It is important to remember that handloads are not static items; they can be affected by changes in ambient temperature, no matter what the advertising departments may hope to have you believe.

The effect of ambient temperature on cartridge performance is often considered by shooters who venture out into extreme environments. While powder performance at high ambient temperatures is an often discussed topic, primer performance at these same extremes is less commonly examined.

To test the effect of temperature on primers, we chose three magnum rifle primers: the CCI 250 Magnum Rifle Primer, the Winchester Large Rifle Magnum and the Federal 215M Large Rifle Match primers and loaded them into .338 Lapua Magnums loaded under laboratory controls.

The .338 Lapua Magnums were loaded with 300 grain Sierra Match Kings using 95 grains of a non-canister propellant commonly used by the larger OEMs. Testing consisted of three sets of twenty cartridges loaded identically except for their primers. Half of each group was kept at 70° F while the other ten were placed in a laboratory oven set to 140° F. for three hours. Only the primers differed between tested groups.

The control group averages were very close between the three tested primers. The maximum average spread was ten feet-per-second between the fastest and slowest loads. By pressure the difference was 1060 psi between the highest and lowest loads, a difference of 1.8%. The primer that produced the highest average pressure and velocity in this loading was Winchester’s Large Rifle Magnum at 2707 fps and 59,720 psi and the lowest was the CCI 250 which clocked 2697 fps and 58,660 psi.

Adding heat also added pressure and velocity to all of the rounds tested at 140° F. The most consistent of the three tested groups was powered by Federal 215M primer which showed an increase of 12.7% in pressure and a velocity increase of 2.7%. Even though it produced the most stable results, pressures were still quite high registering 66,190 psi.

The load using the CI 250 primer showed an increase of 9,570 psi (a 16.3% increase) over the 70° control group, averaging 68,230 psi. There was also a 3.6% increase in velocity from 2,697 to 2,793 fps.

The Winchester WLRM primer produced the largest increases, with velocity moving up to 2,820 fps and pressure increasing to an average 70,510 psi, an 18% increase in pressure.

What Does it Mean?

Pressure increases associated with higher ambient temperatures are common with most propellants, especially at ranges above 120° F. Cartridges will begin to cook off as their internal temperatures reach about 300° F. In our test, the main pressure increase comes from the higher temperature’s effect on powder combustion, not from differences in primer ignition characteristics. However, since the only difference between the groups was created by primer selection, it is interesting to note the changes in pressure.

Handloaders tend to overlook differences between primer ignition characteristics and how they may effect pressures on otherwise well-tested loads. It is important to remember that handloads are not static items; they can be affected by changes in ambient temperature, no matter what the advertising departments may hope to have you believe. These pressure changes associated with primer ignition characteristics highlight a rule that all handloaders should know and follow: Whenever components are changed from a known handload, it is important to return to the starting load and work it back up watching for obvious pressure signs. We all know it. Looking at the differences between primers should remind us why.

What went Wrong?

Small die setting mistakes can lead to problems that plague handloaders. Here are five common mistakes and how to fix them.

Dimples in Case Shoulders
Shoulder dimples in bottle neck cartridges are unsightly but relatively benign issues that can be easily remedied. The problem is cause by excess case lubrication during the resizing process which hydraulically forms dents.

Correcting the problem is simple. Clean out the die with a swab, reassemble and then use less lubrication during the sizing step. The dimples will blow out during firing, returning the case to its original configuration.

Use enough lube to ensure the case will easily enter the resizing die. If the case seems sticky going in, stop and  re-lube. Dimples aren’t much of a problem, but removing a case stuck in a resizing die can be a real bearcat.

Crushed Cartridge Shoulder
Crushed or set-back shoulders are very common and caused by a couple of mistakes. They can cause problems with chambering as well as accuracy because the issue may affect headspace. Glancing at the problem, the resizing process would seem like a likely culprit, but it is usually associated with bullet seating.

The problem occurs when enough downward force is applied to the case neck during seating or crimping that it forces the shoulder to bulge within the seating die. There are two main causes for this problem. The first is neck tension.

As part of the sizing process, a button is passed through the case neck, leaving it several thousandths smaller than the bullet diameter. This neck tension is what holds a bullet in place. If the neck tension is too great (meaning the sizer button is too small) the force needed to insert a bullet can crush the cartridge shoulder. Replacing the sizing button may be necessary.

A much more common reason for shoulder set-back is excessive crimping. Seating dies are designed to crimp the case neck into the bullet to increase neck tension. The deeper a cartridge is pushed into the die, the more pronounced the crimp becomes. Setting a die to crimp heavily, or having cases with over-long necks, can crush the shoulder.

The best way to avoid crushed shoulders is to trim cartridges to the same length so they receive the same crimping force within the die. The other options are to reduce crimp pressure, or in the case of most bottleneck cartridges, forgo it completely and rely on neck tension to hold the bullet in place.

Over Crimping
Here is a simple rule: Crimping can be a good thing, especially in magnum pistol cartridges.

Here is another simple rule: Too much crimp is always a bad thing.

The line between a good, heavy crimp for a hard recoiling load and a bad crimp can be quickly crossed during the seating process. A good crimp locks the bullet into the cartridge, preventing it from “jumping” forward in the case under heavy recoil. Crimping a magnum is a good handloading practice. Crimping it too much makes trouble.

Over-crimping damages the bullet, even if it has a cannelure. This will affect accuracy. Extreme over-crimping will damage the case body, collapsing the case body (or shoulder if present) to the point that it will not chamber.

Correcting over-crimp requires a simple adjustment to the seater die. Back the die out and then re-set it on another charged case. Once the bullet is set to the correct depth, adjust the seater die body down until the proper crimp is set. Finally set the seater down onto the seated bullet and return to loading.

Another very good option is to crimp using another die after the bullet has been set to the correct depth. This adds another step, but it is the best method for producing high quality handloads.

Belling Issues
A lot of misery is caused because handloaders do not flair their straight-walled cases enough. Flaring (also called “Belling” by hip handloaders like us) opens the case mouth like a funnel, allowing the bullet to be seated slightly inside, rather than on the case mouth.

There are many cautionary tales told regarding case belling, owing to the fact that unnecessary working of brass reduces case life. The result is that handloaders under-bell their cases and end up damaging bullets, ruining cases, hurting accuracy and making a mess inside their dies. Don’t bell the cases too much, but bell them enough. Here are some simple guidelines regarding case mouth bell:

Lead bullets need more flare than jacketed bullets.
Shaving of lead or jacket material is sign that more bell is needed.
If jacketed bullets damage the case wall, increasing the flare may help.
If the case drags in the seater die, it is over-belled.
If the bullets seems canted to one side in the loaded case, decrease the flare.

Sometimes going too fast will result in a bullet that is misaligned before the cartridge is run up into the seater die.  They will produce results like the one  shown on the left.  Just be aware that an occasional damaged cartridge like this one may not be directly related to an under-belled case mouth.  It may have been careless placement of the bullet instead.

Like most handloading skills, judging proper case bell is a skill that develops over time. For beginners, it is easier to simply bell the case large enough to easily accept a bullet and small enough that it will fit into the seater die without scraping. The increased case stress is worth the resulting well-seated bullet. Over time, setting the belling die will become more practiced and the amount of flare reduced to match the individual loading project.

Bullet Seated to Deeply
There is a difference here between rifles and pistols when it comes to the question of bullets that have been seated too deeply into the case. Rifles are more forgiving than small capacity, high pressure pistol cases, but neither case is good news for the handloader. The next rule applies to handloading across the board, but especially here: IF IT LOOKS FUNNY, DON’T SHOOT IT.

The 9mm Parabellum round shown has a 147 grain bullet seated too deeply into the case. It has distorted the case body above the web, producing a distinct bulge. The bullet bearing surface has been pushed below the case mouth, leaving a visible gap.

Internal changes within this case are significant. 9mm Parabellum cartridges operate at a SAAMI maximum of 35,000 psi, which is the same pressure threshold as a .357 Remington Magnum. What makes the 9mm Para especially nasty in this situation is that it uses faster powders in a smaller space than the .357 Magnum. It is very sensitive to changes in case volume. In this example, the bullet has taken up case volume that would have been available to allow gas expansion before the bullet began to move. The bullet is also compressing the powder charge, which can radically affect burn rates. The pictured cartridge will have more pressure than one using the correct Cartridge Over-all Length and the same powder charge. If you are confronted with this problem, salvage the components or safely dispose of the cartridge. Don’t shoot it and don’t keep it in a box of duds for your beneficiaries to find after you have passed on. This type of mistake is potentially dangerous.

Small mistakes in handloading are common and most are easily remedied. Some, like pressure dimples in rifle cartridges are unsightly but harmless. Others may damage cases and components beyond salvage, but that is part of challenge of learning a new hobby. Please, let caution rule your handloading choices. I you suspect something is wrong, safely dispose of it and move on. Some mistakes are trivial, but others ruin guns, hands and eyes. Always put safety first.

One of the major goals has been to come up with something that is a significant boost in performance over the 5.56, but requires the least amount of proprietary hardware to make it work.  Enter the .277 Wolverine.  All that it needs is a simple barrel swap.  Virtually everything else is box stock 5.56 AR-15 hardware.  You can’t get any simpler than that.

by John Hull

Copyright 2014

Nobody knows what the first wildcat cartridge was, or who came up with it.  We don’t know what the motivation was behind it.  But, we can say with certainty that wildcatting cartridges has been around almost as long as metallic cartridges and reloaders.

From left to right: 5.56 NATO, .277 Wolverine, 300 AAC Blackout and 6.8 SPC

The reasons for wildcatting are as many as there are cartridges.  Improved performance is probably the biggest one, but it could also be filling a gap in the caliber lineup for a particular type of firearm.  It could be because its obsolete and no longer in production, so you have to use a different case to get to the one you want.  It could just as easily be ‘just because’ nobody else has done it yet.

Since most wildcatters are individuals working alone, it is easy to end up with many versions of the same basic idea, all blissfully unaware that others had the same idea and ran with it.  Some designers, like P. O. Ackley, had ideas that were unique enough to become famous, even if the result didn’t always  result in much improvement to the original.  The realm of the wildcatters has mostly been bolt rifles, at least up until the advent of the AR-15.   That’s where our story begins.

If you have paid attention even a little bit, you know that the popularity of  the ‘black rifle’ or ‘modern sporting rifle’ has exploded in the last ten years.  It is, by far, the most popular rifle in use today and there is a bewildering array of variations in both hardware, and calibers.  If you are new to MSRs (modern sporting rifles), deciding what to buy, where to buy it, and what caliber to get can be daunting.

The default is, and always has been, your basic 5.56×45 caliber, A2/M4 clone.  There are dozens of places to buy parts if you wish to build your own, and there are tons of surplus ammo available at reasonable prices.  But, as the Army has found out since it first introduced the M-16 50 years ago, the 5.56 has limitations.  Even with the improvements in ammunition over the last five decades, those limitations have spawned a robust community of wildcatters trying to improve on the original.  The result is literally dozens of cartridges ranging for .20 caliber to .45 caliber, and in power from the .22 Long Rifle, to the .458 Socom (roughly equivalent to the .45-70).  This is all in the AR-15 platform.  It is hard to get through a week without seeing something about a new ‘cat, whether for the AR-15 or the AR-10.

One of the major goals has been to come up with something that is a significant boost in performance over the 5.56, but requires the least amount of proprietary hardware to make it work.  Enter the .277 Wolverine.  All that it needs is a simple barrel swap.  Virtually everything else is box stock 5.56 AR-15 hardware.  You can’t get any simpler than that.

The Interview

The Wolverine is the brain child of Mark Kexel of Mad Dog Weapon Systems.  He started out with a 6.8 SPC II and fell in love with the .277 caliber – with good reason, because the 6.8 is the premier deer and hog hunting caliber in use in the AR platform and #2 in sales behind the 5.56.  He wanted something that would give a big increase to the performance of the AR over the same ranges and uses as the 5.56, but with as few changes in hardware as he could get away with.  All that is required to create the Wolverine is to run 5.56 brass into the sizer die to open the neck to .277 caliber and form the new shoulder.  Then you trim the excess neck to the required length.  After that, it is just like any other case.  Chamfer and deburr the neck, prime the case, load powder, and seat the bullet.

I sat down with Mark to find out more about how he got the idea for the Wolverine, and how he shepherded it from paper to the rifle range.

Tell us a bit of your personal history, how you got into shooting, and what skills you brought to the hobby.

When I was very small, perhaps 6, my Dad let me shoot his .22 rifle off of his shoulder while he knelt down so that it was at the right height for me.  He then bought me a BB gun, and I used to shoot at pie tins tied to the backyard fence that bordered a forest preserve.  I grew up reading Field & Stream, and Guns & Ammo.  I bought my first shotgun when I was 18, my first handgun when I was 21.  I lived in Illinois, and there is no rifle hunting for Deer in Illinois.  I bought my first rifle at around 22, and it was an SKS because that’s what I could afford.  I still miss that rifle, it shot pretty well actually.  The only skill I may have brought to the hobby was patience, but I’m not so sure that’s a skill.  Like everyone else, I started with no skills, and was taught, and taught myself along the way as well.  Although my participation in the sport has had its peaks and valleys, due to the normal challenges in life getting in the way sometimes, it is my passion.

You’re only 40 years old, and relatively new to handloading and cartridge design by your own admission. What was it that sparked the desire to jump into the deep end of the pool, so to speak, and create your own cartridge?

I am extremely new to hand-loading; have only been doing so for just under a year at this point.  I have the same amount of experience in cartridge design as I have in hand-loading – practically none.  The history of the .277 Wolverine goes back to my youth.  The cartridge was conceptualized after reading so many articles about the pros and cons of both the 5.56 NATO cartridge and the 7.62x39mm cartridge.  They both had their attributes and their deficiencies.  I’ve always thought to myself that there should be an “in between” cartridge, but up until recently I had no idea on how to go about making it happen.  I followed the development of the 6.8SPC and the 300 Blackout, and neither of them were exactly what I was looking for.  I like the performance of the 6.8SPC and the versatility of the 300 Blackout.  After researching both of them extensively, and having a lot of conversations with many, many experienced professionals and enthusiasts, I decided to move forward with a new cartridge design that would hopefully combine the attributes of both, and dismiss the deficiencies.

Once you got started on creating the Wolverine, what were some of the major hurdles you had to overcome?

This is an easy question to answer.  My biggest hurdle was ignorance.  Put more gently, a lack of experience.  Now that I’ve done it once I will save myself a lot of headaches, and money, on the other projects I plan to undertake.  Thankfully, I had a lot of folks out there ready and willing to help.  I needed a reamer drawing, and Harrison from AR Performance came through.  I needed referrals to reamer and gauge makers, and again he came through.  I needed input, feedback, conceptual cartridge drawings, projected performance calculations, and many, many more things I didn’t even know I would need.  My friends in the shooting community all stepped up and helped out.  We (the shooting sports enthusiast community), are a very bonded group and most people are willing to help another to support the sport and developments within.  Financing the development of the cartridge was not easy either.  It costs a lot of money to get reamers, gauges, tests barrels, loading supplies, and other ancillary items together to undertake a project like this.  Thankfully, I have a good job and even better, an understanding wife who believed in me and what I was doing.  (Thanks Jill!)

You’ve also got a website, www.maddogweapons.com, selling Wolverine components, and high quality AR parts for the 6.8 SPC, and the 5.56 calibers. How is that going?

Yes, I have an actual company now.  Mad Dog Weapon Systems, Inc. (MDWS).  Things are going pretty well.  It’s only my first year so I’ll be looking to grow and expand as the market allows.  Most of the items I currently carry hover around AR upper-half building, as I thought it would be nice to provide a one-stop-shop experience for those looking to build their own .277 Wolverine, 5.56, 6.8, .308 and 300BLK uppers.  Organically, MDWS has started to grow and therefore started offering a few more items in the area of reloading supplies and tools, lower half parts including triggers, some furniture items, etc.

Now that initial load development is over, and Wolverine barrels are in the hands of shooters, have there been any surprises? What are your impressions of its performance so far? How have results with the production barrels (ARP) matched up to the testing with the pre-production (PacNor) test barrel?

I am quite satisfied, excited even, with the .277 Wolverine’s performance.  It has exceeded my expectations and those of most shooters.  Testing is fun; you have the barrel you have, and the powders and other components that you can get at the time, and go “figure it out”.  Thankfully, I had a lot of help there too.  A very good friend of mine who can shoot off of his back porch agreed to do the initial load development and cartridge testing for me – thanks, Wade!.  I currently live in a Chicago suburb, and it just doesn’t lend itself as a proper venue for cartridge testing.  The test barrel was accurate, and so are the production barrels.  They behave differently as far as pressure and velocity results go, but it was to be expected as the test barrel was from a different manufacturer and had a different rifling profile.  Our production barrels are all currently utilizing 5R or 5-groove rifling, which seems to be ideal.

Where are you headed with the Wolverine in the near future? What long term goals do you have for it? What have you learned during this process that you didn’t anticipate.

I feel the possibilities for the .277 Wolverine are endless.  I truly feel it is the best all-around cartridge for the standard, 5.56 NATO AR15 platform using all standard parts, except the barrel, including all standard 5.56 mags without any modification needed.  The .277 Wolverine would make an excellent self-defense and CQB/Mid-Range combat cartridge.  It uses .277 bullets effectively, ranging from 80 to 110 grains.  It’s an excellent hunting cartridge for medium/large game out to 300 yards, and small game even further out.  It uses abundant 5.56 brass as a parent case and has many options in powders and projectiles.  Being built this month is a lightweight “youth” bolt action rifle in .277 Wolverine.  I’m really looking forward to seeing the results from that project.  For the recoil sensitive hunter, it just may be an ideal solution.

I’ve arranged for sized and ready to load brass to be available to the public with loaded ammunition coming soon.  As the  of shooters grows, so will its traction.  It’s only a matter of time before some of the large rifle and ammunition manufacturers take notice.

What I’ve learned from this project is that the learning never stops, and if you are passionate about something do whatever it takes to see it through – it doesn’t happen overnight.

Note:  Since this was written, two companies have come online with formed, ready to load brass, and factory loaded ammunition.  Mark has also started a Wolverine Forum for all things Wolverine at mdws.forumchitchat.com.  The future for the Wolverine is wide open!

Loading Table

Disclaimer

Caution:  Use of this load data is at your own risk.  All reasonable care has been taken to ensure it is safe, but we have no control over how it is used.  Not responsible for typos or printing errors.

The Wolverine is a bit different than other wildcats.  It is based on a case which has only about 25 grains powder capacity, and it has high expansion ratio, so the powders that work best are on the faster side of the medium burning rates.  It is an extremely efficient cartridge, so when you get to the top of the pressure ladder working up loads, it lets you know without any hesitation.

The best powders, with a couple of exceptions, are ball type.  AA-2200, AA-1680, and 1200-R are probably the best and cover the range of bullet weights easily.  One that has surprised everybody is AA-5744, which is an extruded type powder.  It is primarily used in many of the old black powder rounds because of its bulky nature, but it has turned in some very high velocities with 90 grain bullets particularly.

As with most AR calibers, pressure signs consist of flattened primers, swipes, ejector hole marks, sometimes pierced primers, and stretched primer pockets.  Because of the nature of gas guns, all of those except for stretched primer pockets can also be caused by timing issues such as over-gassing, or by headspace* issues resulting from improper sizing.  Knowing the difference is particularly important for anyone loading a wildcat.

A couple of things that you can use as a quick check for the mechanical side of things will help you decide whether its a pressure issue or a hardware issue.  If the rounds are ejecting at approximately 3 o’clock to 4 o’clock consistently, your gas port is OK and thus timing is good.  If the ejection pattern is more toward 1 o’clock, you are over-gassed due to either an oversize port or a carbine gas system.  The easiest fix is to install an adjustable gas block.  If cases are ejecting past 4 o’clock and the bolt doesn’t lock back on an empty mag or doesn’t pick a round from the mag, you are low on gas pressure and probably short stroking.  So, keep an eye on things as you proceed before you start trying to work up to the high end performance loads.

Keep good records of your test loads, and use a chronograph to track everything.  Some combinations won’t show pressure until you go over the line.  Watching the chronograph numbers helps by letting you know when velocity starts to level off, but primer pockets are the secret here.  When you seat a new primer, pay close attention to the force needed to seat it.  When pockets start to expand, it is readily apparent especially using a hand priming tool.  If pockets start to expand, back off at least half a grain below the charge causing the expansion, and call that your ‘max safe charge’.  Throw away any cases that start to exhibit stretching.

5744 does an outstanding job with 90 grain, but AA-2200 seems to be the best overall for all weights.  It is predictable, and superbly accurate.  The use of mag primers is highly recommended, and nearly all loads were developed with either CCI-41, or CCI-450 primers.

* Headspace in this context refers to cartridge fit in the chamber.  Nominal shoulder set back on sizing is .003” based on fired case dimension, measured from base to shoulder datum line.

 For load data provided by the Author, click here: .277 Wolverine Data   

Making one cartridge into another is the next skill step up from basic handloading. It can be as easy as creating Ackley Improved cartridges, which are often created merely by fire-forming the parent case, to the more complex, multi-step, processes required to make the dreaded .17 Squirrel.

Somewhere in the middle in terms of difficulty is making .300 Blackout cartridges from .223 Remington cases. So far, 300 Blackout cartridges are still kind of rare compared to the .223/5.56 cases that often litter public shooting ranges. Using those, you can make your own .300 Blackouts for free; all it takes is a form die, a hacksaw, a file and bit of spare time on your hands.

The .300 Blackout is based on a .221 Fireball case necked up to .30 caliber. With its 1.368″ case, Blackouts can be made from any of the .222 Remington family of cartridges. Because the.223 Remington/5.56 Nato is by far the most common of this cartridge group, it’s the one most often used as a parent case, but any of the others will work as well. The Fireball just takes a lot less trimming.

The first step is to reduce the .223 from its standard 1.750″ to 1.760″ length to the Blackout’s shorter 1.368″ dimension. To do this, lightly lube the case body with sizing wax and run it up into the sizing die. The neck and shoulder portion will protrude above the top of the die. Using a hack saw, remove this portion of the case. Follow up by filing the cut down smooth with the top of the die.

Chamfer the case mouth and rim with a de-burring tool and then measure the neck dimension. When forming one case from another, especially when the case body is being re-formed into a new case neck, it is important to measure case neck thickness and compare it to either a loaded factory round or to brass that has been fired in your chamber.   The danger here is that thicker brass from deeper in the case body may change neck dimensions on loaded rounds, hindering the bullet release because there is no room for neck expansion inside the chamber.

The SAAMI approved .300 AAC Blackout owes its development to J.D. Jones and his trademarked line of “Whisper” cartridges. In order to get around Jones’ trademark, various reamers were made with designations like .300/221 Fireball, .300 Fireball and 7.62X35mm. There are neck diameter variations between reamers which may create pressure problems for cartridges with larger neck dimensions.

The best way to check any non-standard Blackout/Whisper chamber is by measuring the cartridge neck of a round fired in your chamber. Remove it as quickly as possible after the rifle is fired and use a set of calipers to get a good measurement. Once you have that dimension add .001″ to it to account for brass spring back. This bit of arithmetic should provide a good idea of your neck dimension.

For a clean release, a loaded cartridge’s neck dimension should be at least .003″ (.0015 per side) smaller than the chamber dimension. So, if your case neck measures .334″ fresh from the chamber, including the addition of .001″ to account for spring back, a loaded neck dimension at or below .331″ will give a clean release in your chamber.

A quick check of a Barnes factory round showed a neck dimension of .330″ which seems a good standard for handloaded cartridges in this caliber. Our loaded rounds that were made from Winchester brass (WCC NATO 08) came to .330″ without any outside neck turning. This is not always going to be the case. Make sure that you check your case neck dimension frequently, especially when loading with mixed headstamp brass.

In all, making the .300 Blackouts is a simple job given the right tools. We would like to thank Redding for their fine Form and Trim Series D die #83432. It made the job a snap.

Take care and Happy Loading,

Western Powders

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It was a Winchester Model 54 .22 Hornet. There had been holes drilled all over the left side of the receiver where previous owner(s) had at one time installed a Lyman type peep sight and then at some other time, a side mounted scope. Cosmetically, this gun was uglier than Manuel Noriega.

By Jim Waddell

No other caliber I’ve ever owned, or developed loads for, has been more frustrating or given me more pure satisfaction than this little cartridge that was new when Calvin Coolidge was in office.

It was somewhere around the turn of this century (Y2K….Remember that doomsday event that wasn’t?) when I decided I wanted a .22 Hornet. I started reading about the caliber in gun magazines and in the various loading manuals.

Aside from my newest favorite hunting venture being at least one annual trip to Nevada and Oregon for ground squirrels, I was having problems with the destructive little creatures here at home where I grow almonds.

When I purchased this property over 20 years ago it was well away from the closest community but here in the central part of California, nothing that’s considered rural stays that way. The nearest city continued to creep closer until now the city limit is just across the road from my property.

It’s still legal to shoot here but with a very popular dog park across the road, with many of its inhabitants being animal lovers, I envision future problems if I don’t tread carefully in my shooting activities.

With that thought in mind I knew I needed a rifle that wouldn’t make the neighbors tremble when it went off, hence the hornet with its relatively mild report. A .22 WMR would have done the job but it wasn’t for me. I don’t do rimfires. I love working up loads for new rifles and calibers as much as I do shooting.

I purchased a Ruger No 1 single shot keeping in mind the general consensus around our gun club; this model can either be a shooter or a dud. I decided to take the risk as I was unable to find anything else at the time.

Starting off, I purchased several boxes of Winchester 46 grain factory loads and after installing a Weaver Classic scope, I headed to the range. I wasn’t very satisfied as I couldn’t get any five shot groups with this loading to print any better than two inches at 100 meters. Most groups were three inches or more.

My next step was to stock up on dies, primers, powder and bullets. I believe the first bullet maker to come out with the ballistically superior polymer tip was Hornady with their V-Max. If this bullet was on the market at the time I wasn’t aware of it and I first bought the traditional bullet for this caliber which was a rather blunt soft point, the 45 grainer made by Sierra.

At my bench, I assembled an assortment of loads to test, using three or four different powders. I didn’t fare any better with these loads than I did with Winchesters. I started wondering about that Ruger rifle and was contemplating all the things I could do to make it shoot better. I saw where the gun store had some Remington 45 grain pointed soft points so I grabbed a box to see if it would make a difference. It didn’t. At the range the Remington load performed about the same as the others. I decided to shelve this project and think about it awhile.

Less than two weeks passed when I got a call from an acquaintance who owns a gun store in a neighboring community. (I had previously put the word out I was looking for a hornet, new or used). He told me he scored big on an estate sale and purchased several older rifles and other shooting supplies. Among them was a bolt action .22 Hornet. I told him to not let it out of his sight until I got there.

Less than 45 minutes later, I was holding what some folks would consider one of the ugliest rifles they had ever seen. As I checked the action, I had visions that this rifle and I could become great friends if it hadn’t been “shot out” or damaged other than its appearance.

It was a Winchester Model 54 .22 Hornet. The bluing was so-so, the stock had as many dings and dents as you would expect on a rifle that was made in the late 20’s or early 30’s and had been carried in a scabbard on horseback or bouncing around in some rancher’s pick-up for 20 or 30 years. There had been holes drilled all over the left side of the receiver where previous owner(s) had at one time installed a Lyman type peep sight and then at some other time, a side mounted scope. Cosmetically, this gun was uglier than Manuel Noriega.

All of this “ugliness” told the shop owner the rifle was probably going to take up needed space in his rifle rack. I said I might be interested and asked him how much. He said, “make me an offer.” Jokingly, I said, “fifty bucks.” He came back, “how ‘bout seventy?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Even if this rifle was by now a smoothbore, it was worth a lot more than that so I acted like I was tentative and waited a few seconds then said, “Ok, I’ll go seventy.”

After all of the shooting, reloading and shooting some more with that Ruger, by now I had a nice supply of brass on hand. I had read that hornet rifles made prior to World War II all came with .223 diameter bores and that those manufactured after had .224 diameter bores. With the .224 being the diameter of most, if not all modern .22 caliber center fire rifles, finding .223 bullets could be a challenge.

Having read earlier, Sierra was and I believe still is the only major bullet maker offering that diameter bullet and it’s made specifically for the older hornet rifles. I asked Joe, the owner of that particular gun shop if he had any of the Sierra .223’s. He did, he had one box that had been on the shelf for a long time, judging by the cardboard container with the metal, rivet type edges that were characteristic of Sierra’s packaging prior to coming out with the plastic boxes they have now.

So, home I went, accompanied by my new/old Winchester rifle and a box of Sierra bullets. I had several different powders on hand that were suitable for this caliber. Mostly they were the same ones I had been using for years for high performance jacketed bullet loads in the .357 and .44 Magnums.

As I went to seat the first bullet, it practically dropped into the case with zero resistance or bullet pull. Scratching my head as to why, it dawned on me my dies came with a .224 diameter expander ball and I was trying to load .223 bullets. I would have to find something else to do until RCBS sent me the correct expander.

I didn’t have to wait long as the folks at RCBS are big on customer service. In less than a week I was back at the loading bench with the correct set-up. I assembled several loads with Winchester 296, Alliant 2400 and IMR 4227. At the time, I had not been introduced to the Accurate or Ramshot line of powders.

After mounting a scope and bore-sighting it, I brought the scope close to zero using a few factory loads I had left over from the Ruger experiment. As I shot a couple, I became a bit apprehensive as the first two shots were about two inches apart. I adjusted the scope and got it sort of where I wanted it when I ran out of factory loads. It was close enough to start working on my handloads for accuracy.

The first three-shot group was somewhere between three and four inches. My heart sank. “Ok, maybe it doesn’t like that powder.” The next group practically duplicated the first with another powder. “Maybe it doesn’t like that powder either.” So I tried a third. All of these first loadings, I weighed just over the minimum listed in whatever loading manual I was using at the time. My thought in doing it this way was there might be a chance one particular powder might jump out at me as the one this rifle preferred. That didn’t happen and the third three-shot group was all over the place.

“It’s the primer, has to be.” I wasn’t ready to believe that ugly old rifle was all used up. So I played around with some more loads and switched to another primer. I was using the common brands of standard small rifle primers. Back out to the range and it was the same old story. All of the groups I shot were no better than 3 inches, tops.

The next logical step was to have the bore examined and have it checked for floating and then have it bedded. I thought I just might cork a few cases with some .224 bullets I had on hand for my .22-250, not expecting anything positive to come out of that little experiment. I used the lightest weight bullets I had left on the shelf which were 50 grain Sierra spitzers. When I went to seat the first bullet, I succeeded in smashing the case like an accordion. I had forgotten to stick the .224 expander ball back in the sizing die and the .22 Hornet, like the .44-40, has a very thin-walled case neck.

Realizing the twist of this Model 54 Winchester was 1 in 16″, I figured a 50 grain bullet was just too much for the rifling to stabilize. I tried it anyway and guess what……… the three shots were right at one inch. This was just too good to be true so I tried it again, this time with five shots–just a tad over MOA.

Full of encouragement, I went shopping for some more bullets. As I was looking at my choices, I spotted the Hornady 40 grain V-Max. I had recently read about that revolutionary new bullet design that was really increasing the ballistic capability over the older pointed soft points.

Purchasing several boxes of the V-Max bullets, I ran that old rifle through the wringer. Using the powders listed earlier, none of the three-shot or five-shot groups I put through the gun measured over an inch. Several groups were well under an inch. I would find the groups starting to spread out the longer I sat there at the bench so I attribute that to my age and weariness more than anything else.

Ultimately, the rifle likes the slower burning powders. For several years I shot the V-Max with IMR 4227. It didn’t seem to matter what primer I used. It performed nicely with the CCI 400, Winchester Small Rifle or Federal Small Rifle.

Then I read an article on the hornet where the author got the best results with small pistol primers. In his opinion, they were milder and did not tend to start the bullet on its way before the powder charge was fully ignited. He claimed this was necessary as the extremely thin walls of the hornet’s case did not keep the bullet in place long enough to ensure complete ignition.

I read somewhere else that the Remington 6 ½ is the mildest small rifle primer so I tried some of them. I got very favorable results and still use that primer today. I compared my top load sparked with the Remington primer against a Winchester Small Pistol. Shooting ten shot groups with each, I was amazed at the difference. The load with the pistol primer grouped around three inches. The load with the small rifle primer stayed under MOA. Maybe the author’s theory worked for him but not in this rifle.

Since I started using the Hornady V-Max a decade or so ago, Sierra and Nosler have both been producing their versions of the polymer tipped bullets. This old Winchester 54 doesn’t particularly care which of the three I use. Awhile back I ran a test using my time tested load of 11.5 grains of IMR 4227, comparing it with Hodgdon’s Lil Gun and Accurate 1680. I haven’t used a chronograph as I don’t really concern myself with which load clocks the fastest. I want the best accuracy. If I can keep my groups under an inch at 100 yards then my hit percentage on squirrels at 200 yards will still be very high with this caliber.

The results of this last test were pretty clear. Accurate 1680 will consistently keep my groups under .5 at 100 yards. Lil Gun is a close second.

I recently took the old 54 and had the barrel checked with a Hawkeye bore scope. There is a spot of pitting just ahead of the throat that according to the custom riflesmith, was probably caused from moisture in the burnt powder left in the barrel. Until recently, I would shoot this rifle all day for days on end without cleaning it. Cleaning it seemed to spread the groups out, or so I thought. When I mentioned that to the riflesmith he just looked at me like I had poisoned the well at the senior center and didn’t say anything other than, “if you want to keep this rifle shooting like it does, you had better start cleaning the bore. If nothing else, run a dry patch through it as burnt powder will bring moisture.”

The question of bore diameter of this old clunker still puzzles me but one thing is for sure. You can’t argue with the results. It looks very much like it’s the original barrel but I suppose anything is possible. I’ve been planning to return to the gun shop where I purchased this old gem from Joe and tell him what a beauty it turned out to be but I’ve been too busy loading and shooting. Maybe one of these days….

Jim Waddell is a retired law enforcement officer and graduate of the FBI National Academy. In his nearly 40 years of service he worked for two sheriff’s departments and was a chief of police. Jim is a firearms instructor and competed in many statewide pistol matches. He lives in central California where he grows almonds.

Anyone who hates snakes as much as I do will tell you that those CCI shot loads for pistols are useful items. The only real problem with them is that they cost about a buck a round. The good news is that Speer sells the little plastic shot capsules for do-it-yourselfers like us. With some #12 shot and Accurate #2 powder you can kill snakes and other vermin for less than half price.

The capsules, if you haven’t seen them, are translucent blue plastic with a white lid that snaps into place on the bottom that keeps the powder and shot from mixing liberally in the bottom of your case. Filled with #12 shot, the .38 caliber capsule we tested weighed in at 110 grains.

There isn’t any real trick to filling the capsules with shot. My Lee Perfect Power measure at home is set to throw #12 shot for some oddball .45 Colt loads that are quite a bit more complex to make, but that is because the throw has to be a bit more precise. With the capsules it is easiest to just dip them into a small box filled with shot. For this story, it was a cut down Berger Bullets box. Just scoop up the shot and leave enough room for the end cap to snap into place. A couple of pellets and a grain or two difference in the payload weight doesn’t make any difference in this type of low pressure load.

Accurate #2 with its low positional sensitivity and easy ignition is an ideal powder for shot capsules. We used 3.2 grains for our testing, with 3.5 grains considered to be a maximum load. Higher velocities opened up groups prematurely and reduced the overall effectiveness of the load.

Make sure to bell the case mouth enough to allow the capsule to seat squarely. The capsule isn’t strong enough to withstand a lot of downward force, which is also one of the reasons it is undersized compared to a standard bullet. Once aligned in the belled case, seating pressure is pretty minimal.

We seated all of our loads to a Cartridge Overall Length of 1.500″ and then roll crimped the cases as a separate step. Crimping too tightly will fracture the shot capsule but it must be tight enough to keep it in place under recoil.

At 7 feet, the four-inch barreled Ruger GP 100 patterned about eleven inches, making it ideal snake medicine.  A word of caution is warranted here when it comes to patterning these low powered loads against a wooden backer board. Not all of the pellets imbed in board – some bounce back, so be careful when you are testing your new rounds. A cardboard box makes a better backstop in this case. It also keeps you from dancing around and swearing, which is considered both bad form and hilarious by the guys in the lab.

By Jim Waddell

I noticed recently an inquiry made to Dear Labby regarding data for the .221 Remington Fireball, using Accurate’s new LT-30 powder.  Barry, I hope you read this as I’ve had very good results with this combination.

I’ve been shooting this caliber for about 6-7 years now after purchasing a Remington 700 Classic, new in the box.  When I first started working up loads for this rifle, I hadn’t had much experience with Accurate powders.  I used Lil Gun from Hodgdon and I tried IMR’s 4227 and 4198.

Right from the beginning I found where the barrel of this rifle evidently had some tool marks or otherwise a rougher than ideal finish as it would foul pretty badly after just a few shots.  This was after going through a break-in regimen suggested by one of the major custom barrel makers.  Whether a rough bore was my problem or the rifle just didn’t do well with the powders listed, I didn’t have very good results with accuracy.

After getting an advanced lesson in getting carbon and copper fouling out of a barrel, I persisted in developing loads for the Fireball.  That made a big difference in accuracy.  I bought a can of 1680 and without getting into boring details I ended up with an accuracy load of 19.0 grains with a 40 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip.

Last year, I got a can of LT-30 after I found it had a burn rate that should work well in the .221 Fireball.  Always the experimenter, I just had to try it in this caliber and also, the .222 Remington.

.224 Nosler Ballistic Tip 40-grain.

I should mention that early in my testing with the Fireball, I quickly learned it did not like 50 grain bullets which was fine with me as I preferred 40’s in this caliber.  The ballistics of the 40 grainers fit more of what my shooting preferences are.  All of my load testing and shooting has been with 40 grain plastic tips from Sierra, Hornady and Nosler.

I contacted the lab at Western Powders and was told they did intend to test LT-30 in the .221, sometime in the near future.  In the meantime it was suggested I start with 16.5 grains and work up slowly from there.

Starting at 16.5 grains of LT-30 I loaded many groups of 5, increasing the powder charge a half grain until I reached 18.0.  At this load, I started seeing slight signs of pressure in the primers.   There weren’t any other symptoms of excessive pressure but caution told me to stop there.  I tested this powder in this manner, using Nosler Ballistic Tips, Nosler Varmageddon tipped, flat base, (they also make a boat-tail hollowpoint), and Sierra’s Blitzking.  Again, all of these bullets were 40 grains.

The first tests were with Remington cases as I had several hundred saved up.  Remington was the only U.S. component supplier to make brass in this caliber and very difficult to get.  I haven’t confirmed this but I recently heard Remington is going to discontinue making fireball brass.  I used Remington 7 ½ benchrest primers throughout.

Test results were better than expected.  I had no unacceptable groups, meaning all shot close to MOA, some groups well under MOA.  This was with all bullets tested.  Again, my rifle isn’t anything close to being a benchrest or target model.  It’s light weight with a fluted, sporter-weight barrel, 22 inches long.

The best groups attained were those around 17 to 17.5 grains.  The few I loaded to 18 grains started spreading out.  I selected as my best load that shot consistently at around .75 or less, 17.5 grains under the tipped Varmageddon.  I used this load earlier this spring on a ground squirrel hunt in southern Oregon and got fantastic results consistently out to 250 yards and beyond.

The difference in accuracy between 1680 and LT-30 in my rifle is minute.  LT-30 gets the nod but only slightly and I was told by Rob at Western, LT-30 should produce higher velocity than 1680.  I didn’t take the time to chronograph any of these loads.  I do like 1680 better in my Redding powder measure as it meters more reliably than the extruded LT-30 but for my varmint loads, I take the extra time to weigh them anyway so that point is moot.

Just in case the rumor is true about Remington discontinuing .221 brass, I tightened my belt and dug deep into my piggy bank and ordered a couple hundred new cases from Lapua.  Some of the benchrest shooters at our local gun club swear by Lapua brass.  They tell me the extra cost of the brass is offset in spades by its lifespan as they can get twice as many loadings and even more, than the stuff made here.

The Original .221 Fireball, Remington’s XP-100

In testing the Lapua cases, I am making the switch.  I really appreciate the bullet pull or case-neck tension being consistent throughout.  The flash holes are drilled rather than punched which means more consistent ignition for finer accuracy.  It did make a difference in accuracy over my Remington brass.  It might be expensive but it’s available.

So in answering Barry’s question to Dear Labby, yes, LT-30 works great in the .221 Fireball.  I have no experience in reduced loads in this caliber.  When I want a load that shoots less, I stick the .221 in the rack and grab the .22 Hornet.

See Part One at:

http://blog.westernpowders.com/2015/04/when-accuracy-count-case-selection-and-initial-preparation/

Why Turn Necks?

Turned necks promote concentric release of the bullet squarely into the rifling.  That sounds nice and, let’s face it, very accuracy inspiring, but understanding what it does is more important than being able to say it in highbrow gun-speak.  The reason neck turning promotes better accuracy is tied to how a bullet is introduced into the bore. To understand this interaction, the handloader must look at the interaction between the case neck, which is aiming the bullet into the rifling, the release of the bullet from the case and how the bullet first engages the rifling.

Case necks as received from their makers are not of uniform thickness.  They exhibit low and high spots on the brass as well as different thicknesses when measured at different points on the neck using a ball micrometer.  When fired, the neck expands to release the bullet, but may not do so cleanly if the expansion isn’t uniform on all sides of the bullet.  Turning reduces neck thickness variations and allow the bullet to be release squarely into the rifling.  Think of this as the first target your bullet needs to hit precisely on the road to accuracy.  When it is perfectly released it strikes the center of the bore as it swages into the rifling.  Anything less will adversely affect its flight.

Custom-chambered 6.5-06 Ackley with a neck dimension of .290″.

Some custom made chambers require cartridges with turned necks.  Typically they will show another number engraved after the cartridge identification on the barrel.  So a rifle stamped 6mm PPC USA .265 NK is sharing one extra bit of information:  the chamber neck is .265” in diameter.  Cartridges loaded for this chamber can have an outside neck diameter no larger than .262” to .2635” to properly release a bullet into the bore. If you ever buy used custom rifles, or inherit one, make sure to check the barrel for custom dimensions.  Rifles with chambers that require turned necks will produce higher than anticipated pressure with cartridges that use standard SAAMI neck dimensions.

Wildcatters or shooters who reduce cartridge neck diameters on parent cases, like necking a .308 Win down to a .243 Win, will sometimes need to turn necks.   Some cases, like the .300 Blackout, are trimmed substantially before the neck is re-formed using brass from the case body. See story on forming .300 Blackouts at: http://blog.westernpowders.com/2015/03/making-300-aac-blackouts/   Because the case body brass is usually thicker, it can leave the outside neck dimension too large to release the bullet cleanly.  In either case, knowing the neck dimension of your chamber and comparing it to your loaded cartridge dimension can solve a lot of hassles when dealing with unexpected pressure signs.  Always make sure that loaded ammunition has an outside neck diameter at least .002” to .003” smaller than the chamber’s neck dimension.

The easiest way to check your chamber neck dimension is to measure a case immediately after it is fired.  Adding .001 to this measurement, to account for brass spring-back, will give you a good approximation of your chamber’s neck dimension.  A good rule for standard chambers is to allow .003” difference between the loaded cartridge neck diameter and the chamber neck dimension for clean bullet release.  A chamber with a .251” neck required loaded cartridges with .248” loaded neck dimension or smaller for clean bullet release.

Turning Necks for No-Turn Chambers

Dark patches show inconsistencies in the outside dimension of the case neck.

It seems counter-intuitive to consider turning case necks for rifles that use standard neck dimension chambers, but the practice is commonly done by shooters seeking more accurate handloads.  Neck turning for this type of chamber involves removing the high points on the neck, rather than turning for a pre-determined outside dimension.  Necks turned for trueness will show where high spots have been cut away, leaving darker, lower areas untouched.  When fired the brass will expand, ironing out the highs and lows into one consistent exterior surface against the chamber walls.

Case Trimming Sets the Neck Length

Trimming case necks to the length makes for a more consistent neck-turner cut.

Uniforming the case neck length on all of the brass to be turned promotes consistency in the lathe’s cut, especially at the junction of the neck and shoulder which can be a problem point on turned cases.  Trimming also creates a square case mouth, perpendicular to the bullet shank, which allows the bullet to be seated squarely.  For the sake of simplicity, start with the suggested “Trim-To” length for your cartridge.  Don’t feel that this number is set in stone.  The only requirement is that all of the cases have the same length neck.

Preparing Brass for Neck Turning

This PPC expander ball measures .242″ in diameter.

Brass that is to be turned needs to fit on the turning tool’s mandrel tightly enough to cut accurately and loosely enough to allow for easy insertion and turning.  There are two schools of thought on this when it comes to the relationship between the lathe’s mandrel dimension and the interior neck dimension.  Some

The Foster turning mandrel measures .241 for an easy fit.

turning tools require the use of a precision-cut expanding plug to open the case mouth.  The Forster tool used in this story uses a turning mandrel about .001″ smaller than the expanding ball used in the match sizing die removing the need for a second sizing step.  Whichever system is used, the case mouth needs to slightly larger than the turning tool’s mandrel, with the case mouth being between .0005 and .001 larger.

Setting Neck Turner Length-of-Cut

Setting the length of cut.

The neck-to-shoulder junction is the critical point in neck turning.  Set too long and the cutter will undermine the shoulder allowing the neck to break off in the chamber during firing.  Setting the cut distance short of the

The length of cut on this case is too short. It will form a “Donut” when fired.

shoulder leads to an accuracy harming phenomena called the “Dreaded Donut.” The donut forms when the outside of the case expands to fit the chamber, pushing back the untrimmed portion of the neck inside the case.  It shows up as a raised ring inside the case neck which will adversely affect bullet

A correctly turned neck length slightly undercuts the shoulder/neck juncture.

release.  When properly set, the cutter should run the length of the neck and very slightly undercut the shoulder.  Like so many things that mix art with science, the difference between just right and too much has to be learned by practice.  Once the length of cut is set, set it in place and move on to setting neck thickness.

The “Dreaded Donut” formed when the turned portion of the neck is too short.

Setting Depth of Cut

The cutter’s first light pass shows brass inconsistency. Bright portions show where high points were removed.

On no-turn chambers, the goal is only to remove the high spots.  With a cartridge on the mandrel screw the cutter down until it lightly touches the neck.  Remove the case and advance the cutter slightly further inward.  The Forster guide suggests one half of one of the graduations marked on the cutter knob.  Each mark represents .001″ of cutter movement.

For best consistency, holding the tool body seems to work better than locking it in a vise.  A cartridge handle provides mechanical advantage, although there are several adaptors on the market that allow cordless screwdrivers to soak up some the muscle work.  The case is rotated clockwise throughout the cutting process.

On No-Turn chambers, the goal is make the case neck uniform in thickness.

The cut must be made slowly and steadily.  Progressing too quickly will induce a spiraling cut rather than a smooth one that thoroughly covers the case neck.  After the first cut has been completed, the cutter is again slightly advanced and the process is repeated until about 75% – 80% of the case shows bright areas that have been touched by the cutter.  With the highs removed, the case will expand symmetrically in the chamber.

With chambers that require fixed outside neck diameters, turning is a bit more demanding.  The easiest way to create precisely turned necks for custom chambers is to us some simple mathematics.  Take the chamber neck dimension minus .002″ and subtract it from bullet diameter.  That will give you the maximum neck wall thickness.  That number divided by two will give you the finished neck wall thickness.  Here is the math on a 6mm PPC using a .265” chamber neck dimension:

.265 Neck – .002 = .263           .263 – .243 = .020        .022/2 = .010 Neck thickness

Measuring the case neck thickness.

Some handloaders use a feeler gage to set the cutter to this depth make the cut in a single pass with then another to account for cutter spring back.  Others make two cuts, first making a roughing cut and then a finer finishing cut.  Both work.  The bottom line is that a loaded cartridge needs to measure at least .002″ smaller than the chamber neck dimension.  Methods vary, but good results win matches.

Neck Turning Tips

Turning the neck twice without adjusting the cutter will usually produce a smoother cut than one single pass.

Cases need to turn freely on the mandrel.  Sizing wax on the mandrel helps.

When you measure the case mouth thickness, remember, what you do on one side you do on the other.  A cut that removed .001” from the neck wall thickness reduced the overall diameter of the neck by .002”.

After hours of case inspection and the inevitable sore fingers of neck turning, a chance to go to the range is a welcome respite.  But the shooting you do there, at least as far as your accuracy project goes, won’t be for groups yet.  The goal will be to make cases that fit your rifle’s chamber perfectly through the process of fireforming.

Before loading the first cartridge, it is necessary to find your chamber’s actual maximum overall length and make a dummy round that matches this dimension.  Like everything else in the accuracy world, there are nifty tools available that help with the task.  The standard for this type of tool was the Stoney Point Chamber-All, which is now marketed by Hornady.  This tool uses a modified case to measure the point where the lands of the rifling would engage a bullet.  It is a great tool and well worth the money.   https://www.dillonprecision.com/hornady-formerly-stoney-point-bullet-comparator_8_8_24083.html    For shooters just getting into the accuracy game, there is an expedient that works quite well that doesn’t require a special investment.

Measuring Maximum Overall Length
To measure maximum chamber length without a specialized tool requires a cleaning rod, a blunted jag, a dowel (or another short rod), calipers and tape.  The only really unusual part here is the blunted jag.  It can be made from any jag that will fit down the bore, cut and sanded smooth so that it will lay up accurately against the bullet tip.

Place the empty rifle in a vice with the bolt closed.  Carefully insert the rod into the muzzle until it makes contact with the bolt face.  Using a piece of tape, mark the point where the rod meets the end of the barrel.  This mark represents the base of the cartridge.  Once the tape is in place, remove the rod and pull the bolt from the action.

Angle the rifle downwards and drop a bullet of the type you plan to shoot into the chamber and re-secure it in the vise.  Using a dowel, gently press the bullet into the chamber until it makes contact with the rifling.  While holding pressure on the base of the bullet, use your third hand (this is really a two person job) to gently run the rod back down the bore until it contacts the bullet’s tip.  Using tape, mark the point where rod emerges from the muzzle.  Measuring between these two pieces of tape will provide the maximum case length for your chamber.  There are two important caveats here.  This measurement only works that specific bullet and only in the chamber being measured.  If you change the bullet or rifle all bets are off.

Creating a Dummy Round
This dummy round is going to provide some very important measurements for your accuracy testing.  A mistake here is going to be amplified down the line, so make it as precisely as possible.  If you have a case that you turned the neck on and then eliminated for some reason, this is a great place to put it to use.

Use the same bullet that provided your maximum overall length for the dummy round.  Work in small increments and measure after each adjustment.  If you overshoot the mark us a kinetic bullet puller to move the bullet forward and try again.  Scuffing the bullet doesn’t matter as long as the ogive remains undamaged.

Using a Comparator
All bullets, including match bullets, vary slightly in length, even within the same lot.  We reused the bullet because its length was used to set the chamber depth, but what we are really looking for here is an accurate measurement from the ogive to the rifling.  This measurement will be provided by one of those tools you do have to buy. You will need a comparator.  http://www.midwayusa.com/product/231904/hornady-lock-n-load-bullet-comparator-basic-set-with-6-inserts

Comparators use a caliber-specific gauge held in calipers to measure from the base of the cartridge to the ogive.  Comparator measurements ignore the Cartridge Overall Length, instead providing a true measurement of the first portion of the bullet that will engage the rifling.  Knowing where the rifling begins and the distance from your load’s ogive will allow adjusting bullet engagement during accuracy testing.  It is also going to allow our fireforming loads to just touch the rifling, a measurement that could not be replicated by simply measuring cartridge overall length.

Using the comparator, measure the length of your dummy cartridge.  I tend to write both the measured overall all length and the comparator length on the dummy itself with a Sharpie, and include the information in my reloading notes.  You will be referring to these dimensions quite a lot as you develop your accuracy load.

Time to Load
If everything was measured correctly, using the dummy round to set the seater die should make ammunition that lightly engages the rifling.  Doing so will center the case within the chamber and allow it to expand concentrically upon firing.  This is the main goal of fireforming for accuracy, making precisely fitted cases.  Don’t worry about group size yet.  You are still just prepping cases.  It is just louder and more fun.

Fireforming with the powder intended for testing will give the handloader a baseline to monitor for obvious pressure signs with later loads.  With bullets up in the rifling, pressures are usually higher than those anticipated by published data, and should be reduced.  As a guideline, I use the lowest published load, with the idea that all data will work up from that point if the pressures look acceptable.  These loads only need to produce enough pressure to fully expand the case and neck within the chamber. More pressure than that is a waste of powder and a limiter of case life.

Inspect fired case for cracks or excessive smoking.

Shooting Your New Cases
Check each case after it is fired for neck or shoulder cracks.  Check the neck itself for excessive smoking, which indicates inadequate pressure failed to seal the chamber.  If you are getting groups that look great, good on you, but don’t give up if they are disappointing.  Accuracy will come later with neck sized brass and ladder testing for the best accuracy combinations.

Knowing the twist rate of your rifle helps with bullet selection and maximizes accuracy. Finding the rate involves a few simple tools common to all shooting benches and a couple of minutes. It’s time well spent.

This is one of the few times that it is acceptable to use a cleaning rod from the muzzle end of a rifle. Be careful to pull the patched rod straight back, minimizing its contact with the crown. Wet a patch with a light oil, or solvent if it needs a quick bit of cleaning. The patch needs to be tight enough to pick up the rifling and allow the rod to turn as it mimics a bullet. Push the patch far enough down the bore to cover the most likely twist lengths. In modern centerfire rifles, something past 16 inches should be enough. In muzzleloaders, with their much slower twists, it may be necessary to have 28-30 inches of barrel to measure in order to get a good reading. Once the rod is in place, mark where it enters the barrel with a piece of masking tape. With that mark in place, mark the handle and the non-rotating collet with a sharpie pen. This will show when you have completed one full rotation within the barrel, matching the bullets travel and twist.   Now slowly and smoothly pull the rod out of the bore. The collet should turn with the rod as the handle remains stationary. When the lines match, mark the rod again with another piece of tape.  To find your rifle’s twist rate, simply measure between the two pieces of tape.

This rifle’s twist rate is 1 in 14 inches

.358 Norma Magnum – One Rifle, One Scope Setting, for all North American Deer and Large Game  

By Dave Whitney

I get fixated on things. It has always been like that. A few years back I saw a beautiful Sako rifle for sale that was chambered in .358 Norma Magnum. It was beautiful and I fell in love with it. While doing some research prior to purchasing it, I became intrigued by the concept of utilizing light weight 35 caliber bullets to create lower energy loadings for this big game cartridge. The concept was to down load the magnum cartridge to energies suitable for smallish California deer, and in the end have a rifle and ammunition combination suitably equipped for any medium to large game in North America. Unfortunately, I thought about it long enough to let the opportunity pass me by. When I called to make the deal, the rifle had been sold to someone heading to Africa on safari.

But, like I said, I get fixated. The idea had settled into that part of my brain where ideas are continuously circling. These ideas don’t go away quickly; they just keep circling. So, two years later when I saw another beautiful .358 Norma Mag rifle for sale the idea started circling again but with increased intensity. This rifle was even more beautiful than the one I had missed, custom made on a Czech BRNO VZ24 action by a superlative craftsman with a gorgeous English walnut stock. It was well outside of my price range and something I did not even remotely need, but I approached the seller with an offer to pay in increments over an extended period of time. I guess that in my mind a little pain in small increments was more tolerable than one larger pain that would be difficult to explain to my wife, who was not in the loop on the unnecessary project and who just might have other priorities for the money. To my surprise, the seller graciously accepted the offer and I was very quietly committed.

Since it would be several months until the rifle was paid off, there was ample time to develop the downloads so that they would be ready when the rifle arrived. That is when the fun and frustration began. I cataloged the various 35 caliber bullets available, started working with available on-line ballistics calculators, determined desired velocities for bullets of various weights and ballistic coefficients, and asked for recommendations for good custom ammunition manufacturers. But then everything came to a standstill.  A local ammunition manufacturer said “he would be happy to help, but he was very busy”.  In the end it took several months to get the cases and initial bullets and to get first loads delivered. Several calls and e-mails to other ammunition suppliers who had been recommended were unanswered. The one other custom manufacturer I did reach said my concept couldn’t be done with the following comments:

The cartridge you are asking about is at the top of the list in its respective category and was designed to deliver a powerful punch. When you start loading down, especially under recommended values, you run into an issue with excessive case capacity and pressure spikes which can lead to a catastrophic failure in the chamber, which is something you don’t want to experience. The 358 Norma Magnum is at the top of the 35 caliber family, a large round that with a 250 grain bullet has the velocity and energy that’s is almost equal to 300 grain bullet from a 375 H&H round. So there is only so much you can do to slow that one down.

This last feedback seemed fundamentally wrong and I couldn’t understand how a .30-06 Springfield could have enough pressure to seal its brass against chamber walls and transfer 2,700 ft-lbs of energy to its bullet but similar pressures would not be effective with the .358 Norma Magnum brass combined with a bullet of similar weight. Part of my confusion was an outgrowth of my ignorance about powder ignition dynamics but another part seemed to be rooted in the industries best practices.

Everyone was using the same published load information which was very limited for the .358 Norma Magnum cartridge. This was aggravated, first, by the fact that most of the available custom loads were intended to duplicate or increase the power of factory loads, and second, because industry safe practice recommendations kept people from experimenting with light powder loads that could potentially result in a dangerous or even catastrophic failure. In hindsight, when the custom manufacturer said “my concept couldn’t be done” it could be interpreted as “there is no published loading data that matches what I was trying to achieve”.

While trying to understand this industry dynamic, I came in contact with Rob Behr with Accurate Reloading Powder. Rob was very gracious and showed interest in my project. In fact, Rob showed enough interest to dedicate adequate telephone time to recommend one of their powders and calculate appropriate starting loads for several bullets to achieve the ballistics I was looking for. He also recognized that if I was going to be successful on the project I would need to buy a reloading press and start developing these loads myself. He also graciously offered to provide the guidance I would need to get my efforts started.

Over the next couple of months all of the essential equipment and components needed to load custom .358 Norma Magnum ammunition was purchased and put in place in my garage. I had read up on reloading and started to develop a working process and rudimentary skills. Also, the local custom ammunition manufacturer I had started working with some months earlier delivered his first loading with a relatively light weight (180 gr.) bullet designed for the velocities I had requested. Then, most importantly, my final instalment payment was made and the rifle arrived.

You know how it is when you receive something that was purchased sight unseen, you are almost always disappointed because reality rarely lives up to the image that the mind has created. In this case the experience was wonderfully the opposite. The custom BRNO VZ24 made by master gun maker Nick Von Flue was gorgeous in every way. The beautiful marbled stock was unmolested with perfectly sharp checkering and the metal work converting the robust Czech action into a fine sporting rifle was flawless. So much so, that it was difficult to take it out of the safe and onto the range. But, out I went, armed with a brand new chronograph, a brand new led-sled, factory ammunition, the first custom rounds from the local supplier, and my rifle, which, although not sold as such, appeared essentially unfired.

After some considerable set up time; getting the chronograph in place and aligned with the target, adjusting the lead sled and rough bore sighting the scope, everything was ready for initial sight-in and testing. I am sure I looked like a real newbie with all of my brand new gear. But the range owner “Billy” was accommodating and willing to offer some needed advice.

But back to those important first shots. As the Model 98 style action uses a controlled feed mechanism, a lone cartridge was loaded into the magazine and with a silky smooth movement the bolt was driven forward and the first round was…… firmly jammed halfway between the magazine and the chamber. Brutal!!! It took me 15 minutes, the whole time trying to be patient, to get that jammed round out of the action. A second round was more carefully loaded and when the bolt was brought forward it also jammed halfway home. I then tried Norma factory ammunition with the same result. Again, Brutal!!! I had been waiting for almost a year to get to that point in time when the rifle, purchased ammunition, reloading equipment, my own custom ammunition, range equipment and myself were all ready to go. There was obviously a problem with the rifle.

A little bit about the seller of this seemingly flawed firearm!

The seller of the rifle is Roger Rule, the author of The Rifleman’s Rifle (the definitive book on the Winchester pre-64 Model 70’s) who had graciously agreed to my many month long purchase process.  https://www.amazon.com/Riflemans-Rifle-Winchesters-Model-1936-1963/dp/1438999054

I sent Roger an e-mail asking for his recommendation for a good rifle-smith who could be trusted to work on what I considered a “work of art”. But Roger is used to working with firearms of this quality and gave me a short list of highly qualified gunsmith’s who could do the work without significant risk. I talked with a couple of them and after further consultation with Roger selected a good competent gunsmith to work with. Almost immediately, I received a note from the gunsmith saying that Roger had contacted him and that he would be picking up the tab for the work. I let them both know that it was my rifle now, and I would be paying the price of ownership. The simple truth is that I was so happy with the quality of the rifle, there were no hard feelings about the feed problem at all. I had also developed an increasingly friendly relationship with Roger and learned that he had many admirable qualities. I found Roger to be honest, engaging and always willing to share the benefits of his long experience. I was clearly getting the better end of the bargain we had struck.  In fact, as it turned out, the jamming was proof positive that the custom rifle was new and unfired. It was in fact, unfinished. The gunsmith confirmed that the final finishing steps from the custom build process had not been completed, adjusting the feed and fine-tuning the fit between the bolt face and chamber. Also, in spite of my protest Roger picked up the charges for the work to finish the rifle.

One final word on Roger Rule. I would buy another firearm from him without the slightest hesitation. In fact, he would be my first choice because he buys only the highest condition product he can find and he is honest in the description of his offerings. Roger is a first rate firearms dealer and after this experience working together I consider him a personal friend.

A couple weeks later, after a few hours across the gunsmith’s bench the rifle was ready to go and the project was now fully in my own hands. The short version of the plan was to develop loadings with 180, 200, and 225 grain bullets with energy levels that were staggered to deliver 60% of factory magnum loads for the lightest bullets, up to 80% of factory loads for the heavier bullets.  Living in California, with a looming ban on lead bullets, it made sense to select Barnes copper alloy bullets alongside a leading lead core bullet. The project goals were further refined to fine tune muzzle velocities to match the ballistic coefficients of the selected bullets so that the resulting impact points would be within an inch of each other out to 300 yards. (With the scope setting zeroed at 200 yards, each of the progressively lower energy loads would deliver the bullet to the same point of impact (plus/minus 1 inch) from 50 yards out to 300 yards.

Selecting Barnes bullets was fortuitous because the relatively low specific gravity of the copper alloy meant that the ballistic coefficient of the bullet would be superior to a lead core bullet of similar weight. Also, as the bullet got heavier it got longer and the ballistic coefficient got better. So heavier bullets could be launched at lower velocities and still match the path of lighter bullets fired at higher velocities.

The following table lists the initial goals of the project including predicted 300 yard drop for the various bullets selected for testing along with Norma’s factory .358 Norma Mag Oryx specification included for reference:

As can be seen from the chart, the targeted muzzle energies and associated recoil were well below the factory load and the bullets would still retain more than adequate energy at 300 yards for hunting whitetail deer, mule deer, wild pigs, and any other medium size game one might take in the US. If hunting moose or dangerous bear, take the factory load which is well suited to the larger game.

The process of developing these loads was a little more tedious than I had expected. Four rounds of loading and range trips were needed to fine tune velocities and to develop consistent hand loading technique. A fifth round of loading was needed to produce adequate number of rounds for final testing. A sixth round was needed to confirm results. If I had a range in my back yard, had nothing but time on my hands, and the work was carried out during the summer months this all might have taken a couple of weeks. However, due to weather delays, work schedule and occasional setbacks associated with the development of consistent loading techniques, the time required was more like 6 months.

Rob Behr with Accurate Reloading Powder gave me starting powder loads using his recommendation of their Accurate 5744 powder. In order to increase my chances of success I also contacted Hodgdon Powders and spoke with Dave Campbell, who recommended using their H4895 and their Trail Boss, both of which were safe and suitable for downloading with clear, easy to understand minimum load guidelines.

An additional aspect of my initial goals were to use a ballistic filler to take up empty space in the cartridge and to keep the powder pressed in the bottom of the cartridge against the primer. My thinking was that this would be important to assure repeatable ignition of the powder when low case fills were used.

To make a six month story short, the following is an overview of what I discovered while developing the various loadings:

• Good results were obtained using both the Accurate 5744 and the H4895. Trail Boss was dropped after the initial trials because it yielded too extreme of a download. While obviously suitable for cowboy action shooting, initial loads delivered only a fraction of the velocity obtained from the other two powders with a point of impact over a foot lower at 100 yards. Since both the Accurate powder and the H4895 yielded acceptable results the Trail Boss could be eliminated to reduce the number of variables being explored.

Robs Behr’s load recommendations made it possible to hit target velocities quickly using fine adjustments. The broad guidelines provided by Hodgdon made it necessary to produce more variants and extrapolate from more disparate results.

• The ballistic filler was dropped after the first round of testing. Pufflon lubricating ballistic filler was used per the manufacturer’s instructions. Velocities were slightly reduced compared to the same powder weight loading without the addition of a filler. Observed accuracy was also worse than the unfilled load. What was troubling was that after shooting the first Pufflon filled rounds, all of the subsequent loads without filler also yielded reduced velocities. My first thought was to stop testing and clean the barrel of fouling caused by the filler. However, on inspection it turned out that the barrel was exceptionally clean. After discussion with Rob Behr, at Accurate Powders, it appears that the lubricating effect of the Pufflon reduced the pressures needed to propel the bullet down and out of the barrel resulting in lower maximum pressures and lower velocities. Additionally, it was clear that this lubrication remained in the barrel and effected the velocities of subsequent non-filled rounds. It took multiple cleanings and firing of many unfilled rounds to eliminate this lingering barrel lubrication.

In fairness, I believe that the filler would have been effective if used in all loads and if powder weight was adjusted as needed to achieve the target velocities. The diminished accuracy that was observed is still a lingering issue that goes against the manufactures own observations. I suspect I was seeing transient effects and the lubricating characteristics of the filler would stabilize and a level of equilibrium would be reached after firing a more sizeable number of filled rounds.

Unfortunately, while trying to understand the effect of the filler on velocities I had received advice from multiple sources not to use ballistic fillers for safety reasons. While I personally believe that the ballistic filler is safe to use if used properly. After hearing this repeated more than once I started asking myself the question, “Is the filler really necessary?”. In the end the answer was no it is not necessary, both the Accurate 5744 and the Hodgdon H4895 were performing consistently at the necessary case fill levels without use of the filler.

• The Nosler partition bullet option was dropped after the second round of testing due to relatively poor group size. While the Barnes bullets were all delivering 1 MOA patterns (or close to that) the 225 grain Nosler Partitions were yielding 2-3 MOA. Not disqualifying for a hunting round to be used at typical distances, but you wouldn’t want it in the gun when the 300 yard shot was needed.
• The 225 grain Sierra Game King bullet was substituted for the Nosler partition bullets with excellent ballistic and grouping results. It proved to be accurate and streamlined, requiring lower velocity to achieve the desired trajectory and with greater retained energy downrange. However, in the end, this bullet was not as consistent from day to day as the Barnes bullets. It was accurate but displayed more day to day trajectory variation than the other loadings tested.
• Loads from the local ammunition manufacturer were dropped after the second round due to relatively poor group size. Like the partition bullets, not disqualifying for a hunting round but not what was being achieved on the other custom loads and not capable of achieving the plus/minus 1 inch consistency goal. I suspect the performance could easily be improved but at a higher cost associated with a more meticulous loading process.
• Best accuracy results were obtained using Accurate 5744 compared to Hodgdon H4895. While the difference was not large, Accurate’s powder consistently delivered tighter groups with smaller velocity deviations than the 4895. Both are suitable for hunting where variable environmental conditions and imperfect shooting ergonomics will have a greater impact on accuracy. Accurate’s 5744 is the clear choice for best out of the press accuracy.
• Barnes TTSX bullets were much preferred over their TSX offering. Like the Sierra Game King, this is simply the result of the better Ballistic Coefficient allowing a lower muzzle velocity required to achieve the desired trajectory with the added benefits of lower recoil and better retained energy downrange.

The following table contains final cartridge load information, measured muzzle velocities and group size results obtained on the final day of range testing.

In the tables that follow numerical results of two separate days of final range data are summarized. On both days the wind was relatively light but variable and was strongest when shooting the longer distances just because it was later in the day. The wind was particularly troublesome when shooting the 200 yard targets on June 4, 2016 as is evidenced on the target map for that date and range. It seemed like every time I put my head down to shoot the right to left wind would increase. Perhaps I should have just called it a day and come back another day, but range time has been a little hard to arrange of late. In any event the data speaks for itself. It is important to note that the bullet drop data is still orderly in spite of the wind because it was blowing almost directly across range.

Another variable impacting these data is that I changed scopes between these two rounds of testing. During the second round the scope had a .5MOA offset to the right. In both cases 100 yard targets were shot using a lead sled, while 200 yard and 300 yard targets were shot from bags.

Conclusions

The project was upliftingly successful and my initial goals were all achieved with only minor deviations. The Barnes 180 gr TTSX, 200 gr TTSX and the 200 gr TSX came very close to matching the trajectories predicted by the “basic” ballistics calculator that was used, and also met the goal of having trajectories delivering the same point of impact (plus/minus 1 inch) from 50 yards out to 300 yards.

The Barnes 225 gr TSX exhibited a greater drop than predicted by approximately 2 inches at 200 yards and 4 inches at 300 yards. So, it didn’t meet the plus/minus 1-inch goal. However, increasing the velocity of this bullet to approximately 2,625 should yield results close to the 1-inch goal, albeit with the penalty of higher than desired delivered energy and recoil. Also, it can clearly be used as is for the hunting I plan to do with only a small holdover adjustment.

The Sierra Game King (SGK) surprised me with a significant trajectory difference between the initial testing and the follow-up confirmation test round. This difference was particularly surprising because the muzzle velocity measurements were almost identical for both days. Throughout the load development and previous testing the SGK typically shot a little high and usually slightly to the left. But on the final test day it impacted lower than normal at 200 and 300 yard distances. While the environmental conditions were different between the two test dates and the wind was variable, I think it likely that it was my set up and variable shooting technique that was to blame for the confusing result. If you look at how this round performed on the impact maps you will see that it grouped well with the other rounds but was impacting at the top of the groupings on the first day and more toward the bottom on the final day. In any event, as with the Barnes 225 gr TSX this loading is just fine for hunting out to 300 yards.

In general I was very happy to achieve 1.5 MOA or better three shot group sizes for all of the loadings even in sometimes windy conditions. In total there were 50+ different combinations of bullet, powder, crimping, and ballistic filler. Almost all of them delivered 1.5 MOA or better, the best were at 0.3 MOA and over half of the groups measured at or under 1.0 MOA.

The lightest loads developed were delivering approximately 58% of the energy of the factory .358 Norma Mag Oryx at 300 yards and 63% at the muzzle. The heaviest loads delivered 75% at the muzzle and 78% at 300 yards. While the factory loads would certainly be too much gun for California deer and wild pigs one of the various downloads would be suitable for anything from smallish California deer to big mule deer and large hogs. To put that in a more recognizable perspective the lightest loads delivered roughly 80% of Hornady’s 180 gr “White Tail” 30.06 ammunition and the heaviest loads were just a little higher in delivered energy than the Hornady “White Tail”.

Now, with an understanding that I have an engineering and a tool and die background and that I am also a bit OCD, everything I do becomes a “process” and that process is in a state of continual refinement. Keeping this in mind, the following are my thoughts reflecting upon my initial foray into load development, hand loading, range testing and evaluation of results.

What Worked Well

The rifle was everything I could have expected.

RCBS reloading station and dies were easy to use and understand and online demonstrations were easy to find.

The Competition Electronics ProChrono Digital Chronograph appears to be reasonably accurate and is reliable and easy to use.

Each powder load was individually measured using a Franklin Armory digital scale. I believe this was a key to superior precision and repeatability. The more accurate my powder weighing process became over time the lower were the observed velocity standard deviations.

Using a lead sled for the range work was a great help. First, it aided in achieving the necessary precision and repeatability to the 100-yard range work that accounted for 80% of the shots fired over the course of the project. It also greatly reduced shoulder fatigue. Even with the reduced loads, in the final two sessions my shoulder was tender after 50 plus shots per session taken from bags used at the longer ranges.

I made custom targets for each of the distances to maximize point of aim visibility. This was a takeaway from advise given by John Paul at JP Rifles. High contrast, 1 inch grid pattern, easy to align crosshairs on bullseye.

The Hornady ballistics calculator was used for predicting trajectory at given muzzle velocities. While I suspect it is a bit crude compared to other available software, it was easy to use and sufficient for the task.

I ended up using a Wilson cast trimmer after trying a RCBS and an almost identical Lyman unit that at best had poor repeatability. The Wilson unit is robust and, after getting a feel for it, repeatable to 0.001 inch.

Circle S Ranch and Shooting Range in Petaluma, CA was convenient and well run. The owner’s son, Billy Souza, who is a proficient marksman, was helpful and willing to give some needed advice when he recognized opportunities to help me improve my technique. It was his advice that led indirectly to use the lead sled so I was evaluating the load and rifle combination with reduced scatter resulting from poor technique.

What Could Be Better

The scope that is now on the rifle is a Swarovski Habicht 3-10 X 42, which is great out to 300 yards. However, utilizing a more modern high end scope with a 6 times magnification range (like 2-12X) would provide a better close in as well as better long range sight picture and performance for a wider variety of hunting conditions and game.

As I said before, each powder load was individually measured using a Franklin Armory digital scale. This was a tedious and time consuming process made more difficult by this scales lack of precision. I had to weigh individual loads multiple times, repeatedly lifting the powder tray on and off the scale in order to get a repeatable measurement and achieve +/- 0.1 grain precision. Without this repetition the scale would only deliver +/-0.3 grain repeatability. A scale delivering +/-0.05 grain precision would have sped things up considerably and delivered results with reduced uncertainty.

A RCBS full length sizing die was used to initially size new brass and to resize previously fired brass. This full length resizing was unnecessarily hard on the brass. I now have a neck sizing die and will use it for all used brass going forward.

The RCBS sizing die is not as precise a die assembly as it could or should be. The thread specs are too coarse to achieve even visually repeatable centration of the expander/deprimer. There is clearly room for improvement in the precision of this important tooling and I, for one, would be willing to pay a premium for a higher spec tool.

It is clear from my data that bullet retention forces (neck tension and crimping) have a noticeable impact on muzzle velocity. This is only coarsely controlled in the hand reloading process and I could feel significant cartridge to cartridge differences during the bullet seating process. Again, more tooling precision and suitable metrology could make this process step much more precise and repeatable.

The ProChrono digital chronograph I used, while effective, is difficult to set up at the range and there is no sure fire calibration step to assure it is reading accurately. It was also the cause of a day wasted at the range due to its sensitivity to shadows crossing the sensors. I have my eye on the doppler radar units that are now on the market.

While taking range measurements of muzzle velocity I took the opportunity to add control groups (repeat measurements of the same batch at different times) to check for process repeatability. What I noticed was that velocities are not very repeatable just after cleaning the barrel. To address this, I added a step of firing several rounds before beginning the test regimen.

Another related observation is that the results varied over the course of a few hours (or many firings). I suspect a good part of this is temperature related (cartridge temp, barrel and action temp), but another part seems to be related to the barrel cleanliness. To address temperature, I shot from the shade, shot slowly, took repeated breaks, coarsely monitored barrel temp, all in an attempt to keep temperatures low. No real effort was expended to keep the barrel condition stable, but I did notice changes in control group measurements as the day progressed.

Noticeable dimensional variability was observed in the pressure relief rings one particular batch of Barnes TSX bullets. I was crimping into the top ring and noticed the position of the ring was inconsistent by over 0.02 inch. Surprising for a precision CNC turned component.

Shooting technique was impacting results. When using the lead sled, precision was improved but technique was still important. As time progressed I started adopting a process where the sled was initially aligned low and a little right of target and then load was applied to the rifle to put the crosshairs on target. Shooting with bags was much more technique and setup dependent. Also, on some days I was just better at it than others. I have a lot to learn to get good at this and will need a mentor to develop anything better than mediocre skills.

As mentioned I used two different scopes. Initially a Nikon Monarch 3 2-8X scope was used. It served well when the crosshairs were left in position. However, ¼ MOA click adjustments were not at all accurate and click adjustments were more like ½ MOA. Toward the end I switched to a reconditioned Swarovski 3-10X with better but still less than what I would call precision results.

I have no real experience with windage and the results were definitely impacted by wind. This is a real opportunity area for improvement.

Bullet groupings seemed to get bigger as the project progressed. I suspect the barrel is still in the process of being broken in. I am cleaning it after every session but perhaps copper fouling is accumulating. I need a bore scope.

Early on a decision was made to use Federal match primers. It took me several weeks to find them and receive them through people reselling them at a premium. This is thanks to our political leadership. (I could go on here but will refrain)

The limited number of times a belted magnum can be reloaded was observed prior to my reading about it. I had already disposed of a significant number of cases because one had cracked near the base and several had a light shiny ring around the case in the same area. Better safe than sorry. Then I read about the problem in a reloading handbook. In truth I am not so much concerned with reloading spent brass as I am achieving custom performance. So, this is not a serious issue and from now on I will limit brass to 2 or 3 firings.

Barnes does not currently produce a 35 caliber 225 grain TTSX bullet. I sent in a request for them to add this product to their line.

Related to this there is a very limited number of 35 caliber bullets available relative to other more popular calibers. The same hold true for .358 Norma Magnum brass. These facts were limiting to the project.

Finally, as I think is demonstrated, the .358 Norma Magnum is a very versatile round that has a valuable place in the market. Unfortunately, it was beaten out by the .338 Win Mag and never really caught on. This is a pity!

Was it worth it?

Absolutely! While anyone could rightly argue that I should have purchased a 30.06 or a .270 Winchester rifle to begin with if I wanted to hunt the game that these cartridges are suited for. I on the other hand, can now say that my .358 Norma Magnum is well suited to anything larger than a varmint to large and dangerous North American game as well as anything other than the very largest African game. But more importantly, that fixation has been put to rest that took hold when I first saw that .358 Norma Magnum on Guns International, and the idea that a single rifle with one scope setup could be used as an all-round hunting solution entered my mind. In the process new friends have been made, new skills were developed and my life has been enriched by the experience.

Also, during one of the range sessions there was a guy at the bench beside me shooting a booming .338 Lapua Magnum at 300 yards cutting a circle on his target one forth the size of what I was cutting. That started me thinking about the potential of the .338 Lapua Magnum if the rifle could be lightened and the rounds could be tailored for ……..

FN 5.7 Information & Cautions

By Andrew Jarvis
Jarvis Inc.
http://www.jarvis-custom.com/contact-us/

The FN 5.7×28 pistol is a delayed blow back, light recoiling handgun of a weight that makes it very attractive as a duty or carry weapon. Fully loaded the handgun weighs 1.6 lbs. This pistol, with a full magazine and two full spare magazines weighs less than a fully loaded steel frame double action 9mm pistol without any spare magazines.

There are currently three models in service; the IOM, USG, and MK2. Variations in the three, except for the very first IOM models are very similar. Polymer materials are used for both the frame and as a covering for the steel slide. Current models are single action and have a concealed hammer. Other differences not withstanding sights and magazine release are primarily cosmetic.

Factory ammunition for the civilian market is either FN 28gr JHP SS195 or the FN 40gr FMG SS197. An alternative to the FN loaded ammunition would be the Federal 5.7 round designated AE5728A. (See factory issued information sheet below)

There have been numerous accidents stemming from the use of reloaded 5.7×28 ammunition. This has resulted in us assuming the same position as the FN factory regarding the use of reloaded ammunition. Using any ammunition other than what was listed previously can result in a catastrophic accident.

When the pistol fires, the thin case neck expands (as intended) and tightly grips the wall of the chamber and seals the chamber against the escape of gas to the rear. At the same time the thicker rear portion of the case and case head elongate and sharply strike the breech face (the slide), which initiates the slides rearward movement. The slide and case head continue to move backwards leaving the case neck tightly stuck to the chamber wall. The sticking of the case neck to the chamber wall is overcome by the lubricant that is applied to all factory 5.7×28 cases. This lubricant allows the case neck to break free and eject from the chamber. This approach is no different than the lubrication of cases in machine guns and auto rifles decades ago. When the 5.7×28 ammunition is fired, and often cleaned after being fired for reloading, most (if not all) of the lubricant is removed. When the cases are then reloaded, they can stick to the chamber wall to the point of case rupture, resulting in catastrophic failure of the gun and possible injury to the shooter.

Another concern is the case offset after firing. According to Western Powders, Inc., the pressure required to resize the case for the FN 5.7 is close to twice that of any other round. This information leads us at Jarvis, Inc. to believe that the FN 5.7 round was never intended to be reloaded. The following page is a warning sent to us from FN regarding their attitude and concerns towards reloaded 5.7 ammunition.

What is a Piezo Transducer?

Dear Labby,
Can you give a little detail to the piezo transducer and it’s operation? How does it function? Where would you screw it into on the M1 Garand. The AR-15? The 1911?
Thanks,
Bill M.

Bill,

Black arrow indicates transducer location during testing.

The first image is of a piezo transducer in action as part of regular testing. In the American system, the transducer’s base is radiused to match the case body. When the cartridge is fired, the case expands crushing the piezo which creates a spark, the intensity of which can be directly translated into PSI. In the Garand, the lab used a modified gas plug to get the port pressure readings. Chamber pressure testing was done in a standard pressure barrel.  For AR 15 military testing, a transducer is mounted at the case mouth and another at the point where the gas block would sit on the barrel. The 1911 , a delayed blowback, doesn’t have a gas system. Testing for that type of pistol would rely on cartridge pressure testing from a test barrel.
The Lab

Trimming cases with a manual trimmer is both time consuming and tedious.  The necessary tools are an added expense and another item that needs to be attached to the workbench. Why bother?  The answer is a simple one: consistent loads need a consistent length.

There are two main points of concern when it comes to cases with significant variations in over-all length.  Overly long necks may actually work their way into the leade, crimping the bullet into place and blocking case neck expansion.  The result is erratic pressures, high standard deviations, and eventually blown primers on loads that otherwise would be well within SAAMI pressures.  The second issue is that bullets cannot be consistently crimped if they do not have uniform neck lengths.

A bullet is seated to the same depth within the cartridge by contact between the seater die and the bullet body.  The roll crimp, however, is set by the case’s neck length and where it contacts the crimping portion of the die.  Longer necks get more crimp, and because the bullet is be seated to the same depth each time, the crimp will be higher on the cannelure.  The inverse is true of shorter necks.  Cartridges with different neck lengths will have different neck tensions after the crimping process, which will negatively affect accuracy.

So, if you care about safe and accurate loads for your rifles, case trimming is a necessity.  If you don’t want to spend a portion of your life turning a small crank on an expensive little lathe trimming a cartridge every few minutes: Go buy A World’s Finest Trimmer from Little Crow Gunworks.  Brother, it is the best gadget going for people that need to trim a lot of cases accurately and quickly.  It is also reasonably priced. Inventor Dale Hegstrom’s little tool is like moving from a washing board to a Maytag.  God bless him for saving us from the drudgery of case trimming.

Hegstrom built his tool around an end mill that can be chucked into an electric drill.  A precision-cut guide that indexes off the case shoulder and supports the upper case body holds the case steady during cutting.  Moving the sealed bearing and trimmer body up or down the end mill sets the length of cut. Once the desired cut length is set, two set screws lock the trimmer into position.   It is a beautiful idea.

Using sized brass (this is important because the system datum’s off a consistent point on the shoulder, much like a rifle headspaces) the case is pushed into the guide up against mill’s cutting surface. It is easy to feel when the cut has been completed, and the hard index off the shoulder makes over-trimming virtually impossible.  Once the cut is completed, a quick quarter turn to knock off any burr that has formed will complete the process.  I did more than five hundred .223 Remington cases in less than an hour while watching a movie on my IPOD.  The only downside was that it made my thumb hurt after a while, but it was nowhere near the discomfort I would have had with my rotary trimmer.

Now, on to brass tacks.   How accurately does it cut? The answer is pretty amazing.  I picked twenty cases at random and measured them using a good set of calipers.  The most extreme difference I found was one case that measured .0025” longer than the others.  A closer examination showed a burr was killing the measurement.  The other 19 cases were within .001” of each other.  Amazing accuracy when the speed of each cut is considered, and quite a bit better than my rotary tool.

By design, the World’s Finest Trimmer works within cartridge families.  I liked the .223 Rem. trimmer so much I bought their .308 model as well, which will also trim my wife’s .243 Winchester and my daughter’s .260 Remington.  The $75 asking price seems like a steal considering its speed and the added cost of three new trimming mandrels.  Usually cost and quality go hand in hand but in this instance, the WFT seems undervalued.  It is very well made and ridiculously useful.

You can contact Little Crow Gunworks at http://www.littlecrowgunworks.com/wft.html or find it for sale on Amazon.  If you do volume reloading, you need this tool.

Not so long ago, chronographs were expensive, finicky things rarely seen on public shooting ranges. Now inexpensive chronographs are readily available, offering ballistic insights that would have been impossible only a few years ago. For the handloader, they should be considered indispensable tools for making accurate ammunition.

Velocity Deviations

Internal ballistics studies variables and how they interact within the pressure/time curve. Our ballistics lab does everything possible to control these variables. Data is developed using test barrels in universal receivers. Each chamber is held to minimum SAAMI specifications and barrels are manufactured specifically to conform to testing standards. Cartridge brass is calibrated for pressure off-set by lot and unfired cases are used for testing to avoid pressure changes caused by work-hardened brass. The powder is loaded on laboratory-grade scales in a room that is controlled for temperature and humidity. The velocity we get is accurate, on that test day. Variables beyond our control mean that the same combinations fired on another day may vary slightly, as the barrel’s throat erodes or ambient conditions change.

Here is fact that all handloaders need to accept: Your results will vary.

The average handloader with a pound of powder they purchased a year ago and kept in the basement, using range brass they found and full-length resized, will develop different pressure and velocity than the test barrels in their controlled environment. This isn’t bad; it is simply a result of the many variables that are part of internal ballistics. If the shooter’s barrel length is different than the tested barrel, accurately predicting velocity becomes virtually impossible.

One of our most common customer service questions is tied to velocity changes associated with barrel lengths The questions usually look like this: “I see you shot your data in a 24″ barrel. How much velocity will I gain in my 28″ barrel?” They are hoping that a simple mathematical formula exists to calculate velocity change by barrel length. It does not. A chronograph is the only tool that can accurately answer a question regarding your rifle’s velocity using a given load. It is useful information to have.

Using that information, a shooter with a chronograph can use a bullet’s velocity and ballistic co-efficient to make very good trajectory estimates over long distances. The same is true for the various scope reticles that offer aiming points for given ranges. All of these systems use the bullet’s velocity as a primary variable for predicting bullet impact. If you are going to invest in these tools, get a chronograph, too. It will make them work better.

Using a Chronograph to predict pressure

Variations in chambering, powder condition or handloading techniques can result in pressures and velocities outside of what has been predicted in our lab. A chronograph is best tool to explain the discrepancy.

Velocity and pressure go hand-in-hand, which is why Western Powders includes pressure data along with its maximum loads. Armed with a chronograph, the handloader can compare a firearm’s actual velocity to the published data. Loads that exceed the maximum velocity, within a given barrel length, probably also exceed SAAMI or CIP pressure limits. The inverse is also true, with lower velocity equaling lower pressures.

Automatic pistols are common culprits when it comes to lower than anticipated pressures using a published load. When a load proves to be anemic in an auto-pistol, a chronograph can be used to look for lower than anticipated velocity. There can be a number of answers for velocity loss. Generous chambers, long throating or powder that may have been stored improperly are just a few. The chronograph in this case gives the handloader license to increase the charge weight, knowing that they are most likely under pressure if they are under velocity.

On the other extreme are shooters who live for velocity above everything else. Attributing their much higher velocities to custom chambers in rifles built by demi-gods, they produce astonishing velocities “without visible pressure signs.” They tend to ignore the pressure/velocity correlation; failing to see that an increase in one means an increase in the other if other major variables are held constant. In this case, the visible pressure sign is a bullet that screamed out of the barrel 200 feet-per-second faster than the lab’s maximum tested load. The load is over pressure and the chronograph has told the tale.

An entry-level chronograph costs about as much as a good powder measure or electronic scale. Like these other tools, they should be considered an integral component for accurate handloading. Just keep the bullet between the sky screens and remember that velocity and pressure hold the secrets to good accuracy.

HOLLAND & HOLLAND’S EVERGREEN 375 BELTED RIMLESS MAGNUM EXPRESS (AND HOW TO MASTER IT).   

By John Noak           

 The above (and original) moniker of the .375 H&H practically commands you to buy a Holland & Holland rifle in the quintessential British medium bore of the modern Nitro Express era.  That era, by the way, is fast approaching 102 years. Before delving into the nuts and bolts of the .375, let us take a few moments to review the history of what has often been called “the world’s best all around rifle, ever made.”  A review of the .375 Holland & Holland involves burying of some long perpetrated, but incorrect, beliefs that have   been passed down from gun scribe to gun writer since 1912.

The .375 Holland & Holland was not the first cartridge to be adorned with a circumferential belt just forward of the extraction groove.  That honor goes to the 400/.375 Belted Nitro Express.  The 400/.375 is wimpy by today’s standards.  It is very similar to the later 9.5 x 56 Mannlicher Schöenauer (often called the .375, 2 ¼” Nitro Express on the English side of the channel).  The 400/.375 predates the Mannlicher Schöenauer round by five years.  Both are close to the modern .358 Winchester.  The Winchester .358 in turn, has modest power suitable for medium game.  With judicious bullet placement it can take down an elk at close range.

The .375 H&H no longer uses Cordite as a propellant.  Kynoch, the major British ammunition manufacturing concern (corporation), last used cordite in the early to mid-1960s.  In its time, cordite (which resembled strings of spaghetti) was cut to length and inserted into the partly formed cartridge case. The case neck was then formed, and a bullet was seated.  Prior to WWI, Cordite was somewhat unstable in conditions of high heat and humidity.  Ammunition intended for use in Africa or India was loaded with 58-grains of propellant; that intended for use in more temperate climes was loaded with 60-grains.  As a consequence of using Cordite as a propellant, the .375 H&H cartridge case had a very shallow neck angle (14.96º).  Engineers of the time were not assured that reliable head spacing would be provided by the sloping cartridge shoulder.  Since they are, “belt and suspenders” by natural outlook, the ammunition engineers involved in the project added a “belt” circumferentially around the cartridge head (terrible pun intended).  That belt (“gurtle” for our Deutsch friends) did not look elegant, or even pretty, but it got the job done.  Later, this belt became a marketing tool to sell medium length magnum rifles (many of which had generous shoulders, and did not need a belt) in the 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s.  In the present day the belt is decried as an abomination before the Milan school of style.  Come on everybody, lighten up; most cartridges work fine with or without belts.

There is even nonsense circulating about the word “Magnum” itself.  It does not derive from the French word describing an extra- large bottle of wine, especially Champagne.  The truth is much less romantic.  “Magnum” is derived from the Latin word Magnus meaning large or great.  Calling a 2x sized bottle of champagne a “Magnum” is a colloquial use of the word, not theword itself.

The .375 H&H was introduced 102 years ago (in 1912) and will likely continue to perform yeoman’s duty for another hundred years.  At least we do not have to argue about the date on its birth certificate.As the POMMIES (Prisoners of Mother England) would say, the .375 H&H design is “absolutely brilliant”.  They will get no argument from me.  My mom taught me to not stand on the railroad tracks of history, design, or purpose.

The continuing success of the .375 H&H rests on three legs.  One, with modern “super” bullets, it will kill any animal on earth with one well- placed shot.  Two, it is the most powerful cartridge an average hunter can easily master.   There is no need for a muzzle brake or an excessively heavy rifle.  Third, anywhere there is hunting, .375 H&H ammunition can be purchased across the counter most any hardware store, shooting emporium, or even drugstore.

OK, enough of history – let us get into the fun stuff.  Useful bullet weights vary from 235-grains on the light end, to 300-grains on the top end.  350-grain and 380-grain bullets in .375 diameter are for rather specialized applications.  Super bullet technology has come to full bloom in the 300-grain weight projectiles.  Bullet types run the gamut from simple cup and core, bonded core, mono-metal of copper, brass, or naval bronze, partitioned designs like the Nosler Partition, partition- plus bonding as exemplified by the Swift A-Frame bullet and the gone, but still lamented, Fail-Safe design that Nosler made for Winchester in the 1990s.

In addition to mono-metal designs, there are still many classic designs for solid bullets that are characterized by a lead core with a thick steel covering and finally a very thick copper covering that allows the rifle’s lands and grooves to do their magic without damage to the barrel.

So, the brats are out of college.  You have a little extra money tucked under the mattress.  Your knees are shot, so a sheep hunt will have to wait until your next life.  You visit the Dallas Safari Club show in the dark months of winter and end up booking ten days of plains game hunting in Namibia, followed by another ten day x two Buffalo hunt in Zimbabwe.  The hunt is eighteen months away; you are filled with 50% excitement and 50% trepidation.  A .300 Win Mag feels rough in the recoil department to you.  How can you handle a .375 H&H at all, let alone shoot it quickly and accurately?  Relax!  Bring your favorite .30-06 for plains game, and start working out and working up with the .375.

Buy a quality .375 H&H rifle that fits you well, or can be made to fit you.  If you have a long neck, you will need a rifle with a decent sized Monte Carlo on the buttstock – style be damned.  If you are built like a fireplug, or just have a short neck, you will be best served with a butt stock in the straight American Classic style.  Make sure the stock is wood.  Wood can be bent in place, rasped away; more wood can be splinted in where needed. Wood is the most flexible material to use to make a well fitted stock.  Then, take it to a gunsmith who specializes in making shotguns and rifles fit their clients.  You want your rifle to fit so well that it is an extension of your will.  It can be done.

If you are built like me (17.5” neck size, 34.5” sleeves, but with a long neck), the stock fitter will bend the stock to give you 5/16” of cast off (away from right hander), ¼” of toe out at the butt, and carve out or add on a Monte Carlo.  The dimensions are similar to the Sako Hunter style stock that McMillan makes for Ruger, Remington, Sako AV-style, Browning, and Winchester stocks.  So, a long necked dude can save some money right there on the all-important topic of stock fit.  The gunsmith will make your wooden stock fit you, no matter what your build.  Fit it must; if you want to hit your targets, that is.

It does no good to be afraid of the recoil or muzzle blast of any rifle, but especially one that you will be carrying in the presence of dangerous game.  Good fit is half the battle.  The other half is following a logical and rigorous training and conditioning program.  A good first step is to start practicing with lightweight bullets at mild velocities.  A near perfect starting bullet is the Speer .375”, 235-grain, Semi-Spitzer Soft Point.  Use a large rifle magnum primer and load the 235-grain Speer over 29.0-grains of IMR SR 4759.  (This load has not been tested, nor is it endorsed by Western Powders. Please use caution if you elect to use this data.)  Since this powder is composed of large and flaky individual particles, it is best to weigh each load.  Your velocity will be ≈ 1650 fps.  That is light and very controllable.  It is also a reasonably accurate load.  Zero it at 50-75 yards.  As soon as you have a well regulated (well centered) group, get away from the bench in favor of field positions (in the future you will only visit the bench to obtain an initial zero or to evaluate the precision [smallness and roundness] of any given load).

Start practicing from the sitting position with legs not crossed, and then crossed with right ankle on top, then with left ankle on top.  Shoot five shot groups.  Those force you to concentrate on the fundamentals of marksmanship and follow through.  Twenty to twenty-five rounds down range should be the maximum shooting for any range session.  It is ok to warm up ahead of time with a .22 LR, using the same positions.

On your second visit to the range, shoot the same load.  Start with one set of sitting position shooting, and then transit to shooting kneeling.  Use a tree or a bench for extra support for your first kneeling group; then transition to shooting kneeling without extra support, just your bones (and knee and elbow pads).  Finish up your second session with one group shot from the standing position.  A coach to supervise your progress is indeed priceless.  On your third session, start out with one group sitting, one group kneeling, and all remaining groups standing.  For your last group of the session, have your shooting coach hold  a set of three African shooting sticks, Adjust them until they feel just right, and send the last five bullets down range.

Your fourth range session will be a fun change of pace.  The first feature will be Flat Nosed Gas-Checked lead bullets propelled by A5744 powder at a moderate velocity.  The second feature will be, “ball and dummy” firing.

Try Beartooth bullets or any of the many companies that advertise in Handloader Magazine. Specify a 255-grain hard cast, heat treated, and gas checked bullet.  You will want a Brinnell hardness level between 16 and 22 (the harder the better).  Load those bullets over 37.0 to 45.0-grains of A5744 powder.  A forty-grain load is a good place to start.  That will give you a velocity of about 1,900 fps.

Zero this load at a full 100 yards.  Shoot one group sitting, one kneeling, one standing unsupported, and at least two groups supported by shooting sticks.  Then, have a friend load your rifle so that you cannot see it.  He will either put a live round in the chamber – a ball, or he will put in an A-Zoom brand snap cap – a dummy.  If you have a bit of a flinch, this exercise will distinctly show it as you jerk the barrel when there is only a, “click”.  It is the perfect time to eliminate that flinch because the load is quite mild.  If you do not have a flinch, well good on ya’.

Then, go through a manual and pick a starting load for the 235-grain Semi Spitzer.  Zero from the bench at exactly 200 yards.  The load velocity should be a bit over 2,700 fps.  This is a nearly full-power deer and elk load (for moderate ranges).  Do two more range sessions just like the last two, with one addition; shoot at an 8” paper plate set out at 200 yards for your last group which will be done standing while supported by the shooting sticks.

Next pick up some 250 grain bullets; the Sierra® ..375” Game King Spitzer Boat Tail bullets are perfect.  Start shooting the starting load of A4350 (75.6-grains).  At each session increase your load by 2-grains until you reach the maximum load of 84.0-grains, or notice any sign of increased pressure.  On your drills, make sure at least two are supported with shooting sticks.  A 260-grain bullet, such as the Nosler® Accubond™ will work just as well.

Ok, we are coming around the final bend.  Try any one of the excellent 270-grain plains game bullets on the market.  The Hornady 275-grain is a dandy, as is the Speer 270-grain Spitzer Boat Tail Soft Point.  Use both starting, and full power loads with your choice of A4350, Reloder-15, H414, or Varget. Concentrate your drills on shooting at the 200 yard target from the sticks.  Practice holding the sticks yourself as you shoot.

Wow, we are now up to the 300-grain level.  Pick a (relatively) inexpensive 300-grain bullet such as the Sierra 300-grain Game King™ Spitzer Boat Tail.  Practice shooting at 25 yards, 100 yards and 200 yards, with emphasis on shooting off the sticks.

Finally, spend some time obsessing over what will be the best 300-grain bullet for your hunt.  I use North Fork softs and solids exclusively these days, but pick bullets that you have trust in.  Talk to PHs, and people who have at least two full hunts under their belt.  Whatever ammunition you take hunting, cycle each and every round through your rifle before you go.  The middle of a charge is not the time to discover that your cartridges are hanging up!

This program takes a while, but it costs only a small fraction of the overall time and money involved in a full on ten day buffalo hunt.  For a moderate expenditure of your time and energy, you will be able to confidently drill your shots at all ranges and from all field shooting positions.  You will not need a muzzle brake as a crutch.  Your Professional Hunter will love you for that alone.

Go out, practice sensibly (let your rifle’s bore cool between groups), and then enjoy a buffalo hunt with no excess drama, just the satisfaction of a job done better than well.

Once you are the master of your 375 H&H for African hunting you can simplify loading greatly.  Weigh in 67.5-grains of fine grained and consistently performing Norma N203B powder behind any 300-grain bullet you fancy (Hornady FMJ, Hornady RN, Nosler Partition, Swift A-Frame, Barnes Banded Solid, Norma Oryx, etc).  One well placed shot will send your bullet on its way at ≈ 2,550 fps; shortly your target animal will be reduced to possession.  Good Hunting

John Charlie Noak has served our nation proudly as a member of the 82^nd Airborne Division and 12^th Special Forces (ABN) as a medic. He has twelve years experience flying F-4 and F16 fighters with the 170^th Tactical Fighter Squadron, ANG and four years as a flight surgeon in the Alaska and Idaho Air National Guards. He holds a medical degree from Southern Illinois University.

By Jim Waddell.

Two things in the shooting world fascinate me: .22-caliber centerfires and .22 centerfires that aren’t popular anymore.

I’ve already written about the .221 Fireball and the .22 Hornet so now its time to report on my experiences with the “Triple Deuce” or just “deuce” as some call it. Introduced in 1950, it was designed as an original cartridge, meaning it wasn’t an off-shoot of some existing caliber.

The .222 was the king of the benchrest shooters for several decades after its introduction until it was knocked off its perch by the 6mm PPC. Both calibers are “inherently accurate,” a term I’ve seen used many times by professional gun writers. Personally, I don’t know if there is such a thing but the deuce has a well-earned reputation among the benchrest crowd. I recently read where the difference in accuracy between these two cartridges is measured in less than .10 MOA.

.222 Remington (L) alongside a 6mm PPC

Not being a benchrest competitor, which cartridge shoots the tiniest group means little to me. About 8 years ago I decided I wanted a .222 after having read about them all of my life. It seemed like the perfect caliber for what I wanted which was a medium-range, very accurate round with light recoil, moderate report and long barrel life.

I searched all of the usual places, local guns shops and several online sources and I found there just weren’t many of these rifles to be had. Remington’s custom shop and of course Cooper Firearms of Montana would fix me up but at the time, I wasn’t interested in taking out a second on the house to make this purchase.

Finally I found one during an internet search. The listing was for a Sako Riihimaki, a bolt action made in Finland that had a pretty decent reputation as being a quality made firearm.

Intrigued, I called the proprietor of the gun shop that was located someplace in Washington State. Wary of purchasing firearms sight unseen, I interrogated the man quite thoroughly. I listened carefully to all his answers using a skill I had learned in a class called “Detecting Deception,” which I attended 20 or so years prior while in law enforcement.

The man told me the rifle would shoot one-hole groups with 50 grain Noslers as long as I did my part. He sounded so convincing I sent him the 500 bucks he wanted for it. The rifle arrived about a week later.

It was a sporter model and looked to be in pretty decent shape except for the magazine. A detachable box-type, it was either over-sized or had suffered some abuse that wasn’t visible but I could only get it in and out with the help of a couple of hand tools. Not to be deterred by that triviality, I set out to making up some loads to see what it would do.

Remembering what the seller said about it shooting 50 grain Noslers so well, I assembled a few. They were Ballistic Tips I had been using in a .22-250. I also loaded some 40 grain Sierra Blitzkings as I preferred that weight bullet for its slightly flatter trajectory and higher velocity.

A 5-shot group with the 50 grain Ballistic Tips looked like someone was trying to put a 6 inch happy face on the target with a hole punch. The eyes, nose and the corners of the mouth were all in the right spots. I had loaded those with IMR 4198, an old standby for this caliber that goes back many years. I tried a few more, this time using Accurate 2015. Same thing. So much for me being skilled at detecting a lie on the phone. Maybe the one-hole groups he was talking about were made with just one shot.

Remembering similar issues I had with the .22 Hornet and the .221 Fireball, I started thinking, “What is it with me and these blasted 22 centerfires? Why can’t I find just one that will shoot without me having to sell a body part to China to keep getting more components to try?” Then a more rational thought entered my mind. “If you keep getting someone else’s discards, how can you expect to find a bug-hole shooter? If the rifle was capable of putting 10 rounds into one hole, it would not have been on the market.”

Next I tried some of the 40 grain Blitzkings and the groups shrunk considerably. I loaded several groups of 5 using H322, IMR 4198 and A2015. These groups averaged about 1-1/2 inches at 110 yards. Ok but not as good as I had wanted. The .222’s reputation for accuracy kept me from being satisfied. Of the three powders tried, 2015 edged the others but just slightly.

I made sure I cleaned the bore of all fouling, powder and copper. It did have a considerable amount of copper in the bore as it took several applications of copper solvent before the patches came out free of the tell-tale bluish-green color.

All of the 50 grain bullets were left on the shelf and I went into more detailed load development with the 40 weights. I had a

Sierra’s Blitzking Bullets

supply of Sierra Blitzkings, Nosler Ballistic Tips and Hornady V-Max.

To allay speculation, I’ll state right here I have somewhat of a reputation among my group of shooting buddies who feel I could easily wear out a rifle barrel testing all the possible combinations of bullets, primers and powders. This is a bit over-stated but not that much. This is what I like to do. Tinkering with new rifles and calibers and subsequent load development gives me great pleasure.

I won’t bore anybody with charts, graphs or detailed explanations of groups and their measurements but after extensive testing with a myriad of components, this rifle would more often than not, put 8 out of 10 shots into a 1 ½ inch circle. This level of accuracy would not win many shooting contests but it was enough to take it along on my annual squirrel hunt.

I used this rifle for two seasons, shooting ground squirrels in Oregon. During the second season, I noticed I was getting more misses and fewer hits. Like 200 and sometimes even 150 yard shots were missing and occasionally missing by a lot.

About that time, I noticed new bullets and other components were coming out so I thought it a good time to get back to the bench for some updated load development. After putting together another group of loads to test it was becoming obvious, this barrel’s best days were in the past.

I hit the trail for Oregon, to Gunner’s Sport Shop in the town of Brookings. Ernie, the owner and gunsmith, came highly recommended by Pac-Nor Barrels and had previously done some barrel work for me. One look through his bore scope at the inside of that barrel was all it took. It was diagnosed with a terminal sore throat. His scope was attached to a computer screen that clearly showed the condition of that bore which wasn’t good to say the least.

Ernie specializes in custom barrels and blueprinting actions. I got to choose from several options and decided to keep my action and stock. I could have chosen from several different calibers that were derivatives of the .222 such as the .17 Remington, 221 Fireball, .223 Remington, .204 Ruger and the .380 ACP, without much in the way of modifications to the receiver as they all fit the bolt face. I decided to stay with the “deuce” since my desire for that caliber is what started all of this. (I was kidding about the .380. Wanted to see if you were paying attention, even though it does use the same shell holder according to Midway USA).

I chose a medium weight barrel with a 1 in 14 inch twist. For less than 500 bucks and for all practical purposes I had a brand new rifle.

It arrived about 5 weeks later. I had a supply of loaded rounds left over from the doomed barrel. They were loaded with IMR’s 8208 XBR, which shot slightly better than Hodgdon’s Benchmark with the 40 grain Sierra Blitzking and Remington 7 ½ primer.

At the time, I had little experience with Accurate or Ramshot powders. The experience I did have was with Accurate 1680 which performed much better than its closest rivals’ Hodgdon’s Lil’ Gun and IMR 4227’ in the .221 Fireball. I had also tried some 2015 with the old .222 barrel which did pretty well also.

I shot several groups of 5 with this 8208 load. The results were ok but not what I was expecting. I did not break the barrel in as Ernie had assured me that was not necessary with the custom barrel he installed. The groups hovered around an inch or slightly above and often with a flyer.

I remembered seeing a supply of Accurate 2200 in one of our local gun shops. I had read that this powder was best suited for the small calibers such as the .17’s, .20’s and especially suited for the .222 and .223 Remington with lighter bullets.
With that in mind I returned and purchased a pound of 2200 and loaded up several groups of 5 rounds, starting at the minimum listed weight given by Western Powders for the 40 grain bullet. I increased the load a half a grain at a time, and stopped just below maximum of 23.0. I started off using Nosler’s Varmageddon bullet, the one with the flat base and black polymer tip.

The first 5 shot group was a smile-producing cluster of 5/8 inch. As I worked on up to the maximum I had loaded which was 22.5 grains, the groups all hovered around a half inch, with 22.5 being the tightest at just under a half inch. I loaded this series with CCI BR-4 primers, using Winchester brass.

I think most normal varmint hunters would be inclined stop right there, document the 22.5 grains of Accurate 2200 with the other components, load up a few hundred and be ready for the first spring varmint hunt. The key word in this paragraph is “normal.”
I’m not one of those.

I was thinking, “…Wonder what would happen with Remington 7 ½ Benchrest primers.” I loaded 15, using the same data but changing to this primer. I shot them in 3 separate 5-shot clusters. Accuracy again was great, not quite as tight as the first series. Then I thought, “What happens if I run short of Varmageddons and have to substitute with Sierra Blitzking or Hornady V-Max.” Will they be as accurate? Will they shoot close enough to the same point of aim that I won’t have to adjust the scope?”

I grabbled a little sanity and decided to stop right there and for the time being, stay with the load that printed the best. There’s very little doubt as time goes on, I’ll be back at the bench, tinkering with these loads trying to make them shoot better than I am capable of holding.

I can’t say enough about the performance of Accurate 2200 powder. It’s a very fine-grained, spherical or ball powder that won’t bridge in a funnel or in small mouthed cases and it performed like a dream. I went back to that gun shop and now own five more cans of the stuff.

I just purchased a can of LT-32 and that’s next on the agenda but I’m going to wait until after the next varmint season. If I wear out this custom, Pac-Nor barrel, no problem, five weeks and a few hundred bucks and I might get a .222 Remington Magnum this time. Haven’t tried that one yet.

Jim Waddell is a retired law enforcement officer and graduate of the FBI National Academy. In his nearly 40 years of service he worked for two sheriff’s departments and was a chief of police. Jim is a firearms instructor and competed in many statewide pistol matches. He lives in central California where he grows almonds.

By Bob Shell.

In the past, I have used this propellant in applications that it wasn’t designed for. It is a type of black powder substitute for some but not all black powder weapons. Since it is hard to ignite cap & ball guns and 209 don’t mix. Also small cartridges especially with light bullets perform poorly with 209. Most blanks do better with other propellants. With the insanity going on many smokeless powders are difficult to get. I have walked into a few gun stores and saw bare shelves where the powder usually resided. With that thought in mind, 209 can be looked at as an all-around powder. While it isn’t perfect it will work in a broader range of guns than anything else I have tried. In a pinch perfection isn’t what we are looking for but a chance for survival. With the broad spectrum of calibers I have worked with this is the closest to the perfect all around propellant. Real small rounds such as the 25 and 32 ACP sizes it won’t do very well and may not work at all.

I have used it with success on such diverse rounds as a 12 gauge and 45 auto. We have shot quail with this powder and it functioned a Benelli semi-auto. Shooting a 1 oz. slug 209 works fine producing about 1,000 FPS which would be perfect for home defense. Therefore, to explore other possibilities the idea of modern bottleneck rifle rounds occurred to me. Why not try it in such offerings as a 22-250, 243 and 30-06. The 30-30 and other similar common rounds would be a good testing ground. The idea is to develop a load powerful enough to be useful at closer ranges that you might need in a pinch. Of course, velocity will be less than a standard load but if it is accurate enough at 25 to 50 yards with decent velocity then we can consider it useful. Some of these loads should work well at a hundred yards and perhaps a bit beyond. At the time of this writing powder is extremely difficult to get anywhere and some private sellers are selling it online for two or three times the going price. Unfortunately there are sleaze bags taking advantage of the situation. For your information, I checked with a couple of distributers to see what powders of any kind are available. With smokeless powders, over 95% are not available while black powder and substitutes including 209 are almost 100 % available. In honesty the 209 is more expensive than the other brands since it is tubular and hollow it is more difficult to make. That should give those who reload something to think about though for an emergency cost isn’t a factor. You do use less 209 because it such a low density which will help with cost for the economically minded folks. In a real pinch you can use black powder and Pyrodex in rifles but keep in mind that they are corrosive and you velocity will drop even more. I have done this and for emergency purposes, it will do. In small bore guns the barrel will be fouled up after a few shots something to keep in mind. Use compressed loads in all of the rounds used.

It is a very low-density powder so compressed loads will be the order of the day. In fact, the jug that I received is the standard size for 8 LBS but only 5 will fit in there. I hope that the powder situation will improve but one should be prepared and learning to use alternate powders is one way to improve the ammo situation. Most of the stand byes will not work as well but will do in a pinch. For instance you can use small amounts of pistol powder in a rifle. You will lose much of your velocity but at closer ranges it may do ok. You just have to be careful not to use too much as that may cause dangerous pressure spikes. For example, you can use a small amount of Unique in a 30-06. You will get some useful velocity and accuracy. In fact, with cast bullets it is an excellent choice. Blackhorn 209 is meant as a high performance propellant for certain muzzle loading arms mainly in-lines. It is somewhat difficult to ignite so conventional cap locks and flintlocks won’t work well with it. Surprisingly it meters pretty well in my powder measure considering the size of the grains. Real small capacity rounds don’t do very well with it as velocity is low but for larger cases it works well. I have been successful on making in work and function in a 45 ACP and a 12 gauge semi-auto. My loads in the shotgun have been good enough to harvest quail. I see some promising possibilities in using it for modern bottle neck cases. Like all black powder and their substitutes, it is recommended not to have airspace between the bullet and powder so all of my loads will be compressed. In addition, the idea is to see how much velocity we can safely get out of this propellant. Accuracy is also a consideration along with function in a semi auto. The 30-06 produces enough velocity with a hunting bullet to make it useful. It is in the same area as a 30-30 load which will enable game to be harvested at 100 yards or so. Of course 30-30 bullets can be used to produce the same results as the 30-30.

Blackhorn 209 left casings darkened.

The 223 is so popular that 209 should be tried in it. With the small case, I don’t expect a lot but am going to try some heavy 75 to 80 grain bullets. With the 55 grain bullets they ejected but the bolt didn’t always come back far enough to pick up another round. The heavier bullets worked perfectly. The rifle used was a mag change model which is capable of utilizing four different calibers. Barrel was 16” and the velocity while lower than standard 223 would none the less be useful for some work. With the 77 grain bullet a fast twist would be required to stabilize it. With the mild velocities encountered, most cup and core bullets should work ok for most situations. That is one of the advantages of these loads is standard cup and core bullets will produce good results. They will not come unglued as possible with high velocity loads. Thin-jacketed varmint bullets should be excellent defense ammo. Your ES and SD are a result of the compatibility of the powder and bullet. I am working on a piece explaining that in detail.

.223 Remington

55 gr. FMJ: 21 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity 2110 fps. Comment: Extreme Spread – 110 fps

77 gr. Hornady HP: 20 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity 1863 fps. Comment: More consistent.

The 22-250 is fairly common and since it has more capacity than a 223 the heavy bullets might work fairly well. Like all of the rounds, being tested results will be similar in similar cases such as the 220 Swift. The 100 grain is an unusually heavy bullet for a 22 and you would need a barrel with a fast twist to stabilize it. The velocities displayed by the 22-250 would be useful for deer given good bullet placement and a twist fast enough to stabilize a 100 grain bullet. The 100 grain has a high sectional density hence it should have a lot of penetration.

.22-250 Remington

55 gr. FMJ: 30 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity 2829 fps. Comment: OK

100 gr. Specialty: 27 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity 2204 fps. Comment: Nice

Another round that is common is the 243. I am trying a heavily compressed load with a 100 grain flat base bullet. Like all of the other rifles tested though some velocity is lost it will still harvest a deer sized animal at moderate ranges. A 100 grain bullet in the 243 has decent sectional density which would enable it to provide adequate penetration. Since the velocity is fairly low bullet shape and jacket thickness are not as important as it is in higher velocity loads. Round nose bullets would work great since they have a propensity to expand at lower velocities and give adequate penetration. This will be true in any of the calibers tested.

.243 Winchester

100 gr. Trophy Bond, 38 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 2440 fps. Comment: High ES.

The 270 Winchester has been around for many years and is common and well known so it would be appropriate to list a couple of loads for it. For some reason the 130 grain load wasn’t consistent which goes against most of the other loads tested in the 270 and the other rifles. Typically most of the loads were consistent. The nice thing is since the pressure is low top grade cases are not necessary. I used brass that was fired several times and it performed well. I just did the routine checks which included checking for splits and case length.
.270 Winchester

130 gr. Speer Grand Slam, 45 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 2249 fps. Comment: High ES

150 gr. Hornady SST, 42 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 2265 fps. Comments: Nice

The 7 mm -08 started out as a wildcat but was later adopted. It is a 308 necked down with no other changes. It is a good hunting round giving good ballistics with very moderate recoil. Bullets from 100 to 175 grains are usable and anyone who makes ammo does the 08. There is a good selection of lightweight rifles available many at inexpensive prices. This is just another example of a rifle that can be useful with 209. Those velocities are enough to harvest a deer at closer ranges or it is very adequate for home defense. If you use a cartridge similar to the listed ones results will be similar. A 260 Remington would give results similar to the 7 mm 08 given similar bullet weight and sectional density and barrel length.

7mm-08 Remington

140 gr. Sierra BT, 37 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 2132 fps. Comment: Fair

175 gr. Hornady, 36 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 1966 fps. Comment: Very Consistent

The 7 mm Remington magnum has been around for over 50 years and is justly popular so it would make sense to try some 209 in it. The velocity obtained with the 139 would be similar to a 7 X 57 or 7 mm 08 with standard loads.

7 mm Remington Magnum

139 gr. Flat Base, 59 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 2665. Comment: Consistent

The 30-40 Krag has been around for over 120 years and there are still a fairly decent number of rifles still in use. I used a cast bullet in this test but a jacketed one can be substituted.

30-40 Krag

165 gr. Cast bullet, 38 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 1568 fps. Comment: Nice

Since the 308 is universally used it will be included in this test. I used a Springfield Armory SAR 4800 to see how it would feed and cycle this ammo. I shot 150’s and 165’s and except for the first two shots cycling was perfect.

.308 Winchester

150 gr. FMJ, 36.5 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 1907 fps. Comment: Consistent

165 gr. Hornady Interlock, 36 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 1930 fps. Comment: High ES

30-06 Loads all using Blackhorn 209. I used military cases because since they are older and don’t possess the quality of newer cases if a problem crops up it may show more readily with these pieces of brass. Bullets used will be the plain cup & core because hi-tech bullets will not give any advantage because of the lower velocities encountered. Also long tapered boattail bullets will take up more space so cutting down on the powder charge, reducing the velocity. With that thought the more blunt and short the bullet the better. After tapping down powder level was ½ the way up the neck for both the 165 and 180 grain slugs. While I am not going to use a lot of cast bullets a couple might be instructive in a couple of ways. Velocities are similar to full power 30-30 loads so would be useful for the same type of hunting. There is a school of thought that a lot of power is needed for deer size animals. I would say that if you have a bullet of some weight and velocity and possess some hunting skill your hunting will be successful. A little research reveals that a lot of large game has been harvested with lower power rifles and cast bullets and that formula still works. Naturally the long range shots will be ruled out but most big game is shot within 200 yards many much less. At woods ranges, I would feel comfortable hunting with many of these loads. Since these loads are relatively sedate round nose bullets may be more desirable. They would be more likely to open up at low velocities and this would apply to all of the calibers. The 30-30 style flat nose would be ideal as a bullet with a high ballistic coefficient would have no advantage at these velocities and ranges.
.30-06 Springfield

150 gr. Privi FMJ (Garand), 48 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 2198 fps. Comment: Fed Ok

150 gr. Privi FMJ (Bolt Rifle), 48 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 2314 fps. Comment: Consistent

165 gr. Hornady Flat Base, 44 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 2204 fps: Comment: Decent

165 gr. Horn. FB (Garand), 44 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 2198 fps: Comment: Fed Fine

165 gr. Cast FP, 44 grains of Blackhorn209, Velocity: 2182 fps: Comment: High ES

180 gr. Rem. Cor-Lokt, 44 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 2137 fps. Comment: Nice Load

200 gr. Speer Flat Base, 44 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 2052 fps. Comment: Nice

The 30-30 has been around for about 120 years and is very common and it works ok with 209. The velocity isn’t very fast by today’s standards but in a pinch will do ok at close range. You are giving up 5-600 FPS with the 209 but it beats throwing the bullet.

.30-30 Winchester

165 gr. Cast, 25 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 1606 fps. Comment: Consistent

165 gr. Spitzer, 25 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 1565 fps. Comment: Ok

The 300 Winchester mag has been around for over 50 years and is one of the most popular magnum rounds and is well distributed. With that thought in mind some load data with 209 would be useful in an emergency. Heavier bullets should be impressive in this caliber. This load is in the area of a full power 308 which would make it quite a good hunting load.

.300 Winchester Magnum

180 gr., 62 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 2469 fps. Comment: Nice

The 303 is another common military rifle with many still in use. Like the Krag I used a cast bullet with good results.

.303 British
165 gr. Cast Gas Check, 33 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 1869 fps. Comment: Very Consistent
Another oldie is the 32-40 Winchester. It is on the small side for deer but with a 170 grain flat nose enough velocity is produced to make a fairly decent close range hunting load.

32-40 Winchester

170 gr. Hornady, 23 grains of Blackhorn 209, Velocity: 1541 fps. Comment: Accurate

I have a good feel for this powder and the larger the case the more power you can get. I have worked with a lot of obsolete rounds such as the 11 X 60 Gras and the 43 Spanish. The ballistics are impressive for these old rounds. It works ok in a 45-70 but in a 45-120 it is a beast. With a 500 grain bullet I obtained over 1700 FPS and more than a little recoil. I never had any loads that produced excess pressure but I imagine if you took a 378 Weatherby case and necked it down to a 22 pressures might be too high. I have no intentions of trying that out. I have used it in small cases such as a 9.4 Dutch and while it works ballistics are rather pedestrian.

Excerpted from the Ruger 77/50 manual

Much like the Remington 700 ML and 700ADL, Ruger sold a muzzle loader that looks a lot like the Ruger 77/44: the Ruger 77/50.    According to the Ruger website it was in production from 1997-2004.   The Ruger functioned very similar to the Remington 700 ML, and even had a breech thread that allowed use of 700ML breech plugs.  (Not that we nor the manufacturer are endorsing that. It’s just so similar it’s possible).  Thus these rifles had many of the same problems as the Remington 700 ML:  Blow-back, frequent misfires, and factory setups that didn’t have 209 options.

So when Ruger owners find The Badger Ridge Industries 209 kit for the Remington 700ML, they often contact us and ask if we can make a similar “seal up the breech, BlackHorn209 compatible, finger simple prime de-prime system” for the Ruger 77/50.   Now, I’m proud to say “YES WE CAN!”

In order to develop and prove out a Badger Ridge sealed breech 77/50 209 conversion, a few 77/50’s were purchased and converted by Fred and myself.   Having a couple of centerfire  Ruger 77 MKII’s that I’ve hunted with for years, in many ways it wasn’t a totally new rifle to me, even though it was a ‘totally new rifle’ to me.   And while on the surface it works similar to the Remington, and the breech plug threads of both are essentially identical, the 77/50 is a very different rifle to convert.

As the rifle came from the factory, or even when modified with a Canadian 209 system, the warning about “Hot Gases Exit Nipple Area” excerpted from the 77/50 manual rings true and must be heeded.   Hot gasses and pieces of primers/caps being blown back and around the nipple and the associated fouling are generally referred to as “Blow Back”.   The 77/50 uses a protrusion on the bolt itself to try and direct the blow-back to the side of the rifle.  The bolt also has a vent in the bolt body that directs the blow-back that enters the bolt down and into the stock!   So on this rifle blow back still gets everywhere, and is even directed down and into the inside the rifle! This complicates cleaning and over the long term reduces the reliability of the system.   So compared to the Remington we had to modify the Ruger’s bolt much more to get a more reliable 209 system that seals the breech.

The main reason to switch to our system is not only to increase reliability and use 209 primers, but to seal up the breech area and essentially eliminate all of the blow back issues.   209 primers are hotter and more reliable source of ignition.   Using them to seal blow back into the breech plug vastly simplifies cleaning and makes the rifle safer.   This seals out the elements and allows one to shoot Blackhorn 209 powder.  Which in my opinion is the best black powder substitute available.  Everything is better with the Badger Ridge 209 kit.  Without it, the unreliable, leaky rifle is not Blackhorn 209 compatible.

Remember, blow back not only can injure a shooter or by stander, but it can burn the optics mounted above the breech, project corrosive fouling throughout the bolt and action, prematurely wear out a mainspring, etc.   However the Ruger 77/50 is known to have an additional deficiency:  Blow-back launches the firing pin rearward and occasionally shears the trigger’s sear!   Our conversion for the Ruger 77/50 fixes all of these woes by sealing the blow back into the breech plug with the 209 primer!

The conversion process requires the bolt to be completely stripped, our new firing pin to be installed, the extended shroud to be cut off, and the nose of the bolt dressed.  Then the 209 nose is timed to align it for loading and unloading, pressed on, and firing pin protrusion set.  So once started, there really isn’t any going back.  But once the converted rifle is shot, I’m sure no one will ever want to go back to the leaky original set up!

Our Ruger 77/50 conversion is through its first rounds of testing but is still in what the DoD would call LRIP (low rate initial production).   I’m not comfortable sending this one out for just anyone to install, and for now, will only offer it as a full conversion service.   Or in other words, I’m not willing to sell this one as a kit; you will have to pay me to install it.

The kit uses the same Hunter 209 breech plug that our Remington 700 ML conversion uses.

Bolt fully closed on Ruger 77/50 with 209 conversion installed. Primer is swaged into breech plug and sealed

If you are interested in making your rifle work the way you always wanted it to, and Blackhorn 209 compatible, you can purchase Ruger 77/50 conversion as a service (very similar to our Remington 700ML conversion service).   Mail us your bolt, we’ll convert, and send it back with the breech plug, vent liner, and other accessories.   Details are available at our website:  www.BadgerRidgeInd.com

Yours,

Tom Hood
BadgerRidgeIndustries@gmail.com
850 384 2683

By Frank Mathis.  

When I retired from a large Sheriff’s Office, my parting gift was a Winchester 1885 Low Wall chambered in .22 long. As the original finish had been overlaid with a French-gray parkerized overcoat with mud fence aesthetics, the collector value was far less than a project for a re-build shooting platform.

1895 Low Wall Exploded Diagram.

The late Steve Moore of Ten Ring Services, Inc. of Jacksonville, Florida was contracted to re-barrel and chamber the rifle for the venerable 32 Winchester, aka 32-20. As some issues presented themselves with a barrel designed for a rimfire cartridge, the bore was drilled and a Redman .311. liner was installed. The chamber cut to close tolerances and the firing pin retrofitted for a centerfire. During this metal work period I refinished the straight grained stock with hand rubbed linseed oil.

The years have not been kind to the eyes and iron sights are nowhere near as clear as was once the norm, so glass was needed to obtain maximum benefit from the “new” rifle. A Leatherwood copy of the William Malcom short scope of three power was selected as being suitable for the period look to enhance appearance and serviceability.

Leatherwood William Malcom short scope.

That is when the fun started in research and development of loads suitable for the rifle. It is amazing at how little can be found on converting low walls and the strength of the action. It is known that many have been converted to high pressure rounds such as 218 Bee and .357 Magnum but this is my rifle and overloading the rimfire action was not a desirable outcome in a search for enhanced performance over factory equivalent ammunition.

.32-20

Having on hand two bullet molds, Lyman’s excellent 311008 and a four cavity of mold, of unknown manufacture, a gas check design and drops semi-wadcutters of 110 grains at .313 caliber, casting began in earnest. Bullets were sized to .312 in an RCBS sizer with Lyman Moly Lube. An additional supply of Hornady .312  100gr. XTPs were acquired for additional testing.

As there are three other firearms in 32-20 Win. caliber in my safe, none of which can be fired using heavier loads with out securing additional life insurance, a method of keeping ammunition safely segregated was required. Since most of my brass is a mix of Remington, Winchester and Starline, sorting by manufacturer was not a safe alternative. Thus a quantity Starline nickle-plated brass was used as the sole ammunition for the Winchester Low Wall.

Reloading data was selected from various sources and started out very mild but showed unsatisfactory accuracy which turned out to be the fault of the reloader himself. Having loaded strictly for bolt action rifles where case length was addressed only when the bolt started getting difficult to close, little attention was paid to case length. After multiple targets with stringing and extreme velocity variances, research flipped the switch and the light was seen. After trimming all cases equally, groups were immediately improved and velocity became consistent.

Using different powders and primers with all three of the above listed bullets and being reluctant to venture into pushing pressure levels beyond about 25,000 psi, there were mixed results, none of which I was content to accept. In checking out additional powder options, A1680 was noted to achieve higher velocities at lower pressures. Intrigued, I finally found a can and commenced loading this new acquisition with surprising results. With the 110 gr. gas check SWC, a load of 15.0 gr. Of  A1680 ignited by a CCI 500 primer proved capable of very tight groups at 75 yards. Unfortunately, I was experiencing problems with the chronograph that day and do not have the velocity for this load.

 The next load was with the Hornady 100 gr XTP pushed with 15.7 gr. of  A1680 ahead of a Winchester small pistol primer. Accuracy was even better with frequent three-shot groups measuring around a half inch at 75 yards.

The most pleasing aspect of these two loads are that they both shoot into the same 1 inch square with room along the border even when intermingling the two. Recently the SWC loads were used to collect a dinner of fresh squirrels at distances ranging from 65 to 75 yards.

Just recently I was invited to a deer hunt in northeast Florida with a group of friends I worked with. As a challenge I carried my 32-20 1885 into a ground blind on the edge of a cypress pond in planted pines. A short time after sunset a six point (Eastern count) waded out into a clearing and gave me an opportunity to evaluate his potential as a source of protein. As the distance was around 60 yards with superb confidence in the accuracy potential of the rifle and given the terrain and light availability I elected for a neck shot. As the cross hairs settled on the buck’s neck I squeezed off the shot to which he immediately fell and remained in that spot until he was dragged back to the trail for transport. The terminal ballistics proved to be more than anticipated upon close examination although there was not an exit.

While this rifle and ammunition combination worked for a buck on this trip, I do not consider the 32-20 Winchester a deer cartridge. A precisely placed shot will put a deer down for the count but only under optimal circumstance with a confident shooter. A few years ago while hunting in west Georgia I passed up a monster buck late one afternoon because I had not developed this load at that time. The load was much lighter with the SWC gas check and the distance too far for precision placement.

All in all I have been very pleased with the performance of A1680 powder. It is consistent both in accurate metering from an RCBS powder measure and for field work. A bit of residue can be observed after a few shots but accuracy is unaffected even during extended shooting sessions and is easily removed with good bore solvent. I would strongly recommend trying A1680 in any suitable cartridge when seeking optimal performance.

1895 Winchester Low Wall like the author’s.

Frank Mathis served with the 3^rd Marines in Vietnam in 1969 as a rifleman. He served 34 years in law enforcement including nine years with SWAT and 22 years as a police firearms instructor. He retired as Director of Law Enforcement for the St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office in St. Augustine, Florida.  He is a recognized expert firearms witness for Florida’s 7^th Judicial Circuit.  An active handloader since the early 70’s, Frank currently loads for about 25 different cartridges.  He can be reached at mfmathis@wildblue.net.

“The greater the elevation, the more sanitized the perspective”.