in a dozen. 45 bullets and it worked perfect for feeding them. You could chamfer the outside a little, drill a hole for a cotter key and use a dremel to grind a slit down low so you can see when bullets are about out. Tubes could be cut to whatever length works for you. Would be a perfect rigid plastic version of the metal hornady feeder tubes.

 

[Zero333]

I did a similar thing for my Dillon xl650 for the case tube.
I inspect every single piece of pistol brass before putting it in the tube, so a automatic brass feeder is out of the question for me. (I've found too many cracked 9mm cases from range pickups)
The tube that feeds the brass can only fit so many, so I had some clear plastic tubing I attached to it so now it fits twice as many.

 

[HDMontana]

Here is the finished product. Hole for cotter key to keep bullets in while filling tube and slit cut to see when bullets are running low. 1/2" pex only works with .45 feeder die.