The Bond Straight-Line Reloading Tool American Rifleman, Vol 75, No 4, April 1927 physical pages 152-154 By E. Naramore AT THE outbreak of the World War, the Marlin Firearms Company were producing the Ideal line of reloading tools, and were making a pretty good job of it, too. They were most willing to make those various and sundry special accessories that occur to the minds of serious hand-loaders, and being able to get these little ideas worked out is worth a lot to the experimenter, even though the article may not be practical after it is made. But we had a war, and shortly after the outbreak of hostilities the Marlin company entered into the manufacture of machine guns. As machine guns were somewhat more in demand than reloading tools at the time, the reloading-tool business was shoved over into a cold corner, where it contracted a nice case of rheumatism. When the belligerents ceased fighting temporarily, because they were broke, and a lot of us shook the uniform that Uncle Sam gave us absolutely free and took up shooting as a sport again, we found that we couldn't get reloading tools, and raised up our voices in complaint. The N.R.A. did a little scouting around and finally induced the predecessors of the Modern-Bond Corporation, of Wilmington, Del. , to enter the reloading-tool field. The Bond company had excellent manufacturing facilities and had no desire but to produce a thoroughly first-class tool , but they had had no experience with reloading tools or ammunition. Considering their lack of experience, they did a pretty good job of it. The tool did have certain shortcomings and was soon superseded by the present Model B tool. The Model B tool permitted the interchanging of bushings and chambers, so that one pair of handles could be used for any or all calibers. In principle, at least, this feature was a big advantage to the shooter who reloaded several different kinds of ammunition, but the tool had some defects in design that made the loading of good ammunition difficult and slow. I would like to say right here that there is not a tool on the market that is fool-proof, and any one of them might prove unsatisfactory in the hands of a person who did not understand the essential points of reloading. However, the Model B tool was unfortunate in that it guided the cartridge case at the base only, and as the tong type of tool puts all the pressure on one side of the case, the base or guide bushing acted as a fulcrum and the case was tipped so its longitudinal axis did not coincide with the axis of the die or chamber being used. In other words, closing the handles crabbed the party by pushing the case in cockeyed. Cases that were heavy enough to resist this side-thrust came out of the tool without appreciable deformation, but the lighter cases would have their necks resized all on one side, or would be crimped heavily on one side and not at all on the other. This always seemed a great pity to me, as the tool showed excellent workmanship and the best of materials were used in it. While the fault referred to could be overcome by changing the design of the double adjustable chamber, it would increase the cost of the tool materially. The makers of the tool have appreciated its shortcomings and have been working on an improved tool for some time. They have just brought out their straight-line tool, a general idea of which may be obtained from Figure 1. This is a light-weight bench or table tool, designed to use a number of parts of the Model B tool. The application of a straight-line action to these parts shows a marked improvement in the results obtained. In this tool the guide bushing becomes, in truth, a guide and not a fulcrum . IN DESCRIBING the new tool, frequent reference to Figure 2 [Ed. no Fig 2 exists?] may help the reader on points that my poor descriptive powers do not make clear. The base or body of the tool, represented by the large assembly in the drawing, is a bronze casting of ample strength to withstand the strain of any operation that the tool is intended to perform . The upper part is threaded to take the threaded attachments. The lower part of the casting is bored to take the plunger, which is actuated by the lever. This plunger has a travel of about one inch, and the lever is turned down at an angle that makes it very handy to operate. The turned-down lever is a feature that will be appreciated by fat men. The upper end of the plunger is slotted from front to rear to receive the lugs on the ends of the anvil, thrust-bar, and decapper. These parts are held in place by a pin. The pin has a nicely knurled head and permits quick changing of the parts. These parts can be swung out to the front, but when pushed to a vertical position are positively aligned with the die or chamber by a stop which is part of the casting, the decapper excepted . As this attachment is of smaller diameter than the others mentioned, and varies with the caliber, a setscrew is provided as an adjustable stop. This screw can be turned in or out to locate the decapper in a vertical position. The upper part of the anvil is machined out to receive the head of the cartridge case, and a beautiful piece of machining it is, too. The center of the top surface is slightly countersunk to avoid any possibility of an accidental discharge from a high primer. Looking at the upper end of the tool, the guide-bushing is screwed into the under side of the threaded portion of the casting and guides the case in the operations of necking down, expanding, and seating the bullet. If crimping is necessary, it can be accomplished simultaneously with seating the bullet by proper adjustment of the double adjustable chamber. The guide-bushing is set firmly in place with the aid of a special key supplied with the tool, the key engaging two notches cut in the outside edge of the bushing. The first step in reloading a cartridge is to remove the crimp, if there is one. If the reloaded cartridge is not to be crimped, the old crimp can advantageously be reamed out, but if it is to be crimped again, the crimp should be bent out, as repeated reaming will result in cases of uneven length. The new tool is provided with the same reamer that was furnished on the Model B tool. A steel cone of the same shape as the reamer can be had as an extra. By placing cases mouth down over this cone and tapping them lightly, the crimp can be removed from them as rapidly as they can be handled. The Model B tool had no means of bending out the crimp, a thing that is almost a necessity when reloading full charges for revolvers. Decapping is accomplished by screwing the decapping head into the under side of the threaded part of the tool, with the bored-out end down. The decapper assembly is attached to the plunger, as described above, and tipped forward. A case is slipped over it, base up, with the decapping pin in the flash hole, and the whole pushed to a vertical position so the primer lines up with the hole in the decapping head. The stop-screw is adjusted to locate the case in the correct position. A little pull on the lever finishes the job. This is very similar to the action of the old Government bench decapper, except that the parts are inverted, and it is very nearly as fast. Decapping shanks are made almost the inside neck diameter of the cases they are intended for, so very little difficulty is experienced in locating the flash hole with the decapping pin. To reprime cases, the pin is removed from the decapper, but the nut is left in place. The priming and decapping head is reversed so the priming punch is down. The case is placed over the decapper, a primer placed over the primer pocket, the whole swung into place, and the lever pulled. The result is as nice a priming job as I have ever seen done by a hand tool, bar none, and the construction of the tool makes priming quite rapid. The face of the priming punch is smooth and flat and does not press a ring into the primer, something that a concaved punch is very apt to do. Concaving primer punches is a miscarriage of a good intention . It was originally done as a safety precaution, the concavity permitting the primer to be pressed home without compressing the pellet between the cup and anvil, but there should be some compression here when the primer is seated . As far as safety is concerned, a primer will stand a whole lot of pressure without detonating. The fellow that slams the handles of his tool together or yanks the lever, as the case may be, should have a primer go off now and then to teach him that loading ammunition is not an athletic exercise. However, for priming, this new Bond tool is O. K. To neck-down cases, the priming punch and decapper are removed. The guide-bushing and neck die are screwed in place, and the anvil is attached to the plunger of the tool. The case is inserted, mouth up, into the guide bushing and the anvil pushed to a vertical position so that it engages the rim of the case. A pull on the lever forces the case straight up into the die, and a push draws it straight out. The hook type of extractor used in tools of the tong type does all the pulling on one side of the case, but, as the anvil of this new tool is machined out to engage the rim of the case around half of its circumference, the pull is straight. Expanding is accomplished in much the same manner as necking-down, except that the double adjustable chamber with the expander in place is substituted for the neck die. SEATING bullets is done with the same setup, only that the bullet seater is used, in the chamber, instead of the expander. There is a lot of otherwise good hand-loaded ammunition spoiled because proper care is not used in seating bullets. It is of little use to weigh out charges on sensitive scales if bullets are seated in a careless manner. Seating bullets requires care in any tool, and the Bond straight-line is no exception. It is necessary to start the bullet in the case with the fingers, the same as with the Model B and other hand tools, but the fact that pressure is applied in a straight line is a big advantage. In seating bullets with this or any other tool, pressure should be applied steadily and not too rapidly. A fair degree of speed can be reached, but it is a poor place to speed up too much. If you must have your ammunition in a tearing hurry, just remember that your hardware or sporting-goods dealer probably has a good supply all loaded. The arrangement of this new tool is excellent for seating bullets, and the writer has seated more than seven hundred bullets with it without a single shaved base or other defect in the work. As each and every one of these bullets was knocked out of a refractory mould with an average of four wallops per bullet, you can bet the fillings in your teeth that none of them will ever be wasted on a tool that won't seat them properly. The tool is equipped to size bullets, but will not lubricate them. In performing the operation of sizing, it is best to clamp the tool to the bench or table in an inverted position. The bullet-sizer is screwed into what is now the bottom of the tool, and the thrust-bar is attached to the plunger. A cast bullet is placed in the sizing die, base down, the bullet-seater inserted on top of it, and the thrust-bar allowed to fall into place. Operation of the lever causes the bullet-seater to force the bullet  through the die, base first, removing the excess alloy. There is a groove in the die that catches the shavings, and this should be cleaned frequently with a small stick. The use of a hard substance for this purpose might damage the cutting edge of the die. This operation is done identically the same as with the Model B tool. It is not especially fast or convenient, but the tool will do the trick well the fellow who cannot afford a lubricating and sizing press. In summing up, it is about as easy for a manufacturer of reloading tools to make a tool that will suit everyone as it is for a manufacturer of rifles to make a stock that will be universally satisfactory. This will continue to be true till we are all willing to ride in the same make of automobile and wear the same kind of clothes. The Modern-Bond Corporation set out to make a tool at a popular price that would perform all the operations necessary to reload metallic cartridges, except lubricating the bullets and putting the powder in the cases. That tools made to perform one or two operations only may be a little better, either from the standpoint of speed or precision, goes without saying, but I believe that shooters will find that this new tool will compare very favorably with any tool on the market capable of performing approximately the same number of operations. The fact that it clamps down, leaves the hands free to handle components or manipulate the tool, as circumstances require, and is a great convenience. The same high quality of workmanship shown in the Model B tool is in evidence, dies and chambers being neatly stamped with their correct dimensions, and these parts are interchangeable to the same extent as in the Model B tool. The Bond straight-line tool may fall short of perfection, but it is certainly not less than a good tool.