This last week has been a busy one for me. I have not been able to put a lot of time into the website. I do not have a book review to post for this week. It was something I wanted to do but we just ran out of time to get it finished. With that said we did go live with the SAAMI Shotshell Cartridge Catalog.
As someone who has only dabbled with shot shell reloading this was a fun catalog to put together. Shot shell cartridges have very low pressure compared to most other metallic cartridges. Faster burning powders, and powders with higher nitroglycerin contents are typical for powders specific for shot shell cartridges. These powders often cross over to many pistol calibers but not all powders that are suited for use in shotgun loads are good for pistol loads.
Much of this is due to the differences in service pressures, where shotgun powders are designed to burn optimally at 11,000 to 14,000psi, many pistol cartridges have a service pressures of 35,000psi. These differences can result in dangerous pressure spikes, and inconsistent loads. This is to say, a that pound of Green Dot sitting on the shelf is tempting to try in a pistol load, but it is not recommended.
I have accepted a new job in Alabama, which means we have one more move in us before we hit a long term home. Hopefully once there we can restart on some of the project’s we’ve been working on. The limbo that I’ve been in during the last few months has been difficult. These next few weeks promise to keep me pretty busy, but I’ll try and continue to make progress on keeping the site up to date.
As always if you are looking to get in touch, best way is to send me an email jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler (if they ever get back online) Facebook, Instagram, MeWe, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.
Good Monday morning! I hope everyone has had a good weekend; we had an interesting one. Unfortunately, interesting does not mean I got out to the shooting range. I hope to do that sometimes soon, it has been too long, and I need some trigger time. For this week we have a few website highlights that we have rolled out. First of the weekly book review.
Click on the photo to be taken to Amazon to purchase. A portion of the proceeds will go to helping support the website.
I really enjoyed Gunsmithing Modern Firearms for two reasons, the first being I can relate to the author. I am a left-handed shooter, who grew up in Vermont, and has a hobby that often exceeds my wallet. Secondly, he is not afraid to say, “I wrote this at the time, but looking back at it, here’s how I would have done it differently.” The book itself if well put together, and has many gems for people who do things on a shoestring budget, but want to do it right. I really appreciated the book and do recommended it for the budding gunsmith. You can read my full review here. Thoughts On: Gunsmithing Modern Firearms.
In keeping with the project I started on the SAAMI Pistol Cartridge Catalog, I have rolled out the SAAMI Rimfire Cartridge Catalog . Doing this project has really served two purposes, the first being to provide a slightly easier way to look up SAAMI Standards on cartridges. The second reason is to review the cartridges out there that have gain SAAMI recognition. It is not to say these are the only “Safe” or useful cartridges out there. Rather it is what the firearms industry has put into the money and effort to standardize which cartridges. Some of the pressures surprised me, frankly, I thought rimfire cartridges pressure wise were closer to shotgun pressures then modern pistol cartridges.
The last major update for this week is a write up on the 45 ACP cartridge. This is one of my favorite cartridges to load and shoot for. Not because I have any outdated notions of its ability to stop threats, rather I find it more pleasant to shoot then some of the other more modern cartridges out there. I am a big believer of carrying and practicing with a firearm that you enjoy shooting with, and in a cartridge, you enjoy shooting. For me, the 45 ACP has found that niche. If you would like to read my write up on the cartridges you can read it here: 45 ACP
With the website updates out of the way I wanted to take a moment to comment on some of the interesting news coming out of the firearms industry over the last few days. The first most notable event is the National Rifle Association has filed for bankruptcy. The NRA has committed that it will still honor all its memberships and it will still send out the monthly magazines. While I do not proport to be an expert in bankruptcy law, or for that matter finance, there are a few things I have learned about it being part of a couple companies that have gone bankrupt.
The first being, its bankruptcy is very often a good thing for a company, especially one that has been mismanaged and saddled with inordinate amounts of debt due to mismanagement. It does not seem like this is the case with the NRA. Rather it would seem it is a political or strategic move to restructure the organization and, in some way, facilitate its move to Texas. There is little doubt that some of this is in response to the investigation being conducted by the New York Attorney General into the NRA’s financial dealings.
If you have been following me for any length of time you will know I am not a huge fan of the leadership of the NRA. I think they are as crooked as crooked can be.
While some bankruptcies may lead to a restructuring of an organization, I would be surprised if that were the case in this instance. Perhaps I am being a bit cynical when I say that I believe this is a purely an attempt by the NRA to shake off some of the lawsuits and legal action being taken against them rather than to produce a change in leadership that would heal the fractured organization. Time will tell in terms of what will ultimately happen to America’s oldest civil rights organization.
Another thing that caught my eye was Winchester’s announcement of price increases for ammunition. Which started making rounds again despite the letter being dated in August 2020. They were not just increasing the price of future orders, but retroactively increasing prices for orders which had been placed but had yet to be fulfilled. Understandably this left a lot of consumers agitated.
While we are picking on Winchester for a letter dated in August 2020, we can expect similar market influences to increase ammunition prices across all the major brands.
While I think Winchester should honor sales made prior the increase in price announcements, I am not as alarmed by the increase. As we know, ammunition is largely made of metal, three primary metals are used in most of the ammunition manufactured, copper, zinc and lead. Well, I happen to be somewhat keen on the copper market as I worked for a time at a copper mine, and I do still consult for them. I know when the price of copper is high, business is likely to be good, and when it is low, less so. Right now, the price of copper is high. Excitingly so, at least for me.
Copper is a volatile commodity and there is no telling how long these high prices could last. We could see it drop next month, or it may be a year before the prices drop. A Copper Operation pictured to the left is where I continue to consult for and has been shutdown in part due to low copper price. The restart of this facility will produce at least a hundred jobs to a community that is severely lacking.
The last few weeks it has not been unusual to see copper hit $3.60/lb or higher. Last year this time, copper was below $2.70/lb. So, in the last few months we have seen copper price jump by almost 30%, which means the brass (70% of which is copper) and copper jackets all just cost at least that much more to make. It is good for the mining industry, but of course it depresses the ammunition industry.
While it is quite normal to see small increases in ammunition cost, especially when it comes to market inflation or increase market demand, Winchester’s increase seems to be more a response to an unplanned for increase in material cost, combine with high demand. The profit margin on ammunition is slim, it does not take much of an increase to wipe away that margin. The troubling thing with Winchesters approach is that it will likely set the price market wide. Smaller manufacturers look to larger manufacturers when it comes to price setting to be competitive. If Winchester can get away with a 10% or 30% increase on some product lines, then a smaller manufacturer is likely to try and increase prices as well.
Due to the political climate, it is likely we will continue to see the price and demand remain high. This is somewhat a uniquely United States issue, as those north of us, or those across the pond do not see ammunition and component shortages on the scale that we witness here. Undoubtedly, we will see the emergence of a new “bubble” where manufacturers begin to get used to selling everything they can possibly make. Especially if the Biden/Harris Administration are elected to a second term. With the unpredictable nature of politics and the resulting market fluctuations it is unlikely that we will see significant expansion in the production of primers or powders to respond to market demand. Too many people in the industry are still sore from the 2016 – 2017 market crash the industry experienced and are not too keen for a repeat.
Alternative case technologies like the one produced by Shell Shock Technologies may be poised to increase market share should copper prices remain high.
What we are likely to see is the continued mainstreaming of alternate cartridge case material. This maybe the polymer cases that companies like True Velocity, Nammo, and PCP have been marketing. Or it could be steel, aluminum or, composite three-piece cartridge cases that SIG, and Shell Shock Technologies produce. I suspect it in the coming years this marketplace will become more and more competitive, especially if the cost of copper remains high. This is especially true if alternative case technology gets adopted by the US Military, as what gets adopted by the military usually receives a significant boost into being a commercial success.
Regardless of what happens we have had an interesting start to the year and the next four years are going shaping up to be quite interesting. As always if you are looking to get in touch, best way is to send me an email jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler (if they ever get back online) Facebook, Instagram, MeWe, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.
What a week it has been. My goodness, I for one was hoping 2021 would settle things down a bit, but alas it seems there is a few more parting shots to be had. I have been sorely tempted to do some form of write up on my thoughts on what took place over the last week but have not been able to find the right words. I will leave it at this, as an ardent supporter of the Constitution, I do not believe the individuals responsible for the sacking of the Capital were justified in doing so, and I believe what they did will ultimately be used as the impetus for further curtailing of civil liberties. This is deeply troubling to me. Enough said.
For our book highlight of the week, we have The ABC’s of Reloading. I own a copy of the 8th Edition and have written my thoughts based on that, there is a 9th Edition available. I do not know how the two editions differ but either way, it is a worth adding to your library. Especially if you are looking at getting into reloading for the first time. You can check out the write up here: Thoughts On -The ABC’s of Reloading
Clicking on the photo will take you to Amazon.com to purchase the book. A small portion of the sale will help support the site at no cost to you.
As I was doing some research for the 303 British write up, I stumbled on CartridgeCollectors.net. There is some good information here on wildcat, obsolete and rare cartridges. This includes images and information regarding headstamps. In doing some exploring on the website, I found a link to CartridgeCollectors.org which is a membership site dedicated to the collecting of ammunition and cartridges, however much of the information requires a subscription to access.
We have added a new reference to the site, this is the SAAMI Pistol Cartridge Catalog. Here we list out the Pistol Cartridges Recognized by SAAMI, provide the SAAMI Print, and a quick summery for each cartridge. The aim of this is to make it an easy reference. I plan on doing something similar for Rifles, Shotguns and Rimfire in the future. We may expand on these catalogs in the future.
The last piece of content we added to the site was a write up regarding the 303 British. This storied cartridge makes my list of favorite cartridges. I was introduced to this cartridge when I bought my first rifle and have developed a fondness for it. You can read my thoughts on it here: 303 British.
We have continued to make some progress on finishing up the Pistol & Shotgun Smokeless Catalog. I have a bit more to do in order to get things completely wrapped up, I’ll continue to work on it, and hope to have it completely finished before the end of the month.
That is all I for the updates this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, best way is to send me an email jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, MeWe, and Reddit If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.
Happy New Year! Honestly, I’m what they call a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to holidays. I did not stay up to midnight, or do anything special. Went to bed the usual time and woke up the next day as per the usual. The only difference to me was having to remember to write 2021 on everything. We have been working on bringing new content to the website, here’s some of what went live last week.
If you are like me and are a fan of military surplus rifles, you may appreciate this book. I bought this book as I wanted to get a better understanding on what I could do to tighten up the groups on my Lee Enfield. I found it to be extremely helpful with some idea’s that I would never had thought of on my own. You can read my full thoughts on the book here. Thoughts On: The 2012 Complete Book on Lee Enfield Accurizing
Clicking on this picture will take you to Amazon to purchase the book. A small percentage of the sale will help to support the website.
We continue work on the Shotgun & Pistol Powder Catalog it’s not quite 100% where I want it before moving on to the Magnum Pistol Powder Catalog, if you have not checked it out please do. In the future we will be adding individual entries that will have additional information such as densities and pictures of the grain. We just want to get the majority of the powders listed.
I continue to do write ups on some of my favorite cartridge. This week we’ve taken a look at the 338 Spectre, a proprietary cartridge that is supported primarily by Southern Ballistic Research (SBR). I’ve done a bit of work with it, built an AR chambered in it, done some initial load work ups, but am not done playing with it yet. It’s a fun cartridge that offers a bit more versatility then some wildcat cartridge’s out there.
In keeping with the cartridge highlights, I have set up a page regarding some of my Favorite Firearms and Firearms of Interest. The rules are the same, if I own and enjoy shooting it, it becomes a Favorite Firearm, (Some guns I own, are more of a “meh” and do not make the list) if I’m interested in the firearm but do not own it, it’s a firearm of interest. I do a fair amount of research into the firearms I own, and the ones I’m interested in. So this is an opportunity for me to share it with everyone, who may have similar interests.
That is all I for the updates this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, best way is to send me an email jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, MeWe, and Reddit If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.
