TargetTalk

OK, I've been dying to ask this question but have been afraid to up til now...
What does everybody do with their empty pellet tins?
I hate to just throw them away but the only use I can think of is to keep from losing count how many pellets I have shot.
Thanks!
Let the flames begin...

I leave mine in the freezer to get out when all that hot air advice starts being dispensed at the range

We actually use ours at my club as visitors tins. Newbies get 50 pellets included in their fee. You'd be suprised how many tins go walkabouts as I shoot something like 20 or 30 tins of pellets each year and we still seem to run out.

Rob.

I do something similar. I dump 50-100 pellets in a tin for the juniors. I hate the thought of giving them a full tin incase they'd spill it.

Anonymous wrote: I hate the thought of giving them a full tin incase they'd spill it.

There's a Murphy's Law about that, isn't there?!

I've used the bottom halves to hold BBs when I ran the Cub Scout BB gun range. We only put in 5 BBs at a time. :^) I used the bottoms only, because the edge is folded over and won't cut as easy as the top's edge does. BTW, the Crosman beltpacks were extremely handy for each coach to wear and carry extra BBs around. We've saved up a lot of those too.

Hi

I think all of our shooters in the advanced (as opposed to the beginner) class use shaker boxes. For most it's the first thing they buy.

Mike
Wichita KS

mikeschroeder wrote:Hi

I think all of our shooters in the advanced (as opposed to the beginner) class use shaker boxes. For most it's the first thing they buy.

Mike
Wichita KS

I bought one of those and don't like it. Am I the only one?!
What I don't like: you can't use it as a storage box because the plate unlocks when you close the lid, and the pellets are free to rattle around. Also, it always feels as if the skirt is getting caught in the hole, & I'm afraid of deforming the skirt when I pluck the pellet out.

ummmmmm it sounds like your box might not be all there

with the lower plate down, all the pellets fall in, nose first, with the plate up the skirt it exposed and easy to grab with less force than could bend the skirt.

There is a piece of foam glued to the lid that pushes down and holds all those skirts in place so nothing moves when the lid is closed.

Poole

I do not like the shaker boxes. There is not enough room between the pellets. The fingertips of my XXL hands fumble with the pellet. It is much easier for me to get one out of the tin.

Bob Fleming wrote:I do not like the shaker boxes. There is not enough room between the pellets. The fingertips of my XXL hands fumble with the pellet. It is much easier for me to get one out of the tin.

Hear, hear. You'd think a company that has Stenvaag as their sponsor would have a small collection of items for the, er, larger gentlemen - more widely spaced pellets in the shaker boxes, a large handgrip for their air rifle that's big enough for our hands, that sort of thing....

Bill Poole wrote:ummmmmm it sounds like your box might not be all there

with the lower plate down, all the pellets fall in, nose first, with the plate up the skirt it exposed and easy to grab with less force than could bend the skirt.

There is a piece of foam glued to the lid that pushes down and holds all those skirts in place so nothing moves when the lid is closed.

Poole

Oopsie - when I complained (above), I meant "head of pellet" instead of skirt. You all probably thought I had that dang box upside down. %^}

Will look into that piece of foam. Maybe it isn't thick enough or doesn't cover all the pellets. Perhaps I'll give it a second chance after all!

JohnK wrote:OK, I've been dying to ask this question but have been afraid to up til now...
What does everybody do with their empty pellet tins?
I hate to just throw them away but the only use I can think of is to keep from losing count how many pellets I have shot.
Thanks!
Let the flames begin...

They are also handy for keeping a bit of camphor for sight blackening (Yes! I know there is a lot of other commercial 'sight black' out there, but I still prefer the camphor smoke). I like to give a bit of camphor (in a tin) to each newbie during induction and training sessions.
Percussion cap tins are great for this as well.
S

Spencer,
I'll have to beg your foregiveness and plead my ignorance but I am not familiar with camphor. I did a google search on it and found it comes from the camphor tree. Do you use it like wax and make a candle from it?
I would be interested in finding out more. I have a carbide miners lamp but you need to keep carbide for it and have water as well. I am afraid I get a little uncoordinated on it sometimes and when you cup your hand over the reflector to let the acetylene build then run your hand across it to spark the flint I have been known to put my hand back over it and burn the heck out of my palm!
ouch!
JLK

JohnK wrote:Spencer,
I'll have to beg your foregiveness and plead my ignorance but I am not familiar with camphor. I did a google search on it and found it comes from the camphor tree. Do you use it like wax and make a candle from it?
I would be interested in finding out more. I have a carbide miners lamp but you need to keep carbide for it and have water as well. I am afraid I get a little uncoordinated on it sometimes and when you cup your hand over the reflector to let the acetylene build then run your hand across it to spark the flint I have been known to put my hand back over it and burn the heck out of my palm!
ouch!
JLK

Natural or synthetic camphor wax (NOT the oil) is usually available from a supermarket (try the areas where they stock mothballs, or the medicinal items), or a pharmacist/druggist.

A small piece about the size of a pea will last a long time if kept in a reasonably airtight container (such as a pellet tin). Leave the piece in the tin (better than burning the firing bench, or the whole range?) and find a windfree area; light the camphor and it burns with a nice smoky flame. When finished blackening the sights (and usually the sights of those in the ajoining bays) just pop the lid back on and the flame goes out.

1/ let the tin cool a bit before picking it up, or putting it in your pocket (ouch).
2/ do NOT use camphor or acetylene to blacken your sights on a Black Powder range.

S

Natural or synthetic camphor wax (NOT the oil) is usually available from a supermarket (try the areas where they stock mothballs, or the medicinal items), or a pharmacist/druggist.

A small piece about the size of a pea will last a long time if kept in a reasonably airtight container (such as a pellet tin). Leave the piece in the tin (better than burning the firing bench, or the whole range?) and find a windfree area; light the camphor and it burns with a nice smoky flame. When finished blackening the sights (and usually the sights of those in the ajoining bays) just pop the lid back on and the flame goes out.

1/ let the tin cool a bit before picking it up, or putting it in your pocket (ouch).
2/ do NOT use camphor or acetylene to blacken your sights on a Black Powder range.

S

Spencer,
I guess you have a different camphor down there. I couldn't get my ball of synthetic camphor to ight; it just melted. The label said it was para dichlorobenzine. A very neat idea, and I will try to get some real camphor at the drugstore tomorrow.

Fred

Another nice thing about using camphor is that it burns with a dull orange flame and so isn't nearly as likely to leave you with that retained, inverse, retinal image that comes from staring at the (relatively) bright white flame of an acetylene lamp as one applies it to the sight.