Product Reviews

Ever since 2014, I’ve been using the wad punches from Buffalo Arms, in calibers from .40 to .50 and I really can’t say enough about them. Let me admit that having 10 years of experience with one or more of these punches has certainly given me something to say. 

The punches I most recently purchased are for .45 and .50 caliber rifles. While using the punch for some .50 card wads, to be used in a 50-70, I think I stumbled on to why these punches are so good. First of all, they are very sharp but equally important, is the fact that these punches are specifically designed to punch out wads. This probably sounds rather obvious but let me explain what I mean. If we get a typical punch from the hardware store, such as a gasket punch, that type of punch is designed to punch a hole. The hole in the material is what they’re going for, not the wad punched out of the hole. With those punches, the wad is simply waste in their standard use. But with the BACO punches, the wads are the primary product, so the insides of the punch, or the channel above the cutting edge, is more carefully cut. This means the wads are cut cleanly, with no binding, so they have much more precise edges with no curve or bending. 

Using the punch for those .50 caliber rifle wads (which are listed at .512 diameter and the punch is marked “50 R”) with a hammer and a good piece of firewood as a working surface, a nice supply of wads were punched out in a rather short amount of time. As I write this, I gave that .50-caliber wad punch a good try, which netted me a nice stack of wads cut from the sides of a milk carton. I’m ready to recommend the Buffalo Arms punches all over again.

The new .45 punch for rifle wads is marked “45 R” and they have a .460 diameter. For .45 caliber revolvers, the punches are marked with a “P” and have a somewhat smaller diameter. This is a generalization, which applies to most calibers.

It is simply a pleasure to use a punch that allows the very clean-cut wads to fall out of the punch instead of needing to force the wads out. Ten years ago, when I got my .44-caliber wad punch, it was given a lot of work with my 44-77. It worked well, so much so that I purchased the other calibers as time went along. 

If a wad punch or a series of wad punches are on your list of things to buy, by all means check out the ones from Buffalo Arms. I’m talking about the hammer-struck punches, but they also offer punches you can use in a reloading press, as well those used in a drill press. I’m not into big production, so the hammer-struck punches fit my needs very well. 

Buffalo Arms makes their wad punches in 11 different sizes, from .32 caliber up to .50 for rifles. They also make .38, 38-40, 44-40 and 45 Colt for revolvers. These wad punches are priced at $20 each and a should give you a lifetime of service. To find out more about the other styles of wad punches or to place an order contact: Buffalo Arms Company, 600 Vermeer Court, Ponderay, Idaho 83852. Phone 208-263-6953 or visit their website at buffaloarms.com. 

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Lyman Pro-Touch 1500 Digital Scale

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust” is a familiar quote, which describes perfectly what happened to my old first-generation digital scale after 35 years of faithful service. It had survived more than its fair share of hard knocks, power surges and lightning storms but in the end, it finally gave up the ghost. Because I use a digital scale to weigh bullets while I’m casting, I felt pretty much afoot until I procured another. 

Now, in saying that I weigh my bullets, I can already hear those stalwarts amongst us who loudly proclaim, “I never weigh bullets; a grain or two one way or the other doesn’t make any difference!” I would partially agree with that statement when one is talking about bullets in the 550-grain range. However, many of my casting endeavors consist of small caliber bullets where weight variation is critical. Even when casting heavy bullets, I’m not so concerned with the ½-grain variations as I am with the odd bullet that is 10 grains light due to a hidden casting flaw. For that reason, I weigh my bullets as they are cast and it makes me feel much better when I’m on the firing line shooting for score. A good digital scale makes weighing your bullets an easy chore when casting.

After reading several good reviews, I decided to give Lyman’s Pro-Touch 1500 a try. Lyman is a familiar name to anyone who reloads and/or casts bullets. They have been in the business of supplying moulds, dies, scales and other gear for the reloader since 1925, when they purchased the old Ideal Manufacturing Company. 

The new digital scale arrived in short order, and as I had a match coming up, I immediately put it to work. I plugged it in using the AC adapter and checked the zero with the supplied weight. The 1500 will also run using three AAA batteries, which is handy in case you have the scale in a spot were a power cord would be in the way. Included with the scale are adapters for different electrical hook-ups and a double-spout pan. A dust cover was also supplied to keep dust and grit out of the scale when not in use. The maximum weight the 1500 would register to was, you guessed it, 1500 grains. I set the scale to read in grains and began casting some 413-grain .40 caliber bullets.

The first thing I noticed was the new scale was much faster to establish a weight than my old one. Literally, within a couple of seconds the Lyman scale had a reading. My casting sequence is: pour a bullet, set the mould on the edge of the pot to cool, read the weight from the previous bullet, drop the newly poured bullet from the mould, pour a new bullet and set the cooled bullet on the scale. If the weighed bullet is defective, it is immediately returned to the melting pot. Good bullets are put into blocks, in the order cast. The 1500 was far ahead of me with the bullet weight and did not need to be constantly re-set to zero to maintain a consistent reading. It worked smoothly and efficiently throughout the whole casting session.

Just out of curiosity, I checked the digital scale against my old-school, balance-beam scale and it was within 1⁄10 of a grain. Repeated weighing (20 times) of the same 413-grain bullet showed a maximum variation of 1⁄10 of a grain. The 1500 works very well and I’m happy with it. Hopefully, it will still be working 35 years from now.

Contact information: Lyman Products Corporation, 475 Smith Street, Middletown, CT 06457. Phone: 800-225-9626 or visit their website at lymanproducts.com. The Pro-Touch 1500 retails for $109.95 and in my opinion, represents very good value for the money.