Splitting cartridge tube problem solved?

**Maillemaker** · 2 Weeks Ago

Hi guys, I think I may have solved the splitting cartridge tube problem.

I've been playing with 3D printing for a while, and they make a nice tough, rubbery filament called TPU. I modeled up some tubes and printed them, and they work great. This material is VERY tough. I tried to tear one to pieces with my fingers and couldn't.

Another plus is the traditional Capplug tubes are not quite long enough, so for big charges (50, 55 grains) you can BARELY fit the bullet in with the powder, and in fact I usually have to turn them upside-down to let the powder settle around the ogive of the bullet to actually have any hope of getting the bullet to sit in the tube nose-first.

So when I made the new 3D printed design, I made them slightly longer so they will easily hold any reasonable charge you could want.

The tube wall is .05" thick, so the cartridges won't double-stack in a .58 caliber cartridge box like paper cartridges would, but you should still get 14 rounds in your top two tin compartments. In a carbine box you can hold 20 rounds, as you can see below. And in a .69 caliber box you should have no problems holding enough for a company.

More testing to follow.

They are a bit time consuming to print...a batch of 100 will take nearly 29 hours to print.

Steve

**Harry Gaul** · 2 Weeks Ago

Ok, I am game. Son in law has multiple 3D printers. If you do not mind sharing the "magic" numbers and material to program the 3d Printers to make me some tubes, I would be most appreciative.

Harry in Pa
Forney's
03626v

**Joseph Plakis Jr, 00302V** · 2 Weeks Ago

I have put this up before and evidently no one read it.
So here it goes again. Go on your computer and enter the following site https://www.caplugs.com/p/long-threa...emNumber=RCL-6

READ THE DIMENSIONS FOR THE RCL-6 TUBES THAT YOU BY FROM THE SUTLERS. NOTE WELL that the inside diameter of the tube is 0.552! Now do the math
IF you put a bullet larger than 0.552 into the tube YOU ARE STRETCHING the polyethylene tube Yes that is what they are made out of.
The larger the bullet the more you stretch the tube! It is a fact of life the more you force a bullet into the tube the better the chance you have to split the tube.
If you are using a wad cutter or the N-SSA bullet it splits even faster.

I use a sized to .574 N-SSA bullet and I put the bullet in very carefully. I also took "NEW" RCL-6 tubes and put them in boiling water. I stir for about 30 seconds and
then I turn the stove OFF, and allow it to cool. When it is cool I take them out of the water. When I put in a bullet I take my time and I don't have problems.

I am the person who is selling the Semi-opaque tubes. I insisted that they are made without adding regrind material to the "NEW" pellets. I was told they did not use re-grind.
Before I use the new tubes I boil water and put the new tubes in the water and stir it for about 20 or 30 seconds. I then turn the stove OFF and allow the water to cool.
I then take the tubes out let them "air dry" before I use them
I have been using them using them for over 2 years and yes in that time I have split 7 or 8 tubes. My son uses the tubes and has a .577 N-SSA bullet, and occasionally he splits a tube.

To clean the dirty tubes I put them in a front load washing machine using hot water and laundry soap, I do NOT put them in the dryer, I let them air dry.

I sold 300 of those tubes to a woman and I asked her how she cleans her dirty tubes and she puts them in the top basket of her dishwasher. I ask her if she
broke any tubes and she said if she is careful putting the bullet in they don't break.

So I would make the following suggestion to those of you who are going to "Print" tubes do the following" Make the ID of the tube the same size as your
size bullets you are using, otherwise you "may split the tube". If you are using a wad cutter be gentle when you put the bullet in to the tube or you may split it.
Second & very important how much time and what does it cost per tube to make & if they will hold up for normal use and the way you clean them.
To all of you who are not going to "Print tubes" take your time make them for your bullet diameter and you will split fewer tubes!

Good luck!

Joe Plakis Jr.
Hampton Legion 00302V

**Maillemaker** · 2 Weeks Ago

Yup, the cap plugs are actually too small for our use.

I tried the boiling trick mentioned earlier, all it did was shrink the tubes, I suspect making them even more prone to splitting.

Worse, any bullet with a shoulder, like the Hodgdon bullet, is almost impossible to load without using a mandrel to first "bell" the mouth of the cap. Which again stresses the case mouth, often resulting in splits.

Do you have a link to the semi-opaque tubes you are selling?

**John Westenberger** · 2 Weeks Ago

Originally Posted by Joseph Plakis Jr, 00302V

I have put this up before and evidently no one read it.
So here it goes again. Go on your computer and enter the following site https://www.caplugs.com/p/long-threa...emNumber=RCL-6

READ THE DIMENSIONS FOR THE RCL-6 TUBES THAT YOU BY FROM THE SUTLERS. NOTE WELL that the inside diameter of the tube is 0.552! Now do the math
IF you put a bullet larger than 0.552 into the tube YOU ARE STRETCHING the polyethylene tube Yes that is what they are made out of.
The larger the bullet the more you stretch the tube! It is a fact of life the more you force a bullet into the tube the better the chance you have to split the tube.
If you are using a wad cutter or the N-SSA bullet it splits even faster.

I use a sized to .574 N-SSA bullet and I put the bullet in very carefully. I also took "NEW" RCL-6 tubes and put them in boiling water. I stir for about 30 seconds and
then I turn the stove OFF, and allow it to cool. When it is cool I take them out of the water. When I put in a bullet I take my time and I don't have problems.

I am the person who is selling the Semi-opaque tubes. I insisted that they are made without adding regrind material to the "NEW" pellets. I was told they did not use re-grind.
Before I use the new tubes I boil water and put the new tubes in the water and stir it for about 20 or 30 seconds. I then turn the stove OFF and allow the water to cool.
I then take the tubes out let them "air dry" before I use them
I have been using them using them for over 2 years and yes in that time I have split 7 or 8 tubes. My son uses the tubes and has a .577 N-SSA bullet, and occasionally he splits a tube.

To clean the dirty tubes I put them in a front load washing machine using hot water and laundry soap, I do NOT put them in the dryer, I let them air dry.

I sold 300 of those tubes to a woman and I asked her how she cleans her dirty tubes and she puts them in the top basket of her dishwasher. I ask her if she
broke any tubes and she said if she is careful putting the bullet in they don't break.

So I would make the following suggestion to those of you who are going to "Print" tubes do the following" Make the ID of the tube the same size as your
size bullets you are using, otherwise you "may split the tube". If you are using a wad cutter be gentle when you put the bullet in to the tube or you may split it.
Second & very important how much time and what does it cost per tube to make & if they will hold up for normal use and the way you clean them.
To all of you who are not going to "Print tubes" take your time make them for your bullet diameter and you will split fewer tubes!

Good luck!

Joe Plakis Jr.
Hampton Legion 00302V

Joe, talked to Joe III about your boiling method. I finally sat down with a mandrel and finally trimmed all the bases cleanly, after which I boiled them. They did not shrink much, maybe a hair, but they are certainly far more elastic and will take the shape of the bullet better without tearing. Many of the tubes I shoot now I inherited from a member who had passed and asked for his stuff to be donated to new members, and I have only ripped 1 in the handful of years I have been shooting. Any new regrind tube pre-boil I was likely to tear 2-3 every skirmish! Hoping the boiling method work better for me, it seems promising.

Steve, I am also a 3d printer tinkerer. TPA is a wonderful filament and very durable, but I found it to be too finicky for a repetitive print like this. It's the same reason I used PLA over ABS for my cartridge box inserts I was selling a while ago. I played around with the same concept, and I'd get my prototypes to work very well as you have! But then I'd set my ender 3 or later a K1 to print like 25-30 of them and it would fail halfway through because of how finicky it is. I think with enough patience you could make the 50-100 you reasonably need to get through a national, but at that point, I would just buy an extra bag of caplugs, boil them, and let them rip over the next few years, then go buy another bag. Or even better, get the red silicone tubes that don't rip. Tip for TPU setup, 10 degrees over spec on your hotend, gluestick the print bed, and slow it down.

**Maillemaker** · 1 Week Ago

Hi John,

I was having stringing problems, but ran the hotend 10 degrees under the default, and now the stringing is gone. I also changed the seam from being "aligned" to "random" which stops the formation of a ridge on the inside and outside of the tube. I've only printed 10 at a time but I am having no problems.

Aside from splitting, the biggest problem these solve for me is the fact that I can now put 55 grains of powder in the tube and still put the bullet in fully without it hanging on by the skin of its teeth, risking a bullet falling out of its case mouth and powder going everywhere.

So far, these things are fantastic.

Steve

**terryspike** · 1 Week Ago

[QUOTE=John Westenberger;100892]Joe, talked to Joe III about your boiling method. I finally sat down with a mandrel and finally trimmed all the bases cleanly, after which I boiled them. They did not shrink much, maybe a hair, but they are certainly far more elastic and will take the shape of the bullet better without tearing. Many of the tubes I shoot now I inherited from a member who had passed and asked for his stuff to be donated to new members, and I have only ripped 1 in the handful of years I have been shooting. Any new regrind tube pre-boil I was likely to tear 2-3 every skirmish! Hoping the boiling method work better for me, it seems promising.

I've been using the red and the transparent tubes. I've found that the trick to "sizing" them is not boiling the whole tube. I use a small frying pan and add about 1/2in of water. Get it hot, about 175deg will do, doesn't have to boil. You can do one or two at a time. Get about 10 of your rounds (I use .002 oversized when I do mine) Hold the tube (open end down) in the water for about 7-10 seconds. Remove from water and insert the round into the open end as deep as you are going to put it in for loading. By the time you get done doing the 10 rds, the cases will have cooled and repeat.

I haven't had one split yet. If you use >.579 rounds, then you may want to keep it in the water longer. Cleaning is using a baby wipe for the outside and add a dowel for the inside.

Everyone has tips. This works for me. Once it's done, never had to redo.

**Maillemaker** · 1 Week Ago

I've worked the kinks out of the printing settings so it has eliminated stringing inside the tube (looks like cobwebs when it strings). Pristine tubes now. I've cranked out my first set of 20, 20 more going now. Takes about 5.5 hours to do 20. Can print 167 at one go - takes about 50 hours.

These things are slick. No difficulty fitting bullets into the tubes as they are sized right for the bullet. No splitting, and I can easily put 60 grains or more in the tube with plenty of room for the bullet to be fully seated in the tube. So no more problems with 50 and 55 grain charges and the bullet barely stuck in the tube and apt to fall out.

About the only problem is since the tubes walls are .05" thick or so you can't put them side-by-side in a .58 caliber cartridge box tin; you have to put them in staggered. You can get 7 in the top compartment of a tin, so 14 in 2 top compartments in a standard .58 cartridge box. But 14 rounds should be plenty for any front-stuffer. A .69 cartridge box will probably hold a full house.

Steve

**Muley Gil** · 1 Week Ago

Originally Posted by Maillemaker

I've worked the kinks out of the printing settings so it has eliminated stringing inside the tube (looks like cobwebs when it strings). Pristine tubes now. I've cranked out my first set of 20, 20 more going now. Takes about 5.5 hours to do 20. Can print 167 at one go - takes about 50 hours.

These things are slick. No difficulty fitting bullets into the tubes as they are sized right for the bullet. No splitting, and I can easily put 60 grains or more in the tube with plenty of room for the bullet to be fully seated in the tube. So no more problems with 50 and 55 grain charges and the bullet barely stuck in the tube and apt to fall out.

About the only problem is since the tubes walls are .05" thick or so you can't put them side-by-side in a .58 caliber cartridge box tin; you have to put them in staggered. You can get 7 in the top compartment of a tin, so 14 in 2 top compartments in a standard .58 cartridge box. But 14 rounds should be plenty for any front-stuffer. A .69 cartridge box will probably hold a full house.

Steve

I seldom miss more than 14 times during a relay. That should be enough.