WTB: Cartridge Loading Tubes

[VMI88]

Looking for cartridge loading tubes in .54, .58, & .69. All Google searches turn up is modern inline muzzleloader tubes. There was a gentleman on this site about 10 years ago selling LDPE tubes that seemed to be very well received but he doesn't seem to have posted anything in many years. Anyone know where to find these?

[Lou Lou Lou]

Several vendors. S & S Firearms in Glendale Queens, NY, Lodgewood, Back Creek Gunshop @ Blackpowderva.com

[Lou Lou Lou]

I was just reminded of John DeWald, NorthEast Trader, apologies

[VMI88]

Thanks to all for the information! It appears there are a couple of types available: soft, thicker rubber tubes and thinner plastic ones with a flange on the bottom. Any advice on how these perform? I've read references in older threads to some types splitting. The rubber ones are almost twice as expensive so I'm assuming they must be more durable.

[fuddster]

Thanks to all for the information! It appears there are a couple of types available: soft, thicker rubber tubes and thinner plastic ones with a flange on the bottom. Any advice on how these perform? I've read references in older threads to some types splitting. The rubber ones are almost twice as expensive so I'm assuming they must be more durable.


The plastic ones will last several years. I'd get 50 more than what you need and as they get older it's easy to tell the ones that need replaced. The worst(?) part about the plastic is getting them stretched out so the bullet slips in a little easier, but that just a matter of using them a few times.

[Rob FreemanWBR]

Thanks to all for the information! It appears there are a couple of types available: soft, thicker rubber tubes and thinner plastic ones with a flange on the bottom. Any advice on how these perform? I've read references in older threads to some types splitting. The rubber ones are almost twice as expensive so I'm assuming they must be more durable.

The thinner plastic tubes are very common - HOWEVER - in other recent threads, there are numerous observations on how these new plastic tubes split fairly easily. Not sure if the recipe used to make the plastic itself has changed, or what the cause is, BUT the older plastic tubes are apparently much more resilient and literally will last decades. If memory serves correctly, the OLD tubes had 203 or 204 on the outside base of the tubes.

Some folks, myself included will even go so far as to cut, or in my case use a low speed wetting stone to literally grind off the flange on the bottom. This makes the tubes MUCH easier to handle, esp when they're put into a cartridge box's insert or tins.

The thicker rubber tubes are fine too, I use them for my .69 smoothbore rounds. I just prefer the thinner plastic tubes...

This is probably much more info than you needed, regardless I hope it helps!

[Carolina Reb]

My experience lately is that the about one in ten of the flanged tubes will split on the first load. After that the survivors seem to hold up pretty well. The soft flangless tubes eventually get hard. You can roll them between your hands to heat them and temporarily soften them up. The flanged tubes don't seem to get as much powder stuck to them, so probably produce a more consistent load. That said, I seem to get equally good accuracy using either one. You can order both types from industrial supply companies like McMaster-Carr and MSC if the sutlers are out.

[Maillemaker]

I got a batch of yellow plastic .58 caliber tubes that were worthless - they split like crazy. But the red and blue ones I bought 9 years ago are still going strong.

I like to carve off the rim on the base of them also so they fit in my MTM Case-gard trays better.

The rubber tubes are nice in that being rubbery you can squeeze them a bit and squirt stubborn bullets out of the tube a bit easier.

However, the mouth of the rubber tubes tends to curl ever-so-slightly inward. This makes it hard to shove semi-wadcutter bullets, like the RCBS Hodgdon, into them. I find the rubber tubes work best with traditional shaped "minie" bullets. However, the curved tube mouth tends to settle into the grease groove, displacing lube.

Steve

[Artilleryman]

Thanks to all for the information! It appears there are a couple of types available: soft, thicker rubber tubes and thinner plastic ones with a flange on the bottom. Any advice on how these perform? I've read references in older threads to some types splitting. The rubber ones are almost twice as expensive so I'm assuming they must be more durable.

I started skirmishing in 1971 (jees...50 years ago!!!). When I first started, I bought clear plastic tubes along with cardboard (paper?) tubes. The cardboard tubes would last for maybe 2 to 3 loads, then they would fall apart. If they got wet, forget it, they would literally dissolve. I liked the clear plastic tubes and still have most of them. Occasionally, the necks would split or you?d lose a few, but those tubes held up! The colored tubes came out c.1974, and were, initially despised. These tubes were a lot thinner than the clear tubes and would split frequently. The tubes were made by a Company called ?Caplugs? and were marketed as covers for holes, screws and bolts. I don?t think the company anticipated that their product would be used for our purpose, but they worked! I?ve had those cases split, maybe losing about one to two in several years. The main problem is that the cases split. The cases will last but you have to take care of them!

Dave St John
Artilleryman

[Dheisey#7003]

I think 25 years ago, I bought the red "cap plug" cases directly from Cap Plugs. I think I had to buy 10,000 on the order. I do not think they allow purchases direct any more, but I could be wrong. At that time I think 10k cost around 2-3 cents a piece. I kept 500, and sold the rest at my cost to team members. I am still using them today. I ave never had one split, which is good. I had bought some yellow ones a few years back from a Sutler (not sure who) but they did seem much more flimsy and I had a few of them split. I tried the Winchester sutler tubes, never quite liked them.

[Lou Lou Lou]

DHeisey, we did the same thing. around 1986,Four of us split 10,000. Mine are still going strong.

[Sven205]

I got a batch of yellow plastic .58 caliber tubes that were worthless - they split like crazy. But the red and blue ones I bought 9 years ago are still going strong.

Steve

Same here with the yellow tubes, out of 100 6 or 8 of them split on the first loading.

10463

[John Bly]

I've got some red ones that are over 30 years old. I've got some orange ones and some old yellow ones that are good. I bought some blue ones and they split early on, not good. The different colors were for different guns. My son shot with me for about 5 years and his gun shot a different load than mine.

[jmiller]

I have .69 cal blue tubes for 10 bucks per hundred. pick up at the fort, or close by only. These tubes last a long time!

[VMI88]

This is great information - thanks to all for the responses!

[Muley Gil]

I still have some of the old paper tubes that my dad & I used back in the '70s. We generally got 8-10 loadings out of ours. They didn't work as well if they got stepped on though. :D

[krawls]

I still use Jack's cardboard tubes. They are at least 30-40 years old.
He coated them with a thin layer of shellac. I weed out one or two
every year of worn out ones.

Karen Rawls
8086V
2nd VA Vol Infantry

[Muley Gil]

I still use Jack's cardboard tubes. They are at least 30-40 years old.
He coated them with a thin layer of shellac. I weed out one or two
every year of worn out ones.

Karen Rawls
8086V
2nd VA Vol Infantry

What happened to Jack's Jeep? I remember him driving it all over the Fort back in the '70s.

[krawls]

There were two Jeeps. His was a 1943 and badly rusted from being at sea. I sold that one not too long after Jack died.
Mine was the earlier one with a delivery date of Dec 21 1941. Al Myers bought it many years ago and used it
up in New York for parades etc. After Al passed it was sold at an auction up in New York.

[MR. GADGET]

The red cap plugs I have, some last and others dont.

Got a batch a few years back. All bad and split. They were marked RC6 or RL or something on the bottom.
So the red plugs are good and bad one batch to the next.
Other ones marked different are still going strong.

[Hal]

I believe the flanged plastic ones are intended the cover the ends of pipe and tubing and were never intended for prolonged repeated use. I think it is just a coincidence that they can double for our purposes.

Splitting.....I'm certainly no expert, but I have dealt with injection molded parts in my career. It is common practice for manufacturers to grind up scrap parts and sprues, mix it in with virgin material and extrude it again to cut down on waste. The problem is, unlike remelting culled bullets and sprues, plastic becomes more brittle the more "Regrind" you put back into the mix. In a former life, we used to specify a maximum amount of regrind (Usually 10%) on our prints. Unscrupulous manufacturers would sometimes ignore this and quality would suffer. I suspect this is what's happening to quick load tubes. what's worse, is that I have had it happen on Smith tubes. The stakes are a little higher when the tube is expected to take chamber pressure. A split quick load musket tube makes a mess in your cartridge box. A split Smith tube can result in some nasty burns. Ask me how I know.