Little Lessons in Reloading Experience
As I was surfing to live, living to surf, I came across some little
nuggets of period goodness in the form of "Little Lessons in
Reloading" by John Lynn. Unfortunately, there are missing pages in
the Google scan, so I cannot find these articles...
American Rifleman, vol 65 1918
https://books.google.com/books?id=DI...ing%22&f=false
Lesson
1: Alloy for Bullets vol 65, No 4 Oct 19, 1918 p69 [76]
Lesson
2: Cast Bullet Accuracy: vol 65, No. 5 - Oct 26, 1918 pg 89
[96]
Lesson 3: Greasing Bullets
p. 109 (76)
Lesson 4: Sizing of Bullets
pg 9 Nov 19, 1918 pg 129
Lesson 5: Seating Bullets
pg 114 (149)
Lesson
6: Defects in Bullets pg 169 [172]
Lesson 7: Selecting
Rifle Powder When Reloading page Nov 30, 1918 189-190
(132-133)
Lesson 8: Selecting
Powders for reduced Loads No.11, 7 Dec 1918 – pg 209-210
(152-153)
Lesson 9: Fine Points of
Measuring Powder, No. 12, Dec 14, 1918 pgs 229-230 (172-173)
Lesson 10: Manipulating
Velocity, No. 13, Dec 31 1918 – pg 249 (192)
Lesson 11: “Split Necks” and the
Cleaning of Shells, No. 14, 28 Dec 1918 pgs 289-290 (212-213)
Lesson 12: Resizing Necks and
Full length, pg 289, Jan 4, 1919
Lesson 13: To Crimp
or Not and Oiling the Shells, No. 16, Jan 11, 1919 pg 329
(232)
Lesson 14: Shell Mouths and Rifle
Chambers Jan 18, 1919 pg 329
Lesson
15: Labeling Ammunition and Keeping Shooting Data No. 18, Jan
25, 1919 pg 349 (352)
Lesson
1: Alloy for Bullets
NOW that metal-cased bullets are so
hard to buy and so high priced, owners of high-power rifles must
rely for more of their shooting on bullets they can make
themselves, with suitable loads of powder. The Ideal handbook and
other authorities on
bullet casting, however, cannot be followed exactly, since prices
of materials have changed radically of late years, while some
metals are almost off the market entirely.
The old standard alloy of the writer used to be 80 per cent lead,
10 per cent tin and 10 per cent antimony. That was before the days
of gas-check cups on bullets, and for maximum velocity then
obtainable with plain base-cast bullets in 30-30 and 303
Savage. The tin was mixed with the lead to make it tougher, and
the antimony to make it resist the heat of the smokeless powder
gases without melting. It is a good alloy, though it makes bullets
that break off like cast iron instead of bending like lead.
At the present time, however, antimony is exceedingly hard to get,
consequently some other mixture must be used. This is just
as well , though, for the careful reloader can do away with all
trouble from gas fusing without resorting to high-temperature
alloys. All required is to use plain base bullets only with light
charges of No. 80, No. 75 or other similar powder, and, when
longer range than 100 to 200 yards is desired, to use gas check
cup bullets. The gas cup is of copper, and will shield even plain
lead from heat sufficiently .
So far as stripping of bullets is concerned, experience seems to
show that tin alone will give the required toughness. A 90- lead,
10- tin bullet seems soft to the thumb nail, but will stand any
ordinary velocity. An 85 - lead and 15 - tin, or 80- lead and
20-tin, will stand the highest velocities obtainable with cast
bullets, such as given with 200-grain bullet in 30-calibre, in
front of 25 grains of No. 18 or Lightning ( 1800 to 2000 feet ) .
A few big hardware stores still carry block tin which
individuals or rifle clubs can buy. Where the pure metal is not to
be bought, however, it often may be secured in ' solder ( which is
half and half ) or in babbit, type metal, or various kinds of
scrap. The community will be rare indeed in America where enough
can not be scared up to make a few thousand bullets.
Some trouble may be experienced in determining just how hard a
mixture is, since the tin or alloy containing tin may be
questionable. One practiced in judging can tell pretty well by the
feel to the thumb nail or the teeth. Another good test is to drop
a pointed rod from a certain height on both soft pure lead and the
alloy to be judged, and to note the depth of hole made. The
striking end of the rod should be blunt. An excellent thing to use
is a section of .30-calibre Marble jointed steel cleaning rod,
weighing about an ounce and a half. It will be found that in soft
lead this weight, dropped from a height of one foot, will make a
depression about a sixteenth of an inch deep , but in a 90-10
mixture will just about print the end, indenting less than a
sixty- fourth, and in a 50-50 mixture will make no more than a
plain mark .
It is well to cast a few bullets, also, and to test them by
breaking or bending. When the alloy is at its best the bullet can
be bent once at least to right angles, and often nearly double,
before it will break in two. Such an alloy is hard enough to stand
25 grains of Lightning powder in .30 calibre, as mentioned. For
lighter charges softer alloys can be used. For instance, pure lead
can be used in Krag and Springfield rifles when the bullets weigh
150 to 170 grains or more and no more than 10 grains of No. 75
powder are used. The bullets will cast smoother, however, and
accuracy will be better, to say nothing of easier cleaning of the
barrel, if 3 to 7 per cent of tin is added to the lead even for
gallery charge bullets .
Lesson 2: Cast Bullet Accuracy
THE scarcity of the regular metal patched
bullets among target shooters this year is going to drive more men
to the use of Ideal gas check and other cast bullets for serious
practice and even in matches . Exactly what accuracy these bullets
should average when well loaded therefore becomes of interest. The
only Krag and Springfield load that will take the place of service
ammunition at all is the gas -check bullet No. 308334 in front of
a 25-grain charge of du Pont No. 18 or the old Lightning powder.
This load will work well up to 500 yards. At that distance
possibles have been known, though they are not as frequent as with
the 150-grain regular metal-patched bullet. The usual group is
about 24 inches in diameter.
At 50 yards , a good many thousands of shots
have demonstrated that this bullet and powder charge, as well as
the same bullet and any proper smaller powder charge, will shoot
into an inch and a quarter circle regularly. If the loading is a
little off color the group will enlarge to an inch and a half or
an inch and three -quarters. Two-inch groups indicate something
wrong. One-inch groups are flunks .
At 200 yards, groups will average six to seven
inches, and easily will keep inside the standard eight-inch bull.
This is with carefully prepared ammunition, however, and when
bullets are cast or sized as they should be, the average is
certain to enlarge to 12 inches. Fluke ten-shot groups with this
load at 200 yards have measured as small as four and a half inches
.
At 100 yards the accuracy is equal in
proportion to the 50-yard shooting. One can rely on the cartridge
to give less than three-inch groups consistently. A feature of the
matter is that barrels that will not handle the 150-grain service
bullet with very fine accuracy will shoot this load about as well
as the best barrels. Some rifles therefore will deliver as good
targets with this ammunition as with any other.
Ideal bullet No. 308241 , which has no
gas-check cup on the base, will shoot fully as well as the load
mentioned, up to 200 yards, though of course it can not be loaded
to give the velocity, hence is With more subject to wind trouble.
about 10 or 12 grains of Marksman powder it will stay in the
8-inch bull all day. The chief advantage of this load is that it
is slightly cheaper and easier to prepare.
For practice work these two bullets are about
all that ever need be used in 30-calibre rifles. They will deliver
the same results in .30-30 and 303-calibre rifles as in Krags and
Springfields (though the powder charges must be smaller). Passing
to other calibres, we have the .22 High Power Savage, with its
67-grain gas-check bullet. This little fellow, with about 16
grains of Lightning or 15 grains of du Pont No. 18, is the most
accurate cast bullet ever loaded as part of a reduced charge in a
highpower rifle. It is perfectly capable of making three-quarter
inch groups at 50 yards, and does it right along . The average
will be under an inch. At 100 yards the groups are in direct
proportion. At 200, six inches is enough to hold them regularly.
Beyond that distance the results are more erratic than with the
heavier 30- calibre bullets. When everything is favorable,
possibles may be made at 500 yards, but when unfavorable the
6-foot target is none to big to catch them.
The long series of gas-check and plain base
bullets for the hunting rifles, including 5-35. .32 Special, .35
Rimless, .33 Winchester, .35 Winchester Model '95, and others,
should group into 12 or 15 inches at 200 yards, on the average, is
well to remember that the standard charge for such rifles as the
.45-70 , .32-40, .38-55, .38-40, .44-40 and many others contains
the plain lead bullet, and that 8- to 12-inch groups at 200 yards
are the rule with them. With the 32-40 and 38-55 the fineness of
groups is limited only by the care with which the ammunition is
loaded and placed in the barrel, and, of course, the nature of the
barrel itself. The most recent authoritative tests of such
ammunition were made by Major Whalen. He found it was only the
occasional rifle of this type that would group into less than 8
inches at 200 yards, that the average was more than 12 inches, and
that now and then a 20-inch or 24-inch group would be secured
.
It must be said, however, that good rifles will make remarkably
fine scores with cast bullets. In times like the present, when
metal-cased bullets are almost unobtainable, it is well to
remember the possibilities of the old bullet mold.
Lesson
3: Greasing Bullets p. 109 (76)
ONE of the most serviceable
bullet lubricants is a mixture of mobilubricant, graphite and
beeswax .Before giving the proportions most desirable, it is well
to analyze the subject a bit.
Bullets are lubricated to cut
down or prevent leading and metal fouling of the rifle barrel, to
make cleaning of the barrel easier, and to make bullet resistance
to powder gases more uniform.
They are lubricated also to
reduce friction and wear on the barrel, to increase bullet
velocity, to lessen barrel flip slightly, and in some cases to
secure marked increases in accuracy. Some of these points are
frequently overlooked by shooters.
The grease first of all must
be of such a nature that heat will not “break it up” chemically
and release elements in it which are not of a lubricating nature.
It so happens that very many materials commonly thought of as
greases will not conform to this test. In fact, some of them give
free carbon when subjected to the high temperature of small-bore
rifles, and this carbon acts in the barrel like sand or powdered
emery instead of a lubricant.
Other greases simply disappear
under high temperature. To a large extent tallow does this. It is
a lubricant, all right, for big-bore, low-powder bullets, where
the temperature is low, but in more modern cartridges is nearly
worthless. The melting point of tallow and other similar greases
is so low that when a cartridge is loaded into a hot barrel it
quickly becomes liquid and unless the base of the bullet fits the
shell neck very tight, may drain back into the powder.
Mobilubricant is all
lubricant, even at the highest temperature. In itself it would be
an ideal bullet grease if it were not so soft, but it rubs off too
easily for most convenient reloading and melts too soon for best
results in cartridges. Graphite, a dry powder, is another good
lubricant, since it never changes under the highest
temperature—but it cannot be made to stick to the bullets without
mixing it in some carrier. Beeswax belongs to the class of
lubricants which largely evaporate at high temperature, but it
does not melt easily, and is stiff enough to carry the other
materials to the point where they are needed before it goes off
the job. The combination of the three is extremely effectual.
The manufacturers state that
five to ten per cent of graphite should be added to ordinary cup
greases, for use in bearings. For bullets the maximum can be
used-—that is, the quantity should be at least 10 per cent of the
weight of the other elements, and well may be 10 per cent of the
mobilubricant alone. Usually it will take almost as much beeswax
as mobilubricant to make the mixture stiff enough, though if less
than this can be used all the better. The beeswax is of no value
except as a carrier.
The best way of lubricating
cast bullets is with a machine that forces on the grease at the
same time they are sized, as the Ideal does. Metal-cased bullets
must be lubricated by hand just before they are put in the rifle,
and the box of grease with a bullet-sized hole in the top cannot
be beat as a help, though many shooters simply use a finger. Cast
bullets can be lubricated by hand by taking a lump of grease on a
finger and rubbing it over the grooves, about as satisfactorily as
by dipping them and wiping or cutting off the surplus.
Other materials to take the
place of beeswax, especially, and of mobilubricant have been
available, but are not now, on account of the war. One caution
necessary is to be sure that every bullet is lubricated equally
all the way round. If one side is dry, or nearly so, the result
almost surely will be a falling Off in accuracy. Another important
point for owners of high-power rifles is to shoot as few dry
bullets as possible, since one such will reduce the life of the
barrel as much as several well and properly greased.
Lesson
4: Sizing of Bullets pg 9 Nov 19, 1918 pg 129
JUST how important it is to size cast bullets
with all the care possible, can be understood by replacing them in
reduced loading of high power rifles with good metal-cased
bullets. The target attached was shot at 50 yards, and contains 10
consecutive holes. The group measures less than an inch, and at
that it is only an average group. Better ones are easily made with
the Springfield, Krag and good 30-30 rifles, using the 150-grain
service bullet and from 8 to 17 grains of No. 75 powder or
equivalent charges of No. 80 powder.
One—inch groups with cast bullets at 50 yards
are rare. The reason is that slight differences in length,
diameters, weight and dents and air flows that usually are
disregarded cause a falling off in accuracy of bullet flight. For
instance, if the bullet is not smooth and full, its axis almost
certainly will be off-center. The same result follows when the
mold is out of true, or when mold happens to be open one or two
thousandths of an inch as the bullet hardens in it. Hot bullets
dropped on any hard surface almost certainly will “upset" enough
to reduce their accuracy.
It is impossible altogether to
correct any faults in bullets by sizing them, but sizing works
wonders when properly done. The first care should be to see that
the die is true round. It also should be checked for diameter in
connection with gauging of the bore of the rifle. The bullets must
be two to three thousandths of an inch larger than the bore, and
the only reliable way of determining die and bore diameter is to
upset a soft lead plug in them for micrometer calibre measurement.
It is not enough to rely on a published statement of rifle
calibre, and, as for the sizing holes in reloading tools, they may
be five or six thousandths off from what you require.
The bullets should be sized
base first, and should be driven through the die in a true
straight line, starting squarely and evenly. The reloading tool
sizing arrangement can not possibly give very accurate results,
for with it the pressure moves in the arc of a circle, the bullet
may be forced in crookedly, and the plunger makes a dent in the
metal. The Ideal lubricator and sizer is good in this respect. It
takes the bullet in base first, and applies the pressure by means
of a cap plunger fitting the point of the bullet. It is a
profitable tool to buy, but, lacking it, a press easily can be
rigged up to hold a bullet die and to force the bullet through it
base first with a hickory or brass plug. Such an arrangement works
just as well as the Ideal tool, except that it will not lubricate
the bullets. Whatever press is used, the operator should satisfy
himself that the plunger or head comes down precisely over the
center of the die. If it is a little off center, the bullet will
be spoiled.
When bullets are sized point
first, the lip left extending backward from the edge of the base
likely will cause inaccuracy. When the base goes in first,
however, and particularly when gas check cups are used, the edges
of the base are perfectly true.
By taking all precautions to
cast and size bullets absolutely right, the results at the target
should be almost as fine as with the harder metal cased bullets.
During casting the metal should be kept at the right heat, well
mixed, and covered with charcoal. Each fluid moldful of it should
be tapped and settled before it sets, and the bullets should be
laid gently on cloth. Only such bullets will justify all care in
sizing and only such are fit to use in serious target shooting and
hunting. Certainly when the 50-yard groups regularly begin to
measure an inch, or an inch and a quarter, the extra trouble taken
will be paid for.
Lesson 5: Seating Bullets pg 114
(149)
THE usual manner of determining how deep to
place the bullets when loading rifle shells is to observe a
factory cartridge, or to insert a factory cartridge in the
reloading tool and adjust the chamber and bullet plug up against
the crimp of the shell and the point of the bullet, respectively.
This generally is safe, but it may be varied now and then with
much profit.
The rifle in which the
cartridges are to be used, and the manner and purpose of the
shooting, should determine the depth. For instance, if the rifle
is a Winchester, Marlin, Remington or other make with tubular
magazine and the purpose is hunting, where the cartridges will be
subjected to all sorts of pressure, particularly on the points of
the bullets, the bullets should be seated deeply and should be
held tightly by crimp or friction. Cast bullets usually have a
crimping groove marking the place for the end of the shell. But if
the rifle is a Savage, Newton, Springfield, Krag or Ross, with box
magazine, the bullets need not go any deeper than will pass
through the respective action. Further, if the ammunition is to be
used for target shooting without working it through the magazine,
the bullets may project just as far as you like, or even may be
seated in the barrel ahead of the shell, schuetzen fashion.
Accuracy often is affected by
depth of seating, particularly with worn rifles. The greatest
accuracy is secured when the bullets project forward into the
lands as the bolt is closed behind the cartridge; consequently for
target shooting it often pays to let them project. In single shot
rifles there is no limit to how much, but in most magazine rifles
there is a very definite limit.
An important point is to make
sure that the bullets are seated in a true line with the bore.
When deep in the shell neck, they are not so likely to be canted
as when in only an eighth of an inch or so. If the necks are
expanded, and not resized, bullets may lean off to a side no
matter how tight the shells are crimped, and this feature should
be given attention in reloading straight shells like the .45-70
and .38–55, as well as bottle necked ones.
Ammunition intended for
hunting or other rough usage should have lubricant covered. To do
this is not important with strictly target ammunition, to be
handled from box to rifle chamber at the firing point. Finally,
all the bullets should be seated and secured with the same crimp
or friction. To put it another way, all should require about the
same amount of force to push them free from the shell. When some
are tight and some loose, the reaction on the burning pressure of
the powder will be great enough to cause bullet variation up and
down.
As with every other feature of
loading, the seating of bullets in itself is capable of making
ammunition satisfactory or unsatisfactory, and care and exactness
is essential for good results.
Lesson
6: Defects in Bullets Vol 65, No 9, 23 Nov 1918
page 169 [172]
A FEW months ago C. S. Landis treated in an
article the extent to which standard 150-grain .30-calibre bullets
were found to vary. He weighed and measured several hundred of
factory run with findings far from reassuring to the target
shooter and to the hunter. His remarks called to mind Dr. Mann's
experiments with bullets mutilated at point and at base, and
certain tests of Lieutenant Colonel Whelen's with soft point
hunting ammunition having battered bullets, but the extent of the
inaccuracy at the target that results from variations in weight
and in diameter of bullets I do not recall seeing mentioned
directly anywhere of late.
During 1917 I had occasion to sort the perfect bullets out of
about 2,000 that came from Frankford Arsenal. The rejected
remainder contained examples of every sort of defect. Some weighed
as light as 146 grains; and a few as heavy as 153 grains. The
diameters varied considerably, as Landis pointed out. To find out
just what effect the defects might have at the target, I loaded a
lot carefully, weighing the powder (du Pont No. 20), and fired
them at 100 yards against another lot with perfect bullets.
The accompanying targets tell the story. The good bullets grouped
(10 shots) into 2½ inches, with holding none of the best. The
defective bullets grouped into about 6½ inches. An average 10-shot
group is shown.
Two 100·yard groups, 10 shots each, made to
show the extent of inaccuracies caused by common defects in
bullets. The one made by perfect bullets measures 22 inches; the
one by defective bullets (cut reduced) 6½ inches. Difference 4
in., or nearly 200 per cent. The good ammunition would keep all
bullets inside of the standard bull; the poor ammunition, at the
best, would make a score on N.R.A. targets of only 46.
T. C. Barrier once remarked in ARMS AND THE MAN
that putting bullets through the weight and diameter test would
reduce the groups a couple of inches at 200 yards. Evidently he
was basing his conclusions on an earlier and better product than
that of 1917. With bullets as they come to us, judging from this
defective group, the best average score on N.R.A. targets would be
well below possibles, no matter how good the holding of the rifle.
Any man who attempts to shoot a match or make a qualification
score with unselected bullets therefore is working under a
handicap .
The explanation of the wild shooting probably lies more in the
reaction of bullet resistance to pressure of powder gases than in
anything else, normal bullet has a certain inertia, and requires a
certain pressure to drive it into the lands of the rifle. A
heavier bullet, with more inertia, resists the gases more, and
this resistance in turn causes the gases to develop faster and
more powerfully, hence the heavy bullet may be driven as fast or
faster than the lighter one. A bullet large in diameter requires
more pressure to drive into the lands, hence reacts to produce
higher powder pressures and more than normal velocity. Both will
fly high, and perhaps give a different barrel flip, which will
deliver the bullet slightly to one side of normal zero. Light
bullets and small bullets react in the opposite manner,
consequently may be started off with less than normal velocities,
flying lower and slightly to a side.
The winning of high scores is a matter of constant vigilance. The
proper holding of the rifle is a large part, it is true, but even
the selection of the bullets is vital .
Lesson 7:
Selecting Rifle Powder When Reloading page Nov 30,
1918 189-190 (132-133)
THE makers of powder make one I serious mistake
in their advertising of rifle explosives, particularly in the
canister labels and in leaflets giving charges. They
indiscriminately tell of all the possible cartridges and charges
in which every powder can be used with out indicating where and
when each one ceases to be better than others. The result is that
though all the modern powders are well known by name or number to
informed shooters, few shooters really understand exactly which
particular powder to use for the finest and most reliable results
with a particular shell and bullet.
The man who reloads his own
full power ammunition, with regular metal cased bullets, is in a
position to use newer and better powders than. he can get in
factory ammunition. The factories buy their powder in large lots,
and accept no innovation until long-drawn-out tests force them to
do so. The newer powders are easier for the individual to get from
dealers than older ones—the makers see to that.
Some of the points to be
worked for - in the selection of the powder are accuracy,
velocity, absence of damage to barrel, easier cleaning,
suitability to shell shape and calibre, weight and nature of
bullet. The wrong powder will erode the metal of the barrel lands
seriously, may leave unburned grains in the barrel, may scatter
the bullets in large groups, and, most frequently, may burn too
fast or too slow for the conditions of chamber, bullet and barrel,
causing excessive metal fouling on the one hand, or a falling off
in velocity on the other.
These are details impossible
to develop m a clear manner in any space short of many pages. What
can be given is specific recommendations for the different Classes
of cartridges.
Before proceeding with them,
however, It is well to state that the writer believes all
nitroglycerin powders to be obsolete on account of their excessive
erosive action in the rifle barrel. This at once does away with
the long series of powders that includes Lightning and
Sharpshooter and 1908 Military. On the principle that a good thing
should be displaced by a better, even such excellent powders as
No. 20 (1909 Military) must give way to newer products that have
advantages over them.
No. 1 Smokeless powder. though old, still has
an unquestionable place in “black powder” cartridges of the larger
sizes, notably in .45-90, .45-70, .38-55 and .32-40. It absorbs
moisture readily, and does not give any higher velocities than
black powder, hence should be used only when the cartridges are to
be handled with discretion. It displaces only black powder.
No. 80 powder is best for normal full charges
(to give standard velocity) for ordinary hunting use in
practically all “black powder” cartridges in calibres from .25-20
to .45-90. It also may be used to give slightly higher than usual
velocities in the smaller calibres, such as .25-20 and .32-20,
.38-40 and .44-40. It is particularly good in short-barreled
rifles and in carbines, for these cartridges, and gives
satisfaction in revolvers. It displaces black powder, No. 1
Smokeless and Sharpshooter.
No. 18 powder can be used with
much success in practically all black-powder cartridges, but
particularly when the barrels are more than 24 inches long and the
charges are heavy enough to give more than standard velocity. Thus
it is excellent for loading the so-called “high velocity” .32-40,
.38-55. .45-70 and .45-90. In the “high velocity” .38-40 and
.44-40 it succeeds, but gives less fine results. For these
purposes it displaces Sharpshooter and Lightning and some special
powders used only by the loading companies.
The main use of No. 18,
however, is in cartridges of the .30-30, .32 Special, .35 Rimless,
.25-35 and .303 Savage class. This is the use it was designed for,
and in which no other powder will quite equal its results. In this
it displaces Lightning, as well as Du Pont No. 21, though the
latter is an excellent pyro powder that well may be used in case
No. 18 can not be secured. No. 18 also often is used in .22 High
Power and .250-300, as well as in .35 Winchester Model ’95 and
.405 Winchester, though it is not usually considered best in them.
When so used, however, it displaces Lightning, 1908 Military,
Sharpshooter, the so-called “.35 calibre powder,” W. A. No. 20 and
21, all of which have been loaded into one or another of these
cartridges.
No. 16 powder is pre-eminently
suited to the .30-40 and .30-06 class of cartridges with the 150-
to 170-grain bullets, particularly the former weight. It is not so
good for 180- to 220-grain bullets, unless in slightly reduced
charges. It does wonderful work in the Mauser series and in the
.303 British, and gives excellent results in the .303 Savage,
.30-30 and .25-35 class, and the .405 Winchester class when
heavily loaded. Time may show that it is better than No. 18 for
them. It also is unquestionably the best powder for .22 High Power
and .250 3000. It’ thus becomes the one best powder for the
standard Springfield .30-06 ammunition, as well as for the
3,000-foot charge in the same shell. For these cartridges it
displaces, mainly, W. A. .30 calibre powder, No. 20, 21 and 1908
Military and Lightning. (Substitute No. 20 or No. 15 when No. 16
can not be secured.).
No.15 powder is suited to the
.30-1906, .30-40 and other similar cartridges when loaded with
heavy bullets to be driven at high velocity. Thus it is the best
powder in the .30-o6 Springfield behind the 180 grain target
bullet. It also has a place in the extra large shells, such as the
Newton series and the .280 Ross, when light bullets are used. For
the former use it displaces No. 20 and I908 Military, for the
latter No. 10.
No. 13 powder is particularly
suited to the Newton series of cartridges and the .280 Ross, and
displaces No. 10. It is better than No. 15 in them when standard
and heavy bullets are used.
From these notes it will be
seen that the field of no one powder overlaps that of another so
long as strictly first-class results are desired, though two or
three different ones often can be used in one cartridge with fair
results. The manufacturers know this better than any one else, and
the chances are that they will try to educate shooters gradually
to the proper selections. As the facts become better understood,
we may look for the older pyro powders, at least, to disappear
from the market, and almost the entire nitroglycerin class may go.
Nos. 20, 21 and 10 likely will not be made, though it takes nerve
at the present day to call these three powders obsolete. When the
war ceases we likely shall have a complete new series of
nitrocellulose powders that will duplicate the 80, 18, 16, 15, 13
series.
The correct charges for each
suitable cartridge usually are given on the label of the powder
canister, or may be learned from the powder makers. The individual
never should attempt to learn them by taking apart a factory
cartridge. The factories often use special lots of powder tore
concentrated than normal, and taking abnormal charges. They can do
it, because they have the means of testing pressures and
velocities.
With the powders named can be
loaded ammunition giving the finest possible normal results, or
other ammunition giving the highest velocities so far possible
with any rifle, such as are so often discussed. Care is necessary
to use the right powder in the right cartridge and charge,
however, or the results will not be what are expected. Careful
selection is vital.
Lesson 8: Powders
for Reduced Loads in Rifles, No.11, 7 Dec 1918 – pg
209-210 (152-153)
THOUGH all the powders named
below are well known to most shooters, there is a good deal of
misunderstanding throughout the land about their real value, and
especially their relation to one another, and their best use.
For all charges lighter than
standard in rifle ammunition, only smokeless powder can be used.
Even those rifles designed for black powder, such as the .32-40
and .44-40 for instance, can not burn black powder properly except
in full charges. The most important fact to understand about the
kind of smokeless powder to use is that no one kind can be used
successfully in all calibres and under all conditions. The next
important fact is that reduced charges require a different kind
than full power charges. The powders on the market that can be
used are mainly these: Du Pont Nos. 18, 80, 75, 1, 3, Bullseye,
Lightning, Sharpshooter, and various bulk shotgun powders.
Du Pont No. 75 used to be
called Marksman, and was the standard reduced charge powder for
.30-40, .30-06, .30-30 and also similar cartridges for many years.
Where adapted it gives accuracy never yet surpassed. Its only
faults are a limit to the amount that can be used per charge while
retaining uniformity of burning and safe pressures, and liability
to absorb moisture from the air.
Sharpshooter and Lightning are
not limited by these considerations when used as reduced-charge
powders, yet their use brings up the old question of excessive
erosion from hot gases. They are nitroglycerin products,
consequently burn hotter than nitrocellulose powders. The truth
about the erosive properties of the nitroglycerin powders likely
is that they do their chief damage when in full loads that burn
under high pressure, and do far less in light loads. In the humble
opinion of the writer, however, their “far less” is more than
enough, and a good deal more than is done by equivalent charges of
proper nitrocellulose powders. It must be noted that Sharpshooter
and Lightning do more damage in .22, .25, .28, .30 and .32
calibres than in .38, .40 and .45.
Du Pont No. 80 powder is
comparatively new and belongs to the nitrocellulose type, hence is
cool-burning and nonerosive. its granulation and character is such
that it burns at about the same rate as No. 75. or perhaps a
little slower. It has a wide range of usefulness, since it can be
used wherever No. 75 is used as well as in charges considerably
heavier. About one-fifth more of it (by weight) is required to
develop similar velocities. In high-power rifles it can be loaded
to give all the velocity that can be secured with cast bullets in
front of Lightning powder. In “black powder” rifles it can be used
for any charges up to full power. It does not absorb moisture
nearly so quick as No. 75, though it is not free from this fault
to the extent that Lightning or No. 1. A characteristic that
should be understood is that in considerable charges it sets up
high pressure in the shell without developing very much in the
barrel. Thus in a .32-40 or .38-55 shell not a very heavy charge
is required to flatten the primers and to swell and make tight the
shell close to the head.
No. 18 was not designed with
any idea that it might be used in reduced charges, but experience
shows that it can be used with much satisfaction wherever
Lightning is used. In the .30-40 and .30-06 cartridges, for
instance, it perhaps is the best powder, for bullets of I75 to 200
grains are to be used at velocities between 1,200 and L800 or
2,000 feet. It also is useful in case the ultra-high velocity
cartridges, such as the .22 High Power, .250-3000, .30-06, the
Mauser series. the Newton series and others are to be loaded to
give the “reduced” velocities of i,800 to 2,200 feet with metal
cased bullets. In charges as light as 15 grains in .30-calibre
rifles it burns complete enough for all practical purposes. Du
Pont No. 21 will give great accuracy in similar light loads, but
burns so poorly that many hard grains are left in the barrel and
chamber, interfering with the seating of subsequent shells. No. 18
has the immense advantage of being a nitrocellulose explosive, and
is easy on the barrel.
Du Pont No. 1 powder can be
considered obsolete for reduced-charge purposes. Even though it
mainly gives excellent results, it takes up moisture so quickly as
to become unreliable under damp conditions. and the purposes it
serves are accomplished by other powders that do not have this
fault.
It will be seen, therefore,
that Du Pont No. 75, No. 80, and No. 18 serve almost every purpose
of reduced charges better than any other powders. They do the
least possible damage to the rifle barrel. Their accuracy is
unsurpassed. Each one has its distinct place, which does not
overlap the places of the others. No. 18 is suited for mid-range
loading. No. 80 is suited for all short-range loading, and -is at
its best in charges typified by the 154-grain plain base cast
bullet in .30 1906 cartridge, with about 15 grains. No. 75 is
suited for use in the strictly high-power, bottle-necked
cartridges. and its particular application lies where required
charges are between 6 and 15 grains, where shells are clean and
cartridges are not to be exposed much to dampness or kept many
months after loading, and where the small saving in powder used
due to smaller charge required becomes an appreciable item be
cause the number of cartridges loaded is large.
The only addition to these
three powders that is of any advantage is in the case of extremely
short-range shooting, as for gallery work or shooting at objects
in the air when an extremely light bullet is used. For such loads
du Pont pistol powder No. 3, a nitrocellulose explosive, or
Hercules Bullseye, a nitroglycerin explosive, can be used with
much satisfaction. They are very dense, hence exceedingly small
charges are required, which makes their cost per thousand
cartridges next to nothing. The shotgun powders invariably are
more expensive to use than the correct rifle powders named, and
never have been known to deliver equal accuracy. Their only
standing for reduced-charge rifle loading is based on the fact
that they give fair results under proper conditions, and sometimes
can be found in stocks of dealers when rifle powder can not be.
Lesson 9: Fine
Points of Measuring Powder, No. 12, Dec 14, 1918
pgs 229-230 (172-173)
THERE is a good deal of
haziness about the exact amount of the variation or error in
charges of powder as measured by the Ideal No. 5 machine, by dip
and by other means, as well as about the effects at the target. It
is not only the man who reloads his own ammunition who will be
interested, but the user of commercial ammunition as well; some
recent investigations have brought out the striking facts.
One big factory at present is
allowing a tolerance of 2 grains either way, making a total of 4
grains in the powder charge for the .30 Springfield ammunition.
With a lot of pyro powder requiring 48 grains to develop the
standard 2,700 feet velocity, the permitted charges range between
45 grains and 50 grains. Actually most of the charges vary only
within about half a grain, but the man who knows the target game
will under stand what sort of a score could be made with this
ammunition.
I believe such a large tolerance is more than
is usually permitted in the loading of ammunition for high-power
rifles, but even if the usual is only half as much, a serious
error is introduced in accuracy. Ammunition for the .30-40 Krag,
.30-30, .303, .22 High Power and .250 Savage, .303 British, .32
Special, .25-35, .32-40 and .38-55 High Power and other similar
rifles is loaded in the same manner and with similar or
proportionate tolerances.
With a dip measure or scoop it
is possible to secure charges accurate to within 6 to 8 per cent,
but no closer. This means that a 50-grain charge will vary about
as described above; and a 30-grain charge about 2 1/2 grains. With
the Ideal No. 5 machine, the variation is much smaller. In it,
Government pyro powder, or its equivalent, du Pont No. 20, one of
the hardest powders to measure accurately, in a 48-grain charge
will vary about one fifth of a grain on the average and the
maximum will not be more than one-half grain (less than 10 per
cent). With fine grain bulk powders like Marksman or Du Pont No.
80 the maximum variation will be only one-fifth grain, and the
average less than one—tenth grain (one-fifth of one per cent).
Shotgun powders and revolver powders measure almost as well,
except that certain of them with very thin grains persist in
getting between the cylinders of the machine and its sleeve and in
consequence give greater errors. Ballistine and Infallible
powders, for instance, in a recent test in an Ideal machine set to
throw 100 grains of the former, varied 6/10 to 2 1/2 grains. In
shotgun loads, the variation of course would have been
proportionate, or about one-fourth of these amounts. The variation
always follows the size of the charge in proportion.
No other type of measuring
device (aside from this revolving cylinder Idea type) works to
within anywhere near the accuracy mentioned. As the Ideal measures
are hard to get now, it is to be hoped other makes of similar
principle will be placed on the market. If reloading is to be done
in comfort and with proper success, certain equipment must be
provided —and one vital point is a pair of scales that will weigh
to within a tenth of a grain. Another, little less vital where the
reloading runs into the hundreds of cartridges, is this powder
measure; To the man who reloads, these tools are like the
micrometer calibre to the machinist. Loading can be done with the
powder measure alone, by using the Ideal equivalent weight tables,
but when accuracy closer than 1 to 2 grains is required, the
scales must be used to check adjustment of the measure.
There is a knack in operating
the No. 5 type of measure by which its accuracy can be increased.
The lever should not strike against the back-top on the machine at
the end of the upward stroke, but against a felt pad or spring
fixed to the bench separately, or lacking such a stop, slowed and
stopped gently by hand when far enough up. The length of time the
lever is up influences the exact sizing of the charge, as does the
speed with which the downward motion is started and completed. The
reservoir should be kept nearly full. The jarring weight should
not be used unless necessary to shake out the crumbs of each
charge. A swift but gentle upward motion of the lever, followed
promptly by a quick, complete downward motion, without hesitation,
knocking or catching, will in sure accuracy. Any jarring
introduced in any one movement must be induced in all without
variation.
The bulk powders are the
easiest to measure; the dense, tubular-grain powders the hardest.
No. 80, Marksman and other bulks measure exceedingly well; Nos. 18
and 21 excellently; No. 20 good; Nos. 15 and 16 should be weighed,
but may be measured with fair satisfaction in charges not the
maximum. Lightning and Sharpshooter measure fairly well. Du Pont
No. 13 and No. 10 are too coarse-grained to measure at all.
The extent of inaccuracy
caused by a variation of 4 grains in the Springfield standard
powder charge is indicated by the accompanying target. Here there
is a difference of 2% inches per I00 yards. These groups were shot
on purpose to establish the amount of variation, and were made
with carefully loaded ammunition and fine holding. They prove the
reason why bullets sometimes drop out of the bull when the hold is
dead at six o’clock——and why we sometimes get some hair off of the
back or belly of our deer or bear instead of the heart shot in
tended. They also may make clear why some of our bullets smacked
into the sandbags over in France, instead of braining the Boche at
his loophole.
Lesson 10:
Manipulating Velocity, No. 13, Dec 31 1918 – pg 249
(192)
SPECIAL loads for rifles
frequently are more desirable than regular loads, and the man who
prepares his own ammunition should understand when and how he can
vary bullet velocity from the standard of factory ammunition with
profit. The labels on the powder cans may give the powder charges
required (they likely will not give it insufficient detail), but
many other considerations enter.
The standard velocity with the
regular bullet has the one great virtue of maintaining the
striking point of the bullet where the sights are set. If the
reloads are made up of the usual powder and bullet re-lining of
sights is not required. The general feel and performance of the
ammunition also is the same—recoil is identical, and killing
powder is no different.
Higher velocities, however,
often offer advantages which outweigh the change of elevation or
windage in sighting that they usually make necessary. For
instance, the .30-30 cartridge can be speeded up from about 2,000
feet to about 2,600 feet, with the result that the bullet has less
fall, has a flatter trajectory, consequently can be sighted for a
longer point blank range, requires less lead ahead of running
game. The fast bullet also is less drifted by the wind, has longer
range and more killing power. Other examples of increases in
velocity possible are the .30-40 Krag, from 2,000 feet to fully
2.700 feet; the .30-1906, from 2,700 feet to nearly 3,000 feet.
All the long list of hunting cartridges can be speeded up more or
less. The only factory ammunition in which this speeding up is
done is the “high velocity” .45-70, 38-55, .32-40, .38-40, .44-40,
and two or three others, and in some ways the individual loading
even these cartridges can improve on the factory product by using
a less destructive powder giving the same results, using a bullet
better suited to his particular purpose, or otherwise modifying
the fixed stuff.
Lower velocity, on the other
hand, sometimes is advisable. For instance, if a person wants to
do a large amount of shooting at target with a fine rifle, it is
worth while to consider the saving in wear on the barrel of light,
cool burning low-speed loads. Low—velocity loads are safer in
settled districts. In target shooting, they give about the same
results at 200 to 300 yards in respect to fall and wind drift that
the standard charges give at 500 to 1,000 yards, hence give
valuable practice. They make less noise and give less recoil and
may have ample power for the purpose used for. Finally, they cost
less. Throughout big game hunting districts it is the practice
among many of the less well-to-do hunters to buy only three or
four boxes of full power cartridges a year, and to use for all
target shooting and on all small game cheap low-velocity
ammunition they prepare themselves. "
It is entirely practicable to
send a bullet from a rifle at any speed desired, from about 800
feet up to the limit for the cartridge. Smokeless powder must be
used, and in most cases a different kind is required for each two
or three hundred foot step up. Thus the powder correct to give
2,000 feet velocity in the .30-30 with the standard bullet (du
Pont No. 18, 21 or Lightning) can not be used to give up the 2,600
feet maximum. No. 18 and possibly No. 16, is required for that.
Again, Lightning, or No. 21, would give inferior accuracy in
charges only sufficient to give 1,600 feet with gas check cast
bullets. For this and lower velocities. down to light charges for
shooting indoors a series of powders are required, ranging from
No. 18 through Sharpshooter (possibly), No. 80 and one of the
pistol powders. The bullet also can be manipulated. The highest
velocities can be obtained only with the lighter standard bullets.
In the .30-30 this is the standard 150-grain army bullet or the
soft point of the same shape. For best killing power heavier
bullets often are advisable, as for instance the 175-grain Newton
copper-jacketed bullet in .30 caliber.
The change of sight required
is small, but important. The changed striking point of the bullets
may not be noticed in one or two shots, but may be ample to miss
game at I00 yards. For the rough and ready individual who does not
want to be bothered the standard ammunition is best; but for. the
man who is willing to take pains, the higher and lower velocities
will raise the possibilities of any rifle. The most can be gotten
out of a rifle only when special ammunition is used.
Lesson 11: “Split Necks”
and the Cleaning of Shells, No. 14, 28 Dec 1918 pgs
289-290 (212-213)
THE man who reloads his own |
ammunition, and uses only shells he shoots in one rifle for each
calibre, very often will find that full-length resizing is of
little advantage. An occasional shell will be expanded enough in
the body to stick when chambered, but such can be discarded. No
short cuts are practicable in regard to resizing of necks of the
shells, however. Everyone who reloads must prepare to do that
operation to some extent.
The important points to watch
are to use dies of the right sizes for the bullets to be used, and
to reduce the shells accurately. Regarding the former, cast
bullets invariably demand larger, or looser, or less sizing down
than metal-cased bullets. For instance, the .30-calibre cast
bullets measure .311 when properly sized, and .30-calibre
metal-cased bullets .308. In addition, the cased bullets are hard
enough to withstand deformation and scraping if pressed into shell
mouths several thousandths smaller than their own diameter, while
cast bullets in many instances are not.
I remember loading .30
Springfield ammunition with three bullets one fall. The regular
150-grain pointed metal cased bullet required very tight resizing
—in fact, one die that came from the Ideal Company would not
reduce shells enough. The gas-check bullet, when sized to .311,
could be seated in shells equally reduced, but with a falling off
in accuracy. They did much better when put through a die five
thousandths enlarged. A specially soft 172-grain cast bullet would
not seat without scraping or off-centering even in these slightly
reduced shell mouths. For them the shells already resized were
worked over with an expanding plug measuring .312, and the rest
were not resized at all. It will be seen that no one die can be
used for all kinds of reloading. It is regrettable, but true, that
two or more are required. If full-length resizing is done, the
full die can be employed to size necks only of shells by inverting
it and inserting the shells at the small end. The regular neck
resizing dies, however, are so cheap that two or more easily can
be bought, of smallest size, and one or more enlarged with reamer,
drill or revolving shaft, and powdered emery or automobile valve
grinding compound. Great care is necessary to keep from enlarging
the hole too much, and to keep it absolutely round. The size
should be determined as the enlarging progresses, largely by trial
with bullets, but a check should be kept on it with a micrometer
in some manner, to avoid possibility of spoiling the die. One or
two thousandths taken out at a time are enough between careful
trials and measurements, and the original size should be well
recorded by putting through it a bunch of shells, and, if
possible, by a solid metal plug of exact fit.
The second point to watch is
to get the shells reduced equally all round—not just on one side,
leaving the other side without change. Unless the reduction is
concentric, the bullet will be held out of true with the rifle
bore, and inaccurate shooting will result. The shells also must go
into the die squarely, or at exact right angle with its mouth. If
they go in crooked, particularly toward the last eighth inch of
their travel, the neck may be tilted slightly out of line with the
rest of the shell.
The best means of resizing
necks there fore is a bench press having straight line movement.
Home presses can be rigged up without much work to hold the dies
and to extract the shells. Lacking one, however, the regular
reloading tools can be used both for resizing necks and expanding
them. When this is done the die should be screwed in just far
enough to allow the shell to be forced into it as required. If the
chamber near the shellhead permits the shell much play, accurate
straight-line resizing will be impossible, and the ammunition a
failure. The only way to use a tool having a chamber or hole in
the frame larger than the shell to be sized is to put in a bushing
that will just fit the shell.
By making certain of uniform
reduction of the shell neck all round, of exact straight-line
insertion in the die, and reducing the neck as little as possible
to hold the bullet used, very accurate ammunition can be loaded.
Those who have not been getting results possibly may trace the
trouble to one or another of these points.
The writer had been reloading
rifle ammunition for fifteen years before he realized the
desirability of resizing fired shells their full length. One day
he loaded with the greatest care a hundred .30 Springfield 1906
cartridges for use at a match at our club. The powder charges were
weighed to within a tenth of a grain. The shells were cleaned and
their necks resized. In spite of all this attention those shells
scattered the bullets over an 18-inch group at 200 yards. They
chambered freely in the one rifle, but fit tight in another. The
same shells then were sized all the way to the heads, and reloaded
as before—and made groups as small as 3 inches at 200 yards.
When shells are resized on
necks only, the bullets often are not held concentric with the
rifle bore, because one side of the neck of a shell may reduce
more than the other. Many low-pressure charges and reduced loads
do not expand shells enough to make resizing necessary, but
high-pressure loads do, and the higher the pressure the greater
the need for full resizing. Again, a lot of shells all fired in
the same rifle sometimes may be used in it again and again without
resizing, but any lot fired in two or more rifles likely will have
to be fully resized before they can be loaded to give satisfaction
again in any one of them. Of course rifles having very close
chambers largely prevent shell expansion, but practically every
military and hunting rifle has any thing but a close chamber.
Variations in temper and
thickness of walls cause variation in expansion of shells, with
the result that fired shells differ in outside dimensions. The
necks always expand, and sometimes the bodies swell to a tight
chamber fit just in front of the head. Such expansions are easily
corrected. Some rifles have short chambers, causing the shells to
protrude back toward the action a sixty-fourth of an inch or less.
Others have bolts that are much longer than usual, which results
in crowding the shell forward. The resizing must reduce the shells
to escape any such pinching, as well as to hold the bullets
uniformly.
The resizing can not possibly
be done satisfactorily with a tool held in the hands, because of
the force needed. Nor can it be done at the same time the bullet
is seated. It must be a separate operation. It can be done by
hand, using the die, a hammer and a couple of hickory blocks, but
it is done much faster, easier and better in a press that gives
power enough to force the shell into the die or the die over the
shell, and to pull them apart, and that is operated by a hand
lever without undue exertion.
The dies are made for all good
cartridges. At the present time they are hard to get, but there
are indications they may be made and marketed by more than one
firm before long. They wear out quickly. Putting about 2,000
shells through a Springfield 1906 die, for instance, will cut away
the metal from the inside of the neck so much that the die is
useless. It pays to give any die special treatment before it is
used. One of the troublesome points in the resizing is the
buckling or wrinkling of shells near the necks when given a little
too much oil. To prevent this, ventilate the die with a hole
one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter through the wall at the base
of the neck. The die must be annealed before it can be drilled.
Afterward it should be retempered just as hard as it is within the
knowledge of the operator to accomplish.
The neck sizes of the dies
should vary according to the kind of bullet to be used.
Metal-cased bullets demand close resizing. or most reducing. Cast
bullets usually are three-thousandths bigger than standard or bore
diameter, and the dies should be that much bigger in the necks for
resizing shells to be loaded with them. '
In hand resizing, use a big
block of hard wood for an anvil, and another piece, say about
three inches through and cube-shaped, with true faces, between the
hammer and the shell head. Not more than 50 shells can be resized
by hand in an hour. Everyone who shoots much should have an arbor
press. Any straight-line press will do which provides a
multiplying leverage of ten to fifteen power, and has means of
fastening the die and withdrawing the shell from it. To extract
the shell, its head may be grasped by a suitable flanged base, or
(better) a straight punch. may extend through the die and up
against the head of the shell inside, and be anchored in such a
way that the return movement of the lever will push the shell out.
The shells must be oiled. If
they are not, they surely will stick and delay operations, while
many will tear in two. Too much oil, however, will cause the
wrinkling mentioned before. The best oil is a light
automobile-engine grade. To oil them properly and quickly, cover a
board a foot or more square with two or three thicknesses of
cheese-cloth. Dampen this with oil, then roll the shells tightly
on it under the hand.
Whether working by hand or
with a press, be careful to apply all pressure or force on a line
with the axis of the shell. Remember that a shell in a die is
almost putty under the force used, and is easily bent or otherwise
distorted. Careless pounding may ruin shells. Avoid closing or
reducing the flash-hole or primer pocket.
The Krag is one of the easiest
shells to resize, because the walls are thin. All the medium power
or 2,000-foot second class of cartridges are easily handled. The
.30-06 Springfield is harder (takes more power), but can be
resized with complete success. The .280 Ross, .30 Newton and other
large shells are too heavy of wall and too big to be sized
successfully in any hand press. Ease of resizing should be kept in
mind in selecting a calibre of rifle.
The man who never has resized
can not realize how much there is to be gained by doing it——in
accuracy and in satisfaction in loading. Once you do get to
resizing your shells full length, you will wonder how it was
possible to load any rifle ammunition without it.
Lesson 12: Resizing
Necks and Full length, pg 289, Jan 4, 1919
THE man who reloads his own |
ammunition, and uses only shells he shoots in one rifle for each
calibre, very often will find that full-length resizing is of
little advantage. An occasional shell will be expanded enough in
the body to stick when chambered, but such can be discarded. No
short cuts are practicable in regard to resizing of necks of the
shells, however. Everyone who reloads must prepare to do that
operation to some extent.
The important points to watch
are to use dies of the right sizes for the bullets to be used, and
to reduce the shells accurately. Regarding the former, cast
bullets invariably demand larger, or looser, or less sizing down
than metal-cased bullets. For instance, the .30-calibre cast
bullets measure .311 when properly sized, and .30-calibre
metal-cased bullets .308. In addition, the cased bullets are hard
enough to withstand deformation and scraping if pressed into shell
mouths several thousandths smaller than their own diameter, while
cast bullets in many instances are not.
I remember loading .30 Springfield ammunition
with three bullets one fall. The regular 150-grain pointed
metalcased bullet required very tight resizing —in fact, one die
that came from the Ideal Company would not reduce shells enough.
The gas-check bullet, when sized to .311, could be seated in
shells equally reduced, but with a falling off in accuracy. They
did much better when put through a die five thousandths enlarged.
A specially soft 172-grain cast bullet would not seat without
scraping or off-centering even in these slightly reduced shell
mouths. For them the shells already resized were worked over with
an expanding plug measuring .312, and the rest were not resized at
all.
It will be seen that no one
die can be used for all kinds of reloading. It is regrettable, but
true, that two or more are required. If full-length resizing is
done, the full die can be employed to size necks only of shells by
inverting it and inserting the shells at the small end. The
regular neck resizing dies, however, are so cheap that two or more
easily can be bought, of smallest size, and one or more enlarged
with reamer, drill or revolving shaft, and powdered emery or
automobile valve grinding compound. Great care is necessary to
keep from enlarging the hole too much, and to keep it absolutely
round. The size should be determined as the enlarging progresses,
largely by trial with bullets, but a check should be kept on it
with a micrometer in some manner, to avoid possibility of spoiling
the die. One or two thousandths taken out at a time are enough
between careful trials and measurements, and the original size
should be well recorded by putting through it a bunch of shells,
and, if possible, by a solid metal plug of exact fit.
The second point to watch is
to get the shells reduced equally all round—not just on one side,
leaving the other side without change. Unless the reduction is
concentric, the bullet will be held out of true with the rifle
bore, and inaccurate shooting will result. The shells also must go
into the die squarely, or at exact right angle with its mouth. If
they go in crooked, particularly toward the last eighth inch of
their travel, the neck may be tilted slightly out of line with the
rest of the shell.
The best means of resizing
necks therefore is a bench press having straight line movement.
Home presses can be rigged up without much work to hold the dies
and to extract the shells. Lacking one, however, the regular
reloading tools can be used both for resizing necks and expanding
them. When this is done the die should be screwed in just far
enough to allow the shell to be forced into it as required. If the
chamber near the shell head permits the shell much play, accurate
straight-line resizing will be impossible, and the ammunition a
failure. The only way to use a tool having a chamber or hole in
the frame larger than the shell to be sized is to put in a bushing
that will just fit the shell.
By making certain of uniform
reduction of the shell neck all round, of exact straight-line
insertion in the die, and reducing the neck as little as possible
to hold the bullet used, very accurate ammunition can be loaded.
Those who have not been getting results possibly may trace the
trouble to one or another of these points.
The writer had been reloading
rifle ammunition for fifteen years before he realized the
desirability of resizing fired shells their full length. One day
he loaded with the greatest care a hundred .30 Springfield 1906
cartridges for use at a match at our club. The powder charges were
weighed to within a tenth of a grain. The shells were cleaned and
their necks resized. In spite of all this attention those shells
scattered the bullets over an 18-inch group at 200 yards. They
chambered freely in the one rifle, but fit tight in another. The
same shells then were sized all the way to the heads, and reloaded
as before—and made groups as small as 3 inches at 200 yards.
When shells are resized on necks only, the
bullets often are not held concentric with the rifle bore, because
one side of the neck of a shell may reduce more than the other.
Many low-pressure charges and reduced loads do not expand shells
enough to make resizing necessary, but high-pressure loads do, and
the higher the pressure the greater the need for full resizing.
Again, a lot of shells all fired in the same rifle sometimes may
be used in it again and again without resizing, but any lot fired
in two or more rifles likely will have to be fully resized before
they can be loaded to give satisfaction again in any one of them.
Of course rifles having very close chambers largely prevent shell
expansion, but practically every military and hunting rifle has
anything but a close chamber.
Variations in temper and
thickness of walls cause variation in expansion of shells, with
the result that fired shells differ in outside dimensions. The
necks always expand, and sometimes the bodies swell to a tight
chamber fit just in front of the head. Such expansions are easily
corrected. Some rifles have short chambers, causing the shells to
protrude back toward the action a sixty-fourth of an inch or less.
Others have bolts that are much longer than usual, which results
in crowding the shell forward. The resizing must reduce the shells
to escape any such pinching, as well as to hold the bullets
uniformly.
The resizing can not possibly
be done satisfactorily with a tool held in the hands, because of
the force needed. Nor can it be done at the same time the bullet
is seated. It must be a separate operation. It can be done by
hand, using the die, a hammer and a couple of hickory blocks, but
it is done much faster, easier and better in a press that gives
power enough to force the shell into the die or the die over the
shell, and to pull them apart, and that is operated by a hand
lever without undue exertion.
The dies are made for all good
cartridges. At the present time they are hard to get, but there
are indications they may be made and marketed by more than one
firm before long. They wear out quickly. Putting about 2,000
shells through a Springfield 1906 die, for instance, will cut away
the metal from the inside of the neck so much that the die is
useless. It pays to give any die special treatment before it is
used. One of the troublesome points in the resizing is the
buckling or wrinkling of shells near the necks when given a little
too much oil. To prevent this, ventilate the die with a hole
one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter through the wall at the base
of the neck. The die must be annealed before it can be drilled.
Afterward it should be retempered just as hard as it is within the
knowledge of the operator to accomplish.
The neck sizes of the dies
should vary according to the kind of bullet to be used.
Metal-cased bullets demand close resizing or most reducing. Cast
bullets usually are three-thousandths bigger than standard or bore
diameter, and the dies should be that much bigger in the necks for
resizing shells to be loaded with them.
In hand resizing, use a big
block of hard wood for an anvil, and another piece, say about
three inches through and cube-shaped, with true faces, between the
hammer and the shell head. Not more than 50 shells can be resized
by hand in an hour. Everyone who shoots much should have an arbor
press. Any straight-line press will do which provides a
multiplying leverage of ten to fifteen power, and has means of
fastening the die and withdrawing the shell from it. To extract
the shell, its head may be grasped by a suitable flanged base, or
(better) a straight punch, may extend through the die and up
against the head of the shell inside, and be anchored in such a
way that the return movement of the lever will push the shell out.
The shells must be oiled. If
they are not, they surely will stick and delay operations, while
many will tear in two. Too much oil, however, will cause the
wrinkling mentioned before. The best oil is a light
automobile-engine grade. To oil them properly and quickly, cover a
board a foot or more square with two or three thicknesses of
cheese-cloth. Dampen this with oil, then roll the shells tightly
on it under the hand.
Whether working by hand or
with a press, be careful to apply all pressure or force on a line
with the axis of the shell. Remember that a shell in a die is
almost putty under the force used, and is easily bent or otherwise
distorted. Careless pounding may ruin shells. Avoid closing or
reducing the flash-hole or primer pocket.
The Krag is one of the easiest
shells to resize, because the walls are thin. All the medium power
or 2,000-foot second class of cartridges are easily handled. The
.30-06 Springfield is harder (takes more power), but can be
resized with complete success. The .280 Ross, .30 Newton and other
large shells are too heavy of wall and too big to be sized
successfully in any hand press. Ease of resizing should be kept in
mind in selecting a calibre of rifle.
The man who never has resized
can not realize how much there is to be gained by doing it——in
accuracy and in satisfaction in loading. Once you do get to
resizing your shells full length, you will wonder how it was
possible to load any rifle ammunition without it.
Lesson 13:
To Crimp or Not and Oiling the Shells, No. 16, Jan
11, 1919 pg 309 [312]
THE necessity or desirability of crimping rifle shells when
reloaded is a matter not fully understood by many who prepare
their own ammunition. We know from experience that when no
crimping is done and the ammunition used in tubular magazines, the
bullets may be forced too deeply into the shells unless they are
held very tight by severely resized shell necks. The crimp being
nothing more than the mouth of the shell sharply bent inward, it
is bound to scrape the bullet more or less, hence the non-crimped
ammunition. generally gives smaller groups. When should a crimp be
used and when should the bullet be held friction tight, and why
not use the friction method entirely?
The facts are that accuracy depends on exact centering of the
bullet in the rifle bore, together with uniformity of resistance
the bullet offers to the powder gases. Crimping may hold the
bullet off to one side. Careful resizing of the shells is much
more likely to give accurate centering, and invariably would be
the method used were it not that the metal in the shells
crystallizes and splits when kept under tension about a bullet for
some time.
The Government used to load Krag and Springfield ammunition
without crimp, retaining the bullets by friction, but millions of
such cartridges were found useless when the packing boxes were
opened, on account of split shell necks. I have found many .250
Savage cartridges split when factory boxes were opened, and have
observed instances of the same thing in .30-30 cartridges of
several makes. The bullets will drop out of their own weight, and
give erratic results when fired .
The length of time required to produce such "fatiguing" of the
brass of shells varies with the tightness of the tension and the
nature of the alloy itself. Since the war began shell brass of
inferior quality has been used extensively, owing to other demands
on the best zinc and copper, and these newer shells stand less
abuse. Formerly few shells would split within a year, but two or
three months is a safer time to place as the limit now.
The matter of crimping or not therefore resolves itself to a large
extent into preparing the ammunition for storage until it will be
used. If this period is only a few weeks, the shell necks can be
reduced and the bullets seated friction tight. For target purposes
and for serious hunting this method should be used, as it gives
superior accuracy. If the ammunition is likely to be kept for
several months , and over winter or from season to season, the
shell necks should be no smaller than will take in the bullets
snugly, without tension, and sufficient crimp should be made to
prevent bullets dropping out or sliding back into the shells. It
takes a tight fit to hold bullets in place against the pressure of
a tubular magazine spring, and those who use rifles of that type
should make sure of proper resizing unless a crimp is used.
In passing, it should be mentioned that resizing dies seldom come
from the manufacturer in exactly right sizes. Most of them are too
tight to begin with, fortunately, and are easily opened out a
little. The use of metal-cased bullets demands one size or die,
and of cast bullets another size, for the same shell. Be careful
that you are getting the bullet-fit called for by the conditions
of your loading and shooting. There has been some discussion in
the magazines about keeping rifle shells free from oil, but little
has been said from any viewpoint except that of possible danger of
blowing open the bolt owing to increased back-thrust. This is only
one feature of a rather important matter.
Examination of factory cartridges will show a few of them with
cases oiled as they come to the user. Among them is the .280 Ross.
Attempts to shoot Ross .280 full-power cartridges with shells dry
will demonstrate that the shells will expand so much as to extract
hard almost every time, and they hardly can be forced back into
the rifle chamber. Exactly similar cartridges fired with oiled
shells will come out of the rifle freely and go back in again
without any trouble .
The explanation lies in this; the oiled shell sets back against
the bolt head freely. No part of the brass is subjected. to much
strain in any direction not supported immediately by the steel of
the rifle about it. But the sides of the dry shell develop enough
friction against the sides of the dry chamber, as soon as pressure
sets up, to prevent them slipping back. The pressure comes against
the shell head just the same, however, and since the brass is not
capable of resisting it, the shell head goes back against the bolt
head, and the sides of the shell (body) stretch. The net result is
a permanently lengthened shell, of greater diameter, owing to the
taper, at any point than it should be.
There is a critical point, in pressures apparently, past which
brass in rifle shells will stretch permanently. The normal
pressure of 51,000 pounds in the Springfield does not seem to
expand dry shells unduly, but the normal 55,000 to 60,000 pounds
of the Ross does. Oiling the shells, therefore, is a way of
conserving them from distortion when fired with high-pressure
charges, and to some extent does away with the necessity for
resizing. The strength of the rifle action always must be kept in
mind. Numerous authorities have pointed out that bursted
Springfields are anything but rare when the mobilubricant or other
grease used on bullets is allowed to film the rifle chamber.
Lesson
14: Shell Mouths and Rifle Chambers Vol 65, no 17
Jan 18, 1919 page 329 [332]
THOSE who reload will find a great many minor
details that are apparently insignificant, but that often become
the very points on which hinge results. One such detail is the
opening of the mouths of shells that have been crimped at the last
loading.
All factory ammunition has the
shell crimped tightly about the bullet to keep it from coming out
or from seating too deep. Back of this turned-in front edge, the
shell neck is large enough so that the bullet fits easily, without
any play, to be sure, but still without any friction or tension.
The reason the neck is not made small enough to grip the bullet
tight is because experience £ shown that the brass “fatigues” or
crystallizes, and splits of its own accord when subjected for a
period of months or years to tension about a bullet.
The abrupt crimp, which is
sharp on its inner edge, will not shoot out, even though the shell
behind it is greatly expanded when fired. Nor can it be pressed
out satisfactorily. Efforts to do so will take more out of one
side than another. The only satisfactory way of doing away with it
is to cut it out with a reamer, such as one of the regular fluted
revolving type, or with a sharp knife. The bevel of the cut should
not be too short nor too long—about 60 degrees is right—and the
cutting should stop before the outside edge of the mouth is made
sharp.
It will be seen that if the
reaming is done evenly all around the shell mouth, the bullet is
bound to start in correctly. On the other hand, if the crimp is
not reamed out, or is pressed out unevenly, the bullet likely will
start in slightly tilted, or perhaps out of true with the axis of
the shell. When not removed at all, the bullet will be shaved so
much as to destroy accuracy, or the edge of the shell will be
buckled, with the same effects on shooting. Into reamed shells
bullets, metal cased or cast, can be started lightly with the
fingers, then the cartridges can be handled through the bullet
seating tool at the rate of one to two thousand an hour.
The special Ideal shell reamer
is excellent for hand use, though no better, except for the wood
handle, than any fluted reamer of the right size to be found in
all good hardware stores. What is needed is a tool that has a
non-cutting end to extend into the shell mouth a quarter inch or
more. The end acts as a bearing and keeps the reamer true with the
shell. Such a tool can be shaped from a taper reamer in five
minutes on any emery wheel. The size to buy is the size nearest to
and larger than your caliber. Grind off the cutting edges for a
quarter inch, and have them begin with a 60 degree bevel. If there
are many shells to ream, it is worth while to mount this reamer on
a geared spindle run by crank, pedal or light power. A thousand or
more shells can then be worked over in an hour. A small emery
wheel gear will do, and the tool can be attached to its shaft
after the grinding wheel is removed, by using pieces of shells or
other metal tubing, or a block of hard wood properly bored. New
factory shells, when fired, should be kept separate from old
shells until they have been reamed.
Nearly everyone who has tried
to reload any lot of empty rifle shells in a number of rifles, has
found cartridges sticking in more ways than the user of any one
rifle would think possible. Even an occasional owner of one rifle
will find it has an abnormal chamber which requires him to give
the empty shells special treatment. The reason is that shells
expand according to the chamber they are fired in, and chambers
vary in half dozen ways.
Manufacturers of rifles bore
and finish the chambers within certain tolerances. Some permit
less variation than others, but there always is a certain error.
The tight chamber permits little expansion of its own shells, but
will not take in those fifed in looser guns. The ideas of
manufacturers differ also, as to the fit desirable, hence one make
of rifle regularly may be several thousandths of an inch smaller
in the neck of the chamber or elsewhere than another. How much the
variation amounts to it is not the purpose here to explain—it is
enough to point out that differences exist.
The chief points where shells
rub or stick are in the necks and about three eights of an inch
from the heads. The former is caused by trying to force expanded
shells into a tightly bored chamber neck. The latter often is the
result of an incident of the rifle making, in which the chambering
cutter is not forced quite home, leaving the whole chamber short;
and, in the case of tapered shells, the body diameter too small.
In such a chamber the shell usually is pinched near the head
before the neck slope is against the neck of the chamber. If
forced on in, the head still projects enough to prevent the bolt
from closing freely. Incidentally it may be said that such guns
should go back to the factory for attention, though they can be
used satisfactorily if the shells are reduced sufficiently in
resizing.
It will be seen that when
shells stick the remedy is now one kind of resizing and now
another. An individual reloading only his own shells can diagnose
the trouble and provide the one thing needed to correct it, but
for miscellaneous lots of shells, as when they are gathered up at
club shoots or among hunters, the only sure remedy is severe full
length resizing.
Lesson
15: Labeling Ammunition and Keeping Shooting Data
VARIATIONS in sight required for different lots of ammunition are so
great that a careful record of the exact nature of each lot should
be kept attached to it. Variations in power, for special purposes,
are not always to be recognized from outward appearance of loaded
ammunition, hence the facts should be on paper. Those who reload,
and there will be many beginners this year on account of
war-scarcities in factory ammunition, will particularly need
records. Their ammunition will vary even more than commercial
cartridges because of the wider range on the newer rifle powders
they use. I have a remnant or collection of odd lots of excellent
ammunition, a dozen or two cartridges in each lot, which probably
never will be used for target or hunting just because there are too
few cartridges of any one loading to spare any for test shooting,
and the paper dope on them has been mislaid. As it is, I don't know
where the bullets would strike .
A good illustration of the variation possible can be taken from
Springfield ammunition loaded with the ordinary standard pyro powder
( du Pont No. 20 ) and with du Pont No. 15 powder. The latter gives
a peculiar barrel-throb which invariably throws the bullet several
inches lower at any range, though maintaining more than standard
velocity. Another illustration is the Krag cartridge loaded with
220-grain bullet and W. A. powder, and with 150-grain bullet and any
of several suitable powders. One would have to waste several such
cartridges on the range before getting into the black, except by
luck; and they would be useless in the woods without special sight
adjustment. Hunting cartridges like the 30-30 and .22 High Power,
and even the 38-55 , may be loaded with Lightning powder, duPont No.
18 or No. 16- and each loading gives its own peculiar sighting and
other requirements. Reduced loads in high power rifles, which have
come to stay, almost always demand increased elevation over the
standard, some of them demand right or left windage, while every
loading is a law in itself as to range and power.
Factory cartridges can be kept in original boxes , and the boxes
marked. Reloaded cartridges may be kept in old boxes, though that
practice is likely to result in confusion. I have found the best
plan to be this: Several small bags are made of light canvas, denim,
galatea or other drill- like cloth, with tie-strings sewed to the
bag mouths. When a lot of cartridges is loaded , they go into a bag
and on the tie-string goes an ordinary shipping tag with the
necessary data.
The items to mark down are usually as follows :
Kind of powder, including maker's lot number.
Weight of powder charge.
Weight of bullet , if unusual.
Date of loading.
Special purpose intended for.
Velocity, probable or known.
Sight adjustment at different ranges .
When these facts are known about the ammunition, a rifleman has
taken a long step toward being able to make fives on the N.R.A.
targets day after day, and to hit crows or small animals at ranges
beyond 100 yards .
It pays to keep nearly every target one shoots at, no matter how
poor the group or how far off center the sight adjustments seem to
be. There will come many times when such records of performance of
the rifle or ammunition will be of great value.
The target shows exactly what can be depended on under the
conditions. It may be a question of size of group, or possibly
whether a certain rifle is maintaining its accuracy . Different lots
of ammunition can be compared. The variations in striking point of
bullets caused by different holds, such as resting the barrel, off
hand position, and using the sling, are brought out without any
guesswork; likewise the variations caused by using lighter and
heavier bullets , at lower and higher velocities, and with different
powders. All these variations will be met with in the use of any
rifle, and unless they are understood and allowance made for them,
the rifle will disappoint one.
The 30 Springfield, for instance, regularly shoots the 150- grain
bullet with sight adjustment indicated on the leaf sight . But
cartridges are made for this caliber which use bullets up to 220
grains in weight, and velocities are secured ranging from about
2,200 feet to 3,000 feet. Plainly it is necessary to know where each
particular load will send each particular bullet before any
satisfactory results can be obtained. The .30-30 is loaded with 160-
and 170-grain bullets, each showing a different striking point but
the average owner of this calibered rifle never has learned the
difference. The 38-55, to cite another common example, is loaded
with black and smokeless powder, and a quite different sight
adjustment is demanded for each.
Now or again every rifle owner tries out the various loads that he
can buy or prepare himself, and if he will take the time to keep his
targets and mark on them the proper notes at the time , his rifle
will be a much more effective tool than it otherwise could be. The
targets can be printed ones, with black bullseyes, but in many
instances can be something else to an advantage. I have been using
sheets of plain 8 by 11 inch typewriter paper for years to catch the
bullets, up to 100 yards. Over this can be tacked a regular printed
target, which can be shot at for group after group, or an aiming
bull can be made of cloth of any color cut round or any other shape.
The cloth bull makes a very satisfactory arrangement. The paper
behind should be given a circle in pencil to show the location of
the bull fired at .
On each target, at once after it is fired on and before the details
are forgotten or confused with those of other groups, the following
data should be written :
This data can be made up in a form about three inches long and two
inches deep, and a rubber stamp can be made. The advantage of the
stamped form is that it prevents any important features. being
overlooked, just as the keeping of the target itself prevents the
riflemen who shoots and is satisfied at the time with the result,
from forgetting or losing track of essential details .