Mod 5 Ammunition, Reloading, And Ballistics

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Study Unit

Ammunition, Reloading,and Basic Ballistics

By

Dean A. Grennell

and

Carl P. Wood

Education DirectTo give you the earliest as possible access to your study material, this advance copy is being made available to you now, even before the final version has been approved for general distribution on the Internet.

About the AuthorsDean A. Grennells love of firearms began in his youth. Fortunately, his love of writingbegan then also. Dean became interested in reloading just after he decided to write. Since1948, he has come a long, long way. Over the years, he has written, compiled, and con-sulted in various capacities for many publishers and magazines. Dean has contributedarticles to virtually every American gun magazine and digest worthy of mention.

Youll remember Carl P. Wood as the author of the study unit entitled Rifles.

All terms mentioned in this text that are known to be trademarks or serv-ice marks have been appropriately capitalized. Use of a term in this textshould not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark orservice mark.

Copyright 1998 by Education Direct, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyrightmay be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic ormechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informationstorage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copy-right owner.

Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should bemailed to Copyright Permissions, Education Direct, 925 Oak Street, Scran-ton, Pennsylvania 18515.

Printed in the United States of America

This study unit has two main parts. The first covers cartridge nomenclature, design, and reload-ing procedures for metallic cartridges. The second covers similar aspects of shotshell reloading.The unit also contains much relevant historical information, as well as instruction for anyoneinterested in purchasing reloading equipment, figuring optimum powder loads, and/or castingbullets.

When you complete this study unit, youll be able to

Recognize ammunition and component nomenclature and design

Identify reloading tools and explain their purposes

List reloading procedures for metallics and shotshells

Explain bullet casting procedures

Discuss the importance of basic ballistics in determining optimum loads

Preview

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INTRODUCTION TO RELOADING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Cartridges and Cartridge CasesPrimersSeating PrimersReloading Presses and Equipment

THE RELOADING PROCESSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Setting Up for ReloadingThe Steps of Reloading

POWDERS AND RELOADING TOOLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Notes on Reloading ToolsEquipment ManufacturersSupporting EquipmentSmokeless PowdersPowder Manufacturers and Suppliers

BULLETS AND BALLISTICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Buying BulletsCasting BulletsCasting AlloysCasting TemperaturesSwaging BulletsBallisticsBallistic CoefficientLoad Data and Information SourcesWildcat CartridgesShotloads for HandgunsUnsuspected Hazards

SHOTSHELL RELOADING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69IntroductionFlexibility of Shotshell ReloadingDamascus BarrelsHistory of ShotshellsShotshell Reloading MachinesCharge Bars and BushingsAdjustable Powder BarsShotshell ComponentsThe Reloading ProcedureSteel ShotPatternsSlug Loads

ZERO IN! ANSWERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

EXAMINATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Contents

v

Note: Although the following safety and health precautions make specific reference to the AlliantTechsystems line of powders, they pertain to reloading safety in general. Therefore, we introducethem as a preface to this study unit.

Important Safety and Health Precautions

vii

To perform in a gun, powders must ignite easily andburn rapidly. These characteristics require use of com-mon sense to avoid accidents. O M ST O ST FO OWI P CA TIO S.

1. Do not smoke when reloading.

2. Do not use spark-producing tools.

3. Do not mix powders of different kinds.

4. Do not leave powder where children can get it.

5. Do not try to load when distracted.

6. Avoid an open fire or working near spark-producing machinery.

7. Pour out only the amount of powder needed forimmediate work.

8. Check the powder measure each time it is used.Make sure the settings have not been acciden-tally changed. Check-weigh thrown chargesfrequently.

9. Clean up any spilled powders. Use a brush anddustpan; do not use a vacuum cleaner.

10. Store powder only in its original Hercules con-tainer, which was carefully designed for thisusage. Do not REPACKAGE. Do not purchase oraccept any Hercules powder not in its original,FACTORY-SEALED container.

11. Be sure the powder container is completelyempty before discarding. Do not use the con-tainer to store other powders or materials, orfor any other purpose.

12. Keep always in mind that Hercules smokelesspowder is an explosive material and highlyflammable. It should always be stored and han-dled in such a way as to avoid impact, friction,heat, sparks, or open flame.

13. Wear safety glasses when reloading.

Hercules powder contains nitroglycerin, which couldenter the body through ingestion or absorption, or bybreathing the vapors. Symptoms can include head-aches. Therefore, the following precautions must beobserved when handling Hercules powders:

1. Do not take internally. In case of ingestion,cause vomiting by putting finger down throat.Call physician.

2. Prevent contact with food, chewing material,and smoking material.

3. Have adequate ventilation during handling.

4. Wash hands and face thoroughly after handling.

5. Do not carry powder in clothing.

You must also always remember:

1. Establish a routine for reloading. It will result inmore uniform loads and less chance of error.

2. Some primers are more powerful than others(they produce more gas at a higher tempera-ture). Use only the primers specified herein.

3. Shotshell wads differ in their sealing ability.Use only the load combinations specifiedherein.

4. If you use cast bullets, their diameter, hardness,lubrication, and crimp will all affect the ballistics.

5. The shotshell loads in this booklet are for usewith lead shot only!

6. Use only the brands of powder and componentsshown in our tables. Do not substitute othertypes.

Safety and Health Precautions courtesy of AlliantTechsystems, Radford, VA

INTRODUCTION TO RELOADING

Cartridges and Cartridge CasesThe centerfire primer makes reloading possible and practical. Theresno practical way to reload fired rimfire cases, such as the familiar .22Long Rifle (Figure 1). For now, well discuss reloading of the metallics,meaning ammunition for use in handguns and/or rifles, with cover-age of reloading shotshells to follow.

We customarily refer to a loaded round of metallic ammunition,ready to be fired in a handgun or rifle, as a cartridge. The projectile upfront is the bullet. The British tend to call the cartridge a bullet and theprojectile a bullet head.

Reloading offers many attractive advantages, one of which is cashsavings. One of the most expensive components of a commercial car-tridge is its case. The case remains on hand after firingunless anautoloading gun ejects it into thick brush or tall grass. You can reloada typical empty centerfire case several times. In addition, reloadingprovides a source of cartridges with specifications that are not avail-able through the usual commercial sources. By trying various combi-nations of bullets and powder chargesand maintaining carefulrecordsyou may be able to isolate loads that deliver tighter groupsthan factory ammunition. You can also gain a good deal of personalgratification when a reload youve assembled turns in an uncom-monly good performance (Figure 2).

Ammunition, Reloading, and Basic Ballistics

1

FIGURE 1You cant reloadrimfire ammunition, such asthe familiar .22 Long Rifle,as theres no way to getpriming compound into thehollow rim around the casehead.

The cartridge case, customarily formed from brass, assumes certainbasic shapes. These shapes are more or less dictated by the guns fromwhich they fire. For example, there may be a distinct flange or rim atthe head, as typified by the familiar .30-30 WCF, or Winchester CenterFire (Figure 3). Cartridges designed for use in autoloading guns usu-ally dispense with the rim for the sake of easy feeding. However, theystill need something for the extractor to grab in order to pull the spentcase from the chamber. Such cartridges use a rimless design, with thehead the same diameter as the rear of the case and an extractor grooveturned in the head, as illustrated. Typical examples include the .30-06Springfield, .308 Winchester, and .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol).

A further variation is the semirimmed, similar to the rimless, but withthe head flange slightly larger in diameter than the case body. Exam-ples include the .220 Winchester Swift and the .38 Super (Figure 4).

The .284 Winchester represents still another offshoot (Figure 5). It hasa typical rimless head with the basic dimensions of the .30-06 Spring-field, but the case body is somewhat larger in diameter. As you mightsuspect, theres a reason behind such complexities. In this example,the purpose is to provide a comparatively short case, with a greaterpowder capacity, capable of being used in rifles with bolt faces di-mensioned to take the common and popular .30-06 Springfield. Asimilar approach is the .41 AE (Action Express) for use in autoloadingpistols. It has head dimensions identical to the 9mm (millimeter)Luger, but the body of the case is enlarged to accept bullets of .410inch diameter, up front. The .50 AE has the head dimensions of the.44 Magnum and a case body large enough to work with bullets of.510 inch diameter. We say the cartridges, such as the examples justmentioned, have a rebated rim.

2 Ammunition, Reloading, and Basic Ballistics

FIGURE 2One of the ad-vantages of reloading isthe possibility of savingmoney over the factoryammunition, which cancost substantially more.

The term magnum has become widely usedand sometimes misusedin cartridge terminology. It means bigger than customary and origi-nally referred to oversized wine bottles. At some point along the way,a cartridge designer cranked in a concept termed the belted magnumcase head. It starts out looking like a standard rimless head butasopposed to the rebated headat a point just ahead of the extractorcut, the case diameter is slightly enlarged (Figure 6).

Ammunition, Reloading, and Basic Ballistics 3

FIGURE 3The .30-30Winchester is an exampleof a rimmed rifle caseand the .30-06 Spring-field is a rimless riflecase.

FIGURE 4From left,a .357 Magnum is arimmed-type case,the .38 Super is asemirimmed, the .45ACP is a rimless, andthe .41 Action Expresshas a rim smaller indiameter than the bodyof the case, a rebated-head design.

That brings up headspace, a term that tends to be mystifying wheninitially encountered. Headspace is the amount of fore-and-aft playavailable to the cartridge when chambered and ready to be fired.When the firing pin slams into the primer, the cartridge must besupported to remain motionless, rather than being driven bodilydown the barrel.

The purpose of the several different types of cartridge case designsis to provide headspacing support in the chamber. They also assist inthe chambering of the cartridge and extraction of the fired case.

Some cartridges have straight cases, such as the .45 ACP or .38 Special,with the case walls parallel. Others, such as the 9mm Luger and .30GI Carbine, have straight case walls that taper slightly from head tomouth (Figure 7). Many others are of the bottleneck design, with afairly large-diameter case behind a tapering shoulder, with the car-tridge neck substantially smaller in diameter. A familiar example isthe .223 Remington, also known as the 5.56mm NATO.


FIGURE 5The .284 Win-chester is another exampleof the rebated-head casedesign.

FIGURE 6This 7mmRemington Magnum isan example of thebelted magnum casehead design.

The purpose of the bottleneck case is to provide room for more pow-der behind the bullet, without excessive case length. At the sametime, the bottleneck provides headspacing support by contact be-tween its shoulder and the mating chamber area. The primary head-spacing support comes from the rim or belt of the belted magnumdesigns. Contact between the shoulder and chamber gives a moreprecise and uniform support, all of which contribute to the potentialaccuracy of the cartridge/rifle combination.

In straight-sided cases with rims, the rim provides the principal sup-port. Its a popular belief that the headspace of rimless cartridges,such as the .45 ACP, is by contact between the case mouth and matingledge in the chamber. Actually, the extractor provides some (if not all)of the support for the .45 ACP.

PrimersVarious chemical compounds will explode or detonate when struckand compressed abruptly. Shooters used one of the earliest examples,fulminate of mercury, as the priming compound for muzzle-loadingguns whose powder charges were ignited by percussion caps.


FIGURE 7The .30 M-1Carbine and 9mm Lugerhave straight-sidedcases that taper slightlyfrom head to mouth.

When the brass cartridge case came into use, mercuric fulminateposed a problem. Some portion of its after-firing residue consisted offree mercury. The mercury crystallized and weakened the brass, thuspreventing repeated use of the case.

One of the early nonmercuric priming compounds contained someamount of potassium chlorate (chemical formula KClO3), which pro-vided oxygen for combustion of other portions of the priming com-pound. Upon firing, the potassium chlorate molecule gave up itsthree atoms of oxygen and turned into potassium chloride (KCl), achemical closely similar to sodium chloride (NaCl), or common tablesalt. Both potassium and sodium chlorides are notably hygroscopic,meaning they attract and retain moisture from the surrounding air.That in turn caused rusting and corrosion when the potassium chlo-rate primer residue deposited on a steel surface. Unless the shootercleaned the bore of the barrel promptly and thoroughly after firing,the steel soon rusted into hopeless ruin.

That problem led to the nonmercuric, noncorrosive primers commonlyused today. The principal ingredient of the priming mixture is leadstyphnate, with specialized additives.

There are two basic types of primers, Boxer and Berdan. The design ofthe primer pocket in the head of a given cartridge case dictates theuse of one or the other.

In the Berdan system, the primer pocket is formed with an integralcentral anvil against which the priming compound is crushed whenthe tip of the firing pin strikes the outer surface of the primer cup. TheBerdan primer pocket usually has two small, off-center flash holes todeliver the primer flame to the powder charge (Figure 8).

In the Boxer system, the primer pocket has a somewhat largercentral-flash hole. The anvil is a piece of stamped brass inserted intothe primer cup ahead of the wafer of priming compound (Figure 9).


FIGURE 8A small pinpunch was used to driveout the Berdan primerfrom this CCI Blazer case.You can see the two off-center flash holes andthe central anvil that isintegral to the aluminum.

From the reloaders viewpoint, the great advantage of the Boxerpriming system is that the spent primer can be punched out by acentrally located depriming pin in the resizing die of a reloading set(Figure 10). Removing the spent Berdan primer is considerably moredifficult and, for that reason, virtually all domestic ammunition employsBoxer-type primers. About the only exception is the line of Blazerammunition produced by CCI that uses cases drawn from aluminum


FIGURE 9Shown here is aBoxer-type primer pocketwith its single central-flashhole, as well as a largepistol primer seated in thepocket of the case nextto it.

FIGURE 10Shown hereis the .38 Special caseon its way up into the re-sizing die. The machinewill reduce the diameteror the cases walls andwill push out the spentprimer at the same time.

alloy, rather than brass, as well as Berdan primers (Figure 11). Head-stamps of the Blazer ammunition carry the letters, NR (not reloadable).The primary advantage of this ammunition is that its manufacturepermits a substantially lower cost per box for shooters who dont planto reload the empty cases (Figure 12).


FIGURE 11Shown on topare CCI small pistol primersin magnum and standardtype. Note (and heed!) thewarnings printed on thebox. Shown below are theother sides of the two CCIprimer boxes; the one onthe right dates from thedays before Blount tookover Omark Industries.

FIGURE 12Shown is theCCI Blazer ammunitionwith the head stamp NR.Cases are aluminumrather than brass, andprimers are Berdan type.

Boxer primers are available in two basic diameters, .175 and .210 inch,respectively, termed small and large. In addition, theyre producedfor use in nominal handgun and rifle cartridges and are thus labeledas small pistol, small rifle, large pistol, and large rifle. Some primermanufacturers offer magnum primers in some or all of the varioustypes and sizes, as well as the standard variety. The magnum primersare supposed to deliver a hotter flame of slightly longer duration,which produces more positive and uniform ignition of slow-burningpowders, particularly at low outside temperatures (Figure 13).

Rifle primers have a somewhat thicker, tougher cup than the pistoltype, and therefore require a more powerful strike of the firing pin forreliable ignition. The thicker cup is designed to handle the higherpeak chamber pressures typically encountered in rifle cartridges.Primer pockets intended for rifle primers are slightly deeper thanthose for pistol primers. If a rifle primer is seated in a pistol primerpocket, the exposed cup will protrude slightly from the surface of thecase head, and the resulting cartridge may not chamber properly. Inaddition, the firing pin strike of typical handguns may not reliablyignite rifle primers (Figures 14 and 15).

If a pistol primer is seated in the pocket of a nominal rifle cartridge,the opposite is true. The cup will be below the case head surface, andthe thinner, softer metal of the cup may be flattened and distortedconsiderably by the higher peak chamber pressure when the round isfired.


FIGURE 13A close-upphoto shows the twodiameters of Boxer-typeprimers: .210 inch largeand .175 inch small.Diameters are the samefor rifle and pistol types.

At present, its not uncommon to encounter handguns chambered fornominal rifle cartridges such as the .30-30 WCF, .223 Remington, .35Remington, and the like. Such cases have the primer pocket intendedfor use with rifle primers, and, in reloading them, you should use ri-fle- type primers, even if you intend to fire the loads in handguns. Inthe examples of rifles that fire nominal handgun cartridges, such asthe .357, .41, or .44 Magnums, you should use pistol primers of the suit-able diameter.

Primers come packed in compartmentalized plastic trays, usually 100to the tray. The carton label carries warnings that loose primers arecapable of mass detonation if subjected to excessive heat, percussion,jostling, and the like. Heed and comply with these warnings. Whenseating primers by hand, decant a line or two10 primers to thelineinto a shallow plastic tray for picking up to place in the primingpunch of the press.

Urgent cautionary note. Its extremely good and prudent practice towear eye protection, such as a pair of shooting glasses, while reload-ing and/or casting bullets, as well as while actually shooting.


FIGURE 14Rifle primersare slightly longer, frontto back, than pistolprimers as may bemore apparent in theenlarged view on theright.

FIGURE 15Shown is across-sectional drawingof the construction of atypical rifle or pistolprimer. (Courtesy of CCI)

Seating PrimersWe customarily use Boxer-type primers in reloading. Curiouslyenough, Edward M. Boxer, a British Colonel, invented them for theSnider breech-loading conversion of the Enfield muzzle-loading armyrifle. Hiram Berdan, an American ordnance officer, developed theBerdan-type primer. For domestic applications, the Boxer became fa-vored over the Berdan primer. Meanwhile, in the British Empire andEurope, the Berdan primer came into widespread use for many years.Only in recent times, because of the growing popularity of reloading,has the Boxer primed ammunition come into general British andEuropean use.

When seating the Boxer-type primer, its important to seat it to thebottom of the primer pocket firmly, but not brutally. By seating theprimer firmly, the legs of the integral anvil are positioned solidlyagainst the front face of the primer pocket and the wafer of primingcompound is prestressed to some extent (Figure 16).

Seating the primer in this manner makes for optimum sensitivity anduniform reliability of ignition. If the wafer of priming compound isntprestressed, a stronger blow of the firing pin is necessary to assure ig-nition, and accuracy is likely to suffer.

The various makes and designs of reloading presses have differentprovisions for seating the primers. Some have primers fed from atube. Such an arrangement offers convenience, but also presents cer-tain safety problems because the entire tube full of primers can deto-nate en masse. With that in mind, the more thoughtful and prudentdesigners of reloading equipment surround the brass primer feedtube with a sturdy steel tube capable of containing the high-velocityparticles such as primer cups and anvils. Again, remember to wearsuitable eye protection when reloading and casting bullets, as well aswhen shooting.


FIGURE 16This drawingillustrates the need toseat the face of theprimer cup slightly be-low the surface of thecase head to prestressthe priming mixture, thusassuring reliable anduniform primer ignition.

One of the more convenient and efficient systems for seating primers isthe Lee Auto-Prime, in which a covered, inclined tray holds the sup-ply of primers and the primers flow down a curved chute by gravity.You mount the Auto-Prime on a loading press, and a fresh primer feedsinto position each time the handle of the press is operated (Figure 17).

Thus, its necessary to put an unprimed case into the shell holder onlyafter seating the previous one, operate the handle, and feed a freshprimer into position for seating.

Reloading is a process of several repetitive operations, and anythingthat you can do to economize on basic hand operations will help toget the work done sooner and more easily. Theres a well-developedscience variously known as time-motion study or work simplification.A man named Gilbreth pioneered this field and his wife continued itsdevelopment after his untimely demise. In Gilbreths science, eachseparate work-motion is a therblig, which is Gilbreth spelled backwards.

When working with single-stage reloading pressesas contrasted toprogressive pressesits necessary to remove the processed case fromthe press and then replace it in the shell holder with the next case. Inthe usual sequence of things, this process involves one hand-up andhand-back to remove the processed case and put it back down, thenanother hand-up to put a raw case into the shell holder.


FIGURE 17A fired .38Special case rests in aLee shell holder in-stalled in an RCBSAmmomaster press.

Or you can employ what some term the three-finger shift. Here, yougrasp the raw case between your thumb and index finger of your lefthand and bring the case up to the shell holder, which currently carriesa case that was just processed.

Grasp the processed case between your left index finger and middlefinger and move it forward and out. Replace it with the raw case heldbetween the thumb and index finger. Its an operation more easilyexecuted than described or photographically illustrated. Basically,it conserves therbligs in a thoroughly useful manner and speeds theoperation most gratifyingly (Figures 18A, B, and C).


FIGURE 18AWith theraw case held be-tween your thumb andforefinger, grasp theprimed case betweenyour index and centerfinger.

FIGURE 18CWith theprimed case held outof the way, positionthe unprimed case inthe shell holder, thussaving a usefulamount of time overthe usual procedurethat involves fourhand movements in-stead of two.

FIGURE 18BRemovethe primed case fromthe shell holder.

We devoted some discussion to work simplification at this point be-cause its one of those pertinent concepts that can prove helpful. Itsup to you to be aware of the essential principles and remain alert forany modification of basic procedures that can trim a therblig here, an-other somewhere else. Multiplied by the many repetitive motions thatgo into producing a batch of reloads, its possible to conserve a greatdeal of time and effort, and thats all to the good.

Reloading Presses and EquipmentA reloading press magnifies the strength of the human hand and armmany times through leverage. Reloading presses are available in manymakes, models, sizes, designs, configurations, price levels, and degreesof sophistication. Theres some advantage in starting out with a rela-tively small, simple, and inexpensive press. If you feel you see a needand justification for something more elaborate, you can always acquireit later. That doesnt mean the original simple press is a dead loss outof pocket. Most reloaders work with more than one cartridge caliber,and you can use the inexpensive press to handle calibers loaded insmaller quantities.

There are three basic categories of reloading presses: single-stage,manually-actuated turrets, and progressive. In the single-stage, theoperator installs a reloading die in the top of the press, along with asuitable shell holder on the top of the press ram. After the operatoradjusts the press, he or she performs the given operation on all casesbeing reloaded at the given time.

Upon completion, the operator installs the next die, adjusts the press,and processes the cases through that. These steps continue until all ofthe cases become fully processed into reloaded ammunition.

Unless you need to produce a prodigious quantity of reloaded ammunitionagainst a short-fuse deadline, theres nothing wrong with a single-stagereloading press. If you put some thought into time-motion study on asingle-stage press, you can increase your personal productivity. Itsone of those rare examples in which top management and the work-force wear the same hat, so its unlikely there will be any rumbles fromorganized labor.

The single-stage press offers some compensation to make up for itsmodest rate of production. It enables the operator to maintain anextremely tight and close degree of quality control over the varioussteps of turning empty cases into ready-to-go ones.

Its ultimately desirable that a round of reloaded ammunition containa certain number of grains of powder, whatever the selected and in-tended charge may be. If it contains no powder at all or twice as muchas intended, the result is a drastic problem. A case containing no pow-der may drive the bullet out to lodge in the bore. Should a second car-tridge firein rapid-fire practice, for exampleits apt to blow up thegun, the same as two charges in one case.


When working with a single-stage press, you can put the load-readycases into a loading block, drop the powder charges into each case,and then give a keen visual inspection of the powder level in eachcase, under good illumination. With that attended to, you can seat thebullets with the certainty that each cartridge has exactly the properand correct amount of powder behind the bullet.

While manufacturers made and marketed reloading equipment inmany different configurations down through the years, recent timeshave seen a really gratifying degree of standardization. Reloading diesoffered by virtually all current sources have their shanks threaded to7

8-14 National Fine (NF), with a circular lock-ring to secure them inposition after adjustment.

The shell holder is available in many formats as well, but the currenttrend is toward the so-called universal shell holder that is interchange-able with the various makers of dies, shell holders, and reloadingpresses.

Some shell holders will handle more than one given caliber of cartridge,and some will handle a rather large number. For example, most of theshell holders that accept the .45 ACP also work with rifle cartridgessuch as the .243 Winchester, .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, anda broad host of others. Shell holders for the .38 Special will work justas well for the .357 Magnum, .357 Remington Maximum, and willusually perform quite well with the 10mm Auto, .40 Smith & Wesson,or 10mm Magnum.

Some reloading dies will double in brass to handle more than onebasic caliber. This tends to be more common in the examples of thestraight-sided handgun cartridges. While it may not be universally true,its often possible to reload .44 Smith & Wesson Russian (an archaiccartridge, seldom encountered), .44 Smith & Wesson Special, and .44Remington Magnum with a single set of reloading dies, adjusted upor down in the press head as required. Theres also an outside chancethat the given die set will serve to reload the .445 Super Mag andperhaps the .444 Marlin as well. In much the same spirit, dies for the.45 ACP may serve for the .45 Auto Rim and possibly for the .45Winchester Magnum.

Resizing dies having inserts of tungsten carbide or titanium carbideare available for most of the straight-sided handgun cases, includingthe slightly tapered 9mm Luger and .30 M-1 Carbine. Dies for the lat-ter pair are more expensive because the carbide insert has to work theentire length of the case, rather than a small area at the bottom of thedie, as in the example of the cases with parallel straight sides (Figures19A and B).


The great virtue of carbide resizing dies is that you need not applycase-resizing lubricant before sizing, and you need not remove it af-terward. Case lubricant is a necessity with resizing dies made of hard-ened tool steel. Unlubricated cases may seize up in the die, wrenchingthe head or rim off the case when you attempt to pull it out by sheermuscle. Such a debacle requires the use of a Stuck Case Remover kitto salvage the die. Several makers of reloading equipment offer suchkits. They consist of a No. 7 drill bit, a 1 4-20 tap, a bolt of the samethread, and an extraction collar. Instructions on the correct proce-dures come with such kits. By the time you go through the drillingprocess once, its quite unlikely youll neglect to use sizing lubricantagain for quite a while (Figure 20).


FIGURE 19AHere you can see the ring oftungsten carbide cemented into the mouth of thisRCBS .38 Special resizing/decapping die, as wellas the pin that goes down through the flash holeto knock out the spent primer.

FIGURE 19BViewed from the other end, you cansee the identifying markings of the die.

The next step after resizing is to use an expander die on the case mouthin preparation for seating the bullet. One of the most satisfactory ex-pander dies is the Lyman M-Die. Its expanding plug has a lower por-tion about .003 inch smaller than the bullet diameter that enters theneck first, followed by a tapered transition to a section about .004 inchlarger than bullet diameter. By careful trial-and-error adjustment, youcan get the M-Die plug to the point where its possible to seat aboutthe bottom 1 32 inch or so of the bullet into the case neck, prior tothe actual bullet seating. That also simplifies things in the next step,dropping the powder charge and eyeballing the level of the powderin each case. You can go on to put the bullet into the case neck as apreliminary to seating it to the final depth. Cases thus prepared dontscrape the sides of the bullets when they are seated, and thats highlyconducive to improved accuracy, particularly in cast bullets (Figure 21).

Given access to a metal lathe, you can easily produce custom M-typeexpanding plugs. The shank that mounts the plug to the die has a10-32 thread, and the easy way to produce it is to drill a central holein the upper end of the plug, using a No. 21 drill bit. Thread the holewith a 10-32 tap, cut a suitable length of stem from a 10-32 bolt, andanchor it in place with a drop of red Loctite sealant. The plug can beturned from cold-rolled bar stock, and it will stand up a long while,even if not hardened.


FIGURE 20Unless youuse carbide sizingdies, you must applya small amount ofresizing lubricantto the cases beforeresizing and wipethe lubricant offafter sizing.

The seating die guides the bullet into the case during the seating pro-cess. It should have a seating stem with its lower tip contoured so asnot to distort the bullets nose. If you have a factory cartridge or a re-load of the proper dimensions on hand, you can insert that into theshell holder. Then, run the press ram to the top of its stroke, back outthe seating stem of the die by several turns, and turn the die bodydown in the press head until you feel it make contact with the case ofthe cartridge. Back the die out by a small fraction of a turn and secureit in that position with the die locking ring. Now, without loweringthe press ram, turn down the seating stem until it makes contact withthe tip of the bullet. Lock the stem in that setting with its locking ring.

Many reloaders speak of bullet seating depth. To determine this depth,measure the overall length of the bullet and the cartridge overalllength (COL) after seating; then do the suitable subtraction. Actually,the COL is much easier to measure and establish than the overalllength of the bullet. A pair of dial calipers, such as those marketed byLee Precision, is invaluably handy for such measurements. When re-loading for autoloading arms, the COL must be short enough to en-able the shooter to load the reloads into the magazine with at least atrifle of nose-room to spare, so theyll feed back out of the magazinewithout problems.

When reloading for revolvers, the tip of the bullet must be a reasonabledistance back from the front face of the cylinder. Consider that thefifth or sixth round fired in a revolver has been subjected to the inertiaof recoil, which tends to cause the bullets to migrate forward from the


FIGURE 21With the ramat the top of its stroke,the resizing die is turneddown until its lower sur-face makes contact withthe top of the shellholder. The die lockingring is turned down tohold it in adjustment.

case neck. If even a small amount of bullet tip projects ahead of thefront face of the cylinder, it will hang up cylinder rotation and causethe wheelgun equivalent of a jam.

In reloads for rifles, the COL must be short enough so the give of thebullet doesnt come into hard contact with the commencement (leade)of the rifling. Such contact could make it difficult to complete the clos-ing of the action, and it tends to boost peak chamber pressures whenthe bullet is in a hard crunch-fit with the leade. If you elect not to firethe given round and attempt to extract it, the bullet may remain wedgedinto the rifling, spilling some amount of powder into the action whenyou extract the case. This would cause problems!

After seating the bullet to the appropriate depth, any flare put into thecase neck before seating should be turned in to chamber the reloadwithout undue resistance. If the bullet has a crimping groove or if itsa jacketed bullet with a coin-edged groove (cannelure) about its mid-section, you can crimp the case mouth. That is, turn it in to help lockthe bullet against movement in either direction.

There are two basic types of crimps: roll-crimps and taper-crimps.Redding/Saeco also produces dies for an in-between version calledthe profile crimp. Opinions concerning the virtues of various versionsof crimps are fairly sharply divided. The important point is to holdthe seated bullet firmly in place against forces that tend to displace it.When you feed a bullet through the action of an autoloader, theres atendency to push the bullet deeper into the case. When fired in re-volvers, forces attempt to make the bullet move forward (Figure 22).


FIGURE 22You can usea taper-crimp die as thefinal step after seatingthe bullet. You can useother dies to perform asharper roll-crimp to thecase mouth.

If theres a tight press-fit between the case neck and the bullet base,that tends to hold the bullet securely in place in a thoroughly satisfac-tory manner, crimp or no crimp. If the grasp of the case neck againstthe bullet base is no more than casual, even a fairly savage roll-crimpmay not suffice to prevent bullet migration. Use of the Lyman M-Dieneck expander, discussed previously, tends to produce a satisfactoryclench of the case neck on the bullet base.

If you perform a roll-crimp, its better to seat the bullet as one step, backout the seating stem, turn down the die body by the suitable amount,and perform the crimp as a separate operation. Only rarely does itwork well to seat the bullet and perform a roll-crimp simultaneously.

Exact details as to the dies and shell holders required to reload specificcartridges are available on request from makers of reloading equipment.Addresses are in the Suppliers Listing that comes with this program.


At the end of each section of Ammunition, Reloading, and Basic Ballistics, youll pause andcheck your understanding of what youve just read by completing a Zero In!. Writingthe answers to these questions will help you review what youve studied so far. Pleasecomplete Zero In! 1 now.

Indicate whether the following statements are True or False.

_____ 1. A reloading press magnifies the strength of the human hand and arm many timesby means of leverage.

_____ 2. Hygroscopic means incapable of attracting and retaining moisture.

_____ 3. Cartridges designed for use in autoloading guns have larger rims for easy feeding.

_____ 4. A bottleneck case provides room for more powder behind the bullet.

_____ 5. Theres no practical way to reload fired rimfire cases.

_____ 6. The British refer to the bullet as the bullet head.

_____ 7. The Berdan primer pocket system is formed with a central flash hole.

_____ 8. Fulminate of mercury is the latest priming compound on the market.

_____ 9. Pistol primers have a somewhat thicker, tougher cup than the rifle type.

_____10. Boxer-type primers are customarily employed in reloading.

Check your answers with those on page 97.

Zero In! 1

THE RELOADING PROCESSES

Setting Up for ReloadingTypical reloading presses require a moderately sturdy work surfacefor their operation (Figure 23). If its practical in terms of individualcircumstances, you can bolt the press to the bench top as a permanentinstallation. It may, however, be necessary to set up for temporaryoperation so that you can put the equipment away when youre finished.In such a situation, it works quite well to attach the press to a smallpiece of plank and then secure that to the working surface using apair of C-clamps (Figure 24).


FIGURE 23The personwho owns this loadingbench prefers to workwhile seated. The storagespace at the rear has acover that you can closeand lock to keep unau-thorized hands out.

FIGURE 24The gunsmithbolted this RCBS Ammomas-ter press to a piece ofplank and then attached itto the bench by a pair ofC-clamps.

You can situate other equipment, such as the powder measure, powderscales, and the like for convenience (Figure 25). Its extremely impor-tant to allow for the highly flammable nature of powder and primers,taking precautions to prevent accidental ignition. For example, dontcast bullets with an open container of powder nearby. If a flying dropof molten bullet alloy falls into the powder, it can set the powder off,with disastrous consequences.

If you have more than one can of powder or deck of primers on hand,you should store the main supply of such components away from theimmediate reloading area. This way, accidental ignition of the compo-nents wont spread through the entire quantity. You should keep oneor more suitable fire extinguishers available in a fixed place whereyou can grab it quickly. Post No Smoking signs and strictly enforcethe policy.

The Steps of ReloadingTo this point, we may have gotten slightly out of order with the vari-ous reloading sequences. Lets pause and review the basic operationsperformed in the course of turning an as-fired case back into a loadedround. The basic steps are as follows.

1. Fire the loaded round (factory or reload).

2. Retrieve and store the fired cases.

3. Inspect the fired cases.

4. Reject defective cases.

5. Sort for headstamps (optional).


FIGURE 25Shown here is a powder scale plus an accessory package.

6. Clean/polish fired cases (optional).

7. Resize/deprime the fired cases.

8. Seat the new primers.

9. Prepare the case necks.

10. Settle upon the load data.

11. Adjust, measure, and verify powder charges.

12. Drop the powder charges and inspect levels.

13. Adjust for seating depth/COL.

14. Seat bullets.

15. Perform final case neck treatment (crimp).

16. Pack and identify reloads.

17. Fire the reloaded rounds; repeat steps.

Retrieve and Store the Fired Cases

Firing the loaded ammunition, retrieving, and saving the spent casesis an elementary operation. You need to get the empty brass fromsome source. There are alternative sources, however. Both Remingtonand Winchester continue to market unprimed empty cases, some-times termed virgin brass, through their distributors and dealers.Sometimes gun stores will offer for sale containers of supposedlyonce-fired cases at a few cents each. Also, you may be able to collectoff the ground spent brass at public ranges, although that can getyour fingers stomped upon now and again. Knowing of a placewhere non-reloaders do a lot of shooting can yield for you a brassytreasure in a myriad of assorted calibers.

If reloading intrigues you, pick all of the cases upexcept for therimfire, of coursetake them home, sort them, and stash away thecalibers of no immediate utility. The heavy-duty Ziploc baggies,available in one-quart or one-gallon sizes, are useful for storing sortedbatches of centerfire cases, as they protect them from dust, atmosphericcorrosion, and home-building spiders.

Speaking of corrosion, several makers offer case tumblers or polishersto restore the factory-bright sparkle to grange brass (Figure 26). Suchdevices are relatively inexpensive and well worth their modest cost. Ifyoure using a solid cleaning medium, such as ground walnut shells,its best to tumble the brass in as-fired condition because the granulesof the medium tend to block the flash holes in the cases. Then, whenyou resize/deprime, the decapping pin clears the flash hole.


Another exceptionally good idea is to sort the cases so that all are veryclose to the same mouth diameter. If you tumble 9mm Lugers togetherwith .44 Magnums, youll end up with many 9mm cases wedgedtightly into the mouths of .44 cases along with granules of polishingmedium.

Cleaning cases by tumbling them takes some hours. Its possible,however, to put a mirror polish on a case in a matter of only a fewseconds. Tumbling requires a drill press or an electric hand drill thatyou mount on a base or a vise. It also requires a small mandrel witha slight taper and a diameter that makes a friction fit inside the casemouth. Chuck the mandrel into the drill press or electric drill, whichyou then turn on. Press the case mouth over the end of the spinningmandrel, causing it to spin. Use scraps of paper towel or small tuftsof 0000-grade steel wool to take powder residue and other crud andcorruption off the case surface.

At that point, you can put a small amount of metal polish such asHappichs Simichrome, Flitz, Brass-O, or automotive chrome cleaneron a small swatch of paper towel and apply it to the spinning case. Thepolish will dissolve and loosen the corrosion. After a brief session ofthat, use a sheet of paper towel to wipe off the cleaner and achieve thefinal polish.

If the case has been deprimed, you can use a short section of woodendowel with a small tuft of 0000-grade steel wool to clean the residueout of the primer pocket at the same time.


FIGURE 26Shown is anM2 Case Tumbler fromHornady ManufacturingCompany.

Once you process the case, you can pluck it off the spinning mandreland replace it with another dirty one, with no need to turn off thepower. The mandrels are a simple project to make from steel barstock. It helps if you have access to a metal lathe, but you can producethem on a drill press with a flat mill bastard file and some time andpatience. If youre not inclined to make your own, Hanned Precisioncan furnish them under the trade name of K-Spinners, contoured sothat one K-Spinner handles cases designed for several different bulletdiameters.

Inspect the Fired Cases/Reject Defective Cases

Sooner or later, every cartridge case retires. The trick is to visuallyidentify the unfortunate ones whose time has come, set them aside,and dispose of them appropriately.

After a number of reloadings and firings, cases may develop splits inthe sides or necks (Figure 27). If fired from a hostile handgun, the casemouths may become banged into hopeless condition.

If the shooter fire rounds at an injudicious level of peak pressure, theprimer pocket diameter may increase to the point where a new primeris a dismayingly easy slop-fit. In such instances, mash the mouth ofeach bad case with a pair of pliers so theres no possible chance of itsneaking back into the production line.


FIGURE 27This .38 Spe-cial case has a crackedneck and you shoulddiscard it. Mashing theneck with a pair of plierskeeps it from gettingback into use.

You need to check bottleneck cases for excessive case length and/orneck thickness. A pair of calipers, either Vernier or dial-type, makeschecking the length easy. Look up the length for the given caliber;youll find it listed under the caliber heading in many of the loadinghandbooks/manuals. Set the calipers for that dimension and lockthem in that setting, if the provision is available. Then, merely see if thefired cases will pass through the caliper jaws. Set aside any that dont.

You can detect excessive case neck thickness by trying to insert thebase of the appropriate bullet into the case neck before resizing it. Thebullet base should enter the neck of the fired case without undue re-sistance. If it doesnt, it will be necessary to inside neck-ream the caseor outside neck-turn it to remove the excessive metal at the neck.

If you reload overlong cases and/or overthick necks, they resist re-lease of the bullet at the time of firing. This resistance causes excessiveand possibly dangerous peak chamber pressures, even if the powdercharge is suitable for the caliber and bullet weight, by the book.

You can correct excessive case length by using a case trimmer to re-move excess brass at the neck (Figure 28). Inside case neck reamersare available from Forster to fit that firms case trimmer. Note thatyou must inside-ream cases overly thick in the necks before resizingthem. If you inside-ream the necks after resizing, youll remove toomuch metal and ruin the cases for any further use.

Both Forster and RCBS have accessories for outside case neck-turningto use on their respective trimmers. If extreme accuracy is of the ut-most importance, outside turning produces a more uniform case neckthickness, at the expense of added time and effort.

Its quite unusual to encounter a straight-sided case that is excessivelylong or too thick at the neck.


FIGURE 28This photoshows a trimmer packageavailable from HornadyManufacturing Co.

Sort for HeadstampsYou may regard this step as optional. Minor variations in dimensionsoccur from one maker to another, and uniformity is quite importantif youre out to shrink target groups into the smallest clusters possible.If you can afford to be casual about all-out accuracy, lucky you! Goahead and load the cases as they come, without regard to source orheadstamp.

Speaking of headstamps, we should note that military cases seldomidentify the actual caliber designation of the cartridge. Rather, theyidentify the armory and year in which it was made. United Statesmilitary ammunition switched over from corrosive to noncorrosiveprimers at some point around 1952, varying somewhat from one pro-ducer to another. Usual procedure is to include the last two digits ofthe given year on the headstamp.

Thus, suppose you encounter an ancient cartridge having the basic di-mensions of the .3006 Springfield, with a headstamp of 43 (over) TW,for example. You can assume Twin Cities Arsenal produced it in thetroubled year of 1943, a good nine years before any government arse-nal commenced using noncorrosive primers. If you fire it in any gunchambered for .3006, you had better clean the bore thoroughly andpromptly, upon pains of ending up in the market for a replacementbarrel (Figure 29).

Military-fired cases usually pose still another problem for the would-be reloader, in the form of the stamp-crimped primer. That operationisnt performed primarily to make life difficult for future reloaders ofthe spent cases, but rather to minimize stoppages in fully automaticweaponry such as machine guns and submachine guns. If you everwondered about the difference, a submachine gun is designed to fireammunition nominally regarded as suitable for use in handguns.

The decapping pin in your resizing die may be able to punch out thestamp-crimped primer. However, when you endeavor to seat a freshprimer into the pocket, it will be impossible for all practical purposes.You can and must remove the stamp-crimp by reaming or swaging.Most makers of reloading equipment offer some manner of facility fordoing this.


FIGURE 29Shown is a headstamp of a military roundof .3006 Springfield, made at Twin Cities arsenal in1943. The ring you can see around the primer is thestamp crimp, which you must remove by reaming orswaging before you seat a new primer.

Resize/Deprime the Fired Cases

Once you inspect and sort the cases, you must resize and deprimethem. If youre not using a carbide sizing die, it will be necessaryto lubricate the cases before resizing and to wipe off the lubricantafterward.

Straight-sided cases are usually resized in one step, with the necksbeing expanded as a second step in a second die. Depending uponthe maker of the dies, the depriming pin may be in the resizing dieor incorporated with the expander plug in the second die.

Dies for reloading bottleneck cases customarily resize the case anddeprime and expand the case neck as a single operation. As the pressforces the case up into the die, the spent primer gets punched out andthe case neck becomes reduced to a diameter slightly too small. Then,as the case is pulled back down, it moves over the expander plug,restoring it to the precise inside diameter. In so doing, this nullifiesany minor variation in case neck thickness, leaving all cases with thecorrect inside diameter at the neck.

Note: Carbide dies for bottleneck cases exist, but they arent at allcommon. Unlike straight-sided cases, carbide dies for bottleneckcartridges require that the case be cleaned of gritty dust particles andthen lubricated. The only virtue of a carbide die for bottleneck casesis that it will last a great deal longer than a hardened steel die.

Its necessary, of course, to lubricate the bottleneck cases when usingresizing dies of hardened steel. Apply the lubricant sparingly and tryto avoid getting any of it on the shoulder portion of the case. Excesslubricant on the shoulder is apt to cause unsightly dents.

Its quite helpful to apply a small amount of lubricant to the inside ofthe neck of bottleneck cases. It not only helps to mute the blood-chillingskrawnch! sound effects as the case is drawn back over the expanderplug, but it also minimizes stretching of the bottleneck case.

Some makers of reloading dies offer neck-size-only (NSO) dies forbottleneck cases. These makers usually produce custom NSO diesafter they receive three fired cases from the given gun to establish di-mensions. NSO dies offer great convenience and exceptional accuracypotential, as the case from head to shoulder remains a perfect, fire-formed fit to the chamber. It should go without saying that NSO diesare suitable only if the reload is to be fired in the same gun as it waspreviously. In using an NSO die, its necessary to apply only the mer-est smidgen of lubricant to the case neck, perhaps a bit to the insideof the neck. After that you can proceed with almost the same conven-ience as when loading straight-sided cases with a carbide sizing die.


Seat the New Primers

We discussed the preferred techniques for seating primers earlier, aswell as safety considerations in their handling. Its quite important tomake certain that you seat the primers with the surface of the primercup outward, not with the anvil exposed. Seating a primer backwardposes little hazard beyond the fact that the cartridge wont fire. That,of course, can prove extremely hazardous if youre counting on it tostop a charging bear, for example! As a rule, you can spot reversedprimers when youre packing the reloaded rounds into cartridgeboxes. They should go into the deep-six jug for safe disposal. Itsnot a good idea to try to salvage them.

Safe Disposal

A deep-six jug is a plastic jug that originally held laundry bleach oranti-freeze that you can label with a felt-tipped marker and set asideto discard defective cartridges and similar items. Periodically, disposeof this jug in a safe and legal manner. If you need to dispose of un-wanted powder, you can spread it broadly on the front lawn, whereit will decompose and make the grass a little greener.

You need a special disposal container because the reloading operationtends to generate sensitive trashflotsam, jetsam, and allied detritusthat you shouldnt set out at the curb with regular garbage. Theres achance that neighborhood children may look through your trash bar-rel and cart away items for further investigation. They may manage toset off an explosive or combustible object, such as a cartridge rejectedbecause of a defect. Besides the unfortunate tragedy that could occurto the children and or property, their parents canand probablywillsue you for damages.

You can drop into a wastebasket relatively innocuous inert brass casesthat contain neither a live primer nor powder with no problems. Itdoesnt hurt to mash the case mouths with a pair of pliers to assuretheyll never again find their way into the chain of production.

Prepare the Case Necks

We already discussed expanding the case necks of straight-sided cases.Bottleneck cases respond well to inside/outside case neck deburringtools, particularly after theyve been trimmed, which leaves a pro-nounced burr, both inside and outside.

Settle Upon the Load Data

Well discuss load data sources in detail shortly. You may find themavailable from makers or distributors of powders at no cost. Or, theymay be rather elaborate affairs costing several dollarsbut a bargainat twice the price, for all of that.


Its important that you dont simply fill the available space in the casewith some powder selected at random and go on to stuff a bullet downon top of it. Rather, consult a reliable reloading manual. Look up thegiven cartridge, mindful of the weight of the bullet you plan to use.Then, select a powder charge from among those listed for use withthat caliber and bullet weight.

Youll find several different powders listed, usually with more thanone charge weight and a listing of the velocity that was obtainedwith the particular combination in the test laboratory of the bookspublisher.

Virtually all such load data sources supply profuse warnings that youmust approach maximum loads with caution, and you better believethem! The maximum loads they list may be considerably beyondmaximum when you make them up and fire them in your gun. Anynumber of variables enter the picture:

1. The bore dimensions may be slightly smaller in your rifle.

2. There may not be as much freebore ahead of the chamberbefore the rifling starts.

3. Some makes of cases have less internal capacity than othermakes of the same nominal caliber.

4. Some primers are more energetic (brisant is the term, meaningbrusque).

5. If you fire the reloads on a day when its exceptionally hot,youll encounter higher peak pressures than on a cooler day.

All these reasons and several others offer persuasive motivation tostart low and work up with caution, as indications may suggest.

Select your charge weight of the given powder to put behind the par-ticular bullet in the specific caliber of cartridge. Then, enter all the perti-nent particulars in some manner of journal or notebook so theyll beavailable for future reference, if needed. You want to write down allthe details for the sake of being able to duplicate the load, in case itturns out to perform well. Make note of the caliber, the make of case(s),the make and type of primer, the charge weight of the selected pow-der, the make/weight/type of bullet, and the cartridges overall length.

Later, you can take the notebook to the shooting site and record theperformance it delivers, for the sake of future guidance. Such a note-book, with detailed specifications on reload makeup and hard dataon performance, can be of substantial value down the road.

Adjust, Measure, and Verify Powder Charges

There are those who weigh every single powder charge on an accuratescale, dead-on to the last one-tenth of a grain. Thats neither danger-ous nor shameful, but the rate of production is painfully moderate.


The majority of reloaders prefer to use a powder measure. Such devicesfall into two distinct groups, fixed and adjustable. Both types haveone thing in common: The actual weight of the dropped charge needsto be verified on an accurate and dependable powder scale. Nevertake chart listings for granted, as theyre for general guidance only.Put it on a good scale and find out for sure!

It works quite well to drop 10 consecutive charges into the pan ofthe scale, all at once. Weigh the total and divide by 10 to arrive atan average charge weight for the measure. Thats a good approach,regardless if it uses fixed cavities or adjustable ones (Figure 30).

Drop the Powder Charges and Inspect Levels

It works quite well to put the load-ready cases in a loading block, ashallow tray with rows of holes to accept the heads of the cases andkeep them aligned, mouth uppermost. If you use a dipper-type meas-ure, you can pour the powder into each case in turn using a powderfunnel. If you use a powder measure, you can hold the loading blockin one hand as the other operates the measure, charging each case inturn.


FIGURE 30Lee Preci-sions Safety Diskpowder measure is ahandy example of thefixed-rotor design. Itcomes with four disks,with the three sparesheld in place by a pairof wooden dowels onthe wooden base (notincluded with the meas-ure). To save time hunt-ing for a screwdriverevery time the diskneeds changing, theholding screw hasbeen replaced by ahomemade version.

Many makers of reloading equipment offer loading blocks in varioussizes and designs. Given modest wood workshop equipment, its asimple project to construct loading blocks from pieces of scrap lumber.The holes can vary in diameter to handle cases with heads of differentsizes (Figure 31).

As noted earlier, after you drop the charges, its possible to inspectthe level of the powder charge in each case under good light to verifythat the level of powder is uniform in each.

Adjust for Seating Depth/COL

The outer body of the seating die positions the charged case in correctalignment as the seating stem forces the base of the bullet down intothe case mouth when you operate the press handle. Both the die bodyand seating stem have locking rings to keep the adjustment uniformduring the entire process. As a usual rule, the locking rings on the diebodies have set screws to lock them in adjustment. This is so you onlyneed to turn the die into the press head until the locking ring preventsfurther turning (Figure 32). That assumes youre still using the sameloading press. If you have and use more than one press, youll find itnecessary to readjust the die body when moving from one press toanother. The pertinent dimension isnt uniform from one maker toanother, nor even among different models from the same maker.

As noted, you must make up reloads for handguns to maximum COLdimensions to assure that the cartridges fit into and feed out of themagazines of autoloading pistols. Another reason is so that the bullettips have sufficient clearance behind the front surface of revolvercylinders.


FIGURE 31Shown here isa moulded plastic loadingblock with two homemadewooden blocks.

Similar considerations dictate the COL for rifle reloads. The cartridgesmust fit into and feed out of the magazine reliably, and they mustchamber without undue resistance caused by contact between thebullet ogive and the leade of the rifling.

Note: You should never load cartridges carrying bullets with pointedtips into tubular magazines. The force of recoil could set off a chainexplosion within the magazine by contact between the bullet pointand the primer of the cartridge ahead of it.

Perform Final Case Neck TreatmentIf the case neck was flared to accept the bullet base in the neck ex-panding step, you must turn back in the flare to prevent resistanceto chambering. Beyond that, the type and amount of crimp at the caseneck is a decision for the reloader to make.

If theres a tight grip of the case neck against the base of the bullet,its not apt to move in either direction during normal handling, feed-ing through the action of autoloaders, or when firing prior shots inrevolvers.

Pack and Identify ReloadsSeveral makers offer compartmental plastic boxes to hold reloadedcartridges. You could use empty boxes that formerly held factoryloads, or its possible to make your own containers (Figures 33 and 34).


FIGURE 32You cantighten the set screw inthe die locking ringonce you adjust the die.

Its quite important to identify the reloads pertinent specifications bylabeling the container in which theyre packed. The label can be assimple as a reference to the given page or line number in the reload-ing journal or log book. Various makers also offer self-adhesive labelsfor this purpose.


FIGURE 33MTM Case-Gard ammunition boxesare available in a numberof sizes holding 20, 50, or100 rounds. They also haveplastic boxes for reloadedshotshells.

FIGURE 34This photoshows a homemadecartridge box, with 12 inchplastic grid from a fluores-cent light shade used asa separator.

POWDERS AND RELOADING TOOLS

Notes on Reloading Tools

Reloading has been around since about the time centerfire cartridgesarrived upon the sceneback into the nineteenth century. In the earlyyears, the small hand toolsvariously termed tong tools or nutcrackerswere quite popular and continued in production until fairly recently.Lymans No. 310 tool was one of the last of the breed, and Lymandiscontinued its production only a few years ago (Figure 35).


Match the terms in the left-hand column with the definitions in the right-hand column.

_____ 1. case trimmer

_____ 2. brisant

_____ 3. loading block

_____ 4. deep-six jug

_____ 5. Ziploc baggies

_____ 6. C-clamps

_____ 7. virgin brass

_____ 8. mandrel

_____ 9. ground walnut shells

_____10. fixed or adjustable

a. term used to describe energetic primers

b. used to protect cases from dust, atmos-pheric corrosion, and home-buildingspiders

c. types of powder measures

d. new unprimed empty cases

e. spindle used to hold the fired case beingpolished

f. used in a temporary reloading setupto secure reloading equipment to theworkbench

g. used to remove excess brass from the caseneck

h. a solid cleaning medium used for polish-ing fired cartridge cases

i. used to store defective cartridges andsimilar items

j. used to accept the heads of load-readycases

Check your answers with those on page 97.

Zero In! 2

The virtue of the tong tool was that the shooter could pack it within asmall space and employ it without a formal loading bench, providedthe shooter had a suitable dipper-type powder measure. The shooteruses the tong tool to resurrect spent cases in the field or around theevening campfire. Some of the early examples of the tong tool weremarvels of compactness and design ingenuity, incorporating bulletmoulds as well as reloading capabilities.

Theres a trend to categorize reloading equipment in relationship toletters of the alphabet. Thus, although seldom, the tong tools mightbe termed X-type. Presses that open at the front are C-presses; if theyincorporate framework in front of the ram, they become O-presses orO-frames. We could hardly classify a compact press currently mar-keted by Huntington Die Specialties as anything but a W-press. Wemight classify the little kits that operate by impact rather than leverageas I-presses. Presses that position one or more dies above a horizontalbar that rides with the top of the ram are H-presses. Presses with asingle shell holder and a circular turret to position the dies could beT-presses, although we encounter the term rarely, if at all (Figure 36).

The alphabetical designations peter out at about that point; that is, noone to date has offered designs that we could term S-presses, J-presses,F-presses, and the like.

Turret presses offer an attractive amount of convenience. A circularplate at the top positions anywhere from three to eight dies so thatonce you place a fired case in the shell holder, you can process itthrough each die in turn by merely rotating the turret.

The next logical step is to automate the rotation of the turret, resultingin the progressive press. The idea here is that the operator merelyplaces a fired case in the proper place, operates the handle, and per-forms a few other steps such as putting a bullet in place at the properpoint. The turret produces a complete, loaded round at each stroke ofthe handle. Admittedly, the prospect seems attractive.


FIGURE 35Here are threeexamples of the old tongtools. Winchester made theone at the left; the centerone is an Ideal with inte-gral bullet mould; and atright is a fairly contempo-rary Lyman No. 310 tongtool with primer-seating diein place.

The efficacy of such systems depends upon the smooth reliability ofthe turret-advancing mechanism as well as upon the level of intenseconcentration the operator is able to maintain. Unlike the procedurewith single-stage presses, theres no ready way to visually verify thelevel of the powder charge in each case before going on to seat thebullet.

Most progressive presses operate via a revolving shell plate, ratherthan having the turret advance. In progressive presses, the shell platetakes the place of the usual shell holder.

Beyond the progressive presses are the robot reloaders, driven byelectric motors. Robot reloaders require human assistance solely for thesake of keeping the hoppers filled with spent cases, bullets, powder,and primers. As you might correctly suppose, operating such devicesdemands considerable expertise, and the price tags are more thanslightly startling.

Equipment Manufacturers

Several names have come and gone in the field of reloading equipment.Hornady purchased Pacific, once an industry leader, and operated fora time as Hornady-Pacific. The line continues today under the Hornadybrand. Bair was active for a while and went under, as did Texan,


FIGURE 36This old Eaglepressno longer madeis an example of theC-type press design,open at the front.

Mequon Loaders, and various others. Redding acquired SAECOoriginally Santa Anita (California) Engineering Companyand bothlines remain available from that source. Forster purchased Bonanzaand its equipment remains available from that source. Omark Indus-tries purchased RCBS, along with Speer, CCI, Weaver, and Outers(not necessarily in that order). In time, the entire conglomerate cameunder the control of Blount (pronounced blunt), the current owners.A corporate entity called the Leisure Group bought both Lyman andSierra Bullets, but continue to survive in the marketplace.

Charles Heckman founded C-H, producing both C-type and H-typepresses. Heckman and his entire family perished in a head-on collisionin the early 1960s, and since then the enterprise has passed throughvarious hands. As of the early 1990s, its former operators in Owen,Wisconsin, sold C-H Tool & Die, which currently maintains a verylow profile, indeed if any at all.

Dillon Precision manufactures an extensive line of progressive pressesand markets them directly to the end consumer. The Dillon equip-ment is quite popular with competitive handgunners who expend agreat amount of rounds in year-round practice. An early-1991 SteelChallenge event indicated the popularity of Dillon because every oneof the top-placing shooters produced his or her ammunition on somemodel of Dillon press.

Supporting Equipment

Apart from loading presses, dies, shell holders, and components, wecant regard any reloading setup as complete without a reliable andaccurate powder scale, sometimes termed a reloaders scale. You can alsouse a powder scale to weigh bullets, and, in a pinch, it can also serveas a postal scale. If the weight of the letter exceeds 437.5 grains, youneed additional postage; just that simple.

Powder measures are available in many forms and at several pricelevels, but all such require an accurate scale to verify the actualweight of the dropped charge.

Dipper-type powder measures are available from Lee Precision, per-haps from other sources, as well. Lee has a kit with all of the availabledippers plus a cardboard slide rule. The slide rule gives the approxi-mate weight of charges of various powders out of each of the dippers,which are graduated in decimal portions of a cubic centimeter.

Its possible to fabricate a custom powder dipper from a fired case,with a spent primer. Merely trim excess brass from the neck with acase trimmer until it holds the desired weight of the given powder, asverified by an accurate powder scale. Then, solder a section of nail orpiece of brass welding rod to the case and add a wooden handle.Mark the charge weight of the specified powder on the handle with anonfading ink and varnish or lacquer it to preserve the identification.


Most commercial powder measures have either fixed or variable me-tering cavities, and each has its advantages. Once youve establishedthe delivery of a fixed cavity by using a scale, you can rely upon it todrop that amount, so long as you continue using the same lot of pow-der. If you buy a new can, with a different lot number, its a good ideato check the weight of charges having the same volume.

Most makers of fixed-cavity measures offer some manner of chart thatgives the approximate weight of various powders from the differentcharge bars or bushings. Never take their word for it. Perform yourown checks, using your own scale. Then record the weights you goton a chart for future reference. Dont forget to run another checkwhen you get a new can with a different lot number.

Not all makers and distributors of powder put lot numbers on theircontainers. If theres no lot number, make it routine procedure to re-check each new can. If there is a lot number and your dealer has twoor more cans with the same number, consider buying a substantialsupply (Figures 37 and 38).


FIGURE 37You can reduce the problems ofcoping with various lot numbers of powder bybuying larger containers, such as the 8 poundjug at left, instead of the 1 pound size at right.(Courtesy Accurate Arms)

FIGURE 38Not all powder cans carry lot numbers,as in the No. 65 here. This, by the way, is a veryold can, from the days before IMR bought theDupont operation.

Powder measures with adjustable metering cavities have the obviousadvantage of being able to deliver any desired charge weight for agiven powder. All it takes is patience and a good scale. As noted ear-lier, you may find it helpful to drop 10 charges into the pan, weighthem, and divide the total weight by 10an elementary exercise inmental arithmetic. For example, if 10 charges weigh 174 grains, youraverage drop is 17.4 grains. A weight of 216 grains becomes 21.6 grainsand so on. Just move the decimal point one place to the left and youhave it. This is, at least arguably, more precise than trying to weighone charge at a time, particularly when working with the lightercharge weights.

Adjustable measures usually, if not always, have a locking ring onthe adjustment stem. Once you have it dropping the desired chargeweight, snub the locking ring down at least finger-tight, or give ita gentle torque with a pair of pliers, if you feel inclined. On a longproduction run, its a good idea to recheck the weight of the powdercharge periodically to avoid nasty surprises.

Smokeless Powders

The early type of gunpowder was a physical mixture of potassiumnitrate (KNO3)often called saltpeter by Americans, saltpetre byBritonsplus sulfur and charcoal. It would ignite to generate hot,high-pressure gas that would launch a projectile, but the chemicalreaction of its combustion left a lot of unburned solids that posedproblems for the shooter.

Soldiers fought the American Civil War entirely with the old blackgunpowder, as were earlier conflicts. By the time the Spanish-AmericanWar came along in 1898, United States forces still armed themselveswith single-shot muskets firing the .45-70 Government cartridge. Theywere so called because the gun fired a .458 inch diameter bullet ofabout 400 grains weight, motivated by 70.0 grains of the old black-powder that made copious clouds of white smoke when ignited.

The Spanish forces armed themselves with state-of-the-art Mausers,using the newfangled smokeless powder. It produced some amountof smoke, but not nearly as much as did the blackpowder. Mausersshot small-caliber bullets (7mm/.284 inch) at much higher velocities,with proportionally flatter trajectories than did the archaic .45-70 Gov-ernment rifles. This put our troops at a disadvantage, relieved onlyslightly by the hasty introduction of the .30-40 Krag rifle and cartridge.

Its confusing to speak of blackpowder versus smokeless powderbecause the individual granules of many smokeless varieties are quiteblack from being tumbled in finely powdered graphite to coat thegranules.


The main difference is in the chemical composition. The primary in-gredient of smokeless powder is nitrocellulose, plus certain additives,deterrent coatings, and the like. In some examples, a percentage ofnitroglycerin (C3H5N3O9) is mixed with the nitrocellulose duringmanufacture. Such powders are double-base powders in contrast tosingle-base powders that are composed principally of nitrocellulose.

Various other organic materials have been nitrated to explore theirpotential as propellants. An organic material is one that contains somenumber of carbon atoms in the makeup of its molecule. Nitratedwood pulp, for example, is nitrolignin. Nitrocellulose, sometimestermed guncotton or nitrocotton, remains the preferred ingredient,either straight or mixed with some percentage of nitroglycerin.

In the process, manufacturers soak the cotton lint in nitric acid (HNO3)until a desired level of nitration takes place. At that point, they washthe product repeatedly to eliminate any residual acid content, becausetrace remnants of acid tend to cause deterioration in long-term storage.If the powder being manufactured is to be a double-base powder, theproper quantity of nitroglycerin gets blended in. At this point in theprocess, the powder-to-be has a somewhat doughy consistency. Itsintimately mixed and blended and then forced under pressurethrough a number of orifices in a plate. As this takes place, a rotaryknife on the far side of the plate chops or slices off the extrusions toform the final form of the granules.

If the length of the granule is a lot less than its diameter, the resultingpowder is a flake propellant. If the granule length is as great as, orgreater than its diameter, we call the powder an extruded propellant.

Theres a further variant in powder manufacturing processes thatcauses the product to separate out of the solvent in small, more orless spherical globules. Winchester developed the process, and theirregistered term for propellants of that type is Ball Powder. Hodgdondistributes several such powders, and their registered term is Sphericalpowders. The generic designationfor want of a better termisglobular powders, and well employ the term here in that context, todistinguish such powders from the extruded types. Most, if not all,globular powders are of the double-base type containing some per-centage of nitroglycerin.

Apart from the two basic manufacturing processes, powders differfrom each other in terms of burning rate. Such variation is necessaryto obtain the best possible performance from the broad variety offirearms and their wide assortment of cartridges. Many sources haveendeavored to provide tables that show all of the various powdersarranged in order of their burning rates (Figure 39).



BURNING RATE CHART

The following chart ranks, from fastest to slowest, the current canister-grade powders in order ofapproximate burning rates.

Some of the Vihta Vuori powders listed here arent presently distributed in the United States. The currentVihta Vuori listing didnt include Accurate Arms No. XMP-5744 (formerly MP-7544). In a previous VihtaVuori listing, it appeared after VV N120 and faster then IMR-4227. Accordingly, we might give it atentative position of No. 54.5 in this ranking.

Also missing are Hodgdon Varget and H483 ISC. We can regard the latter as identical in burning rateto Hodgdon H4831 (No. 102). According to Hodgdon, Varget is roughly in the same range as IMR-4064,although by no means identical it.

Accurate Arms rates its No. 2495 equivalent to IMR-4895.

1. Norma R-12. Vihta Vuori N3103. Alliant Bulls-eye4. Vihta Vuori N3SF5. Scot Solo 10006. Accurate Arms No. 27. Alliant Red Dot8. Vihta Vuori N3SL9. Hodgdon Clays

10. Vihta Vuori N32011. Scot Royal Scot12. Vihta Vuori N32113. Hodgdon HP3814. Winchester 23115. Scot 45316. Vihta Vuori N32417. Vihta Vuori N3SM18. IMR Hi-Skor 700-X19. Winchester WST20. Hodgdon Intl. Clays21. Alliant Green Dot22. Vihta Vuori N33023. IMR PB24. Vihta Vuori N33125. Accurate Arms No. 526. Scot Pearl Scot27. Winchester WSL28. Hodgdon Univ. Clays29. Alliant Unique30. Vihta Vuori N33831. IMR SR-762532. Winchester WSF33. Hodgdon HS-634. Vihta Vuori N34035. Winchester 54036. Alliant Herco37. IMR SR-475638. Scot Solo 1250

39. Vihta Vuori 3N3740. IMR Hi-Skor 800-X41. Vihta Vuori N3SH42. Accurate Arms No. 743. Scot Solo 150044. Vihta Vuori N35045. Hodgdon HS-746. Alliant Blue Dot47. Accurate Arms No. 948. Alliant 240049. Vihta Vuori N11050. Norma R-12351. Hodgdon H11052. Winchester 29653. IMR SR-475954. Vihta Vuori N12055. IMR IMR-422756. Vihta Vuori N12557. Hodgdon H422758. Vihta Vuori N13059. Accurate Arms No. 168060. Vihta Vuori N13261. Norma N-20062. Vihta Vuori N13363. Scot Brigadier 419764. Hodgdon H419865. IMR IMR-419866. Accurate Arms 2015BR67. Alliant Reloader 768. Vihta Vuori N13469. IMR IMR-303170. Norma N-20171. Hodgdon H32272. Accurate Arms 223073. Scot Brigadier 303274. Winchester 74875. Hodgdon BL-C(2)76. Accurate Arms 2460

77. Hodgdon H33578. Hodgdon H489579. Alliant Reloader 1280. IMR IMR-489581. Vihta Vuori N13582. IMR IMR-406483. Scot Brigadier 406584. Accurate Arms 252085. IMR IMR-432086. Norma N-20287. Vihta Vuori N14088. Accurate Arms 270089. Alliant Reloader 1590. Hodgdon H38091. Winchester 76092. Hodgdon H41493. Vihta Vuori N15094. Accurate Arms 435095. IMR IMR-435096. Hodgdon H435097. Norma N-20498. Scot Brigadier 435199. Alliant Reloader 19

100. Vihta Vuori N160101. IMR IMR-4831102. Hodgdon H4831103. Accurate Arms 3100104. Norma MRP105. Vihta Vuori N165106. Alliant Reloader 22108. Accurate Arms 8700109. Vihta Vuori N24N41110. Hodgdon H1000111. Hodgdon H870112. Vihta Vuori N170113. Vihta Vuori 20N29

FIGURE 39Burning Rate Chart Transcribed by Dean Grennell (Used with permission from Kaltron/Pettibone)

You should use the burning rate chart as a guide and not for data fortwo reasons. First of all, the arrangement of powders in terms of theirburning rates would depend upon the peak pressure. We measurepressure and quote it in two different units, and we obtain it by twodifferent methods. In one, the tester fires the cartridge from a pressuregun in such a manner that the piston applies the total peak pressureto a small cylinder of copper or lead, compressing or shortening it tosome extent from its uniform original length (Figures 40 and 41). Then,the shooter measures the length of the cylinder after firing and checksthe resulting dimension against a table of tarage, furnished by the sup-plier of the cylinders. The table quotes a peak pressure, as indicatedby shortening of the cylinder, in increments of .001 inch, across the spanof possible measurements. We call the resulting pressures obtained bysuch testing procedures Copper Units of Pressure (CUP), or Lead Unitsof Pressure (LUP). We use LUP for the lower pressure figures commonto shotgun ammunition.


FIGURE 40Shown is one ofa series of pressure testguns at the Activ plant inWest Virginia.

A distinctly different approach to pressure measurement utilizes elec-tronic equipment, rather than the essentially mechanical method usedto obtain the CUP/LUP figures. A device called a strain gauge is incor-porated in the breech area of the barrel. It utilizes a crystal that gener-ates a small, but proportional, pulse of electrical energy in response topressure exerted against it. This occurs in much the same manner aswhen the crystal attached to the needle of a phonograph translatesvariations in the groove of a record into impulses that amplify to re-produce the music. The strain gauge, however, operates on a vastlyhigher scale than the phonograph needle.

At the firing of the test shot, the impulse from the strain gauge feedsinto electronic circuitry to be plotted as a trace or line on a cathoderay tube (CRT), which is similar to a television screen or a computermonitor. The advantage of the electronic approach is that it plots thepressure, from ignition to the bullets exit from the muzzle, showingthe peak pressure in terms of the point at which it was reached in thecycle.

We quote the resulting pressure in a unit termed psi (pounds persquare inch), and that brings us to the point of confusion. Testershave tested identical loaded cartridges using both approaches andhave often obtained CUP and PSI figures that were quite close, some-times exactly identical. In other examples, there were substantialvariations, in either direction. Thats to say the CUP figure may behigher or lower than the PSI figure for the same identical batch of car-tridges. Quite obviously, theres no handy conversion factor that wecan use to change a CUP figure to PSI, or vice versa.

A second reason the chart is just a guide relates to testing procedures.If all the tests were set up to develop peak pressures of 10,000 CUP orPSI, it would be possible to arrange and list the powders on that basis.However, suppose the tests were conducted at a uniform peak pressure


FIGURE 41An operator atthe Activ plant prepares tofire a test load in the pres-sure gun.

of 20,000, with other sets at 30,000 and 40,000 pressure units. Youcould expect a different arrangement of powders in terms of burningrate in either example and still another at the 50,000 level. The prob-lems of setting up such a chart should be painfully apparent.

A further problem is that, given such a chart, some reloaders mayinterpolate load data from it. For example, they may find a listing forx grains of a given powder for a particular bullet weight in a certaincartridge. No comparable data exists for some other powder, whichmay be a few notches slower in burning rate, as listed on the chart.So, the reloader who doesnt know the meaning of fear, decides to usethe unlisted powder. Since the powder shows to be slower in burningrate, the reloader boosts the charge weight somewhat. Such proce-dures may be safer than teasing a rabid cobra, but not much safer!

Therefore, such interpolations from charts of powder burning ratesare not at all a good idea, and thats why we included a chart forguidance only.

Powder Manufacturers and Suppliers

The individual manufacturers and suppliers of powder can and usu-ally do rank their own products in terms of relative burning rates. Thatpractice is quite valid and defensible. The problems loom up whenmore than one supplier offers powders nominally the same as thoseof others, often with numerical designations that are the same orwithin a digit or of each other.

We list the powders that are more or less available to reloaders inthe United States and their suppliers, although its rather unlikely toencounter any retail source that stocks them all.

Accurate Arms CompanyP.O. Box 167McEwen, TN 37101

Documents

Mod 5 Ammunition, Reloading, And Ballistics