Category: Uncategorized

It is Monday again, and this time I have at least one good update to give. I have been doing a bit of reading and wanted to share a book I came across that I think a lot of guys who enjoy reloading might get a kit out of. Ammunition Making was written by George E Frost, and published in 1990 with a second printing in 1992. This book covers pretty much everything to do with the manufacture of ammunition. Bullets, brass, primers, and even powder. It also goes in-depth into crosssections of tooling, some dimensional drawings, and testing procedures. I have not come across another book like it.

It was originally published by the NRA and is now out of print. Amazon has a copy for about $320 and the description says it is in so-so shape. If you miss out on this copy keep an eye out for copies at used book stores or on eBay. It is well worth the addition to your library. I have not finished reading it, when I do I will write a formal review of the book and post it to the website. This is one book, I would like to see a third printing on, and I think it would do well especially with the number of new ammunition companies and resurgence in interest in handloading. Lots of guys like to get into the details of how things are made and this book is not short on those details.

I’ve got several books on my shelf that I have been meaning to read. As I get through them I’ll write up more reviews. I have several of Brian Litz’s books that deserve a review, they are fairly dry reads so it might take a bit for me to get through.

It seems like the last few months have been busy ones for the 2A community. Just the last few weeks there have been ATF proposed rule changes, a favorable Supreme Court ruling that was announced today, and a no so favorable ruling on the NRA bankruptcy proceedings. Combined with the 50 BMG SLAP ammo, there is just plenty of stuff to talk about but it’s hard to figure out everyone has value in.

A few weeks ago I talked about the 50BMG SLAP incident that was made public by Kentucky Ballistics. There has been a lot of speculative videos made about what happened. In fact, it seems like everyone who had a YouTube channel remotely connected to firearms did a video on it. To me, most of that has been noise, what has interested me is the response that Mark Serbu has put up.

As a firearms manufacturer, he has been put in a difficult position. He has made thousands of these firearms without incident, and now this one, highly publicized incident, threatens the reputation of not only the RN-50 design but of his company. He has a fine line to walk and I do sympathize. In the most recent video he posted, he went through some of the math regarding chamber pressures required to shear the threads and the locking tabs. The pressures they estimated were in excess of 160,000psi. For reference, the service pressure for 50 BMG is 55,000 the TM 43-0001-27 lists the proof pressure as 65,000psi.

50 BMG is not a SAAMI Cartridge, so SAAMI does not publish load data for that round. Ammunition specs, mainly pressure velocity and other “at a glance” type information can be found in the Army Ammunition Data Sheets Small Caliber Ammunition TM 43-00001-27. It is an interesting reference for someone who is a bit of an ammo geek.

Now, it should be stated that manufacturing mistakes do happen. Stuff can get improperly heat-treated, but honestly, I think that is not the case here. The mounting evidence really is starting to suggest that it was an ammunition issue, and more likely than not, the ammunition was counterfeit. Mark Serbu points this out in his video here. As a community, this should pose some serious questions about military surplus rounds. Especially ammunition that is “Exotic” stuff that is sold for a premium due to the unique nature. Incendiary rounds, SLAP rounds, Black Tip, or Green Tip. All of this has limited practical use beyond the uniqueness and novelty of it but can command a price that is often far and above premium ammunition. We just do not know the source, and if someone is selling counterfeit rounds to make a quick buck, it means the people buying up this stuff are unknowing participants in a game of Russian roulette.

If you are into that sort of thing, the only thing I can tell you is to only buy pull-downs handload your own, or collect the loaded rounds but do not shoot them. Honestly, I would love to add a SLAP round, some Blacktip, and other so-called “Exotic” ammunition to my collection of cartridges. However at this point, I will not be shooting any of it, not unless I load it myself and I know for sure, what the powder and charge weight is.

The last thing I want to push back against Mr. Serbu a bit. My point of contention is how the rifle failed. No one is going to design a rifle to withstand 160,000psi. These pressures are well above the failure point of the brass cartridge itself. SAAMI lists the maximum service pressure for Brass Cartridge cases at 65,000psi, which means proof pressures are well into the high 70,000 range. For this reason, we will not see a brass cartridge case approved for a service pressure above 65,000psi. The SIG 277 Fury is a notable exception as it is a multipiece stainless steel cartridge case, and it can get away with the higher pressures.

However, if we stick our new product designer hat on for a minute and look at risk and liability, we want to make sure our product is safe, and should it fail, it will fail in a manner that will minimize risk to the shooter. Engineering teams often conduct a study called a Failure Mode Effect Analysis or FMEA. This is an in-depth look at what all could possibly go wrong, and should it go wrong what the failure mode would be and what the effects may be. Sometimes the results of these studies alter the designs so they fail-safe, meaning that there are designed weak points where a failure is designed to occur in order to prevent a much larger failure that could harm an individual. For example, if there was a bore obstruction and the shooter fired a round, perhaps the locking lugs will shear off and the bolt will open, but there is a third “safety” lug that will prevent the bolt from opening completely allowing the gas to vent.

I do not think the design of the RN-50 is a weak design. In fact, I think it is a very strong design. So strong, that in order for it to fail, the action had to literally come apart sending shrapnel back at the shooter. The FMEA process is hard to do, because you have to balance the design of an object, with the cost to produce, and the liability a company is willing to assume. You are constantly playing a game of “What if” and sometimes the scenarios that are proposed seem preposterous outlining a very specific set of events that have to happen in order for that particular failure to occur. However sometimes life is stranger than fiction, and things happen that no engineer could possibly dream up.

Point in case, the recent gas shortage, people were filling up Tupperware containers, trash bags, and other less than ideal containers full of gasoline. More than one car ended up on fire. Some people figured out that diesel and gasoline are not interchangeable fuels, and a Prius does not sport a true multifuel engine. I’m just saying, engineers try and protect people from their own stupidity but there are limits…

Bottom line, I sympathize with Mr. Serbu, he’s got his company’s reputation and the firearms reputation on the line. If he was to admit he made an unsafe firearm, he would open himself up to so many lawsuits that it would bankrupt him. He has no choice but to defend the design, and honestly, I think he’s been pretty open and honest about it. Maybe he’ll take a look at this and make some design changes that will make what is reportedly an excellent rifle into an even better one.

The last point I wanted to make was a follow-up to the conversation regarding ATF’s proposed rule change. 2021R-05 is in public comment. It is worth your time to go over and make a comment. Generally, it is best to write out your own comment. The form letters and emails you see are often glossed over, and they do not receive much attention. Taking the time to write out your thoughts and opinions in a calm and articulate way will have a greater effect. With that said, I do not think a letter campaign is going to change the final rule one bit. Read the rules, they are very specific on what can and cannot be said, as well as what information needs to be included in order for the comment to be accepted.

The forces at play here have to do the public comment by law, but at this point, it is a formality. They will go through the process because if they do not, the judge will rule that the rule change is invalid due to the process being ignored. Our time is better spent petitioning our Senators and our Representatives. We should also be throwing our support behind organizations like the 2nd Amendment Foundation. The only way we are likely to make a meaningful change, on the Federal level, over the next four years is through the judicial system.

I do not like this on principle, as the judicial system is often abused, making law from the bench which short circuits the legislative process. This is not how the founding fathers intended the judicial system to function. With that said, the laws that we are challenging go against individual Rights, and while there is a fine line between judicial activism and fair judicial judgment. I do feel that this falls in the realm of the latter, but I am not wholly insensitive to counterarguments, and I would rather see action taken through the legislative process.

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.

As always, shoot straight and stay safe!

The Ballistic Assistant

Last week was a busy week in the firearms community. Namely, the ATF dropped a 115-page document outlining their proposed changes to firearm definitions. This has caused a lot of commotion, some of it justified some of it a bit overblown. Since may potentially have an impact on our lives, discussing this proposed rule change will be pretty much the topic this week.

First off, here is the link to the document summary. From here you can go and read the full document. Yes, it is 115 pages, it covers a lot of information that is in legalese, which can be dry and hard to understand at times. However, unless you plan on looking up every reference and cross-referencing it, it reads a bit more like 60 pages. Still, a chunk of text to read, but that is where everyone should begin. The reason is simple, there are a lot of claims that are being made that either misrepresent or purposely mislead what this document seems to be actually saying. So take the time to read it for yourself and inoculate yourself against some of the BS coming from guys who make money off sensationalism.

What does it do?

Well, first off, it makes it clear what is considered a firearm and what is not. This is something that has been in the courts. The ATF obviously disagrees with recent court rulings that would make AR-15 lower receivers, striker-fired pistol receivers, FAL receivers, and other “Multipiece” firearm designs which do not neatly fit the 1968 Gun Control Act definition of a Firearm. Our side rightly points out the inconsistency here, and that under current rules, an AR-15 receiver technically is not a firearm, the ATF proposed rule change will change the definition to basically make clear to the Courts that at least one component of a multipiece firearm must bear a serial number and is defined as the transferable item.

Some people claim that this means that AR Uppers or Glock Slides are now going to be serialized and will also require a 4473. However, I do not think this is the intent, as at the end of the document (pages 86 thru 88) provide what parts of the firearm will be considered the receiver and require a serial number. None of the examples are different from what we are already used to. In fact, this may be, a bit of good news for some firearm makers. For example, those who make bolt action upper receivers that mount on AR-15 lower. The ATF sent a cease and desist to some companies, including a company in Utah claiming that they were making and selling a firearm. Clearing up this definition could allow these manufacturers to sell bolt action uppers without the requirement for a 4473.

It also provides manufacturers of suppressors some leniency when dealing with suppressor parts. Since a baffle, or a wipe, is considered a suppressor part, it is tightly controlled. However many of us will rightly ask, when does an O-Ring cease to be an O-Ring and instead becomes a suppressor wipe? The ATF does not seem to answer this, but they do seem to say that baffles and other internal components will not require individual serialization, or the transfer of parts during the manufacturing process from one company to another (for example, Nickle plating an internal component such as a baffle by a third party). This cuts down on the paperwork and tracking requirements for both parties. Does not do anything for people who privately own and would like to get parts to repair their own suppressor.

Defines what a Privately Made Firearm (PMF) is, and how it is to be handled. Honestly, this section is not clear to me. The way I understand it is that firearms made by an individual, and are for individual use are still legal. If I want to take a file to a piece of round stock and carve out my own receiver I can do that. However, if I wish to later sell that firearm, then I cannot do it unless it has a serial number, date of manufacture, and place of manufacture. These engravings must be done by a licensed gunsmith. If there are PMF’s in a gun store inventory then they must either be marked or be destroyed. So the bottom line is, if we want to turn out our own firearms, we are still legal to do so, but if we want to sell it, it has to be serialized and put “on record” by a gunsmith.

Here is what we get into the crux of the bill. The so-called “Ghost Gun” portion. The issue at hand here, is when does a firearm become a firearm? The ATF is basically expanding the definition that they can call just about anything, up to including a block of aluminum a receiver if they think it is too easy for a nefarious individual to turn it into something that can go “Bang”. Honestly, reading the wording, I was very surprised by how purposely vague it was.

I think this is going to have the intended effect of killing 80% of receivers, and receiver kits. Honestly, it may kill a lot of the important demilled kits. Like the kit, I purchased to build my own VZ-58. This is a real bummer for me because I really enjoy these kits and when I have a bit of time and money, my hope was to pick another one up and build it out. Of all the text that was in this document, this is what was probably the most constitutionally fraught, and is very likely where we will see the strongest court challenge.

I am not 100% up on the record-keeping requirements of FFL dealers but this proposed rule looks to be extending the requirements from 10 years to 20 years. Which, I can only imagine the burden that will be for some FFL’s who have high volumes of sales. That just seems completely arduous, and maybe even a bit punitive.

What are my overall thoughts on it? Quite frankly, for the average firearm owner, and even the above-average firearm owner, this is going to have very little effect. It will go mostly unnoticed, and I suspect the ATF intended it that way. They are not stupid, they know if they rock the boat too much they will get a Supreme Court ruling that goes against them, or they will motivate legislative action that will undue their administrative changes. What we should take away from it, it is an example of incrementalism. The slow erosion of freedoms that to directly impacts the free exercise of a constitutional Right.

The ATF wrote several long pages about how they are defending these rules changes, citing precedence and FBI data on ghost guns. It is important to remember when reading this you are getting only one side of the argument. Unfortunately, the data they cite does show that several thousand “Privately Made Firearms” are being recovered at crime scenes and the trend is on the upward climb. Which poses a question to us, what alternative solutions do we propose to reverse this trend, or do are we willing to argue that in the interest of the free exercise of a constitutional right that we must be willing to tolerate some level of illicit behavior. Personally, I find myself more drawn to the latter argument, but it is a harder argument to sell to the general public, regardless, I believe it to be the right one.

Anyway, as you read over the proposed rule change, let me know if presented a fair assessment. Again, I am not trying to be sensational in anything I present, just trying to understand it and understand its potential impacts on both my industry and my hobby.

Anyway, as you read over the proposed rule change, let me know if presented a fair assessment. Again, I am not trying to be sensational in anything I present, just trying to understand it and understand its potential impacts on both my industry and my hobby. This is a single topic post this week, since it a long one, I keep it to that. I’ve got some more stuff I’d like to share but I will save it for next 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, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.

As always, shoot straight and stay safe!

The Ballistic Assistant

Good Evening, Morning, Afternoon, what ever it may be where you are reading this. It’s Monday again and time for a bit of an update. This past week has been a busy one, but somewhat productive. I managed to get a Bullseye Camera system working after significant tinkering. The root cause seemed to be a low battery.

The battery was charged enough to power the router but would not power the camera. The LiPo battery pack had sat in a state of discharge for who knows how long before I had inherited it, which is never good for LiPo batteries. I think it took a solid week before it hit full charge, which given the age is not surprising but it also probably means I likely did not have the right wall adapter. I need to look up and see what kind of wall adapter the manufacturer recommends for the LiPo pack.

This particular model is the sight in model, and has a range somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 to 200 yards. Honestly for the majority of my needs right now, this fits the bill. I played with a long range version and was quite impressed with it back in 2016. The company has since come out with some very nice systems, but I suspect the age of video based target systems is short lived. The electronic targets are coming down in price and it would not surprise me to see electronic targets in the neighborhood of 200 to 300 dollars within the decade. There is a high likelihood that I will be using this when I finally get out to the range to finish siting in the VZ-58.

The other industry news is the video posted by Kentucky Ballistics. If you have not had a chance to watch it, here is the link. I have see and few of his videos. It is not a channel I actively follow, and most of his content, honestly, is a bit “clickbaitish”. It is sometimes cool to see new guns, but the novelty of how different cartridges and rifles perform on various objects has worn off. Just not my cup of tea. The video is worth talking about because things went wrong, very wrong. He was testing 50 BMG SLAP ammunition, and the rifle came apart in the process nearly killing him.

SLAP, stands for Saboted Light Armor Penetrator. The round was developed in the 80’s to accelerate .30 caliber 355gr tungsten penetrator to nearly 4,000 feet per second. They did this by using a plastic sabot, which is discarded shortly after the projectile leaves the bore. This round, or a derivative of it, is still in production by Winchester. A variation on this round is the SLAP-T which is a tracer.

This ammunition is designed primarily for armor penetration’s and it was quite effective at it. Reportedly it is able to penetrate up to 1.3 inches of AR500 at 500 meters, and .90 inches at 1000 meters. All of this it accomplishes at a service pressure of 55,000psi. Based on the data I can find, the powder used was WC 856. Based on what information I have been able to find, this powder is faster burning then US 869, but does not have a commercial canister equivalent. Powder for typical 50 BMG ball ammunition is WC 860.

I have read many theories as to what could have caused this. Some say the chamber has to be of a special cut, and it will only work in machine gun, such as the Browning M2. However I have not found any technical specs or references which outline how this chamber is different. I have also found mention that the plastic sabot may have melted and stuck to the inside of the chamber creating a “stuck round”. Sounds a little plausible, but not completely convincing.

Usually the reason SLAP rounds are not recommended for general rifles is due to the fact the muzzle break has a tendency to catch on the muzzle break. This can screw up a clean release, resulting in a flier at best, or the sabot can get caught in the muzzle break and split the break on the next shot at worse. Some 50 BMG rifles also sport a special chamber cut to allow for bore rider bullets, and that could cause high chamber pressures. However it is unlikely either of those things were responsible for the way this gun catastrophically failed. A custom chamber is not something that the rifle maker, Serbu Firearms, Inc even offers for their RN-50 rifle, and a caught sabot is more likely to damage the muzzle break then cause the breech to fail as the pressures at the muzzle are far, far lower then they are at chamber.

Another point on why I doubt it is a chamber cut issue. The military knows that sometimes life does not go as planned. If things go sideways and you run out of M8 Ball, and all you have is a can of M903 linked with M962 (50 BMG SLAP and SLAPT-T), but no Browning M2 to fire it in, are we saying that it cannot be used under any circumstance? That trying to chamber an fire this round in a Barrett M107 will cause such a catastrophic failure as to risk life and limb of the soldiers using it? It kind of find it implausible that this has not be considered and the design of the ammunition makes allowances for it, but I suppose possible.

So what is my theory? Well, two things stand out to me, 1st Kentucky Ballistics reportely paid $100 per round. Which is insane, given the cost to produce is likely only $20 to $25 dollars a round. However given there is not a lot of it that makes it to the civilian market, the exotic nature of the ammunition is likely the driving factor in cost. This disparity between cost to produce and the potential sale cost makes me wonder if someone was not cranking these things out in their garage and selling them as military surplus rounds. If you think I am a bit off the deep end, let me give an example.

Several years ago, Remington caught wind of some guys selling off QC rejected ammunition. These stuff was sent to be scrapped, but it was making its way on to the market. There was hell to pay, I believe people went to prison over it. That only reason Remington caught word of it, was from a police officer who bought some of this reject and went to Remington to ask questions. If there is a quick buck to be made, someone is likely to try and make it. That is my sinister theory.

My less than sinister theory is that this ammo was subjected to abuse. US-869, the slower burning cousin to the WC 856 is not a particular temperature stable powder. If these rounds were left to bake in the sun, in the hot Iraqi desert, and made their way around the world a few times, before landing themselves in a military surplus store. It is not too far fetched that powder may not perform like brand new US 856, when powders are heated and cooled, sometimes the pressure they generate still remains elevated, indicated that the heat induced a permanent change to the powder burn characteristics.

I believe this is both the simplest theory and the hardest one to prove. Unless you can get ahold of that exact lot of ammunition, and test it with modern testing equipment, (which no one will want to risk destroying at a tune of $3000 for a transducer and $10,000 dollars for a UR) we likely will not find out. With that said, the fall out from this is likely real for Serbu Firearms Inc. with this being a potential stain on their rifle. I think it is prudent not to blame the rifle for the failure because the pressures generated were undoubetly way beyond proof pressures.

However it is fair to fault the firearm in the way that it failed. I am not saying a Barrett M99 or a Bushmaster 50 would have handled it better, but they may not have failed in the same manner that would risk life and limb of the shooter. The type of action that us being used on the Serbu, is a very strong action, but the idea that the action can fail in the manner directing that amount of force towards the shooter, does make someone pause. Given the two things that caused the major life-threatening injuries was a “Locking Lug” shearing off becoming a projectile and the threaded breech plug being shot backwards. An enclosed action likely would have contained a significant portion of the debris. Good thing he was wearing safety glasses, he better frame them and point to them every time a new shooter steps on his range.

We as handloaders and shooters to take an opportunity to learn from this. I hope none of this seems like I am being critical of Kentucky Ballistics. From everything he said, and presented I cannot find one thing he did, that I would have done differently, given the circumstances. What it does do for me is reinforce one point. The exotic ammo, whether it be, military surplus projectiles, or loaded rounds, are not really worth messing with. There is not enough load data, nor can we trace how that ammunition might be have been handled and by whom. My rifles, and my life is a bit too expensive to chance it for kicks and giggles. In almost all circumstances it presents more of a liability then it is worth. This is coming from someone who is giddy when they walk into a military surplus store.

I briefly wondered, for a moment given the violent nature of the failure, if Kentucky Ballistics had gotten ahold of a product of Eldest Son, a covert operation run back in Vietnam that purposely introduced rounds which were laden with an high explosive and would detonate when the soldier tried to fire it. This was done to sow doubt in the both the quality of the rifles and the ammunition. It is a very interesting, and not well known operation. However the dates of the SLAP ammunition development and adoption introduction, combined with the fact it’s a US round, make this impossible.

The last little update I have, is the UPS Saga continues but we seem to be making progress. After having to explain, for the second time, the difference between projectiles and live ammunition, it seems as those UPS is processing the claim. I will likely find the outcome of that in the next few days, I am very much hoping it is a full reimbursement of the value of the property lost. I would have much rather had the bullets delivered and not gone through this mess, but if I can come away with no money lost, I’ll take it as a small victory.

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, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.

As always, shoot straight and stay safe!

The Ballistic Assistant

Good Evening, and Happy Monday! There is quite a bit going on in the firearms world which probably deserves a mention. However I try and keep these updates short enough to be read on the can, but long enough to at least be interesting. That is to say we probably will not get to everything going on. Just the highlights.

I have always kind of like the 5.7x28mm cartridge. The concept of a light weight projectile driven to a high velocity is not new, nor is it novel to field such a cartridge in a service pistol. However what is rather unique is that it seems to be a longer lived cartridge then some of the others. The Five SeveN Pistol and the PS-90 were the only two firearms that you could purchase the offering, however in the last few years we have began to see more and more domestic offerings. Most Notably the Ruger 57, and the Keltec P50. With Federal loading 5.7x28mm in their American Eagle line there was a decent source of ammo prior to this most recent ammo scare.

Well, one more development has happened that will likely keep this cartridge alive and well for many years to come. NATO has accepted standardization of the 5.7x28mm. As far as small arms goes, there are not many cartridges that have gain this level of notoriety. The 9x19mm, 7.62x51mm, 5.56x45mm and 12.7x99mm. Providing that it is indeed official, the Wikipedia page has already been updated.

At some point in time this will become a SAAMI cartridge. Especially if current trends continue. Do I think that it has any real terminal ballistics advantage over the current offerings? No, except that a single magazine in a service size pistol such as the FN Five seveN holds 20 rounds plus 1 in the pipe. The pistols I have shot, have been loud, but the recoil was more then manageable. Muzzle energy of most loads place it competitively with 9×19 and 45 ACP. However however it does not seem to perform as well when it comes to terminal ballistics as it’s two larger brothers. Whether this is due the lack of quality bullets or just inherent in the high velocity, light weight bullet, is something I am unsure of.

I would love to see Barnes Bullets offer a 30 or a 45gr projectile designed specifically for the 5.7x28mm. I think the solid copper combined with the high velocity would perform quite well on soft targets. Given the 5.7x28mm still has limited market share in the United States, and it is primarily a military cartridge, the demand is probably not high enough for a company like Barnes to pay much attention, at least not yet. Time will tell.

Among the noise about the ATF’s pending new rule on so called Ghost Guns, the Civilian Marksmanship Program released a new guidance on what ammunition is appropriate for use in M1 Garand and Springfield 1903A3 rifles. There honestly was nothing surprising about it, the guidance given falls inline with what the Garand community by in large would advise. Modern SAAMI loaded ammunition is loaded a bit too hot for these old war horses.

The one thing I wish the CMP would have did a bit better was not to rely on Copper Units of Pressure, (CUP). When they say 50,000CUP, it is not saying 50,000psi. The units of measure are fundamentally different. Few if anyone uses CUP measurements when loading ammunition. I believe only Winchester offers copper disks for CUP testing, suggesting at least someone still uses it for the very few cartridges which do not list a PSI standard under SAAMI guidelines. The CMP should have come out and said, we do not recommend any round loaded to a service pressure of 50,000psi or above. That is 10,000psi less then the current SAAMI MAP, and pretty much guarantees that anyone loading for 1903A3 or Garand wills load to a pressure of 45,000 to 48,000psi. If I get a chance next time I’m over at the CMP range, maybe I’ll ask why CUP over PSI.

As far as my shooting and reloading activities over the last week. I have done some. I am in the process of setting up a reloading room for the company I am employed with. I have to say, we got some benches that I am really impressed with. They are a bit on the pricey side, but they are bullet proof. If I had to pick one work bench to go with for a reloading room, these ones sold by Sam’s Club are the ticket.

My biggest concern with these was if they would be tall enough. I like to have a reloading bench a bit tall, basically counter height. Which for me is about 4 inches or so above my waist. These benches were perfect in height, and even when extended to the full height they are solid benches.

My last big issue this week was with shipping a package of bullets to a friend back in Utah. I shipped UPS, it cost me $50 bucks and when it arrived the package contained two PVC legs with cute little footprints on the bottom. Needless to say, my friend was not amused and I am not amused. How the contents of the package were swapped out, baffles and is upsetting to me. About $300 worth of projectiles are missing and we have nothing to show for it. UPS is investigating, but having been down this road I do not have high hopes they will do anything about it. When UPS has a confirmed delivery, they will wash their hands of the issue. We, as shooters, sometimes take for granted what we know, and when it comes to bullets verses ammunition the public truly does no know the difference.

I had to explain to the manager of the store that shipping copper and lead projectiles was allowed, and did not require any special hazmat licenses. She was very insistent that it did, even after I explained the the projectiles were inert, did not contain any powder, shells or primers, and were simply elemental copper and lead. It was a frustrating conversation. When I shipped the package, I labeled it as “Precision Machined Parts”, because I knew people get excited when you say bullets. The only reason we had the conversation is I had to tell her the contents to explain why a 25lb package should not weigh 1lb when delivered.

In the end I’ll probably refund my buddy the money, and let UPS pay me what ever compensation they will. It will likely be the last time I ship anything UPS though.

One last thing, we reached 100 subscribers over the last week and crossed 50,000 all time views. It’s a small mile stone for the website. We’re still a very small website with a very small corner of the internet. I appreciate everyone for reading, commenting, and emailing me with their thoughts and comments. We’ll keep on keeping on, life has kept me busy and I have not made a lot of progress on bringing new content to the site recently. Stick with it, as I have time, I’ll roll it out.

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, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.

As always, shoot straight and stay safe!

The Ballistic Assistant

Good Monday Evening, another new week, another update. This past week has been a news filled week unfortunately a lot of it quite troubling. As much as many of us wish we could live isolated from the rest of the world, that just seems not possible. I am not much for conspiracy theories, I have a few friends who get big into them, but honestly, I find the theories to be somewhat maddening. With that said it is hard to deny there is a feeling, or a sense that the trajectory we are headed on, whatever that may be, may come to an apex at some time. I do not know what that may be, what that might entail, or even when the tension we feel in the United States will pop. It is just a feeling I have, and I know others who feel the same way. Troubling.

I do not have any meaningful updates on the website to report this week. Which usually means I will provide a bit of thoughts on the current events. The one thing that really got my attention was the Daunte Wright case which happened on April 11th, 2021 and has since exploded into the latest controversy regarding a ledge police bias. I do not wish to dive into the conversation over the particulars of the case, only to wish for all of us to learn a bit from this.

We must recognize that muscle memory is real and can have real negative consequences. I do not believe there is any reason to suspect this officer was incompetent, and I have not been presented with any evidence to suggest she was deliberately trying to do anything but carry out her prerogative as police officer. People will point out how a taser is different in many ways over a pistol evidence would seem to indicate that it is different enough as a google search turns up three similar events in the last five years. It is easy to pick it up and note the differences when you are calm, it becomes a whole different scenario when you have adrenaline pumping and the situation is high stress, the differences are clearly not enough.

As an individual who carries concealed daily, what can I learn from this? She obviously acted on muscle memory. I do not know about the particulars of the training she went through, but the consequences of her actions, seem to suggest perhaps she practice her pistol draw more often and more frequently than her taser draw. Remember, in a stressful situation we do not rise to the level of our training, often we fall to the lowest most practiced aspects where the muscle memory is strongest. If we train to draw and shoot right away, if encountered with a scenario where we need to draw, we are highly likely to press that trigger right away right or wrong. Therefore, it is important to draw, assess, and then shoot only if it is prudent. This means we also train to draw, assess and then holster.

I am not a certified firearms instructor, and I have not been in a situation where I have needed to use a firearm, though I have attended a few training classes. I have been my experience that every teacher presents and emphasizes different aspects to the drills. Yes, there are instances where you must draw and fire as quickly as possible, and there is the saying “You must be ready to fire a pistol if you draw it, anything else is brandishing.”  I think had the officer paused for just a moment, she might have realized the mistake she was about to make. I realize that is easy for me to type, but I do believe it is a failure in training.  

If it is a case that this was a failure in training, then that should alarm us. We all like to believe that police are trained to be next level shooters. However, that is just not the case. The pistol is only an exceedingly small part of what police are trained on, and in many instances, requirements are to pass a once per year qualifier. Police training costs money, and as we know from paying for training classes, it is not cheap. Ammunition, time away from work, paying for training and range time. This costs money. Whenever there is police shooting, justified or not, there is a very vocal outcry that police need to be defunded. This may mean police departments budgets are cut. This leaves departments understaffed, but the long-term impact of this means the shoestring training they have is going to be threadbare. These types of events are destined to become more, not less, common. It is quite troubling.

This is a tragedy; Daunte Wright was not a saint. Not by a long shot, he was a criminal, he had a felony warrant. The police were doing their job by confronting and arresting this man. The way media spins it, the narrative that this was an innocent man pulled over and killed for a minor traffic violation is false. An officer made a mistake, she discharged her firearm negligently, causing the death of a man, a criminal, but a man, nonetheless. Both of their lives are irreversibly changed, two families are shattered, and that is the unspoken tragedy that no one will talk about.

Not much else I have to say on that. On a more positive note, and if you are a history buff, you will appreciate this. An Amicus Brief was filed by the Firearms Policy Coalition to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on April 5th, 2021. This really details the history of repeating arms and how these arms were not only known by the Founding Fathers but were likely handled by the members of the First Continental Congress in consideration of fielding them during the Revolutionary War. The brief is a dry read but worth it and should be something everyone who is interested in Firearms Right’s gives a glance at. The link can be found here: FPC Amicus Brief April 5th, 2021

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, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.

As always, shoot straight and stay safe!

The Ballistic Assistant

Good Monday! We are almost halfway through April. The older I get the faster time seems to move. It is a weird experience. The length of a second has remained unchanged but I feel like there are less of them in a day. There are quite a few things to talk about, unfortunately not much to report regarding the website. The family and I are still settling, still getting things unpacked and organized and that takes a good portion of my free time. That and the kids are getting to be more and more of a handful.

The big news is obviously the Biden’s Administration’s announcement of new executive orders. I will be honest, none of them surprised me all that much. I was more surprised that there was not an announcement about the State Department cracking down on ammunition importations. That still may be coming, who knows.

What I found to be more frustrating than the Executive Orders, (like I said I was not surprised by any of them), was what was said in the announcement of these orders. Particularly that “No Amendment to the Constitution is Absolute” and that “From the very beginning, you couldn’t own any weapon you wanted to own. From the very beginning the Second Amendment existed, certain people weren’t allowed to have weapons.” Of all the half-truths and outright lies that were told these two bothered me the most. They cut to the very core of the Constitution and what the Amendments to the Constitution represent.

If we can pick and choose what Amendments are “Absolute” and which ones are simply “Eh, we will follow it when it’s politically convenient”, then the idea of Rights is completely eroded. After all, President Biden surely would not be so indifferent if he was referring to the 13th Amendment which abolished Slavery, or the 14th Amendment which granted those free slaves’ citizenship, and extended the protection of life, liberty, and property.

Furthermore, we know that many of the early gun control laws, which were passed in the early days would surely be found to be Unconstitutional in every court today. These laws prohibited slaves from owning firearms, these are the people Biden is referencing, by saying that “From the very beginning the Second Amendment existed, certain people weren’t allowed to have weapons.”

Cannons were largely considered some of the premier weapons of the day. In the days when the 2nd Amendment was ratified it was not uncommon for private citizens to own warships with a dozen or more cannons. It was also not uncommon for the United States Government to give commissions to Private Citizens, or Private entities, known as Letter of Marque, in order to hunt those considered enemies of the State. For a time, an industry was built around this notion and were even have a word for captains and crews who engaged in such practices, Privateers.

Repeating rifles were also invented and known to most if not all of those who signed the Constitution. Repeating rifles, the precursor to modern Semi-automatic rifles, had magazines exceeding 10 rounds, some up to 22 rounds or more. I do not expect the general public to be well educated or well versed in any of this. However, I do have a misguided expectation that my leaders, particularly the President, to be better at making arguments on behalf of why we should allow Government to infringe on our Rights. This is not to say that I would agree, with any one point, but rather to say, that the serious nature of the discussion deserves well thought out, and articulated arguments on both sides. This is something of an art that is lost.

The good news is much of this is expected to be noise. It is unlikely we will see significant legislation pass the Senate unless the Senate changes the rules to allow a pure 51 vote majority to pass a bill of this nature. Something that seems unlikely to happen, despite the noise being made about it. We are looking at another month before we see proposed rule changes on these “Ghost Guns” and “Braces” both, I suspect, will have significant legal challenges as we are seeing with the Bump Stock ban. After all, what authority does the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms must change 80% to 60%? I suspect none, it is something that must be done legislatively and while they can try, I suspect the courts will say it is an overreach.

In other firearm news, Alliant has announced a new powder. Reloder TS15.5 is supposed to be a Temperature Stable version of Reloder 15. It also has a slightly slower burn rate that places it in-between Reloder 16 and Reloder 15. It will be a while before I’ll get my hands on it, but it does mean I am likely due to update the burn rate chart to include it. Reloder 16 is one of my favorite powders for 6.5 Creedmoor, especially when loading 140gr. Very temperature stable, even if it can be a bit tricky sometimes to get it to flow neatly into that tiny case neck. If Reloder TS15.5 is anything like its slower sister, it will likely be an excellent powder.

Load data avialible indicates this is likely going to be a good powder for rifle loads that tend to like the slower powders but do not quite reach into the magnum burn speed. This includes cartridges like the 22-250, 243 Win and the 30-06. There is of course some overlap, and it will be a suitable powder for 6.5 Creedmoor, and 6mm Creedmoor. If you are looking to move a heavier 77 or 85gr pill in 223 Remington, and have used Varget in the past, this may be a powder to look into. This extruded powder is made in Sweden, so which means it is highly likely that it is a Bofors powder.

One last thing, there are not a ton of people who get this email, but I think we are up to 95 subscribers. Who knows how many people read my weekly musings, but of those who do, I’d be interested in hearing what features you like in a reloading press? For right now, I am most interested in single stage presses. Do you think one company does it better than the others, and why do you think that? I would be interested in your feedback as I do a bit of market research. If you have some thoughts you would like to share, email me at Jay@theballisticassistant.com.

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, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.

Thanks for subscribing, stay safe and shoot straight!

The Ballistic Assistant

We have been quite busy in on the homestead trying to get things moved from Texas, so I neglected to write an update last week. This week’s update is also going to be short. I am still alive and all is well, just quite busy getting the family settled and I have not had much time to myself.

A few things of note. There were a few companies that did some awesome April Fool’s Gag’s. So if you would like a laugh, here’s a couple gags.

Hornady’s Production Update

Hornady’s New 7.6 Creedmoor (Fully Compatible with both 308 Win and 7.62×51 chambers)

Accurate Shooter Reported on the New PRS Sonic Tactical Series of Competition

That was just a taste, there was quite a few April Fool gags by the industry poking fun at different aspect of the shooting sports. If you see something worth sharing, send it to me, I can always use a smile.

As a side note, there are a few more rumors of US based companies moving forward with plans to construct primer factories. It seems these facilities may be operational, at least on a limited basis within a year. We will see, it is definitely some welcome news. I do not know any names nor have I spoken to anyone with direct knowledge, but if I was to place a sizable bet on a company, it would be Sig Sauer. They employ more then a few people who spent time working at Remington’s Lonoke facility, and with the trouble that Remington has had it would not surprise me if they picked up some more talent within the last year. With Sig Sauer producing their own ammunition, including bullets, and likely limited runs of brass, undoubtedly they will want to add primer production to have better control over their destiny.

Will we ever see a Sig primer on the reloading market? Who knows, but if they began to produce their own primer, it would undoubtedly relieve some of the demand on the domestic market. (This assumes they source their primers domestically, it is not at all unreasonable to source primed brass from European companies, many US based companies do that, and with Sig being a European based company they make not source things from the US market)

Speaking of components. I have had two emails asking if I sold powders. To be fair they were both from different people of the same company. Unfortunately, I am not in the selling business, and I really cannot be as it would place me in a conflict of interest as I work within the industry. I appreciate the outreach but there is little I can do to help in that regard.

As I said it would be a short update, a bit longer then I thought it would be but nevertheless short. 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, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.

Thanks for subscribing, stay safe and shoot straight!

The Ballistic Assistant

It is that time of the week again. Life seems to be cruising by at a breakneck pace. We are settling into the home here in Alabama. We survived our first tornado warning, which was exciting, ok not really. Had there not been such a hubbub made about it, it is likely we would not have known any warning was in place. Still it is a different experience, a different part of the country that I have never been in before, and I have been surprised a bit.

For example, I have been out here for about five or six weeks now. I have seen at least a half a dozen or more people open carrying. It seems more commonplace here in Alabama then it was in Utah. Now, open carrying does not bother me, however I do notice it, being the firearm nerd that I am. What has bothered me has been the poor quality of holsters and sometimes the complete lack of retention devices on the pistols. Listen, if you want to open carry you are free to do so, but with the ever-increasing scrutiny that firearms owners are under, part of me wishes the people doing the open carrying would at least be a better representation of firearm owners. Not saying that Uncle Mike holsters and white tank tops do not have a place, but they do not leave the best first impression.

With everything that I have been up to in getting the family settled in, I have not gone live with any website updates this week. There are things I am working on, namely the powder catalog, but I am not quite to the point I feel comfortable going live with those changes. Keep looking for it to be updated but realize it might be a bit. This next weekend we will be making one, and probably the last major haul from Texas. Got to move the rest of me and my family’s junk, unfortunately for the immediate term it is moving from one storage unit to another.

As I am writing this, more news is coming out in respect to another recent shooting in Boulder Colorado. No doubt conspiracy theories will continue to populate about the timing and the validity of these shootings. I do not subscribe to the idea that there is someone, or some people who orchestrate this nonsense on a grand scale in order to ram through a political agenda. Rather I honestly believe there are some sick individuals out there, and in a country with 300+ Million people, there can be 10 million odds of such an event in any given year and we would end up with 30 potential events.

Given these things tend to happen in clusters, one shooting seems to breed another, sadly it is not unusual to have a few of these events within a few weeks or months of each other. The great travesty is the lack of attention that is paid towards the mental and moral decay of the individual that leads to these types of atrocities. They are not unique to the United States, similar type events happen worldwide. Unfortunately, it would seem no government or political party seems interested in answering the hard questions of what drives the individual to commit these acts of evil, rather they focus on the tools, driving legislation that shifts the power from the people to the government. Thus, creating an endless cycle that feeds off the resulting contention, dividing the nation rather then healing it. I find it all deeply troubling.

That is all I have for 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, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.

Thanks for subscribing and Stay Safe out there!

The Ballistic Assistant

Good Monday Evening! All is well here and I’ve been busy with a few different things. We have a few updates to the website to go over and some thoughts on current events. I’ve updated the powder burn rate chart, you can find the updated chart here. Updates include the addition of N568 and some previously missed Bofor’s powders. I also did some linking of powder equivalencies which had not been previously verified, and I tweaked a few powders burn rate ranking to fall more in line with the data. It’s a living document, and I do not claim it to be 100% perfect, but no powder burn rate chart is.

Remember burn rates are variable by nature and when loaded to different service pressures in different cartridges powders may behave a bit differently. Lot to lot variation also can play with relative burn speed. Remember a Burn Rate chart is simply a quick reference guide and is never the primary means for load development. If you would like a printer friendly version, pleas email me and I will see what I can do.

I’ve finally finished adding the new SAAMI approved cartridge’s to the SAAMI Rifle Cartridge Catalog. These include cartridges such as the 6mm ARC, 277 SIG Fury and the Nosler series of cartridges. I’m also working on adding the SAAMI standard test barrel length as part of the description. There are only a few rifles barrels that have P/V barrel lengths that are not 24in. Notably the 277 Sig Fury, and the 300 AAC Blackout, however pistol barrel lengths are all over the place. This is one thing I find myself looking up from time to time to compare ballistics and load data. If it’s handy for me to have it in one place, I suspect there’s someone else out there who will find it helpful. As with many of the projects on this site it is a work in progress.

I’ll be working on some stuff this week, likely the powder catalog. Lot’s to do there to get that flushed out to where it needs to be. I’ve got a couple other irons in the fire with some other websites I’ve been working on rolling out. We will see what things I am able to get done.

As many of you are aware, two gun control bills passed in the House over the last week. H.R 8 which outlaws private sales and creates a national registry and HR 1446 which may extend a “Delay” from three days to indefinitely. There is a lot of commotion over these two bills, but most people in the industry are not expecting it to make it past the Senate, and while a vote may be held, current Senate rules require a 60 vote majority. No one is saying it cannot happen, only that it is unlikely to happen.

While these bills are concerning to me, what I am more troubled over is how some in our community have taken upon themselves to slander/harass those who own firearms but support one or both of these bills. In an age where we have at least a dozen different ways to communicate electronically, we have forgotten how to have a conversation. We cannot talk civilly, even to those who are sympathetic but my not agree in every detail. Somehow we have become blind to the fact that when we use the terms “Fudd”, “Butters” or “Boomers” we shutdown and destroy any hope of having a meaningful conversation. In fact we are more likely to force those, most likely to be our allies, to the other side, who are all too willing to welcome gun owners if only to paint with a broad brush by saying “See, even gun owners agree with us.”

The stakes are high, to preserve our Rights, we have to bat a 1000. We have to win every legislative battle, every court case, every single time. Most importantly we have to win the public opinion battle. To do that, we cannot afford to alienate even one potential ally. If all you know how to do is shout “Molon Labe” in internet forums and chat rooms, then might I suggest you shut up, sit down, and pick up a book. Learn to have a conversation longer then what can fit on a bumper sticker. You are not doing the firearms community any favors, in fact you are doing us a lot of harm. Better yet, chip in $20 bucks to the Second Amendment Foundation.

When wars are fought, regardless if they are cultural or physical, it takes money. We often forget that when General George Washington needed money for arms, Ben Franklin and John Adams turned to the French, the Dutch, and the Spanish Government. By the time the war was won the new country was $2 Million dollars in debt. In today’s dollars that is a mere $60.4 Million. Last year there was an estimated 8 million new firearm owners, if each one chipped in $8 bucks, that would pay for a lot of legal expenses. If we could get America’s 100 Million gun owners to chip in $8 bucks, we’d have this war won for a spell. This is all to I have to say, enough talk, let’s go to work.

That is all I have for 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, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.

Thanks for subscribing and Stay Safe out there!

The Ballistic Assistant

Only took five months but for the first time since leaving Utah we are starting to get to some sense of normality. The Alabama weather is taking a bit of getting used to, but so far it has been survivable, still does not seem natural to be having 70- and 80-degree days in March. There are a few things that I am realizing about the Southeastern US. First, culturally it is quite different then the Western States, and secondly, I am really beginning to rethink what I should be doing with my Long-Range Rifle.

You can make a reasonable argument then when I went out and bought my Barrett MRAD in 338 Lapua Magnum, I was really kind of boxing myself in. Naturally, being as stubborn as a horse, I probably would not have listened to you. That was almost 6 or 7 years ago, and I have since had some added experienced in both the shooting sports and the industry.

When I was single, investing almost $2 a round in a handload did not seem to be that bad and being able to ring steel pretty darn reliably out past 1000 yards was exciting. Fast forward, married with two kids, a shoestring budget, and suddenly having a $5k rifle, with a $2k optic and a $2k suppressor, that costs $2 bucks a round handloaded, seems kind of stupid. Especially when you move to a state where the longest practical shot at the local range is 600 yards.

With a barrel swap kit for the MRAD is coming in at somewhere between $1,300 to $1,600. I am left with an interesting problem. You can buy a heck of a rifle for $1300, namely a Ruger Precision Rifle, or can build a Rem 700 clone for something less that that. I am not sure exactly what I am going to do, but it has been something on my mind. Unfortunately, it seems like my MRAD may become something of a safe queen, a relic of a time when I lacked the wisdom, it would pain me to sell it, but I am almost as equally as pained to drop another chunk of money into a kit when I could get a rifle just as good for equal or less…but then of course then we’d need another optic…. buy a mouse a cookie…maybe $1300 is not so bad after all…

Enough about my own problems, (I may do a dedicated write up on getting into long range shooting, what I wish I had known before dropping a ton of money) lets get into the fun stuff.

There a few new things on the market that were announced around Shot Show that I am just beginning to appreciate, first Vihtavouri introduced a new powder Vihtavuori N568. They indicate the burn rate to be a wedge between N570 and N565 which means this powder is likely going to be another good powder to test for 338 Lapua Magnum, or for cartridges which are both overbore, and long. The 300 PRC, 6.5 PRC, 300 RUM, and likely the 7mm RUM. It will actually be interesting to see if this powder is just a better metering version of the N570. I did do some testing with N570 in 338 Lapua Magnum with 300gr SMK’s and found it to be an excellent powder with the exception of how bulky and difficult it was to meter. You were basically relegated to using an auto dispenser as I could not get it to meter at all through a Harrell’s Precision thrower.

I am going to freely admit, the more I have gotten into handloading, the more I have become a press and die snob. I started with almost all Lee Precision Equipment and have since really gained an appreciated for Redding Dies and especially their T-7 press. It is not necessarily that the rounds you make are that much more precise, it is the fit and finish of the equipment that just give for a better overall experience. I have never gotten the same warm an fuzzy feeling when looking at Lyman products, as I have Redding, Dillon and L.E Wilson, and that may be because I’m just not a huge fan of the color orange in general… seriously…it’s between that and brown as my least favorite color.

With that said, the Lyman Stainless Steel Pro Dies, have kind of grabbed my attention. One of the things that has driven me nuts about moving from the dry arid environment of Utah into the hot humid south is how quickly every die, and reloading press I own developed a light layer of rust just from sitting in storage for a day. Some of this is no doubt from the widespread use of 12L14 or other leaded steels in some components of the dies. This is a soft free machining steel that is great for automated production and can be case hardened. A lot of reloading dies used 12L14 or similar steels, the down side is they rust, quicker then an O1 or similar type tool steel. Seeing a die made from stainless, is not new, L.E Wilson has been doing it for some time, but it is appreciated. Given that most of our wives relic our hobby to areas where climate control does not exist, a garage, a basement, under a rock…

I have not laid hands on one of these dies yet. When I do I’ll give my thoughts, but I do like the concept of a micrometer adjustment on the crimping die, even though I would be hard press to find a situation where I would use it in my handloading routine. What they do not currently offer, but what I could get behind, is a micrometer adjustable flaring die. I do like to give my rifle brass a hint of a flare, just to complement the chamfer prior to seating the bullet. I could see where a micrometer head on a flaring die would let me obsess over one more step, which probably does not actually impact down range performance, but makes me smile anyhow. (I do bring the flare in with a crimping die, but it does not crimp, just corrects the case mouth as to not snag on feeding).

The last thing of note is Nosler’s Reloading Guide, this is the #9th addition. I have not flipped through it, so I cannot give it a proper review. Even with a lot of online data being published I do like to have dead tree versions of load manuals to flip through. If you do a lot of handloading for Nosler bullets or would like to get some load data for the Nosler 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, and 33 this may be a good book to add on the shelf.

That is all I have for 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, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.

Thanks for subscribing and Stay Safe out there!

The Ballistic Assistant