Homemade LNL Upgrade & Cleaning Rod Case

I know there are several Hornady LNL owners on here so I thought I'd share a homemade LNL upgrade I made based upon Gavin at Ultimatereloader.com's "Modular Bullet Tray".
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Now Gavin has some nice stuff and he came up with a good idea, but I just can't justify spending $57 on it. I racked my head on how to make something similar and just didn't have any luck. If I had a welder it would be easy. Then one day while cleaning the garage I had an idea:

I took a shelf bracket that you can buy for about $5 at Lowes.
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Then I took my Dremel and cut off the cross bar and bar hook. Place the back of the bracket against the front of your workbench, behind the press, so the arm is pointing at you and mark it where it will clear the linkage arm of the LNL. Take it off and using the corner of your bench or vise, bend the arm at another 90 degree angle. Place back against the front of the workbench and screw it in.

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It works great and really does help speed up the loading process. There some spring effect in it since its not as solid as something like Gavin's, but for $5 who cares.

Here is a cheap and simple case to protect your cleaning rods from scratching, breaking/bending, etc in the shop or while traveling to the range. Total costs is about $12 for 2 cases.

You will need:
(1) 10-12' 1.5" PVC pipe (might need a smaller or larger diameter depending on your rod handle)
(2) PVC Caps
(2) PVC Threaded Caps (or Cleanout Plugs)
(2) PVC Threaded Adapters (or Threaded Couplings)
Optional is PVC Primer and Glue, but they are not required and saves about $8.

Measure your cleaning rod, cut the PVC pipe to length, put a Cap on one end, the Adapter on the other and your done. You can either stick some foam, old towel, cotton in the cap to protect the rod tip or jag from getting dinged up.

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I forgot to say after cutting the PVC Pipe for both rods I had a small piece left over, and it was actually the perfect size for my chamber cleaning rod. However not having anticipated having enough pipe left over I didn't buy enough end caps.

Nice!! Tips and tricks for our needs. Thanks XbonesX. Will tuck this away cause soon I will be getting a full length cleaning rod. Something a little better than the small metal ones I have...

that is pretty slick... I have been looking at his bullet tray myself. Seems this is a nice alternative and easy to make.

I have Gavins but yours is nice and 10% of the cost of his, now take it apart and paint it red

Speaking with XbonesX and making sure he was ok with it, I merged both his topics together and made this into a sticky. Be a good place for all to share what they have made themselves to aid into reloading and shooting that much easier and nicer..

Lets see some of everyones creations (of those that would like to share)

RichBirdHunter wrote:I have Gavins but yours is nice and 10% of the cost of his, now take it apart and paint it red

I also have the handle too!! It's even better then the bullet holder

Cool tips!

nice thats some good ideas there!! i dont have a LNL but i like that bullet holder i might make one of them myself be alot faster than digging through a box trying to get one out!

The rod holder you made, I wonder if a man could adapt that to carry a fishing rod and reel and put a strap on it to carry across his back if he is only using one and walking to a fishing hole?

The more I look at that, the more I like it.

I looked at walmart last night for that type of hanger as I will need something like that for my LnL as well as my dillon's......

Where did you pick those hanger up?

Actually I already have a plan for a carry strap and hopefully will have it posted next weekend. I am also working on a wall storage solution. If anybody has any ideas please let me know.

Fishing rods would work fine, only drawback is not having the reel on it, but would probably be great for boat setup and storage. It would also work great for plane travel if your going on a fishing trip. I was also thinking for traditional bow storage, but it might get to be too heavy once you get up into a wider diameter PVC pipe. A couple years ago my father and I went on a bow hunting trip and he needed something to keep it protected and we bought a fishing rod holder that was basicaly the same thing.

The hangers I got at Lowes, should be about $4-5, they are sold as Shelf Brackets. If you can't find any, I wonder if a piece of flat bar would work? Might be sold too thick though, plus you would have to drill holes for screws.

I think I might adapt your pvc project into an arrow tube.

Neat ideas bones....That's using the old noodle

PVC pipe is great stuff ... I have made Deer/Turkey feeders with them Get the large 4" + pipe wire it to a tree setting the bottom up from the ground slightly fill it up with corn or chopped corn. put a cap on it You have a feeder. I also have used the big stuff for fishing rod storage containers.
I have made a boat tie up stand off using pvc pipe I will have to take pics and show it its hard to explain.

I forgot about the feeders, thats what my family now uses too at the farm. The hogs do sometimes destroy them but they are cheap to make and replace.

Thats a really good bracket mod. idea you came up with.

sweet mods....

I'm not sure how I missed this. I actually did something similar but with a piece of aluminum from lowes. Its about 2" wide x 1/16" thick and 18 to 24" Long. I bent it in a J shape and fastened it to my bench using some washers on the back side to space it away from the bench to hang other trays to the left of the loaded round bin. Right now I am currently using it to hang a larger tray for cases to feed the LNL until I bite the bullet and buy the case feeder.
The only down side to the aluminum is it is a little springy without any support, but it serves the purpose. It sure beats the plastic hanger that comes with the plastic bins.

Tripples