Good Monday Evening! I have been fairly busy working on a few things, but felt I needed to try and get an update out there since SAAMI accepted a few new cartridges. This happens every 6 months as that is the frequency that the SAAMI committee meets. This most recent meeting happened at the 2022 SHOT Show.
These are all rifle cartridges and I will be updating the Rifle Cartridge’s Catalog to include these new chambers.
6mm GT
This cartridge was introduced by Hornady. Think of it as a between cartridge. Not quite as big as the 6mm Creedmoor, 243 Win, and not quite as small as the 6mm BR or the 6XC. As with most cartridges, this has been a wildcat for some time and has gained some popularity with those shooting PRS.
The goal of this cartridge is to try and mimic the low standard deviation that is offered by 6BR but still gets gain on some of the velocity you can achieve with the 6mm Creedmoor. As many have found out, 6mm is kind of a sweet spot as it combines low recoil with high BC.
6.8 True Velocity Composite (6.8TVC)
This is probably the most interesting cartridge in the SAAMI catalog. It is the first cartridge that is based entirely on polymer case technology. You will note there is no external case neck. The case stops at the shoulder.
The big advantage of polymer cases is weight. Brass is dense and replacing it with steel or aluminum nearly always results in a dramatically lighter case. However, nothing is quite as dramatic as replacing it with a polymer case. This is not a new technology, after all, we have been using polymer for shotgun shells for some time. To see it used with rifle and at service pressures of 65kpsi, is a relatively new thing.
The 6.8TVC is aimed at LEO and Military contracts as a polymer case that can increase the number of rounds a soldier can carry. There has long been a push to increase the caliber from 5.56 to something larger, and the 6.8 caliber has been bounced around a few times.
I have previously been critical of the polymer cases as I have been concerned about what happens when a polymer case gets left in the chamber. As it was pointed out to me that polymer does not conduct as much heat into the chamber, and the chambers do not get as hot as fast. I have also been reassured it is not an issue. With several militaries evaluating the technology globally, it will be interesting to see how quickly this gets adopted.
A few other things of note is the cost of polymer is substantially lower than that of brass. For those looking to pinch pennies and still shoot; polymer may be the way to go. TVC also claims that neck tension is far more consistent with their ammunition than what is achievable with brass, resulting in more consistent and accurate ammunition. All things to consider, but still I think I will be slow to make this transition.
338 Weatherby Rebated Precision Magnum (338 WBY RPM)
For those looking for a new magnum cartridge, Weatherby has a new 338 Magnum. The rebated rim allows it to be used on a rifle with a .473in bolt face. For comparison that is basically any 30-06 or 308 Win family cartridge. This cartridge is more or less a necking up of the 6.5 Weatherby Rebated Precision Magnum.
I suppose the purpose of these cartridges is to have a “Magnum” chambering in your caliber of choice while also having an ultra-light rifle. I do not see anything in these cartridges that would make them better choices for long-range targets or hunting when compared with what we already have.
If you are someone who hunts a lot and would like to save some weight on your pack gun, I suppose this might be something to look into. However, I am not sure the performance or the potential weight savings is going to justify the cost of a new rifle. That’s just me, someone else who is a bit more “High Speed, Low Drag” may disagree.
That is the new SAAMI cartridges for this meeting. I suspect next meeting we will see the 30 Super Carry on the list given Federal and Smith & Wesson are in current production. The jury is still out on that new cartridge. I have a few of your looking for versions of the Powder Burn Rate Chart. I am in the process of updating it and will send it out when completed. It takes time to hear back from companies on their powders and then takes a bit of time to do some research to place the powders in relative order. It will be a little bit longer before I publish the updated version. Thanks for being patient.
As always if you are looking to get in touch, the best way is to send me an email at jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.
It’s a day late, and I’m a few dollars short. As per the usual. I’m late in posting this because I wanted to get the SHOT Show 2022 Summery finished up. It is now live on the site and can be read here. It’s a longer read then usual but hopefully it has a few product highlights that have not made it on the typical gun rags.
For those who want the condense version here are a few thoughts on it. There has been a lot of rumors about attendance. It was sparse, but that was not a bad thing. Remember SHOT show is an opportunity for vendors, manufacturers, suppliers, and other supporting parties to meet up and discuss business. Yes it is a big to-do and everyone is displaying the cool and new product, but it is less about that and more about trying to make those connections.
So having fewer people there meant we actually able to get more done. Fewer people were kicking the tires and poking around, and more people were actually there to talk business. This made it a very productive trip for the folks who did go. Even though there were a few major vendors and gun companies that decided not to go, there was plenty to do and see. The biggest benefit of all of this was that you could walk at your own pace rather then the pace of the mob that typically clogs the aisles.
This made it feasible to actually see the whole show in a few days. I put in a little over 50,0000 steps covering about 25 miles in three days. However I saw a lot, and I got to talk to a lot of vendors. From that aspect, it was actually a really good show.
To read the full write-up with my product highlights click on this link.
I’ll be posting a lot fo the pictures I took over the Ballistic Assistants Instagram Page. So be sure to check it out.
As always if you are looking to get in touch, the best way is to send me an email at jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.
It has been a busy beginning of the year, so this is the first update I’ve been able to scratch out for the new year and it will be a short one. We did do a new write-up on Creedmoor’s Enhanced Press Head for the Redding T-7 Press. As with a lot of these product highlights it’s telling the story of how we came up with it and why we did what we did.
You can find the write up here, and if you are so inclined to try out one of these heads, let me know what you think of it. Shoot me an email or leave me a comment.
I will be headed out to SHOT Show this year. It is likely going to be somewhat of a muted show. Several high profile companies will not be attending, and I suspect over all attendance will be down quite a bit due to COVID. It is unfortunate but there are some new things being launched. With demand being so high for pretty much everything firearms-related, it will be hard to say how much new stuff will be showcased and of that stuff what the timeline of availability will be. However I am sure I’ll be doing a highlight article to show what thing I found to be interesting.
Like I said this would be short and sweet. There are a few things I am working on in the background for the website, rumor has it I am going to be offloading some of my brass collection. We will see. As always if you are looking to get in touch, the best way is to send me an email at jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.
Good Monday Evening! It is that time of the month again, we get to talk about all the great things that have happened over the last week. In website news, the biggest announcement is that we’ve officially crossed 100,000 views. It’s a small number, compared to a lot of website traffic out there but it is a milestone that I am happy to have hit. It took us a little over two years to get there, and I have not spent any money in terms of promoting the site. So it’s a neat achievement. Thanks to everyone who has made it possible.
This past week I have been working on quite a few reloading-related projects, namely processing a bunch of 338 Lapua brass. It’s all once fired brass that has been sitting in storage and needed to be deprimed, and cleaned. If you have not tried it, or have been thinking about trying it, wet tumbling with stainless steel media is really the way to go. The results have always had me impressed, and it typically goes quicker and leaves less of a residue than any other media I’ve tried.
Might version of clean it about right here…
I know that a lot of people are not big on the “Wow” shiny factor on their reloads, and for a long time, I did not care as much either. So long as they worked and did not foul up my die or rifle I was happy. As I am slowing down, getting older, I find I appreciate the little things and sometimes those little things are nice clean shiny brass. While you can definitely get that with a bit of liquid car wax and corn cob media, the wet tumbling method just seems to do it faster.
My only complaint is that getting the primer pockets perfectly clean seems to be tricky. I am using the Stainless Steel pins, and I do wonder if the chips might be a bit more aggressive. I also wonder if the primer pockets might be a bit hard to clean when a magnum primer is used, given the heat and heat-related etching that likely takes place. I am not saying you can’t get picture-perfect, cleaned primer pockets using the stainless steel media and wet tumbling, I just have not found the right combination of time, additives, and pins to get it right for these 338 Lapua cases.
Not as happy with the primer pocket, but any loose debris has been removed, and I could brush it out, but I do not think there is enough to cause seating issues.
Another thing that may be worth mentioning is that wet media tumbling with stainless steel media seems to be a bit louder than vibratory tumbling with dry media. Which for most people, that’s not a big deal. When you live in an apartment, or you have neighbors directly adjacent to you, it could be a bigger issue. There are some rubber-lined tumblers on the market that are a good deal quieter than the tumbler I have been using. So your experience may vary and you may not have a problem with it. Since the vast majority of hobby-level reloading has been done in an apartment, or other shared space, I am probably unusually wary of the noise or inconvenience that my hobby may have on others.
Cleaning up some brass was not my only firearm-related venture this past week. I also replaced a magazine tube on a Benelli M4. We swapped out the factory reduced capacity importation rule compliant tube, with the US-made “proper capacity” tube. I’ll be honest, I was a bit disappointed, from everything I had read online, and the youtube videos that I have watched, I expected it to be a hassle. In an odd twist of fate, it was not. It was a pretty straightforward process. I’ll have a write-up done on it in a few weeks. Suffice it to say, this was not a big issue, and I may be I got lucky, but I wonder if people are not warming up the receiver enough to break down the thread locker that Benelli applies at the factory.
That is everything I have for this week. There are a few things I am working on in the background for the website, things take a while to come together, so stay tuned for that. It likely will not happen until after the holidays. As always if you are looking to get in touch, the best way is to send me an email at jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.
Good Evening all. It’s has been a busy last week. I have spent some time working on a few reloading projects and prepping things for the website. Once everything is ready I’ll make a formal announcement but there are a few changes that are coming that I am hoping will bring some good things to the website and help it grow.
One of the most popular projects I did on the website was the VZ-58 build. It is constantly in the top ten pages. I wanted to expand on some of that, there will be more to come to help finish that project out to a good conclusion but for right now I wanted to build a resource for people looking to build their own VZ’s. Here is the link to a new page I’ve started and will maintain for those looking to complete or start their build: VZ-58: Parts and Supplies
If you are a company looking to get listed, please let me know and I’ll add you to the resource page. I do not charge or ask for anything in return, it is just a tool to save people time.
Last week I wrote up and published a new product highlight. This is for Creedmoor Sport’s TRX-925 precision reloading scale. I wanted to tell the story of the development of the scale and why we did what we did. We have been surprised by the amount of conversation it has started. Hopefully, I can help clear up some of the questions, and some of the concerns about the scale. Here is the link: Product Spotlight TRX-925 Scale
Creedmoor’s new TRX-925 reloading scale is precise to +/- .01gn, which makes it unique among precision loading scales which are typically accurate out to +/- .02gn. Click on the photo to be taken to Creedmoor’s Website. (I do not get any sort of commission or kick back)
This update will be short this week as I’ve got some actual reloading-related activities to do. As always if you are looking to get in touch, the best way is to send me an email at jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.
I hope everyone has survived Thanksgiving. I spent a good portion of it on the road between Alabama and Texas. Finally consolidating everything back to Alabama. Now we have the process of moving it from the trailer to the storage unit and then the long process of going through everything. I am just going to say it right now, if you are a handloader, especially if you cast bullets and like to maintain a healthy supply of lead to feed your addiction…it is best to not move often. Your back, your truck, and just about everyone else you know will thank you if you just stay anchored.
Not a bad-looking rifle, I personally like it in the FDE with the black trim. MSRP is $1399. But if you are going to do it proper, you’ll SBR it, and then suppress it. So plan on spending like $2500 total 🙂
Because it was a holiday week and I spent most of the time on the road, there are only a few things worth mentioning. First, CMMG announced a new AR build in 4.6x30mm. They call it the Four Six. It comes in pretty much every color of the tactical rainbow. From what I understand you can purchase just an Upper or the complete rifle. The 4.6x30mm was developed around a 7.0in the barrel and the Banshee sports an 8in the barrel. It is my opinion, that the only proper way to have this rifle is to go through the hoops and get it as a Short Barrel Rifle as opposed to trying to mess with a pistol brace. For two reasons, the first being the ATF is working on trying to put a crimp in the pistol brace popularity, and secondly, a carbine ought to have a proper stock that fits the shooter well and pistol braces just don’t.
Of course, why stop at just having one tax stamp? No doubt this ankle biter is going to have a bit of a bark to it. So you might as well go all in and get a suppressor, and then a proper red dot or holographic sight. Sure the MSRP is $1399, but I do not see how anyone does not end up with at least a $2500 to $3000 dollar rifle by the time they are done with it. Especially if they do the proper thing and stick a binary trigger in it…with how easy the 4.6x30mm is to control, and the fact the CMMG mag capacity is 40rnds….how can you not?
The 4.6x30mm has been out for quite a while mainly as a Military and LEO cartridge, rarely has it been seen out in the wild in the United States. In Europe, there have been a few bolt action production guns on the market, but again only the people who are serious ammo or firearm geeks really have heard much about this cartridge. It will be interesting to see how this rifle does and if it begins to spurn some interest for other manufacturers to offer bolt guns. Personally, I think it would be an excellent 50 to 150-yard varmint cartridge, in a 16in barrel bolt gun and would offer a viable alternative to the .17 caliber rimfire market, and probably would compete well against some of the .17 cal centerfire cartridges.
As far as bullet diameter goes, the 4.6mm is actually a .18 caliber which more or less amounts to a stouter mouse turd in comparison to the .17 cal. If you wish to reload for it and have big meat hooks as fingers, as yours truly does, a pair of tweezers might be a worthwhile investment. Bullets for reloading are hard to come by. If someone has not already done so, I would expect a wildcat .17 cal with 4.6x30mm serving as a parent case to be not long in the making.
The announcement of this rifle is what likely drove quite a bit of interest in the 5.7x28mm VS 4.6x30mm comparison write-up I did a year ago. For that reason, I did an update to the article as the kids napped and the turkey cooked. Made a couple of corrections and a few additions to mention the CMMG Four Six. Thanks to everyone who has read the article and taken the time to subscribe. I appreciate it.
The second thing worth mentioning is a new (to me) Internal Ballistics Software that I was turned on to. As most of you know I have used QuickLOAD for many years. I have been satisfied with it, and have found it to be a reasonably accurate predictor of pressures and velocities so long as I do my part and feed it the right data (Remember Garbage In – Garbage Out is the defining rule for any simulation). The cost or QuickLOAD is about $153 plus shipping, and then if you want Quick Design that’s another $153. You are a little over $300 to get both. Update CD’s cost about $16 and update the powder, cartridge, and bullet library. A new update is released yearly.
Again, before anyone gets on my case about being critical of QuickLOAD, remember, I love the software and have used it quite as both a hobbyist and professionally. With that said, it does have a dated look to it, think Windows 95. QuickLOAD relies on manufacturers to provide a lot of the data, and some powder companies will not provide data on their powder to QuickLOAD so there are gaps. Most notably, St. Marks will not provide data on its powders. While many St. Marks powders are found in QuickLOAD the data has been gathered by some other means.
That is where I have found Gordon’s Reloading Tool to be quite interesting. First, it is free, and it looks to be community-driven, the funding for development is supported through Patreon. The software has a modern look and feel to it, and integrates all of the features found in QuickLOAD, QuickDesign, and more into one package. I have played around with the software to get a feel for it. The user interface is more modern, and in many ways, I find it easier to use.
From what I read and understand, the guys developing this tool do testing on their own, and develop the models based on the results of the testing. They are clear, the math behind the modeling is different than what QuickLOAD uses, and thus the results will be different. You might ask, well which is more accurate? I am not sure yet, but I am going to use both for a bit, and then come back with my assessment. This is not the last time you will see me write about this software, but I wanted to let you guys know it is a tool that is out there and to go check it out.
I like the skull and crossbones on the “ATTENTION OVERPRESSURE” warning. Sometimes you just have to stop and appreciate the little details.
Lastly if you are a VZ-58 builder and have some time to kill. Garand Thumb released a new YouTube video with a VZ-58 shorty that is worth a watch. Here’s the link. I noticed in his review he did not complain about the trigger, thus there has to be a better option out there. The fire controls were also modernized a bit with larger buttons/levers. I have been itching to do a bit more with my VZ-58. There is likely a continuation of the build series in the works. I have updated the resource/parts vendor list to include Supanik.com which has a lot of VZ parts for those looking for parts to spice up their build or to just complete it.
Anyway, that’s what I have for this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, the best way is to send me an email at jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.
We are only a few days out from Thanksgiving meaning we have nearly survived 2021. Once Halloween hits, it seems like all the holidays happen in rapid succession. It’s as if someone is going a feastive mag dump, and then suddenly January hits, and we get into the doldrums. Well, for the majority of the world it’s slow, but for the firearms industry, there is SHOT Show and other trade and consumer shows that tend to happen. If you are in the industry and are in the position to attend these shows, then January, February, and March all tend to be fairly busy months.
This past week I have been fairly busy which has kept me out of the reloading room. I am working on a few things behind the scenes and when I am ready to dive into them, I will make the appropriate announcement. Mainly I continue to pump out 45 ACP loaded with 4.5gn of Bullseye with a 170gr cast bullet. I’ll churn out this load until I run out of brass, bullets, primers, or powder.
This is not the only piece, I have about a dozen and crack are all near identical
As I mentioned last week ago I have been having some issues with the 338 Spectre that I build may go beyond just an ammo issue. I’ll be continuing that project in the near future. I wanted to share a picture of the brass. I have never seen brass crack like that and I suspect a good majority of handloaders have not seen this before either. I posted about the issue in CastBoolits.com several years ago and the consensus seemed to be that it may be due to the hardness of the brass. I suspect there is merit to that conclusion. Starline straight wall brass probably is not annealed at the case mouth like a bottleneck case is. So I am going to anneal the brass. Whether or not it solves the problem, I think at this point it is just best practice. The AMP Annealing machine will make short work of it, and it does a very consistent job of annealing the neck and shoulder.
We will be working through the 338 Spectre build between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hoping to solve each of the problems, and post the process on the site for those who might face similar issues.
I did take some time last week to do a product highlight. This is something that has been out for a little while, but it is a kit that my self and my coworkers helped put together. It is specific to the Redding T7 press. It is a fairly simple product that can really make a noticeable difference in the feel of the press, giving it a more polished and refined feel. You can read up on it here: The T7 Upgrade Kit
Last week we had a major bump in traffic to the website. The tools I have to track the hits to the page, and where they come from are pretty rudimentary. There seemed to be a lot of curiosity about the 5.7x28mm vs 4.6x30mm. The site hit 775 visitors in a 24hr period and 430+ were for that specific article. There is still a notable bump in traffic seven days after the initial. Unfortunately, I have not been able to figure out if it was shared somewhere, or if another website linked back to it. I always like to go back to the source and thank them for sharing the piece, whether it is an individual or it is a group. Anyway, if anyone came across the page via a link in a forum, I would appreciate it if you shot me a quick email to jay@theballisticassistant.com.
Anyway, that’s what I have for this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, the best way is to send me an email at jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.
It’s been a couple of weeks since the last update but I have been busy in the reloading room. It has been nice to be able to spend some time back at the reloading bench and cranking out some ammunition. There really are two types of handloaders in this world, the first is the guy or gal who handloads just to spend more time at the range, and then there is the gal, or guy who spends time at the range so they can handload.
The older I get, the more I find myself to be the latter rather than the former. I just enjoy handloading. It is the repetitive process of it that I find to be somewhat soothing, and mind-calming. since it’s been a few weeks I’ll share some updates on a few loads I have been working on.
338 Spectre – 300gr SMK Subsonic
Not mentioned in the write-up. If you are doing load development and want to give your rounds of quick cleaning this stuff works amazing. Cleans off the dirt, soot, and other contaminants from the brass.
I am going to admit, I am a bit frustrated with this load right now. I do like the 338 Spectre because I think the cartridge has a lot of potential as a utility cartridge. A cartridge that allows you to basically shoot everything from super heavy subsonic bullets to light for caliber rounds. All in a handy AR-15 platform.
At least that is the idea and it’s an idea that works well when it works. Right now, I am having issues getting the rifle to run as I want it. To provide a bit of context, I bought the barrel for the rifle and completed the build about six years ago. However, since finishing the rifle I probably put less than 25rnds total down the barrel. Even then I had a few issues. However, circumstances did not allow me to really figure out what was going on.
Excessive use of Dykem I am sure, ( FYI a sharpie works well too), but when you have the real stuff… anyway, the dummy round did not show any major issues with the round. It came out of the rifle looking pretty much just like this.
Now I am digging into it. I am using 12.0gr of CFE BLK with a COAL of 2.250in. The rifle has very unreliable cycling. Even when cycling dummy rounds. Something is preventing the bolt from closing all the way and it’s not consistent. I made up some dummy rounds to check to see if the COAL was hanging up anywhere, I have tried different mags. Nothing seems to make sense.
If that was the only issue, I probably would not be as frustrated. The other issues, I have are off-center primer strikes (Usually not a problem in ARs) a single-pierced primer, which
Two issues that bother me, the most obvious, to me, is the pierced primer. The little dot in the middle is a big red flag. Something is up. The second issue is the off-center strike, not as big of an issue but it should not be as pronounced in an AR.
could be a warning sign of excessive pressure, and lastly cracks on the brass that runs the length of the case. Sometimes when you have a lot of issues with a project it is good to step away and rethink things for a moment. The bolt does close about 95% of the way but you need to use the forward assist to close it the rest of the way, not ideal.
I think my next step will be to strip down the rifle and recheck everything. At this point I am thinking the ammunition, for the most part, is not solely responsible for everything I am seeing. If it was possible for me to get a box of SBR 338 Spectre ammo to test in the rifle I might, but they are sold out. Even still there is a good shot I email them for suggestions. I have never seen a case crack like the length of the body, so I am convinced there is something going on here that may not be entirely ammunition-related.
It’s a rifle I built, I am somewhat determined to get it purring like a kitten before I am done with it. Ultimately I’d like to provide some data for people looking to load for this cartridge as some of the data out there is a bit hard to read and is suspect.
45 ACP – 170gr Cast Hi-Tek Coated Target Loads
This is another project that has been a long time in the making. It started around the same time the 338 Spectre build did and then due to the very same circumstances, got shelved. I di pick it up about two years ago to start casting bullets and to play with the Hi-Tek Coatings but then again due to changes in employment and moves it got delayed. Well, we are finally here.
Some of this project has been detailed in previous write-ups. ( Hi-Tek Coating, Lee Die Issues) There have been a few challenges with this project. Namely, the mold was supposed to produce 155gr bullets not 170gr, (this could be alloyed related), learning how
Someday I’ll fix that indexing plate. Anyway, I pretty much have my 550 set up exclusively to load 45 ACP. It’s good to have it set up and working again. It’s been a while.
to do the Hi-Tek coating was a bit of a process, and then having issues sizing them through the Lee Sizing Die really presented an unexpected challenge. I tried mixing up my own blend of Isopropyl Alcohol, Castor Oil, and Liquid Lanolin, which helped but still was not ideal.
Ultimately what broke this project loose was an opportunity to try ad new product developed to specifically solve this issue. That was AquaLube 3000, the kit can be purchased here. Very simple to mix up and it was a dry lubricant. Sizing the bullets was a breeze. I really am impressed by how big of a difference it made when sizing the Hi-Tek coated bullets. Just to give it the best chances at failing I purchased a brand new Lee Sizing die that had not been polished. Yet, it passed with flying colors. I am going to do a separate write-up on this later but, thanks to Mike for turning me on to this solution.
First time I have seen crimped 45 ACP, brass. Finally something a bit more annoying then Small Pistol Primer 45 ACP.
Since a good portion of my brass inventory is currently sitting in Texas, I co-worker of mine “lent” me about 750 pieces of 45 brass. I was very glad to receive it until I looked and saw most of it had crimped pockets. Since it was the only brass I had, I spent several hours swaging out primer pockets to rescue the brass from the scrap bin. I could have cut the swage out but used the RCBS on the Press Swaging tool because I had it, and I needed to do some testing on some new soon to be released product. So it was long and tedious, but I killed two birds with one stone.
Once the swaging was done, the sizing wax needed to be cleaned out of the primer pockets, so into the tumbler it went, and it came out excellent
Admittedly I thought this tumbler was going to be better than it was. The brass came out excellent, works great on that aspect, the ergonomics however is not great. It’s a pain to work around.
pockets, so into the tumbler it went, and it came out excellent. 5lbs of Stainless Steel media, 1 gallon of water, 750 pieces of 45 Brass, about 3 capfuls of Frankford Arsenal Cleaner, and about 2hrs. Honestly, if you like your brass neat and shiny, wet tumbling and SS is about the only way to go. I only complain that my OCD necessitates I do a close inspection of the brass to make sure I don’t send SS pins down my barrel.
When developing pistol loads, I generally load for the economy. I am not loading the fastest, hottest load I can get. Rather I am usually looking for the lightest load that will reliably cycle both of my 45 pistols. A light bullet and a light powder charge are one way to do this, and I loaded these extremely light. Now, there are dangers in doing this, you open yourself up to the possibility of a squib load, or you can double charge a case and cause extremely high pressures. So you should be away of these dangers. A double charge of Bulleyes in this load will not get me above SAAMI Min Proof Individual, in fact, it’s quite close to +P pressures. Given both of my pistols and suppressors are rated for +P I have some margin of safety should there be a double charge.
If you like clean brass, Stainless Steel wet tumbling is the only way to go. I have tried it all, Ultrasonic, Corn Cob, Walnut…everything. This is hands down the fastest method to get near virgin brass cleanliness.
I ended up settling on 4.5gn of Bullseye, which was enough to cycle both my MK23 and my HK45CT unsuppressed. The pistols cycled the loads suppressed as well. This makes for a fun day at the range of leisurely target shooting. When I get the velocity data, I will publish the loads in my load database. I am expecting the velocity to be around 650 to 700fps based on QuickLOAD estimates. I also find QuickLOAD to be optimistic so it would not surprise me to see that these bullets are dribbling out of the barrel at a measly 600fps.
Still with that said it will be nice to have a 50 Cal full of 45 ACP that I can haul around and have on hand for impromptu plinking. Something I used to do quite a bit but have had far less time to do as of late. I need to get some range time in to see how these loads do on paper and I’ll likely post another update after I have that figured out.
On to Other Things
Lots of other stuff going on in the world. Probably the most notable for me has been following the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. I really do not want to get into the particulars of the case. I do want to draw attention to the prosecution. Something that really stood out to me was how just about anything could be used against you.
This means we need to be very thoughtful about what we do. If we carry a firearm, how is it carried, what types of accessories do we have on it? For example, I have seen a lot of people put cute little Punisher backing plates on their Glock slides. I have talked to handloaders who “Roll their own” +P+++++ ammunition. Other people like to carry ammunition that is rather “Extreme” in design and does not follow the conventional Hollow Point design.
My point is not to tell you what to do have on your firearms or what to load your firearms with. That is a personal decision and is something you will likely decide on regardless. My only point is, if you are involved in a self defense shoot, it’s already a bad day. If for some reason you need to go to court and defend yourself over the shoot, it’s going to be a bad 18 months. If you give the prosecution all kinds of reasons to make you look like the worse, most blood thirty human being possible, it could be a bad life sentence.
Always think about how it will look to a jury. Remember that Jury is probably going to have very little firearms knowledge. Usually, people who do, are weeded out by the prosecution as part of jury selection. Always think, lowest common denominator, the person who has a high school education, and likely has seen a mixture of Law and Order SVU, super hero movies, played lots of Call of Duty, and probably has no idea what the difference is between FMJ and Hollow Point.
Anyway, that’s what I have for this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, the best way is to send me an email at jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.
Happy Monday, and boy has it been a Monday. Have you ever stopped and wondered what makes a Monday, a Monday? Is it just the nature of getting back into the routine of things again at work that takes a bit of getting up and doing? Or is there something inherently misfortunate about the first day of the workweek that really just seems to have a bit of a bite to it? It is something of a mystery to me, and judging by everyone else’s struggles, it is a mystery to them too.
There is a bit of good news. I have a few projects I am working on. These are continuations of previous projects. It’s hard for me to believe that about 5 years ago I built a 338 Spectre AR-15 rifle. While I have loaded and put a few rounds through it, I never really got to where I had a few good loads developed for it, nor did I get to really put the rifle through its paces. Not that the rifle is anything special. It is, what you might call, a “Franken gun”. It just so happened that the opportunity presented itself this weekend that I was able to kill a couple of birds with a single stone. I did a bit of product testing and I cracked open the 338 Spectre can of worms.
While 338 Spectre can be formed from 6.8 SPC brass it is probably easiest to use 10mm Magnum brass. The die I used was made by CHD4. I do not think CH4D offers a dies set in this caliber anymore but they do offer a lot of dies in oddball and obsolete cartridges.
For those not familiar with the cartridge I did a write-up on it, which can be found here. It is very similar in concept to 300 Blackout, except it’s scaled up to 338 calibers. Designed to fire a 300 Sierra Match King at subsonic velocities. Unlike the 300 Blackout, pressures for this cartridge top out at 37,000psi. Some will say that you can push the pressures higher if you use 6.8 SPC brass, but I am not much of one to push the pressure envelope with my firearms. Energywise, it is similar to a 44 Magnum, but the ballistics are much better as you are able to use a wide range of bullet weights all designed with sleek ogives.
As I would find out from function testing this COAL was a tad bit long for the magazine. Needs to be about 0.025in shorter.
At this time the only source of barrels that I am aware of is from Southern Ballistic Research. The cartridge is proprietary to them and they do support it. I would love to have them chamber a 700 Rem barrel for this cartridge. They used to do it but I do not see it listed on their website currently. Muzzle pressures are similar to that of most pistols thus it is safe to use 9mm Suppressors. A coworker of mine suggested a 10.5in SBR with a can would make a very sweet and handy truck gun.
The loads I work up with all with a 300gr Serria Matchking. It just so happens I have tons of those bullets kicking around. They were pull-downs, so the jackets are a bit blemished. I am sure they would shoot fine from my 338 Lapua Magnum, but when you pay nearly $2.00 a shot, you just want to have the perfect bullet. Eventually, I will likely switch to a cast bullet with a Hi-Tek coating for the 300gr Subsonic Loads. A few mold makers offer an option and I would love to experiment with a 300gr cast projectile with a cavity in the nose.
My plan is to work up a few supersonic loads, I have not decided on what bullets I will use, but I will likely load with a 225gr solid copper. I have a bunch of factory second bullets designed for 338 Federal with very large open tips. I am curious to see if I can get some terminal performance from them in the 338 Spectre. I know Barnes Bullets makes some copper solids around 160-180gr, which might be an interesting load to try. I thought Liegh Defense was offering some super-light bullets around 130 or 110gr that I thought would be interesting but I do not see them listed.
I used 13.1gr of CFE BLK for this load. Burn speed for this powder is very close to A1680 which is an old standby powder for these subsonic loads. Mainly because the powder generates a lot of gas at comparatively low pressures. This gas volume is needed to cycle an AR-15 reliably. There really are only a few powders that work well for subsonic loads in AR platforms. CFE BLK, A1680, and Shooters World Blackout are the ones that come immediately to mind. Quickload estimated a bit north of 1100fps, and I generally find QuickLoad to be optimistic with velocities so I figure this would land me close to the 1050fps which is typically considered the upper threshold for subsonic loads.
Here’s a shameless plug for “The Puck” case prep tool that I helped develop at Creedmoor Sports. Yeah, it’s kind of my baby and I love to brag a bit, but it is handy for doing small touch-up work. Click on the Picture. I don’t get any kickback on this, just pride.
When doing the first batch of 338 Spectre back nearly half a decade ago, I had issues with the cases cracking in the body after the first firing. These cracks went the full length of the body, rather than around the head which was odd. Prior to testing pulled the barrel off and then retorqued it. Hoping that maybe it was not seated right and the headspace was a bit long. I’ll be keeping a close eye on it as I test these loads, the brass is all the same, from the same lot of Starline brass I bought 5 years ago so if the issues crop up again, I am not sure what I will do. All part of the adventure. Maybe I’ll anneal the case necks, we will see.
The mag I had for the rifle was pulled apart and the follower was missing. Turns out a follower designed for a 223/556 cartridge does not work well in a magazine designed around 6.8 SPC. It was worth a shot. Function testing this load showed that the bullets were seated a bit long for reliable feeding in the mag and that the mag needed a proper follower. I’ll seat the bullets back a bit and swap out for the right components and try again. Since it was a function test I was not set up for velocities, I get those when I can get out to a proper range and actually get some shots downrange.
The reason I started the website was to share my passion for handloading and reloading. I have a few other projects that stray from this theme but honestly, it’s nice to return to the roots and share what I was able to do over the weekend. I am hoping to spend a good deal more time in the reloading room over the next few months so I hope to be able to bring a bit more content like this. I also hope that will spawn a few more write-ups and help others who might deal with the same problems.
Anyway, that’s what I have for this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, the best way is to send me an email at jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.
Well, the past week has been an interesting one, to say the least. If you have been paying attention to the news, you have likely seen a few interesting news stories involving firearms. As you may imagine I have a few thoughts. Smith and Wesson also announced a safety recall on their new shotgun, three months or so, after it was first announced. So there are a few things to cover.
I think the most eyebrow-raising thing that came across the news feed this week was the negligent discharge (ND) of a firearm on the movie set “Rust”. Unfortunately, this resulted in the death of one Cinematographer and the injury of a Producer. The details of this shooting are slowly coming out and it is likely we will not know the full story for at least a few weeks or months. This means we all should be slow to make any full judgments of who was right or who was wrong.
Because I am in the same boat as all of you and do not know anything other than what has been published, I am going to refrain from assuming what happened. However I will note a few things about blanks, and about the shooting communities reaction, of which I have been somewhat disturbed by. As it would happen I am in the middle of a project where I am developing blanks for a commercial project so this story hit home for me in more than one way.
M1909 Blanks loaded for 30-06, note the red sealant. Below that is a piece of cardboard about at thick as card stock.
Many surplus blanks have a cardboard or wax plug that serves two main purposes:
Retain the powder
Create pressure within the chamber
It is more common nowadays to use some sort of crimp to crimp the case mouth close. The crimp accomplishes the same thing that a cardboard or wax plug did previously. This means that blanks are usually pretty obvious to someone who has handled ammunition before. However, we also know that live rounds, in this case, ammunition with a loaded projectile, have a tendency to find their way into the chamber of a firearm. It is just something that everyone needs to be aware of. This is why multiple levels of checks must be performed prior to declaring a firearm “cold”.
An alternate and likely “safer” approach to producing Blanks that do not utilize a wax or cardboard plug.
However, the danger is not only from a live round finding its way into the chamber. The danger can also come from debris that has found its way into the muzzle or chamber area. Debris in the form of brass shavings, dirt, cleaning patches, even the cardboard or wax plug used to seal the blank can become a projectile. Let alone the gas pressure can become a hazard in itself. We should never assume that the gas pressure in the blank is “safe”.
Chamber pressures in blank cartridges may reach 15 to 20kpsi. These are far below what the service pressure maybe, but can still result in muzzle pressures in excess of 1kpsi. Not to mention that the powders used to create blanks tend to be fast-burning pistol powders. Because of the lower chamber pressure, caused by the relatively light impedance and crimp or a plug offers, a substantial amount of powder may exit the muzzle burning. This can create a bright flash and can cause powder burns.
We do not know all of the details of the ND that happened on the movie set of Rust. Whether it was a blank that propelled a bit of debris down the barrel, or if it was live ammunition. Either way, we can definitely say that some level of negligence occurred which resulted in the unfortunate loss of life. This is a point that I wish we focused on more in the firearms community.
We all know that the Hollywood Elites are venomously anti-gun. Often what they say, is not only wrong, but it can be outright insulting to us. The amount of money that is donated to groups that support the effectual abolishment of the 2nd Amendment that comes from this crowd is likely well in the millions per year. We also recognize that there is a certain amount of hypocrisy that is taking place, as blockbuster movies are made with firearms. Those movies could not be the “action-packed” thrillers without the use of the very same firearms that Hollywood seeks to ban the common man from owning.
With those things at the forefront of our minds, we should not gloat over this tragedy. At the end of the day, an innocent woman lost her life leaving behind a son, and a husband. A producer was injured, an actor now has to live with the act. There is no other way to say this, it is a tragedy, and we should recognize it as such. It is a valuable reminder to us that every safety rule is written in blood. We can disagree, without being disagreeable. The insensitive memes and the disparaging comments coming from many in our community are somewhat disheartening and paint us all in a bad light.
I think I have said my piece there. We will find out more details about this incident in the future. Already a few studios are announcing that they will no longer use live firearms, instead opting for airsoft models. Honestly, with the quality of the airsoft replicas on the market, I think that is probably a smart move by the studios. I can only hope that when the special effect guys/gals go in and touch up for muzzle flash they can also add in the brass flipping out of the gun. While they are at it if they could touch up the linked ammo on belt-fed guns. I notice the primers are often missing from the rounds, if the CGI folks could touch up the primer pockets so the cartridges actually have CGI primers in the back end, I’d appreciate it. It’s the small details…
The other story that caught my eye was the Smith and Wesson recall on their new KSG like a shotgun. I call it KSG like, because of the external similarities, even though the internals are pretty unique to this firearm.
I personally am more of a traditionalist when it comes to shotguns so the Smith and Wesson M&P 12 does not have much appeal to me. However I can understand why a lot of people like them.
The recall has been prompted by a few instances of cracked barrels. Apparently, it only affects shotguns that were manufactured prior to October 15, 2021. This is pretty much the majority of the firearms on the market since this shotgun was announced around the end of August. That may be part of the good news, the issue was caught early in the production series. However, it only solidifies my belief that you never buy the first version of any new product. This is more than likely a heat-treating or other metallurgical issue. If you have one of these shotguns, it would be prudent to send it in and get the barrel swapped out.
Well, that is what I have for this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, the best way is to send me an email at jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.
