COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING A Treatise onHandloading for Pleasure, Economy andUtility By PHILIP B. SHARPE EXCAPTAIN, 01U>NANCE DEPARTMENT, AW, LCP£ MEMBER KATtONAL B2FLE ASSOCIAHON, ARMY ORDNANCE ASSOCIATION; MEMBER NATIONAL MTZZLE LOADINO RIFLE ASSOCIATION, UNITED STATES REVOLVER ASSOCIATION, FRATERNAL ORDER OF PfiLICR, NATKlNAL SKEET A.sSCiCIATION, PHOTOGRAPHERS ASSOCIATION OP AMERICA, THE SPORTSMENS’ CLUB OP AMERICA, OUTDOOR writers' ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, NUMEROUS SHOOTING AND SPORTSMEN 's CLUBS; HONORARY MEMBER, AUTOMOBILE-CLUB DE FRANCE; EUGENE FIELD SOCIETY, BLACK FOREST CONSERVATION ASSOC I AIT ON OF PENNSYLVANIA, AND OTHERS; FIREARMS TECHNICIAN AND CONSULTANT; FORMER FIREARMS EDITOR OF WESTERN STORY MAGAZINE; MEMBER, TECHNICAL DIVISION STAFF, NATIONAL BIFLE ASSOCIATION HARRY M. POPE CHATS WITH THE ACTHOR AT CAMP PERRY. THAT HAT IS FORTY YEARS OLD AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN WORN BY POPE WHILE SHOOTING A MATCH. IT IS HIS "GOOD LUCK” EMBLEM r-> ^ CopYRlGHTi 1937 DEDICATED TO HARRY M. POPE {The Old Master) It is doubtful if any one individual has done as much for the shooting game as Harry M. Pope, that barrel maker and match shooter who for more than sixty years has been an active member of the shooting fra- ternity. Failing eyesight and the encroachments of Time have not dulled his keen understanding of shooting problems— or his skill at his favorite old lathe. The expert handloader knows that experimental firing will locate one load which shoots better in his gun than any other. H. M. Pope learned that before most of us were born. Ac the turn of the century when Pope was most active as. a commercial barrel maker, he developed the most accurate load for each barrel. He knew what variations in eases, in bullets, in primers and in powder could do to accuracy. So he found the best combination— and the new data went with each barrel. And so to chat Little Old Man in New Jersey, with recollections of many happy evenings listening to his yarns of yesteryear, this volume is respectfully dedicated. There will be but oke H. M. Pope. The Author CONTENTS PART ONE CHArr&K I. PROBLEMS OF THE HANDLOADER 3 Importance of safety — Damage to guns through oyerloading — Types of tools available — Speed versus precision — Experimental handloading — Begin with little equipment and build up — Handloading permits shooter to bring out finest accuracy of firearms II. EQUIPMENT, FIXTURES, SLTPLIES 7 Building a loading bench — Making bench tools reinnvaJile — Installing a filing system — Es- sential equipment for the beginner — Preparing record forms — Necessary small tools — Vises— Handling primers — Screw drivers — Grinding wheels— Patience and intelligence III. THE CARTRIDGE CASE— ITS DEVEIX)PMENT AND MANUFACTURE 15 History of the brass cartridge case — Devdopment of the percussion primer— First successful rimfirc cartridge— Fran kford Arsenal developments — Coming of the outside centerfire car- tridge — The Berdan primer— Description of cartridgecvclopmcnt of the percussion cap — 'rhe pinfire cartridge— Black powder primers not suited to smokeless— Mercuric primers spoil cases when used with smoke- less powder — Tlic first successful smokeless j>rimcr— Value of shouting glasses Vn. THE NON-CORROSIVE PRIMER 60 Chemical difference between corrosive and non-corrosive primers — Wlial liaj>[)cns whcti fir- ing pin strikes a primer — Methods of handling non-corrosive primers — Safety precautions — Decapping primed shells — Dangers in ra|dd primer seating — Reason for hangfires and mis- fires — Inaccurate loads due to careless priming VIIL CASTING BULLETS 66 Bullet moulds — Breaking in a mould — Necessary equipment — Melting and alloying bullet metal — Potter Brincll Metal Tester — Merit Gas Stove Melting Pol — The Miller Caster — Lacy bullet storage trays— Care and storage of moulds — Removiug grease from moulds IX. BULLET SIZING AND LUBRICATING 81 How and why bullets are sized— Experiments with oil-containing lubricants — Tested for- mulas— Grease wads — Graphite wads — Colloidal graphite wads — Grease wads in high-veloc- ity cartridges — Using Dictaphone records — Kakc-Kutter — Lubricating machines — Sizing dies # IX CONTENTS CBAmt TACK X. LEAD, GAS4:HECK, HOLLOW-BASE, HOLLOW-POINT, AND PATCHED BULLETS 95 DUfercnt types of cast bullets-^ waged buUets-^Oas-^eck bullets — Oversize bullets — Hol- low-base bullet becoming obsdete — History of hollow-point type — How moulds are made— Game tests with hollow-nose bullets — ^Explosive bullets — Pajjer-patched bullets — Types of patches— ‘^National** wire-patched bullet XL METAL-CASE BULLETS-TARGET AND HIWTING 112 Types of metal jacketed bullets— Gilding inetal— Cupro-nickel — Lubaloy and Nobcloy Jack- ets — Metal fouling — Bullets for different kinds of game — Target bullets — Altering or doctor- ing bullets — Wounding elTect of the S|ntzer bullet— Metal- jacketed bullets in handguns XIL SEATING OF BULLETS 128 Importance of proper seating — Throat of the rifting— Effect of wear on the throat — Testing throat wear and Icade length — Use of micrometers — Seating depth affects loading density — Effect of bullet contour on pressures — Methods of straight-line seating XIIL POWDER-ITS HISTORY AND TYPES 133 Bacon’s original formula— Revdutionary War powder — Development of the Amerccau pow- der itidu2i try— Formation of Du Pont combines and absorbtion of small companies — Gun Powder Trade Association— Break-up of Du Pont combine— Early American sporting powders — Cocoa powder XIV. THE MANUFACTURE AND USE OF BLACK AND SEM14M0KELESS POWDERS 137 Early American formulas for home-manu{actureowdcr XXVIIL FOULING AND ITS CLEANING PROBLEMS Guncleaning sull necessary — Non' brake. Nonchalantly he slid across the sear, opened the door, alighted and looked up at the big house sand- wiched between others in the closely packed city street. A small attic window set close to the peak of the roof glowed faintly from an internal light. Something doing up there! . . . Hastily he climbed the porch stairs and let himself in with his pass key. He breezed through the house with a tliccry greeting and his unasked qucsiion was immedi- ately answered. “Sure, he's up in the attic monkeying around as usual. Don't you gun bugs ever get tired?" A moment later he was in the attic . . . and sure enough, "doinV* were afoot. Obie was hand- loading. Before him on the long sturdy bench constructed by himself with its purpose in view at the time of design was a long row of assorted loading cools— FA, Pacific, and others. A small gasoline stove was roaring merrily in one comer of the neat little workshop. Un it a pot of bullet metal was acquiring that “liquid" appc.arancc. What was it all about? A couple of gun hugs again at the sport of con- structing a hatch of special lundload^ ammuni- tion. For twenty years the writer has been playing with this subjccL His initial work was accom- plished with the crudest of tools and a minimum of intelligence. As he looks back on the early days he sighs with relief— relief to think that he actually lived through some of the concoctions put together. As we look back through the years wc seem to recall that initial handloading — or reloading, as you may choose to call ic—which began with an old .38 Long Colt and a non-ad just able Ideal tool having a bullet mould built into the end. A lot of fun wc had. Since that rime countless thou- sands of rounds of ammnniuon have been hand- loaded in calibers ton numerous to mention. At no time have wc ever been really “tired * of hand- loading. Perhaps that day will sometime arrive. When any factory can load any cartridge that will shoot quarter-inch groups at 100 yards, and when wc can duplicate and improve upon said grouping, xm then we will retire, for the end will be in sight. Even then, we may strive for those quarter-inch groups at 200 and possibly 300 yards ... but that is just a dream. Every modern development in the shape of arms and ammunition is today directly traceable to the efiorts of handloaders— experimenters, if you please. All credit is due these pioneers in every industry. I sat in ilic office of an executive of a large armi plant not so long ago. The executive began an attack u}x>n handloading. Naturally I countered. “Our business,'* he insisted, “is the manufacture and sale of arms and ammunition. Our profit on components is woefully small, of course, and nat-, urally wc do not like to encourage any home am- munition manufacture.'* I knew this executive well, and, knowing that he did not mean all he said, 1 shot a direct question at him. His reply was enlightening. “ Y cs,*' he ac k no wl edge d, ‘ ' y 01 \ h a n d loa ding chaps are probably responsible for most of our de- velopment work today. You find more fault than the hunter, but the most practical feature is that you bring your complaints direct to the manufac- turers, whereas the average hunter is inclined to neglect this and broadcast his criticisms to the world at large. “Practically every development of any impor- tance can directly traced to you chaps; it was first w'orked out and proved by the handloading fraternity, and wc later adopted it.” This is quite true. The so-callcd “wadcutter" target cartridge was the prcxluct of handloaders. It was first worked out by A. L. A. Hitnmelwright hack in 1900. This same bullet has been made avaikible to reloaders since that time by the makers of Ideal bullet moulds. The original wadcutter was built for the ^4 Smith and Wesson Russian — a 1 75-grain bullet bearing the Ideal number 429220. Shordy after this came another group of w'ad- cutter bullets, starting with J, B. Crabtree's Ideal 1360345 in 1903, B. F, Wilder’s I360271 in 1904, and Him mcl Wright’s #360302 in 1905. Around 1910 Winchester and Remington began ihc factory production of wadcutter target loads in the .38 Special followed by other calibers— merely because INTRODUCTION »v the reloaders had created a demand £or this type of ammunition. Most of the truly modern cartridges were also developed in their initial stages by the handloading fraternity. . . . Today handloading is gaining in rity. More handloaded ammunition was put together during 1936 than in any previous year since the 1912 era. Why do we chaps handload our ammunition? The writer asked that question of a ha If *<10200 bandleaders. Here are some of the replies: *lt saves me a lot of money.** “I can develop numerous loads not available on the market.** “I get a lot of fun out of it.” ”l'hcrc is more fun in shooting your own prod* uct” "I like to use my big-bore haridguns indoois and my high-power riBes at short ranges.** “I don’t like the noise, the recoil and the surplus power of standard factory ammunitioru** The cost of handloaded ammunition is ordinarily much less than that turned out by the factory, yet the true gun bug and experimenter is constantly spending much more for handloaded ammunition, for componeois and for loading tools, than he would ever spend on his hobby if only factory am- munition were available. The chap wlio hand- loads is a source of great profit— not loss— to the maker of arms and ammunition. He rarely limits himself to one cartridge or one caliber. He is always trying something new. He is never satis-' lied. And thus does the world progress. PART ONE I PROBLEMS OF THE HANDLOADER T hirty or forty years ago the average gun bug — if he didn’t feel humiliated to have that “insulting” title wished on him— found it neces- sary to load his own ammunition if he really wanted to get anywhere in the gun bug clan. In those days excellent results were obtained through painstaking labor — not necessarily precision equips ment. The reloading of ammunition was a cere- mony, one which required a certain ritual to per- form, and the man who strayed from the accepted ritual was either outlawed by his associates or suf- fered from the pangs of a guilty conscience for many moons to come. Today we have no such ritual. Reloading is performed with considerably less care — except by a few fine technicians and target shots— and the results arc often correspondingly poor. All this despite the fact that handloading has progressed to a remarkable extent; tools which would have been the envy of the 1900 loader are now available, and powders which excel in ease of handloading, cleanliness, and performance, anything which was available in that particular day. The rcloadcr of yesterday cared little about velocities and pressures. He confined his activities solely to the development of accuracy and power. Today miuiy rcloaclers worry along in much too haphazard a fashion. They do not prepare their concoctions with a professional eye or with atten- tion to detail. They do not carefully consider* the problems of safety. The net result is that all aims manufacturers have withdrawn the handing out of loading data and have cancelled their guaranties on arms as well as on components. Before me is a small box which contained standard factory bul- lets. On the bottom is the following enlightening label: ‘^Special Notice. The ammunition components contained in this package are of the same quality as chose used in the manufacture of our loaded cartridges. Having no control over the loading, however, we do not guarantee the same results when components arc lold separately as with Klcanborc loaded cartridges. (Signed) Remington Arras Co., Inc. A similar label appears on a box of .30/06 primed shells. It reads: “Not Guaranteed. The ammunition compo- nents contained in this package are of the same quality as those used in the manufacture of our loaded cartridges. However, having no control over the loading, wc do not guarantee these goods when sold separately. (Signed) Remington Arms Co., Inc.” And so it goes. Not long ago my particular revolver club shot a match with another team in a distant city. I was paired up with a stranger. At the moment I was using my .38 Special with a handload approximat- ing the standard factory Mid-Range. My com- petitor was using an old Single Action of early extraction which had been fitted up with some extremely c.xccUcnt sights. Despite the y^i-inch barrel, however, there was a tremendous roar and concussion every time the hammer “faw down an’ go boom.” After the second shot 1 casually asked the stranger what sort of dynamite he was using. His reply did nothing to improve my peace of mind, and incidentally caused me to turn out the lowest score I ever shot in a match. “Oh, it’s a full charge load,” he replied casually, “I cast my own bullets and load ’em up. Sure, it’s a heavy load. I like heavy loads! I can shoot ’em bener.” For some peculiar reason I cx>mmeaecd to gel tlie jitters. “What do you mean ‘heavy load’?” I queried faintly. Tbe reply was quite casual but far from soothing. “Oh, standard lead bullet about 250 grains and about zo grains of t5 ” It SO happens that the standard factory .43 Colt cartridge develops a velocity of about 860 f.s. with a 255 grain bullet A charge of 7.3 grains of Pistol 5 duplicates the standard factory load; 8.5 grains is listed as a maximum charge developing 925 f.s., and yet this chap was blithely using a poison load which must have more than doubled the standard factory pressure. The maximum load, by the way, is designed only for heavy Colt New Service M(^cl revolvers, not the Single Action type of con- struction. The mere fact that this particular gentleman had been using the load over a long period of time without blowing himself to King- dom Come didn’t alter the situation to any great 4 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING extent. I (elt decidedly nervous and ill at ease. One cannot take too much care with handloaded ammunition. In the old days of black {>owdcr loadings, an overcharge usually merely kicked out of the muzzle a bt of unbumed powder. True, it was unpleasant to the shooter, but it could not well be classed as dangerous. Smokeless powders, hoW' ever, do not work in that manner. It is surprising what a great amount of abuse the modern rifle, re- volver or other weapon will actually stand, but there is a liinit, and sooner or later the careless loader creates serious damage with a blown-up gun. Incidentally, these blowti-up guns more often hurl some innocent bystander than the careless shooter, if that is any satisfaction to yon. They can, however, injure both parries at the same lime, and if you don't care ahniu the oilier fellow it is w^orth w'hilc hearing that interesting fact in mind. Black powder is now more or less a thing of the past. Ii is no longer being used by the serious target shooter except in experimenting with old- time weapons in a more or less casual manner. No effort will be made in this volume to bore the reader with a lot of useless discussion of the ob- solete, either in powders or in old-time loading tools no longer available upon the open market. Black jx)wder can be obtained, however, if you really feel the necessity for It. It h extremely destructive to brass cases; these cases nnisi be washed immediately in warm soapy water to pre- vent corrosion, and carefully dried, while the gun which shot them has to be given an excellent dose of hot water aiul elbow grease to remove the messy fouling. Why iKJtlicr with ii.^ The handloadcr can now purchase bench-type loading t many. I use 2CO of them continually. I am not particular about the brand, but insist that they all be i2-gaugc, since that is the si7.e easiest tu lo- cate and at the same time permits of extremely uniform stacking. A roll of 2-uich Plain Kraft gummed taj>c can be purchased for about a quar- ter. This will last many years. Gummed tape makes cxccllcuc labeling material. The ends of the boxes sliould be properly pasted over with a piece of 2-inch tape approximately inches long. On this, with a heavy blue or black wax pencil, one can label the contents of the box. A few prop- erly built shelves will accommodate a great many of these boxes. One chap even has a gun club save empty 12-gauge shell cases for him. He nails the cover on the case and then saws horizontally through the center, giving him rwo hiilf-cases. Several of these arc nailed together, the nails being clinched to prevent their working l(X)se. When split in this fashiun the shell cases meas- ure outside 9 X i^Yi inches and are 4^ inches deep. My friend has built himself a frame or “open-face cabinet” three boxes high and five boxes wide. The height of this cabinet is approximately 44 inches and the width i$ 45 inches. The entire unit is attached to the wall by means of Krew s to pre- vent it from falling over. This cabinet will hold ten boxes in each compartment and allows room in the 15 compartments for 150 shell boxes. The end labels in this loading room show that one sec- tion is devoted to dies and attachments for dif- EQUIPMENT, FIXTURES, SUPPLIES 9 ferent tools and in the various calibers lor which my friend loads. Others arc devoted to sliells and primers, and liis bottom center section contains nothing but bullets. To remove any desired box, he simply slides it out of the stack, occasionally finding it necessary to lift out the three or four boxes above it. In the lower right-hand corners of all the front labels he has numbers running from the reading of books and literature. The essentials arc some form of loading tool or equipment, in- cluding shell resizing dies, decappers and a prim- ing device, some form of powder measure or bal- ance to weigh out charges, and a suitable bullet sea ter. If the handloader desires to make his own bullets, casting equipment is necessary. This calls for bullet moulds, a cast-iron melting pot, and a A goud lu^dUig beoch li extremely lucful. The above bench in (he ao;hor*s Uburatory was made of ^/I'inch iroQ pipe with a 2*inch l^rch lop. The various tools may be Qsed in asy positioni as they are attached to the bench with carriage bolts and wing nuts. The 12-gnuge boxes in background are ex- iKfflcly bkIoI to bold various change-over dies I to 150 which indicate the location of the boxes, so that should he remove several of them he can quickly return them to their proper places. This system also permits of changing the end label regularly when the boxes are desired for an- other purpose. In looking over this friend’s group, which is patterned on the same idea as my own, wc find a great many empty boxes. These arc used for special purposes. Various makes of shells may be properly separated, while the end label indicates resized and primed shells and those which have not as yet been run through the loading tool. Thus his small equipment and components are at all times free from dust and dirt, a very valuable feature. For the beginner in handloading cenain equip- ment is absolutely necessary. He must, however, confine himself to the bare essentials for his pre- liminary work. As he grows up in the game his ideas will change — and so will his equipment. Skill is necessary, but skill is not acquired thix)ugh pouring ladle with a snout shaped to fit the sprue cutter of the bullet mould. A casting machine such as is described elsewhere in this volume may be substituted for this equipment. It is not necessary to have a wide assortment of powders if one intends to load for just one or two cartridges. For handgun cartridges one may use a single pow'dcr for all normal loadings. One may choose any of the current powders for that pur- pose— Hercules Bullseyc, Du Pont Pistol S5, Pistol J6 or Sporting Rifle f8o. It is not necessary to have aU of these, A single powder will serve the purpose well, die powder of course depending upon the particular cartridge lo be reloaded. One of the Du Pont IMR series or one of the Hercules rifle powders will take care of many rifle loads. Most hand loaders, however, use many different powders; but the knowledge of these is something one acquires with experience. It should not be necessary for the reloader to make a diligent search through his “collection'^ to \0 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING locate a particular package o£ components when they arc needed. If a loose-leaf notebook is used to keep loading data it should be of a large size — preferably about 85/2x11 (letter size). A section of this can be devoted to an inventory of com- ponents, and if this inventory is properly kept it may save the reloader some embarrassing mo- ments when supplies arc needed. Only last evening the extension telephone in my laboratory jangled harshly while I was in the midst of preparing some experimental handgun loads for velocity and pressure tests, I resented the intru- sion but answered pleasantly. ‘'Phil,** came a plaintive voice over the wire, “I am just loading up some .38 Specials to use in Friday evening’s match and discover that I haven’t any more Win- chester Sill primers. Can you lend me 100 if I come right over after them?” If a “live” inven- tory is kept the rekwder will always know when his stock of any particular item is rtiiining low and will thus be able to replenish this in time to avoid such embarrassing situations Each inventory sheet should be devoted to but a single item. If you use ten difTereni kinds and makes of primers, use ten different sheets for list- ing. A low-priced “Hectograph” or gelatin dupli- cator obtainable from office-supply houses or from mailorder houses for less than S2.00 is extremely useful in duplicating your various notebook pages in quantity. H you have a typewriter you may purchase for about half-a-dollar a regular ‘’Hecto- graph” ribbon which may he installed instantly and used Lo prepare your master form. A new master form must be used each time, but with a good duplicator at least one hundred clean repro- ductions can be made from a single master copy; often twice that number. It is important chat the lot numbers, if any, shall be recorded on your inventory sheet. A brief memo as to the cost and the shipping charges is also useful in figuring the exact expense of am- munition. A number of other pieces of equipment are more or less necessary for satisfactory hand loading- A very useful accessory is a vise. This should be at least medium .size, not a delicate affair that can’t stand abuse. A medium- weight vise costing $3.00 or J4.0U will outlast a dozen %2XX) vises. One should get the swivel type if possible and mount it on one corner of the loading bench. It will prove useful, with suitable jaws, to hold a rifle during the cleaning operation, supporting the stock portion in the vicinity of the magazine. The muz- zle can be propped up on some form of muzzle rest. The National Target and Supply Company in Washington has a line of these special vises for sale to shooters; but it is not necessary to go to the expease of purchasing this equipment, as the average handlnader will be sufficiently resourceful to develop his own accessories of rhis nature. If you use a vise, get a series of jaws of lead, copper, and steel. Useful jaws can also be manu- factured of soft pine and built to slip over the regular steel jaws. With slight form-fitting inden- tations, the wood jaws can be made to properly grip bullets for special purposes. One reloader even goes $0 fur as to use a vise for bullet pulling. This is not to l>e recommended, however, Another useful accessory is a small anvil. The heavy type is of no particular value, but a number of lightweight anvils weighing from five to eight pounds can be obtained from various sources. Swrs, Roebuck and Company have one which they sell for 85 cents and which weighs eight pounds, PRIMER INVENTORY MAKE R^mf/tgtcM No. 1 H OTAM. .175 TYPE NCKT CTO. .jR Spl. R«C«iT«crly on the bench, yet heavy enough for all types of cx[*>erlmental work. Do not use the anvil built into a great many vises; continued use merely mutilates the vise. Among the special items of considerable value to any handloader is a verv simple one — a scrap box. This should be reasonably large, tight enough to be dust-proof so that it does not spill its Thr Mamirr Gnndfr is cumforublc in chc hands and with a ftmall brush, either o( animal hrifuW or ioU bronte wire, pnmer pockets may be cleared almost at* stantaneously of their caked*on dAhs contents on the floor, and sturdy enough to stand long service. The siuthor uses an empty 12 -gauge .shor-shell ease. If you mutilate a shell or n primer, do not l.iy ir aside, but toss it immediately into the scrap box. Plan never to use anything thrown into that scrap box. If I find a shell to be slightly dc* fcctive, I merely lay it over .n small anvil and rap it lightly with a hammer, thus mutilating it be- yond hope of salvage. This, at the same rime, is a positive identification and prevents the shell from getting mixed with others of qu.ility. Fired primers from continued loading o()erations can be scooped up and tossed into this scrap box, as can the various miscelluneous pieces of debris and equipment of no value that the handloader desires to discard. Whenever necessary, it can be emptied, hut care should be taken to see that its contents arc dumped where they can do no harm. Such a scrap box very frequently contains live primers, and under certain condhions these can be dan- gerous. This live primer proposition is extremely im- portant. Primers are cheap, and no attempt should be made to salvage them under any conditions. If a primer is decapped from the shell, it should be thrown away, nei/er reused. Also if, in tidying up your loading bench at frequent intervals, you find a few stray primers, do not attempt to identify these, but throw them into the scrap box. They may be primers from a box on your shelf or they may be strange numbers decapped from some shell which you w'ere investigating. There should be a suitable place on your work bench for various kinds of oil. You will need a light penetrating oil, a heavy gun oil, and a medium gun oil. There should be containers of jK)wdcrcd graphite and graphite grease. From lime to lime you will find a great many demands for a particular lx>dy of oil, and unless the proper oil is available you will be inclined to use anything else that is handy. The o|>eration of loading tools very frequently calls for the use of oil. Light oil works best in some places, heavy oil in others, and in still others a very thin penetrating oil dished out a drop at a time serves the purpose far more satis- factorily chan heavy oil possibly could. I'hc handioader's equipment also requires a large assortment of screwdrivers, Expensive screw- drivers arc not necessary, but the blades should be of rcason.ihtr-<]uality steel properly touched up. The intclligciu handloader does not use his screw- drivers as they come from the store, but reworks them to suit his own particular purpose* For this, a portable grinder is of exircjm* value. The grind- ers today are not the exj^nsive pieces of equi]> ment that they formerly were. A quancr-liorsc ballbearing nooior, complete with two grinding wheels and pro|>cr wheel guards, can be purchased new for around $12. A bronze bearing similar job costs Sto. These are high-speed units, turning over A /cw of the bum and milling omen avaUable for use with (he Hajidee Oriitder. Tbnc itrcally simplify many of the odd jobs and tricks the baodloadcr h caU^ upon to do at about 3450 R.P.M. With such a grinder, one can quickly reshape his screwdriver to suit his par- ticular needs. It is often wise to cut the blade off rather short and then regrind it to fit particular screws. It is much easier to control a short stubby screwdriver than a long slender one. After grind- ing the screwdriver to shape, it should be heated to a dull cherry red in a coal or gas flame and then quenched in water. This makes it extremely hard. 12 COMPLETE GUTOE TO HANDLOADING It is then heated once again until a light straw color appears, whereupon it is set aside to cool. This gives a proper spring temper to prevent breaking. When it is necessary to regrind your screwdriver, it isn’t necessary to retemper it if Thr hflodlnader who can atford elaborate equipment will hnd the Bausch & Lomb ^VKW*$ Wide Field binocuhr microscope of low power co be valuable io bis rescarcl). Rotating the objective drum wiU change the magnilica* tion wirhoiir changing th« focus. Two cartridge case* can be compared and primer defects studied readily wiib thia instrument proper care is taken. Grind slowly and quench the tool at frequent intervals in a dish of water kept beside the grinder. Be careful not to burn the point. If the point or blade portion suddenly turn.s blue the temper has been drawn from it and must be done over again, otherwise the edge will twist off the blade in service. If you have one of these portable grinders, it is pn.ssihle to obtain a series of cloth buffing wheels at an extremely low price. These wheels can be obtained for a few cents each, and a plentiful sup- ply should be kept on hand. They are handy for cleaning the outside of cartridge cases— also loaded cartridges. Particularly where lubricated cast bul- lets are used, the handloadcr notices that his com- pleted ammunition is somewhat greasy. This sur- plus grease gets over the case neck and the buUct but can be wiped off by means of a rag if the handloadcr desires his ammunition fr> look fin- ished. A cloth buffing wheel will cut down this wiping time to a small fraction of that required when the job is done by hand. These wheels can be washed when they become tcxi greasy by soak- ing them lightly in gasoline, rinsing carefully, and setting lliein outdoors to dry. If the handloadcr does not have a suitable buffing unit available, he can simplify the task of cleaning this surplus grease by using a small amount of gasoline on his rag. Bullet lubricant wipes off slowly and re- quires much effort if a dry rag is used. If pos- sible, do this job in the open air to keep the gaso- line fumes out of the house. A few drops of gaso- line on a clean rag, replenished at frequent inter- vals enable one to wipe loaded cartridges at the rale of seven or eight per minute, and frequently faster than that. Do not immerse your cartridges In gasoline, however. It is permissible to dip the bullet ends gently in gasoline and wipe them im- mediately. There is no such thing as “complete'’ loading equipment. Every handloadcr continues through- out the years to add to his stock. Summed upr however, the essentials of the handloadcr are com tained in the following fifteen items r !• Loading room. A suitable loading room equipped with bench, storage facilities for powders, primers, cases, bullets and loaded canridgc.s saris- faaorily inventoried; together with storage facili- ties for loading tools and other accessurics. 2 . Iwoading tool, A complete loading tool with full-length case resizing dies plt4S neck resizing dies only. There will be plenty of times when the slicxjier will not desire a full-length resized car- tridge case, particularly for his precision target am- munition. A Pyn> pencil b a very useful item. Although made for buming deurgos on wood, it may be used for a multi- tude of porposea, even serving as a soldering iron with it$ esctremely sharp and well-shaped point 3 . Powder balance. Some form of powder bal- ance with an accuracy of better than i/io grain. For the man who desires precision loads, this bal- ance must show a sensitivity of at least 1/65 of a grain. The more accurate the balance and the EQUIPMENT, FIXTURES, SUPPLIES 13 reloader’s weights the more uniform will be the charges he runs into his case. It is, of course, uniformity which spells consistent accuracy belter than any other one item in haodloading. 4. Powder measure. A powder measure is ex- tremely practical and quite useful. It should never be used for maximum loads, and I say this with- out reservation. 1 have seen some truly dangerous A good micrometer is an absolute necessity to the chap who warns precision loading. It can be used to check bullets and case diameters quickly and for all outside measurements. Generally speaking, a one-inch capacity instrument \% sulUcicm to take care of the handkttder's needs. These tools are not expensive. The above Star- retl has been used by the author for more than iificen years loads assembled merely because maximum charges were run through a powder measure. Medium and standard powder loads, particularly for hand- gun target shooting, can be readily and accurately assembled with a good powder measure properly handled. 5. Bullet moulds. Not necessary for reloading, as you can buy standard factory bullets of practically every type, all assembled, resized and lubricated. To the chap, however, who enjoys build casting and experimenting with various alloys, proper moulds are in order. 6. Bullet sizing dies. These are necessary to the man who casts his bullets. They are of no use to those who use cast bullets bought from a reliable source, or who use factory lead or jacketed types. 7. Build lubricators. These are not necessary to the man who does not cast bullets, but some form of lubricator will be exceedingly practical for the experimenter who pours his own. 8. Powders. The true gun bug uses several dif- ferent types of powders, depending entirely upon the load he seeks or the results expected. No one powder can be made to handle properly e\’cry- thing from reduced loads to full power charges. The kind of pow'dcr to be kept on hand is con- trolled entirely by the shooter’s reloading inten- tions. 9. Primers. This subject is far more vital than the average reloader believes. In this day there is little if any excuse for using the old style of cor- rosive priming. The non-corrosive types are avail- able for every cartridge, and a plentiful supply should be kept on hand. At the same time the loader who desires lu save on his expense may use Frankford Arsenal iyo primers. This is an old style chlorate non-mcrcuric type, but extreme care must be taken in using it and the bore always cleaned properly after firing. Every batch of such ammunition should be labeled ‘Toison” with a further marking to indicate the corrosive type of priming. 10. Factory bullets. This item includes a plenti- ful supply of either factory lead or jacketed bullets in the calibers desired. 11. Cases. A plentiful supply of empty car- tridge cases must always he kept on hand. Very frequently the reloading bug discovers lo his sor- row that he desires to assemble for a definite pur- pose some particular combination of components, only to find that all cartridge cases in that caliber have been loaded. The loading bug doesn’t always assemble cartridges merely to get something to shoot — he builds them for a particular purpose, A miemmeter Mand is a voy usriul, although not abso- lutely aecettary, Item. This can be adjusted to hold a micrometer at any angle, thus allowing both bands for the work. Bullet diameters may be quickly checked by ■sing tbe right hand to operate the spindle and the left hand to bold bullets . and 500 fuU-yard target work, or a similar quantity of high-speed varmint cartridges to take care of a day’s proposed sojourn in the field. IL Loading data. This kind of data in printed form should always be kept available in the vicin- H COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING uy of the loading room. It should include all available data upon the subject plus a well-kept record book giving actual results of special hand- loaded cartridges. There should also be a live in- veiuury of supplies on hand, 13. Powder Storage. Tliis subject is of extreme importance. While U is necessary for the hand- loader to accumulate reasonable quantities of powder, he should never score more than one can- nister of each type in his loading room. Suitable safe facilities (to be discussed later) should be available for proper storage of surplus quantities. 14. Patience. This is an intangible thing, but it IS vitally important that every handloading fan ac- quire a plentiful supply of it and keep it available at all times. Lack of patience in hand loading will result in poor ammunition and, not infrequently, extreme danger. 15. Intelligence. This is closely related to the subject of the preceding paragraph. The average chap who desires to handload his ammunition is more inclined to be an intelligent sort of person than the ordinary individual who is content to use nothing but factory-assembled loads. This is not a rcrtection on the imciligcncc of the reader^ but merely a suggestion that he acquaint himself with some very important factors in hand loading— pos- sibly foreign to the assembly of loaded cartridges — such as the mechanical Jlmltaiions of the guns in which they are to be used. The reloadcr should know how much his gun can stand, and it is decidedly unwise to use “poison" loads of extreme pressure in order to find the answers. He should learn the restrictions of bore size, requirements of cases, balance l>ctwcen powder and bullet, and many similar things. m THE CARTRIDGE CASE— ITS DEVE 1 X>PMENT AND MANUFACTURE T he major idea hack of handloading is the saving of the shooter’s ammunition dollar. And the conservation of this means the salvage of the most expensive part of a cartridge — the brass case. In truth, the empty brass cartridge case costs more to manufacture than any other component, and one can safely assume that It costs its makers more than all other components put together, li has a useful life, with ordinary care, of from ten CO fifty reloadings. Why, therefore, should it be relegated to the junk heap as ‘‘fired” after being used but once? The handloading fan regards this unnecessary waste of good brass much the same as he does the buying of a suit for a special occasion — wearing it once, and then turning it over to the moths. A thorough understanding of the history of the cartridge case, together with its mcthtxl of manu> facturc today, will enable the bandleader to better understand the problems of the canridge^case manufacturer, and enable him to get the greaiesi life oiif of hi.s “empties.” UiifuriLinaicly, history docs not give us authentic records of the historical development of ammuni* tion any more than it enables us to trace the devel- opment of the rifle with any degree of accuracy. It is believed, however, that good old King Gus- tavus Adolphus of Sweden started things along these lines in the early 1600 ’s when he ordered his soldiers to carry their powder and ball together in the form of a “cartridge.” This was generally a cylinder of paper, twisted on both ends, with the round lead ball in one end and the measured charge of black pow'dcr poured in on top of it. In use, the troops hit nr tore olT the powder end of the robe, poured the sliiny grains into the mouth of the old smoke-stick, dropped the ball in on top, and tlicn hammered the mass tight with the ram- rod- Here is where the title “ramrod” came into being. It wasn't essentially a “cleaning rod” as we know it today, although it did serve that purpose. The rod was a rammer, and usually had a conical or cup end to fit the general contour of the ball or bullet. The ocher end often had a screw or auger point, with a slot back of the point. The auger arrangement was used to draw an uniired charge — its screw point was turned into the soft lead ball and wads, in case the shooter desired to unload his gun without firing. The slot made the ramrod a “cleaning rod.” . . , There was no real development of the cartridge, however, until the Rev. Alexander John Forsyth, a Scotch clergyman, invented the percussion mix- ture known as “fulminate of mercury.” Forsyth did not actually invent this chemical compound; il was known for several years, hut lie first applied it to the ignition of powder charges, and thereby won eternal fame. The complete record of primer developments is contained in the chapters on Primers and will not be repeated here. Many attempts in all countries to experiment with “cartridges” met with mediocre results until Dreysc introduced the famous “needle gun" into the Prussian Army in 1842. This arm had its own means of ignition, in w'hich the fulminate was contained in a cap in the base of the wad used to separate powder charge and bullet. The “firing pin” was a long .sharp needle which pciictrated through (he entire ix*w'dcr charge and detonated the mixture in the cap, Paper was used for the “cartridge case” and later this was changed to oiled linen and, on occasion, oiled silk. In America, brass cartridges came into being at an early date. Maynard was among the first to manufacture these— with Burnside, Sharps and a few others. Maynard brought out the tape primer in 1845— an automatic lock arrangement feeding a roll of paper caps to the nipple of the gun each time the lock was cocked. The idea hack nf this was almost identical with its pre.se nr me — so-called “cap pistols” used hy the youth of America on holidays for celebration purposes. This primer came first, and in 1851 Maynard patented his famous brass cartridge. This was a tubular brass case with a wide flat base soldered to the body. The center of the cose was perforated with a needle hole, and the case was used in conjunction with the Maynard ta[>e primer. My first “collection” cartridge was a Maynard— and vve had several of them. One was given to another youngster, and although this happened more than a quarter of a century ago, the details arc still vivid. We were out “hunting” with .22 rifles, and as youngsters will, we figured that a 16 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING a-^mpfirc would be useful. There w;is plenty of material lur a fire, and we had matches — of the old “sulphur type.” However, we had notliing to strike these matches on; so my compunion dug this big Maynard cartridge from his pocket and scratched the match across the wide, flat brass head, all before 1 could remonstrate. There was one terrific boom and a couple of scared kids began to take stock. That Maynard cartridge had and this long-ohsolctc .specimen of cartridge suits the needs of the ignorant subjects as wxll as the inosi inoilcrn of magnums. This .577 Snider car- tridge came out about 1867 and was at that time the official arm of the British military forces. The British Small Arms Manual credits the Snider car- tridge to the ingenuity of Colonel Boxer of the Royal Laboratory at Woolwich. (The Royal Laboratory is the official British ammunition fao EvtilutM)!) ot the modem cariridge caK. Left lo ri|htt The old paper eaxiridfc ^or musale-loadinj; per- cu&uon miiskcrst paper rarlridfe tor Colt r«vok«r$; the Maynard percussion rifle cartridge with wide tliin rim soidcred to base of shetl, bole through the center admits fbme from perewssioo cap; the Burnside percussion carbine, loaded from the front of the chamber, n»ea pcrcuaskm caps; ,577 Snider coiled car- iiiilgc c4>e, case maoufactuted of three layers of tbeei lio and paper, cement^ tofcihcr and rolled into ibape, compound head built up and lokfrred oo; the .577 Martinl-Heory colled case, ease bvily made of soft brasa, rolled and pressed into shape, can be readily mutilated with the lingen. Composite head soldered io/^thcr and similarly attached, ^th of these coiled cartiidgea are centerhre numbers; solid drawn .577/450 Martim-Henry designed for same riOe; the .58 musket jimfire; .50/70 rifle, Springfield Armory make, with inside primer — locks like rimfire — identifled hy crimpi on body near head; .50/ 1 15 Bullard centeHve with Kmi*rimined bead, one of the first of the seoiUrtmmed cases; .405 Winchester; .257 Roberts rimless; and last the JOO H. A H. Magnum belted head exploded in my friend*s hands without scratching or burning him. We spent a couple of hours look- ing for traces of it, but W' it hour success. . . . Sharps rifles used linen cartridges — a linen en- velope containing the charge of powder and the ball. In England, the Snider “coiled’’ cartridge came out, a brass and steel head with a body built up of thin brass foil and paper in layers. A s»rip of this papcr-mctal sandwich stock was coiled or rolled around an anvil and its edge glued solidly to form the coiled cartridge case. Strangely, itn- ^>crial Chemitat Indu.stries of Great Britain, the big combine that controls the ammunition industry over there, including Kynoch and Eley, still makes this coiled cartridge for the Snider. A few years ago when I inquired the reason for this. I was in- formed chat it was much easier to make, therefore cheaper, and was strong enough for the low black powder loadings sold to natives in colonial pos- sessions. It seems that England is not anxious to have these natives armed with guns of modern nature, tory, cotrespoiuling lo Frankford Arsenal in this country.) In 1871 the Snider cartridge, as the official Brici.sh caliber, was dropped in favor of the iheiMicw .577/450 Martini-Henry, one of the first attempts in England ai a boule-neck cartridge. This case had a .577-calibcr body necked down to hold a .45- caliber bullet; hence the complicated British title. Construction of this case followed that of the Snider except that no paj>er was used. Thin soft brass, together with a built-up head of combina- tions of brass and iron, formed this cartridge, which is disrinclive in appearance. The Boxcr- Snider looks like a paper tube cartridge built along the lines of tlie modern shotgun shell imiil one examines it closely and locates the layer of brass. The Martini-Henry docs not use the coil of thin brass slashed off parallel with the axis of the bore, but instead angles up, much like the two-thickness paper bullet patch described later. It was built over a mandrel similar to a .577 caliber, and then necked by wrinkling it (see illustration). Oddly, THE CARTRIDGE CASE— ITS DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURE 17 too, this cartridge still remains one. of I he siuiiclards among the British ammunjuuii makers* numbers, since it is cheaper to manufacture, despite the fact that Kynoch manufactures both the Snider and Martini-Henry in solid drawn brass cases as well as the “coiled” form. The early Mauser rifles also used the Snider type of coiled cartridge. In America, the coiled case was never popular. Drawn brass cases came into being early wi^ the advent of the Civil War. Burnside developed a cartridge of drawn brass which was inserted in the its three major comjKinenis — powder, primer and bullet— being combined into a single unit by means of a copper case. Burnside, Maynard, Sharps, and other inventors had depended on some form of percussion cap together with a cartridge case con- taining only powder and bull, and ignited through an opening in the head of the cases. Flobert in France pioneered his “BB Caps” (Bullet Breach Caps), but Smith & Wesson developed the firs: successful rimfirc cartridge in this country in the now common .22 Short, first pnxluced for rc- Evoluiion of the cartridge cwt (I) rirafire; (2) intide Martin cup primer showing method of coiutnjc> tion, twin Rash hole* used; (3) the origioel foMed head cenridge; (4) the origintl soUd>head cartridge cese now known «s the Kmi*belloon primer pocket. Note how primer pocket projects into the powder cavity; (5) modern solid-head, wlid-wcb type of cartridge case. Mach stronger and better adapted for bifh-pressure loading. Rapidly forcing No. 4 into the discard breech block of his rifle base first from the front of the “chamber.” This tapering cartridge was much smaller at the rear than at the from, and had a waist about an eighth of an inch from ihe mouth of the shell to act as a bullet stop. The mouth was then deeply crimped la llic bullet to lock It solidly in position. Many old-timers, in discussing this rillc and cartridge, have told me that the crimp tare the mouth off the brass case, the band of brass clinging solidly to the bullet in flight. Never having shot a Burnside, I took this description with the professional “grain of salt” until early in 1935, when a worker at Coulee Dam. operating a dredge, sent through a batch of four or five bullets brought up from a river bottom by his dredge. These were well weathered, but unmistakably from Burnside carbines, and remains of rhe braju; “crimp” were found circling rhe bases of praclically all bullets. My correspondent stated that he had brought up some two dozen lead bullets, mostly these Burnsides, although many were round balls, thus indicating that at some time the river had been the scene of a battle, probably between the U, S, Cavalry and Indians. The rimfire cartridge was the first truly success- ful cartridge, in that it was fairly moisture-proof and at the same time was entirely self-contained. volvcrs in the spring of 1858, The rimfirc as made then was essentially the .same as that manufactured today; a copper disc was punched out of sheet metal, drawn into a dosed eud tube, and the rim burni'Kxl on it. Tliis hollow rim was filled with the fulminate of mercury mixture and exploded when the rim was pinched between the face of the chamber and the firing pin or hammer nose, igniting the charge of powder. Henry adapted this .22 rimfire to a larger size and brought out the famous 44 Henry Flat rifle, the first successful magazine arm, later known as the Model 1866 Winchester, and the -Spencer series of rimfirc bottle-necks. Ammunition progress was making rapid strides about this time. Soon ccntcrfirc cartridges began to make themselves pmm incut, the earlier forms of these being the “inside primer” types as made by several Aitiericaa commercial firms and by Frank- ford Arsenal for use by military forces. The inside primer was preceded by a number of early at- tempts at combining the primer with the cartridge case in a single unit. The following information on primers was obtained from Frankford Arsenal by checking Ordnance Memoranda 58 and 514, dated 1868 and 1873 respectively. Additional checks were made by consulting reports of the 18 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING Chief of Ordnance published yearly, which con^ tain all o()eration$ of the department. The earliest attempt at centerfire cartridge con- struction was known as the ‘'Martin centerfire car- tridge, caliber .50,” and was invented by E. H. Marlin. It was first manufactured experimentally at Springfield Armory in 1866. Frankford Arsenal received orders dated October 5, t866, 10 start pro- duction of this cartridge. The first of these were maniifacnired with the bar anvil, an anvil or bar oF tinned iron forced across the inside face of a rimfire cartridge and having the primer composi- tion at the center. Several million rounds were manufactured up to March 1868, during which time the development had gone through several suges, Ac that time the cup anvil of Colonel Bcnei was adopted. The evolution of Colonel Beneds type of primer was logical, in that the bar anvil was crimped and gave a case that was rigid in one direction but weak in the opposite. Also manufacturing prob- lems arose wirh the bar type of anvil turning over during assembly, and thereby producing a misfire. Cases often blew out at the crimp until this was overcome by introducing a thin copper or brass cup to form a gas check. The double metal, of course, cut down the sensitivity of the primer. Subsequently, it was found that the bar and cup could be combined and a round anvil was pro- duced which supported the entire head. This was made of heavy copper. 'I'his inside primer of Benet's had the appearance of a large rim lire, and in fact was first made as a rnndificaiioii of the .50/70-03 liber government cartridge, which at one time was a rimfire. It w'as, of course, drawn ex- actly the same as a rimfire cartridge case, and an anvil of bar (and later cup) style containing prim- ing composition in its center was pressed into the interior of the case. Two heavy crimps on oppo- site sides of the case approximately .1 inch from the rim held this cup in position. I have .shot a goodly number of these in years past, and to verify their construction, just as this is being written, I dissected a fired FA ^5/70 inside central fire shell. The copper case is very thin, the walls being only .013. The reinforcement cup vvhich also .serves as the “primer” is made of much sturdier stock about thick. On the base of this cup, which was inserted in the shell “mouth up,” is a depression having a diameter of .175 inch (about die diameter of the present revolver and small rifle primer pockets). TTiis de- pression was filled with the fulminate, and on cither side of the “pocket” were two flash holes of a diameter approximating those in current use io today’s American types of construction. The firing pin blow struck the center of the plain copper base shell, crushing the primer mixture between the shell head and the crimped-in cup. 'I hc resultant flash was transmitted to the powder charge through the flash holes. In shorn ing a Uuch of some fifty of these a couple of years ago, I did not have a single misfire, despite the fact that the am- munition was loaded nearly seventy years previous to the firing! The Martin with folded-head cartridge was made under two different patents, although the government, as previously stated, began its manu- facture in 1866 at Springfield Armory and Frank- ford. The first patent was granted in 1869 and consisted of a single fold. 'Fhc second patent of 1870 covered a double fold. Manufacnire was abandoned by the Govern me lU in December 1871. Although this primer was used chiefly in the .50/70’.^, many examples of h will be found in .45/70 cartridges of Frank fora m.iuufacturc, Frankford Arsenal records show a number of dif- ferent primers including the Martin, Be net, Hotch- kiss, and the Laidley. That with pocket or hole in the center of the case in which a separate primer body was seated was known as “outside centerfire, metallic,” and included such types as Berdan, Boxer, Hol)l)s (UMC), and Franktord hall-rype anvil. The Martin cartridge, so Ordnance records show, was a service issue only from 1866 to 1868 when the change was made to the Bcnct cup anvil The Martin was made up to December 1871, how- ever, but records indicate that from z8f>8 on it was only made for the Navy carbine, Colt's revolvers and Remington pistol. The real forward step in cartridgepe of anvil, To strengthen this, a cup of stiff brass about inch tall had been pressed into the head of the car- tridge, thus reinforcing both head and rim, and curiously enough the crimping of this reinforce- ment was from the instde rather than from the outside. Alt the early types of cartridge cases contained what is today known as a “.semi -balloon primer pocket." This pocket is formed by punching the center of the cartridge head into a hollow-end mandrel inserted into the mouth of the case. This type of construction, although “old," is frequently found today and must be taken into consideration by rcloadcrs. Most revolver cartridge eases, except 20 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING the latest forms of .38 Special, use this semi-balloon pocket. One thing is very important: this semi- balloon head should not be indiscriminately mixed with the latest "‘solid-head'* types, as there is a marked diHerence in loading density* and a conse- quent elTcct on ballistics. A few years ago the writer held a lengthy dis- pute with a fellow haiidloader un this subject, and decided to run the facts to earth. The .38 Special caliber was chosen, primarily because the semi- balloon head is rarely met in modern metallic rifle cartridge cases — even in the *30/30 class. Tests were run, using cwo makes of commercial non- corrosive primers of the non-mercuric variety. Primer size in both cases was .175. One primer was found to be more efficient than the other, and accordingly, since this volume is not intended to boost the product of an individual maker, the re- sults of the test will be indicated hy “A” and “R” 10 identify the two makers. In order to produce unifunn a>m|xtra(ive results, standard factory swaged 158-grain bullets made by “A” were used in every case, and a carefully weighed 5.0'grain charge of Du Pone Pistol #5. The identical seating depth of bullet was used in all tests to produce the uniformity required in that respect. Here arc the Insoumemal Vel. Pressure la Cumptinents Over 50 ft. lbs. sq. ui. Shell Primer Mean Mean A A 891 £.$. B A 922 f.s. 16,000 B B 999 1*- 18,800 A B 9 T 5 i i- 16,100 An analysis of the above table brings out many interesting features which previously had been only guesswork. The last pair and the hrst pair should be taken together. Shell “A** had a semi-balloon head, thus greater air space than the modern solid head of Shell "B/* With primer “A” there was a difference of 31 f.s. average and 1500 pounds pres- sure. While the latter is not important, the veloc- ity is. These two makes and types of shells tossed together In the same box, and indiscriminately loaded by a careless shooter, would produce very poor accuracy, as the lower- velocity load will string the shots up and down the target. When this is considered in terms of score rather than group size, it might change a perfect hold which could be scored a “ten” into a low “seven” or possibly a “six.” The width of the dividing rings is very thin, and the scorckccpcr is merciless. This varia- tion with Primer “A.” Now to verify this information with the same cwo types of shells and Primer ”B.” This make is stronger and gives a higher velocity and pressure. Velocity difference, 24 f.s. Pressure difference, 2700 pounds. We couldn't expea identical re- sults, but the difference is slight— a matter of 7 f.s. In both cases the solid-head shell gives a higher velocity and pressure than the semi-balloon type head. Facts are facts! When Wallace Coxc of Du Pont Burnside Lab- oratory ran these test.s for me in early October 1933, he commented: “The "B’ shells have a smaller capacity than the *A* shells, which accounts, in part, for this dif- ference, since the capacity has a direct influence on the loading density. ... It is well to mention that neither "A’ nor ‘B' primers fitted perfectly in the other make of shell. ... It is true, as you say, ‘Shooters mix cases and always will.' Such a prac- tice is not conducive of the best results, and we strongly urge shooters to be sure to use a match- ing m^c of case and primers. . . .” All modern rifle cases today have the “solid” type of head construction, although all revolver ca.ses since the turn of the century have actually been of the “solid-head semi -ha 11 non” type. Per- haps this lauer ly^ie should be called “sulid-riin.” All commercial ammunition makers have used the solid in preference to folded-rim types since the late eighties, early or middle nineties. A collec- tion cartridge in the possession of the writer is a .45/70/500 Frank ford Arsenal cartridge loaded in 1893— and it has a folded rim. No Krag shells, we believe, were made with folded head. Even at the time the above^entioned ballistic test was run, both “A” and “B” were making the modern solid head and had actually abandoned the semi-balloon head in this caliber, at least. Today, in the .38 Special, all shells arc solid- head, and it is but a question of time before all calibers will be made lliis way. Without a doubt they are stronger and safer. They cost but slightly more to manufacture and take very little more brass. They have naturally thicker side walls around the head of the cartridge where the extra strength is badly needed, and in firing they thus do not Slick in chambers to such a marked degree The early folded-head cartridges, even when fired with their original black-powdcr low-pressure loads in revolvers, upset badly at the base, the case flow- ing into the extractor cut of the cylinder, badly weakening the brass. This can be noticed today if a shooter will try some .22 long rifle cartridges in any revolver, be it a precision Colt or Smith & Wesson, or a cheap “U. S. Bulldog,” Since .22 cases arc discarded as useless, this docs not matter, but to a re loader, expansion at the base is a danger THE CARTRIDGE CASE^ITS DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURE 21 sign which causes the rejeaion oE many an other- wise “good" cartridge case. Old 'time handloaders will also recall that these semi-balloon type cases gave trouble through the breaking off of the projecting primer pocket dur- ing firing. This was frequently caused through the use of mercuric primers, but occurred in cases which liad never been introduced to mercuric types. The answer probably is that these early cases were made of poor brass; the primer corroded the pocket; powders reacted on the brass; or the case simply weakened under the strain of Ering. Pressure apparently had litdc to do with it, as many examples have been reported when reloading normal black or bulk smokeless handgun toads or in very low-pressure rifle cartridges. Ic rarely occurs with cases drawn in recent years. How arc cartridge cases made? This question is simple for many persons to answer, yet it is sur- prising how many questions along these lines are asked of firearms writers every year. Since car- tridge-case manufacture is essentially the same in all ammunition plants, it can be briefly described here to good advantage. Cartridge cases begin life very simply as sheet brass, from 3/33 inch thick up to ^ inch in the largest shells. This brass isn’t “just brass" it is manufactured for the ammunition makers to their very definite specifications— a different formula for various sizes and classes of cartridge cases. The brass is received in large sheets alwui three feet wide and six to ren feet lung. These sheets are fed into a punch press fitted with multiple punches which knock out slugs varying from the size of a dime tip to inches for the .50-caliber machine gun. Instead of punching these out in the form of flat slugs, the press feeds them into a die and draws the brass discs into a cup form. This press is so arranged that the slugs are punched out of the brass sheet in “staggered" fashion, so that a minimum of metal is w'astcd. The sheets, after they leave the punch press, arc so much wcU- veniilated scrap; little .salvage is left, and no at- tempt is made to rework the scrap. It is sold in bulk or carload lots to junk dealers at junk-brass prices. During the war, all scrap was reworded, which accounts, in a small way, for the very poor condi- tion of wartime cartridge cases. Specifications of the War Department dated 1918 listed the follow- ing formula for brass intended for the .30/06 car- tridge: copper, 68% to 71%; zinc, 29% to 32%; iron, maximum, .05%; lead, maximum, .07%. Not more than a trace of any other impurity. This formula is typical of today’s cartridge-case brass. Brass, unlike some metals, “works hard"; that is to say, it becomes brittle when “worked" or punched. Usually, between the various drawings necessary to pull that blank or cup into the shape of a finished cartridge case, there are many an- nealings of the brass; otherwise it would become so brittle that it would crystallize and break or turn into a case much too weak for service. The number of annealings varies, of course, with the cartridge case being formed, as does the number of drawings necessary tn form the case, One might assume, however, that it is usually the rule to anneal or soften the brass after each drawing. “Drawing" a brass case is a mystic word to the uninitiated, yei it is very simple. The original cup of a cartridge case is naturally larger than the fin* ished case body — witness the size of the blank punching of the .50 -caliber machine-gun cartridge case previously mentioned. This hole punched in !4-inch brass 1*4 inches in diameter is formed in that first step, into a round bottom cup inches in diameter and about inch high. The .30/06 cartridge case is formed from % i -inch sheet brass, disc iVi inches in diameter, being formed into a cup Vi inch in diameter by inch high. These cups, after annealing by heating in a gas furnace to die required temperature and being suddenly cooled by quenching in soapy water, are then fed into a machine with a slightly smaller die and the same size of punch or plunger. They are thus forced through this die, causing the cup to lengthen or “draw" out to about inch in di- ameter by inch long. For it.s third drawing it IS forced into a *’^%4 die and drawn to about inches long. These “ahoms" on length are due to ragged and uneven edges of the drawings. The next step is to force this drawing into a ^%4 die and punch it to the bottom, thus Icngth- cning it to about lYz inches. Ic is then forced into a die measuring about a few thousandths less chan the finished diameter of the case — and drawn to a length of 2V2 inches. A couple more drawings and it is ready for the working process of shaping up the case. First, this round bottom of the drawing is bumped flat, or nearly so. It is then trimmed to a length of 2%$ inches and is fed to another machine which “bumps" in the primer pocket, a erude indication of what is to come. At Frankford Arsenal this case is then held lightly in a die and the head hammered perfectly flat, the primer pocket being finally formed in this opera- tion; the letters “F A" and the year of manufacture arc stamped into the head at this time. Also a faint bevel or “semi-rim” is bumped in, said rim being a temporarv affair intended to aid the manu- 22 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING factiiring hy holding the shell easier in dies for fu- (urc operations. Commercial makers form an or* dinary or oversize rim> even for ‘Vimless” cases. The primer pocket is tumplctcly formed at this of the rim on a rimmed cartridge case controls the headspace, this operation must be carefully held to minimum tolerances. The case is then annealed half'way down from the neck, and the necessary ilfjffopftofo# ftp ff. V. ChnmM Cross'seccion of the lundvd cartiidso now ivailable. L«fi to rifhi: (1) Standard »)0/0d wartime load with l^O'crain full meta!*]acket buDot loaded with Pyro DG Powder. <2) Early aitfmpt of the Army to develop an armor •piercing ballet. The aoft'pobl load war designed for $ma$hing out to give the iolid sieH mre a he tier chance to peuetrate. It was crutlawcd early in ibc iamc. (3> Convcitlional type of Springbeld armor* piercing bulleu loaded Into standard full metahjacket type of coiuintction. Note that in this sample the core does not quite fill (he jacket; also ibe armor^piercing steel core is set slightly off sklc. Note also Berdao type of primer construe (ion with twin flash holes. (4) German 7.9* mm. car* tiidge. Note German type of primer consiructioo, flat cup, flat top anvil of Berdan type of construction, and Hash holes angle to converge the flame well into the powder charge. (5) S'lnm. Lcbel French car* tridge loaded by Western Cartridge Company for France during ihe W'orld War. This particular cartridge was loaded lo French specifkations with a Berdan type of primer of somewhat different cottstruciioa. Notice double cup of primer. Also notice solid bronac boat* tail bullet. This cortridKc is widely re- loaded today operation, but the Rash hole is not punched tJirough. Next the shell is fed into automatic lathes which speedily turn in the '‘rimless head” ur extractor groove. In the case of rimmed cartridges like the .30/40 and .30/30, this operation is done with a dif- ferent shape of cutter which removes the surplus diameter of the rim and trues it up with a slight undercut at the forward end. Since the perfection taper formed, whereupon it is bottle-necked or formed to shape. This gives us a cartridge case with a long neck and an over -all length of 2 %^ inches, 'i'hc case is then trimmed by automatic machinery to its finished length of slightly under 2V2 inches, the neck is annealed, and the case is ready for the priming machines. In other words, it is finished. At some factories rhis finished cartridge case has THE CARTRIDGE CASEr-lTS DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURE 23 had the fla6h hole in the primer pocket previously inserted; in others the practice in use ai Frank ford Arsenal for many years is still used. The flash- hole perforating is done on the priming machine. Here the shells are fed into a complicated machine, and in this respect many kinds of priming ma- chines are used. The primers are automatically fed into a carrier. The shells feed under a plunger which dives through the bottom of the pocket to form the flash hole. At the next test point, a needle Anger on the machine runs into this pocket and through the flash hole, it is an automatic tester, and if a case accidentally gets hy without having its flash hole perforated, this needle is pre- vented from going through into iIjc powder cav- ity — and automatically stops the machine until an o|)crator has cleared the defective cartridge case. The case concinues to a section of this machine which inserts the primer, while still another por- tion of the same instrument crimps the primer into place. The shells leaving this machine are fully resized empty primed shells, ready for the loading department. it will be seen, therefore, that the manufacture of that piece of shiny brass thrown away so non- chalantly by the non-reloadcr, is actually an ex- pensive piece of precision equipment. It undergoes numerous inspections between the various steps of manufacture, and keen-eyed girls are always ready to pull out and discard any c,ise which is in the slightest defective. The final case muse be of a very rlefinue predetermined hardness, and the chemists «uid metallurgists keep an accurate check on all batches, going through the complicated but necessary physical and chemical tests of samples several times a day. It costs as much to inspect and tat cartridge cases as it does to manufacture them, a little-known fact. And when you stop to think that if a .30/06 cartridge case lets go when the trig- ger is pulled, some 50,000 pounds of hot gas is loosed into the shooter's face, inspection and rc.st- ing are worth every cent they cost. American in- spection rests are more detailed and exacting than those required in foreign countries — which ac- counts to no .small degree for the superior per- formance of American ammunition. Factory manufacture of the .30/06 cartridge at Peters as checked in 1927 by the author with the aid of H. \V. Starkweather, General Superintend- ent of the Kings Mills (Ohio) plant, indicated that there were four draws and a cupping opera- tion necessary in production of the commercial car- tridge case. Before every draw there is an anneal- ing operation; thus five anneals plus one for re- ducing or body forming and a finish (tip) anneal to die neck after the necking and trimming had been completed. The cartridge case is inspected at each operation and samples are carefully ex- amined as they come from the machines. Finished cases have to undergo a very rigid inspection. These operations arc essentially the same in all modern factories, and more or less identical fnr various calibers and types of shells. Rimnied casts arc made exactly the same as the rimlcis, and at one stage "rimless” cases have a very definite form of rim on them. In the author's collection are samples of ihc .30/06 case picked from the pro- duct ion lines at Remingioo, which might almost pass for a .30/^0 Krag cartridge, having a defi- nitely formed rim. There arc four distinct types of cartridge cases to be met with by bandleaders. Briefly sum- marized, they consist of rimmed, rimless, semi- rimmed and belted. The rimmed variety contains all types of cartridges from the revolver through the sporting rifle series in the .30/30 class up to old-style military cartridges now quite popular for hunting and target, such as the Krag. A rimmed cartridge case has an external rim around the head which prevents its enrering the cliambcr beyond a certain point. Fmm the standpoint of handload- ing uniformity of headspace, the rimmed cartridge is -sijiwior to all others. The rimless types have an extractor groove cut around the head of the car- tridge and are popular for automatic pistols and military rifle calibers. Proponents of the rimless cartridge have pointed out that for military purposes it permits of clip loading and therefore it is most desirable. How'* ever, the British Mark VII and its predecessor the Mark VI (both alike except for bullet design and weight) arc rimmed cartridges, and since the turn of the century they have been used in clip loading. Several foreign cartridges of military distinction are of the rimmed variety. Tlie Austrian 8 mm. Manniicher is a rimmed case but is clip loaded. So is the 7.62 imn. Russian, the 8 mm. Lebel of France, and one of the 6.5 mm. Manniicher car- tridges used by two or three different nations. Therefore, the claim that the rimless cartridge is desirable "because of its clip-loading features” docs not carry a great deal of weight. There is one bad fault of the rimmed cartridge, however, which is not in evidence with the later or rimless type— the possibility of jamming in the m^azine. The wartime Ross handling the .303 British rifle cartridge wa.s an ugly offender. Un- less extreme care was taken in the loading of the magazine, the rim of the top cartridge would project over and behind the rim of the cartridge 24 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING directly beneath it. The effect was that when the bolt face started to propel the top cartridge io the magazine from its storage position into the cham- ber, the overlapping rim dragged a second car- tridge along with it. Net result: a beautiful jam. The writer has experienced this fault many times, particularly when clip'loading the gun, and in the several thousand shots he fired with Ross rifles after the war, when the gun was available at $5 and ammunition cost only (5 per case, he soon learned that it was almost vitally necessary to handload the magazine w'iih Individual cartridges, taking care to prevent overlapping of rims. The third c>'pc is the semi-rim. In the military rifle series, the only semi-rimmed cartridge that I know of is the 6.5 mm. Japanese. A semi-rim looks very similar to a rimless type having the same ex- tractor groove. The idea is by no means new, as an obsolete cartridge in my collection for the .50/ 1 15 liullard reveals that the semi-rim cartridge was in use some forty-odd years ago. The test of a semi-rimmed cartridge is simple. One merely lay.s a cartridge or the empty shell on a flat surface and holds it np to the tight. If it is rimless, the straighi sides or taf^ering body will lie absolutely flat, hut if of the semi -rim variety the light escaping beneath the sides of the cartridge case will clearly indicate that the rim is somewhat larger than the case body. It is 3 well-known fact chat the .45 ACP is a rimless cartridge, as is the 7.63 and 9 mm. Luger and .380 ACP. The .25, .32 and .38 ACP arc of semi-rimmed construction. In the current American rifle family there are few scmi-rimmcd cartridges, although in many of the regular rimmed types, in which the head of the cartridge is lathe-trimmed, certain batches of shells will shew a somewhat deeper cutting effect than others and thus give (he ln>pression of being "semi- rimmed.” A batch of ,38 Specials recently pur- chased have an cxcremely deep groove caused by this head-trimming operation and look very similar to semi-rimmed cartridges. The fourth type met with by the bandleader is the belted cartridge case. Originating in England through the development of certain high -power sporting rifle cartridges by Wesdey Richards, this belted case in recent years has started to make a great impression upon the American handloadcr. Strictly speaking, it is of the rimless variec>*: but the head of the cartridge case is at least two hun- dredths of an inch larger than would otherwise be required if straight rimless varieties were used. The body of the cartridge case is step-cut or shoul- dered about an eighth of an inch in front of the extractor groove. The belted case, therefore, enters a counterhored chamber and the “belt” around the head of the case strikes the shoulder or forward face of the counterborc, thus seating solidly in the chamber. Headspace with this iy\K of cartridge case is measured from the face of the holt to the forward face of this coimterhore, A belted case, therefore, gives all the desirable features of the rimmed case plus all those of the rimless type. It docs, however, necessitate a some- what larger bolt face, and accordingly many exist- ing actions cannot readily be adapted to handle these cartridges. For some years the Western Car- tridge (^mpany has been making the .275, .300 and .373 H. & H. Magnum Cartridge and supply- ing them ixjth baded and in the form of com- ponents to American sluxjtcrs. In January 1937 a revised version of the Winchester 54 rifle known as the “Model 70” appeared on the marker cham- bered for the H. & H. belted series. The author’s first knowledge of this gun dates back to 1935 when the Winchester factory began seriously to consider ihe demand created by Amer- ican sportsmen for a truly de luxe bolt-action rifle. "Dc luxe” grades previous to this had merely meant fancy stocks and engraving, but the Win- chester 34 rifle came into being purely because American sportsmen had become familiar with the excellent Springfield action and many thou- sands of them had rebuilt military arms into sjxirt- ing rifles, including countless alterations creat^ at considerable expense in the form of hinged floor plates, altered safeties, sleeve sights, and what-not. The new Winchester Model 70 rifle was the an- swer to this demand. It features a special thumb- operated safety superior to anything wc have yet seen, a revised mechanism in which the bolt stop is a separate unit and not combined with the sear as in the Model 34, a hinged floor plate and nu- merous minor refinements, particularly a magnum action capable of taking the H. & II. series of car- tridges. The American sportsman and hand- loader will undoubtedly take more and more to these belted cartridge cases. Many cartridges cannot be "magnum ized” be- cause of thous.mds of outstanding rifles to han- dle these calibers which will not stand excessive pressures. The demand, however, is for greater power in all cartridges and the answer to this de- mand will be the development of new items. The weakest part of the modern American rifle today is the cartridge case. Brass is used for the very simple reason that it is inexpcn.sive and easy to draw and swage to form. The cartridge case of the future will be entirely different; even though it be made of brass, the formula, heat treatment THE CARTRIDGE CASE— ITS DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACI'URE 25 and method of manufacture will be much dif- Mauser steel cases, removed the Berdan primer, Icrcnt from that in use in 1937. Steel cartridge and by means of some debcatc work on the car- cases may come in. I’hcy arc not new. ‘I’oward tridge case, rebuilt it by removing the Berdan type the end of the World War, the (Jermans experi- of primer anvil and building the [x»ckcl to handle MiiuuftfUuiing caririilge ca»es at the Kings Mills Ohio Plant of the Peters Cartridge ComiHtny. General view la the meuilic deparunent mented with materials for cartridge eases, and be- cause of the shnnnge of brass uirned 10 steel and drew many successful eases which they copper- plated to prevent rust. These steel cases arc very plentiful in the United Slates in the form of sou- venirs brought back to this country by returning soldiers. Some ten years Ago one of the author's co-experimenters acquired a batch of 8-mm. standard American types of primers. These h< used with fullX can be obtained, but they arc not truly practical for inspection work, since the power is loo great to be useful and the field of vision so .small that it greatly slows up insi>ection. They arc ideal, how'- ever, for examining the dciail of primer pockets, flaws, etc., and a loX or 14 X magnifier of Triple The metal, under strain, has jtut naturally let go. The inside of the mouth of a cartridge case can readily be examined by holding the shell under the glass so that one can look at it while light is enter- ing it, and such examination will often disclose certain seams and scratches which may develop into cracks. It will also reveal uneven chamfering of the case mouth. This sounds like double in- spection. It isn't. The shell is slowly rotated in the ringers, and after covering rhe out.side of the neck with the eye, the shell is lipped slightly and the rotating is coalinucd. Don’t thy to huwsvI Ffimcr flash hoJ« puachifig: (1) fUsh bole puflcbed from the inside. Notice Kow ii tears away the bot- tom of the primer pocket. Although used so some makes and calibers, this is falling into tlie discard. (2) Fbsh hole punched from outside. Sorplus metal torn away from inside of case. (5) Pocket punched from outside. One frequently hods that imiead of tearing away the metal ii is rolled up in the form of a burr imkie the case. (4) If the caK a primed on a plunger similar to that of the Bond Model type of loading tool supported on tlie inside, the burr is very frequently folded into the flash liule, par- tially or fully closing this. Net result: buliy igaition, misfires, hangflres, and blown primers Aplanatic lens conscruccion is a useful addition to any handloader's kit, The Utility or fingerprint magnifiers or the simple reading glasses are of much greater assistance, as they can be mounted to allow' the use of both hands beneath them for holding and rotating the shells during inspection. A large field greatly speeds up the work and eliminates the inclination to overlook this impor- tant but bothersome ritual of handloading. Case necks should be carefully examined for cracks after each firing. It is much better to do this work immcdiarcly after firing — within a few days— than to eWay U until the next rime the shells arc used. \Vi|)c off the usual smoky stains from the neck either with a cloth or by rotating the shells in the fingers. Examine the shell by rotating under the magnifying glass, searching both the outside of the mouth and the inside for cracks of the season or pressure variety. A season crack is usually a simple split caused by the failure of the brass case neck to hold a bullet which has been seated in it, friction-tight, for a long period of time. Season cracks are due to anneal, faulty brass, or brass which has died of old age. They are often known as fatigue cracks and mean exactly that. Inspection, to be of any value, must be thorough. Do the job right, or don't waste any time on it. On bottle-neck shells rhe inspection should be continued so as to cover the shoulder of the case where it starts to “neck down." This is important. On rimless shells, this point controls the head- space, and care must be taken to see that the shell is not damaged here. Many shells will be found with faint cracks at this point, and these, of course, should be discarded promptly. While minor gas leakage through cracked or “punctured” shells is not necessarily dangerous, it may be serious. It is certain to damage ihe chamber through erosion or burning oul of I he meuil. This causes a rough chamber, sticking cas«rs> and 0|>ens the path for rust and a multitude of extraction sins. Further- more, any damage of the chamber at the shoulder is inciined to alter headspace, and the only recourse is to return the barrel to the factory for a complete tear-down, turning-ofi of the barrel, and recham- bering. All of this costs money. Ca$c Resizing, Should cases be full-length re- sized? Here is a question of extreme importance, and one open to much argument. For target use, cases need not and should not be full-length re- CASE INSPECnON AND PREPARATION 29 sized. For hunting, however, a full-resized ease is desirable because it makes an easier chambering shell — a fact due to its close approximation to fac- tory dimensions. This ease of handling is almost necessary for the best of speed firing. For small- game hunting, particularly for such game as var- mints at reasonable and long ranges, best results are oh rained from precision loads prepared in accordance with the finest of target standards, and here the cases had best be only neck -si zed. Full- length sizing for handgun loads is highly desir- able, since cases of this nature are generally of the straight cylindrical body type of construction. In most .38 Special cartridges, factory cases measure .373 or .374 in diameter, while the average Smith & Wes.son chamber runs about .379. Few rccenily manufactured Colt chambers run over .380. The full-length resizing die on the author’s Star speed - loading machine sizes cases to .37f>5. Two Pacific dies wc have in rhe col lection size .^762 and .3765. A full-length sizing of die “hand” type of con- struction sizes J77U. Thus it will be seen that the average handloading die does not reduce shells as much as their original factory dimensions — instead jctuully halving the average between fired shells and new factory shells. For use in assorted handguns, it is wise to resize shells full length, as this means greater inter- changeability of the loaded ammunition. There is nothing more embarrassing than to take one of your pet guns out for an airing, together with a supply of handloads, only to find that the shells are a bit too tight for that particular weapon, and must be forced in with more or less strenuous effort. If the shooter should appear among other gun hugs with such a combination, his hand load- ing efforts would be derided and criticized. Also, regardless of the standardization claims of revolver manufacturers, the handloaders occasionally find that an arm for w'hich they desire to handload has one or two chambers slightly larger than others. Accordingly, the shells chamber a bit too tightly when removed from one chamber and inserted in another. Revolver manufacturers will deny this indictment, but the author knows this to be true of no less than three revolvers belonging to our so- callcd “best quality” makes. Since he has been through both plants on a number of occasions and watched rhe manufacture of these commercial weapons from the raw forging to the final inspec- tion, he cannot understand how it could happen — yet it does, occasionally. Still another reason for the resizing of handgun cases, either revolver or automatic pistol, is uneven expansion at the base. Any trained shooter caa pick up an automatic pistol cartridge case and, from careful examination with the naked eye, de- termine its position in the barrel of the pistol at rhe rime of firing. Tliis is not legerdemain — it is noiliing but simple observation. The bottom t>f an automatic pistol barrel at the mouth of the cham- ber is invariably chamfered slightly as an exten- sion of the receiver throat to guide the loaded pistol cartridge in its journey from the magazine or clip into the chamber. Accordingly, when the shell is fired, the bottom of the cartridge case ex- pands into that enlargement of the chamber mouth, thus bulging the shell slightly on that side. Unless a full-length resizing irons out this bulge, the shell is liable to stick if again inserted into the chamber in a position somewhat diflereju from the original firing. The bulge might even be suf- ficient to prevent aim piece closing of the breech block, thus creating a malfunction of the arm. While the reloading of automatic pistol cartridges is not generally recommended by the author, the cases should in every instance be given a full- length resizing if they are to be reloaded. In revolvers the cartridge-case heads arc also in- clined to swell during the firing— an e/Tcct due to the flexible action of the extractor of a modern double-action revolver. This extractor partially en- circles the base of the cartridge case, supporting it during the act of firing. It is not, however, as solid as the remainder of the cylinder walls and has a certain amount nf spring to it. If the case head is more than ordinarily «)tc, that segment contacr- ing the extractor will expand, owing to lack of suitable resistance. All revolver shells should be inspected under glass for defects at this point, and at the first sign of them the empty shells should be rejected. In such cartridges as the military types, full- length resizing can produce many dangers, particu- larly that of creating excessive headspace (sec chap- ter on Headspace). No cartridge should be loose enough in a chamber to rattle around, and little if any movement should be noticed when it is in- serted with the fingers and moved “sideways'* with gentle pressure of a finger. There has been too much over-resizing of cases in the past. Each time you resize, you “work” the brass of the case, and this never helped brass to any great extent. With- out a doubt, full-length resizing shortens the life of a cartridge case, and if military calibers arc used, this method of sizing should be done only at in- frequent intervals. The writer has had as many as three Springficlds at one time, and in every ca.se the fired shells from one gun would interchange with those of another, and could be inserted in 30 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADTNG the chamber and withdrawn without effort. Here headspace plays an important part. The writer*s rifles ill this caliber are all set to 1^35. Wc liad one, however, with a “tighter chamber” which measured 1.942. Care had to be exercised to pre- vent cases from getting stuck in this arm, and separate cases were kept for it. £i¥cct of mercury on a cortri^ic case. Brass become ez* tremely brittle and the loaded cartridge was broken by pressing on the bullet 1 distinctly recall one incident o£ several years ago. A loaded mid-range cartridge with a 150- grain old-service full-metal jacket was used. In some manner one of my cases fired in the rifle with normal headspace happened to get into the tight chamber batch. 'Ihe bole could not be closed, and when wc tried to extract the untired cartridge, the extractor pulled over the rim. Whereupon wc tried to dose the bolt with force, that the cartridge might be discharged, thus freeing the case in the normal manner. No go! We wedged that car- tridge tighter, but couldn’t get that additional .0015 necessary to close. The result was suspension of firing, a crippled rifle, and some three hours of hard work when we got hack to get the cartridge out of the gun without damage to the barrel. It had to be done promptly, too, since the barrel had been fouled by previous firings with corrasivc primers. The upshot of it was iliat we sold chat rifle to a friend who happened to be a “one gun” man— and he was safe in his reloading. There is one additional resizing stunt that is well worth considering— the so-called “fire fitting” method. In this the shells are fitted to the cham- ber of the gun by the simple process of slKwting them in that gun, whereupon they expand to a use^ fill size. From that time on they should not he full-length resized, particularly if a sturdy bolt action rifle is used. The necks, only, should be given a sizing, and then for the sole purpose of holding the bullet solidly in the case. The fire- fitting method is often used to adapt strange shells to a given gun. In this the author urges extreme CAUTION! For instance, the intelligent hand- loader who has an 8-mm. Austrian Mannlichcr for which he desires to handload, finds that the ammu- nition is next to impossible tn obtain, for the very simple reason that it is uol cummer dally loaded in this country and accordingly is obtainable only with Berdan or non-reloadablc types of primers. An ideal substitute for this case is the 7.62 mm. Russian, which is obtainable commercially from our major ammunition manufacturers. True, the case is not the right size, but it is nearly so. The head of the case is slightly too thick, as the Rus- .sians use a somewhat rounded face on their car- tridges. With a little bit of delicate work with a file, however, an inielligcnc handloader can thin this down slightly until he gets the proper thick- ness to permit complete closing of the Mannlichcr bolt. He then loads the cartridge with a few squib lo/ids— light loads using mid-range charges wnth any type of bullet. These are fired in the Mann- lichcr rifle and the case expands to fill the chamber. Only light loads should be used. Nci/cr, under any conditions » should the shooter attempt to fire a Light reloads in automatfe frrqitmriy cause spoiliDg the cartridge case for future use full-charge Russian cartridge in the Mannlichet rifle! In fire-fitting some cases will split, but even when wartime material is used, excellent results can be obtained with a few carefully chosen pieces of brass. After a few squib loads with the case, during which it is gradually fitted to the chamber, it can be used for full lining up in the Pacihe tool. Such mutiUtions are rare in acr\icc. Use case on the left ii, however, more cooiiuoo, and »uJi a is just as ukIcss to the reloader graphite, because, regardless of the recommenda- tions of some loading-tl makers, this handloader has found that it badly blackens cases, actually grinding the black metal into the pores of the brxss. Perhaps this will have no effect on the head pressure or back thrust of the cartridge case; but since graphite is an anti-friction metal, it should have about the same effect as a well-oiled cartridge inserted into a rifle. The effect on a wcll-lubri- cated cartridge case when fired in a rifle is dis- cussed in detail in the chapter on Pressure. Life of Cases. What is the life of the fired car- tridge The question is one frequently asked. Frankly, I don’t know; nor have I ever met anyone who would venture an opinion. Many years ago I tried to find ihe answer to this question through an actual test. Ten commercial cartridge cases were chosen from each make of .30/06 cartridge— Remington, Winchester, Western, Peters, and United States Cartridge Company. These cases were from batches of commercial cartridge cases purchased in 1927. The test began March 5, 1927, 32 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING with all fifty ciscs loaded with a standard fult- cliarge load developing in the vicinity of ^0,000 pounds pressure. No effort was made to rush the experiment, but the original primers were removed and were replaced with Winchester No. 35 NF, a non-fulminate primer almost identical in formula with the Frankford Arsenal No. 70 primer. This is a non-mcrcuric but corrosive type, and was used for the very simple reason that no non-corrosive primers were available at the time, while 1 had on Poor bross ond wartime cartridge ca8c$. The I91S Krag CAKS were made by Rcmlogton. Hkw are Ireqaently fmmd and should not be used if they show the slightest sign of a rupture. Left sod right, 9 partial rupture. Center, complete head separation. Had it not been for shooting glasses, the man behind that gun would have lost hb eyesight hand several thousand of these Winchester primers of wartime manufacture. Numerous loads were used— various powders such as IMR 15, 15k;* 16, 27, i7!/2» 20, 1147, 1 185, and experimental powders which need not be mcmioned, *l'hc sole requirement was that all cases should be loaded at the same time, fired at the same time and with the same load, and pres- sures held in the vicinity of the 50,000 mark. It was a great idea for a test, but rather fatiguing. The test isn’t finished at this writing, since 1 did not use these cases all the time, preferring loads developing less pressure. At present they arc undergoing their forty -third loading with a Rem- ington non-mcrcuric non-corrosive primer, and there are forty -nine of the original shells left, not one of which shows any signs of failure or of unrca.sonahle stretching. My notebook indicates dial when the thirty-sa*ond load had been fired, it qualified them as top-notch Masons. The only lost case was due to an improper set-up of a resizing die on the fifth reload, back in 1927, which buckled a neck and caused an immediate discarding of the defective shell. One may therefore assume that cartridge cases of modern inaiuiLicrurc can be usetl indefinitely with modern compoacuis and reasonable care. Net one of these cases has been full-length resized; only full charges have been used, and ihey were shot in the same rifle up to the twenty-fourih reload. Since they chambered perfectly in a new Spring- field, they were shot in this gun after the older one was discarded. And just in case you arc ana- lytical-minded, each of those fifty cases— from our five commercial makers — has held 2200 grains of powder, or nearly a third of a pound, and there- fore has wilhstotKl about 2,200^)00 pounds breech pressure. The .simple little life-test appears to be a long way from being finished, as wc have just begun to trim off die necks of the cases owing CO signs of elongation. Trying to “find our” has consumed about 15 pounds of jxjwJer worth 824.00, 2200 primers worth $7.92, and 22(jo assorted bullets worth commercially about $59.40 — a total cost of about $$2.00. Not one of these cases looks any less serviceable than others in my .supply which have been fired but two or three times. 'Ihcy will be used until they fail, with a record of loads kept merely for the sport of it, and to de- termine the life of normal shells with good primers. Some years ago, commenting on the life of the brass in cartridge cases of the .30/06 and .30/40 calil)cr, Colonel W. A. Tewes, Director of the Peters Ballistic Institute, wrote me: “Their life de- pends on the pressures they have to withstand, the comparative amount of metal, and its retention of resiliency. They arc bound to stretch with con- tinued use, and to become annealed with continual firing so that ihcir original properties arc lost. . , , Years ago, on Government contracts, the specifi- cations called for five shells to be reloaded twenty times for casualties as a test of the shell metal. I don’t recall that we had any casualties, but the shell uecks needed cuusiaiu trimming to keep the necks within gaugjc dimensions, as they would inevitably stretch with a load like the .30/06, .30/40. etc.*’ The author has always found Peters shells to have a very excellent neck anneal, which prolongs life when used with non -mercuric primers. This may account for the stretching of the necks, but in the case life-tests just described, there has been no ex- cessive stretching. Possibly a lucky choice of brass in the five makes. Many other cartridge cases of the same caliber have shown cracks and other defects which caused CASE ES’SPECTION AND PREPARATION 33 their rejection after five or six loadings. Every effort is made to analyze these defeas, but so far It has been hopeless. Some commercial brass is better than others. Some is of proper icmpcr and proper formula. This performs best. Other cases are a bit too soft or hard, and soon develop flaws. It is safe to say, however, that a cartridge case, if used exclusively with non-mercuric primers, and if it happens to be of a good quality at the start, is good for 25 to 50 loadings at the pressure for which it was designed. This means a lesser case life for .30/06 cases at 55,000 pounds, and a longer life at 35,000 pounds. It also means that a .38 Special will last longer at normal velocities than at the high speed or super velocities. The above sratrments of case life are put to shame if one considers the famous cartridge case owned and used by that master craftsman and shooter, Harry M. Pope. Mr. Pope for many long years was an ardent and enthusiastic Schuetzen rifleman. Like other good Schucizen men, he used a single cartridge case, loading it on the rifle range, seating the bullet into the barrel instead of into the case neck, and actually building a blank cartridge to propel his special target bullets. The author 1k- licves that this famous case of Mr. Vopc was one of the Ideal Everlasting shells, and was, of course, more or less handmade an* for anything. Careful examination under the previ- ously mentioned glass will clearly indicate that even the new factory cases have this trimming burr on them, I usually ream this out with a very light touch of the shell against the reamer, and gently rotating the shell. Here is one operation of hand loading that should not be speeded. Too much neck chamfering shortens case life* and serves no practical purpose. It also is inclined to tip the bullet as ir leaves the case to enter the rifling. Practically every cartridge case this writer has examined, shows a necessity for mouth ream- ing — and yet nearly every case of other rcloadcrs we have handletl either sltows a lack of anv case- 4 mouth reaming, or too much. You don’t need a funnel mouth on your shells, so why try to ream it? Chamfering needs to be done only once. If you insist on funnel mouths, these can easily be achieved by placing a rather large steel ball or ball- bearing over the mouth of the shell and tapping gently with a block of wood. This will funnel out the mouth and prevent bullet shaving in loading with cast bullets. Too much belling of this sort is inclined to split the shell mouth— and what is of more imjjorunte, will not permit the cartridge case to enter the bullet seating die. Use discretion. Bullet Tension and Pull. Watch out for toosoft case necks. If necks arc too soil, they will not hold a bullet tightly, and thus the pressure will not build up quickly. In the .30-calibcr class there should be approximately 75 to 100 pounds pull necessary to separate a bullet from the neck of a cartridge case. There is no way for an amateur to measure this pull, unfortunately, but a careful in- spection of his cases before, during, and after the resizing process will help to eliminate the soft brass. If an expander plug enters the mouth of the case too easily, it is a sign cither that the plug is too small, the case neck is too thin, or the brass is too soft. Inspect that particular case at once. With a known size to your resizing expander, and the aid of a glass for the inspection, you can de- termine the trouble promptly. Here, however, too much chamfering of the case mouth will defeat your purpose as it will nullify your efforts to de- termine a thin or unbalanced case neck. If the neck appears to be of normal thickness, the trouble may be ill too much neck anneal in which the brass has lost its resiliency. Such a case is no longer fit for service and should be rejected promptly. Discarded Cases. How to dispose of brass cases? This question is very imjxjruiii. li doesn’t mean that 1 have any suggestions as to the pm;>cr choice of junkman, but it does mean that 1 wish to strcs.s the importance of eliminating oncc-rcjcctcd cases from those which pass inspection. Cases, once re- jected, should be destroyed immediately. An empty pasteboard box will suffice to hold them until inspection is finished, whereupon they should be gently placed on a block of lead or steel, held in position with the fingers, and enthusiastically socked with a hammer. If the case is held by the head, one soon learns with surprising ease to con- nect the hammer face wiih the neck of the shell, thus positively identifying it a.s “no good.'’ If a hammer is not handy, one can clamp down on the neck with a pair of pliers and get more or less the same result. Cases so mutilated are gone beyond repair, and what is more important, they never accidentally get mixed with good cartridge cases and thus create trouble. A case with a soft neck, for instance, may look good before the operation, but if it accidentally gets into the batch of good ca.ses, the net result is a low shot on the target, or a miss on game with an otherwise perfectly sighted arm. Once these cases arc destroyed, throw them in your junk box. You will then never he tempted to rescue a couple which look “pretty fair” to round out a lot of ammunition on which you are running short of cartridge cases. If you reuse any rejects, your inspection will be for naught, and will be doubly difficult the next time. You may l>c able to remember “which was which” and reject them at the time of firing — but the average person for- gets with surprising ease. Another good hint is to examine cartridge cases at the time of firing— if you have a moment to spare. If there arc any cracks or other visual flaws, throw them away at that time. It will cm down your home inspection, and will possibly reduce the load of empty car- tridge cases you bring back from the day’s shooting. Primer Pockets. Still another point worthy of periodic inspection is the primer pocket. If you reprime a cartridge case at any time and find that the new primer slips in very easily, discard that case! Stretched heads arc not uncommon, particu- CASE INSPECTION AND PREPARATION 35 larly when they have been used at high pressures. The audior recently experimented with some high- pressure toads in a Winchester 54 rifle in 7-mm. caliber. Ten hand-selected new Remington cases were chosen for perfection, and experimental firing was conducted with a load developing slightly more than 65,000 pounds. This load is dangerous, we admit — some 10.000 pounds more than is safe for any cartridge case. After firing we found that OIK primer dropped out, one leaked gas, and the other eight shells dccappcd easily. Examinatian of the fired shells under a microscope showed no flaws, bur the pockets had stretched so that the shells could be reprimed with a reasonable pres- sure of die thumb. Of course those cases were discarded. Occasionally one finds a cartridge case that is unusually soft. The reason is this: The anneal- ing process is done in automatic machines and fur- naces of the gas-hcated type. The cases arc rotated in a flame for a deRnite time, and then quenched. For the complete annealing process, the cases arc often tumbled in a perforated or wire-mesh drum contained wiihm an oven. The heating is defi- nitely controlled, and at the end of the annealing period the entire batch is dumped into the quench- ing lirting rifle sizes with a single exception of the .220 Swift, which runs X) 6 o. Bear this in mind in the .220 Swift. The small-size flash hole is of extreme importance; excessive primer pressures are recorded where the large hole is used, and in many Mercuric prsmcr» frrqueiuly have the uimc eifcct 9s dc* feed VC brasi. The two Automadcs were defective brass of 1913 tnaoufacture, the two J8 Specials were loaded seven timet with mercuric primen cases the primer drops out cmircly, spilling gas biick through the action. Ammunition made by Remington and Peters is standardized at x) 6 o for all pistol and revolver sizes, ,070 for all small-size rifle items, such as .32/20, .25/2t>, etc., and .080 for all miliiary-riflc sizes. Here again tlic .220 Swift has a small-diameter flash hole measuring .060. Frankford Arsenal measures .078 to .08a in both the .30/06 and .45 automatic, Rcloadcrs must bear in mind that these flash-hole sizes have been sci- entifically developed after considerable research and are the proper diameters for the particular make of primer originally used in the shell. To experiment with different primers, including those of a “stronger” nature, is inclined to build pressures rapidly, not only from the breech-pressure stand* point, but from the primer-pressure angle. This will cause the primer to flow back more or less, making the gun rather difficult to function, or what is even worse, may ciuse serious leakage or even blown-out primers. Very definite experi- ments have been conducted to verify this informa- tion. Do not alter the sizes of flash holes in any way. The only way to avoid this is to use the proper size of dccapping pin. luspcctioi) of cases by the haiidloader will dis- close that in various makes there are two distinct methods of perforating the primer pocket. Some makers punch the hole through from the inside of the ease, others work from the outside. Each, of course, has certain advantages, but the importance of these is often exaggerated. It is easy to deter- mine the direction of the punching, since the entrance mark of the punch is usually clean, while around the exit a crater is torn from the surround- ing brass. These two di(TereiU types of pii nr Kings may be found in different lots of the same make of cartridge case, and care should be taken to keep them separated. Some flash holes, punched from the outside of the ease, turn up a burr inside the cartridge ease instead of tearing it off. This should be watched by handloaders, as it is a point which is not in- spected at the factory. A ball-end punch, properly smoothed up, should be inserted in the mouth of the ease, dropped to the Ixniom where it closes the flash hole, and gently tapped with a hammer. This will flniien the hinr inside the ease, and usually will close the flash hole. Many loads of reported high- pressure'* nature arc actually nor- mal loadings in which the burr around the inside of the flash hole has been partially closed by the dccapping punch. The Bond Model C loading tool is a great oflendcr in this respect. When you reprime your shells you siip|x>fi the cartridge case on the decapping punch with the pin removed, and then force the primer into the [X)ckct with the In sizing shells be siire you set your dies properly. Hie above cases were mined through improper set-op proper sealing punch. If there is a burr inside the ease, you are more or less certain to turn it over, and the writer has found certain cartridge eases in which an abnormal burr, turned up in the ^xickcl (lerforation at the factory, had been folded down so as to seal the flash hole completely. This would he dangerous! It would cause the primer to blow out, and the cartridge might hang fire or delay its ignition until after the primer had dropped free of CASE INSPECTION AND PREPARATION 37 the ease, whereupon the bulk of the force of the gases would be utilized in the wrong direction; and instead of propelling the bullet at its normal vdoeiiy, would leave the cartridge ease through the flash hole, entering the action and destroving everything, including the shooter’s eyes. True, this happens very infrequently, but reasonable inspec- tion will eliminate permanendy the possibility of it ever occurring to you. Sec that your flash holes are free of obstruction. Also see that they do not leak, and, thirdly, do not ream them larger than factory specifications. just how strong is a primer? A number of years ago 1 was using some wartime .30/06/150 Imtlings which had on test proved to be excep- tionally accurate. While these were being used on a govcrnmeiU range In 3 National Match rifle, one shot “misfired.” In accordaiicc with habit, 1 waited a full minute to take care of a possible hangfirc. There had been no noise other than the muffled click of the falling firing pin. Then we opened the action and extracted the cartridge. To our surprise, the primer dropjxd out and w'as lost —and the anvil dropped into the bottom of the magazine. 1 he fired cartridge had in some way passed the ins(Kctors and had been primed with- out a flash hole in the ease. The force of the ex- ploding primer, despite the absence of noise, had been builicicnt to drive the cartridge info the cham- ber and shorten it about inch, putting a fwrfcci crimp or cannelure into the ease body just b,ick of the neck. The primer was the standard FA #70 mixture, of course. Don't ever underrate the strength of primers. Crimped Primers. The crimping uf primers is a source of sorrow to the hand loader. Commer- cially, this practice has largely disap^xiared, but on military eases, built on Government contract, crimping is usually specified, Primer crimping lakes two customary forms — the ring ty|>c and the lliree-puim type. Frankford Arsenal uses the ring crimp on all rifle ammunition and the three-point "stab” crimp on .50-cd pockets, one occasionally may be able to force the liny cup home wiiboui visible mutilation; bur since the pocket is smaller at the top than at the bottom because of the crimp, leakage is certain to occur. The answer, then, is to remove all traces of the crimp. Various individuals and several of the loading-tool manufacturers have in years post sup- plied special reamers suitable for this work. These arc not exactly a success, since careless handling, twisting, canting, and so forth, can cause over- reaming of the pocket. Such a ease is ruined be- yond rejiair. The chap with a reamer is inclined to be overconfident. He would do well to visit a 38 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING machine shop and watch the precision methods used lo ream shallow cavities. He will soon learn that most of this delicate work is done in lathes, with ngidly held reamers fitted with proper pilots. If he questioned the truly expert machinist, he would learn that an error of iwn or three thou- .sandths is very easy to make. Since the average depth of grooves in rifle barrels is a matter of three to four or five thousandths, he can readily see what a tremendous amount this small figure aaually is. The prime r-p(Kket crimps which cause all this trouble, are also a matter of but three to five thou- Wesnitzer primer pocket cleaner used in « ehuck. Shell Head iit» into jocket oi caite for quick cicanini. Note Ueaner on bench with .38 Special shell sandths, thus indicating the small amount of metal necessary to remove. The skillful handloadcr can do about as well at pocket reaming with a sharp pocket knife as with the best-made reamer for this purpose. The knife must be sharp. In use the point is inserted into the pocket at not too great an angle, tilted as much as possible, held in position with n very short grip on the blade, and the shell rotated. Do not move the \nifc. Very little pressure should be applied, and the jxjiiii of the knife should be sharpened at frequent intervals. It may be necessary to rotate the shell two or three times, but with practice a single thin shaving of brass can be stripped, re- moving the crimp. If the knife is dull, or too much pressure is applied, the effect will be a “chat- tering’* which results in the removal of tiny chips and a wavy cut. This is not satisfactory, since it leaves high spots. Practice on some of your dis- carded shells and you will save a lot of gcx)d brass. Care must be taken in this trimming of the |)ockei to see that the knife point does not come in contact with either the sides or the bottom of the pocket. Anv scratches on the walls or bottom will cause leakage or improper seating of the primer. Take plenty of time, as the job is done but once. A still beuer method of removing crimps is to use the sjwcial pocket swage made by C. V. Schmitt, loading tool maker of 915 Washington Avenue, Minneapolis. Mr. Schmitt is a rifleman who knows his stuff, having for many years shot at Camp Perry on various Minnesota National Guard teams at the National Matches. His idea is simple : A punch is ground to fit the original specifications : of the pocket, a gadget holds the shell and prevents the operator from driving it into the pocket in ' other than a straight line — and there you arc. It is a mcihfxl easy to handle, speedy, and more ac- curate than any reaming system, since the results of reaming depend entirely ujmjii the skill of the pcr«)n performing the task, and arc certain to be mure or less variable. Another problem of crimp removal is that of the three-point stab. This is occasionally found in some rifle cartridges, but rarely in handguns. In- stead of a ring knife, three flat-end punches are driven into the head of the case at the edge of the pocket, thus u[)setting a tiny segment about Me inch wide at three points equidistant around the primer. This is quite simple to remove, and in this ty|>e a knife or Schmitt punch should he used, Despite the simplicity of the task, it docs require special care, as a little carelessness results in the removal of too mtrch metc of crimp is readily idcntilicd. Sometimes a two-, a three-, or a four-segment die will he used, but the three is the most common. This type of crimp is difliciilt lo remove, and my advice to handlo.aders is lu ignore it. Resize and expand cases in die mirm.il way, chamfering, if necessary, An inexpea^iive ^hrll mnurh rramrr for Alt Cdltbfrs Is a It^-inch plumber '( pipe rc»mcr. Thi» may be held in the hand, and >bell mouth twisted in the finRcra and despite the fuel dtat the crimp can still be fa indy secji, even after several resizings, it u.sually will cause no trouble. Therefore the problem is more imaginative than real. The third bullet crimp is a pest— the “stab” type rarely found on commercial ammuniiicm, but rather frequent in rifle and pistol cartridges of military extraction; even commercial makes manu- faaured on Government contracts occasionally use this. In this type of crimp, the jacketed bullet is held in the case neck by means of three slab marks in the neck, equidistant around the circumference. The stab dents extend through the brass and into the jacketed hullcf as well. Recovered bullets which have been crimped in with this system can readily be kleutificd, as the marks will plainly sbow. The stab further remains in the case neck, refusing to “iron” out even under the high pres- sures of a military rifle cartridge. Put through re- sizing dies, this stab steadfastly balks sizing at- tempts, although it will iron out somewhat. Even repeated firings fail ro remove it entirely, and sooner or later the brass, weakened by ihe stab, will crack or punrture at that point. COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING The best way known to the author for overcom- ing the resizing problems of stabbed cases is to utilize a short piece of drill rod— cold rolled will do— oE a si/c which will ht loosely into the neck o£ die fired case. Clamp this solidly In a vise so chat a half-inch or so pr(>jccts horixoiually. Then slip the case neck over this projection, rotate it uiidl the stab mark is upward, and using the rod as an anvil, gently cap out the dent with a light hammer. All three stabs arc removed in this manner, where- upon the case should be properly resized and loaded. After the first firing most traces of the stab will be gone, as will all the troubles of muU' lated or tipped bullets due to the presence of stabs, 'rhe process is a nuisance, but is not very com- plicated. Satisfactory handloadings cannot be had with cases before the removal of stabs. In seating the bullet, if of the jacketed vr.riciy, the base comes in contact with the stabs in such a way that cither the case neck is bulged unevenly, or the bullet is tipped slightly in riding over the elevation inside the neck. This means that a badly unbalanced cartridge will result, (he bullet starting off tipped — and no tipped bullet will do good work. Also (he seating of the bullet will bulge the case neck in spots, a$ the bullet endeavors to displace (he brass of (he case, which will result in uneven bullet tension, causing irregular velocities and pressures. And the sad part is, that these bulges often make it impossible to chamber the cartridge in a closely chambered barrel. If cast bullet^ are used, the bullet is grooved where the stabs plow into Ir, and such a bullet is inclined to leak gas. This can start ero* Sion In the barrel, and at the least, will mean very poor accuracy. Foreign Oses. The average handloader will deal with only American cartridge cases, primarily because foreign cases customarily use Berdan-type primers, and are therefore not reloadable. On the other hand, a great many military cartridges avail- able in this country were manufactured for foreign governments during war periods and are primed with conventional forms and sizes of American primers. During the World War, for instance, rhe 7.62-mm. Ru.ssian, 8-mm. I^hcl, .303 British, 6.5-01 m, Mannlicher-Cafcarno of Italy, 6.5-mm. Greek Mann lit her, and similar cartridges, were manufactured by our various commercial firms under war contract. Though these were intended for foreign consumption, many of them leaked out into this country and the shells became available in limited quantities for the ambitious handloader. It is well to bear in mind, however, that these cartridges used crimps to meet (he .specifications of foreign governments. The British crimping sys- tem consists of short circumferential stabs. Car- tridges loaded for the Russian Government (also ^5 ACl^ cartridges and some .30/06 numbers loaded for the American Government) were crimped with circular stabs. Italian Mannlichcr- Carcarnos used (riangular stabs driven with a flat- nosed punch iiuu a canuelured hiillcr, while a few others used various ex|)erimeiual stabs or complete ring crimps in the middle of the neck, which de- pressed the case neck into a cannelure of the bullet. American practice is cither to seat the bullets fric- tion-tight (with the exception of the above-men- tioned examples of w'ar contract for the United States Government) or to crimp the mouth into a cannelure on the bullet. The American system is, in other words, generally ideal for the handloader, causing no serious trouble. Occasionally, however, factories experiment with various methods of hold- ing hutlcrs in jxisirion, and (he handloader who gets simiples of these particular shells is merely out of luck. Case Cannelures. Auoilier problem in ca.se manufacture w'hich causes trouble for the reloader is the body or neck cannelure used by many of our ammuniiion makers. In the majority of cases there is no excuse whatever for this groove in the brass case. Many plants feel that it dresses up the cartridge case — certainly it does no particular good. Originally, as in a great many other obsolete prac- tices still in use. there was an idea l>ehind this can- nelure business. 'I'hc old black- powder guns, with their tubular magazines, held the cartridge under spring tension, bullet to primer. The recoil of the old smoke wagons w'oiilrf cau.se the soft lead bullet Lu pull forward slightly, and then spring hack. The crimp was supposed to clamp solidly against the middle of the bullet and prevent it from pull- ing out; while a cannelure was placed in the case as a bullet slop to prevent the lead slug from being set back into the case too deeply. At one time the Ideal Manufacturing Company had in its line of loading tools a three-point stab crimper known as the "Ideal Shell Indentor.” The idea was to stab your pet cases deeply at a speci- fied point, so that bullets could be seated in the case until they touched the stab marks, thus elimi- nating the necessity for crimping good target loads. Tliis was an outgrowth of factory-case can n during practice. Without a doubt, at least in the mind of the average shooter, a cannelure dresses up the ap- pearance of a cartridge case, particularly those cases having a long straight body or faint bottle neck. Mo.st revolver cases are cannclured, the idea being CASE INSPECTION AND PREPARATION 41 (hat while it forms a bullet stop and dresses up the case, it also serves as an identifying mark, since the same makers frequently load handgun car- tridges with black or semi-smokeless pwwder. The latter arc invariably left plain. With such car- tridges as the Hornet, there is absolutely no reason for the cannelure, and it is a very special nuisance. The handloadcr is limited in his choice of bullets before the cannelure lias ironed out, since they do not scat well beyond this ring. Foitlicrmore, as the groove does iron out, the case lengthens, neces- sitating trimming for best results. There is no practical rule for removing this ring. Shoot, re- size, shoot and resize again. It will gradually iron out. Better still, buy plain coses; but they are not always available. Case Anneal. Never experiment with case an- neal. This is a problem for a metallurgist and cannot be successfully solved at home. Cases are given the proper tcmjKr at the time of manufac- ture, If they arc annealed at home by heating, the result will he very unsatisfactory and may even be riisnstrons. Kememher, ihere h a lot nf acrion go- ing ou inside that ease at the time the firing pin (alls. Keep it in there. Soft or s{x>uy annealing will result in sticking cases, rupture, stretching, and other ills. Rupture is bad business, as it means that a certain amount of the gases generated is coming hack through the action instead of leaving in the normal way through the muzzle. Even if you have no friends or relatives, remember that the fellow standing around watching the firing may have a proud mamma, and she may not be as proud of him after you get through. As a matter of face, you might not look so good yourself with a piece of a bolt projecting from your right eye socket. Leave the case annealing to the factories. One occasionally finds .1 marked difference in 4 the anneal of different makes of cases, or different lots of the same make. The difference is slight, yet marked in performance. If factories turn out occasional soft or hard cases with their constant inspections by an elabcjrate stuff of chemists, metal- lurgists, and complete laboratory' facilities, what do you think of the possibilities of “home talent”? Manufacturing specifications permit of a certain tolerance, and cases are designed for a certain pres- sure class. If cases built to function with 35,000 pounds pressure are used in a special rifle in that caliber capable of handling 50,000 pounds, some- thing may happen to the case despite the strength of the rifle. A paragraph quoted from a letter written the author by Mr. L. C. Weldin, Ballistic Engineer of the Hercules Experiment Station at Kenvil, N. J., throws an interesting light on the weak case prob- lem. Says Mr. Weldin: “Most people do not seem to realize that burst or damaged guns are more frequently caused by cartridge cases than by weak or defective guns. W’c have fired the .30/06 Springfield rifle at pressures of 80,000 and 90,000 pounds without any appreciable damage (o the gun. Wc have damaged the same type of gun so that it could not be repaired with pressures of l’h« Iordan cas« trimmer. Thf cartridge case ia stopped in hs socket by the shoulder. Brass is trimmed to proper neck length on turn of the handle only 60,000 pounds when wc encountered a weak case. You may shoot hundreds of rounds in any gun with cartridges giving higher than normal pre.ssures and never encounter trouble. On the other hand, a normal heavy load may injure both you and the gun if fired in a poor or weakened cartridge case.” Ammunition makers arc con- stantly striving to keep those "poor and weak cases” from getting into regular production. When you find cases indicating these abnormal traits them promptly! Mail-Order Cartridges. And do not aiiempt 10 reload this very excellent (?) mail-order ammuni- tion. The author, in his capacity as a firearms editor, has had many samples of cases submitted to find out “what’s wrong with my gun.” Many of these troubles can be traced directly to the cases. Mail-order cases are cheaply made, regardless of the claims of the firm which sells them and “guar- antees” them. Before me as this is written is a group of cases submitted by a rdoader personally unknown to me. He wrote: “In reloading some new shells, fired once, the first five shuts blew up, 42 COMPLE'i'E GUIDE TO HANDLOADING (he fifili shot cn using me to call it quits. 1 was using one ol those new Winchester 54 rifles cham- bered for the .50/30 bought in the original scaled factor)' carton at an unusually low price. I thought things were funny that 1 could buy a good 54 at less than $25. What’s the matter with these guns?” Naturally we asked for some of his cartridge cases. He replied that he had thrown away the “blown up” ones, but had some which had never been reloaded, and hence had been used “only once.” Once was enough. This brass bore the simple designation on the head, ”.30/30.” No maker's name. The shells were so weak that with a pair of pliers on the head, and another on the body, I could break them in two at the junction of the solid head and side walls. The walls here were very thin; a too-sharp punch had been used in the drawing or head^bumping— they had had a mercuric primer. Every shell showed signs of pending rupture after that first firing, and one of the factory loads had developed a p.ar tial rup- ture. Yet he wanted to reload these! There w'as nothing the matter with his rifle. Winchester, hav- ing one of the brainstorms that sales departments occasionally get, made up a big batch of Model 54’s in a caliber which would ap[>eal to no bolt- action rifleman. Being stuck with them, they dum(>cd them nn the market at a price which enabled shtm to pick up a real rifle for a song. Yet this mail-order ammunition, poorly built of poorer brass, had caused one shooter 10 lose faith in his gun. Wc blush 10 think what might have happened had that chap used his reloads in a well- worn lever-action model with plenty of headspace and spring to the bolt mechanism. Probably we never would have heard from him — directly. Mail-order ammunition is built of good materials through a system of short cuts, said short cuts sav- ing the makers much money. Inspection of the product during and after manufacture is scanty and incomplete, and since this is an important figure in aniirmnition cost, the saving of these little necessities means a great many dollars saved. Tol- erances arc wide, tools which would not pass regu- lar inspection are used, a few unncalings are elimi- nated. The result is that while the uninformed shooter pays less money for a box of mail-order cartridges, a much higher profit is made on it than on the regular grade A product. Inspection of ammunition, which includes the cost of testing the completed product, actually doubles manufacturir^ cost. Put another way, it costs as much to inspect ammunition through its various manufacturing stages, and in testing samples of the finished prod- uct, as it docs to ma!{e it. Steer clear of mail-order fodder; but if you must shoot it, don’t reload the empty cartridge cases. Case Strength. What makes one cartridge case stronger than another.^ That's rather hard to say. There is more to the design of a cartridge case ilian its outside measurements; the inside, where most of the action is going on, is of major imfwr- lance. Case walls must be of a certain thickness; (he shape inside the hwder to remaining .iir space left in the case after the [H)w- dcr is inserted and the bullet seated. Wall thick- ness is usually controlled by the type and level of pressures at winch the cartridge is designed to operate. It is also controlled by the shape of the case and, to a certain extent, by ihe ptnv tiers to be used. Some powders ignite in such a way that in certain cartridges they create what is icclinically known as a “high base pressure.” This means that (he pressure generated at the head of the case is greater than at the mouth. The result is that cases designed for such [X)wder$ arc quite thick in the head and sidewalls. This high- base-pressure problem is one which concerns the handloadcr more than the manufac- turer. The latter, with his great laboratory facili- ties, is able lo gel the desired results chiefly through the adaptation of proper powders to his problem, Therefore, when the handloadcr experiments with different pow'ders he should bear in mind that he can create uns.itisfactory pressures at the head of the shell and thereby cause complications in the form of stuck shells. Cases should extract from a chamber without undue effort when used at the normal pressures for which the cartridge is designed. Soft heads, or heads with thin sidewalls, will bulge in the cham- ber and slick. Such cases, if you happen to find a batch of them, are suitable only for reduced loads. Case Capacity and Pressure. Some years ago logic drove home a vague idea that since a fired cartridge case expanded 10 fill the chamber, it in- creased in inside size; therefore it should give dif- ferent velocities and pressures. We no sooner had the idea than we endeavored to run it to earth. CASE INSPECTION AND PREPARATION 43 Since tile .38 Special was a handy proposition to cxpcrimcnc with, a test was run at Burnside Lab- oratory to determine the difference between new factory cases and reloaded ones. The figures are quite interesting. Winchester 158-grain factory* bullets were used; also Win- chester cases primed with {108 non-mcrcuric non- corrosive primers. The charge was 5.0 grains of cannistcc lots of Du Pont Pistol Powder #5. In- strumental velocity over a 50'foot range ran 891 f.s. mean with the new and previously unfired cases. They were ihci^ reloaded without resizing. Veloc- ity averaged 887 f.s. — some four foot-sceonds loss. The new cases, however, gave a mean breech pres- sure of 14,500 pounds, while the reloads averaged 13^000 pounds — a loss of 1500 pounds! This is de- cidedly worth knowing. The loss in pressure is iindoiihtcdly due to expansion, which increased the shell capacity and loading density. No, wc have never tried it on high-power rifle stuff. No reason why it shouldn’t work out similarly, though. The so. and also by D.W.M.; brought them into this conn try, and then srarted to figure the damage. It a)st ap- proximately 7 cents each for those bullets alone — 200 bullets cost approximately $14 by the time the express charges, duty, customs brokerage, in- surance, and other complicated charges were added together and tied to the original invoice. Only a year ago I attempted to duplicate some of this experimental work, and I blush to think back over the total cost of the job, particularly as the American dollar was then worth only 60 cents in German marks. The handloadcr, therefore, should bear in mind that wherever possible it will he practical and eco- nomical to use American components. Loading tooUy resizing dies, and so forth, of various foreign calibers, are often difficult to locate. On the other hand, it may be possible to obtain one of these in the tong type from Ideal. They have a great many tools not generally cafalogiied, and it would pay the cxjTerinienier to write direct to the Ideal Manu- facturing Company, Middlcficld, ('oiin., before he attempts to have additional accessories made for his standard loading tc>oI in some odd caliber. It is well to bear in mind when you experiment with foreign cartridges that you are working against peculiar odds in attempting to duplicate the velocity listed. The average shooter has re- built his foreign military or other foreign arms into a Sporter of American standard. He has adopted a barrel length of approximately 24 inches. De- spite the fact chat many of the cartridges tor which he may desire to load were designed to be shot in 22- to 24'inch hands, much of the lahonuory test work, particularly with regard to velocity figures, is acliievcd hy using a 30- to 32-inch barrel. Roughly speaking, then, ic would be well for him to deduct from 150 to 200 f.s. from the factory rated velocity if he endeavors co duplicate the fac- tory specifications in the handload. Bullets. The real prdilem of the handloader is to utilize as far as possible .American components in assembling his loads. The first thing to do will be to slug the barrel, co determine the groove diam- eter, and then choose fn^m the list of .American bullets the one chat best fits this bore. The bullet may be as much as .0015 oversize. If ir is, of course, pressures will be unusually high and veloci- ties low. It may be undersize without creating serious problems of erosion, accuracy, or high pres- sure. I have seen some excellent results with jack- eted bullets shot in barrels which were as much as .003 too large for them. This is not generally recommended, however. There is a great deal of argument as to the value of undersize and oversize bullets in various obso- lete calibers. This question has never been satis- factorily answered, but the fact is that European nation.^ frequently get excellent results with sul> caliber bullets and the extremely deep rifling used in most foreign guns. They claim that upsettage of the bullet delivers the finest possible accuracy and eliminates the bugbear of accuracy — fins on the base of the bullet. The major problem in reloading for these odd ALTERATION AND ADAFTATION OF SPEOAL CASES 45 cartridges, other than that of priming, is that of obtaining proper case sizing dies. Since these cal- ibers are either obsolete or not standard in this country today, there will be more or less JifEculiy in obtaining them. On the other hand, it is a prob- lem not merely of obtaining loading tools but of cs of tools, this does not entail a great deal of expense. In others, it will be extremely costly, particularly as the vari- ous accessories must be made to order. There is one im|X)rtant feature which the hand- loader should not overlook. Certain foreign car- tridges do not require a complete additional set of cools for handloading. The 7 mm., 8 mm., 9 mm., and similar Mauser cartridges have the same diam- eter head. Therefore, shell holders for the .30/06, ,270 Winchester, and assorted American types of that nature will properly handle this and several other foreign calibers. One of the author's friends uses a Pacific tool. Desiring to cx[)criment with certain foreign cali- bers at a minimum of expense, he had an expert manufacture for him, at small cost, an adapter for his Pacific tool which would permit him to screw the Ideal standard double adjustable chambers into the tool body. These chambers, of course, do not cost quite as much as other makes of resisnng dies. It is, therefore, necessary for him to obtain for any particular odd caliber merely a resizing chamber and a bullet seating die. Obsolete Cartridges. Occasionally the band- loader and experimenter, in his wandering around, stumbles over an excellent buv in some old-time 4 specimen of rifle, He may pick up an old match gun in perfect condition, one w'ith a heavy barrel and an excellent assortment of target sights. To say that it is impractical to load for such a gun, and thus restore its usefulness, would be absurd. If the gun once did excellent shooting and is still in good condition, it is capable of duplicating its original performance. My good friend C. L. Cummins, designer and builder of the famous Cummins Diesel engine, is an ardent shooter who visits the National Matches regularly and docs his goodly share of shooting. He is not content to experiment with the modern guns, but is at present playing around with old Sharps rifles, garhciing up various calibers In ex- celleut toiidilioji aud endeavoring to develop hand- loads using smokeless powder. ^‘Thc reason why I am chiefly interested in smokeless powders,’' he confides, “is that with the black powder loadings I have been able to obtain, the cartridge is extremely noisy and dirty when fired indoors.” We can readily imagine this. Some of those old-timers would sound like a blast of dynamite if fired in- doors. If you pick up any of these old rifles, you may find it a bit difficult to locate cartridges for it. Bul- lets arc a rather simple problem. The Ideal Manu- facturing Company (now Lyman Gun sight Cor- poration) has tboLisamIs of cherries in stuck in the old and obsolete calibers and weights, and although they do not usually stock these bullet moulds, they can arrange to supply you on order. It is wise to write them direct regarding any contemplated loads in a given obsolete caliber. If you can find any old loaded ammunition, the first thing to do is to tear it down rather than to fire it. These old blackqx>wder numbers often are loaded with a coarse granulation of powder which has long since crumbled and caked into a solid mass. If the primers have not gone bad, accuracy will be terrible ant! rca>il rcrrific if this caked-iip charge of jxiwder is used. About a year ago I hud an opportunity to sl]owder gases to back up, and an action which will perform normally when proper ammunition is used will, under these conditions, require a complete rebuilding of the breech mechanism with rebushing of the firing-pin hole and a smaller and more modern type of firing pin. Even then, the results will be a compromise. The foreign fao torics, in using tw'in or triple flash holes, as they occasionally do, pick that necdle-fmc diameter for a very definuc purpose; the area of a Ikivh hole has been definitely figured, and they know well the problems which will arise if they use multiple flash holes of too-large diameter. It is frequently possible to use these Berdan- primed cases by clint of much work on the pare of the handloader in reforming them to handle American sizes of primers. C V. Schmitt, of Minneapolis, Minn., maker of the Schmitt loading tool, also manufactures a primer pocket sw^age de- signed for moving the crimp from Springfield cartridgeose pockets. It is quite possible that he would, at a reasonable charge, manufacture one of these to order, so that a .slightly undersize foreign primer pocket can be properly opened to handle American primers. Of course, the standard swage will serve if one desires to use the regular diameter .210 primer such as is used in the .30/06. This particular pocket can also be used in handgun sizes for such primers as the Winchester ffiii handgun diameter .210. If a punch like this is used, do not, under any conditions, drill out the Berdan anvil in the bot- tom of the primer pocket. Use a swage instead to flatten this out, as in most cases this anvil is pressed in from the inside of the cartridge case. The case, of course, should be supported on some form of rod anvil during the process of reforming the primer pocket. This surplus materia! will also spread sidewise somewhat and plug up the regular flash holes. If the job is dune iuldligcjilly, these holes will close up practically entirely and will re- main in that condition for a great many handloads. Meanwhile, a single llaslt hole in the center can be drilled. It should be drilled with a maximum size of Ms inch. It is preferable, if possible, to drill this hole somewhat smaller; x)6 inch is far more effective for a smaller primer pocket. For alt initial experimental work in a given cal- iber, try first to duplicate the original black-powder factory loading. Instead of increasing the power, which may he dangcrnu.s in thc.se old guns, it may he wise at that jvjinr to decrease. Either black or smokeless ^Kiwder may be used, but in all cases, suitable bullets must be employed. Infor- mation on bullet casting and paper patching for those who desire to experiment with this in the old-timers, will be found elsewhere in this volume. Old-Time Rifles* Ihcsc old-time black-powder rifles offer an excellent field for experimentation with smokeless powders. We say this with resiric- dons, however, and the restrictions are of extreme importance. Do not expect to duplicate blade- powder performance at first, and always bear in mind that black and smokclew powder pressures arc entirely different, much as are their perform- ances in other respects. Good powder for loading the old-time guns in the smokeless field is the now obsolete but fre- quently found Du Pont Schuetzen. Other good numbers are the bulk scries of Du Pont Ji, 82, and several other so-called bulk powders. For midrange use, Du Pont 875 and J8o can be loaded to excellent advantage, but in no ease should these latter powders be used for full charge asscinblics. Hercules dense powders such as Lightning, Sharpshooter, and Unique also perform excellently in black powder calibers. Lightning and Sharp- shooter in particular will permit of full charge loading in a great many of the old-time cartridges. As a matter of face, these two powders were ALTERATION AND ADAFrATlON OF SPECIAL CASES 47 brought out at the end oi the century by Laflin 6c Rand chicHy to replace black powder in these large-size cartridges. Sh.if|>shooier was born as a replacement for block [X)wder in all calibers from the .22 Winchester Center Fire (the early version of what is now known as the Hornet), up to the big .45/90. It worked excellently in all these car- tridges, including a great many of the obsolete black-powder numbers since discontinued. Light- ning, 00 the other hand, while it works in a num- ber of old-timers, was designed at about the same time for use in the then modern small-bore mili- tary cartridges, particularly the 7 mm. It performs excellently in all forms of bottle -neck cartridges of medium and large size, although Ir is widely usctl in the .32/20 Winch t-sier and similar small-si z.c mmibers. It can be used in the .3^/4^ 44/40 rifles, but does not burn well in the short barrels of handguns. It is well to bear in mind that these early barrels, despite their apparent strength, are made of much softer steel than the present ones. On the other hand, a great many Winchester barrels of that era were made of nickel steel — Winchester pioneered the nickd steel ride barrel idea commercially, although it was used in the Blake about 1896. These early barrels will wear more rapidly tlian the later types, and smokeless fx)wders are inclined to be extremely erosive on the soft raeial. A few of the Du Pont powders can be used with reason- able success, but extreme care should be used, as these powders invariably develop pressures— when loaded anywhere near their normal working level — far in excess of the permissible pressures of the early guns. Loading for obsolete guns is by no means a beginner s job. It is a task for the experi- enced handloader, and the man who has played with the more mcxiern calibers will get a great deal of satisfaction out of his experimental work with resurrected specimens in good condition. VI PRIMERS— DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURE T here is more real romance wrapped up in the little primer o£ your cartridge than in any other single development o£ firearms science. The late Dr. Paul H. Jenkins* of the Milwaukee Public Museum, went so far as to claim that “there are more of the combined romances of history and science bottled up in a primer than in any other thing of its size in the world.” Webster describes it thus: “One who, or thing which, primes; es- pecially a tap, tube, or wafer containing fulminat- ing powder or the like for igmiion of an explosive charge." Back in igi8 the world-astounding German 120- foot, 154-ton gun dropped 264-puund high explo- Prim^rs have a greater atrength than many people realize. No Rash bole wz} punched in this cariridge case, and ii got by ihc inspectunk Thla wariime factory load was iheo **fires or discs containing fulminate previous lo the copper cap era, although the date is uncertain. Drey sc, af Sommerda, used such caps in the Prussian nee- dle gun” and its paper-consuming cartridges. The caps were located in from of the powder and be- Thesc military muskets were first made as muzzle- loaders but in 1835 were changed to breech -loading bolt-action arms, of which Dreyse manufactured 300,000 up to the time of his death in 1867. For his i live ni ion of this gun, the pride of the Prussian Army for more than thirty years, the one-time journeyman received great financial recognition 50 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING from his government and was “ennobled,” becom- ing Baron Von Drey sc. The name Lcfauchaux is also closely identified with primer history. This name, in the minds of technicians, recalls only the famous pinfire type of cartridge, yet between 1820 and 1871 Lcfauchaux turned out rifles, shotguns, pistols and revolvers in all the successful improvements— first percussion, then rimfirc, and finally pinfire and — toward the end— the modern primcr-in-thc-hcad ccntcrfirc car- tridge. In England, the famous Joe Manton dc- velse of VU iuiih'jtifA bit Jit. f'hiimiit E0ect of carelets seating of primers, and use of priiaen in wrong case or pocket. Lefti Remington primer eaxe- Jcssly seated in Remington primer pocket, thus dision- ing auvil ujid crumpling charge. Notice how paper disc has buckled and the pellet mixture hai broken be- neath it. Right! Remington primer seated in Winches- ter primer pocket. Note crimping effect of Winchester pocket on this primer. Dmortion of the pellet and paper disc is cenain to result irt faulty ignition the hammer and struck it down a wide conical touch-hole communicating with the chamber. In 1818, Manton developed a slender copper tube alx>ut the diameter of a match stick and half-an* inch long, said tube being filled with fuliniiiaie. This was laid lengthwise in a horizontal vent in the barrel where h was struck bv the hammer, the explosion igniting the charge and usually blow'ing away the tube. Other copper-cap ideas occasionally necessitated the operator to scrape the mutilated cap from the nipple. The Manton idea was used in the famous Merrill guus, of which more than 14,500 were bought by the British Government dur- ing (hat period. In 1823, the American physician, Dr. Samuel Guthrie, hit upon the unique idea nf rolling the fulminate into little pills or pellets which were dropped into a cup on the lock, where they were struck by the hammer, transmitting the flash through the tube or nipple to the charge. For sev- eral years these were widely manufactured, and many governincnc and sporting arms were con- structed to use them. These pills, although origi- nated in this counuy by Guthrie, were introduced by an unknown inventor in England, and in 1821 Wesiley Richards produced high-grade arms with a lock capable of using all the new forms of igni- tion, such as loose detonating powder, paper caps or pills. Arms using pills were made as late as 1851, of which the curious and now rare Porter wheel-chamber rejKating rifles and revolvers are an example. The Percussion Cap. Who, therefore, invented (he percussion cap.^ Great Britain heads the list with claimants as follows: Hawker, Manton, Durrs Egg (one of the eleven of the Egg family of gun- smiths between (750 and 1880), Roantrcc, Lan- ci.sTcr, I^ing and Wesdey Richards. France .ind Switzerland claim it for die Swiss Parisian. Cap- lain Pauly, and for Baron Hcurtcloupc. Belgium and Germany also have long lists. In 1825, in the fifth edition of his Instructions to Young Sportsmen, Captain Peter Hawker, the famous British s()ortsman, naively comments that he “docs not say” that he “was the inventor of the copper cap” but only that in 1818 the idea of a “perforated nipple” and detonating powder in the crown of a small cap occurred to him, and he thereupon suggested it (o Joe Mamon, who made such caps. Note the date. This was nr least four years after such caps were already in use in Amer- ica. Even (ireeiier of England gives credit to the United Stales fur this development and takes his liat olT to Joshua Shaw, a British-born but Ameri- canized artist and s|x>rtsman. Joshua Shaw was born in Bell ngebo rough, Lin- colnshire, in 1776, and in 1814 settled in liorden- town, New Jersey, soon removing to Philadelphia, where he lived until his death in i860. He made his name as an artist before coming to America. The best account of his invention states that Shaw first had the cop|>er,idiiig Fire- arms,” by Capt. Philip Reed, 3rd Infantry, U.S.V., published in The Army Magazine, Chicago, April 1894.) vSoon after arriving in the United States he applied fur a [>atcnc, which was refused him on the ground of his being an alien; the law at that time denying a patent to aliens unless they had resided two years in this country. This was Shaw'-’s own statement. In 1S14 he made percussion caps with steel cups, changing to pewter in 1815 and to cop- per In 1816. England copied some of his caps as late as 1820 by using thin tinned iron. In 1822 he patented a lock acrion to use his caps. Shaw had used potassium chlorate, hut, as he wrote, this was “too sensitive and liable to acci- PRIMERS— DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURE 51 dental explosions/’ and so a mixture ol fulminate of mercury, chlorate of potash and powdered glass was finally employed. In 1S46, at the age of sev- enty years, on sj^ccial recommendation of the Gov- eninicm's Congressional Committee of Patents, Shaw was awarded an honorarium of $25,000 for his discovery and improvemems. It is a matter of record that petty politicians stepped in and elTccted a reduction of this sum to Si7,ooo. In 1828, Charles Eley, who founded the famous British ammunition firm of this name. >vas blown to pieces in handling priming com|)osition in his shop. Shortly thereafter the British Government stepped in and regulated by law both the method )f manufacture and the formula to eliminate acci- dents. In the United States, between 1812 and 1825, scvcniy-two patents were issued to American in- ventors for various forms of primers. The May- nard tape primer described in Chapter III was one of the most satisfactory of the entire line, although it came out during a time when the cop^ier cap was thoroughly established. The famous Sharps rifles w'cre made from 1848 to 1852 with a Maynard primer magazine on both military and hunting wcajxins. In 1855 the British Government con- tracted \viih CJhristiun Sharps for 6500 .52- nents from cartridge cases to primers and bullets. The cartridge case was at that time of folded-head coustruction, although the solid-head type followed along shortly thereafter. In addition, the Idea) Manufacturing Company brought out a tine of “Everlasting* shells which were not cnily made in solid head mir also of much sturdier brass. With standard >38/55 empty cases selling at al>ouc $1.80 ^tcr^hoto* bfi a. M. t'kamet Method of rtmovinj^ primm from caiiiidgc casos whm it It doired 10 analyse them for photofrapht. Punch- iof die primers uui wuuld mutilate the pellet. Shell ii chucked In a lathe and the head turned off at is fig- uret 2 and m the primers can be picked out with the fingers. The method uKd oa such shells as figure 4 of the old folded-head type j> to saw through the head at illastraied In figure 4. Anvils are removed by means of special cutters as in figure 6. This Is extremely dan- gerous without proper equipment, and must not be at- tempted by a handloader. Figure 7 shows a primer whkh has been sawrd ip half. These and other micro- photos in this chapter were taken by Professor E. M. Chamot of Cornell University per hundred, the Ideal **Evcrla«ing” cases were priced at .six ceins each — three times as much. They did have a great deal longer life and were much in demand by reloadcrs. “Everlasting” shells, because of their stiff brass and thicker walls, did not hold as great a charge of powder and could not be crimped, the latter (>oiat eliminating them from practical use in repeating rifles. And so wc get to the period of the 1890’$. Up to this time, metallic ammunition and handloading 52 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING had, generally speaking, meant exclusive use of black {)owder; therefore the primers had been a fulminatc-of-mercury cap designed to ignite black powder efficiently. In the early 90's, when smoke- less powder entered the scene, ignition troubles were immediately noticed, as the black-powder MirTfjphQtus /v*. .V. CAamut P^^cct exdiTipic of what carclev^ p/imer scaiins can do. Primer on like left wa« dammed home in a slipshod manner. Note the disiortion of the anvil. On the right U seen the same primer wiib paper disc and anvU re* moved. Nuike how the printer pellet is broken up. This primer would give extremely faulty ignition, po^ Skbly a miifire or hangfire primer was insufficiently “hot" to ignite the new propellent. Accordingly, ammunition manufac* turers set to work on the problem and designed a primer sufficiently strong to ignite the smokeless. They still mrintjfacturcd the hlack-powdcr primer, which was widely sold up to ahom the rime of the ltitnj}ihott.h Sp ft. i/. Chamot Inspect your primm carefully. At the left is a piimcx which has been discharged bat failed to bum up the paper disc. On the right is a primer just as it was removed from ihc box. Note the very fine excelsior crimped between the anvil and the primer cup. In- spectors don’t always catch these flaws. It will do you no harm to inspect primers for match ammunition be- neath a magnifying gUss World War, despite the fact that die smokeless primer performed as efficiently with black powder as the old primer. Smokeless primers immediately brought forth a great many problems which hith- erto had gone unnoticed among the bandloading claa Magazines and catalogs of about the 1900 period waxed loud in their discussions of the good and bad points of various smokeless powders and the problems created by their use. By 1905 there w'ere two distinct types of smokeless powder available to liandluaders — the bulk and the dense. The for- mer was known as low-pressure; the dense pow- ders were classed as high -pressure, In the former we had such powders as Du Pom St and 82 rillc, Bulk Shotgun, Oriental King Smokeless, Ct, 82, 83 and 84, £« C., Schultz, and $0 forth. In the same dense-powder family was the LaAin U Rand, Lightning, Sharpshmwer, Unique. Infal- lible, W.A., Du Pont .30-Caliber Annular Govern- ment, and so forth, in the Du Pone tribe, and a number of German importations widely sold on i/NWpAor&A bf/ M. Vhc\Uoos of live pi liners. Figure I »how» a lipped anvil. In\peciinn would disclose ihis. Du not aitcmpt to use ii. Figure 2, extremely irregular poor-quality pricning mixture, not properly distributed through the cup. Figure 3, crosa-sectioos of a primer which started lo decompose. This was located in esauuriing a batch of defective primers. Note cloudy white color of priming mixture bel^ anvil. Figure 4, a Berdan primer, cross- acetioo. Note that primer pellet U slightly compressed in (he cup. Dbc of tinfoil over the pellet may be seen the American markei. Both iypc5 were occasion- ally used by handloaders with black-jxiwdcr prim- ers, when a small priming charge uC black (xiwdcr was first inserted into the bottom of the shell. Primers available in 1900 included the UMC 8 " 0 >" adapted to UMC shells only; and the UMC 81, iVz^ 6 y 6 Vz and the corresponding sizes in Winchester to fit the same pockets bearing the numbers 1, iW, lYz, ikiW; UMC primers 82» # 2 l 4 » # 7 » SyVi would interchange with Winchester #2, JaS^W and 83. UMC primer 88 V2 was also the same size as Winchester 85- The Hcrdan- iyi>e primer was also sold (still available on spe- cial order). These were made by horh UMC and Winchester bearing numbers 1, lYi and 2; it only for sporting and military cartridges; iiYz for brass shot shells and 82 used for small rifle and handgun PRIMERS— DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURE cart ridges. Winchcstei and UMC #i were both made of brass drawn to a heavier cup than the black-jx)wder copper-cup primers adapted to the black -powder load. Number lyz Winchester was bu K. V. Mnrt fturatT abnormaLii«s. rhes< illusiratlons alto show dearly the dilTcrcncc between Remington and Winchester types of constnictJoa. Figures 1, 2, 3 aic Wjncbcsicr pioduUs in which ihc primer is seated on the anvil at the botionj of ibe primer pocket. The others are of Remington type, in which the primer is supposed to seat on the mouth of the cup rather than on ih« anvil itself. In figure 1 note cocked angle. In figure 2 note uneven sides to the cap. to figure 3 one side of the cup is much bigger than the other. Figure 4 shows a slightly cocked angle. Figure 5, a nonoal prlmei. Figure 6, poor quality of pellet improperly inserted aud anvil improperly punched and projecting too far out of cup; this priiiicr is quite likely to explode when being seated. Figure 7, insufBcient and poor quality of pellet. Figure 8, improperly shaped anvil pr<^ccting too far out of case, coupled with insulTicicnt and poor quality of pdlct low-pressure rifle cartridges ru fining from .22 the same .size as 81 Winchester but designed tot WCF up 10 45/70; the #1!/ UMC and {iW hlark-powdcr revolver cartridges, svhile Winchester were adapted to the similar line of also a copjwr primer, was designed for smokeless I cartridges, but for smokeless powders* and were powders. List price on primers in 1900 was J1.70 54 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING per mousand for the Berdan lypc and $2.00 per ihousand for all others. Smokeless l^owdcr Problems. In the late 1890’s, some ii\ the ammunidon makers who had for years sold amiponents to rcloadcrs and advocated re- loading, began lu publish notes on their smokeless to set two or three days, clean or unclean, wet or dry, loaded or unloaded . . . the incial becomes brittle and rupture of the shells ac the next dis- charge is probable. Various proporiions and kinds of material used in the manufaciure of the brass have been tried. . . . Chemists have examined Ml<'fophuf')9 i»y K. if. OhatHOf riitinfi primers to pocketi. Figure t showt a normal KemingtoD primer. Figure 2, a Wjnc>)ei.icr piiiiier with anvil tJiglidy cocked. Figure 3 show) a RemingtoQ abel) head and cro»-seclion. Figure 4 it one of Winchester's make. Incidentally, in ibi> particular shell the primer was crimped and one may see the crioipiog groove. Note Ihe ditference iQ primer-pocket shapes at A and C. Figure 5, a Remington primer Rred in a Remington primer pocket Figure 6, Remington primer fired in Winchester pocket powder shell bo.xes, saying: "These shells cannot shells before and after firing to determine the exact Ixr reloaded." At about this time, Wimhester re- corrosive c I feet of the gases. . . . Kxperimenu leased a circular entitled, "Reloading Smokeless show that these problems arc characteristic of ali Powder Cartridges Impracticable." The chief re- stnokel«« powders and arc in no way due to the mark of importance in these circulars, as we look maierial used in the shells, the process of manu* back at them, was just this: "All smokeless pow- facturc or the kind of gun used. . . .” This cir« ders arc injurious to brass shells. . , . Experiment cular continues to quote reports of tests made at snows that after the first firing with smokeless Frankford Arsenal in 1896, said rqKiris being still |Xjwdcr. the metal of the shell undergoes a slow available to the curious handloader in the reports but deckled change, the exact nature of which the of the Chief of Ordnance for that year, best experts have as yet failed to determine. No And yet the annual report of the Chief of OrA immediate deterioration attends the using of nance for the year ended June 30, i8<>7, solves the smokeless powder. ... If fired shells arc allowed problem well. An extract from page 26 runs » | PRIMERS— DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURE 55 follows: “The principal cause of brittleness in ihc of mercury in the primer in conjunction, possibly, present shell, which is made of brass com[x>scd of with the use of an alloy of copper for rhe metal 70 copper and 30 zinc, has been traced to the action ease coiiiaiaiag a reduced j*)erceinage of zinc/* 34 it i L~ 4 «/. C*Au>r.b( Berdan rype of primer showing foil disc. Figure 2. same primer «iih diK removed. Figures L 4 and 5, primer pclIeC mixtucee as seen through the microscope. Note dii- ference in those of various makes. Figure 5 is a mercuric primer. Notice tiay globules of free mctcurf in the mixture as evidenced by the round dots of the mercury in ihc primer composition reading on the mcc.d nf the case, parlkularly on the zinc. . . . At a distant stage of the investigation it is expected that a serviceable reloadable cartridge wiU be produced by reducing the amount of fulminate III running down this extremely important prob- lem, J. M. Barlow of Ideal wrote various manu- facturers. Under date of March 22, 1898, Du Pont wrote that all primers contained fulminate of mer- cury, and that the larger amount necessary 10 ignite 56 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING smokeless powders created the britdc cartridgc> ihcy had fouiid no damage wiih big-bore .45/70 cases; they re- poried a group of 45/70/500 shells loaded with smokeless powder, which they had reloaded more than fifty times without a single failure. The shells were not cleaned during the test. They also mentioned that Dr. A, A. Stillman of Syracuse, N. Y., had used one .32 Ideal necked down to a .28 caliber more than 175 times before it finally split lengthwise. Smokeless powder was used for all loads. The general run of opinion, however, clearly indicates that smokeless powder and smokeless- powder primers were extremely tough on shells. Today we know the answer, as it was suspected by the Ordnance Department in 1897: The mixture developed by Alexander John Forsyth was poison- ous to brass, parti cukrly when smokeless powders were used. Why with smokeless powders? The old-time writers neglected to point out a very significant fact. Black powder left a very serious residue, not only in the bore of the gun but also in the brass case. Riflemen soon learned that it was necessary to clean their brass cases to prevent corrosion. This black-powdcr fouling absorbs a large quan- tity of the free mercury released by ilic act of fir- ing, thus negating the cfFect on brass. Smokeless pow'ders left no such residue and therefore did not cnat the brass with a heavy protective covering. They also burned at a higher pressure. Certain ballistic engineers to the contrary notwithstanding, the effect of a mercuric primer on a brass cartridge case // in direct proportion to the pressure mthin the case at the time of firing. Early Primcrt. The problem of early -day primer manufacture did not necessarily mean the manu- facture of a certain composition to ignite powder. It had to consider the working pressure and the guns to handle them. Early primers were made of copper, since they were designed for black- powder cartridges operating ai a pressure of ten thousand pounds or lower. A soft copper cup was very necessary, since many of the early guns had weak hammers or firing-pin blows. Early repeat- ing weapons were great offenders in this. If the primer cup was too hard, it would fail to dent suf- ficiently to permit discharge under impact of the firing pin. The two sizes of primers designed in the early days for rifle and handgun cartridges were very similar to the two sizes in use today. Their diam- eters run about ,175 and .210 to accommodate vari- ous cartridges. A slight change was made in al! these primers, hut it ran to length, with corre- sponding primer-pocket dcpih, more than to diam- eter. Tliis is true even today. Generally speaking, the early handgun and rifle primers differed chiefly in material of the primer cup and its corresponding hardness, much as they do today. The UMC 56 primer was one of the first to be made for the so-called “sporting and military’' sizes appearing in the early 1890’$. It did nor work so well in the Krag cartridge, but w'as all right for such canridges as the .30/30 and the UMC 58, which was also made of copper. Thi.s UMC 68 proved to be sufficiently .strong for higli-prcssurc loads, although the UMC 58V:, practically the same primer in a brass cup, proved to be more l^pular for ilie .30/40, 6-mm. Lee, and similar sizes. The first really successful smokeless-powder primer was the famous government primer “H-48,” designed at the Frank ford Arsenal for use in the .30/40 Krag cartridge. This primer appeared around 1898 and was the standard government primer for many years. It was similar to the UMC except that it had a non- mercuric priming mixture and was widely copied by com- mercial ammunition makers almost from its intro- duaion. A few boxes of sealed Winchester and UMC shells loatled commercially in 1901 were primed with a no n-m ere uric mixture, quite pos- sibly the H-48. Two groups of these 1901 Win- chester loadings are in the author's collection— one of them powered with Peyton (picric acid) pow- der manufactured by the California Powder Works, and the other with Du Pont .30-caIiber An- PRIMERS-DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURE 57 nular Smokeless. The latter used a brass cup, in Berdan primers manufactured by the Western while the former has a brass cup containing a thin Cartridge Company for use in the French Lebel copper inner cup to hold the mixture. These ap- cartridge, but here the idea was to stiffen the cup ifU'itjj'hofuif hjr K, I/. Componenis nf primers as srrn ander microscope. Figures 1 and 2, potassium chloride. Noie vari' ation In gram siae. figure 5, Telryl (TrinitrolheovlmclIiylQitramiDe). Fij^Jic 4, T.N.T. Figure 5, fulmmate of mercury. Figure 6, kad tbiocranate. All photos same oiagniFcation parent! y were swaged tijgether before the insertion and prevent accidental discharge through contact of the firiming mixture, and the jtJ) was so well of the pointed fuH'jacketed bullet in the tubular done chat we discovered it only when dissecting magazine of that rifle. It will be seen, therefore, primers for a chemical test in the laboratory. The that the double cup idea was not new — it had been double cup idea w'as used during the World War iricd at least fifteen years earlier. 5S COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING Non-mcrcuric primers became items of impor- tance to all ammunition makers at the turn of the century. A box of UMC 7-mm. cartridges loaded in 1900 used a primer which laboratory tests very clearly show to be non-mere uric. The idea ap- parently spread early and Frankford Arsenal de- veloped its now famous 870 mixture in a non-mer- curic and improved on the H-^8 mixiure. This primer, introduced in September 1919, is the ac- cepted formula used at Frankford Arsenal today> since the Armory has not found a non-corrosive mixture with the necessary characteristics of relia- bility, life in storage and similar features required of military ammunition components. The handloatassjum chlorate, which produces po- tassium chloride, is responsible for the r listing or corrosion of gun barrels. Thus the necessity for eliminating it from the formula. The first practical non-rusting rimfire priming was the German .22 "R” cartridge which was very popular from 3910 to 1913. This cartridge was widely sold, not only on the Continent but in Eng- land. It was a smokeless cartridge and the powder did not give an alkaline residue, so the non-cor- rosive primer was a distinct advantage. The com- position of the famous “R” priming was as fol- lows: Mercury fulminate 55%, stibnitc n%> barium peroxide 27%, T.N.T. Since this formula is ver)' similar to those in use today, it is well to analyze it to determine exactly what happens. Barium peroxide gives up oxygen and becomes barium oxide. The latter combines with the carbon dioxide, also a product of combus- tion, and becomes barium carbonate. The latter is a hard, flinty substance. The fine particles form on the combustion and act as a very effective abra- sive when the bullet travels down the bore. Thus, this particular type of priming mixture creates se- vere erosion, which is frequently far more serious than rusting or corrosion. Thus in the .22-calibcr THE NON-CORROSIVE PRIMER line, the Lcsmoke cartridge when introduced soon non-rusting shotgun primer cnmpnsiuon used on superseded the German “R‘* cartridge. Because of the Continent many long years before Klcanbore the Le smoke powder, which gave an alkaline resi- primers were invented. The only major change due, the ordinary primer could Ijc used, thus clinii- was the increase of ground glass. l/«v*upAofo F.. M. dham'tt Horn«t carlriVinchcster ^111 non-mcrcuric, non*corroaive revolver primer In primers there arc two poisonous ingredicius that arc by no means satishicmry and the loss of which would Ik no great h.irdship for the shooter. These ingredients arc barium nitrate and glass. The barium nitrate has, as a product of its combus- tion, barium carbonate, a severe abrasive, and of course (Kwdered glass is wicked on anything. nating both erosion and corrosion with reasonable cleaning of the bore. Alfhougli the Remington Company announced the non-corrosive or “ Klcanbore** primer In the .22- long rifle as their first development, this actually iSicmphf>tf> bp B. if. OAonor WiDchcsicr #225 non-metcurk, non-corrosive primer was dcvcIo^Kd for ex peri menial wtjrk in the .25/20 repeater cartridge. .Analysis of this so-called great dcvclopmcnr shows tliai it is by no means original. It is very similar to the so-called non/ 2 ) Priming mixtures have been greatly improverf >wever, within the last ten years. As a matter fact, more than thirty patents have been taken 62 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLO/VDING oui on American priming formulas. Most of these paccnis really indicate chat die |)ctsun rc-sjwnsihle for the development is by no means a practical shooter, as he does not understand the problems of barrel length. Many of these patented formulas Remiogtoa non •corrosive revolver primer have never been used commercially because they arc Iiiglily impractical. The author has had anal* yscs made by reputable laboratories to determine the primer ingrediems in modern non-corrosive primers of all makes. He has found a great vaxia- M ,t n.lihotd t'l; K J/. C/lOmoC Wuuhester non'Corm&iTe revolver prioicr tion in formulas of different makes, indicating that none of the manufacturers arc satisfied with any of their developments. It is primarily because of this that the United States Government has not adopted a noiKorrosive primer. Until the military officials fed that the modem developments have been thoroughly stabilized and are rdiabic under all service conditions, they will not recommend them or seriously consider their adoption. On the other hand, the non-corrosive primer is here to slay. Improvements arc continually taking Mii'i'otifotttj Ki/ I',. \f, Cf'nitKit A primrr of a Germats .22 rlui/ite carcrid^ as viewed under tb« fokroscopr. Thk is of ih« non>mcKurk iicm- rorrosivr Notice how much more uniform the pellet b than that used in ihc American primers place, and one will not go far astray if he uses the tominercial brand exclusively for his handloading. The formulas arc being approved so rapidly that The Petco 20X non-corrosive mercuric type of revolver primer. This is bad medicine for the handloader the problems of barrel wear and faulty ignition arc rapidly becoming things of the past. It is not necessary for us handloaders to know what for- mulas arc being used, but almost any of the devel- opments will be found to be satisfactory. THE NON-CORROSIVE PRIMER The primary :hing about non-corrosivc primers primers is, oL course, more or less true abom any is 10 use the particular primer designed for the primer. However, the nonmriM5 are lead nitrate. Some of ibe black ones are aniinkony sulphide and some are the orange organic nitro com- pounds, partly transparent. Magoification 150X As this chapter is being written, a letter from A1 Woodw'orch of the Springfield Armory Experi- mental Department most opportunely turns up in the mail. “There is one thing handloadcrs should be careful about, and that is the non obtain, The majority of these foils range in content from 10 to 60% lead, and most of the so-called “heavy foils” wrapped around certain kinds of pipe to- bacco or certain brands of tea are almost pure lead with practically no tin whatever. Almost all candy and eatables arc free from lead in the foil, as the pure food laws do not permit lead to come in con- tact with foodstuffs. Most chocolate bars and similar candies use aluminum foil. Some candies use a mixture of lead and tin and protect the food by an inside wrapper of waxed paper. Most nf iIk modern packages ot tea arc of pure nluininum foil. An easy rest ot aluininiun foil for the be- ginner is lu touch a iiiaich to it. If it will not burn or melt, but shrinks and curls up slightly, he can be certain that it is aluminum. If it is tin foil or lead foil or any combination of lead and tin, the flame of a match will melt it, and if held over a sheet of paper, tiny drops will be formed on the paper. A very excellent source of salvaged tin, however, is toothpaste tubes. Here again food laws demand chat pure tin be used, and rarely will one find any lead in lubes of this nature. The same is true of shavingbdse Blttcbment on a .49 piitol bullet pear to be reasonably well made and line up per- fectly. Tlic moulds should be properly blocked and vented. This is a subject dilficuk to describe and in some cases more difficult to do. If a mould fits together very tightly and still casts imperfect bullets despite the efforts of the user, then it is quite {X)S$ible that it needs to be vented— in other w'ords, ventilated. The vents consist of fine hair- line grooves running from the cavity to the outside of the block in numerous angles and directions. No two skilled operators who have vented their own moulds will definitely agree on just how this should be done. One thing, however, is of ex- treme imjwuiice: these vents should not be made too deep. It is best to make the scratches extremely shallow, try the mould, and then rcear jn the nose of the bullet. These may or may not affect accuracy. The writer has deliber- ately tcstc Lapping the Mould. If your bullets do not drop free of the mould with reasonable case into per- fect castings, and if they show' numerous tool marks indicating a somewhat rough interior of the cavity, the mould should be lapped. This is not a difficult job but is one requiring more than ordi- nary care. 'I'hc best way to lap a mould is to bring it to operating temperature, slide aside the spruce cutter, and ca.st a bullet nf pure lead around a nail. The nail may be embedded in the bullet by slightly flattening it at the point and holding it with a pair of pliers while the molten lead is poured into the mould to fill the cavity. The sur- plus lead is trimmed off with a knife, thus leaving a bullet cast in the shape of the mould and mounted on a short shank. This may be trimmed off slightly to fit into the ordinary hand drill, and the result is a perfect lap. In using this lap, it should be wet in either oil or water and a small quantity of very fine valve- grinding compound smeared over its surface. The mould is permitted to cool and the lap inserted gently while the blocks are clamped securely in a vise. It may be necessary to space them apart with small pieces of heavy wrapping paper; this is CASTING BULLETS 71 usually advisable for the initial stages of lapping. Otherwise, the lap will not turn freely in ihe mould. It is spun very slowly and gently through the use of the drill, and the blocks should be ex- amined at irequeiiL intervals. The lap will wear down much faster than the iron of the bullet mould, and this must be taken into consideration in determining the final size. Stop the lapping operation as S(X)n as the tool marks have been removed from the interior surface. Continued use of the lap will only make the mould over-size and otherwise change its contours. After the lapping is completed, the blocks should be thoroughly washed in gasoline or boiling water to remove all traces of valve -grinding compound or other abra- sive and it is then ready for use in casting bullets. This Upping process can usually be conducted in Itss tliun an hour even when the operator uses extreme care, The actual tapping of the mould rarely takes over a few moments and must not be overdone, A great many experienced handloaders bp every mould they receive, as this is necessarily a hand job which would add tremendously to the cost if it were done in each case by the manu- facturer. Breaking in a Mould. After any lapping is done in a pair of blocks, it becomes necessary to break them in all over, much the same as a new mould. The hreaking-in process can be done quickly or slow'ly; the slow mcthcKl is far more reliable, bur the quick process can be tried by the careful w'ork- ixian. It is done either in a gas flame or blow torch, and It is well to point out that the stunt is dangerous. The torch should he used very sparingly to blow a sheen or '‘heat blue” over the inner face of the cavity. If the heat is applied to the blocks for too long a period, it may warp them out of shape, thus ruining them. The best way is to cast bullets in the blocks, throwing them in the scrap and keeping at it, until the mould com- mences to behave properly. In this respect a great many handloaders get busy with files, scratch-awls and what-not, anccial small size is manufactured lor handloaders, but any melting pot available through plumbing supply houses would be satisfactory for the purpose. Do not attempt to use melting pots of any other metal than cast iron. The next item of necessity is a pouring ladle. This is an item manufactured or supplied by all mould makers and has been standardized for half a ccntuiy. It is a small, egg-shaped ladle with one quarter sliced out of an end to permit proper fill- ing by dipping in the molten mixture of metal. The oppcjsitc end lias a round-nose pouring spout chat fits the standard sprue cutter hole of all makes of moulds. Do not attempt to pour the molten metal with simple ladles, as spillage is bound to occur and the number of rejected bullets or im- perfect castings will more than offset the initial cost of the right ladle. Although there are many makes, they are nearly all identical and sell for about fifty cents. The melting pot, ladle and mould arc all the equipment the handloadcr needs to purchase in addition to his mould blocks with 72 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING suitable handles to support them. Ocher materials may be obtained around the house. When the author desires to do a bit of bullet casuiig, he chooses an evening nr afternoon when the boss of chc kitchen is out. Ii is surprising how much better results can be obtained if one de treated with more caution than a case of eggs. The blanket or towel can be supported to form a pocket with the bullets dropped on the sides of this pocket and permitted to roll gently toward the center. In experimenting, however, each handloadcr will acquire certain very definite ideas on the subject; what is the most cl5* cieiit for one will be unsatisfactory for another. We usually spread the heavy Turkish towel, folded once, in the center of the kitchen table. The melting pot is placed on one of the plates of the gas range and the heat applied to melt the metal. The full blast of the gas range is used for this pnr[V)se, but once the metal is properly melted, blended and brought to temperature, the heat is turned down to maintain it at an even temperature without permitting it to become too hot. If heated too highly, the metal oxidizes rapidly and docs not cast perfect bullets. Then comes the question of heating the mould. It is very important that your mould blocks be brought up to proper operating temperature. This can be done in two ways. First, by caking a cold mould and attempting to pour bullets. It is doubt- ful that you will get a half-size bullet on your first half-dozen attempts. Ir may take two or rhiee dozen bullets to bring the blocks to opcraiing tcmjwraturc, and this is uiiuecessary work. The writer prefers to heat his blocks by opening the jaws slightly and laying the mould on the gas plate near the melting pot so chat it gets a narrow edge of the gas iTamc. It is turned very frequently and watched carefully. Heated improperly, it is in- clined to warp cither permanently or temporarily. No instructions a>uld possibly tell you how to heat the mould properly. We can merely start you oH and the rest you must learn by exf>crience. Never dip your mould into the bullet metal to bring it up to operating temperature. I saw a beautiful pair of blocks totally ruined by this proc- ess. The blocks were brought to temperature, but the mould was tinned inside and out, and instead of casting a bullet, the metal entered the cavity and was soldered quite solidly in position, thus scaling the blocks. Hearing in a gas flame wa.s nece.ssary to free them, and though the metal ran out, the do surface still remained and an attempt to burn it off by still more heat resulted in warping the blocks beyond repair. There are two things to l)c taken into considera- tion when you cast in the kitchen; first, the ire of Two interfstiog buUec moulds. L«ftr Tb( old obsokie Ideol (or caning differem lrngih« and weigh is of rifle bullets in a gives caliber. Length of bullet was determined bf adpuaUng the strew and sliding cavity plug. Right: An old H. M. Pope mould with peculiar double cut-off plates. Bullets were poured from tbe poioi. This was supposed to cast more pcrfcct*basc bullets CASTING BULLETS 73 the head of the hoa«, in ease she returns and finds ihe floor s[V)t!ed with burns from spilled meul; and second, the very unpleasant sensation of spilled metal distributed over various parts of your anat- omy. There is absolutely no need of spilling metal if proper care is taken. When a gas range is used, the modern types invariably have a porcelain- enamel "drip” pan beneath the burners. This pan was not designed for salvaging lead, and the spot- less white porcelain will take on peculiar brown spots wherever melted lead is spilled on it. While it will still he serviceable, one has to remember that those brown S|X)ls will create a lot of disturbance in household affairs, and they can readily be pre- vented by placing two or three layers of ordinary newspaper on the drip pan. Any accidental spill- age will then drop on the paper, and if three layers are used there will be no burning through. Fre- quently a single layer will do the trick. Thus with the folded blanket or towel upon which the hot bullets arc dropped, your melting pot, mould and ladle brought to temperature, you arc now ready to cast. 1 he ladle, not previously mentioned, is brought to temperature through the simple procc.ss of .submersion in the melting pot until it pours the hor liquid freely, You then need some form of hammer to operate the sprue cutter, because you will find with a single brief trial that there isn't much satisfaction in endeavoring to push that gadget around to trim off sprue through the normal application of a bare thumb. It gets kind of warm. Some chaps use hammers for this purpose. To hit a mould with a hammer is an un- pardonable sin in this author's eyes. A wooden mallet is far more satisfactory, and since a great many handloading bugs do not have a wooden hammer, a short 8- or lo-inch section of hardwood can be used with equal success. Thus equipped, you arc ready to pour your bullets. In use by rhe normal right-handed operator, the mould blocks are held in the left hand with the sprue cutter closed, the ladle filled with the molten metal grasped firmly by the handle with the right hand. The mould is then held over the melting pot so the cavity is in a horizontal position. The snout of the ladle is placed against the spruccd from the mould, re- turn immediately to die casting process; otherwise the blocks will cool coo much, resulting in a defec- tive bullet on the next cast. Some bullets drop out easily and wichour ciTorc on the part of the operator. Others completely refuse. In case bul- lets constantly stick in cither half of the mould, examine the troublesome half very carefully lo see if any burrs have been accidentally raised. If there is the slightest burr or dent caused by a foreign .substance coming in contact with the edges of the cavity, your bullet is more or less certain lo stick, anti the removal of such a burr is an extremely delicate pruccilurc. The best way fo remove that is through the lapping process previously men- tioned. Never, under any conditions, pry the bul- let from the mould with any sharp mstrumenr. There is no surer way of damaging the blocks beyonti rejwir. Take your time in casting; speed comes with experience. Hurrying is never suc- cessful. Occasionally, even with properly ‘"house-broken’* bullet moulds, a bullet will stick in cither half from time to time, lap the open mould blocks gently with a wood hammer or mallet to cause the cast- ing to drcjp free. In ouring first one and then the other and dropping a single bullet at a time. Ibcy insist that this distributes heat far more evenly and prevents warpage. Another handlo.iding hug never attempts to cast with .a single mould. He always arranges to cast up a series of two or three different bullets, using as many moulds but casting from the same alloy. He stands his moulds on end around the lead pot and starts his casting. As soon as his mould gets too hot, thus frosting his bullets lightly, he lays it aside and tries another mould. This man has been casting bullets for more years than I can remember and has acquired excellent speed at it; thus, when he “geis ahead of a mould” he can lay it aside temporarily and use another. In this respect I recommend that when several moulds are being used at the same lime, they should never be of the same shape of cavity, For precision results, bullets Aflother mulUple mould bf Fleldiag B. Hall. Tbi$ casi$ ICO J8 Special bullcu at a liuic. Notice win bullet moulds combined on one set of handles. Fvira hravr sprue cotter oo top readily ihean sprue from ten buUcta from different moulds should never be mixed; and if each mould used is of distinctly different size and shape, the inspection process will enable one to sort them out without undue effort. There is more argument about the melting and alloying of bullet metal than on any other single subject in the home manufacture of projectiles. The best method of melting and alloying is first to deiermiiic ilic axnouiU of bullet metal to be made up. Bear in mind that lOO bullets weighing 170 grains each will use up at least iVi pounds of bullet metal, and chat for efficient results an addi- CASTING BLXLETS 75 tional supply of 2*4 pounds should be kept in the melting pot at all times. It would pay the hand- loader, therefore, to make up from lo to 20 pounds of a certain alloy and cast it in suitable bars or pigs for future use. These pigs can be formed very readily by manufacturing light wooden troughs or using ordinary small wooden boxes. As the alloy is made up, these boxes are cast full of the molten metal. The wood will char to a certain extent but can be used several times. After the pigs are cast, the exact contents should be written on them by means of a sharp nail or scratch-awl, whereupon they can readily be stored for future use. Bear in mind that the smaller these pigs arc made, the more easily they will rc-mclt during the bullet- casting process. Weigh nut the required amounts of raw metals and first melt the lead. A spoonful or two of powdered charcoal can be thrown in on top of the molten metal, which will keep it from oxidizing to any great extent. If you use a tin alloy, you will have no trouble melting this lighter metal, as the tin will disappear promptly upon being in- serted into the liquid lead. If antimony is to be added, the molten mass must be brought to a much higher temperature. Bring the lead to a tempera- ture just under red-hot. This can be tested by in- sertion of a small stick of ordinary hardwood. It should char the wood after an insertion of an in- stant or so. The antimony is acickd in small chunks. It has a higher melting point than lead or I ill and requires some time to melt. It does not mix readily with the alloy, and the mass must be stirred frequently to blend it properly. Dross or w'aste will accumulate on the surface, but avoid skimming this as much as possible. Instead, it should be fluxed by dropping in a bit of grease: an animal grease such as tallow is better than mineral grease, and a small piece of beeswax will prove superior to both, but a reasonable quantity' of any form of grease must be used. A lump at least % inch to a full inch in diameter works best; and, incicicn tally, this process should be performed near an open window— with the draft in the right direc- tion. Any bullet lubricant such as Ideal, Belding & Mull, Japan wax, etc., may be used in this flux- ing process, and one is about as good as another. The heat of the metal will burn tUs lubricant, thus creating a dense smoke — another reason why the job should be done while the wife is away, ^mc- times the grease will cake fire and burn off. At other times it may be burned away by holding a match in the smoking mass. After the metal is properly stirred and the blend- ing completed at these high tempera turc.% the heat is turned down and the metal permitted to cool to operating temperatures. After it comes down to this point, the charcoal and sludge may be skimmed off, but it should not he .sk mimed w’hile the metal is at the extremely high temperature re- quired for proper melting of antimony. Other- wise, rapid oxidation of lead and tin will result. Experienced operators prefer to add the antimony moulds are ofien useful for speed casting. This ooc, designed by Fielding B. Hall of Los Angeles, throws five .38 Special bullets in a single cast first, and then, when it is cooled, the tin is dropped in. This is llic better way, since tlic tin may be burned out at the high temperatures necessary to melt the antimonv. • Should molten bullet metal be stirred? Some operators assert that this is vital, Others insist that it merely accelerates oxidation. Antimony-bearing metals should be stirred occasionally but never too vigorously. There is a slight tendency for the antimony to separate from the lead and tin, hence the stirring is more or less necessary. A friend who docs a great deal of bullet casting uses a large- capacity pot with a plentiful supply of bullet metal. He uses a small iron ring about 2 14 to 3 inches in diameter and drops this into the ineliing pot. It 76 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING will doat on che surface of the lead and the entire unit is then (wrmitted to “scum over'* with the ex- ception of the interior of the ring. The accumula- tion of dross on the outer surface prevents further oxidation and wastage of metal while the small surface inside is kept properly skimmed and bright. All dipping is done through this ring. Incidenully, skimming is accomplished more easily if a small piece of bultci lubricant, tallow, beeswax Of other fluxing material is tossed iiuo the por. A gre'at problem in buller casting is the sticking of the metal to the mould. This may be in the form of a perfectly cast bullet refusing to part company with either half or the more frequent problem of a soldering effect in which the sprue sucks very solidly to the sprue cutter, thus effec- tively blocking the mould and slowing up the cast- ing. In cases like, this, the problem can often be solved by touching the sprue cutter briefly with a stick huller liihricanr or other fluxing material. On occasion, bill lets may be prevented fmm .stick- ing in the moulds by die appikauun of a tiny amount of lubricant. However, this is inclined to make the next bullet cast imperfectly and should be carefully w'atchcd. If you find it necessary to use force to free a cast bullet from one half of the mould, tap that block gently w'ith a hardwood stick, Never strike it with any metal. Usually iwo or three gentle caps will cause it to drop free. After the casting process has been completed, all sprue and defective bullets should be tossed tuck into the melting pot or otherwise laid aside. The writer has found that these small scraps which mcli more readily than a large block arc often ex- tremely couvcniciit to use the next time one begins casting. The bullet metal is cither poured out into small pigs or permitted to solidify in the pot. In this case, sprue cuttings arc useful in starting the melting process all over again. An iron ring or heavy screw eye is permitted to solidify into the mass, whereupon the slug can be lifted out and rehandled through insertion in a hot pot. A better method is to solidify the mass in the pot, empty it out, and throw a reasonable accumulation of sprue cuttings and defective bullets into the cold pot, whereupon the solid ma.ss is replaced on top of il. When rhe pot is heated, the small fragments will melt readily, forming a puddle in the bottom which eats with surprising rapidity into the larger mass. I have found from actual experience that by starting the melting in this manner from three to five minutes can often be saved in the applica- tion of heal. A word about casting hollow-point and hollow- base bullets. This job is by no means difficult, but takes more lime. Hoi low'- point and hollow-base moulds are usually of the single variety, as it is enough work to handle the attachment without experimenting with one's inability to find more than two hands to use. There are a number of hollow-point and hollow-base attachments avail- able, but the perfect design is not yet with us. The handloader who wants to go in for these cavity bullets will do well to read the literature of Bond, Bclding 6c Mull, and Ideal, and then determine for himself just which t>pc he thinks will be best. The subject of flat vt. cavity-hasc bullets is dis- cussed elsewhere. The chap who already has cav- ity-base moulds knows die problems they iiivulve; to the beginner or advanced student who has not tried out these types, the author strongly suggests that it would be well for him to forget that part of the subject. Hollow-poinc bullets, however, are a horse of a different color. The hollow -|X)int bullet is rapidly returning to the front in the shooiing game, and every experimenter will sooner or later want to play with it. Most hollow-poim attach- ments arc practical, though slow, but good holk^w- point bullets arc well worth the added effort neces- sary to produce them. Hollow-pninf bullets are usually cast with a base cut-off— die mcial is poured from ihc base uf tiic bullet. From the nose end, extending through the blocks, is a rod, separate from the blocks, which may or may not be adjustable for depth. The nose of this rod is ground to the final shape desired for the cavity. In use, one inserts the rod by means of a wtxid handle, or other holder, poun the metal, and then withdraws the rod before opening the blocks. Ordinarily there is nothing to hold the rod in position, but on a mould recently constructed for the author by George A. Hensley of San Diego, the problem has been nicely solved. The hollow-point attachment is turned with a stop- collar attached, said collar so formed that it docs not permit the hollow-point form to enter the bul- let cavity beyond a certain point. Half of this shoulder is milled off, and a set-screw, embedded in one of the blocks, prevents the attachment from dropping out when it is partially rotated so that ! the stop-shoulder slides beneath the screw head. I Ihis method of attachment is speedy in operation and minimizes the labor of casting, since it is not necessary to hold the cavity rod in position while the metal is being poured. Mr. Hensley uses this system on all of his hollow-point moulds. Casting hollow-point and hollow-base bullets means added care in inspeciiou, and all bullets with the slightest defect should be discarded if efficient results are to be obtained. Even minor CASTING BULLETS 77 defects can completely destroy accuracy, and for hunting purposes only fhe finest of bullets should be tolerated. Throw back defectives for recasting. To begin right in the casting game, one muse stress the inspection of one’s product. Getting in the habit of doing things right is always wise in at- tempting handloading of ammunition. Casting Machines. Walter H. Miller of 1132^^ rilghman Street, Allentown, Pa., brought out late in 19^5 a little. casting machine which is quite simi* lar to a toy casting device known as the (Jilbert Raster. 'I he Miller caster is a tovdike device which has done so well for the author that he ha.s discontinued entirely all casting from the old pot and ladle. This new device is just the thing to speed up casting and make it less work. In use, k is almost essential that the bullet alloy be prepared in advance via the customary racUing-pot system. The alloy is handled more easily if poured in puddles on a concrete floor, then collected and stored for future remelting. The Miller casting machine has much too small a pot to permit of tl)c blending of metals, and because of its design, it is difficult to skim the contents and free them of dross. Essentially this device is a small electric furnace mounted on an enameled metal b.isc. The tiny nicking pot has a diameter of two inches and a depth of inches. It holds 3.9 cubic inches of metal, and since the average alloy runs about .4 pound per cubic inch, the pot will hold about \\\ pounds of metal. Since you can cast about 45 bullets weighing 150 grains with a pound of metal, it is only necessary to replenish the contents of the melting pot every fifty castings. A better way would be to add all the metal the pot will take every 25 bullets, thus insuring the proper melting of the metal without tying up the casting operation for a lei^glhy w'ait. This tool is both clean to handle and extrcmclv fast. My first attempt at casting with it was made in my office, the machine being set upon my type- writer desk with a folded bath towel beside it on which to drop the bullets. And what is more in- teresting, I did all the casting sitting down. The unit is extremely easy to handle if you have the metal in chunks which will fit into the pot, yon merely plug it into an electric outlet and wait. On one test I filled the pol entirely full, and when it had mclicJ the current was shut off and the unit permitted to cool for three hours. A melting test was then run by plugging in and timing. Seven minutes and the solid chunk was ready to run into the mould. Since that lime I have cast as manv 4 as 300 bullets at a single stretch, adding metal every 25 castings or so, and at no rime have I had to wait for the additional metal to melt. Tlie j*ot has a valve which permits the metal to run through a snout of proper shape to fit the sprue cutter of a mould. With a slight amount of experience it is a simple matter to cast without spilling anything, and even at ihai spillage merely drops to the 1 1^4 12 Vi inch base where it may be picked up to be returned to ihe pot. To operate, it is merely necessary tr) hold the mould so that the sprue cutter touches the pouring nozzle, raise an easily ojKratcd lever on the left side of the A very oMful cool for ftny haadloadcr who dc$ircc to C3$U (be Miller electric ceuer. Ahhov^h nmaii in ap- pearance, il is clean, easy to liaudle, iuid much speedier than the nid pot-anddadlc system machine, hold it there two seconds, lower the lever —spring reiurn takes care of this— and take the mould away. The sprue can be knocked off into a tray and the bullet dropped on the folded towel beside you. How fast is it.^ One half-hour test showed bullets in .557 Magnu.m i6o-grain weight. Inspec- tion caused the rejection of the first three and the last two, the former due to improper mould tem- perature, the latter due to a nearly empty pot. An- other test showed 235 in one hour, during which I knocked off to go dow'n cellar after more metal. If all supplies arc handy, there is no reason why the handloader cannot maintain an average speed of 25U per hour with a properly broken -in mould which drops the bullets without delay. And the cost of operation? The unit draws 350 watts of electrical energy. In three hours it would consume alxmr one kilowau-hour. If you pay a high rate such as is stuck into the author in his locality, the power cost will be about seven to eight cents. This should give you at least 700 bullets — or about one cent per hundred. It is far more 78 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING cxpenaive to cast over a gas range with the slower ladle and pot method. ]f the experimenter desires to use a device of this nature without purchasing one already constructed, he might consider the Gilbert Kaster, a toy out6c designed for the home casting of lead soldiers. I’his is a similar machine with about the same size of pot and element. A few parts can be discarded, the pouring snout altered, and the proper shape ajnstructccl and brazed in place. The most rcceiu addition to the electric melting- pot family is die Potter casting machine, designed EiTcctjvc way oi keepinif buUei meul fur u»e iu ibe Miller carter by Potter lingmcering Co., lo Albany St., Caze- novia, New York. Mr. Potter is also the designer and builder of the Potter handloading tool described elsewhere. This new Potter is similar to the Miller, but there arc a number of improvements, among them being a large and a specially designed melt- ing pot 2 % inches in diameter and 2 inches deep. The additional size of this unit gives it the capacity of 6,4 cubic inches, or about two pounds ten ounces of metal. It is built somewhat more sturdily than the Miller and its price is slightly higher. Tltc consumption of electricity is very link more, if any. These machines are entirely practical for the work for w'hich rhey are designed and arc lo be recom- mended if clean, uniform results arc to be obtained. There arc many legal restrictions against the sale of cast bullets, and it is advisable for the hand- loader to experiment with the art of casting his own. These machines greatly simplify the work and aid in producing highest quality of cast bullets. For some months the author has been using this Potter caster with its larger pot size and greater capacity, and it is found that, with experience, about 500 bullets per hour can be thrown. The percentage of rejection due to imperfect casting is reduced to a minimum. With the Potter caster comes a special cast-iron ingot mould so that the haodloader may blend his own bullet metal in some form of ordinary melting pot and cast into small pigs weighing about one-half pound each. This cast-iron ingot mould will form six of these tiny pigs at a time, each one good for approxi- mately twenty-five 150-grain castings. Accordingly, since the pot will hold approximately five of these pig.s at a time, it Is found by actual experience that once the. pot conic ills arc completely m el let I, one can throw about fifty bullets; he can then add two more pigs and continue his casting with- out watting for the added metal to melt. The most recent tests, conducted while this book was in press, consisted of continuous casting of 1000 bullets for the .357 Magnum, the job being done at one sitting, and requiring two hours and eighteen minutes. The author considers it excel- lent economy for the serinas handloader to use one of these electric casting devices. For the man wlu) wjshc.s to utilize a container capable of holding more than the customary elec^ trie units, the Merit Gunsight Q>mpany, 2276 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, California, has just released a new melting pot upon which patents ore pending. This pot is entirely different from the ordinary type, although it is intended for use on a coal or gas stove. It can be equally well used with the usual plumbers* gasoline furnace. 'rhis melting pot uses a pouring spout similar to those on the electric units, which greatly speeds the casting. The pot has a special flat base having a flange so that it cannot be upset if handled with reason- able care. It is the result of two years of careful experimentation. Outside of the flange base, this pot differs in a great many ways from the customary round-bottom unit. It is, of course, of gray cast iron, having an inside diameter of 5^^ inches nt the top and 4^^ inches at the bottom. The depth runs ^14 hiclies. A flange or flat cable, forming a part of the base of this pot, is about 554 inches wide and forms an excellent “hoc plate” upon which bullet moulds can be brought to operating temperature and maintained at that point when not in actual use. One merely lays the blocks on this shelf, thus keep- ing the handles away from the heat and at the same time avoiding burning blocks through over- heating. The design of the unit is extremely in- teresting. In.stead of the customary round bottom or even flat bottom, this has a “step*' cut into the Interior. The liquid metal is drawn from the top of this step. It is thus impossible to drain the entire con- tents of the pot by means of a pouring spout. The CASTING BULLETS 79 reason for this particular step cut is obvious to the intelligent handloader — k maintains a uniform body of metal to retain the heat at all times. It is therefore unnecessary for the handloader to cease casting when he desires to add metal, since he has a sutficient quantity in reserve to melt and blend the additional material. Thc depth of this step being inches, ma- lerial for casting the bullets is drawn from this level. 1 he pat will hold about forty p>unds of metal, and thanks to its design this quantity can The latest thing in a metting pot ior bulki catling. cord plugs into rear o( meltiog poi. he kept properly covered with charcoal to prevent oxidization and burning out of the tin. In testing this unit we found it a simple matter to run 375 to 400 bullets per hour, using a single- cavity mould. There is one disadvantage. The pouring spout is approximately two inches from the cast-iron shelf, and this does not allow suffi- cient clearance for the average hollow-point at- tachment of bullet moulds. The chief advantage of this unit, therefore, lies in casting solid bullets; but for clubs and departments who desire to pre- pare only target loads, it would be ide«iL In use, this pot is very simple. After the metal Is brought to operating temperature, one merely places the sprue cutter of the mould against the pouring spout and lifts the large w'ooden valve handle, holding it up for two or three seconds. It is then permitted to drop back into position of its own weight, thus shutting ofl the flow of the metal. There should be practically no spillage with this unit. We found it true in all tests. Care of Moulds. When one has finished casting, the moulds should be cared for as carefully as any other handloading instrument. They slK>uld be permitted to cool slowdy. Some operators cast the final bullet into the cavity and lay the mould aside to cool without operating the sprue cutler. * They insist that this metal eliminates air from the mould and thus prevents any further damage, and quite possibly this would be extremely successful if the mould is to be laid away only for a short period. If one is doubtful as to whether or not he will need his mould again, a dilTercnl trcatineiu should be resorted 10. Any form of bullet lubricant can be used to grease the blocks thoroughly while they are still The new lN>uer double* sun dani type, elecciic-powcr SuitdiinJ ckcuic-iron plug is useil warm. A drop of oil should be applied to the hinge pins and to other moving pans. With the blocks still warm, either oil or grease should be lightly applied to the moulds on their operating faces and on the outside. An oily rag, preferably of wool, should be wrapped loosely around these blocks to exclude dust and dirt, whereupon they can be laid aside with reasonable assurance that they will be in proper condition when occasion de- mands them. This problem of lubricating a mould also creates its sccjuel — removal of the grease when the mould is next brought into service. There arc two ways of doing this. If the blocks are inserted in furi- ously boiling water and held there for a few mo- ments, the aetbn will free most of the grease from the operating surfaces, thus eliminating much of the problem of defective bullets in the early cast- ings. Some operators use, instead, an application of gasoline cither with rag or brush, F.iiher method is satisfactory. It is occasionally useful to place a drop of oil on the hinge and sprue-cutter pin or screw for easy operation, hoc or cold. Lu- bricated or dry, any bullet mould is far more deli- cate than its manufacturers like to indicate. The so COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING beginner may spoil an occasional mould. The skilled operator knows the necessity of extreme care. The storage of these moulds is always a matter of considerable interest to the handloader. There should be a place for each individual mould and it should be promptly returned to its proper place immediately after using. Cabinets, shelves, and other similar storage facilities arc desirable, and nne of the best methods of storage is to wrap the mould in heavy waxed paper and return it to its original box. If thi.s box is not available, or if it is ^sired to store all moulds in similar sizes and sha|>es of boxes, a neur-by cigar , store will supply you with all the cigar boxes you wish. These can be stacked and the contents labeled on the end of each. The energetic handloader will find it con- venienc to gather in a plentiful supply of these boxes—they can be used for a multitude of prac* tical purposes. H. E. Lacy, President of Helmco, Inc., of 844 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, recently devel- oped an accessory for the handloader which is well worthy of consideration. Mr. Lacy is an active handloader as well as a business man and npprcciaie.s the problems of the handloading fan. The devclopincni began purely for his own personal satisfacdon and consists of special bullet trays for the storage of cast bullets, cither before or after lubrication. These trays were originally made of aluminum, but Mr. Lacy ex- perimented with spun steel in the larger sizes and decided to adopt these. At the author’s suggestion, he discontinued the aluminum trays in smaller sizes, so that the entire set is now available in steel. These steel tray.s are ab.solutely smooth inside and out, whicli permits of easy stacking on a shelf and perfect protection against dust and din. They arc made in 6, 9 and iiH inches diameter inside, and all are 1 % inches high. This permits bullets to be slacked neatly on their base.s, and a snug but not too tightly fitting pressed-steel cover slips over the entire unit to keep out dirt. Steel trays are superior to aluminum in that they can be washed free of any accumulation of grease and are not in dined to scratch. Aluminum trays will pick up dirt and debris in (he scratches and do not wear as well. A sample of the 13-inch tray in my possession is made out of somewhat lighter steel than is now being used and weighs i pound 12 ounces. The 9-inch size weighs likewise, due to heavier stock. An earlier sample in this size weighs i pound 2 ounces. The ^inch size is made of (he same weight of stock as (he heavy 9-inch size and weighs 12 ounces. We recommend the use of the 11 and 6-inch sizes in preference to the larger num- bers. These trays, of course, arc circular and stack neatly, without tendency to slide or tip over. They are reasonably priced and, because of their con- struction, should last the handloader permanently. Ipcidcntolly, it might be wdl to mention that all metal articles that are wiped free of oil and grea.se can be written upon with a .standard “China Marking” pencil, available at any stationery store. These pencils cost a dime each and arc available in an assortment of colors. The two most practi- cal types are red and black. These can be used to write upon glass bottles, powder canisters, cello- phane, and other articles which will not take ink or ordinary pencil. There should be no excuse for the handloader (o have unlabeled materials around if he keeps one or two of these pencils on hand. To erase any writing, it is merely necessary to rub with a clean cloth. IX BULLET SIZING AND LUBRICATING B ullets, as ,chcy come from the mould, arc more or less certain to have a few minor de- fects. Should the mould blocks fail to close tightly, there will he a looseness in the joint at the time of pouring and the result will be a tiny “fin" on the finished casting. Also certain moulds tend to expand or warp slightly as they are heated, result' ing in the casting of oval bullets. Oval bullets are far more common than many realize; you can readily verify the statement if you will carefully “mike" a half-dozen bullets chosen at random from your next group of castings. The time-hon- ored method of overcoming these dcfcas is to re- size the bullets — in other words, push them through a die or hole in a block of metal of pre- determined size, and thus force them 'into shape for the final operation of loading and firing. Ac the same time it is vital that every lead or lead-alloy bullet be coated with some form of lubri- cant to make sure that the major portion of the projectile will get through the barrel and start off in the direction desired with a minimum loss in weight and general contour. What an Unlubricatcd Bullet Does to a Gun. An unlubricatcd bullet is a source of unpleasant surprise to the shooter, and contrary lo the lectures offered by authorities on the subject of handload- ing, the author suggests that every* beginner load up ten of Ills perfect castings, properly resized, but absolutely free of lubricant, take them to the near- est place where he can shoot in comfort, rest his rifle or revolver to get the best possible accuracy out of his loadings, and then shoot them at a paper target, aiming each shot with the greatest of care. Then he should go home. He should not attempt to do any more shooting with that gun that day. Ten shots are enough. Note the terrible condi- tion of the target- Note the poor accuracy; the tendency of certain shots to keyhole; the inability of the shooter to hit anything or to shoot a reason- able group. This suggestion is for beginners. The experi- enced shot will understand the results of such sbuoting. When you get that gun home, look through the barrel. Note the heavy metal fouling, or “leading" as it is properly called. Run a rag through the barrel and note the tough, patchy masses which stubbornly refuse to part company with the steel. Let us understand just exaedy what happened. It's really quite simple. You merely soldered the interior of the bore. Soldered? Certainly. The best of hard solder is fifty-fifty — equal parts of lead and tin. Plumbers’ solder runs 40-60 or even 30- 70; in other words, from three part.s of lead lo two of tin down lo the soft solder of three pans tin to seven cf lead. Before you can solder a joint, you must clean it up and make it bright. You then tin it by fluxing ii ligluly with some sort of rosin or soldering paste or acid, whereupon you heat the parts with a soldering copper, touch them with solder which runs where it was fluxed, and a certain amount of the tin contents adheres to the metal, forming a base to which the remainder of the melted lead-tin alloy called solder njay affix itself. In the bore of your gun a very similar action takes place. The bullet of solder is pushed through a rifled tube at a very high rate of speed, thus causing suflicient fric- tion to heat up both the barrel and bullet. Thus, even without soldering flux, the semi-melted sur- face of the bullet is soldered to the bore and torn off the projectile. Succeeding bullets build up the leading, and each accumulated spot reduces the size of the interior. Each bullet, therefore, is forced to squeeze through a “ragged hole in the fence" instead of a smooth doorsvay, and it emerges from the muzzle badly battered and with pieces torn off and left hanging on the inside of the barrel. Some spots of leading are torn loose with each shot, only to be "tramped down" in another part of the bore. Lubrication tends to reduce friction to a mini- mum, thus lowering bullet and barrel temperature, forming a protective film on the rifling and speed- ing up the fraction of a second the bullet remains in the barrel. It has always been necessary since the beginning of rifling. Grease, oil, tallow, or even saliva have been used, but the naked lead bul- let has never been successfully shot from a rifled tube. Why do I suggest that the beginner deliberately attempt the stunt frowned upon by all experienced handloadcrs? Because it is comparatively safe, and the handloadcr who once performs this ex- 82 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING periment will never repeat it. He will learn ex- actly what a single string of icn unlubricated shots can do lo a barrel. He will be able to learn promptly just what a leaded barrel can do to the accuracy of a bullet. And he will have on his hands an excellent job in the problem of lead re- moval. He win have an opportunity of testing out the “lead removar qualities of various powder solvents on the market which rarely do as their makers claim, despite the long list of recommenda- tions. He will learn that there is but one real way to remove leading — with a wire brush and elbow grease. And having learned by experience, who can say he will not be the wiser? It is well to create artificially a case of leading that the experimenter may have an opportunity of sniciying its cause and discovering good methods of removal. As he develops new handloads, he will tind that certain biiller alloys, particularly if too soft, create leading problems which must be solved. He will do well to learn early in the game how to cope with a bad dose of leading. Of course, if he wants to try the effective and time-hunored suinr of plugging up the barrel and pouring in an ounce or so of quicksilver (mercury) and rolling it from mur.zle to breech while the barrel is kept siop- |)crcd up, he will find that lead removal is com- l»raiivcly simple when tackled in this fashion. He will learn (hut oils and greases from powder sol- vents which have been used on that leading have given it u protective film, so that it doesn't come out quite as easily, even with mercury, as has been claimed for the old stand-by. And then he will scrub his leaded barrel out with liui water before trying the mercury, and will learn that lead amal- gamates with the heavy liquid. Having learned first-hand the very important fact that bullets must be lubricated if (hey are of the ordinary lead alloy types, he is better qualified to tackle the problem. Early Experiments. The author recalls quite vividly some of (he reloading experiences of his youth. That first loading tool, an Ideal with at- tached bullet mould and nnn -adjust able loading chamber in the .38 Long Coll caliber, provided much delightful experimental work. He soon abandoned the .38 Long Cole shell in favor of the Special after learning that with care the longer cases could be properly crimped. Ideal lubricant seemed rather exoensive to a youngster in those days, so we borrowed some vaseline from the fam- ily medicine chest. That was a memorable stunt. The vaseline permitted the hihrication of the bul- lets with the fingers in less tunc tliau the harder greases. But — Came the acid test of this game— shooting. A week alter a hatch had been loaded, wc tried them out in the company ol one E. C. Dyer, fellow ex- perimenter of pre-high-school days. That same co- conspirator is still alive and active in the game, conducting much of the experimental work re- counted in this book. As a technician, Mr. Dyer has been continuously associated with the author for more than twenty years, and from our youth he has never considered an unsuccessful experi- ment completed until the reason for its failure had been analyzed. On that day the pair of us sallied forth from the city to do our customary “plinking.” I’hc first shot was a surprise. The bullet failed to leave the barrel. A pencil was called into use, the cylinder swung aside, and the pencil pushed through the barrel to extract (he bullet, h came out easily. The next shot sounded sick and the bullet struck the ground in front of the standard U.S.R.A. 20- yard target on which wc were chiseling some three or four yards of distance, A third shot was some- what better, but sull rather weak in spirit. Yet that load was a normal full charge consisting of 3.5 grains of LaHin & Rand Bullscyc. Dyer, who years before that had acquired the nickname of “Obie/' insisted on an immediate autopsy. First a cartridge was dissected. Then the three fired cases were given a minute inspection. Lastly, the bore of that Smith & Wesson Military and Police was given a careful examination. The truth will out The vaseline had melted and run down into the case, thus coating the pow- der grains with oil which absolutely prevented their ignition by the primer flash, In the dud shoe which failed to get the bullet ouc of the barrel, most of the powder charge, in a gooey mass, was blown our of the shell without igniting. I’hc rc- maiuder of that day was spent in burning up the 200 rounds of ammunition we had loaded. Two guns were used, and we had a half-dozen mis- fires, while no less than ten bullets stuck in die barrel. We shot them only to recover the cases. Obie was not satisfied. He suggested that k might be well to learn whether or not vaseline began to run immediately, and since the previous shells had been loaded a week, wc tried again. Twenry-five loads were assembled with vasclinc- lubricated bullets, dumped Into the author's pocket, and on a hot day we set forth. The bullets had been loaded only half an hour before we left. In an hour they were in the gun and being burned up. Results— about the same. Vaseline as a lubri- cant was out. Wc tried various forms of cup grease with simi- BULLET SIZING AND LUBRICATING $3 lar results. Regardless of the form of grease, it ran in revolver loadings and killed the jwwdcr. Occa- sionally it ran back enough to kill the primer and a misfire resulted. In recent years, however, we tried, with reasonable success, some of the water- proof cup grease known as Knsson’s. In the manual of a newly purchased car were instructions telling us to use this grease only in the water-pump grease cup. We found that it was obtainable only in a pound can, and that a |>ound would be good at normal rates of consumption for about ten years* car service. So we tried this lubricant for bullets. It did not run, and worked fully as well as some of the prepared formulas which cost ten limes as iniich. To the experimenter who wants to try it, I suggest that he visit his nearest “one stop'* lubri- cation .station and ask the operator for a small araount— *a tablespoonful. He will usually get U for the asking. Pioneer Lubricants. Early handloaders, without the facilitie.s of modern civilization, used animal fats, hue it muse be borne in mind that any animal fat will rot as will mc.ir. If any form of animal grea.se is used, it must nut be applied to bullets which «irc to be stored, either loaded or unloaded. Pure japan wax is excellent, but it must be com- bined with otlicr materials for best results. The so-called Japan wax is a vegetable compound made from the Carnauba Palm tree of South America. Japan imports the wax like oil exuded by ihLs free and turns it into a hard wax which .she uses in candles and in lM>ch raw and chemically pure wax for export. Although it is excellent in its pure state, it still is a bit too hading Wax Wads. Loading the wax wads calk for a slight softening of the sheets by placing them in tlie sun for a few moments. The shell, filled with powder, is then placed mouth up and a sheet of wax held over it. A gentle pressure with the thumb cuts a wad with the shell being loaded, slightly “dishing" it into the shell. The bullet is then started with the fingers and forced home, crimped or left uncrimped, with the bullet .neater. Surplus wax left over is rolled into a b.ill and tossed in with the reserve supply, or the ball added to the contents of the storage chamber of a lubri- cating machine. There is no waste. Some of the riflemen of today use wax wads with high-velocity mctalerating depth, does nor project into the case body. These wads are also useful with old black- powder cartridges, particularly the long straight shells. Winchester and UMC at one time loaded BULLET SIZING AND LUBRICATING 85 iHe Sharps .40/70 and 40/90 with wax- and waxcd-card wads. And the late Edward A. Leo- pold, of Norristown, Pa., noted rifleman and de- signer of many bullets in rhe Ideal line as well a.s creator of the formula for Ideal bullet lubricant, made and sold to riflemen a wax wad known as "Leopold’s Olco Wads.” The original Leopold formula for grease wads called for 5 oz. Japan wax, 5 oz. beeswax, 2 oz. ozocerite (also called ‘‘ozo- kerite”), 3 or 4 tcasjiconfuls Acheson Unctious Graphite J1340. N. H. Roberts uses this for- mula today in all his grease-wad loadings and flnds it suf>crior to rcsin-concaining mixtures. Resin is a poor material for the inside of rifle barrels, and if used at all, must be used sparingly. It is not a lubricant in itself— rather it works the opposite way. Formula for Wax Wads. What is the best for- mula for wads? Here is Donaldson’s mixture: 2 07 .. resin, 4 oz. beeswax, ^ oz. Japan wax, 2 oz. uillow, and 2 oz, 838 grade Acheson Unctious Chaphiic. This mixture may be softened, if de- sired, by ciiuing dawn an ounce or so on the J.jpan wax or by adding more callow. Smith uses straight beeswax and graphite and gets exceptional results. I use both formulas and can see little dif- ference in their performance. Neither gives trou- ble in extremes of hot and cold weather. Major Roberts makes his wads of six ounces ozocerite, one ounce graphite and two ounces beeswax. This per- forms excellently but is much stiffer than the other mixtures, and in using it the autliur adds two or three ounces of tallow and an additional ounce of graphite. The Smith and Donaldson formulas are ‘graphite wads.” The Roberu mixture is for “wax wads,” The pioneers who did much of the experimental development work on the .220 Swift cartridge — J. B. Sweany of Winters, California, and the late G. L. Wockyns, also of California — have long been experimenting with the problem of grease wads. These two experimenters have given bullets a velocity much greater than the standard .220 Swift loads, and one of the early problems they had to overcome in developing more than thirty different types and shapes of .22 cartridge cases, was the problem of emsion. They found that grease wads were a great help in reducing this ever-present problem of the super-high-velocity cartridge. Sweany, with whom the writer has been in con- stant contact since his first afldiation with the project, writes that “all Swift loads require grease wads for best results, both in reducing erosion and producing maximum accuracy.” The Wotkyns and Sweany formula which I have experimented with at length is made as follows: I pound beeswax, 4 ounces microfiiie graphite, and 4 ounces castor oil. Tlus is an easy combination to make, and being vegetable in the grease, unites readily besides being highly heat-resistant. Those who have tried this formula at my suggestion have found that castor oil blends more easily with the beeswax than mineral oil. A quantity of this ma- terial which I have had lying around for a year gives no indication of “sweating” any of the oil out of it. Some other formulas do nor seem to fare quite so well, although the majority of grease -wad formulas arc highly practical for use within a reasonable length of time and under rcasunably cool storage conditions. In addition to the above-mentioned formulas for home prep;traiion of graphite wads, the Industrial Products Company, P. O. Box 14, Wakefield, Mass., is supplying to hand loaders a specially pre- pared graphite- wad ribbon which appears to be excellent in performance. The Donaldson for- mula, less the rosin, is used in the “standard” for- mula. * This grcasc-\vad problem Itas got a numlicr of the lK>ys experimenting. In playing with it I se- cured the cooperation of the late W. A. Lamb of the Industrial Products Company, who prepared numerous formulas for cxperimcnial work. Tests were conducted under varying conditions, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology asked to co* operate by refrigerating certain grease -wad samples 111 an effort to determine the effect of cold weather on wads. This experimental work is still under way at this writing. It was suggested when a rifle- man explained that, since he had enjoyed excellent success with grease wads in his target rifles, he would like to load his hunting ammunition the same way, but had some doubts because the tem- perature frequently drops to fifteen below zero in his hunting country. Some of the most practical grease-wad formulas, wc found, CO nta tiled colloidal graphite. Colloidal graphite, being much finer than the dry or pow- dered variety, is more inclined to penetrate the pores of the barrel metal under the pressures de- veloped during firing, thus sealing these pores and greatly reducing wear on the barrel. The wad now being marketed for sale by the Industrial Products is known as the “Sharpe Colloidal {2,” and the formula calls for 4 grams of Oildag, 2 grams of castor oil, 4 grams of beeswax, 12 grams of Japan wax, and i gram of petrolatum. Notice the absence of resinous material. This wad is ex- cellent for either summer or winter use, although for extreme summer heal the quantity of bees way 86 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING should be increased to about seven grams in the above formula. Wad Erosion. In the April 1937 issue of The American Rifleman, my good friend, Elmer Keith, had an excellent article on experimental research with a magnum .25 caliber, eventually named the .250 O’Neil Magnum. Elmer recounts a great deal of his experimental research along these lines, par- ticularly with regard to barrel life. A very pricticAl bullet sizer for the man who doca not care for an expensive machine. The bulki b first lubri' caced by soma procesfi cr. For fixed ammunition it worked best when promptly loaded and fired. If you keep a supply of the mixture on hand — or any other oil- bearing concoction— re me It and stir it thoroughly before using if it shows the slightest tendency to “sweat.” Other formulas which have been recom- mended include beef tallow w'ich sufficient vase- line to sofren. Be certain that your callow contains no salt. Also do not store this in loaded cartridges, as animal fats will rot. . . . Vaseline with suffi- cient paraffin to harden was recommended about 1900 in an Ideal Handbook. Another mixiurc for immediate consumption: Japan wax with s|>crm oil to soften it. This was recommended and used more than forty years ago. It has been some years since the author tried this mixture, but ic worked excellently. The sperm oil holds its place in the wax much belter than mineral oils. Seasonal Lubricants. A very important point is to see that your lubricant is “seasonal.” You change from summer to winter oils in your car — do the saline with your bullet lubricant. A mix- ture which is right for summer use may be too hard for winter handling, failing to lubricate the barrel properly, and giving problems of chipping, peeling, ond crumbling in storage. There Is noth- ing more discouraging than to take down a box of beautifully sized and lubricated bullets for load- ing. only to find that the lubricant has chipped and dropped from some of the grease grooves, thus necessitating relubrication. This happens fre- quently. Crumbling lubrication may mean tliai, no m.incr how gently you handle the bullet, some will flake and drop out as the bullet is being seated, so that many grooves will be dry. Also this excess material is packed into the scaling die of the loading tool, changing the adjtisrmcru. A certain handloader, after assembling some 150 loads for his .^8 Special, found that grease had packed in his seating tcration is all that is necessary. The bullet is seated over * the mouth of the die, base first, and the o}>erating lever pressed all the way down with a steady mo- LubnetUng (MUcliRxnt for Jordan Loading Tool {tee Chapter XXU) tion which can be developed into quite speedy operation. A reservoir at the bottom of the press contains a small amount of grease, forced into it from the operating chamber by a S|>ring4>;)cked plunger. A cam arrangement is on the handle, and while the first half of the downward move- ment of the lever forces the bullet into the sizing chamber of the die, the remaining part of the handle travel operates the auxiliary lever on the side of the machine, forcing grease into all grooves with no surplus to smear over the sides and bases of the bullet. The lever is raised and a new bullet started immediately, with the previous one remain- ing in the die, alt sized arnl lubricated. A single downward throw of the operating handle forces the old bullet out of the bottom of the die, and the new one takes its place. 'Phis press is mounted on the edge of the loading bench with a slight overhang. One merely holds one’s hand beneath the overhang to catch the bul- let, eliminating the somewhat slower process of picking out a bullet with greasy fingers. Actually, on test, the author has been able to size and lubri- cate bullets four times as fast as in the older types, since it is not necessary to “pick” out bullets or to twist the lubricating chamber wrench at each siz- ing. A single tightening of the wrench will last for about lOO bullet lubrications. The two-diameter bullets such as ihe Pope, Squibb-Miller, and similar developments, although not intended to be resized, can be so handled in an Ideal or Bond press if a special die, obtainable from the makers, is used. This die is a great help to s|xedy lubrication and insures proper packing of the' grease grooves. In addition, one can frequently pick up some of the old Stevens- Pope lubricating pumps. If you find any of these in w'orking condition, snap them up; if you have no use for them, some fellow bandleader will be glad to get one. These brass pumps were not resizing macluncs— you merely inserted the bullet into the chamber |V)int first, twisted the pump key, and forced grease inio the grooves. Ordinary hand resizing dies can also be used with reasonable success, but the tyj>e found in the old Bond Model B can be used with better success if dei.iched from the loading tool handles. One enterprising bandleader wrote me some years ago seating that he made his own bench resizing press by using these dies and building a light framework with a hand lever to ojwatc a plunger in a straight line. A downward push on his lever forced the builei into and through the die, which w'as merely dropped into a proper size of hole bored into a U-shaped piece of quarter-inch iron, mounted up- side down. There was sufficient room beneath this arch of iron to permit the insertion of the left hand beneath the projecting resizing die, so that the bul- let could be started with the fingers and then caught as it made its exit through the bottom, eliminating the necessity of dropping It to the bench and thus mutilating the base. This same stunt can be worked out using Belding & Mull and many other iy[>es of hand dies, thus turning a hand die into a speedy “bench press.” Still another chap who has assembled an entire set of striedy home-made handloading tools, tells of acquiring an old “botding machine” such as is designed to force bottling caps on the wrappers of BULLET SIZIKG AND LUBRICATING 93 beer, root beer and other home-made stomach lu- bricants. This device was o£ the '*rack and jiumon"* type, in which the necessary leverage is multiplied by means of gearing. He soon altered it into a highly satisfactory resizing press, both for his bul- lets and for shell resizing. In the latter process lie used a quick-dctachahle head which siruight'linC' forced the shell into, a hand die; then turned the die over and, with another plunger dropped into Uic shell, forced it out with a separate operation. It worked fairly rapidly. His rimless .45 ACP shells were forced right through the die, base first. Only recently this experimenter wrote me that he had discarded this home-made affair since run- ning across a foot-power brake-lining machine that had been discarded by a garage in favor of a mod- ern type. He worked this over into a loading press, rebuilding the various parts to permit of interchanging dies for various occasions, and now has a bench-type tool capable uf excellent work. This home mechanics sport, when stirred into hand! oad tog, makes the game intensely interesting. The perfect loading tool has not as yet been de- sigueJ, and the average handloading fan soon finds ways and means of slightly altering existing tools CO meet with his own ideas. There is more or less argument about the advisa- bility of wiping grease from the base of a bullet. Personally the author chooses to clean every bullet before loading. Wiping a bullet base is a rather simple process if one uses a cloth stretched over a board about six inches wide. Pm a certain amount of padding beneath the cloih. Then, as the bullets are ready for final packing, grasp each by the nose and, with a gentle movemenc, draw it over the cloth for a distance of about six inches. This wilt usually remove all traces of grease. One hand- loader known to the author always wears a pair of old cotton trousers and wipes his bullets gently on his trousers legs. When the legs become soiled, he turns the trousers into the laundry, and invari- ably they come back grease and dirt free. Colloidal Graphite. Another form of bullet lu- brication the author has been experimenting with is colloidal graphite. This material is manufac- tured by the Ache son Colloids Corporation of Port Huron, Michigan. Colloidal graphite is the finest known fonn of graphite, and is, of course, aiti- ficially produced. The Acheson Colloids Corpora- tion manufactures this material in the form of "dags” or solutions. Its line includes Aquadag, Oildag, Castordag and Glydag. The first-nam^ is graphite suspended in distilled water — about 22% graphite. Oildag is colloidal graphite in a pure mineral oil. Castordag uses castor oil as its base, and Glydag employs glycerine. All of the lat- ter are 10% colloidal graphite by weight. T hrough ihc cooperation of rhe Acheson labora- tories, the field of bullet labricaLioii has been scratched and shows excellent possibilities. Col- loidal graphite is so finely divided that its grain structure is almost molecular, yet this does not alter its normal characteristics. Oildag is sold commer- cially as "GunsHck” for use in smoothing up ac- tions, trigger pulls, and bolt runways, Experi- ments have been conducted by painting bullets with a light coating of the various dags and using no other lubricant. Performance is excellent. Par- ticularly interesting is Aquadag. The formula I have tried with success seems 10 be from equal parts of Aquadag and water to 1 part Aquadag to I VS parrs of water. Use distilled water if |x>ssible, or clean rainwater. Paint the bullets over their ciairc bearing surface with a small camel-hair brush. It is quite speedy, once the knack of hold- ing the resized bullet between thumb and fore- finger IS acquired. Then set the bullets on their bases to dry before loading. This process gives a graphite-coated bullet, the colloidal graphite drying into a hard shell which penetrates the pores of the lead bullet. It wears well, and such a bullet needs no grease. Experi- ments with the .357 Maon!?m revolver, tlic worst offender from a leading stund^xnnt of any of the various handguns the author has used, shows an entire elimination of leading. There is room for the hand loader to play around with any gun which leads badly. The cost of this material? Aquadag is the most expensive of the dags, costing 60 cents per Vto pint or $2.50 for a half pint jar. The Mo pint (1.6 oz .) makes 4 fluid ounces of lubricating solution— good for thousands of bullets if properly applied. I made up that amount and dealt it out to four friends in one-ounce bottles. They arc still using it, one chap having lubricated almost 1500 .38 Spe- cial bullets with his ounce — and he still has a third of it left. A safe figure is one cent per hundred bullets. The lubricated bullets are clean and dry and do not pick up line and dust as do greased types. Furthermore, in quantity loading, the sur- plus lubricant which smears the point of the usual completed cartridge, to say nothing of packing in the seating die, is eliminated. The experiment is inexpensive to make and decidedly interesting. Handling Bullets* Bullets, afrer casting, should be packed in boxes carefully. One mistake made by beginners — and rarely found in the loading rooms of exiicrieaccd shooters — is the dumping of carefully cast and resized bullets loosely into cigar 94 COMPLETE GUTOE TO HANDLOADING boxes. Don’t Do ItI Secure or make small boxes about the height of the bullet and capable o£ hold' ing from 50 to 100 bullets. The lime used in wip- ing grease from the base of the buUets can also serve as an inspection period, and perfect bullets are then stacked base-down in these boxes, the cov- ers being labeled with the complete record of the bullet style> alloy and* weight, together with date of casting and lubrication. In addition to die label on the top of the box, each package of bullets sliould he properly labeled on the exposed end, so that when stacked on shelves, it will not be necessary lo tear down a stack to determine the contents. It is also a 1 idea to note on the cover of the box the type of lubricant, although if the handloader sticks to a single formula this is by no means necessary. Ihc experimenter with a full collection of tools will do well to use one of the sizing presses with .standard prepared lubricant. This grease is su- perior to home-prepared types in many ways. It Is of proper consistency for press use; and it is available in handy .sticks so that it can readily be handled with a minimum of effort, and conven- iently stored so chat the recharging of the lubricat- ing press is a matter of a scam few minutes. Standard prepared bullet lubricant is supplied by the Ideal Manufaauring Co. (Lyman Gun Sight Corporation), Middle held, Connecticut; Bel- ding k Mull, lac., Philipsburg, Pennsylvania; the Modern-Bond Corporation, Wilmington, Dela- ware; James £. Moon, 782 Amsterdam Avenue, New York City; Fielding B. Hall, 1522 Montana Street, Los Angeles, California; and Industrial Products Company, P. O. Box 14, Wakefield, Massachusetts. Incidemally, Uus latter firm .sup- plies the Sharpe Colloidal Formula ti in sticks for lubricating machines as previously described in this chapter. F. R. Krause of 801 East Coal Ave- nue, Albuquerque, New Mexico, also carries a stock of this colloidal graphite lubricant together with other standard makes of lubricants for those living in tlial territory. Size your bullets as soon after casting as is con- venienL Score them carefully, and keep a plentiful supply on hand. Then, when you decide to build a certain load on short notice, you have full equip* ment available. One final suggestion: It often becomes neces- sary for the handloader to remove surplus greaw from his loaded cartridges. Many times this grease is deposited over the nose of the bullet in a most disconcerting manner. While it does no harm to slw)t cartridges so coated, they by no means repre- sent a rmished job, and many handloaders hesitate to appear in company with soiled loadings of this sort. The grease may be quickly removed if a small rag is dampened in ga.solinc and used to wipe the cartridges, a twisting nioilon being used. A far better way, however, is to use a sin.ill electric motor of about h.p. and a doth buffing wheel. With such an outfit, the work becomes easy, and the cleaning of 100 cartridges is merely a matter of a couple of minutes. When the bulling wheel becomes too badly fouled with grease, it may be removed and washed in gasoline, dried, and re- riirned. This same motor can be used for a multi- tude of piirprMcs, the buffing of shells among them. The doth wheels should he properly scored to keep them free from dust, and dilTerent wheels used for the various jobs. Heavy man i la mailing envel- opes make excellent covers for the storage uf the wheels when not in use, and they may be attached in a moment. This electric motor— used— may be picked up for three or four dollars, or a new ball- bearing type can be purchased from the mailorder houses for less than ten dollars— a practical invest- ment X LEAD, GAS^ECK, HOLLOW-BASE, HOLLOW-POINT, AND PATCHED BULLETS P AIN “lead” bullets consist of two distinctly different types — factory and home-made. The latter arc further subdivided into plain-base and ga$05 inch. In fact, the larger the bullet, the better the chance for com- pletely filling the grooves of the barrel aod conse- quent lack of gas cutting. For years we obeyed that law. And then we be- gan to think for ourselves. The old law was studied in a search for technical errors. We found them in plenty. First: If a barrel is rifled with a maximum groove diameter of .3080 and a land diameter of .3000, and a bullet having a diameter of .3080 were pushed through ii, why wouldn’t it completely fill the grooves.^ S^ontf: If a bullet having a diameter of .3110 were pushed through that .3080 barrel, why wouldn’t that res waging tend to destroy the original balance of the bullet, par- ticularly if it happened to start into the rifling a bit off-side? Third: If a .3080 barrel normally re- quires a .3083 metal-jacketed bullet, and this law says that cast bullets should run .3110, why is it diat the metal jacket— of very many times harder metal — will swage to fit the grooves, while the soft cast bullet in the same size wOl not? An experimenter soon puts his ideas into prac- tice, and we soon res waged .3110 bullets to diam- eters around ,308 and tried them. Accuracy at the short test range of 50 yards was excellent, and re- covered bullets showed that they had adapted themselves very nicely to the dimensions of the barrel. We then stepped the diameter to .306 and shot them in that .308 barrel. Accuracy was still all ihai could be desired, and again the recovered bullets clearly showed that they had upset to per- fectly fill the grooves. There was something tech- nically the matter with that law — probably passed in a hurry by some ovcraiuious politician who svanted to get home for the holidays. Thus we answered our own question Number 1. Came Number Two. We fired the legal .311 bullets in that same barrel. To be perfectly truth- ful, the die sized them to .3112. Recovered bullets showed a pronounced fin around the base of the bullet. . We tried some of the Bclding & Mull bcvcl-ha.se bullets of the same size. The fin was practically mining, but the bevel was more or less mutilated. And then came a session with that excellent btxjk, The Bullet’s Flight from Powder to Target, written by Dr. Franklin W. Mann, America’s pioneer gun bug and experimemer. This old book, written in 1909, is still an uii- equaled masterpiece, and it is to be regretted that Dr. Mann passed on before he had published his second book. He took with him 10 his grave the answers to many questions which today’s riflemen are stilt seeking. In 1902 and 1903 Dr. Mann definitely proved that fias on the bases of bullets could nearly de- stroy their accuracy po.ssihilitics. But that was a long time ago. Wc have forgotten the work of Dr. Mann. And wc passed laws which the vSii- preme Court of Logic would set aside as unconsii- tudonal. Bullet bases must be perfect if their greatest possibilities are to be develoj^ed. Why, therefore, should (he handloader go through his cast bullets with infinite care, choosing only the perfect specimens, and then slug them all out of their original identity by shooting than in a barrel three or four thousandths of an inch too small for them? You chaps who passed the law may be able (D answer it— the author can’t. Question Number Three. Tliere once was a log- ical reason for cast bullets to be several tliousanddis oversize. The general theory back of this old idea is that a bullet must have a surplus of metal to swage into the groove corners and thus prevent gas cutting. A thousandth, perhaps, but that is enough. You would not ask a metal-jacketed bullet to swage down as much as that; whv de- mand it of a lead-alloy bullet? It is not logical. Bullet-mould makers— and this applies to most of LEAD, GAS-CHECK, HOLLOW-BASE, HOLLOW-POINT, AND PATCHED BULLETS 99 them — are inclined to make their moulds oversize — too much so. Their engineers design a very excellent bullet, its bearing surface properly worked out for best results in a certain barrel. They cast it oversize for fair. Many ,30 moulds even cast bullets .320 to .325 to be shot in a .308 barrel. No, the pretty handbooks they send you for a quarter or lialf a dollar do not tell you this, but it is true in many cases. You have to resize the bullets. How do you resize? You drive the bullet through a die to make it of the proper diameter. In the case of a .30/06 with a bore diameter of ,300 and a groove diameter of .308 you force that .320 bullet through a hole in a metal block and it comes out .311 inches. Then you load it into a shell and blow it through a rifled tube, the greatest diameter of which is .308, and the mean or average diameter of the rifling and grooves is .304. When the bullet leaves the muzzle it is squatted down to a maximum diameter of .308, a reduction of ,012 — twelve thousandths smaller than originally cast. What’s the idea? Just the law. Accuracy tests have proved conclusively chat it is not necessary to use bullets three thousandths oversize. The soft bands cast on the bullet and filled with lubricant are squatted out of their origi- nal identity by the various resizings. Sometimes they crush down evenly, sometimes the majority of the “sizing” occurs on one side of the bullet. The net result is a badly unbalanced bullets nd that means poor accuracy or worse. No, the I-aw is wrong again. Cast bullets need to be but sligbdy oversize. Too much so means that they arc more or less certain to expand or upset too much, creat- ing excessive and irregular barrel friction. This means excessive heat developed in the bullet, cut- ting down the velocity, the resistance to the rota- tional bite of the lands, and thus a tendency toward slippage. The only logical excuse for this oversize theory was recently offered by one of the old-time band- leaders who pointed out that the great “standardi- zation” of Springfield Armory is a matter chiefly nf recent years rather than of ihc beginning of their hisiury. Wlicn the Krag rifle came into ex- istence it brought with it a flood of reloading fans, particularly those who wanted a gallery loading considerably less erosive on the barrels than the standard full charges of poisonous WA The author recently measured a great many Krag bar- rels that he owned and found that they ran from .305 to .311. Research through some printed litera- ture published around 1905 by the National Pro- jectile Works of California (now extinct) indi- cates that even in those days this great variation was known to shooters. At the same time it was determined quite early in the game that the av- erage Krag barrel was oversize rather than under- size. Formal research by the author at Springfield Armory elicits the enlightening information that “they cannot account for the great variation in Krag barrels.” The loading fans, however, in discovering that Krags usually ran .3085 to .311, insisted on a slighdy larger bullet tlian .308, and .311 became the accepted standard. It is quite possible that a few of those loaders who had tight barrels resized their bullets to a somewhat smaller initial size. It is thus possible that this may account to a certain extent for the general trend toward oversize bullets. Thus there might have been an excuse for it in 1905, but certainly not with the standardization of all calibers during the past twenty years! Another possible answer to the oversize bullet problem is that the truly early bullets had very narrow and extremely deep lubricating grooves running from four lo dghi grooves per bullet. Tlie driving bands, therefore, particularly when cast in a sofi alloy such as i to 30 or i to 40, which was quite popular in those days, would readily swage down .003 to .004 without causing serious trouble in the form of bullet mutilation or extreme pressure. With the more modern cast rifle bullets, however, the tendency is toward one- and two- groove bullets, using very shallow and wide grooves and even wider driving bands. These bul- lets naturally create much greater resistance to the rifling and were designed for increased velocities. The narrow groove with consequent narrow bear- ing bands would strip if an effort were made to step up velocities. Bullets with wide bearing bands in particular should be carefully chosen as to size, and for normal rifles .001 to .0015 greater than groove diameter is superior to those which are greatly oversize. It is interesting to recall, however, that despite the tendency of our bandleaders toward these tre- mendously oversize bullets, the fad did not extend into our ammunition factories. Those boys held oversize bullets to an absolute minimum; in fact, dieir tendency was toward slightly undersize rather than oversize, assuming that any cast or swaged bullet would upset sufficiently to fill any normal rifling. Incidentally, in the early days of factory- made ammunition, including that loaded at Frank- ford Arsenal, bullets were actually cast rather than swaged. The casting, however, was accomplished more or less automatically by bulky machinery in which an operator was able to cast by means of a 100 COMPLETE GUTOE TO HANDLOADING tremendous **^ang'* or muidple cavity mould run- ning from 10 to 50 bullets per throw. These cast bullets were then machine-lubricated and dzed along the same general lines as those of present-day handsizing machines, except that the machines were automatic and a single operator could lake care of an entire battery of them. Hollow-Base Bullets. Another popular fallacy h die matter of hoUow-base hullcrs. Why arc these used? There are plenty of old laws to explain it» but the fact remains that the hollow base is a relic of black-powder days and is as obsolete as the flint- lock. It has no legitimate place in the handloader’s realm of action. The hollow-base bullet, some au- thorities say, originated in the effort of “engineers” who felt that the weight of a bullet should be kept forward, with a long base or skirl to “steer” the projectile in flight. Even as late as 1935 the West- ern Cartridge Company developed its new Super-X .38 S[*iecial cartridge, a 150-grain hulter built with a conical ineuUovered point, and a round-nose 150- grain with a thin Lubaloy plating. These bullets have a deep conical cavity about ^ inch from the base, thus giving a very long bearing on the barrel. The net result is chat the Super-X gives a velocity of 1070 f.$. as against the Remington .38/4^ at 1125 — the latter with eight grains more of bullet weight. There are two very important reasons for this increase in velocity— powder and bullet de- sign. Eliminate the former and analyse the latter. l*he pressure of the gases is sufRcient even to bulge the base of a mctal-iacketcd bullet. Tests with a .22 revolver at the Smith & Wesson plant a few years ago showed that if the barrel were re- moved from a .22/32 revolver, and .22 Long rifle regular speed bullets shot from this gun into cot- ton waste— shooting from the cylinder, only, through the open forward portion of the frame — the recovered bullets had expanded to about .45 caliber from the blast of the gas on the bases, and these badly expanded bullets showed marks on them where they had opened up sufficiently to graze the threads of the frame. The experiment is not new. Dr. Mann conducted it with various bul- let alloys in barrels of assorted lengths, some of them so short that the bullet of his rifle cartridge projected from the very shore muzzle before firing. Burnside laboratory has conducted this test with metal-jacketed .30/06 bullets, and even these have swelled out of shape, expanding at the base to better than .38 caliber. If the gases will do this to a plain flat-base alloy or metal-jacketed bullet, what will they do to a hollow-base bullet in your rifle or revolver? The answer to this question is very important— to both the shooter and the life of the gun. The object of the hollow-base bullet is a matter nor of “keeping the weight forward” but of per- miedng expansion by powder gases in black-pow- der weapons. In the revolver, for instance, the .38 Long cartridge (centerfire) came before the .38 Special. Ac that time smokeless powders were entirely unknown and Impractical in experimental samples. From 1894 to 1909 the Army used four different .38 revolvers, all chambered for the .38 Long CoU cartridge with its dccp split. Accordingly, the J903 model was brought out, chambered for the same cartridge, although the .38 Special cartridge had been intro- duced by Smith A Wesson, followed a couple of years later with the .38 Colt Special. The major difference between the Model 1903 and the earlier types was in barrel dimensions— the Ordnance De- partment reduced the barrel to .357, the exact di- ameter of the bullet. The .38 Special cartridge was developed by Smith & Wesson primarily because of the inferior ballistics of this hollow-base black- pow'dcr cartridge, which, even in later smokeless loadings, was highly unsatisfactory. Recent fac- tory loadings examined by the writer in Long Colt caliber still retain the hollow-base bullet. In rifles, no hollow-base bullet can be made to shoot as satisfactorily as the plain flat-base or gas- check. It is not used, and hollow-base rifle bulteLs arc becoming rare. In the handgun family, how- ever, the hollow base is featured among practically all the mould makers' lists. There is no law against its use, and it is featured in the line for just one reason — an attempt to reduce bullet weight with solid-nose type of construction and still main- tain a particular length and shape of bullet. Ac- tually hollow-base bullets are inferior in accuracy to the solid type, even when cast of hard alloys. Handgun pressures arc sufficient to upset them in LEAD, GAS-CHECK, HOLLOW-BASE, HOLLOW^POINT, AND PATCHED BULLETS 101 the throat of the rifling, and with heavy loads this increases the pressure very seriously. A certain hollow-base bullet, much praised by its designer and many writers, was tested in heavy loadings in the .38 Special and .44 Special. A sample batch was sent to the Peters Cartridge Company for these tests, and Col. W. A. Icwcs wrote the designer who submitted them, condemn- ing the load in no uncertain terms., At the same time he sent me a carbon of his letter, and a few (lays later a similar copy was received from the chap who loaded and SLibrniiletl them. Tins letter runs: “We find that your first sample of .38 Special contains approximately ii grs. of Du Pom fSo and a 158-grain cast bullet of your design, generated pressure averaging 42,000 lbs., the maximum being 43,700 and a minimum of 41,100. . . . The second sample of .38 Special loaded with jo grs. #80 and your hollow-point bullet weighing 160 grains av- eraged 42,700 with a maximum of 43»7oo and a minimum of 42,000, |Nmc; This was a flar-hase bullet, and dearly indicnies that 880 is nut at ull suited to heavy loads in revolvers. P. B. S.] . . . These pressures are much too high for .38 S. U W. Special Cartridges and the arms which this am- munition is chambered for. Our working pres- sures in the standard velocity average 15,000 pounds, while the maximum allowable must not exceed 16,000 pounds. Pressures on our High- Velocity .38 Special average 17,000 pounds with a maximum allowable of 20,000, “Your third sample .44 S. & W. Special contain- ing 15 grs. of Du Pont }8o and a solld-poim bullet of 231.5 grs. [hollow base] aveniged 29,000 pounds pressure with a maximum of 29,400 and a mini- mum of 28,800. Our working pres.su res for the ^4 Spedul average 11,000 pounds with a maximum allowable pressure of 16,000 pounds. , . . We did not fire any of these cartridges for velocity, since the pressures are dangerously high and we did not wish to subject our guns to these abnormal loads. • . . We really believe that if you continue to shoot loads assembled like these samples you will even- tually have a serious accident.” There is another kind of “hollow-base” bullet the handloader frequently encounters — the factory- swaged bullet. This (iiffcrs more or less from the cast bullets in that it has a very shallow cavity. Some bullets of this kind are merely “dished,” while others have a small hemispherical cavity of varying depth running from .075 to about .135. In these swaged bullets, the cavity is formed by a suitable nose on the punch or plunger which forces them into the finishing die. Why this needs to be a cavity type of pundi, no one seems to know. Thus the cavities of the ordinary factory unjack- eted bullet bases are a matter of manufacturing convenience rather than any attempt at ballistic improvement, probably to take care of variations in slug weights and still maintain regular bearing length. As a matter of fact, when the Winchester people began their experimental work with the .357 S. & W. Magnum revolver cartridge, they were coniiiiuiiig certain work of chat nature conducted by the writer with the help of Major D. B, Wesson. This cartridge and the gun to handle it were born in the depths of the Maine woods several years previous to its introduction. Major Wesson and the writer were experimenting on a “Field Expe- dition,” trying to determine the effects of certain super- velocity handloads in revolvers, and in our earliest experiments wc rejected the hollow base as giving a highly unsatisfactory relation between velocity and pressure. The Winchester experts, faced with these data, which were uinu'd over lo them for development work, insisted that it was necessary to make a semi-hollow base as 2 manu- facturing step. They built test bullets along the lines of the Sharpe experimental (Hensley moulds #48 and t 50 f but with swaged hollow bases, and found it impossible to equal velocities obtained with hand-cast bullets. Accordingly they manu- factured some flat-base types, much to their sur- prise. The writer docs not know how difficult it may be to produce these “flat-base” types in factory pro- duction, but it should be as simple as to form ibe cavity type. The fact is that afier saying “it can’i be done” inure or less because of another obsolete “law,” the Winchester plant went ahead and broke the law itself. Strictly speaking, however, the Winchester, .357 S. & W. Magnum bullet is not a true “flat base.” It has been slightly “dished,” but this dishing is uniform from rim to rim and the depth of the dishing is only about *0075 inch. Therefore they shattered all previous theories, de- veloping a 158-grain bullet which is driven at 1510 f.s. in an 8 -inch barrel to make the world’s most powerful revolver. This bullef, in Its present state, has been driven as high as 1620 f.s. by the writer. With an ex|>eri menial powder of ^frown ballistic qualities, and using advanced formulae for calcu- lating the probable velocities and pressures, we found that the chronograph and pressure gun veri- fied figures — indicating that no unknown quan- tity entered into the case such as was found with hollow-base types. Hollow-base bullets are perfectly all right for 102 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING normal loads, but for the finest of target accuracy they cannot compare with a properly designed flat- base bullet, The careful handloadcr will, there- forC; endeavor to eliminate hollow-base bullets from his precision loadings if he seeks superior ac- cunicv. Hollo W'Point Bullets. Cast bullets are excellent game killers, and in this rest’)ect the shape of the point or nose helps to no small degree. The .357 S. W. Macn’um, for instance, as loaded by Win- chester at present, contains a solid alloy bullet hav- ing a “Sharpe-type” bullet. It is possible that the manufacturers may later add a hollow point to this line, should the demand of the shooters force the issue. But this Sharpe-type and Keith-type form of bullet nose should not be misunderstood. Neither type was actually originated by the two designers for whom they are named. The idea is as old as the hobby of handloading, and has pro- gressed in varying stages of development ever since centerfirc cartridges appeared on the market, thus bringing in the first crop of true experimental handloaders. In the July-August (1935) issue of ArmyOrd^ nance, in recounting the history of this, the newest and world’s most powerful revolver cartridge, this author says in part: “The so-called ‘Sharpc-iypc’ bullet nose is by no means an original develop- ment with him. Its actual origin is lost in the maze of antiquity. For handgun.^ it was first used ill the Wilder bullet designed by B, R Wilder back in 1904 and now known as Ideal >3(10271. This was followed in 1905 by Crabtree’s Ideal I360345, still very similar. Since that time there have own dozens of them developed, visually quite similar. Bond has bullet moulds for them, and so have Bolding & Mull; and Elmer Keith popularized this type for hunting purposes. In spite of all this, the shape of the bullet nose is even older. It was widely used on rifle bullets, the flat nose being developed for nose cut-offs in bullet moulds built for home casting, thus insuring perfect bases for target w^ork. It ap [wared in factory bullets for such rifles as the .32/40, .38/55, .38/56— in fact, most of the old and now obsolete line of bullets from the .22 WCF, .25/20 and .32/20 up to -45 caliber were of the flat-nose variety. . . This nose, however, has been varied considerably by various designers, and today has been refined to a remarkable degree. It is ballistically well bal- anced, although not quite the equal of the round nose and pointed types, and the greater cross-sec- tional area of the flat nose, presenting a flat surface of the bullet to meet the surface of the target or game, thus punches out a large liole and delivers immensely superior shocking power for hunting. The step-cut or shoulder, where the forward or cylindrical portion of the bullet body joins the nose of the projectile, forms an excellent “wad'pc of material used in mould blocks, the principle of manufacture is the same — cutting is accomplished through the use of a “cherry” or “cherric.” This is nothing more than a cutting burr or reamer, with suitable relief for the elimination of the metal chips or “shavings.” It is ground to the exact shape of the desired bullet, and this cherry is used to cut all bullet moulds of that type. As the cherry wears down or dulls and is resharpened, it reduces the size, thus controlling the size of the finished bullet “as cast.” Therefore, after exceeding the unfortunately too-wide tol- erances of mould makers, this cherry cannot be LEAD, GAS-CHECK, HOLLOW-BASE, HOLLOW-POINT, AND PATCHED BULLETS 103 used further for finishing die moulds of dial type and is either discarded or used to “rough” other moulds, the final shaping being accomplished through the use of a new cherry which is again ground to the original specifications. In the manufacture of the moulds, two systems arc used — the blocks being first paired off, their faces milled to give a smooth, leak-tight fit, and then they are inserted into a jig, given a rough or preliminary boring, and slowly clamped over the spinning cherry. As the revolving cutter biles info die metal, the jig is further ughtened, until the faces of the blocks are in contact with each other. The blocks are then fitted into other jigs to drill the necessary holes for handles to insure their lin- ing up in use, and the mould is ready. Some mak- ers use a “fixed” or non-rotating cherry, revolving instead the jig containing the paired blocks. This latter system is not so widely used, as it requires more complicated equipment. Still another method of making moulds is pos- sible. The writer has had several moulds huilr to order by the method in question, but the average mould maker cannot do it. The method is “lathe cLUiing” and requires the services of an expert machinist. The blocks are damped together after facing, and mounted in a jig solidly held within the jaws of a lathe chuck. A cutting tool i$ clamped in a lathe tool post and the jig with its blacks is rotated at cutting speed. The lathe cutter is hand-fed into the revolving blocks, and finished size is purely a matter of skill of the operator. Of course, certain special shapes of cutters are used, ground to give definite contours. This problem is not too great for a good machinist, but ii is very easy to bungle die job. La die cutting of mould blocks in this manner is more economical in many respects, since it eliminates the necessity of grind- ing a special reamer or cherry. The latter costs from $15 to $20 alone, plus the cost of making a mould. For pure experimental work, lathe cutting of moulds is unusually satisfactory, as certain bullet dimensions can be changed at will through the simple process of rccutdng the blocks. If you use a chcrry-cut mould, the alteration of a groove width or depth by a matter of x) 07 , inch will mean the regrinding of a cherry or the making of an entirely new one. Hence the slightest change will mean the price of a new cherry. Bear all this in mind before you begin designing special bullets for your private use, and do not berate the mould maker because he quotes you an “excessive” price for the initial mould. Of course, once the cherry is ground, many moulds can be made from It, but the man who designs it pays the price of the cherry, which usually remains in the possession of the mould maker. He may add it to his line — they usually do — but it will be a long time before a new bullet becomes sufficiendy popular to be profitable to the maker, and the designer can never hope to get a penny of his initial cost back. Therefore, if you plan to design bullets, you might as well con- sider in advance that your heavy initial cost is pure no-profit “experimental expense.” Bullet Designing. In designing bullets, how many grooves should one use, and how deep should they be? Any form of answer to this ques- tion w'ould only create a never-ending argument. It all resolves itself into the caliber, use, velocity planned, barrels in which it will be shot, alloys to be used, and many other things if laboratory pbr- FEcnoN is TO BE OBTAINED, Howcvcf, laboratory perfection is one of the unknown quantities in band loading. One man's idea may be sound on the subject, while another experimenter, using these same ideas in a somewhat different cartridge, will find a frcmendou.s di (Terence in results. Mnst of the bullets on the market lu day— and this of course means the moulds for them— are more or less time-tested. They have been widely shot, and many a shooter finds that they are more or less sus- ceptible CO variations. In this, cast bullets have been, arc, and always will be more variable in re- sults obtained than metal-jack eced types, having critical points practically beyond theoretical ex- planation. Grease grooves and driving bands have a reason- able requirement as to width: they should be ap- proximately equal in area, although two-rhirds driving hand and one-third grease or lubricating area is quite satisfactory in many bullets at normal velocities. Too narrow driving bands lower the velocities possible, as the bullets are inclined to strip. The same is true if too deep a grease groove is used — the driving bands stand up “tall” and are weakened considerably. The rotational twist im- parted by the rifling, plus the resistance of the bullet through its inertia, is inclined to mash or “tear down” these tall driving bands. Grease grooves should, however, be deep enough no that a certain amount of lubricant is found in recovered bullets. Number of grooves? Fight it out among yourselves. In revolver bullets the writer uses both one and wo, and believes that usually one is more reliable, less likely to strip and lead the barrel at high velocities — which is just the opposite of the theory of another veteran experimcDter. If you must design a bullet, secure the illustrated catalogs of various mould makers, choose the best-looking 104 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING buliets therein, and first order some of them to ay out in your pet hardware. If you can find weak- nesses, then design your bullet to overcome these weaknesses, using the best features of all bullets you have tried rolled into one. Thus you don’t acquire a new and expensive mould which is im- Method of A^iof the eufaic content* of a bullet (aee text) properly fitted to your needs. Remember that the “scrap value'* of a tailor-made $23 mould is less than one cent. There is one thing well worth bearing in mind in designing a mould, however, Beware of sharp corners. Several mould makers have built blocks to order for the writer, but of the lot, only two more or less obscure makers liavc been able to execute those orders accurately. Hence it is not out of place to “give the boys a hand’* for their skilful workmanship and careful attention to de- tail. Experimental w'ork for the ,357 Macnum car- tridge, which began as a super-powered .3S Special, was all conducted with a Sharpe 146-grain hollow- point bullet and a similar form in solid and weigh- ing 157 grains. My very good friend H. P. Austin of the Firearms Specialty Works, Box 634, James- town, N. Y., built these blocks to the writer’s speci- fications, and by that 1 mean to make it clear that the resultant bullet was not sintilar to the bullet de- signed on paper; it was IT. Diameters mean something to this firm. They cut all measure- ments the way I wanted them, and they deserve fuU credit. Another newcomer to tlie field of mould-making is George A. Hensley, 2692 E Street, San Diego, Calif. Hensley built moulds for the ,44 Sharpe hollow-point and solid, and here too we found perfection of workmanship. This bullet was de- signed with round-bottom lubricating grooves, and the cherry Mr. Hensley ground up follows the paper measurements properly, since the designer definitely planned his bullet metal and allowed for the inevitable shrinkage of the metal in the casting process. This mould has the nose portion of the cherry slightly dulled or “rounded'* instead of a straight bevel. A faint bevel has been given to the base. This makes it very easy to drop bullets from the mound in casting, and tliis feature should be carefully considered as one of the necessary re- finements in the manufacture of a newly designed mould. The base bevel is not as great as on most Beldirtg & Mull bevel-base bullets, but is along the same lines— a worthy feature. In designing new bullets, it is comparatively simple to determine their eventual weight if one is reasonably good at ordinary mathematics and doesn't mind the hard work of figuring cubic contents. These figures should be carried to at least five or six places beyond the decimal point in all steps or reasonable accuracy cannot be deter- mined. Method of estimating the weight can readily be determined by obtaining the cubic con- tents of the accompanying analytical sketch. The cubic contents of each section, marked A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, should be figured separately and added up. Better accuracy can be obtained by car- rying these figures as much as ten places beyond the decimal point-^nd that means the use of more than one or two pieces of scrap paper. I’hen the hollow point, if it has one, can have its cubic con- tents figured carefully and the result can be de- ducted from I lie total. This will give the cubic contents. Further calculations arc based on the knowledge of the weight of the alloy per cubic inch. These data will be found in the tables of the appendix and in Chapter XXXIV. LEAD, GAS^HEOC, HOLLOW-BASE, HOLLOW-POINT, AND PATCHED BULLETS 105 Bear in mind chat there are two very important features of bullet design — performance of the fin- ished bullet, and the problems of casting. Bullets with sharp, square*corner grooves and driving bands may perform as well as bullets with rounded corners, but they do not drop from the mould so readily. Hollow-poinc and hollow-base attach- ments also slow up the casting to iiu small degree, and if improperly designed will make the work unusually difficult. Cavities for hollow points can be of almost any depth desired, and their efiective- ncss at any given depth is controlled entirely by the velocity at which they are traveling u^hen they arrive. This latter point is worthy of still further con- sideration. For 50-yard shooting, it makes little difference about the muzzle velocity of the projec- tile— it is the remaining velocity which counts. At the same time the muzzle velocity U of extreme importance at longer ranges, since it entirely con- trols the rotational velocity uf the bullet. This ro- tation or spin has much to do with bullet ex- pansion, and the fundamental theory of its effect should understood. For instance, a buUet from a 12-inch twist at 1500 f.s. muzzle velocity is rotat- ing once in every foot of travel, or 1500 revolutions per second (r.p.s.). This rotation does not slow down nearly as fast as the velocity, as it is de- pendent only on inertia, the “skin friction" of the bullet on the atmosphere, and similar deterring forces which can be figured only through a thor- ough understanding of higher mathematics plur a knowledge of the atmosphere encountered, tem- jxraiurr, barometric pressure, etc. Generally spe.ikiiig, these elements may be discarded and at must hunting ranges one can roughly figure on the muzzle rotational speed as the effective remaining r.p.s. Hence the bullet, while being rotated primarily to keep it traveling nose on, also owes much of its destructive effect to the "flywheel tendencies” of the spinning mass. When this comes in contact with any object, the spinning is unbalanced and it upsets through centrifugal energy released, causing collapse of the walls. On hollow-point bullets, the cavity spreads outward Uirough the trapping of air or animal juices in this pocket, forcing the nose of the bullet to expand outward. The spin, through its ceniriftigul effect, continues this "opening” proc- ess, and if the spin or rotational speed is great enough, a small portion of the bullet nose will be thrown off, thus completely unbalancing the for- ward-moving mass. The result is a shattering of the portion of the nose clear to the bottom of the cavity, and small pieces of bullet nose will be thrown off tangentially in a forward direction to complete the destructive effect of the wound. Thus one can determine by actual experiment just what rotational speed is necessary to "mushroom" a bullet, and what speed is necessary to "shatter” it. Shattering can be accomplished in any bullet if the rotational speed is great enough. This explains why many of the old-time rifles, shooting long heavy almost pure lead bullets with hollow points, mushroom like those beautiful speci- mens you find illustrated in old catalogs, while your ow'n experimental work with modern rifle bullets sho%vs few of these umbrdla-tyjx mush- rooms and more shattered hulleus. It also explains why bullets of meral-jackcied types — cither of soft Of hollow point — auinot be depended upon to mushroom at normal revolver velocities, while as rifle bullets they arc exceedingly effective. The old lead-bullet rifles had their barrels rifled at a twist rate of tiot less than one turn in 18 inches and in many cases as slow as one turn in 42 inches. At a muzzle velocity of i8oo the 1 8-inch twist spins the bullet at 1200 r.p.$. while a 36'inch twist spins it at just half that speed or 600 r.p.s. Considering revolvers, automatic pistols and other handguns, we And that Colt barrels are rilled in centerfire calibers one turn in 16 inches, while in Smith ^ We.s.son calibers the .32/20 has one turn in 12 inches, the .45 Model 1917 (.45 ACP caliber) one turn in 14.66 inches, all .38s one turn in 18^ inches, and all big bores such as .44/40 and .44 Special, one turn in 20 inches. In a .38 caliber, therefore, a bullet driven at tooo f.s. rotates at 750 r.p.s. in Colt barrels, and about 635 r.p.$. in S. & W. barrels. It isn't so much the velocity which causes them to fail to expand as it is the unusually low rotational speed and consequent lack of centrifugal energy. This centrifugal energy and ihc shaliering effect of any impact was clearly demonstrated to the writer a number of years ago while on an excur- sion into die woods where a portable lumber mill was functioning. A bright chap, who had an un- usual penchant for doing foolish things, tried his .38/55 at a 36-inch saw blade with several shots. The lead bullets "pinged” nicely and gave him quite a thrill, despite my admonitions. He exam- ined the blade and found that they hardly dented it at the 50-yard range. At a later date he tried it on another blade and shot through ir. Then one day came the big thrill. He tried a sliot at chat same blade while it was turning over at idling speed with some himber operators about fifty feet away. The excitement was over in a moment— and when the pieces had sropped flying, I found a 106 COMPLETE GUTOE TO HANDLOADING section of that saw some i8 inches long by an ir- regular 10 inches wide projecting through a io*inch spruce tree over 6o paced yards from the scene. No one was hurt, but it cost that foolhardy experi- menter considerably more than the price of a new modern sporting rifle just to repair the damage, plus a $50 fine in a small -to w'n court. The rota- tion of that saw under the impact of the bullet was temporarily disturbed so that the “flywhecr effect caused it literally to “blow up” through releose of the cencrifugal force built up. What should the shape of the cavity be? This is a problem in hollow-point construction worth more than passing consideration. In the writer’s experimental work with handgun hollow points he has found that the shape of the cavity has much to do with its performance in ^he field. Any shape of cavity can. be made to expand some of the time, but the satisfactory bullet performs properly under unfavorable conditions as well. The semi-conical cavity performs well under certain conditions where velocity and rotational speed are in reason- able proportion, but when velocity falls off, the low rotuiional speed lirnit of revolver bullets docs not permit u( the accumulation of sufficient cen- trifugal force to (Icpendahly upset it. One of the Experimental .38 Special bullets of the writer’s de- sign used this type of cavity, as exemplified in the Keith bullets designed by my good friend Elmer Keith of North Fork, Idaho. It worked at sliort ranges but was not fully reliable. Accordingly on the “Field Expedition” in which Major Wesson and the writer experimented with the early stages of the .357 Magnum, a different type of cavity was tried. This was a straight cavity .125 inch in diam- eter {Y$ inch) and .375 deep. At velocities around 1000 to noo f.s. this bullet mushroomed excellently. At 1200 f.s., T300 f.s., and on up to 1500 f.s., this bullet literally “blew up,“ creating very destructive wounds. On small animals such as big rabbits, chucks, etc., it actually tore them apart. One rab- bit shot ac about 50 yards, paced, was knocked three feet by the blow, and was torn to pieces, the bullet destroying one entire side, hip, hind leg, and abdominal cavity. Squirrels were destroyed almost beyond identity. Two shots were fired by the writer at fair-sized cats — two bay lynxes, a 26-pound female and a 31- pound male. One cat was loose, the other in a trap a few days later. The bullet in both cases struck in the chest, running longitudinally, the sec- ond kill being made out of a trap and at a distance of about 20 feet with an effort made to place the bullet so as to duplicate the direction and path of the first kill. In both cases the bullet made a small entrance hole, began immediate expansion within a penetration of an inch, and in five inches had shattered. Both cats died without a struggle or even a twitch of the tail. Death was as instan- taueous as any chat the writer has ever seen caused by bullet. There was just a clenching of the jaws for a fraction of a second, a muscular tremble, then relaxation. The answer was ncrt/c shoc^.. Autop- sies were performed 011 both animals. In one the left front shoulder joint was pulverized, pieces of the bullet were found in the abdominal cavity, and the sol id -base portion, together with a section of the shoulder ball joint, was found imbedded in the bone at the base of the spine. There was no exit hole in either case, and practically no external bleeding. The other cat was similarly damaged, although the shoulder joint w'as untouched Pieces of the breastbone and shattered bullet were found its the abdominal cavity and the lungs, while the base portion of the bullet was recovered in the right hip muscles. Deer, shot through the neck with this bullet, received terrible wounds with pulverized bones due to the shaiiering of the bullet nose; but in the two cases we studied, no bullet particles could be found, and the exit holes were better than two inches in diameter. A horse, killed because of disease, died quickly from a neck sliot which broke the spinal column, and here also the bullet made a two-inch exit. No autopsy was per- formed, since the writer was not anxious to ex- periment with the disease in question. ... All of which clearly pmves that revolver bullets can be made lu expand, despite reports of many writers to the contrary, bin the type of cavity has much to do with their performance. The idea of mushrooming bid Ids in the cast variety is by no means recent. The writer’s earliest experiments with handloading, including casting from a bullet mould built on the end of an Idejl combination loading tool for the .38 Long Colt, in- cluded experiments too numerous to mention. We tried the idea of two-metal bullets, in which a spe- cial mould was used to cast a pure lead nose por- tion with a wedge base. This was then inserted in I he cavity of a regular bullet mould designed for it, and au alloy of proper hardness poured into the cavity, thus creating a bullet of i-io or 1-15 bullet metal with a soft lead nose. We can’t recall that this experiment was particuUirly succe.ssful, al- though it worked after a fashion, and the bullets did expand better than all-alloy bullets cast in the same mould. Another idea which we “originated” in 1919 was found to have some merit, but after \ve had played with it awhile wc found that the great and origi- LEAD, GAS^HECK, HOLLOW-BASE, HOLLOW-POINT, AND PATCHED BULLETS 107 nal invention was pictured in detail in the Ideal Handbook 513 published in 1901. Wc split the nose of bullets, cither by using a fine jewelers’ hacksaw or by Inserting a fine sheet of thin boud paper between die halves of the mould at the nose portion, and then pouring In the lead. Of course this docs not permit the blocks to close tightly, with the result that a thin fin forms on the sides of the bullet; but this can be trimmed readily with a knife, and the resizing die docs the rest. Such a bullet is not perfectly balanced, but very few cast bullets arc, so one doesn’t lose much. This idea, wc thought, was original, but read what the 190 r Ideal Handbook has to say about it: “A very simple method of casting the split bul- lets is to place a thin strip of paper between the halves of the mould. If you desire to complctdy sever the point of the bullet, lee the paper project beyond the nose, otherwise locate the strip slightly to the rear, which will leave the nose unmutilated in flight. This works best, should the bullet open in flight, These bullets have been tested. Thdr accuracy is not impaired, and with a little experi- mentation the shooter may vary the length of the split to get the best results. I'o test the tearing qualities of this bullet, set up three or four (or as many as ynu like) one-inch pine hoards, about four inches apart, at a clisuiucc of 50 to 75 yards, and note the difference of fracture in each board. If the hole is clean-cut in all, they are no better than solid bullets. The first board, however, should show you a clean hole at entrance to indicate that the split bullet did not open before striking.” There are various forms of meial-jackeied “pro- tected” points on the market, many of which are constructed with a covered cavity to prevent en- trance of foreign material w'hich might prevent expansion. That idea, coo, is not new. This same |i3 Ideal Handbook described numerous bullets, including the earliest “Express” bullet of which the WT iter has record. This was designed by the late A. C. Guuld, editor of Shooting and Vishing, the pioneer magazine of gun bugs. Known as the “Gould’s .45/300 Express” this hollow-point bullet used a straight cavity in a .45-caliber 330-graiQ bullet. The cavity was filled with tallow. An- other method described in this same handbook was written up and discussed pro and con as a new idea by several writers in sporting magazines a quarter-century later. This consisted of a large- caliber cast bullet (most of the hunting bullets at the turn of the century were large calibers) with a cavity of proper size and depth to hold a .22 Short rimfirc fired cartridge case. The cavity permitted of flush scaling, and the soft copper case served as full protection for the cavity in flight or in han- dling. It is quite possible that this is where Sir Charles Ross, noted Canadian arms and ammuni- lion designer, first acquired his idea for the “Ross Copper Tube” bullet, widely copied in England and Germany to this day, and further exemplified in the .30/06 145-grain copper tube loaded and marketed, lo these many years since the war, by the United Stales Cartridge Company. This Gould bullet could also be used with a .22 short blank instead of a fired shell. In comment- ing on the latter, the Handbook says: “Hunters of elephants, tigers, etc., frequently insert a .22-calibcr blank cartridge in the cavity, making the missile explosive. There is always an element of danger about such ammuiution. It should never be run dirough die magazine of a repeating rifle. When dangerous animals are hunted it might impart a feeling of safety to the shooter to know that the cartridge in the chamber of his rifle ready for use was a miniature bomb-shell. The hole in this hollow ball should be of the proper depth and pro- portion to insure penetration and spread when striking and not fly to pieces, which is commonly the case.” One other extract appearing here is worth repro- duction, although not exactly relevant. “As above stated, the term ‘express’ does not strictly apply to a cartridge that lias a holluw-puinied bullet: to wit, the ‘.38/90/217 Winchester Express,’ 90 grains of powder to a 217-grain solid bullet. Mark the dif- ference for target shooting where 90 grains of powder would be about right for 500 or 550 grains of lead if shot from a properly rifled barrel.” This applies well to modern ammunition, since there has been a marked tendency among our makers in recent years to label many of the high-vclocity load* ings of a particular cartridge “express” loads. True, most of these have hollow-point bullets, whereas the regular velocity loads generally have soft points; but the term “Express” originally re- ferred not to tile hollow type of bullet construction, but to the stepped-up velocity with lighter than standard bullets. Patched Bullets. There is one other form of bullet not previously described as it is now rarely encountered — the paper -patched form. This was extremely popular in its day; the apex of the black powder era. Excellent results were obtained, and the owner of old rifles may desire to experiment with these even today. Bullets to be patched with paper are smey^rh, and were supplied by all major factories during their day, cither as components for handloaders or as loaded ammunition. They contained no lubricat- 108 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING ing grooves and were cast rrom three to six thou- sandchs o£ an inch smaller than the standard size. The diameter- was increased to the desired size hy having a thin paper patch rolled around thcm» covering about two-thirds of the bullet from the base up. Paper was of excellent rag content, simi- lar to high-grade bond but smooch like so-called “bank-note.’' Usually it was especially prepared for the purpose in four thicknesses, known to the trade as “extra-thin, thin, medium and thick.” The extra -chin ran about .0015; thin was about .ooa; medium about .0025 and thick ran .003 to Method oi making paper-patch buHeta. .0035. This enabled shf angle toward yoiA to the right. Patches are rolled on with ease if a short section of board is used, squarely cut on one edge, and the point LEAD, GASCHECK, HOLLOW-BASE, HOLLOW-POINT, AND PATCHED BULLETS 109 toward you is left hanging over the edge to permit of easy grasping. Place the bullet squarely on the patch, base to the left, letting as much of the patch project beyond the base as you desire. There should be a reasonable amount — from % to % inch appeals most to the writer, but this must be con- trolled by the size you planned when the patch was cut, Pick up the point toward you os per sketch, hold it wrapped around the bullet with one finger, and then push the bullet up over the patch, thus rolling it around the lead cylinder. If not rolled true, unwrap and try again. This is a job which has always been done by hand, even in Uic fac- tories. At the ammunition plants girls rolled these of a dummy shell with a hollow core and plunger. The patch was formed into a tube, inserted into the mouth of this dummy shell or sc ate r, and the bullet dropped into the tube and pressed home to proper depth. The core was then pressed forward to “crimp” the base of the paper tube on the bullet and the entire unit inserted into the chamber of the barrcL The dummy shell or seater, mounted on a handle, was then freed of the ballet by pres- sure on the core, thus forcing this bullet to scat in true alignment into the leadc of the riding, A blank cartridge, with the full charge of powder sometimes held in place by a card wad, was then inserted in the chamber and the arm fired. The BLXL£T BASES AND NOSES FLAT BASE (NrfteO DJ8HED (Frictictd HQILOW UU CONICAL HRAICWT STRAIOHr CAVITY CAVITY ^ MM SOUO MUKO NOSE on, and many girls were capable of patching 12,000 bullets each per working day. Cast paper-patch bullets have fiat bases, while the factory type has a cavity. A properly patched bullet has the paper covering extend over the base of the bullet a distance equal to about % the di- ameter of the bullet. This overhang is grasped in the fingers while moist and twisted tightly, the fac- tory girls then pressing thi.s slight paper “til** into the cavity of the bullet base. The flai-basc bullet without a cavity — which, of course, was the most commonly used by handloadcrs — had the patch project only one-ihird the diameter of the bullet. The edges of the paper tube were pressed over the base while still moist by the fingers, and the entire bullet then pressed base-first against some fiat sur- face. When either type dried, the paper shrunk tightly into position, thus preventing inaccuracy and loading problems due to loose patches. There was still another type of patch used by handloadcrs and known as the Chase patch. This was a single lap dc.signcd by some handloadcr and was never furnished ready-cut as were the standard two-lap patches. The Chase patch was cut with square edges, the joint butting up smoothly, and was designed for direct loading into the barrd with dry patches. It could not be loaded into the shell in “fixed” ammunition, and required a special tool made by Ideal and other firms of the day and known as the “Ideal Ball Seater.** This consisted loading process was slow as compared with present- day methods, but records equaling those of Pope- made barrels with the Pope system of muzzle load- ing have been made. Some shooters used a card wad over the powder charge, others pointed the barrel muzzle up while the shell was inserted in the chamber, and used no wad. Still others used a thin card wad over the powder charge covered with a thin cake of some type of bullet lubricam such as Japan wax or tallow. Just what can be done with a properly loaded paper-patch bullet? Nearly half a century ago— on July 18, 1891 — Francis J. Rabbeth, experimenter, shooter, and writer of that day under the pen name “J. Francis,*’ performed the officially recorded feat of fifteen consecutive shots into a 2-inch circle at 200 yards at the Walnut Hill Range, near Boston, Mass. You ultra-modern riflemen with your heavy barreled International Match Springficlds, think that over a bit. In this shooting Mr. Rabbeth used a .38/55 Ballard and the 330-graln Rabbeth paper-patched bullet. This type of bullet had a cylindrical body with a rounded and flat tip nose cast in a cylindrical adjustable mould, not swaged, He used 55 grains Hazard Fg black pow'dcr, no wads, bullets patched by the Chase method with a single thickness of .00225 paper. Bullets were seated into the rifling inch ahead of the shell by means of the Ideal Ball Seater. After each shot he cleaned the barrel with a wet bristle brush, pushing 110 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING it through with a rod having a snug-fitting wiping rag attached. This rag is pushed clear through the barrel from the breech and drawn back. No sec- ond wiping. No oil or other lubricant was used. The pcrlurmance record speaks for itself. Ideal can supply some of these old moulds for papec'patchcd bullets; therefore, die experimenter who desires to try out the old smoke stick with black powder, King's Sem US mokeless, or the two true bulk smokeless powders, Du Pont Scbueczen and Rifle Smokeless can experiment not only with lubricated cast bullets but also with the ac- curate patched-paper variety. A couple of years ago the writer fell heir to a batch of Swiss military papcr-patchcd bullets av- eraging about 212 grains weight. This bullet hap* pened lo be the old jx mm. Swiss military bullet in use many years Wore they adopted the boat- tail bullet — “streamline,” they call it. TIksc bul- lets had an overall length of 1.125 inches ai^J a cupro-nickcl plated steel jacket over the bullet tip, giving the appearance of a round-nose full-metal- jacketed paper patch. The bullet, however, had the metal nose .450 inch long and a cylindrical grooveless body about .70 inch long. A slight, round bottom cavity contained the twist of the two-layer paper patch pressed into it. This patch of a yellowish lincn-contcnt paper .002 inch thick covered all traces of the lead body. I'hc paper was originally lubricated with vaseline, but at the time I acquired chose bullets they must have been at least 25 years old, and accordingly lacked lubrica- tion. I tried these with Du Pone Rifle Smokeless m a Krag barrel measuring .310 after checking the bul- lets to find that they measured .^25 with the paper patch and .317 without. The original Swiss load called for a velocity of 1920 f.s. from a 23.33 barrel, and my testing was in a very accurate 24- inch Krag sportcr barrel. The best group 1 could gee at 50 yards, prone with rest, was about 2^1 inches, and patchy grouping at that. Accordingly, 1 “tore down” some of these bullets and found them to be of very poor construction, irregular shape bases, etc. The paper patches were slid from the bullet body without damage, and a few bullets selected for perfection of base, and die same load tried again. This must have closely approximated the standard velocity. Result with two ten-shot groups at 50 yards, prone, forearm and elbow rest, iiud vertical. Pleased with the re- sults, I fired the remaining ten perfect bullets at 100 yards in two five-shot strings, got one vertical and i! 4 xi| 4 - The paper-patch bullets were a success. The history of this Swiss bullet is decidedly in- teresting because it can be verified, whereas the history of the target paper-patch types used in America is shrouded in the customary lack of actual evidenced Major Rubin, co -designer of the present Schmidt-Kubin rifle, was seeking a smaller caliber to replace the .41 Swiss rimfirc and later the cenual fire cartridge identical in shape, and used in the Vetterli match rifles. In the mid- eighties he began oflicial experiments, but wai '^beaten to the draw” by France with its 8-mm. Lebcl Balle D. Major Rubin, however, explored the possibilities of the rimless cartridge case and eventually developed the present 7.5-mm. Swiss having a diameter of .295. Most barrels, however, ran about .308 to .309. A compressed bulk semi- gclatinizcd smokeless powder was used, and the paper-patched bullet developed with the steel nose ro insure penetration of the practically pure lead- bullet body. For many years this bullet was the standard— until its official replacement by the pres- ent steel-jacketed 174-grain l^ar-tailcd bullet, simi- lar in appearance to our own Mark I Service bullet, adopted in 1909 for the Schmidt-Rubin long model with a 30.8-inch barrel. The latter bullet was given a muzzle velocity of 2720 f.s., equal co about 2550 in a barrel of the Springfield length. It will be seen, therefore, that paper-patch bullets are capable of being shot, not only in rifles of the Ballard class, but also in modern small bores. The bullets should be carefully seated in the mouth of an unresized cartridge case. Any effort to resize will result only in destruction of the paper patch. They can be used with smokeless powder, even of the "dense” type, and with suitable experiraenta- cion, excellent loads can be developed. Here is a field for the experimental rifleman who likes lo "tinker around." Any bullet can be used if o£ proper size, but it should be soft — not over i to 30 lead and tin. As in other fields of hand loading, there is a lot of fun in playing with “paper patches.” Still another form of patched bullet not generally known in this day and age is the "wire patch.” This bullet was patented April ii, 1899, and for some years was manufactured by the National Projectile Works of Ontario, California, a firm which was succeeded by the National Cartridge Company of Napa, California, This wire-patched bullet was quite an oddity. Why ii did not have a longer life I do not know, for it has many in- teresting features. The bullet, of course, was spe- cial in design and was intended to repbee metal- case bullets. Literature in my files published about 1907 by the National Cartridge Company severely LEAD, GAS^HECK, HOLLOW-BASE, HOLLOW-POINT, AND PATCHED BULLETS 111 critidzes the metal-jacketed bullet and its great wear on the then soft steel barrels. The wire patch bullet was cast undersize with a number of sp^ial threads around the cylindrical body extending up nearly to the point. Around the bearing surface in these grooves was wrapped special waxed double cotton-covered copper or bell wire. The wrapping was extremely eight and in every case was machine w'ound, the ends being fastened by means of crimp- ing into a special groove of the bullet. The ba^ of the projectile was covered with a gas check of copper. According to a long list of testimonials it seems that this lubricated bullet perfe^med per- fectly, permitted norma! or even slightly higher speeds than factory standards with jacf{fted bullets, did not strip, and upon recovery the majority of bullets appeared to mushroom as perfectly as only a soft-lead type can. At the same lime tl>ey still retained the insulated wire. Claims of the manufacturers indicate chat this wire-pal ch bullet did nor injure the gun; cleaned and lubricated the barrel with every shot; com- pletely filled the grooves of the rifling, preventing gas cutting; greatly reduced the friction and thereby increased the velocity with the reduction in pressure; and could be used in any .style of gun, slow or rapid twist, with black or smokeless pow- der. The manufacturers, of course, claimed that they were highly accurate. These bullets were made in .30/30 caliber, 160 or 170 grains; .30/40 Krag, 220; .30/06/150 and 180; .303 Savage, 1805 .303 British, 215; .32/40/165; .32 Win. Special, 165; .32 Ideal, 150; .32/20/115; .33 Win., 200; -38/55/255; .38/4 <>/j8o; .38 Long Colt, 150; .35 Win., 250; .38/5^ -SS/To* *38/90 all 255 grains; .38/72/275; .40/65/260; 40/70/330; 4S/82/260; 405 Win., 300; 44 Smith & Wesson Special, 246; 45/70 Government 405 and 45/70 300 grains. Thus it can be seen dial lliey covered the majority of the then popular calibers. These bullets sold for approximately the same as mecalr .32 Automatic Pistol bullets in a .'^txalibcr rifle, aUu the 7i>3-mm. Mauser Automatic Pistol, the 7.65*mm. Luga Automatic Pistol, the .33/20, various weights of Soft Points, Hollow Points and Full Jackets, as well as many others, all in addition to those de- signed particularly for the cartridge as loaded by various factories. The combinations, one might say, are practically unlimited. Any handloader who has been at this game (or a luiml^r of years will enjoy looking back. At the dose of the World War bandleaders could pur- chase for the .30/06 Springfield cartridge, a 150- grain cu pro- nickel- jacket eel bullet, a iflo-grain and a 320 -grain, costing about three cents e;ich. Then came the dumping of war surplus. Tlie old 150- grain cupronickel bullet was spread out over the United States in millions, and target shooters could pick them up for as low as $3 or $4 per thousand. The handloader was still limited. He shot factory ammunition or he shot the two .30/06 bullets, rarely giving any consideration to the third mem- ber of the tribe— the 220-grain. In this day and age the handloader continues the inquisitive experimentation started by handloadcrs of a couple nf decades ago. However, he has knowledge at his disposal which was at that time unavaibble. He can buy bullets from every arms and ammunition manufacturer in calibers not pre- viously sold to the hand loading public. He can buy bullets for one caliber to be shot in another. He merely has to know the size, shape and diam- eter of the bullet in question and then figure out how well it will fit his barrel. Types and Makers. Metal-jacketed bullets are made in this country by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company of New Haven, Connecticut, Western Cartridge Company of East Alton, II- liaois, Peters Cartridge Company of Kings Mills, Ohio, Remington Anns Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and the United States Cartridge Com- pany of New Haven, Connecticut. In addition, ex- cellent bullets in certain calibers are made for bandleaders by R. B. Sisk, Iowa Park, Texas, and by the Western Tool and Copper Works of Oak- land, California. These firms offer the reloader a choice of pointed metal-jacketed bullets, of full- jacket type, various shapes of round noses, also in full-jacketed types and pointed or Spitzer soft- point and protcctcd-point varieties. In addition, they also make soft points with a tiny exposed soft nose and with long exposed lead noses. You can obtain hollow points which have but a trace of a cavity in a pointed nose, or medium cavities or large cavities. You have semi-poimcil, roimd-nosc hollow points, and you have long exposed soft points having a cavity. You can obtain bullets with a long barrel bearing or with a short bearing, and you can thus load any caliber through a prac- tically unlimited range of velocities to meet anj particular demands you may desire, A jacketed bullet is actually an ordinary lead- alloy bullet with a covering of a much harder metal, designed, of course, to ixrmit of velocities far in excess of those possible with ordinary lead bullets. Cop(>er or gilding metal jackets are by far the most common ones today, and it is quite pos- sible that within the next few years no more cupro- nickel jackets will be manufactured. There arc available to hand loaders numerous types of jackets. Imported bullets are on the market in this countr>', although, of course in lim- ited quantities. The experimenting handloader very frequently spends a lot more money than it may be w'orth merely to purchase freak bullets. Some of our importers send to England, France, Belgium and Germany to get certain bullets for insistent handloaders. Delivered to his home in Squeedunk, U.S. A., said bullets invariably cost five cents each, sometimes more, and may or may not be equal to American bullets costing one-fifth of that amount ► That point U not worth arguing. If the handloader wants to experiment, he should be permitted to do so, and if he knows that he is going to spend money in his experimental work, let him enjoy it. The writer, coo, has imported bullets from England and Germany and has con- ducted numerous experiments. On his shelves as this is being written arc at least three different Ger- man bullets capable of being loaded into .30/06 m METAL-CASE BULLETS-TARGET AND HUNTING 113 cartridges aod some nine or icii suitable for the 7-mm. There are numerous others from England. In fact, we have imported from Nobel for experi- mental work during the past fifteen years no less than two dozen diSerent diameters, weights and shapes of bullets. A jacketed bullet is known under numerous names. Foreign countries refer to it as a metal envelope,” “steel envelope” or “hard envelope.” In I'.ngland they speak oE “metal-covered.** In Amer- ica didereni ammuniiion makers refer to these bul- lets as metal-patched, rnelal-cascd, and mctal-jack- eted types. Suit yourself. Every newspaper or fiction-story magazine you happen to pick up de- scribing a shooting refers to “stccl-jackci” bdlets. Of course, the reporters or writers may be correct in their designation. The author has had many visitors in his laboratory who have picked up a mctal-jackcicd bullet of resplendent r^-gold cobr which the most ardent dub should label “copper,” and yet they exclaim: “Ah, a stcel-jackctcd bullet 1 ” Why, when, where or how, we do not know. It is easy, of course, to understand why a true steel-jjcketed bullet sliuuld be confused with a cupro-nickehjacketed bullet or a tin-plated bullet, since the colors are slightly similar; but the true rifleman who uses copper- or gilding-metal^ack- eted bullets would feel as hurt to hear someone call them “steel” and be as indignant as he would if someone looked at a nice fancy walnut stock and said, “Ah, what a beautiful piece of pine!” They looi^ different. Steel-jacketed bullets are not commercially man- ufactured in these United States today. Some writers have gone so far as to claim that they have never been mauufaciurcd commcrcblly. Maybe yes, maybe no. The simplest way to test the ma- terial of a bullet jacket which will answer the question promptly with a “yes” or “no” if you arc suspicious of steel, is to utilize a magnet. If the bullet slicks, that’s that. If it doesn’t, it may be some new kind of steel which we have never heard of. Anyway, it isn’t what we have been led all these years to believe is steel. Some twenty years ago we had a .2bo Ross rifle which in those days wc shot with the greatest of confidence. With it we had some ammunition manufactured by the United States Cartridge Company, at the time lo- cated at Lowell, Maiss. This commercial ammuni- tion actually had naked steel-jacketed hollow cop- per-tube bullets. A sample of this cartridge still remains in the author's collection. However, in handling thousands of cartridges and in examioiog others belonging to various collectors, wc have also seen other commercial steel-jacketed bullets manufactured by American firms. An interesting side light is revealed in a couple of samples in the author’s collection in three boxc.s of .30/40/220 Krag cartridges manufactured in ]uly and Sep- tember of iqox, rwo of them sealed at the lime this manuscript was prepared. They are labeled and printed “Steel Jacketed." These were com- mercially made by Winchester. The broken box failed to yield any bullet which indicated that the jackets were steel on being given the magnet test. Although essentially the same, the labels were printed in different type, indicating a diiferent time of loading. The sealed boxes were opened and examined. All looked identical and yei ihe magnet revealed that out of one bo^ of twenty, sixteen had cupro- nickel jackets and four had steel jackets, coated with cupro-nickel. The other box held thirteen cupro-nickel-jacketed bullets and seven with cupro- nickel-plated steel jackets; and one of these boxes on break-down tests indicated that they were loaded with conventional Laflin and Rand “WA” powder, while the other box was loaded with Du Pont .30- caliber Annular smokeless. The primers were entirely different, although they generally appeared ihc same. One box was primed with ordinary brass primers, while the other used an experimental double-cup primer dis- covered only through laboratory dissection. This doubleel steal of the Western UVpcs oi foreign mctaUcaM bulkti. The original We»(ler*Richflrut 87% copper and 13% nickel. Pure cop|>cr is rarely used for hiillet jackets, since it is much too soft to stand up under the torsional strains created by the twist of the rifling. The makers use, instead, a mixture known as ‘‘gilding metal,” often spelled “guild ing," or “guilder’s metal.” This is an alloy varying from 95% pure copper and 5/^ zinc down 10 90% copper and 10% zinc. The latter formula is that used today on Government gilding-metal jackets as manufactured by Prankford Arsenal and by most ammunition m.inufacrurers. A third variation is the patented com posit ion manufactured by the Wc.srcrn Car- tridge Company and known as “Luhaloy ” mean- ing “lubricating alloy.” Lubaloy is gilding metal plus the addition of a small amount of tin, which gives lubricating or anci-triction qualities to the metal. Practically speaking, any one of these alloys of steel having a plate of copper, gilding metal, pure nickel or cupro-nickel is bc»und to foul slightly. Pure nickel fouling is not so bach but it is inclined to be lumpy. Copper fouling is usually dc|X>sited in the barrel in the form of a thin smear, which in turn barely discolors the barrel. Ihc unfor- tunate pari of this is that the copper fouling very often in itself is corrosive, since it sfarrs an electro- lytic action between the copiwr and the surl uf the barrel. The net result is that, unless the barrel is proj>crly cleaned, you get corrosion more or less the same as though you originally used the old- style corrosive primer, although the action is by no means so rapid. A jacketed bullet starts life as a piece of sheet metal, usually of cither cupro-iikkel or gilding metal. The formula most widely used at present is gilding metal containing about 93% copj>cr and 7% zinc, although Lubaloy — a patented jacket material— con tain. s, roughly, 90% copper, 5% tin and 5% zinc (the exact formula is held .secret by the owners of the patent— the Western Cartridge Company). Regardless of the material used for jackets, the process for handling is the same. As in the cariiidgc case, these sheets of metal arc run through large pre.s.se.s which punch out discs of the material, slighdy cupj)ing them. They are then run through a scries of dies to draw* them to the completed stage and shape. Some firms an- iieal their jacket material, others do not. In .30 caliber bullets such as the .30/06 180-grain, an average of five draws are made in forming tlie METAL-CASE BULLETS— TARGET AND HUNTING 115 jacket. With the round-nose 220-grain types, four draws are usually suilicient. After the jacket is drawn tu its proper length and the surplus metal crimmcd, it is ready 10 re- ceive the core. The latter is either of pure lead or an alloy of lead and antimony: lead and tin; or lead, tin and antimony, depending entirely upon the manufacturer’s ideas and preferences. This core material is usually cast into pigs or bars and then “cold-drawn” by placing it in a tremendously powerful press and extruding it through dies in the form of wire of proper diameter. The wire, in turn, is run through automatic cutlers which trim it to a suitable length, and the cores or slugs arc then ready for insertion in the jacket. In some cases they are roughly bumped into suitable form for this before insertion, in others they are merely dropped into the jacket “as is” and swaged to fill perfectly the hard outer envelope, whereupon the edge of the jacket* which in full metal-jacketed bullets is actually the base, is curled under by still another machine which gives the final shape to the bullet. This curling under effectively l^ks the core in position, boft-point bullets are made in much the same manner except that the jacket drawing is flar-cnded instead of pointed or round. 7 ‘he core, of course, is in scried from ihe from of the bullet instead of from the rear. Types of Expanding Bullets. The hand loader who desires to play with expanding bullets for hunting use has a multitude of different types at his disposal. He has the hollow copper tube, as available in the United States Cartridge Company 145-grain .30/06 bullet bearing that title, the bronze point of Remington manufacture which has a pointed wedge-shaped nose in the forward part of the jacket so that no lead of the core is exposed, and he has the Winchester form of protected point in which a pronged tinned copper covering is folded over the pcd to give rise to the popular notion that bullets have “steel jackets.” A year ago a prominent writer and Army officer, who should have known better, in- sisted that “there is no such thing as a tin-plated bullet, as tin plating has never been used in this country.” It’s these easily proved missiatemcnts which kill much of the shooters faith in our so- called “authorities.” Throughout this book the author has endeavored to omit as many as possible of his own personal ideas and to deal with facts— facts which in ni.iny cases arc newly presented but vvluch can be re.idily verified. Remington, Win* Chester, Peters, Western — tliey nil used these so- called “tin-plated" bullets, and millions upon mil- lions of them have been manufactured in the United States since the turn of the century. Today, however, they arc becoming a rarity. The tin plating was actually a very thin wash chemically deposited. Why it was put on, no fac- tory official has ever been able to explain to the writer. They just did it. Somebody started it and everyone continued on with it throughout the years. It is quite possible, however, that the origi- nal idea was to make ammunition salable over a long period of years. In many smail communities a dealer stocks up on ainm uni lion and retains it on his shelves for several years. A shiny copper- plated bullet is far more attractive than a tin-plated bullet when it is new and shiny, but under certain conditions of storage it will tarnish and look “old." Bearing this in mind, it is quite (wssible that am- munition makers tin-washed or tin-plated their bullets in an effort to keep them looking well over a longer period of time than would otherwise have been possible. Frankford Arsenal also experimented with tin- plated bullets a number of years ago. At the big Government Arsenal was born the famous FA “tin-can” bullet, samples of which arc still in my collection. In 1920 the boys at FA manufactured a cu pro-nickel bullet in 170-grain weight which was somewhat undersize and, as I recall it, built it up METAL-CASE BULLETS— TARGET AND HUNTING 117 ro normal size with a heavy tin plating. The plat- ing was done with an electro -chemical process, and the bullets were attractive to behold. They shot well and did much to eliminate metal fouling, but then came the proverbial colored gentleman in the kindling. Cartridges loaded with these *‘liuini on expanding types of lAllets. The proc- ess is a long slow one and requires as a testing laboratory the Grand American I’ublic. Factories watch closely reports of bullets in certain calibers which either fail to expand properly on game or always expand too quickly, and they often heed warnings thus given. A quarter of a ccmiiry ago the handloadcr was limited in his choice of soft points; today he has METAL-CASE BULLETS— TARGET AND HUNTING 119 various lypcs. Western produces certain bullets with just a tiny tip or core exposed at the nose. This they call their “short exposed soft point.” Other makers use a very long exposed point, some use long exposed soft points with a hollow cavity- borne so-called “round-nose” biilleis arc actually semi-Spit7,er. Other soft pciius arc made in full Spitzer contour. We then have the hollow copper lubes previously described, and many riflemen have used with considerable success the Dominion Car- tridge Company (Canada) patented “Pneumatic” bullet. This “Pneumatic” bullet is somewhat peculiar in design. It appears to be a full jacket, but the nose has a very slight depression in its tip. Beneath this depression, within the core of the bullet itself, is a hollow cavity filled with air. The impact of the bullet creates a sort of pneumatic cfTeci mash- ing the nose our ro a considerable extent and dou- bling or tripling the caliber of the bullet. The writer has experimented with these quite extensively, and despite the claims of the makers, he has found them far from being reliable. Shooting at various types of penetrable materials, he has found that some will expand while some will cause the core to flow forward within the jacket, closing up the cavity and acting more or less as a full-jackctcd bullet. They are quite inclined to ricochet, and in shooting into penetrable material a great many were wasted because the bullet changed its course and came out at the side instead of continuing in a forward direction. A large liear was shot with one of these and killed instantly. Examination of the carcass, however, revealed that the bullet en- tered, expanded to a certain extent, creating a dan- gerous wound, struck a far rib, ricocheted of? at right angles, and came out through the top of the animal, breaking its hack. German Bullets. In Germany, the Berlin-Karls- ruher Industrie-Werkc A.C., turning out the fa- mous DWM brand of ammunition, has developed a gilding-mctal'jackctcd bullet somewhat peculiar in design, which they call “Slarkinantelgeschoscc” or “Strong Jacket.” In this the jacket is cxacd- ingly thick at the base and thin at the nose. Defi- nite exfwiments with two DWM bullets, both of the same weight, in the 7 mm. were made by the author at Du Pont’s Burnside Laboratory during a full week of tests made there in 1934. These “Strong Jacket” bullets, using American powder, showed higher pressures and lower velocities than the ordinary German and American bullets of the same weight, The idea hack of this development is to secure a hutlei which will expand at the nose but will not shatt^ because of added strength of jacket material, thus retaining a sufficiently large slug to insure great depth of penetration plus an exit hole. In Germany, shooting is very dcfinircly a sport with rules and regulations to be followed. The hunter must abide by these rules, and the prevailing custom is to track the animals. A good blood trail is therefore considered vital, and the hunters demand a bullet which will not only ex- pand and create a serious wound but will also exit from the carcass and create a wound sufficiently large to produce the necessary blood trail should a wounded animal escape after being hit. The Rhcimsch-V/ cit\re is dropped in and swaged into position. At the top of (his short core (he jackci quite prrjbably is then heavily cannelured to start a fold, which, when completed, will give a sort of “H” cross-section. Special plugs arc then inserted into the front of the jacket, which also support the outside, and the they do not at the presen i lime contemplate manu- facturing this “H-Jackec” bullet. The author, for one, would like to see it, as he thinks it has excel- lent possibilities in our various big hunting calibers. Cavity or hollow points have been manufactured in a number of different styles. The Western Cartridge Company turns out its bullets with a seriw of knurlings behind the point, parallel whth Making metal •jackfr«l hullm is by no means ping box do not cost over 25 cents at the most. Why, therefore, the $1.35 charge? Why a packing charge of $1.35 for a ^rre/ which docs not cost more than 10 cents for packing materials? Also why the price list memo “for each additional rifle, barrel, stock or barrel and receiver assembly in the same order, $1.00 addirinnar*? Another interesting quotation from the Ord- nance price I'si in effect at this writing is this: “A .standard packing and handling charge of 10 per cent of the list price will be made . . . with a minimum charge of 25' cents for any one order.” Where is the great favor to shooters? Suppose you want a pair of trigger-guard screws for your Springfield. It costs 8 cents fpr the screws plus 25 cents for packing, plus 8 cents postage, plus 7 cents money-order fee, plus 5 cents “rax,” plus 3 cents more postage to Springfield Armory, a total cost of 56 cents. If you want a pair of guard screws for your Winchester 54, send Winchester 20 cents in stamps, and put a 3me years afio but did Qot prove successful, as it is extremely slow in operation, and Hornet bullets can be purchased much more cheaply than they cuu be manufaciurcd. The cores arc cast in ihe special mmild as illustrated, and arc inserted in the 6 red cariridfe eases after ihe rim has been removed by forcing through a die. The bullels shoot well bui are by no means perfect, as the various wrinkles cannot be removed even with extreme pressure cept for the fact that no ono— not even the Ord- nance Department— would patronize such a firm. In commercial practice, the most expensive part of business is sales expense. For every retail dollar, the retail dealer, jobber, and distributor claim about fifty cents. The manufacturer must double his hare manufacturing expense to cover the nor* mill business expense of saic.s, advertising, business managemem, exjwrimeiilal work, and the rest of (lie necessary plant overhead, none of which can be eliminated. And on top of this he must make a small profit. Yet the manufacturer of a firearm or the ammunition therefor makes a much smaller profit than any individual or firm handling i$! There may be a price schedule on ammunition components which is a trifle unbalanced in dif- ferent calibers, but at least the eommcrcia! manu- facturer is honest in that he doesn’t camouflage his prices with ridiculous “packing charges” such as have been racket ccrctl by the United Sutes Ord- nance Department. Altered Bullets. A great many handloadcrs ex- periment with operating on metal -jacketed bullets to make them expand and thus acquire cheap hunting loads. This experiment is one which sooner or later the handloading bug is sure to play with, and just as surely will he susjiend the experi- ment as not worth the time and effort. One method of altering bullets is to file or grind the nose off a full-mctal-jacket Spiizcr bullet until the core is exposed, whereupon some experimenters like to continue the work by running a drill into this exposed lead for a short distance. Some, of these bullets, of course, will be unreliable. More than fifteen years ago— after the close of the World War — I had a friend down in Del Rio, Texas, who used quite successfully ordinary war- issue ammunition which he doctored without un- loading. He used an ordinary jeweler’s hacksaw with very fine blades. Three slash marks wxre sawn diagonally around and at the extreme point of (he bullet, said slash marks extending back ap- proxiinaiely .5 inch on the ogive, They w'crc slashed, of course, in the direct ion of the rotation of the bullet, and upon im^xict die nose was twisted off and the bullet expanded. I shot quite a few of these, but found that the process was rather tough on the delicate saw blades, and after break- ing two or three dozen of them I decided it was not worth the time and effort— so did the chap who told us of the idea. In Europe the so-called “split” jacket is widely used, although no American maker manufactures (his. 'i'hc spin jacket is essentially a full metal- patch or soft-point bullet, the jacket of which has been split with fine saws into little slits approxi- mately !4 inch long .and running longitudinally on the jacket. The mouth of die jacket remains closed, but the initial upset of the bullet splits it along these four to six saw slits, thus creating a tremendously effective bullet which is often mis- named the “dumdum.” This famous dumdum bullet is perhaps cine of the most misunderstood and yet most glibly talked of developments in the entire shooting field. Very few shooters know what the dumdum really is. The dumdum was a full -jacketed round -nose 215-graiii bullet which had the nose filed off to cx|X)sc the (xiint. Early British books indicate that the original dumdum was a .303 bullet developed by the British Government for military purposes and first manufactured at the famous Dumdum Arsenal in Bengal, British India, some five miles northeast of Calcutta. This arsenal is essentially a Government factory where much of the ammuni- tion for various Colonial possessions of Great Britain is manufactured. .Another expanding mili- tary bullet was officially known as the “.303 British Mark IV.” It was a 215-grain round-nose soft- METAL-CASE BULLETS— TARGET AND HUNTING 123 point bullet which in addition carried ihc so-called “split jacket.’* ITiis development appeared some lime diirin)^ the but with the dumdum was outlawed by the International Peace Conference of 1899. The use of these bullets by the British Government was restricted to native uprisings where fanatical British subjects took a great deal of killing. The Mark IV bullets, often misnamed “dumdums,” did the job well. The entire bullet practically disintegrated, the soft point plus the split jacket creating wounds that stoppetl natives quickly and effectively. Since that lime the so-c;illed “expanding” bullers, according to our |x>liticians, have not been used (or military purposes; but both sides during the World War complained that expanding bullets were being used in violation of international agree- ments. Without a shadow of doubt this was true, despite the denials from our high officials. The author h;ts seen numerous specimens of expanding bullets camouflaged under various names such as ’ incendiary,'* “armor-piercing,” and that type of tiling. In his possession is a clip of 8-mm. Aus- trian Mannlichcrs, with head markings indicating 1917 manufacture, which were picked up on a battlefield beside a dead Austrian soldier. These cartridges were loaded with a soft-point split- jacket assembly which w'ould be equally destruc- tive on mull or beast. International agreements ore made to be broken. Despite the (act that we have international laws prohibiting this and that, these laws arc broken in each and every war. It was the custom of one nation in the World War to search all prisoners, and if any were found pos- sessing expanding bullets they were immediately executed. Soldiers, however, merely shoot ammu- nition which is issued to them. . . . Definite tests have been made with various shapes (»f bullets, and it has been found from actual analysis of wartime casualties (hat the Spitzer is by no means the humane bullet which our politi- cians like to claim. In my capacity as a firearms editor I constantly receive reports from chaps who do their big game hunting, particularly on deer, with ordinary “as issued” fulUmctal-jacket mili- tary cartridges. The reports of the wounds are often quite interesting. Sometimes the bullet pene- trates cleanly, making a very minor wound in ac- cordance with the claims of those gentlemen who make our “humane” war laws. At other times it will dive, change direction, tumble and otherwise create general havoc within a body. Any Army surgeon who served in the field during the World War will testify to the truth of the above state- ment. Rarely is the path of the Spitzer bullet as straight as that of the old-fashioned round nose. The United Stares Government has also experi- mented with bullets in various ways— for instance, on animals both alive and dead, and on cadavers. There arc still floating around in tlicsc United States tremendous quan titles of wartime-loaded .303 British rifle cartridges bearing the designation “Mark VII.” This cartridge is loaded with a 174- grain Spitzer bullet, and it will surprise 0 great many readers to know that the construction of this bullet strays far from the accepted method of Icad-core-mcial- jacketed types. In truth, it is a particular type of hunting bullet designed by the late Leslie B. Taylor of the firm of Wcstlcy Rich- ards of Birmingham and known in himriiig car- tridges as the “Vclopcx” bullcr. Of all military bullets in use today, this Velopex is by far the most wicked and should be outlawed. It is almost as cfTective on game as an expanding type of bullet aUliough it does not e.xpand. It is thoroughly unbalanced and upon impact tumbles and very frequently breaks up. This is due to its design, in which a two-piece core is used. The original Vclopcx bullet consisted of a full metal jacket, in the tip }x>nion of whose core some light substance was inserted. Various materials were used in the early Wcstlcy Richards bullets, among them being softwood, hardwood, fiber, etc. It was found that such a bullet was extremely ef- fective for use on African game in which more than normal penetration was necessary. Ac the same time the bullet broke up to a certain extent, the shattered fragments creating serious interior wounds and the remaining lead core and jacket just holding together sufficiently to insure extreme penetration. In eases where the bullet did not break up, the tipping or tumbling effect due 10 lack of balance made it smash its w'ay through the game sideways. This was often noticed in enemy sol- diers shot with the British Service cartridge during die World War. The British Small Arms Manual— 1929 edition — says in discussing the present Service bullet: “Comparing, for example, the Great War with the South African campaign, it is quite clear that the wounding power of the pointed bullet is greater than that of the round-nose Mark II bullet. The through-and -through wound was rare, w'hile ex- plosive exits were common, and at greater ranges, The effects on bone also were mure severe, the shattering being foretold by Fesslcr in 1905 as the result of his experiments with the pointed bul- let.” 124 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING The British manual goes on to discuss these bul- lets for use against human beings, particularly in regard to stepping down from the old ^5cr bullet, was reported on by Maepherson in the Russo-Japanese War as being very unstable on impact, so that mere diminution of caliber without loss of length seems to make for unsteadi- ness in 3 bullet. But according to some authorities the pointed bullet presents the same unsteady char- acter because by its structure the center of gravity is thrown so far back. Unless the point is ac- curately in the line of the trajectory it immedi- ately on impact becomes under the influence of a couple tending to make if turn upon its short axis. A further lighicning of the lip by the subsii union of a lighter metal such as aluminum fur part of the lead core would enhance this turning effect. . . . Observation of wounds of exit confirms the fact that the pointed bullet does turn in the tissues. Moreover, the increased wounding power of this bullet on soft parts as compared with the neat cy- lindrical track of the Mark II bullet seems to show that some enhancing factor is present. . . .“ 'l*hus do the British brag of their unbalanced bullet as more humane. As a matter of fact, war is never humane, and while this book has nothing to do with the military aspect of rifle cartridges, it does deal with the huiiier. Sume riflemen seem to feci that they should shoot their game with the least possible damage to tissue. Others are willing to waste a few pounds of meat in an effort to make clean kills. The American sportsman has dif- ferent ideas of just what sportsmanship is. If he goes varmint hunting, he feels bad if he blows the innards out of a woodchuck and the animal man- ages to crawl back into its hole, even though it will die there within a minute. I hc American in- sists on a quick, clean, instantaneous kill. All this in spite of the fact that he doesn’t even intend to salvage any part of said woodchuck. The only time shocking power iiilerests a Brit- isher is when lie is out lion, tiger, or elephant hunt- ing in die jungles of British East Africa. Here he insists upon a quick, clean kill for the simple reason that he shoots this dangerous game at short rangcs-K)fien as close as 20 or 25 feet — and a wounded lion or tiger, to say nothing of a charging METAL-CASE BULLETS— TARGET AND HUNTING 125 elephant, is an extremely bad neighbor. The British sportsman therclore demands au assortment of rifle bullets to meet his particular needs, and if he goes hunting in Africa he doesn’t mind using a big-bore heavy-weight blunderbus shooting a half-pound or so of metal-jacketed bullet which not only kills the game quickly but which knocks him down and jumps on him. That is part of the sport of shooting, and as an African hunter once cold the author on his return from a sojourn in the jungles: “You have other things on your mind besides worrying about recoil when a quarter-tun of charging lion is only fifteen feet away!" In Germany many interesting hunting bullets have been developed, varying somewhat from the products of our American manufacturers. One of these developments, now obsolete, is the R^ifring. This is one of the early bullets designed to meet higher than normal velocities from some of the rifles designed for smokeless powders to replace the old black-powder cartridges. It had what one might term an “extra-long exposed soft point." A sample in the author's hands is of 8.i mm. caliber (about .32) und jo mm. lung (approximately 1% inches). It has an uncoated mild steel jacket about 16 mm. long and shows a bearing on the barrel of 12 mm. The forward portion U necked down slightly and very heavily crimped into the lead core, which continues to form a very long exposed soft point. A quarter-inch from the nose, however, is a sixteenth-inch band of copper, the ring being swaged into the soft point in the form of a belt to control the expansion and prevent its too easy upset. (This bullet was in use twenty years agr>— brforc Peters “invented” the behed bullet to con- trol expansion.) Another bullet in cp.3-mm. caliber is known as the Rationell. This has a very short copper jacket or ring about ^ inch long and crimped into the core. As in the Rafring, the base of this jacket is open, and it actually amounts to nothing more than a sleeve of hard metal, thus permitting of higher velocities than would be possible with ordi- nary pure lead. ’ This, too, is now obsolete. A third interesting type is the 8.07-mm. Stahl- kern, which was also made in many other calibers. "Stahl kern” is the German word for “steel kernel” or “steel core.” This has a mild steel jacket and is of soft-point construction. In its interior, how- ever, is a very hard “armor-piercing" steel core approximately of an inch long and in diameter. This steel core is bottle-necked at the forward end and flat on the nose, the bottle neck merely serving to permit the lead core to pack around it and hold it firmly in position. The bullet, until it is cruss-secdonecl, appears to be a normal soft-nose and is designed to give not only expansion and shattering but tremendous penetra- tion, since the hard steel core will tumble along much the same lines as the ai*mor piercer. With modern high-velocity ammunition and recent bul- let developments in Germany, this number is fast falling into the discard. It is made, however, in many calibers and is widely used in African hunt- ing. Still another devclopmeni is the 8-mm. Teilkern, unique among the so-called “shattering” bullets. This has a mild steel jacket, but the core is com- posed of four pieces of aluminum which have been slashed o^f on an angle rather than squared in section. They fit together nicely and are topped by a soft point. This bullet was intended for op- eration at velocities in the vicinity of 2000 f.s. where it was imperative that the bullet should completely shatter. It is rapidly falling into disuse and is now employed only by riflemen whose arms arc equipped with non-adjustable sights that were originally sighted in for this particular bullet. The author has never fired any of them, but examina- tion of their construction clearly indicates that even a low-velocity impact would cause the soft-point short core (only *4 inch long) to expand, thus splitting open the mild steel jacket and releasing the four irregular sections of aluminum. If pushed up to a reasonably high velocity, it should bo a tremendously explosive bullet. All these types are still manufactured by Rheinisch^Westfalische Sprengrtoff Actien-CeseUschajt, who advise that they are not as accurate as the modern types, add- ing that of the entire scries ilic Tielkern multiple core is the least accurate. We can readily believe this. During the next few years there will be several new developments in bullets available to American bandleaders. Progress in this direction is far from complete, and our ammunition factories arc con- stantly experimenting with newer and better de- signs. Handgun Bullets. Meta 1 -jack etc d bullets for handguns should be given proper consideration, particularly the expanding tyj.*>es available on the market for reloaders. This does not, of course, mean the schcailcd “metal-point” bullets common in various revolver calibers. The metal-point is a bullet of lead alloy having a metal jacket over the point, chiefly to secure greater penetration. This bullet, in England, is known as the “solid capped” as distinguished from the “hollow 126 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING capped/’ The hollow type appears to have beea originated by the late Leslie Taylor o£ Westicy Richards in 1899, while the solid cap comes from the early Swiss previously described. They enable a bttilec to have a lead portion bearing on the rifling, but a hard point similar to a fuU jacket. Most automatic pistol cartridges use metal- jacketed bullets, either of the fuU-jackci varieties or with soft points, hollow points or hollow soft points. Gradually these various types arc being discontinued by our arms makers, who have long been convinced that metal-jackeced bullets when fired from handguns fail to expand. Gradually, as a result, the soft-point types are being aban- doned. For some years they have been discon- tinued in .25 AGP, .32 AGP and .380 ACP. Hol- low points arc little better — they cannot be relied on. Why won’t these bullets perform? The an- swer resolves itself into a manufacturing pri^lem. The handloader who has cross-sectioned a jacketed hollow point finds that his sectioned bullet shows a thicker jacket at the point, and particularly around the cavity opening, than at any other portion of the bullet. According to the laws of performance, this por- tion of a bullet should have the thinnest part of the jacket. Why make it thick? Again manu- facturing practice as against necessity for proper results. Full meul-jacketcd bullets have their jackets punched out with the base open and nose closed. The core of lead or a lead alloy is then inserted from the base, and the entire assembly swaged into shape with the base of the jacket turned over slightly to crimp the core permanendy into position. Soft-point and hollow-point bullets arc gener- ally built with the jackets formed "wrong end to,” as it were, the base being closed and the core inserted from the front. The assembly is then swaged into shape, the swaging process choking the mouih of the jacket down to the diameter of the cavity, thus making the metal thicker, much as one gathers up the mouth of a well-filled paper bag, The only way to overcome this thickening of the jacket where it isn’t wanted would be to thin down or “feather” the jacket walls before the in- sertion of the core. Again manufacturing pre- vents, as this would be cosdy and would mean a tremendous number of defective jackets and completed bullets to be weeded out by inspec- tors, Furthermore, the feather-thin jacket walls would wrinkle and fold in the swaging proc- ess. The single exceptions to this form of hollo w- point construction coming to the attention of the writer lie in the liigh-power rifle bullets of the Western Tool & Copper Works of Oakland, Cali- fornia, and a commercial lot of U. S. Cartridge Company .38 ACP hollow points purchased in 1934 by the author. In the former class of bullets, c^ed by their makers “cavity point” instead of the more common “hollow point,” the jackets are formed of tubing in both the full- jacket and cavity- point construction, -\ftcr the insertion of the core, tlx; jacket is folded under and swedged, both at (he base and nose. The result is that the bullets made by this firm have fully protected bases, re- gardless of nose conslruciion, and one can deter- mine their method of construciion only by careful examination of the base where a tiny irregular lead spot, a pinpoint of the core, extrudes. By heating a bullet and melting out the core, the construction may be verified. On their “full jacket” types, the jacket is brought to the suitable contour and sealed merely by tightly swaging. Cavity points are full jackets, made in this manner, but usually show signs of their noses being drilled by machine to form a small conical cavity extending through the jacket, but rarely into the core. They expand because they are designed for rifle use at high velocities and high rotational speeds and against heavy game. The U. S. Cartridge Company sample referred to was made at the factory of Winchester (all am- munition manufactured by this firm since about 1919 has been made in a department of the New Haven plant of Winchester, after United States closed its enormous wartime plant at Lowell, Mass.) but differs from any other Winchester bul- lets we have examined, it is quite possible that this was an experimental batch. Experiments at factories arc frequently conducted in the laboratory, and a production order is jsstied to try some re- sults of a successful experiment in regular methods of manufacture. The new process is tested by the laboratory and may or may not be adopted. Even with samples not adopted, if they are reasonable in performance, it is not uncommon for a factory to dispose of the surplus by dumping it “on the trade” in regular boxes until the lot is consumed. This batch of UbC bullets was discovered when sam- ples were tom down for analysis preparatory to a velocity and pressure test for the writer’s private information. The bullets were found to have been made like ordinary full meial-jacketed bullets, but after the final swaging the cavity was formed (ap- parently) by holding the bullet in a jig or die and running a flat-nosed punch into the nose, thus per- forating the jacket and forcing a cavity into the METAL-CASE BULLETS-TARGET AND HUNTING 127 bullet nose. The round disc of gilding metal punched from the jacket was found imbedded in the lead core at the bottom of the cavity. Once noticed, the copper disc could readily be seen by looking into the cavities on other bullets. Prac- lically die same effect could be achieved by drilling a cavity in the nose of a standard full jacket, and one thus can see that it is possible that the idea was incorporated in an experimental batch of bullets to determine ilie practicability of an idea widely used by “kitchen-mechanic” riflemen for many years. SEATING OF BULLETS B ullet seating, although it may seem to be an extremely simple and ordinary proposition, IS one of the most delicate in the entire field of hanclloading operations. The sealing of bullets in- volvcs a great many important features which the average handloading literature completely ignores. If a handloader overlooks the fundamentals and niceties involved in proper seating of his bullets, the net result will be mediocre or even very poor ammunition. In loading rifle ammunition it is generally acknowledged by experts and technicians, both in this country and abroad, that the bullet should seat as far into the rifling as is possible. I'his will rc* duce its natural tendency to jump from the mouth of the shell to the leade, thus deforming itself through improper upset before it aciually gets under way. The average target shooter who uses a .22 single-shot pistol will notice that the bullet seats well into the lands; and if an unfired car* tridge is extracted from the chamber, these land marks will be clearly engraved on the bullet. With large siugle-shot carl rid ftc for which the fini commercial riflr was the Maynard. Beside it is a Maynard siroi|ht*tine bullet sealer furnished Hy the mak- ers of the riBe with their Model I87i numbers. Be- side that is a straifhi-lioe bullet seater made in 1873 for the .38 extra long centerfire cartridge U5icd in the Frank Wesson riHc. Note that this tool is in twn pieces and is similar in design !o the modern straight-line out- fii. The large button -lop plunger was designed for hand-seating pressure — not a mallet. Modernized ver- sions of these bullet seaters are now mamifariiirrd by A. O. Niedner, C. V. Schmidt fielding A Mull, and many crtUcrs. This type Is usually furnished by the makers of special caliber guns by Jiainberiiig the block wiih the tame reamer as that used in the barrel chamber bullets creates an additional problem -one that should be treated very seriously. Case necks should be expanded to not more than .001 inch smaller than the diameter of the bullet, and in some eases exact diameter is to be preferred. Ex- treme care should be taken to remove all burrs SEATING OF BULLETS 131 from the mouth of the cartridge case, and this should be accomplished first through the use of a reamer followed by a slight flaring of the mouth. Excessive flaring serves no purpose, and the addi- tional working of the brass causes it to become hriulc, resulting in split necks. For rifle use do not crimp bullets unless they must be fed through tubular magazines. The flarc> however, should be removed, and this can he accomplished very easily with ilic average reloading tool merely through the simple process of sealing (he bullet. instances had caused a swaging of die build base to smaller diameter, thus causing the unsup[Wted gas check to fall off the minute it had progressed deeper than the neck of the case. It then floated around on lop of the powder charge. Experimenting with this problem in recent years, the author has found that damage of this kind occurs more frequently than one would imagine. The gas check is blown through the barrel and in .some cases has deliberately mutilated the base, mashing It all out of shape and springing Homemade alterations of Beldmf *er been assembled on a speed basis; nor will it ever be. Very definite experiments have been conducted with both cast and metal-casc bullets to prove the theory that you can seriously mutilate the point of the bullet and still maintain reasonable accuracy if the base is not deformed. By the same rule, a mutilated base will ruin accuracy regardle.ss* of point form. Harry M. Pope learned this many years ago, and the experiments of Dr. Mann, as re- counted ill Ills excellent book published in IQ09, quote plenty of facts to substantiate this claim. Furthermore, in Captain Crossman’s Boo^ of the Springfield, published some years ago, experiments with metal-jacketed bullets show that what is true of the cast is also true of the more modern jack- eted form. The sealing of bullets, to be successfully accom- plished, depends to no small degree on the way you start your bullet into the case mouih. The bullet should not be carelessly balanced on top of the case mouth, but should be started to the best of rhe handloader’s ability so that it is in a straight line when the plunger descends upon it. If you use a slightly funneled mouth on your case, you will find that cast bullets can be started slightly with ihe fingers to hold them and then suitable pressure can be applied by the loading tool. Most metal -case bullets need no belling of the mouth rn be started, although the bullet should always be started with the fingers to prevent straining the case neck out of line should the bullet tile at the time the pressure is applied. Tn any type of tool* if it is possible to do so, the cartridge case should be held upright during the seating operation. This keeps the powder charge out of the case neck and prevents possible spillage. Certain types of tools* however, are de- signed to function in a horizontal position, and with this type extreme care must be taken, particu- larly since hand-started bullets arc somewhat in- clined to fall out of the case neck. It is well to remember that the seating of bullets is the final touch in the handloading of ammuni- tion. Upon this operation depends the perform- ance of your finished cartridge just as truly as does any other single step. If done carelessly* your pre- cision weighing and measuring of powder charges, your careful selection of cases and all other work will have been wasted. Study the requirements of your gun and then scat the bullets wiih care, bear- ing in mind that they must be used in one par ticular gun. Skill is acquired not alone through practice but through the combination of study and experience. The skillful man makes mistakes, hut he profits by each one. He learns by doing. Be skillful in the seating of bullets. POWDER-ITS HISTORY AND TYPES T he propeUing agent used to expel the bullet from the barrel is generally called ‘‘powder.” This subject is one upon which many volumes could be written without covering it fully even then. Essentially the powder is some form of solid matter — cither a granulated cake, an assem- bly of small porous particles, or a gelatinous sub- stance formed into fine granulations, square, round, disc-shajwd, or tubular, as the case may be. In action, this solid substance receives ilic flash of the primer and 1$ promptly converted into a gas or gases of many thousands of times the volume the material originally occupied in solid form. This, of course, builds up a pressure; and the gases, pressing equally in every direction, find that the bullet yields more readily than other parts of the gun, and thus is pushed through the rifled cube that the gases may expand into the outer atmos- phere. This propelling agent is divided into two dis* linci classes — black powder and smokeless powder. The black, generally known as ‘‘gunpowder ” is a strictly mechanical combi natiun of saltpeter, char- coal and sulphur. It is subdivided into two cUsks —the genuine black powder and the semi-smoke- less varieties. Powders of the latter kind have plenty of smoke but leave less solid residue in the barrel. “Lesmok” is another name for semi- smokelcss. Smokeless powder is also divided into two dis- tinct classes— bulk and dense. The bulk powders arc now obsolete, but were o£ soft granulation and used chiefly in low-pressure cartridges or for re- duced charges. Modern “dense” powders have completely replaced tlicm. On the other hand, a powder is never obsolete until the last can has been consumed— and there is sdll plenty of the old bulk line in the possession o£ handloaders. The major group of smokeless powders is known as “dense,” since it is of a gelatinized structure. Dense powder may be subdivided into three classes —the single-base or straight-nitrocellulose type, of which the Du Pont IMR series is an outstanding example; the double-base type, as exemplified in most of the Hercules powders; and the triple or “multi-base” powder as seen in Du Pone’s newest line and exemplified in Pistol #6, MX Shotgun, and various experimental powders which will soon be released to the market. Black sporting powder or “gunpowder” is still used in enormous quantities, hut rarely by the handlooder. With the exception of a few old-time guns, there is a smokeless powder today available to meet every need. It is well to review the prog- ress of black powder that a better understanding of its possibilities may be obtained. The basis of black powder U saltpeter or potas- sium nitrate. The first undisputed mention of this substance is found in the writings of the Arabian, Abd Allah, born about 1200 a.d. It is here called “Chinese Snow” and the chronicle indicates that the Chinese used it in Roman candles as early as the tenth century a.d., possibly earlier. In addidon, we luve tile original “Greek fire,” which many writers have labeled as early gunpowder. This is totally incorrect; noted researchers clearly state that this was not a saltpeter mixture but an incendiary composition of low, resin, pitch, sulphur, etc., be- lieved to have been developed in the third cen- tury A.D. Veg the fall of 1777, 478,250 pounds of salt* peter wxrc imported, mostly from France by way of die West Indies. At the same dme we also imported 1454,210 pounds of manufactured gun- powder. This material was paid for by the ex- change of Colonial products. This imported saltpeter was turned into addi- tional gunpowder, making 698,245 pounds. There- fore, the Revolutionary powder mills produced 815,- 000 pounds of gunpow'dcr during that memorable w'ar — more than onc-third the total amount avail- able. Thus, during the Revolution, the Colonial supply of gunpowder was: Pounds On hand through seizures and in private stores Bo, 000 Made from homeproduced saltpeter 115,000 Made from imported saltpeter 698,245 Imported completely manufactured 1,454,210 A total supply of 2*347»455 In 1810 America produced in the still youthful United States nearly 1,500,000 pounds of gun- powder. Maryland stood first with a production of 323447 pounds or over one-fifth of the total which was maiuiTacturcd in niue differeiU esub- lishmencs. Of this amount, three mills near Balti- more produced 312,500. Pennsylvania came sec- ond with twenty mills producing 286,356 pounds. Three mills near Philadelphia produced half of the slate’s total, and the most important of these three was located in Frankford, now the site of the Government’s ammunition manufacturing plant— Frankford Arsenal. ... By 1840 Maryland had doubled its output to 669,125 pounds, but had dropped to fifth place. Massachusetts, low on the list in 1810, had hv 1R40 risen to first place. . . . TTuis was the United States powder industry started. During the Civil War it was destined to grow to more than too different manufacturing plants. In the late ’6o*s and ^arly ’yo’s an organization know'B as the Gunpowder Trade Association — an amalgamation of various powder manufacturers — was formed. It began a gradual absorption of all the smaller companies, until today those which re- main outside of the Du Pont and Hercules outfits can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Most of the deaths in powder manufacturing plants have been due to the practically total aboli' POWDER— ITS HISTORY AND TYPES 135 tion of black powder and the substitution of smoke- less. The latter requires a far more complicated process of manufacture, with enormous plants, ex- pensive machinery, and the maintenance of a lab- oratory. One of the survivors of the older type, however, is well worth discussing. On March 7, 1863, the Massachusetts Powder Works was incorporated to operate in Barre. Adolphus Merriam was the first president. In 1864 it bought the American Powder Company of South Acton> which was operating' a mill built in 1835 by Nathan Pratt on the site of a sawmill belonging to Abraham Sherman. This is the site of the former plant of the American Powder Mills —one of the last of the black powder factories. This plant was discontinued about 1941. During the Civil War it was a good producer, turning out its capacity of 1000 pounds of powder daily. On March ao, 1868, the Massachusetts Powder Works changed its name to the American Powder Company. A year later it abandoned the Barre plant and machinery, and all operations were trans- ferred to South Acton. The American Powder Company was sold on August 18, 1883, to the American Powder Mills, of which Addison O. Fay was the first president. At the present time this company manufactures “A” saltpeter blasting powder and black snorting powder marketed under ihc brand name or “Dead shot.” This trademark was inherited from the Massachusetts Powder Works. The plant today has a capacity of 90,000 kegs of black powder a year. In 1904 a subsidiary known as the American Smokeless Powder Company was organized to manufacture Deadshot Smokeless Shotgun intro- duced by C. R. Borland, formerly chemist of the American E. C. & Schultz Gunpowder Company. The subsidiary was dissolved in 1922, but the powder was manufactured for approximately ten years thereafter by the American Powder Mills. There is one other powder which should be con- sidered along with black sporting powder — ^'cocoa powder.” In 1892 the California Powder Works, under the management of W. C. Peyton, son of Bernard Peyton who put the plant on its feet, undertook the manufacture of cocoa powder (brown powder) for the United States Govern- ment, mostly for artillery purposes. This was by virtue of an arrangement with the Du Fonts, who had acquired the American rights from the Colognc-Rottwdl Powder Works of Germany. The first lot of 10,000 pounds was reported satis- factory and was accepted in June 1893 by the Gov- ernment at a purchase price of 33 cents a pound. Many tons of brown powder were manufactured until the end of the Spanish- American War, when this type was abandoned by military authorities in favor of the then new .smokeless types, Old-lime rcloadcrs will recall that ihe Du Pont combine w'as entering into the picture with the formation of the Du Pont Corporation in 1899. In 1902 Eugene du Pont died and Coleman du Pont became president. The firm had acquired extensive stockholdings in many other companies and found that it could get control of a majority of the whole industry if it acquired the then large concern known as Laflin & Rand. This was done that same year. l*hcn came the job of winding up the thirty-odd companies, calling in struck, ex- changing it for shares of Du Pont, ira ns f erring as- sets, and formally dissolving these miscellaneous companies. Thus the Gunpowder Trade Associa- tion, with all its price agreements, was dissolved in June 1904. In 1907 Du Pont controlled about two- thirds of all the black bbsting and three-fourths of the black sporting powder business in the coun- try. De^ite this, the smaller firms who refused to be absorbed continued to prosper and new ones entered the field. Between the beginning of 1903 and the end of 1909 thirteen new powder com- panies came into the field with an average individ- ual curpur of 400 keg.s jaer day. Tl^ese ihinecn firms turned out an average of 1,483,000 kegs of black powder annually. In 1907 Du Pont was accused by the Govern- ment of violating the Sherman Anti-trust Act. The trial lasted five years and resulted eventually in the breaking up of the Du Pont Company and the formation of the Hercules Powder Company and the Allas Powder Company, both formed in Debware in rgiz. The Government suit actually started July 31, 1907, and became the longest trial on record Briefly, the story of the Du* Pont organizadun is this: Elcuilwrc Ireiw du Pont dc Nemours was born in Paris in 1771. He came to America and decided to enter the powder business some years later. Returning to France, he organized and got the backing of private capital and the aid of the French Government, who immediately saw that it would hurt British trade. The Du Pont partner- ship agreement was drawn up April 21, 1801, and provided for eighteen shares of stock at $2000 each. Jacques Bidcrman, Cato ire, Duquesnoy et Cie, and Ncckcr, the latter a brother of a former French Minister of Finance, each took one share. Archi- bald McCall of Philadelphia and Pierre Bauduy of Wilmington, Delaware, each had two shares. The New York firm of Du Pont de Nemours Pere et Fils, et Cie, had twelve shares. Neclcet did not 136 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING take up his share. The partnersliip was voted to run until January i, i8io, and could then be con- tinued or altered in a two-thirds vote of the part- ners. The first Du Pont plant was on the Brandywine and consisted of ninety-five acres of land purchased for $6740. Production was started in 1S04. In 1805 it supplied 22,000 pounds of powder to the Government, and this was found to be of such line quality that Secretary of War Dearborn sent 1 20, OCX) pounds of Army powder to Du Pont to be remade, plus a large quantity of saltpeter to be refined. When the work w'as completed it proved so satisfactory that he announced in public that thereafter Du Pont would have all of the Govern- ment work. Thus was Du Pont launched into the history of the United States Government powder, a contact which in 132 years has never been broken. The Laflin & Rand Powder Company was or- ganized August 24, 1869, in New York City. It took over several of the La Ain powder companies and the Smith & Rand companies along with some smaller plants. Another black powder which will be plcasandy recalled by old-timers was “American Rifle” and “Creedmore Rifle.” This was devebped by Chauncey J. Olds, plant superintendent of (he Schaghticoke Powder Company, incorporated March 10, 1858, which operated a plant at Sdiaghti- coke, New York, Olds designed a new powder and was granted a United States patent, #387507, April 17, 1 888. His formula specified 75% salt- peter, 9% sulphur, 11.5% willow charcoal, and 4.5% charcoal manufactured from carbonized peas. This powder was popular with expert shooters, both in rifle and shotgun, and was manufactured and widely sold until 1903. Olds W’as paid 1500 a year for his invention and his widow received that sum until her death in 1919. In 1835 Hazard Powder began its life with the formation of the partnership of Loomis 5 c Densbw', later known as Loomis, Ebnslow & Co. A small mill was started by this firm at what is now Haz- ard villc, Connecticut, on the Sc antic River, cast of Enfield. Its first product was so poor that its manager sent to England for powder experts and gut William and Henry Pricketc, formerly of the John Hall & Sons Gunpowder Works at Faver- sham, England. These men arrived in the spring of 1836, and by fall had the firm turning out a good grade of powder. In 1837 Col. Augustus G. Hazard acquired a quarter interest and joined the firm. By 1843 Hazard and Denslow had bought out the Loomis brothers and organized a joint stock company under the name of Hazard Powder Company. The History of American Manufacturers, pub- lislied in Philadelphia in 1868, says! “At Hazard- ville, near Hartford, Conn., are the extensive gun- powder mills of the famous Hazard Powder Com- pany who have mills also in the towns of East Hartford and Canton. This company has 18 sets of rolling mills with 36 iron manufacturing wheels each weighing 8 tons, 7 granulating mills, 5 screw press buildings and 3 hydraulic presses of 500 tons each. All are in divert nt and separate buildings. In addition, about 50 buildings are used for dust- ing, assorting, drying, mixing, pulverizing, glazing < and packing of powder. Extensive saltpeter refin- eries and magazines, cooper shops, iron, wood- working and machine plants are also maintained— in all, about 125 buildings are located at their main works at Hazard ville and Scilio extending over a mile in length and a half-mile in width. “To propel this vast amount of machinery, 25 waterwheels and 3 steam engines arc employed. . . , This company manufactures annually over a million dollars' worth of powder of various kinds known as Government, Sporting, Shipping and Mining powder, of which large quantities were at one time exported to Europe," Cobncl Hazard died May 7, 1868, but his busi- ness continued fur nearly* a half-century longer. The census of i860 gives, the value of the com- pany’s output as 1991,500. The company was too powerful and turned out too high-grade a product to be overlooked by Du Pont. About 1R76 the majority of stock control fell into the hands of Du Pont interests, and the concern passed out of the picture with the formation of the Du Pont Corporation in 1902. XIV THE MANUFACTURE AND USE OF BLACK AND SEMI-SMOKELESS POWDERS T he beginner often asks the very logical ques' tion — “Why docs gunpowder bum?” The three major ingredients of black powder — saltpeter, charcoal and sulphur — are highly inflam- mable substances. Charcoal in the presence of oxygen burns with tremendous heat. So docs sulphur. Charcoal and sulphur mixed together form a product which works like gunpowder and will burn when ignited with a match. Ii does, however, require plenty of air to support the com- bustion, The oxygen in the air enters into combi- nation with charcoal (carbon) to form carbon di- oxide gas. The air mixing with the sulphur forms sulphur dioxide gas. Ignition or burning of these is very slow because they can burn only as fast as air is supplied. If a draft of air created by a blower is applied to the burning mixture, it will naturally be consumed more rapidly. Because of this slow burning, however, it is non- explosive. The addition of saltpeter changes the picture entirely. The instant it is ignited the mass burns all at once without waiting for air. Saltpeter is very rich in oxygen, and upon being heated, gives oft this necessary gas in enormous quantities; thus gunpowder, through the ingredient “salt- peter” supplies its own oxygen to control the burning. Three separate factors are very necessary in any mixture used as a propelling charge for a projectile. 1. It must burn rapidly so that the entire charge h consumed in a inaximum of a few thousandths of a second. 2. It must give a tremendous volume of hec gas. 3. It must develop a reasonable amount of heat to ex- pand these gases, thus building pressures and forc- ing the bullet from the barrel. Black sporting powder is manufactured by me- chanically mixing the charcoal, saltpeter, and sul- phur in the proper proportions in huge mixers or “wheels,” as referred to in the discussion of powder manufacturing pbnts. Water, of course, is added to form this mixture into a paste, which is Body ground and pressed into a solid cake. After drying, this cake is “granulated” through the crushing process by riding the broken chunks of cake through assorted sets of grooved rollers. It is sifted at regular intervals and graduated on a basis of the size of the granulation. E)e$ignation of size of the powder was by the “F” system, “F” refer- ring, probably, to “fine.” Sporting gunpowder was made in granulations of Fg, FFg, FFFg. FFFFg and FFFFFg. Fg was the coarsest type, FFFFFg the finest. The latter was rarely used. There was an additional extra-coarse grade sometimes used for big-borc shotguns and Government artillery “blanks,” known as “Grade A-i ” These various grades were graduated by strain- ing them through a coarse screen, thus catching the large lumps and letting the rest fall on a fine screen which permits extremely fine powder to pass through. The screens through which the different grades of powder muse pass and those on which they must be retained are given in the following table, the figures representing the number of meshes per running inch in the screen: Must Pass Muss ^ot Pass Crade A-t 6 jo Fk M 10 FFg 16 34 Ft'Fg 24 46 FFFFg .46 60 FFFFFg 60 Before the sorting process, hc^wever, the powder is glazed and pulislied by half-filling a large wouden barrel with a mixture of sifted powder and powdered graphite and slowly revolving and tumbling the barrel for five or six hours. Thus the sharp, ragged edges of the broken grains are rounded off through contact with each other and the graphite adheres to create a shiny polish to the grains. Following this, they arc given the final grading and blending and packed in canisters or kegs for the trade. Chlorate gunpowders of various compositions have been proposed and patented ever since the Civil War, and even before it. Besides potassium chlorate, they contain almost anything that might be found around the house or laboratory, patents revealing that such materials as charcoal, coal dust, sawdust, coffee grounds, sugar, alum, corn oil, lin- seed oil, ground bark, charcoal from seaweed, etc., have been incorporated in the various formulas. U7 138 CX 5 MPLETE GUTOE TO HANDLOADING Often these mixtures were designed to be made not only in the laboratory but in the kitchen and woodshed, for home consumption. Explosions in the early days of the powder industry and the bursting of guns in the use of these experimental powders were by no means uncommon. One of these formulas was sold by mail at a price ranging from $ioo down to dcj>cnding on how Inug one resisted the advertising appeal. If the in- ventor’s letters commenced to come and his price started to tumble, he explained that the powder companies had created him badly and he wanted to hurt them by starting hundreds of small powder companies throughout the country. This particu- lar formula consisted of 256 parts of sugar and one part of alum in a liquid obtained by boiling 16 parts of colTec in 320 parts of water. To this solution he stirred 320 parts of potassium chlorate and then added 8 parts of alcohol and one part of sulphur. After a fashion, the mixture worked. (Not recommended for the cash customer of this hook, hiir an excellent idea for those who borrow yoirr copy,) The stj-ciJlcd “white gunpowder” whkli became prominent during the Civil War was a mixture of about 49 parts of potassium chlorate, 28 parts yd* low prussiace of potash and 23 parts of sulphur. It was invented by ]. ). Pohl in the middle 1850V While it lacked many of the excellent propelling qualities of ordinary black gunpowder and was ex- tremely corrosive on the soft iron and mild steel barrels, it simplihed the process of cleaning the gun and therein lies its sole virtue, The forerunner of this white gunpowder was Augendre’s 1850 devel- opment of 2 parts potassium chlorate, r part each of sijpr and red prussiaic of potasli. A freak powder was patented in 1889 under the number 418,552 and consisted of moist mercuric fulminate, powdered soapstone (talc) and a gum solution of black powder to act as a binder. The first chlorate powders were made in the middle 1780*8 under the direction of Bcrthollet, who discovered the salt. A mill at the French Powder Works at Essons was making this salt under his direction when it blew up in 1788, cost* ing many lives. At that time even Bcrthollet de- cided that its manufacture was too dangerous and abandoned it. These attempts were an effort of early inventors to improve upon black gunpowder with the per- fection of some material of semi-smokeless variety. During the famous French Revolution the Essons works made a gunpowder consisting of 75^4 am- monium nitrate, 125/2% sulphur and i2!4% char- coal. It was slightly better chan the saltpeter mix- ture and left a sumcwlntt lighter residue in the barrel. Shortly before the introduction of smokeless powders. Professors Hcbler of Switzerland and Gaens of Germany look up the semi-smokcIess idea again, with the result chat a new powder con- sisting of 38% aramonium nitrate, 48% saltpeter, and 14% charcoal was developed, This was manu- factured for a short time under the designation “C-86’* by the Rhenish-Wcstphalian Explosives Works in Bavaria, and by the Chi 11 worth Powder Cucnpatiy in England, an olTshnot of the German firm. In England the powder was known as “Chill worth Powder.” The United States Govern- ment investigated this powder quite thoroughly, but nothing was done because it was found that the hygroscopic {moisture-absorbing) nature of the ammonium nitrate caused corrosion of brass car- tridge cases. One of the earliest of the American powders— erroneously called ‘'smokeless”— was the nitro- cellulose powder known as “New Sporting Pow- der” of the Schultz ry|>c (described under smoke- less powder). In 1869 Carl Ditcmar came to America inteuJiiig to make nitroglycerine explosives. Milton F. Lindsley, the former superintendent of the King Powder Company, was associated with him for some years. He states that Dittmar anticipated Schultz’s famous wood powder (described under smokeless powder). Dittmar experimented with a smokeless powder made from nitrated cubes of purified wood while he was detailed as a technical direaor of the Royal Prussian Factory at Spandeau in rfifir. He became disgusted with it when he was severely burned through I he ignition of a sample he had prepared for a demonstration. In 1863 Dittmar was invited to join with Schultz and was assured that Schultz powders were different, but found them to be practically the same as his own. These two geniuses worked together but were low' OD funds and soon separated. Schultz went to England to experiment. Dittmar, with a more practical mind, began to make nitroglycerine and dynamite. In 1B67 he and Schultz were again in partnership for a few months, but lack of funds once more ended ihc pannership. Following tills, Dittmar came u> America in 1869 and built a small plane at Neponset, near Quincy, to manufacture Dual in — sawdust treated with ni- troglycerine, beginning this manufacture in May 1870. His nitrocellulose “New Sporting Powder” of the Schultz type was made by purifying wood pulp by boiling it in an alkaline solution, grinding the pulp with starch, making it into pcllew; follow- THE MANUFACTURE AND USE OF BLACK AND SEMI-SMOKELESS POWDERS 139 ing which they were parchment! zed with sulphuric acid. They were then nitrated, neutralized, dried, treated with a weak solution of potassium nitrate, dried again and sieved. Hear)* C. Squires, a sport- ing goods dealer in New York, bought some, be- came interested, raised capital and brought Diit- mar to Binghamton, New York, where be bcg*ussium carbonate.*’ His United States patent #341155 contains a pul- verized mechanical mixeure of wood fiber, clur- coal, bituminous coal, and starch, the mixture be- ing granulated and nitrated with a blended solu- tion of nitric and sulphuric acids. It is then washed and impregnated with a solution of potas- sium carbonate and nitrate or chlorate and then dried. For example: 71 parts willow, poplar, or other wood fiber, 14 parts w*illow charcoal burned below 444^ C., 5 parts of coal, and 10 parts of corn- starch. Lindsley also became superintendent of the new concern known as the .American Wood Powder Company formed in the reorganization of Dittmar. The first plant was near Jersey City, New Jersey. American Wood Powder was extremely popular. It contained 18% sodium nitrate, 44 to 55% nitro- lignin, 20 to lignin (charred), and ‘*humus” 3 5 % volatiles. It was quite hygroscopic, but this wa.s nearly overcome by the time the company failed in the hu.siness depression of 1893. In 1895 Lindsley joined the King Powder Com- pany as plant superinicndcm at Kings Mills, Ohio. Together with G. M. Peters, president of the com- pany, he devebped a modification of American Wood Powder known as “King’s Semi-Smoke- less.” This was patented January 17, 1899— patent #617766 — and contains 20 parts nitrated wood cel- lulose, 60 parts saltpeter, 12 pans charcoal and 8 pans sulphur. Du Pont has a somewhat similar mixture in the reccntly-dcpaitcd L^esmok powder. Also in the early '90’s, “Brackett’s Sporting Pow- der,” similar to American Wood Powder, was ex- tremely popular in New England. Black powders, together with their variations of semi-smokeless variety, have played an important part in the history of firearms. They served their purpose and, thanks to the low pressures created by their burning, arc still widely used in certain old-time cartridges, although the chief motive of ihcir manufacture today is for export to foreign countries. Their use, however, doesn't fit into the general scheme of handbading. They arc ex- tremely dirty, corrosive to brass cases, necessitating a thorough cleaning 01 washing uf each case im- mediately after firing, and cliey also foul a barrel badly, necessitating the use or hot water and a sc rub -brush to remove the caked-on debris. Clean- ing a gun which has been fired with black powder is a messy job, one which necessitates the wearing of old clothes and the conducting of the ceremony in wide open spaces to prevent the blackened water from staining walls, ceilings, floors and surround- ing territory. Its use in a few old-time cartridges will be discussed in a later chapter on obsolete car- tridges. Contrary to the general idea, black and Lesmok powders both are dangerous to make and to handle. The handbader should bear all this in mind and treat them with considerable care. In the days of black powder manufacture, explosions were very frequent, and occasionally serious dam- age and loss of life was incurred. An example of this was revealed by a former official of the Ori- ental Powder Company of South Windham, Maine. Although the factory was bcated in this small town, the executive offices were for many years located in the City of Portland, some fifteen miles away. Expbsions occurred at regular in- tervals, and usually with sufficient ferocity to be heard and felt in Portland. After each explosion, there was a general rush for South Windham and a long line of applicants for jobs of cleaning up dftris, rebuilding damaged buildings, and operat- ing die rebuilt plants. Lesmok powder is even mure dangerous to make and handle than black powder, and despite the fact 140 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING that It was formerly the propellaat in match ^ rifle cartridges, it is now in complete discard. The makers of this powder and factories loading it would be glad to eliminate it entirely, and look forward with keen anticipation toward its obso- lescence and discontinuance. 'Vht handloader w*ho has a supply of Lesmok or King's Semi-Smokeless, must take extraordinary precautions in handling it. Do kot shake the cans it is stored in. Du nut leave it in the sun or in damp places. If using it in a gravity powder measure of any standard make, operate the meter- ing chamber handle with a slow, steady movement — NEVER hasty jerks. The slightest spark can ignite it. Il should never be handled during a thunder storm, as the air is usually hlled with static elec- tricity at such a time, and the f^led hopper of powder may become ignited without warning. Also be careful to see that the powder is not sub- jected to blows. On occasion Lesmok powder » lying loose on an open bench, can be exploded by a blow with a metallic object such as a hammer. You experimenters w'ho insist on handling Lesmok or $emi-smokeles.s powder will do well to observe nmi.sual precautions. It is better to be safe than sorry. In the author’s capacity of Firearms Editor, he is continually receiving inquiries concerning the home manufacture of black powcter^dic method *af mixing the materials, the granulating and grad- ing. To all such inquiries there can be but one answer: Home-made blach^ powder is extremely dangerous both to mal^e and to use! Yes, black powder can be made at home. De- spite the warning, many people will continue to attempt this. Many long years ago, as a young- ster, the author made experimental batches of black powder. Some of these were even manufactured with laboratory equipment in a high-school chemi- cal lab. Even with intelligent handling, one out- standing event is still vivid in his memory, despite a quarter-century or more which has passed since the incident. An experi menial batch of about a pound of black powder had been manufactured according to the accepted formulas of the day, and the re- sulting cake had been dehydrated. A very close friend then undertook the granulation of the cake. The job was nearly completed when a vivid ex- plosion took place, completely wrecking the lab- oratory. The young fellow engaged in the work lost three lingers of his right hand. One side of his face was badly mutilated. Today he still bears . those scars. Every inquiry of that nature receives a very defi- nite letter of condemnation. Smokeless powder cannot be manufactured at home, since this is a chemical mixture involving thousands of dollars in investment in laboratory equipment. Black powder should never be manufactured at home because of the tremendous dangers involved. If you must use black powder, buy it. DONT TRY TO MAKE POWDER! XV HISTORY OF SMOKELESS POWDER T he history of smokeless powder is similar to and closely related to that of dynamite. The essential ingredients of both were discovered ac about the same time, but dynamite and similar ex- plosivc.s show but little progress, while smokeless powder, despite its prescni-day status, is constantly being improved and the coming years will sec almost undreamed-of results. Nitroglycerine was nearly forgotten when Nobel brought out his famous ^‘blasting uir in i8fb and later his dynamite. Nitrocellulose, however, whose inventor recognized the possibility of using it as a propellent in firearms, was made commcrdally immediately after its discovery, though serious ac- cidents in its manufacture and use soon compelled governments to restrict its further production. As early as 1833 Braconnot, a professor of chem- isrry in Nancy, studied the action of nitric acid on starch and other organic substances and found that when the read ion mixture together with the starch was (X)ured iiuo water, there resulted a white ‘*curdy” precipitate which he called “Xyloidinc.” After experimentation he found that coituii and linen under the same treatment gave a similar $ub« stance which he believed to be identical with Xyloidine as obtained from starch. In 1838 Pelouze, another French chemist, re- peated Braconnot's experiment and found that Xyloidine at 180* C. ignited and burned with very considerable violence. He treated rag paper with concentrated nitric acid having a specific gravity of 1.5, allowing two or three minutes for the acid to penetrate the paper, which was then washed free of the acid in water. Thus was c^tained a parch- ment-! ike material, impermeable to moisture, and of extreme combustibility. The same compound he obtained on using cotton and linen fabrics. During December 1845 and the early part of 1846 Christian Frederick Schoenbein (179^1868), professor of chemistry at the University of Basle, Switzerland, prepared for the first time “Schiess- baumwolle” or guncotton by treating absorbent cotton with a mixture of sulphuric and nitric adds. ?Ie communicated his results to the Naturfor- schenrie Gesellschaft of Basle on May 27, 1846, also rcjK>rting the results of the use nf it in test firearms.’ Schoenbein, like Hudsou Maxim, often used his wife’s kitchen for his experiments. One day, so history tells us, he was distilling nitric and sul- phuric acids on the kitchen stove when the flask broke. He grasped the nearest thing — his wife’s apron— to wipe off the mess, In order to prevent the inevitable family conflict he immediately washed the apron, w'hich appeared none the worse for the treatment, and hung it up to dry in front of the kitchen fire, congratulating himself that his wife would be none the wiser. Suddenly there was a great puff and the apron went up in flames. Being a scientist, his curiosity was aroused, and he repeated the experiment with more cotton. This story, incidentally, is not universally accepted,, but is widely cold by historians in chronicling the development of smokeless po^vders. Schoenbein s Writings give a more technical ex- planation and show that he employed guncotton in shooting experiments almost as soon as he dis- covered it. This report was published late in 1846, and as a result the French Academy of Science held a lively discussion as to who really discovered guncotton— Pc louzc or Schoenbein. The latter was the first to prepare it in a way that it could be used commercially and first to use it in fire- arms. He wrote to his friend Faraday in 1H46 stating that he expected it would .soon universally replace black powder. He almost immediarcly sold his secret to Austria and In 1846 went to England and demonstrated it before the king, be- ing granted English patent $11407 in the name of John Taylor, an assistant. John Hall h Sons built a guncotton plant at Faversham almost immediately, but in the summer of 1847 this was blown up with the loss of twenty lives. The plant was never rebuilt and no further work wa.5 done In England for sixteen ycais. Within a year of Schoenbeins first published work, ihe principles of our present method of de- termining nitrogen conient were described by Walter Crum, a Scotch chemist, in the Proceedings of the Philosophical Societies of Glasgow (1847, p. 163). He used a glass jar eight inches long and one and oneK^uarter inches in diameter filled with and inverted over mercury. The essential features of our present-day nitrometer arc there — the action of the sulphuric acid on the nitrate in the presence 142 COMPLETE GtFlDE TO HANDLOADING of mercury plus a graduated tube for measuring the gas. Cram analyzed some of his owu gUD' cotton and found a nitrogen content of 13.69% by his method. Guncotton plants were soon established in other countries and one by one they blew up, stoi^ing all development. Austria alone stayed with it. Baron Von Lenk built two plants for the Austrian Artillery and manufactured braided guncotton ropes for use as a propellent in cannon. One plant blew up in 1862, the other in 1865. After the first explosion, the Austrian Government conddered the process too dangerous and relieved Lenk from the obligation of secrecy. Tliat same year the British Association for the Advancement of Science appointed a committee to conduct an investigation of nitrocellulose and Leak laid his reports before them. Sir Frederick Abel, chemist of the British War Oifice, also presented his researches, and as a result Thomas Prentice & Co. built a guncotton plant at Stowmarket in 1863 which blew up in 1871. Investigations, however, proved that this explosion was due to sabotage. Abel also began, back in TR63, to produce small 4 ua 11 cities of guncotton for the Government at Waltham Abbey, and his researches definitely showed that Instability of the product was due to traces of acid left in the fibrous structure that wash* ing could not remove, He therefore destroyed the fibrous structure by pulping it in a beating engine such as was used by the paper industry, patenting this method in 1865, He also patented the plan to compress nitrocellulose into blocks cither with or without a binder. (U. S. Patent #59888, Nov. 20, 1866.) In 1869 Brown, Abel’s assistant, discovered that wet compressed gLiucuuou could be detonated with mercury fulminate. This discovery may mean little CO the reader, but it meant a great deal to the development of our later types of smokeless powder. In 1872 the Waltham Abbey plant was enlarged to produce 250 tons of guncotton per year, mostly of the compressed type. The compressed gun- cotton was used as a disrupting charge for mines, torpedoes, etc. It w'as not suitable for a propelling charge because it burned too fast and pressures were uncontrollable. Smokeless powder can come very close to bring traced to the development of Captain Johann F. E. Schultz of the Prussian Artillery, who in 1862 began to make a powder which was patented in the United States under #38789, 1863, using nitrated wood. The Scientific American in 1865 stated that Schultz cut selected hardwood into sheets or venee*' of a thickness equal to the diameter of the finished grain — about Viq inch — in small-arms powder. These sheets were reduced to small rods of a diam- eter slightly smaller than the thickness of the sheets and then rcwdcrs are slightly hygroscopic and their power is impaired by exposure to humid con* ditions. In 1887— some seventeen years later— Alfred Nobel, who had brought out his now famous blast* ing gelatine in 1875, stimulated by his study of celluloid, found that by greatly increasing the percentage of nitrocellulose in his blasting gelatine he could produce an explosive which would serve as a propulsion agent. His Rrirish parent 1 1471* dated 1888, specified a mixture of 100 parts of nitroglycerine, 10 parts of camphor, 200 parts of benzol 500 parts of soluble nitrocellulose. The pasty mass is rolled between cylinders heated to 50 tn 60 C., whereupon the benzol evaporates. The mass is then rolled our into sheets and cut into square grains or flakes. Another Nobel-suggested mixture contains 100 pans nitroglycerine, 10 to 25 parts camphor, 200 to 4DO pans amyl acetate, and 200 parts soluble nitrocellulose. The use of camphor was later abandoned because of its volatility, and a stabilizer was added. Nobel called t/i$s powder “Ballistitc” and the Nobel factory at Ardeer, Scotland, first produced ii in 1889. American Ballistite, under practically the same formula, bore U. S. Patent {456508, dated July 21, 1891. About the same time— 1889— Hiram Maxim (later Sir Hiram) obtained British Patent {4477, 1889, and U. S. Patent #434049, 1890, for a smoke- less powder consisting of guncotton with 10 to 16% nitroglycerine and i to 4% castor oil, using ace- tone as an assisting solvent. Both inventors submitted their powders to the Explosives Committee, consisting of three chemists — Sir Frederick Abel, Sir James Dewar, and Dr, Dupre. This commiliee was appointed by the British War Office to recommend the best powder to be used in British military service. They modi- fied Nobers formula by substituting service gun- cottoa for his soluble nitrocellulose, using acetone as the assisting solvent to bring about the incor- poration (British Patent I5614, 1889). They fixed upon 58% of nitroglycerine and 37% of guncotton, and added 5^4 vaseline or mineral jelly to lubri- cate the gun. This formula was granted the U. S. Parent #409549, August 20, 1889. The paste thus produced was squirted through a die to form strings or cords. Under ihc name of Cordite, this became the British service powder. At a later date the percentages were reversed, and the present Modified Cordite or ‘‘Cordite MD” contains nitroglycerine, 65% guncotton, and 5% mineral jelly, incorporated by means of acetone. Both Nobel and .Maxim sued the British Gov- crnmeiu for infringement of their patents, but were unsuccessful, the courts holding that Nohers patent did not cover the use of insoluble niirocel- lulose, and that Maxim had confined himself to lower percentages of nitroglycerine, while his cas- tor oil was different and was used for reasons that were different from those governing the use of mineral jelly. The Germans adopted a modified smokeless powder containing 14 % diphcnylamine, and Krupps announced in January 1R90 that they had been using smokeless powder for all calibers for fifteen months. Also, in 1890, Professor Mendeleef began his researches on nitrocellulose for the Rus- sian Navy which led after large-scale trials in 1895 and 1896 to the adoption hy Russia of a completely gelatinized (with ether-alcohol) pure nitrocellulose powder. He called it ‘Tyro-Collodion’’ and his powder contained 1244% of nitrogen and enough oxygen to burn completely to water, nitrogen and carbon monoxide. Originally — and still widely practiced abroad — smokeless cannon powder was manufactured in strips, ribbons, solid or single perforated rods. Based on the American experiments in 1861 with the **Rodman Cake Cartridge,” a form of black powder designed by General Thomas Jefferson Rodman, smokeless powder began to cake a form used in Rodman’s famous development — a large cake or rod with multiple perforations designed for artillery use. Therefore, America introduced the HISTORY OF SMOKELESS POWDER 145 perforation system not only for black powder but also for smokeless varieties. Today, more than half of our modern sporting and all military powder is of the perforated type, i,e,, its grains arc formed in the shape of small tubes. Many early attempts were also made to build progressive-burning powder. In 1897 Dr. Carl Walter Volncy patented such a powder containing nitroglycerine and tri nitrocellulose, in which the trinitrocellulosc was reduced on the surface of the grains to dinitrocellulosc by treatments with sul- phites or other reducing salts. It was not suc- cessful. Later, the Germans coated rifle powder with substituted ureas such as central lite. The Chill- worth Powder Company of England also made such a powder. Du Pont followed with a similar powder consisting of a mixture o£ soluble and in- soluble nicrocelluloses coiloided with eihcr-alcoliol and coated with dinitrotoluene. This was the foundation of the Improved Military Rifle series (IMR) of today. XVI SMOKELESS POWDER DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES I N 1890 the United States Smokeless Powder Company was organized by Samuel Rodgers, an English physician practicing in San Francisco. Two years later he obtained a patent for his am- monium picrate nitroglycerine, an ammonium ni- trate smokeless military powder. His company merged with the Giant Powder Company that year, and his formula was changed two years later. In 1894 his formula specified 55% ammonium picrate, 25% sodium or potassium picrate, and 20% ammonium bichromate. Ic was too difficult to pulverize the potassium picrate, so the highly pul* verized ammonium picrate was mixed with a con- centrated snlurion oE potassium bichrr>mate in the proper propor lions, resulting in die form a lion of potassium picrate and ammonium bichromate in microscopic crystals, These were broken up, screened, and the sifted grains coated with picric acid or dinitrotoluene. The result was the famous but little understood “secret*’ formula marketed as “Gold Duse Powder.” It was intended mostly for shotguns and was loaded by all the loading com- panies of that period, but was none too popular because it classified in the present-day “dense” group and could readily be overloaded, thus caus- ing the bursting of many gun.s. Old-timers who may read this will distinctly recall its ubuoxioos odor on firing. In 1898 the plant was destroyed by an explosion and was never rebuilt; thus Gold Dust Powder disappeared from the American field. Another bygone powder, manufactured by the Economic Smokeless Powder Company of Illinois about 1898, bore the name “Velox” and was com- posed of 50 parts ammonium picrate, 50 parts barium nitrate, and 15 parts picric acid. It was short-lived, as the company failed the following year. Francis A. Has Icy. formerly of the U. S. Powder Company and with the Economic Powder Company, joined the stall of the Robin Hood Powder Company of S wanton, Vermont. Edward Dickson of that firm in 1896 had patented powder consisting of barium nitrate, potassium chlorate, picric acid, liquid ammonia, potassium fcrrocya- nide and flour. The S wanton plant began its operations about 1899. Two years later Dickson patented a similar powder using ammonium picrate instead of the liquid ammonia and picric acid. After graining, this powder was coated with petroleum which had been successively ircaied with nitric add, sulphuric acid, and ammonia. The oudet for sporting powder was so small that in 1900 they began the manufacture of metallic cartridges and employed Charles G. Worthen, formerly of the Creedmore Cartridge Company of Akron, Ohio, as superintendent of that depart- ment. The firm was reorganized in 1906 under the name of Robin Hood Ammunition Company, which it retained until 1915, when it sold out to the Union Metallic Cartridge Company. At ihat time the manufacture of jxiw'der w'as discontinued. During ihc World War, Remington operated the S wanton plant for the manufacture of the 8 -mm, Lebel rifle cartridge under contract with the French Government, turning out many millions of these cartridges. The famous “Peyton Powder” of the California Powder Works used by the Army in Krag shells during the mneciea consisted mostly of nitroglycer- ine, nitrocellulose and small amounts of ammo- nium picrate. The writer has received many re- quests for the identification of this powder as ex- tracted from Krag shells made during the nineties by Frankford Arsenal. All of these early Krag cases were tinned inside and out before loading, to reduce the corrosive effect of any small quantities of free acids left in the powder. Breakdown tests performed a year ago on Krag cartridges loaded at Frankford in 1893 showed that after more than forty years this powder was in good condition and appeared to be free from traces of dccomposilioa. However, samples of it in stor- age in the writer's collection for the past three years had shown unmistakable signs of decompo- sition and were destroyed as a matter of safety. Later, the Army adopted ammonium picrate as a bursting charge for its shells under the tide “Ex- plosive D,” named after Colonel W. B. Dunn, its proponent. This “Explosive D” was used pri- marily as a bursting charge for minc.s, pi njectile.s, crc., and was a fine-grained flour somewhat mealy and oily to touch, and of a dirty yellow color. Various modifications of it bore such names as Triton and Dunnitc, but ammonium picrate in U€ SMOKELESS POWDER DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES 147 it. self was soon proven to be totally unsuited for use as a propellent. American Smokeless Powders. The year 1890 actually marks the start of smokeless powder man- ufacturing in the United States. In that year the Anglo-American E. C. Powder Company was formed with its plant at Oakland, Kew Jersey. The same year saw the U. S. Navy start the devel- opment of smokeless powder under Professor Mon- roe at the experiment station in Newport, Rhode Island. By 1898 Navy powders had reached a stage of development where a large manufacturing plant was required and established at Indian Head, Maryland. In 1891 Du Pont built the guncotton plant at Carney's Point, New Jersey, where in 189^ the manufacture of Du Pont Smokeless Shot- gun powder was started. Also in 1893, after sev- eral years of experimentation, the rifle powder of the California Powder Works at Santa Cruz and the Leonard Powder Company at Bay Chester, New York, came into production, and these prod- ucts were found to be of sufficient merit to get an Army contract. A rare booklet in the writer's collection, pub- lished by the Leonard Smokeless Powder Company September 20, 1893, indicates that this firm’s New York offices were located at 622 Temple Court and 5 and 7 Beekman Street, and chat it was incor- porated under the laws of the State of Tennessee; with capital stock of $io/x>o,ooo divided into one million shares having a par value of each. John Hamilton Brown w'as rhe first president of this firm. M. E. Leonard was superintendent of powder manufacture. Mr, Brown was also me- chanical engineer, and Lieut. G. N. Whistler of the United States Artillery was ballistic engineer. De- spite its ‘‘enormous capitalization,” this 1893 state- ment says in part: "Already 1400 of tl>e 5000 pre- ferred shares have been sold.” No reference is made to the sales of any common stock. This old document says: "During the fiscal year 1892 the Ordnance Department of the United Stares Army purchased over 450,000 pounds of gunpowder, about 580,000 pounds Emmensite, 16,000 pounds of dynamite, and some 624,000 rounds of fixed am- munition. The use of explosives in the Navy is much greater in amount than in the Army . . . the sale of sporting powder is very large both of the black and of the smokeless variety, and a con- servative estimate of the total U. S, sales for this purpose places the amount at not less than 3,000^000 pounds per annum. . . . Leonard Powder will be sold at a profit at a price which will be relatively less than that of black powder, since one pound of Leonard Smokeless is equal in ballistic value to three of black.” These figures refer to American powder con- sumption in the days when crime was very light and before the advent of the wildcat politicians and reformers concentrating upon foisting absurd anti- fircarjns laws on a non-resisting public. Tlw Leonard powders were developed as "Ruby N” and "Ruby J.” They belong to the Nobel type of smokeless powders, several of which were well knowm in that period under the names of Cordite, Ballistite, Maxim and Houghton powders. Ac- cording to the Ordnance Department test report given in the 1893 brochure, the following factors of efficiency for various smokeless powders tested in small arms and the pressure guns at Frankford Arsenal and Springfield Armory rated Leonard’s "Ruby” at 117%, Maxim's (American) at 106%, Houghton's (American) at 103%, Troisdorf (Aus- trian) at 96%, B. N. (French) at 96%, Nobel’s (German) at 95^^ Wetteren (Belgium) at 93%. Cordite (English) at 93%, Du Pont (American) at 87%. The actual manufacture of some of these early experimental powders was started by the California Powder Works in 1S94, closely followed by Du Pont with a similar powder. Leonard, despite the excellence of their powder, ran into financial diffi- culties and fell far short of ihcir mythical 000,000 total capital izaiiun.” The firm failed, and its successor, the American Smokeless Powder Company, with $30,000 capital loaned by Laflin & Rand, built a plant at Pompion Lakes, New Jersey, in 1894, and began Government deliveries. In 1897 all three companies started to make a double-base (nitroglycerine) cannon powder for the Army. Essentially, the early Leonard powders were manufactured in the old Ditrmar plant at Bay- Chester, New York, leased for the purpose. The first formula called for 58% nirrnglycerine, but this gave trouble from exudation of the oily fluid, and the formula was changed to 35% nitroglycerine and 65% nitrocellulose. In the development of this Ruby Powder, Lieut. Whistler, together with the factory superintendent, Henry Churchill Aspin- wall, designed the famous "W. A.” powder for the Krag. . . . In i8g8 the company got into financial difficul- ties again and was taken over by Laflin & Rand to protect their $30,000 "mortgage.” I.. & R. had become interested in smokeless powders through having acted as American agents for Troisdorf powder. Back in 1893 they had negotiated for the American rights to Ballisiitc, but since Nobel asked ;f&,ooo (about $300,000) plus royalty, they re- 148 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING fused it ac that price. . . . Shortly after the change in ownership an explosion wrecked the factory, but the board of directors voted the following day to rebuild it. Work was started a short distance from the old plant, and a new factory capable of a daily production of 6000 pounds of smokeless powder plus an additional 1000 pounds of guncotton was soon in operation. Since J. A. Haskell was presi^ dent of Laflin & Rand, the town name was changed at this time. The Haskell plant is historic and significant since licre were born some of ll«; best powders ever produced, powders which arc still among today *s best bets for the handloader. L, & R. develop^] Lightning, Sharpshooter, Unique and L. & R. Smokeless. Samples of the last-named powder in my collection indicate that its grains were round orange discs. Later the form was changed slightly and graphite added to color it black instead of the orange or amber semitransparent grains, this “new” powder being called InfalliUc. The famous “Sharpshooter" was designed to replace black powder in the .45/70 Government. In 1909, at Haskell, the plant (then Du Pont- operated) began tlie muiiufacUirc uf Ballistite under agreement with Nobel. It also de\*eloped new methods of manufacture. Ballistite is very similar in composition to Infallible, differing mostly in method of manufacture. Infallible is formed in rods or strings, and cut into discs by rotary knives, whereas Ballistite was rolled into sheets and cur into small squares or “Hakes” as they are generally known. This flake system of manufacture is widely used in foreign countries, even todny. l*he original American BaUistite, however, was cut Into small hexagonal flakes by an Ingenious cutter designed by M. P. Wilkins in which a knife was made to travel at right angles across the sheet of powder while this moved at constant speed over the cutting table, thus making an oblique cut. Or the return stroke of the knife, the cut was made at an angle of 120® with the first. The square form was finally adopted, how- ever, because it seemed to be as satisfactory bal- listically as the hexagonal, and was easier to cut uniformly. . . . In 1912, when the Du Pont Com- pany was dissolved, the double -base powders went to Hercules, and Ballistite alone of the family to Du Pont. This Haskell plant was active until 1926, when it was permanendy closed and dis- mantled. The United States Navy was among the first to recognize the value of nitrocellulose powders. It had experimented with straight “single-base** pow- ders as far back as 1897, and in that year invited private manufacturers to produce this powder com- mercially. The California Powder Works and Du Pont b^an at once, and first deliveries came along in Navy powder production was soon started at HaskelL Also in 1898 the International Smoke- less Powder Company was formed to make first Dr. Volncy’s powder and later (1900) the Officia, Navy Smokeless. It is interesting to note that during the Spanish- Amcrican War, few United States ships could use smokeless powder. The Army had fair .stocks of smokc1c.s.s rifle powder, but the only naval ship to have smokeless for its heavy guns was the Neti/ Orleans. This was Cordite of foreign manufac- ture. Most of the ships used Brown Prismatic or Cocoa Powder, but the freedom from smoke and accuracy of firing as established by official records of the Nw Orleans were so remarkable that after the war the Army and Navy discontinued all con- tracts for the Brown Prismatic Powder. From 1900 on, the game became one of consoli- dation with Du Pont In 1914 the total capacity of American plants for smokeless cannon powder was about 40,000 pounds per day. At the fine of the Armistice, American plants were producing very nearly 4,000,000 pounds per day. American E. C. & Schultz Powder Company. Winchester first began to load American E. C, and Schultz powders in 1893. The British Company sent Cape. Albert William Money to the United States, and his favorable report was responsible for the formation of the Anglo-American E. C. Gun Powder Company in 1890. Plants were con- structed that year at Oakland, New Jersey. Win- chester, therefore, was the fim American ammuni- tion factory to load smokeless powder. The origiital E. C. powder was, of course, a shot- gun propellent and was a mixture of soluble and insoluble iiiirocclluluse. A single grade of nicro- cotton was used with 38% to 40% nitrates (about Ko potassium and barium nitrate) with small amounts of starch and paraffin oil. The grains were hardened with a mixture of ether, alcohol and gasoline and colored with aurine. Later, alco- hol with a trace of camphor was used as a harden- ing agent, and partial solvent recovery was prac- ticed with direct distillation. This i.s a manufac- turing process and need not be di.’vcussed here. The nitrocellulose content of tliis powder was later increased and the nitrate content decreased. The first E. C. Powder made at Oakland was similar to the English powder and weighed 42 grains per 3-drara load. This was followed by a Schultz powder which differed very little from it and was also a 42-grain powder. New E. C, and SMOKELESS POWDER DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES 149 New Schultz came later and weighed 36 graios for a 3 -dram load. The firm also developed ■‘blank* fire powder” and a Smokeless .ai-callber rifle powder. “Marksman” rifle powder for mid- range shooting was a still later development. In 1904 New H. C. and the Sdiullz was dis- continued and a New E. C. Improved came out weighing 42 grains. During this time the new Schultz together with New E. C. Improved be- came the regular product of the company. Late in the fall of 1903 Du Pont cook a 99-year lease on the property of the American E. C. & Schultz Powder Company, Ltd., at a rental rate £^ 75 ^ (about $18,750) with option of purchase. In the spring of 1904 the lease was aligned to Laflin & Rand. Du Pont operated the plant until the late fall of 1909, when the powder equipment was transferred to Carney’s Point, New Jersey, to cut the manufacturing cost. Both E. C. and Schultz powders were made there until 1923, when the manufacture was taken over by the Kenvil, New Jersey', plant of the Hercules Powder Com- pany. This company had actually acquired title to that plant in 1912 by a court order dissolving the old Du Pone Company. These arc actual facts, although they seem to be considerably muddled. The powder industry of the United Srjifc.s Is .so thoroughly interwoven that it is difficult for a his- torian to state definitely “which firm was which and when.’’ Stepping backward again to the year 1894: Fol- lowing the tests previously described in the folder on Leonard jwwdcrs, the United States Army made public its first formal request for smokeless rifle powders for the , 30 ecial canister powders. You can be sure mat all lots you may buy have the same ballistic charaaeristics, thereby eliminating any guess-work on your part if you as a handloader are care- ful to abide by the recommendations and warnings. A good handloader’s product is more inclined to be uniform than that of the ammuoiiion manufac- turer because of his being more or less his own laboratory; every handloaded cartridge is assem- bled entirely by himself, whereas in factories an assortment of machines do the work, with sample batches withdrawn from these machines at regular intervals for laboratory inspection. Examination of the loading data in this book will at first belie the truth of the author’s statement that different powders arc required for difTereot purposes. Modern smokeless powder has been greatly improved in recent years. Laboratory tests have shown them to be far more flexible than the powders of yore. This is one of the major reasons for the discontinuance of the older types of pow- ders. One question which will arise in the mind of the reloader is the advisability of using double *base or nitroglycerine powders. The general character- istics of these powders arc such that they ignite more easily and burn at a greater temperature than those of the pure nitrocellulose group. The tremendous heat thus liberated, even though over a very short period of time, causes a burning or melting of the surface of the lands at the breech of the barrel. This burnt surface, although very minor, is washed away with each succeeding shot, resulting in what is technically known as erosion. A test has been made to determine the heat of the explosion of smokeless powders. Some seven years ago the British Uovernment tested a number of powder.s and found that their old Cordite Mark I developed 1114 gram calorics per gram. Modified Cordite (MD) developed 939. Cordite RDB developed 904, while Du Pont IMR ifi (now obsolete) developed 815. Tests, however, have proved that the potential power, heat, energy, or whatever you may choose co call it, of any smoke- less powder, is only partially used in propelling the bullet. One-third is blown out of the muzzle, one- third is used to heat the barrel, and only one-third is actually applied to the propulsion of the bullet. Definite te^s show that there is a tremendous waste nf energy developed by the powder charge. The British Ordnance Department made numer- ous tests along these lines. This is reported in detail by Major Hard castle in the Royal Artillery journal of October 1918 in which he says: “The charge is 37.5 grains of MD Cordite (tubu- lar). Each grain contains 195 foot-pounds of en- ergy, so that the total energy developed by the charge is 7320 foot-pounds. The bullet weighs 174 grains and its muzzle velocity is 2440 f.s., so that the bullet has a muzzle energy of 2300 foot- pounds, leaving 5020 foot-pounds to be accounted for. . . . “The following facts have been observed: “Allowing a small amount for loss of hear in radiation, it takes 600 rounds co bring the water in the Maxim jacket to the boiling point. The capacity of the Maxim jacket is about 7.7 pints or 8.8 pounds of water. The weight of the brass and iron in the barrel and jacket is about 20 pounds, counting as 2 pounds of water for an equal rise in temperature. So that about n pounds of water have to be raised from 60** F. to 212^ F. by 600 rounds. It requires 777 foot-pounds of energy to raise 1 pound of water i'' F,, so that each round puts 2140 foot-pounds of energy into the water jacket. . . . “The energy of the powder gas as the bullet leaves the muzzle is alwut that due to half the charge and the whole muzzle velocity— say 254 foot-pounds. . . • “A Mark VII bullet with a small hole bored near the base in the envelope frequently sprays out MANUFACTURE AND USE OF POWDERS 157 molten lead as it flies. From this hci it has been calculated that the heating of the bullet absorbs 260 foot-pounds, the 40 grains of the cupro- nickel envelope being heated to 550® F. , As this 260 foot- pounds is produced in the bullet by friction, it is only right to suppose that the barrel is heated by friciioii to a like quantity of 260 foot-pounds. . . . “The energy of rotation of the bullet accounts for 35 pounds. The heat of the ejected cartridge case accounts for 5 foot-pounds. . . . This leaves 2315 foot-pounds to be accounted for in the energy of the muzzle blast.” The total energy per grain of this powder was obtained by immersing a vessel capable of holding 1000 grains of water in a water hath before firing, and leaving it there to coni. Ry actually exploding powder at a known density of loading in a closed vessel and observing its maximum pressure, the force can be obtained by calculation. The total energy is obtained by immersing that closed vessel in a water bath, then observing the rise of tem- perature of the water bath to determine the heat evolved by firing. Nitroglycerine powders, however, particularly as made in America, produce very excclieni results in the form of accuracy at a given velocity and pres- sure. That they have been more dcsrnicrive to barrels has long been an accepted fact, and yet, as time progresses, this nnee-rruth may even be aban- doned as a downright falselmod. Under date of July r8, 1933, following a lengthy discussion with C. WclJin, ballistic engineer of the Hercules Powder Company, he wrote me as follows: “This question of erosion in rifles you have brought up has either been misrepresented or mis- understood. The advent of the new non* straight-taper shells. The .22 Winchester Single Shoe used a 45-grain lead bullet. l*hc .38/56 used a 255-grain lead bul- let. Du Pont ti was also used widely in special target rifles in which the bullet was seated into the rifle by hand, either from the breech or by means of the Pope false muzzle in which the bullet was run into the barrel base first by means of a special muzzle starter and ramrod and a false muzzle on the barrel. The powder was loaded usually at the firing point in the form of a “blank” cartridge, a wad being used to retain the powder in the shell. This powder is ideal for loading in old-time cartridges if you arc fortunate enough to obtain any of it. No. I is inclined to crumble under the pressure of the bullet, therefore for best results it should be used within a few days of loading. Do not store cartridges loaded with this powder for any ap- preciable length of time, as the crumbling will pro- duce high pressures. It is extremely hygroscopic and should be kept away from all dampness. This was one of the major reasons for its discontinuance. Hiis powder is designed to operate at pressures between 20,000 and 25,000 pounds. There was an additional powder, however, also known as Du Pont fi, quite possibly incor- rectly so. A powder of which very litdc addi- tional data can be ascertained was known as .30- Caliber Military by Du Pont and by the Army as Du Pont Si. The commanding officer, Frank- ford Arsenal, reports under date of August 13, 1935, reference FA 471.83/285-6, “In 1895, a contract was let to the Du Pont Company for 2500 pounds of Du Pont $i and 1000 pounds was delivered on July jo of that year. A rhnusand and an additional ^00 were delivered on Novem- ber 29, 1895. This Du Pont Si is probably the powder you refer to. It was a cylindrical-shaped grain in contrast to the sandlike particles of the other powders. The diameter was .050 and the length .054 to .064. It was a green colored powder w'ith yellow $jx)ts, hard and tough. In the caliber .30 (Krag) using 36 grains as a charge, it gave 1952 (4. velocity and 32,600 pounds pressure. Model 1898 Krag was given ammunition loaded with all three of these powders (Peyton, W.A., and Du Pont #j). This pow'dcr is rare today, and it is doubtful whether any of it will turn up; but if it should, do not confuse it with what is generally known as Du Pom #1— a bulk smoke- less powder. Dn Pont Smokeless Rifle 32. Introduced 1894. Discontinued 1926 (?). This powder w'as identical with Smokeless Rifle except for granulation. Ic was somewhat finer than Si and was thus in- tended primarily for cartridges used both in rifles and revolvers irterchangcahly. A Du Pont booklet published in 1903 gave the following loading data : -♦5/35/255 Colt, to grs.; -M/23/255 Russian, 7 grs.; 4^/40/200 Winchester & Colt, 17 grs.; .41 Long Coll, 6 grs.; .38/40/180 Winchester & Colt, 16 grs.; .38 Army (Long Colt) 5 grs.; 38 S. & W., 4,5 grs.; .32 Long Coll, 4 grs.; .32 S. & W., 3 grs. No veloc- ities were given, but because of the nature of the powder it may be assumed that these charges rep- SMOKELESS POWDERS FOR THE HANDLOADER 159 resented the standard black powder ballistics of that period. Because of the nature of this powder and the fact that it is of very soft grain, it will need to be care- fully screened and freed of dust before being used for handloiiding. The dust, particularly in re- volver cartridges, can leak into the primer pockets, thus blowing out primers, and in every case will seriously raise pressures. If you happen to have a few canisters of Du Pont Rifle Smokeless {2, and they appear to be in good condition, by all means use this powder, but do not permit u to remain in loaded cartridges for more than a few days be- fore firing. It crumbles badly. Du Pont Schuet7.cn. Inti^uced 1908 . Discoa- tuiucd 1923 . Burning pressure 21,000 to 26,000 f)ounds. This is a true bulk-for-bulk smokeless rifle |X)wcler. In other words, charge cups for black powder can be used for an equal charge of Schuetzen the same as in Du Pont tu It is, of course, straight nitrocellulose, large grains of light reel or pale orange, irregular in shape. The grains pass through a screen having a mesh of 15 to the inch and are caught on a .screen 25 to the inch. Schuetzen was designed for target shooting in the famous Schuetzen rifles, mostly .32/40 or .38/55, although it has been used in various smaller bores such as .25/20 Sitigle Shot. It was long considered the mast accurate smokeless powder ever manu- factured, but was discontinued with the advent of improved powder less hygroscopic. It may he found available to a great many handloaders, and if so it will prove to be thoroughly efficient in its work, despite the years which have elapsed since its manufacture. Cartridges loaded with Schuci- zen, like those loaded with |i, should not be stored any great length of time. The history of Schuetzen Smokeless is decidedly interesting. This was nothing more nor less than Sr Rifle Smokeless to which a coloring ingredient had been added and such slight change incor- porated as would be necessitated in the rumbling process necessary to give it the pale orange color. Sdiuetzcn was born through the fact that one of our large ammunition companies, which had pre- viously purchased several thousand pounds of #1 Rifle Smokeless each year, suddenly switched to the use of some of the more modern dense smoke- less powders. The Du Pont factory was left with a lot of some 40,000 pounds of a bulk rifle powder on its hands for which there was obviously no further market among commercial manufacturers. Major K. K. V. Casey, genius in charge of the Military Sales Division, suggested certain changes, so Du Pont worked over the entire lot, changing its color, slightly lowering its rate of burning, whereupon it was packed in a supply of the old Laflin & Rand Orange Black rifle-powder canisters which were on hand, and a new label applied. The use of old black powder was fast going into discard by bandleaders, so Du Pont offered the owners of these old rifles a truly smokeless powder, a canister of which would load the same number of rounds as had their previous pound of black powder. Schuetzen was priced at that time at only 30 cents a canister, while black powder was selling for about 40 cents a pound. It was a highly de- sirable powder for the hand loader who had the old-style black -powder rifles, and even coday if prt^rly handled it makes a very accurate load. In a recent loading using cast bullets in a Hornet at a velocity of around 1500 f.s. the author shot sev- eral 50-yard groups, some of which ran as small as of an inch. No group in the entire fifty shots ran over one inch. Du Pont Bulk Shotgun* Introduced 1893 . Still Manufactured 1948 . One of the first successful smokeless powders in shotguns. Not a true bulk- for-bulk but closely approaching it. Quite hygro- scopic but extremely successful in its field. In shot shells it was for many years the favorite w'iih trap shooters because of it.s smooth recoil, even after more ballistically .satisfactory shotgun powders had been developed. Tlie recoil was easier on the shoulder than that developed by the dense pow- ders exemplified in Infallible and Balllstite. It was designed to burn at around 9000 pounds pressure and riflemen soon learned that it could be used in a variety of cartridges of many ty jks, particularly for reduced loads much along the lines of the Schuetzen and Rifle Smokeless |i. It can be used in the Springfield for gallery charges, and when loads arc properly developed the accuracy is equal to that obtained with $75 and tSo. It is coarse in granulation and quite friable. The reloader should sift it carefully on a very fine screen or agitate it in a very .shallow dish while blowing gently on it to remove dust. It can be used in revolvers for indoor gallery loads and light charges, particularly with round balls. In this case the best performance is obtained with it when the lead balls are seated deeply in the cartridge case in compress the pow- der, This means using a straight case. Du Pont Schultz Shotgun. Introduced Before 1900 . Discontinued 1926 . Schultz was another member of the Du Pont bulk shotgun family very similar tn Hulk Shotgun. It has very clean, ir- regular egg-shaped granulation of a soft creamy- white color. Although designed for use in .shot- guns it has been used by many handloaders with 160 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING reasonable success for very light gallery charges, particularly with round balls both in rifle and handgun cartridges. In using it for this purpose the handloadcr must cake extreme care, as with other hulk powders, freeing it from dust and load- ing it with round balls in very light charges, gradu- ally building up until accuracy is obtained. Tlus powder, similar to oilier bulk shotgun types, will build excessive head pressures in metallic car- tridges, and primers should be watched very care- fully for indication of overloads. Du Pont Empire Shotgun. Introduced 1908 {i). Discontinued About 1914 . Empire is a bulk smoke- less shotgun powder originally designed by Curtis 6c Harvey of the Nobel-Du Pont organization in England. Its formula with smooth, spherical purple grains is essentially pure nitrocellulose con- taining barium or other metallic nitrates with small percentage of a luiraiing agent. It was for many years extremely popular with hand loaders of shot- guns and can be used for light IcKtds in rifles much the same as E. C. and Smokeless Shotgun. Hercules £. C» Powder. Introduced About 1 ^. Discontinued 193 L This powder is very similar in characteristics to Bulk Shotgun, although slighdy liner in granulation and colored a soft orange. It is bulk and of soft granulation, and while nor designed for use in revolvers and rifles, it performs excellently in reduced loads, particu- larly with cast bullets. It was also manufactured by Du Pont previous lu the formation of Hercules. Du Pont Gallery Rifle S 7 S. Introduced 19 (H. Discontinued 1928 . For many years this powder was marketed under the name of '^Marksman." Its discontinuance left serious regrets among the re- loaders, as it was long one of our most important rifle powders. A friend of mine, who, like me, many years ago used it widely in reloading, was so (irmly “sold" on its performance that he has for the past few years been scouring the country and picking up canisters of it here and there, wherever he could locate them in his travels. Old-timers will readily recall the excellence of the “Marks- man.” The most recent addict to hanclloacling will know it only as “5/5/’ It is a bulk jjowder, although by no means the true bulk-for-bidk type. It is considerably more concentrated and less hy- groscopic than its predecessors, fine-grained, fibrous in structure, irregular io size and shape, and in the manufacturing was polished or tumbled so that all irregular corners were w'orn from the grains to inake the powder flow freely in measures. It is for this latter reason that it proved so popular in the early days. This steel-color or soft gray powder has a wider range of grain size, having been screened through a 26-to-thc-iach mesh and caught on a 60 meslh It was designed for use in the Krag rifle in reduced charges even while the Government was experimenting with the then recently adopted Model 1903 cartridge. Its purpose of development was striedy to give a military reduced or target load suitable for ranges up to 200 yards. Although it is generally known as a Du Pont powder, it was designed and originally manufactured by Laflin & Hand, and was intended, of course, for a cast bullet rather than the jacketed variety. The early “Marksman" powder proved excep- tionally accurate in various cartridges such as ^5/20, .25/35, *32/40 and even in the Model 1906. Ii has been widely used in practically every military rifle cartridge for which bandloading has been done in this country. In the smaller cartridges it develops “standard" results. In the larger cartridges it is better adapted to mid- range or low-power loadings. Burning pressure, due CO its fine granulation, was designed for be- tween 10,000 and 15,000 pounds, although it will perform excellendy at from 7500 to 22,000. A load the writer used many years ago in the Krag, using Ideal bullet I508403 designed by Harry Pope, included a charge of ii grains giving a velocity with iliis lya-grain multiple-diameter bullet in the vicinity of 1200 f.s. With T50-grain Service bullets obuined shortly after the World War, and used in the .30/06, 1 ran from 13 to 18 grains of 57 > the latter developing in the vicinity of 1800 f.s.; and accuracy was equal to any loads 1 have put together in recent years. No. 75 was the quickest-burning of the bulk powders on the market, and was designed for use with cast bullets of the plain-base variety, since it did not fuse the bases as much as the modern types. It burns ex- cellently even when a small charge is put into a large sIkH. As with other hulk powders, loaded ammunition should be used within a short rime, as, owing to the condition of the shells caused by previous firings, S75 is inclined to deteriorate par- tially, burn crraticaliy, and therefore lose its ac- curacy. If you can obtain any of this powder you will find it excellent for reloading purposes in prac- tically any modern or semi-modern cartridge case. The author’s notes indicate that around 1903 the various National Guard outfits in New York City commenced reloading their .30/40 cartridges for use on their splendid 1 00-yard indoor galleries. Ed Taylor, inspector of the Laflin & Rand Powder Company, became interested in the shooting of the guardsmen, as he was an active friend of all rifle- men. Tht result was that the Laflin & Rand out- SMOKELESS POWDERS FOR THE HANDLOADER 161 fit prepared a new bulk smokeless powder by tak- ing ibe fine screenings oi new E. C. or Schuetzen powder, reworking them, blending, coloring them the characteristic yellowish-gray, and marketing the powder to the guardsmen under the title o£ “Marksman.” It rapidly became so popidar that in time the demand exceeded the supply of screen- ing$» and some commercial lots were manufac- tured to keep pace with the call for it. When ab- sorbed fay Du Pont, this powder was manufactured for some years iiiiJcr the title of “Marksman” and later, shortly before Sporting Rifle J[8o was brought out, Du Pont changed the title to “Gallery Rillc #75.” h is an excellent powder, but there is 00 reason for regretting its passing, as |8o will do everything that is claimed for Du Pont Sporting Rifie ]^ 80 « Introduced in 1913 . Discontinued 1939 . No. Bo is the only remaining American rifle powder in the so-called “bulk” class, although it is by no means a true bulk- for-bulk powder in which equal bulk charges of black and smokeless arc used. No. 80, generally known as “Sporting Rifle $8o,” is essentially, in fact exactly, what its name implies— a rifle powder. It is, however, well adapted to certain lundgun loads if not used to obtain too great a velocity. The grains are fibrous, buff colored, irregular in sha[>e as are all sosol^e ^75 and faster than Rifle Smokeless #1. In many ways it is far superior, since it is by no means as hygroscopic as the older powder; it keeps well and stands up without deterioration even when stored in loaded cartridges for a long time. The writer loaded a batch of .30/06 mid- range target loads with t8o and left them in a friend's attic for approximately five years, forget- ting them entirely. A few months ago he stum- bled on the |\tckage and took them out on a clear windless day for a trial. They proved to be equal in accuracy at 50 yards to any load ever assembled for siKKXing at that range. There was no indica- tjun of corrosion or breakdown of the powder, although we opened a couple before the firing started. One major advantage of (Bo is that it meters through the average powder measure with excel- lent accuracy due to irs shape of grain. In the average powder measure, such as the Belding & Mull, Ideal, Rond, Comer, etc., it meters suffi- ciently close so that once the measure is properly adjusted tliere is little, if any, necessity for weigh- ing \i\e powder charges for these reduced loads. Also it “bulks” up well; in other words, it prop- erly fills much of the cartridge case and thus has an excellent loading density. It ignites perfectly even in small charges. It is cool burning, thus ex- cellent for plain lead-base bullets; and in the .30/06, with gas-chcck bullets, velocities up to 2000 f.s. can be obtained. There is one feature of #8o which is worthy of more than passing consideration. It has a so-called “critical point,” and charges greater than this “critical point” should never be used. Experimen- tation with #80 in numerous cartridges has demon- strated to the writer that beyond a certain point the heads of the cartridge cases swell badly and stick in the gun. It is extremely difficult to make a powder which will perform well for mid-range charges in high- power cartridges. The powder must be quick- A few a$$orttd powderi suitable for loading in both handguns and rilWs. Thne illastrations show grain shape but not grain size and are not comparative in that (hey were taken at didcreni times with Yaxious cameras: No. I, Du Pont IMR #1204* amallcsi granulation made having a perforation through the ccn> ter: No. 2, Hercules HiVel 4rh the btcsi of (he HiVel xriea — somewhat smaller in granulation than HiVei #2, and excellent in a wide range of rifk cartridges; No. 3» Du Pont IMR #1147» designed cbieHy for the Spring6eld cartridge, but well adapted to all military numbers; No. 4, Du Pont IMR eootaios (in and is being replaced by its successor IMR No. 5, Du Pont SR one of the finest mid* range and gallery powders fur all calibers of riBes; Ko. 6, Du Pont IMR pWA, now succeeded by an identically shaped powder known as #4064; No. 7, Hercules Lightning, excellent for medium and fu(l*charge rifle loads; No. S, Hercules HiVel #2, the coarsest granulation any powder on the market today; No. 9, Hercules Unique, the best powder for heavy loads in handguns ^ light loads of gallery strength for almost any caliber of rifle. For bandgoo nse, cicelkat velocaties and low pressures can be obtained SMOKELESS POWDERS FOR THE HANDLOADER 163 burning but not too quick. In other words, it must act at a point somewhere between the extra- rapid-burning powder used for smokeless blank cartridges (E. C. Blank Fire) and the powder used for full-charge loads. With too heavy a cliargc in the case, pressures mourn extremely rap- idly and are inclined to cause a minor detonation in the powder, crystallizing both the brass car- tridge case at the head and the chamber at that point. The result is a possible rupture. No. 8o powder is an excellent propellent but it has its limitations the same as any other powder. Its limi- tations should be watched and heeded. In the use of 58 o, abide by the so-called “maximum” loads recommended by the powder companies and do not attempt to go beyond this point. This advice is of even more importance when using mid-range powder than when using the so-c ailed full-chargc types, as the user of |8o is liable to get a false im- pression of his security. Sporting Rifle |8o was brought out as a result of a peculiar group of circumstances. When the Du Fonts absorbed the California Powder Works they took over an outfit which had for a great many years manufactured a line of fine-grained ,22-caliber Smokeless Rifle powders marketed to various loading companies only under the trade name of “CPW .22,’’ “CPW Automatic,” etc. These were hard-grained, white, sand-like powders. Shooters of .some twenty years ago will recall the use of these powders iu the .22 Automatic rifles of the class of the Winchester Model 03. The burn- ing of these powders gave a pungent and strange smell. They were extremely popular but were un- justly blamed by some shooters as being highly erosive. We have since learned that the erosion blamed on these powders was for the most part caused by the primer. Even some of the smokdess .22 Shorts of twenty years ago, when loaded with these CPW powders, had nearly as much priming as they had powder. These powders, however, were rather sensitive to moisture, and in 1913 Du Pont chemists com- menced improving them as a number of German smokeless brands were gectij^ altogether too much publicity in the United States and Great Britain. American loading companies were calling for bet- ter .22 smokeless powder, and the Du Fonts were anxious to get into this game as they found that Lesmok powder was far more dangerous to make than black powder. Du Pont chemists incor- porated in with the .22 CPW powders a dcierrcot and stabilizing agent, and the result was a some- what slower-burning powder which eventually be- came known as When the powder was first manufactured is not definitely known, but Lot 3 went into the factory in June 1914. The slower rate of burning adapted 58 o to full charges in larger capacity cases such as the .25/20, and mid- range charges in srill larger ones. For the hand- loader ouly norma] loads should be used, and no experiments should be tried in attempting to de- velop high-pressure results either in rifles or in handguns. This powder develops what a great many technicians prefer to term “high base pres- sure” in the rear cod of the case. With full charges it frequently causes stuck shells, and in single-shot actions sometimes breaks the extractors. Du Pont MR S 20 . Introduced 1909 . Discon- tinued Comnicxcially 1927 . Ihis much-maligncd powder has been manufactured and consumed in greater niiantities than any other type of smokeless powder built in America. It has served under dif- ferent names and has been known successively as Du Pont 1909 Military, Du Pont Military #20, and Government Pyro .30wdcr in the author’s collec- tion was discarticd many years agwclcr was graphited to assist in better gravity feeding through loading machines and to remove any chance of sparks occurring in handling through generated static electricity. This new powder was given the name of '‘1909 Mili- tary,” and this title was retained until 1914. when it was changed to “Military Rifle S20,” but always known by the Ordnance Deparunent under the official title of liber Pyro DG.” Hercules ( 308 . Introduced 1915 . Discontinued 1930 . This powder is practically identical with (20 and with Pyro DG and is merely the Hercules designation of the same powder, It was first man- ufactured by Hercules during the war and mar- keted to hand loaders in canister lots from 1915 up to the time of its discontinuance. Du Pont 1908 Military (MR ( 19 ). Introduced 1908 . Discontinued 1909 . Large black graphited tubular grains, length .09, diameter .045. This powder is none other than the powder previously mentioned under the designation of “Du Pont NGS2.” It was sold in canister lots for some time after its manufacturing discontinuance under the designation of “Military Rifle (19.” This was a nitroglycerine powder, and it had a very useful life of a few years. Although its manufacturing was discontinued, it was not officially discarded and manufacture was again taken up by Hercules and marketed under the name of “HiVel.” This was actually IliVcl (i, long since discontinued and replaced by the new HiVel officially known as “HiVcl J2,” approximately the same granulation, and its bter development “HiVel (3,” a finer grain size. Du Pont MR ( 10 . Introduced in 1910 . Discon- tinued 1915 . This powder was designed primarily for use m the .180 Ross cartridge at the time Sir Charles Ross developed the famous (or infamous) straighc-pull rifle. The .2S0 Ross cartridge was a large capacity case and has not been widely used in this country because its size requires a Magnum or extra bng type bolt action similar to the Mag- num Mauser. The shell has sharply tapering sides and bottle neck. Du Pnnt (20 failed to perform well — it burned too rapidly; so |io was produced with a larger grain and therefore slow'cr burning. Early developments in the vicinity of 1910 showed that the .280 Ross cartridge could be made to drive a 143-grain bullet at 3100 f.$. and the 180-grain bul- let at 2700 f.s., superior to anything else during its day, and to a great many since. No. to was a tubular powder having a grain diameter of 01)33 ^ length of .12 inch. These grains are about as long as anything ever developed in this country for small arms. Because of its grain size it doesn’t handle well in powder meas- ures and sliuukl be weighed for best results. Al- though this |x>wdcr was first manufactured in 1910 and used by bading companies «u that time, it was not released for canister sale until 1912. Its w'ork- ing pressure is from 52,000 to 57,000 pounds, and W'hilc it docs not burn properly at low pressures, at high pressures of 60,000 to 62,000 pounds it can be used successfully. How'ever, it should not be baded at these excessive pressures today, since very few cartridge cases can safely handle it. It was marketed entirely for use in the .280 Ross and was not sufficient I y flexible for reloading in other car- tridges until Newton brought out his line of .256, .30 Newton and .35 New'ton cartridges. In the .256 Newton, it can be used at vclocitic.s of about 2850, using about 46 grains witli the 123-grain bullet. Du Pont MR ( 21 . Introduced in 1913 . Dis- continued 1926 . Tubular graphited grains, length .04, diameter 03. This powder was designed as a companion to Du Pont (?.o for full-charge loads in such cartridges as the *25/35, Savage Hi* Power, .30/30 and the Remington Autoloading series. Although developed in 1913, it was not re- 166 COMPLETE GLIDE TO HANDLOADING leased lot canister sale until 191^. It is a some^ what (a$cer>burmng powder chan S20. Samples in my collection show that it has a black tubular-form grain, very similar to the popular !MR |i8. h had a much wider range of loading than any of the other MR series on the market and performed best at a burning pressure of between 36,000 and 41,000 pounds, (>erforming with reasonable success as low as 30,000 and up to 45,000. It is this powder which made the .250/3000 Savage a 3000 f.s. cartridge and for many years was the standard of loading companies in many of their bottle-neck cartridges. It works in the Krag and I have obtained some ex- cellent accuracy with it in the Springfield, although velocities were at a point between what we might call “mid-range” and “full charge.” It can be used with both gas-check and metal-jackctcd bullets giv- ing velocities between 1400 and 2000 {.s., but is not a successful powder for use with plain-base cast bullets. Its small grain makes ir excel lent fur handling in powder measures ^nd it was the most flexible of any of the regular burning or military rifle (x>\v while they proved to be extremely interesting to the Du Pont laboratories, did not appeal to me by any means. I had a hard time using up this experimental stuff for the very simple reason that a few shots would make the inside of a barrel look much the same as a well-used chimney. This was caused by a pow- der fouling in the form of metallic tin and gum deposited evenly throughout the bore. Without a shadow of tioubt this fin lubricated the bullet, par- ticularly in (he use of such types as the i8a-grain Palma Match, with its heavy cupro-nickel jacket, when used in the .30/06. Removal of the fouling, however, was by no means a simple cask, It re- quired heavy applications of powder solvents plus brass-bristle brushes and all the elbow grease one had to spare. It was soon found, however, that the metallic content of the early samples was much too great and most of this overdose of tin in the barrel was eliminated by the time 815I/2 was placed on sale in canisters. .Although no official announcement has ever been nude from the Du Pont laboratories, ihU metallic fin content has been reduced two or three times, which doesn’t affect the ballistics but makes for a cleaner-burning powder. There is really little use for the metallic tin content with present-day bullets, since cupro-nickel jackets are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Gilding raecal, together with its patented variation containing zinc and known as “Lubaloy,” or “Gilding Metal,” has crowded the necessity for this class of powders more or le.ss from the market. I would personally prefer the old #15 and will nor feef bad to see tills powder fall by the wayside to be replaced by IMR 1)4064. An interesting phenomenon is noted by the rc- loader who uses any of these ’-series powders. Recovered bullets, particularly of the gilding-metal- jacket variety, are beautifully tin-plated at any part of the jacket which contacts the bore. Many hun- dreds of these bu!lct.s have been recovered by the writer, and the tin plating persists, even on bullets fired with powders lacking tin content, for more than ten shots after the last powder shot is fired through a barrel. I’his may give one an excellent idea of the scrubbing necessary to remove this tin plating from bores. Du Pont IMR tl 7 ^. Introduced About 1923 . Discontinued 1933 . Black tubular grains, length .08, diameter ^>3. I his is another “tin-can” powder, and until the past year or so was the most popular member of the Du Pone scries of IMR’s. Essen- tially it is #16 with added tin, but w'as not released until the tin-content qualities had been thoroughly tested in 815 and most of the original faults over- come. It docs not burn as clean as Jti6 but was designed to replace it. It has a wide tolerance range and will perform in any cartridge in which its predecessor can be used. It is effectively re- placed by the new IMR 53031. A few excellent dense powders siiiiable for reloading: No. I. Du Pont IMR -^4320, oof of the latest powders designed to replace IMK #1147; No. 2, Du Pont IMR #4227^ another of the newer types of powders designed to replace IMR #1204 and do« not coduid tin the same size granulation as #12U4; No. 3, Du Punt IMR #3031, die first oi the new Du Pont series* and designed to replace i^\7Vix No. 4, Hercules Bullseye, the oldest revolver powder on the market and still one of the most reliable^granu* lation the finest in any American smokeless powder; No. 5, Hercules Herco Shotgun, suitable for gallery and medium*powcr loads in handguns — must be used carefully not suitable for ride use; No. 6, Her* cules #2400 Rifle, cscelleut for siiiall*capadly cartridges, may be used in certain handgun cartridges for heavy loads; No. 7, Hercules #2401, is dmibr in #2400 except In rale of bumiag and has never been sold in canisters; No. b, Hercules bbaipshooter, exceUenl for rifle use; No. 9, Hercules Infallible Shotgun, intended only for shotgun uk, but is escelleoi for full-charge loads in revolvers must be loaded slightly lighter than Hercules L'nique, af^roximately one grain less for safety 170 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING Du Pont IMR il 7 . Introduced in 1915 . Dis- continued 1925 . This powder was essentially a minor variation of Jr6 designed for wartime use of the British Government in the .303 Lee-Itnfidd cartridge* particularly for aircraft service. Many hundreds of tons of it were used by Great Britain. In additiaii to use by the British Government, many thousands of pounds of it were shipped into Canada to be loaded into .30/06 cartridges for the United States* and it was widely used by various loading companies in this country on Army coQ' tracts, particularly in the Model 1917 .30/06 Tracer cartridges. In addition, it was used in loadings for foreign governments of the 8-ram. Lebcl and the 7.62-mm. Russian military cartridge. Much of this old-time ammunition was broken down hy reload- ers after the war, and large stocks of the powder were reloaded. It is reasonably flexible, but load- ing dara on it are difScult to locate. Du Pont 31204. Inuoduced in 1925 . Diseon- tinued 1935 . Black tubular grains, length di- ameter .025. This is the smallest granulation of any powder in the IMR series, and Wallace Coxe, Du Font's ballistic engineer, once told me that it was the smallest-grained perforated powder ever pro- duced. It handles excellently in powder measures because of this granulation, but since it is so fine- grained, it will settle rapidly if a measure is not handled uniformly, thereby throwing overcharges. This is not the fault of the powder but of the operator; a skilful hand loader can readily avoid these problems. No. 1204 was designed for use at pressures in the vicinity of 18,000 pounds. Its mak- ers originally believed ic to be lacking in flexibility and insisted that its use should be limited to small- capacity cartridge cases like .25/20, .32/20, .38/40 and .44/40. The writer’s first experience with this powder in 1926 was with Lot S4. He found it to be a remarkable pow'der in many ways, and despite numerous complaints about loading den- sity, began experimenting with ii for reduced charges in the .30/06 against the recommendadoos of Du Pont. He found that for loo-yard loads with standard bullets both in me tab jacket and gas- check variciies, it was an excellent performer even in light loads, and this powder is now recom- mended by Du Pont for this purpose. It must, however, be kept near the primer W'hen large- capacity cases are used. No. 1204 can claim an- other distinctive feature — it made possible ihc de- velopment of the Hornet cartridge. No other powder during that period would produce the superlative accuracy obtained by Horner bullets in the tiny case, It will still deliver the goods. It will also operate at pressures much lower llian 18/xx) and w'ith reasonable performance up to 40,000. In accuracy it is equal to numbers 75 and 80 when properly loaded, allhougli by no means as flexible. Its successor, IMR (4227, does a much better job, however, in all cartridges. Du Pont IMR $ 1147 . Introduced in 1923 . Dis- continued 1935 . Block tubular grains, length .04, diameter x>^. This powder was brought out for use in cartridges in the .30/06 class but has been found to be excellently adapted to the Krag, 6.5-mm. Mannlichcr, 7-mm. Mauser, 7.62-mm. Rus- sian, 7.9-mm. Mauser, and H-mm. Mannlichcr. It is a fine-grained nitrocellulose performingbesc with jacketed bullers only, ranging from the 1 lo-grain up to 220- and 225-grain bullets in the .30/06. With no-grain High Speed a 50-grain charge will give a muzzle velocity of 2640, while 62 grains arc required to get the maximum velocity of 3320 f.s. with a pressure in the vicinity of 55,000 pounds. Because it requires heavy charges it has never been excessively popular with reloaders, since equal ac- curacy and velocity can be obtained with other members of the IMR family with from eight to ten grains lighter weight of powder charge. Early canisters of this pow'dcr horc the title “EX-1147.” Those recently used have dropped the ex(>eri mental letters. This powder is effectively replaced by the new IMR $4320. Du Pont IMR 31185 . Introduced in 1926 . Dis- continued 1938 . Black tubular grains, length X)85, diameter .03. This powder was designed chiefly for Government use with the i73-grain Mark [ bullet in the .30/06. It has never been sold ID canisters for reloading, although it has been available for many years to members of the Na- tional Rifle Association in bulk lots on direct pur- chase from Government arsenals. Since it is not a standardized powder and differs lot for lot, bal- listic specifications must be checked closely with those listed; and while it may be overloaded to a reasonable extent, loads developing velocities in CXCC.SS of slaadard are in the vicinity of the danger point. Du Pont IMR 33031 . Introduced in 1934 . Still Manufactured 1948 . Black tubular grains, length .085, diameter .035. This is one of the newest of Du Font's developments. While first produced early in 1934 and used by a few' experimenters and by loading companies, thus powder was not re- leased for canister trade until mid- 1935. It is a modification of 5i7!4 greatly improved, although in appearance it is almost identical and will re- place tiyVi in the IMR family. It contains no metallic tin, therefore eliminating fouling prob- lems and making it one of the cleanest-burning SMOKELESS POWDERS FOR THE HANDLOADER 171 powders in the Du Pont family. Designed for use in cartridges of the .30/1)6 clas-s it i.s sufficiently flexible to Cake in the entire line from .22 Hi- Power and Magnums through the Military series and up to the .405 Winchester. It delivers veloci- ties equal to 817/2 with much lower pressures. It is cooler -burning and thus creates less wear and erosion in the barrel. I have been using this powder since Lot Si was manufactured, and one of the first loads with it was developed according to my specifications. Us- ing FA components in the .30/06, including the FA T73-grain Mark I boat-tail, 38.8 grains gave a muzzle velocity of about 2260 f.s. with a pressure of 2y,joo. At 100 yards this particular load in my Springfield Sporter can be depended upon to make I Vi -inch lo-shot groups and on occasion with tele- scope and muzzle and elbow rest has produced groups as small as % inch center to center. Be- yond a doubt this powder will, during the next few years, crowd 817/2 from the field. It will do everything that 817^ will do, and in addition leave the barrel as clean as one could desire. We have used it in various calibers from .22 Magnums up, and in every case accuracy has been superior to that obtainable with nay oiher powder, particularly if siiilicicm experimentation is conducted with indi- vjdiial loads to determine the proper balance. We have used it experimentally with pressures as high as 65,000 pounds, and on a special test with selected components in a stock model W'inchester 54 7-mm. using the Remington I39*grain gilding- metal -jacketed Military type (FMJ), a loc^yard group was shot in which the entire ten shots could be covered by the head of a 7-mm. or .30/06 car- tridge case. This is the smallest lOO-yard group the writer has ever seen. The pressures course, were far in excess of safety limits, and velocity was tremendous, even in ihc 24 -inch standard-length barrel. Loadings for this new powder have been included in the various tables in another part of this book. It is one of the few powders on today’s market which have made possible the superior accuracy and velocit)' obtained with the .22 Mag- nums now being developed and such canridges as the .257 Roberts and .25 Niedncr-Krag. Watch this powder. Du Pont IMR 84064. Introduced in 1935. Still Manufactured 1948. Black tubular grains, lei^th .085, diaraeter x)36. AUliciugh the first lot of this powder was manufactured in 1935 and in use by the author almost as soon as manufactured, it did not become available for canister sale until August 1936. This powder has the general characteristics of its predecessor, 83031, although it is somcr what slower burning, more along the lines of 8^5/4' When ihc demand falls off for die earlier powder it is the plan of Du Pont to discontinue #15^4, as 84064 effectively replaces it. The powder is extremely flexible and some tests run with Lot #i indicate that 41 grains will give a muzzle ve- locity of 2275 £.8. in the .30/06 using FA com- ponents and the 173-gTain Mark I bullet. This load develops the absurdly low pressure of 29,000 pounds. With 52 grains and the same components, a ve- locity of 2825 f.s. with remarkable accuracy is ob- tained, yet rhis ti emend oils velocity is obtained with the mean pressure of 51,000 pounds. Du Pont IMR 84198. Introduced 1935. Still Active 1948. Black tubular grains, length about .085, diameter .025. This is a third member of the Du Pont super-improved line. It is similar in composition to 83031 but considerably faster-burn- ing. It is designed to replace IMR 825 and 82554, two very excellent powders, which for some strange reason have never been sold in canisters. This powder is designed for use in cartridges .of the .22 Hi-Power, *25/35, ch^s. It is extremely flexible, Iwwever, and performs excel- lently between 30,000 and 53,000 pounds. It does, however, require a considerably lighter charge to obtain equal velocity with a given bullet. Some of my loads with Lot 81 tested early in 1935 show that 33 grains develop a muzzle velocity of 2260 f.s. with FA components in the .30/06 with the Mark I bullet. This compares with the 38. S grains of 83031 to obtain the same velocity; pressures run 5000 pounds greater— alv)in 34,000 pounds. Accu- racy is not quite as good as 83031 with this load. However, 37.0 grains give a muzzle velocity with the same components of 2450 w'ith excellent ac- curacy and a pressure of 42,000 pound.*;; 39,8 grains run up a pressure of 50,000 pounds with a muzzle velocity of only 2575 f.s. This indicates that the powder is somewhat out of its class when used for loads approaching the standard velocity in these largeopacity cases. Du Pont IMR 84320. Introduced in 1935. Still Active 1948. Black tubular grains, length .043, diame^r .035. This particular powder is designed to fit the military sizes of cartridges for which 81147 was developed. It will replace the old IMR 8^147 wlieu the demand for that earlier powder drops off to the point where manufacture is impractical. This, like 84198 and 84064, was not placed on can- ister sale until August 1936. Lot 8i was manu- factured in July 1935 and in use by the author early in August of that year. It seems to perform much better in the Springfield than the 81147, and the 172 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING latter powder was always a favorite with this ex- perimenter. Du Pom IMR # 4227 , Introduced in 1935 . Still Active 1948 . Fine black tubular grains matching IMR #1204, the finest tubular powder ever manu- factured in this country. Length 025, diameter .025. This powder is another fine development containing no tin and was formally placed on the market in August 1956. It is designed to replace #1204, which it eventually will do. In heavy loads, particularly in smallwder5, num- bers 4198, 4227, 4064, 4^20, and 3031, are straight nitrocellulose progressive-burning types and contain no tin. Ali these new powders are essentially of the same general composition. Besides the absence of tin they have a specially incorporated flash in- hibitor, a distinct forward step in powder develop- ment, This particularly dignified-sounding name means that by means of chemical treatment the flash or muzzle bLisi has been reduced to the mini- mum possible for any particular luadiiig. This is of extreme importance. A tremendous blast at the muzzle means that a large percentage of the effectiveness of the powder is being wasted. At the same time it is extremely annoying, both to the shooter and to the bystander, and for hunting pur- poses makes a tremendous concussion which in dry air of the w'oods is inclined to carry a much greater distance than is wise for successful hunting. These new powders are slightly more efficient than the old scries of powders which they replace. For the same velocity and approximately the same pressure, a slightly lower weight of charge can be used. IMR #4064, #4198 and #3031 all have die same length of grain but of difTcrent diameter. IMR S4320 has a shorter-cut grain and a larger diameter than the previous three, whereas 11^ #4227 has a still smaller cut and a smaller diameter rhan any of the others. Dti Pont Pistol # 1 . Introduced 19 H. Discon- tinued 1915 . Black disc gr.ain.s diameter jo ^$, thick- ness 002. This is a jx^wder about which many ru- mors have been started but none actually finished. Pistol #i was actually nothing but the old #2 Bulls- cye as manufaaured by Du Pont after the courts assigned all of the old established [X)wders to the new Hercules firm back around 1914. Through some son of gentlemen s agreement Du Pont was {permitted to sell Bullscyc under this brand to load- ing companies under the above name. Much of it was .snld to the United States Government, and many shooters will recall .45 AGP cartridges la- beled “Du Pont Pistol #1.” It was never offered on sale to the general trade, nor was it ever packed in ordinary canisters. It was, of course, a nitro- glycerine powder. RSQ or Resque. Introduced 1909 . Discon- tinued 1911 . Manufactured for loading companies and the Government by Du Pom, \vho also re- leased it in canisters to the general trade. .Also manufactured for the Government by the Amer- ican Powder Mills of Miissachuscus. The liistory of this powder is quite interesting as it served as the stop-gap with the Model 1909 .45 Colt car- tridge. In 1909, when the Government adopted the .45 revolver of douhle-action variety, commer- cially known as the “Colt New Service,” which was generally restricted for use in (he Philippines, it developed a new cartridge ease w'iih a wider rim so that the extractor would function with cer- tainty. Tile .45 Coll cartridge, ns made for ihc single-action revolver, had a very narrow rim, while the Model 1909 cartridge is so wide that it cannot be used in single-action revolvers unless the cylinder is staggered with every* other ch.'imhcr loaded. As a gentle hint at this moment, hand- loaders who have a supply of these old Model 1909 cartridge eases which they desire to reload may use them in single-action revolvers if small slabs arc filed from the rims to permit (hem to enter the cylinder without overlapping. About this time the Government commenced to have trouble when its loading machines developed SMOKELESS POWDERS FOR THE HANDLOADER 173 the annoying habit of occasional [y dropping two charges (a double charge) of BuUseye into a single case, which usually meant that that was the last shot you fired out of that particular gun. Ord- nance exfwrts approached Du Pont (who was then making BuUseye) demanding a new powder, main specifications of which were that it must bulk up so that it would prevent a double charge without overflowing a shell, or so chat pressure from a double charge would be so low' as to fail to burst the gun. The energetic Du Pont boys hopped to it and played with screenings of Schultz shotgun powders, working the new powder over a bit be- fore trying it out. It did not bulk up sufficiently to absolutely prevent a double charge from enter- ing a case, bin it developed pressures from double charges wliich were much lower than BuUseye. It would not burst the gun on the first double shot, but would wreck the cylinder when the second one went of? in the same chamber. Those who ex- perimented with Resque during the early days w'ill recall that it was possible Co Are six double charges out of a .38 Smith & Wesson Military and Police model and not have anything happen except a loud ringing in the cars. On the seventh shot, however, the cylinder would open up practically every time. The rupture, however, wa.s nnt nearly as violent or severe as with BuUseye. Tho [Xjwder worked and was reasonably safe, $0 tile Ordnance boys grabbed at it with the remark to Du Pont that “you folks have certainly rescued us this time.'* Major K. K. V. Casey (then Cap- tain), with his typical wit, immediately slamm^ executives of Du Pont with the comment, “Lct*s call this new powder ‘RSQ.’” It was a typical bulk puvvder with well-formed egg-shaped smooth grains of a soft gray color. Despite the cbims of many persons concerning its instability, a canister bearing Lot Numbers 4-849 in the author’s posses- sion, manufactured in 1909 and kept sealed in its original canister up to 1935, fails to show any signs of decomposition and performs excellently in load- ing normal charges for revolvers. There are un- doubtedly many canisters of this powder still in the hands of handJoaclcrs, and those who have It may use it if it appears to be in good condition, provided they treat it in accordance with the sug- gestions for the handling of bulk smokeless powder in the following chapter. When the Ordnance Department ad opted the Model 1911 Automatic pistol and its cartridge, they abandoned RSQ and returned to the old BuUseye, although it was avail- able in canister form for many years until the supply became exhausted. Du Pont Pistol S 3 . Introduced 1913 . Discon- tmued 1921 . Flat gray discs, diameter .03, thick- ness .002. This obsolete Pyro, which was widely used by reloaders some years ago, was long popu- lar. The final lot to be manufactured bore the desigoaiioii “Lot 1007/’ and went through the plant in September 1921. Many tons of it were sold to the Government for use in the 45 ACP cartridge. With the standard 230-grain bullet a 6-grain charge produced standard muzzle velocity of 800 f.s.; 8.5 grains in the 45 Colt with the 250-grain lead bullet gave 900 f.s. velocity, a tremendously powerful load, while 5 grains in the .38 Special with the standard 158-grain lead bullet produced a muzzle velocity of 895 f.s. It was a dense powder, and while it proved an excellent number during its life- time, its succe.ssnr, f5, was so far superior tliat it rapidly fell into the discard. It was Du Pom’s first “offense” in the line of a dense nitrocellulose pistol powder. Its salesmen had their previously manu- factured RSQ, but they found that persons who bought RSQ invariably went back to BuUseye. Du Pont chemists went to work on all existing dense nitrocellulose powders and began reworking, rc- shredding and regranulating them in experimental lots. The major feature of Pistol J3 was that it gave slightly lighter recoil than BuUseye and bulked up well in the case, thus helping both hand- loaders and cartridge mamifaciurers lo eliminate double charges. h$ chief popularity, however, was with the Itandloaders, as most cartridge makers have based their specifications on the quaint for- mula that “number of loads per pound” is the best test of powder when buying it. Du Pont Pistol i 5 » Introduced 1920 . Discon- tioued 1940 . Flat gray discs, diameter .035, thickness .01. Pistol 35 is a finely granulated nitro- cellulose powder intended for use in revolver and pistol cartridges. It has been used in various lots of Government ammunition and to a Large extent by ammunition manufacturers. It is one of the best numbers for the handloader, as it will produce reasonable velocities, including those somewhat higher than standard, with safe pressures. It should, however, be handled carefully, as it has a balance point of around 15,000 pounds’ pressure, and when used in too heavy a charge is inclined to become erratic. It can be worked successfully in pressures as low as 6000 pounds, and for handguns makes a very successful reduced or mid-range target-load powder suitable for indoor use. It will also work well up to 17,000 and i8,ooo pounds and for many years up until 1935 was Du Font’s sole handgun powder. Canisters contain eight ounces. 174 COMPLETE GUTOE TO HANDLOADING Hercules Pyro PistoL Introduced in 1922 * Dis^ continued in 1928 . Dirty yellow disc grains, lightly graph i ted, diameter .04, thickness .005. Pyro Pistol powder, often known as '* Hercules 1922 Pyro Pis- tol” and as “HES 433/' was a special powder de- signed for use in the .45 Automatic pistol and won the 1923 pistol-ammunition tryouts of the Govern- ment. Pyro Pistol was a large disc-shaped powder with a grain similar in appearance to Pistol (5, but granulation was nearly twice that thickness. Some ten years ago I used this in various cartridges, par- ticularly in the .38 Special, and was well pleased with its performance. Only limited quantities were placed on the market, and it is rare at this date. Very few so-called “canister data** were ob- tained with it, and it would be necessary for any user to write Hercules direct, giving his lot num- ber, if he desired loading information. Du Pont Oval Shotgun. Introduced in 1921 . Discontinued 1942 . Irregular black discs, diameter .04, length ,(K>3. Thi.s is very similar to Du Pont Sporring Rifle 59^, but (he laucr was de- signed for a2 Long Rifle cartridge use and never released to canister trade. Oval Shotgun is a pro- gressive-burning powder designed to give maxi- mum loads in the so-called long-range shot shells. Many reloaders are known to have found that in light charges in rifle cartridges of large capacity it performs well with various bullets, both the lead and jacketed types. Extreme care must be taken, however, in its use, as loading data are not avail- able and it is inclined to be extremely tricky when .used at high pressures. Its use is not recommended for rifle or pistol cartridges. DOUBLE-BASE OR NITROGLYCERINE POWDERS Hercules Sharpshooter SI. Introduced in 1897 . Still Manufactured 1948 . Perforated black discs, diameter .075, thickness joiy. This is one of the earliest of American nitroglycerine rifle powders and was designed for use in the 45/70 Govern- ment cartridge. Originally designed and manu- factured by Laflin & Rand, it has been successively manufactured by Du Pont from 1902 to 1914, and by Hercules since that dare. It was a fmc-graiiied powder of ihe deiue nitroglycerine type. Contain- ing 40% nitroglycerine when first manufactured, it was tremendously erosive on rifle barrels, al- though its ballistics were excellent. It was not intended for bottle-neck cartridges, although the pow'dcr manufactured by Hercules in recent years is siighdy different in formula and performs ex- cellently, particularly with light bullets where there is very little bullet or neck resistance. Sharp- shooter is very easy to ignite and extremely ac- curare in performance. It burns best at around 20,000 pounds pressure, hut ihe tolerance is ex- tremely wide and can be used in bads .so very light in rifles that they can hardly be measured on a pressure gauge. At the same time it can be used with bads running as high as 40/xx) pounds in cartridges designed to operate at such pressures. It is an excellent mid-range and reduced powder for any of the bottle-neck types of cartridges, re- gardless of caliber. It is still widely used by am- munition manufacturers in their various Automatic or Self-Loading rifle cartridges. Sharpshooter is the fastest-burning of the entire old line o£ Her- cules nirroglyccrine powders. Hercules Sharpshooter S 2 . Introduced in 1902 . Discontinued in 1914 (?). Black perforated discs, diameter <075, thickness .012. Sharpshooter 2 is al- most identical with |i except in thickness of grain. It was developed by the Du Fonts almost as soon as they took over the Laflin H Rand factory in 1902. Hercules acquired it in 1914. This powder was discontinued by Hercules, and the regular canister grades of Sharpshooter on the market today arc known merely under that designation, although they actually arc SharpshtK>tcr #1. No. 2 was de- signed for all c.'irtridges to which was adapted. It was greatly improved when the old Laflin Si Rand-Du Pont formula was taken over by Her- cules in 1913. Hercules WA. .30 Caliber. Introduced in 1898 . Discontinued in 1930 . Black perforated discs, di- ameter j 38, thickness .045. W.A. powder was named for Whistler and Aspinwall, the chemists who designed it. It contains 30% nitroglycerine. In (he early 1900’s this powder held all accuracy records in the Krag cartridge, but did not perform as successfully in the Model 1903 or 1906 types (the Model 1903 was almost idciuical with die Model 1906 except for bullet weight and length of neck of cartridge case). The earlier cartridge used a siighdy longer neck and a 220-grain Krag bullet. In 1906 the neck was shortened .06 inch to its present standard and the familiar 150-grain Spitzer or pointed bullet substituted for the round-nosed Krag (sec reference to Pyro DG). W.A. is not very flexible and burns best at pressures between 35/)co and 40,000 pounds. It is suitable for botde necks and big-caliber cartridges with long heavy bullets such as the .33 W.C.F, and .35 Winchester. It burns more quickly chan the later Hercules de- velopment of HiVel but more slowly than either Sharpshooter or Lightning. It is quite erosive on barrets and is not recommended for the rcloadcr if SMOKELESS POWT5ERS FOR THE HANDLOADER 175 other pwwders are avaikbie. During the World War much .30/40 Krag ammunition was loaded by commercial manufacturers for the Government, and most of these loads used W.A. powder. Gov- ernment tests show that barrels have a useful life of nor more than 2000 rounds when this powder is employed. Hercules Lightning il. Introduced lfl99. Still Manufactured 1948. Black perforated discs, diam- eter .075, thickness .03. Originally a Laflin & Rand dcvcloj)mcnt, Lightning went to Du Pont when that firm absorbed the L. & R. outfit in 1902, and changed hands again in 1914 when assigned by C^ourt order to the newly formed Hercules Powder Company. Lightning has been widely criticized by rcloadcrs because of its erosive qualities, but it is an excellent powder from an accuracy standpoint, and much of the criticism of it is unfounded, par- licularly when it is used with nonuuds and well below 20,000. It can be used in most of the bottle-neck cartridges but w'as designed pri- marily for use in the .30/06 and other military types. It gives a lower pressure at a given velocity than nitrocellulose powders, leaves very little resi- due, and requires a much lower charge. It has been asserted by some authorities that HiVel is highly erosive, but it is believed that this statement Thlrry-fivc different kinds of rifle powders used hy the uullior in his bandloadinf. been sdded to the nbove list since the photo was taken Eight others have Rand and later taken over by Du Pont, then turned over to Hercules. The original Laflin & Ruiicl smokeless sliotgun powder was an orange- color granulation in discs. It was improved somc- w'hac, the grains graph! ted and brought out under the name of Infallible. It was for a quarccrwdcr measures but is lacking primarily in bulk, as in most hand- gun rarrridtfc cases it does not by any means fill ibe case and care must be taken to prevent double charges being thrown. “Bullseye,” as it is generally known, nr “Bulls- eye #2,” as it is officially known, began its existence when Laflin fit Rand developed the first Bullseye made jfrom “sweepings” of Infallible Shotgun Smokeless. It was jokingly said that they swept up the plant regularly to get Bullseye revolver powder. As a matter of fact, these so-calicd “sweepings” arc what is better known technically as “screenings” lliey were, of course, of irregular graiiulatlun and for the most p,ari fine piiriial cuttings of the larger powders. It look a small pinch or iwo to develop a cliarge equal to normal black powder in a re- volver cartridge, and twice that amount usually meant that the revolver was retired from active service. When this original Bullseye or Bullseye fi came out, it went over like wildfire both among ammunition manufacturers and in the hanclload- ing clan. The boys began playing with it and blew up a few handguns, but they invariably traced the wrecks to ihcir own carelessness. About the lime that the Du Ponts inherited die plant through the absorption of Luflin & Rand in 1902, they found dial dicre were by no means enough screcuings available to fill the growing de- maud for Bullseye, as it had been accepted at that time by Frankford Arsenal and various loading companies as the thing in the smokeless powder family. Du Pont therefore set to work to manu- facture some special powder for loading-company use, developing the smallest possible grain diameter and cutting the strings into as thin flakes as 178 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING chanical ingenuity would permit. The result was an extremely small round disc which bulked up somewhat better than the original Bullscyc, took a slightly heavier charge » and began not only to sell Lu loading companies but also to the handloading family in canister lots. This became knowu as Bullseye and the original Bullseyc from that time on was called “Bullseye Ji/’ The exact date of development of this t2 Bullseyc is somewhat in doubt— probably around 1904. It can be used in very small charges in rifle cartridges if the muzzle of the gun is elevated for each shot, particularly when used with round balls or buckshot. This is advised against, however, as there arc many other powders available which arc far more satisfactory for this purpose. Hercules 87400. Introduced in 1932. Still Manu- factured 1948. Black discs, diameter u)3, thick- ness .ora. Although brought out in 1932, this powdtT was not released to the rcloadcrs or can- ister trade until 1933. It is a very fine-grained dense type,, similar in composition to HiVel. It is quick-burning and for that reason is one of the most flexible powders in the Hercules line. It can be used in revolver cartridges to obtain high veloc- ity, yet in the same cartridges it can be used for mid-range indoor target loads. Ir was designed particularly for such Ciiriridgcs as the .22 Hornet, .25/20, etc., and here it is at its best. However, it cun also be used for both full charge and reduced loads in cartridges as large as the .30/06. The tabulations of loading data elsewhere in this book list the use of 82400 in more than 30 different car- tridges. It can be used in the .30/06 with an 8o- grain .32/20 hollow-point bullet, and in this car- tridge 26 grains give a muzzle velocity of 2500 £4. with a pressure well below 20,000 pounds. By the same token, 43.4 grains give a muzzle velocity of 3600 f.s. with 51,000 pounds. With a gas loading game which slip tiie auemion of the beginner. He merely accumulates tools, a can or two of pow'der, and then goes ahead in an eAbrt to secure good results. He finds that instead of quitting the game after a few months, he con- tinues on throughout the years. He buys and ac- cumulates more and more different powders, ex- perimenting with loads, recording the results, and doing the job over as it strikes his fancy; and then he begins to realize that the care and storage of powder is a problem worthy of real considerntioD. For some peculiar reason, the true inwardness of w'hicli I have never been able to discover, smoke- less powder has been banned from the United States mails ever since the beginning of its history. It was long banned from normal express shipments as well, but today it may travel by express. In Storage, smokeless powder is by no means any more dangerous than articles of celluloid, including Alms. Paints arc more dangerous than powder. Most foreign countries permit the mailing of pow- der in special metal or pasteboard cubes, and in* Germany in particular, powder is packed in two different ways— canisters or kegs for store sales, and heavy cardboard tubing for mailing purposes. It seems that in the early days of smokeless pow- der, trouble was derived from decomposition, but this problem has been entirely eliminated for the past twenty years. If you desire to abide strictly by the law, it would be well to check up your local city or town ordi- nances covering the subject. Many cities bar the storage of powders either in stores or private dwell- ings, and this is a point well worth looking up. Ten pounds of smokeless powder, if ignited during a blaze which destroys or partially destroys a dwell- ing, will not create the slightest trace of explosion; hut it will intensify the blaze for a short period. Celluloid toys, combs and similar articles will burn fully as furiously and accelerate the fire fully as much. Films, either exposed or unexposed, arc even more deadly in storage in case of fire. They arc inclined to give off obnoxious fumes and dense smoke in burning, and yet you can store a thousand dollars’ worth of films in your house without a per- mit. Most cities also fail to have ordinances con- trolling the storage in normal quantities of gasoline, benzine, naphtha, and many similar cleaning fluids within a private dwelling, yet a quart of gasoline stored in a gallon can, in case of fire, will not burn — it will explode! Regardless of your opinion of the local ordinance controlling the storage of smokeless powder, it is well to bear in mind that if you disobey this ordi- nance, have any form of conflagration In your property, and llwn endeavor to collect insurance, the insurance company may void your policy if it learns that you had powder on hand, even though the powder had nothing to do whatever with the fire and even happened to be in a portion of the house which was not burned. Bear that in mind. A quarter-century ago some of the early smoke- less powders began to deteriorate in storage. They did not explode, but they created fire through spontaneous combustion. Accordingly, it is well to examine your supply of powder ai frequent in- tervals to determine if any lias begun to deteriorate. Examine carefully any canister that shows signs of rusting. There is a reason for that rust. If it is caused by atmospheric conditions, sec that they are corrected. If it is caused by deterioration of powder, destroy shat ioS of powder immediately I Do not attempt to save or use any portion of it. Deteriorating powder may or may not be safe to use in a gun. Generally speaking, if powder dc- teriorates it loses its strength, and numerous Gov* ernment tests of deteriorated powders are in the au- thor’s files to bear this our. Occasionally, however, detcri oration causes just the opposite effect, and a small quantity of powder is not worth saving if it is endar^ring the shooter’s eyesight or one of his pet guns. Wherever possible, keep your powder in the original container or canister. Many powder can- isters come through without a cork stopper within the tin cover. To remove this cover, you must, of course, break the seal, but it is well lo do so as soon as you receive your canister. If it has a thin sheet of ojrk in the canister top, screw it down tightly and lay the canister aside; if not, make a cork seal. Always date your canisters on the label indicating when purchased and where. Some canisters have 180 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING 3 lot number. Be sure that the lot number remains intact. Du Pont formerly placed a lot number on a strip of paper pasted to the bottom uf the canister. This frequently came oil and was acci- dentally lost. It is wise to recopy the lot numbers on the label in ink. When the labels of your can- ister show signs of dropping of? or are badly dam- agedj remove them and make new ones. The most successful label is a strip, one or two inches wide> of ordinary medicinal adhesive tape. A new kind of tape recently brought out by Rauer & Black and similar companies is waterproof and smooth. Any adhesive tape will stick solidly to a tin am and re- main there throughout the years. Waterproof drawing ink Is the best for inscribing the necessary data. Do not use a pencil. Do not attempt to paste ordinary paper labels to your tin with mu- cilage, glue or other material, or use sose. The powder is poured from can- isters, boxes or cups into the receptacle, always in the same spot, so that it forms a conical pile, the top grains running down the side of the growing heap. When the entire batch is poured into ilie dish, the operator gently stirs the pile and ilien re- peats the mix-pour process. Tliis is done several times, whereupnn the powder is thoroughly blended and may be stored in canisters, bottles or fruit iars. Be sure (hat it is labeled. Incidentally, [or this purpose you will find it convenient to save all empty powder canisters, as they may be used quite successfully through the removal of labels. The most important subject of powder blending concerns the bulk powders such as Du Pom Smokeless Shotgun, Empire, E. C., Gallery #75, S. R. J8o, f I Rifle, and behuetzen. No. i Rifle and Schuetzen arc particularly friable powders (which is to say, the grains will crush in storage). It is well to bear in mind that the finer the granulation of a given powder, the greater the velocity and pressure developed with the same weight of charge. Velocity, however, increases but slightly in com- parison to pressure. Very fine grains of any bulk powder can seriously affect the shooting and even on occasion may blow up a gun. Du Pont Smokeless Shotgun is not quite as fri- able as some of the others, but it has a tremendous variation in grain size. 'I'his also applies to Schuetzen and E. C. If you have a canister, empty it into a dish and notice the tendency of fine grains of powder to collect togcilicr in spots while the coarser granulation moves over to group up in an entirely dilTcrail part of the mixture. Notice, also, in your pouring, that a fine dust arises, said dust being (he direct result of abrasion in storage, as (his must all be screened out before the lot of pow- der is considered “completed.” Bulk powders, since they are much lighter in bulk than the hard or dcnsc-grain rifle powders, must be treated carefully to remove the dust. Fine screen wire is quite successful. This screenmg or wire gauze can be obtained from w great many sources. A good material fur screening this fine dust from hulk powder is ordinary finc-mesh gauze such as is used for straining gasoline. A gentle breeze should be blown on it from an electric fan or hand syringe; but if possible avoid using the breath, as these |X)wders will absorb moisture to an alarming degree. Before using the powders, blend thoroughly through the pouring process to pre- vent running assorted granulations into your car- tridges when fettling through a powder mea.su re. It is well to empty the hopper of the |*>owder meas- ure at frequent intervals and to refill it with a pro|Krly blended lot. If ibis process is followed carefully, more uniform loadings will result. Cani.siers uf powder should be stored where they will be away from inspection of inquiring friends who like 10 perform experiments of shaking can- isters, pouring out samples in the hand for exami- nation, and pouring said samples back in again after much mauling in the fingers. Many hand- loaders prefer to keep only a single canister of a given kind in their handloading room if they use this room frequently. Cellars may he used for the storage of the balance of the powder if they arc naturally dry. If your cellar is damp, by no means |>ermit the storage of your powder there, as the dampness is ceruiii to damage the powder or the canister containing it. A clean dry attic is usually the best place for storage, but here again one runs into the problem of heat. With certain bulk pow- ders, storage in the summertime beneath a hot attic roof may increase their strength alarmingly through the evaporation of normal moisture in the powder. By all means use some form of powder chest 182 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING kept under lock and key. Any wooden chest will do, the larger the better. Canisters should be scored upright, if possible, rather than on their sides; and do not leil your friends and neighbors the exact quantit>' of powder you have around. It may prove embarrassing if some city official w*ho through ignorance docs not understand the prob- lems of the bandleader decides that two or three different kinds of powder are altogether too much to he permitted in his territory. Keep your re- serve supply of powder properly protected; and it is well to have a good reserve supply at all times. Until early 1936, it was Impossible for the aver- age handloader to move powder by express. The Interstate Commerce Commission had ruled that smokeless powders were “high explosives** and thus dangerous to transpon-^too dangerous tu (per- mit being moved on a passenger train. Powders could be moved under special permit when prop- erly packaged and labeled with a special red label marked “Explosive — Sample for Laboratory Ex- amination.** The spec I beat ions called for packing in canisters containing not over eight ounces each, and in sliipmcnls totaling not over hve pounds. These canisters must be packed in a wo^ box, which must, in turn, be packed in another wood box, the inner lx>x being separated from the outer by a minimum of four inches of closely I’xicked sawdust, excelsior or shavings. It was impossible to ship to other than recognized laboratories be- cause of these restrictions. I recall with great satisfaction a shipment re- ceived from Du Pont one morning when a certain Inspector who may read these lines happened to he present as the red-labclcd shipment arrived. I called to pick it up, as I had outgoing material that morning, and the inspector, after making derogatory remarks about powder companies, in- sisted on an inspection. I assume that he was within his rights. The shipment was solidly packed, and, armed only with a screwdriver, the inspector proceeded with his task. I insisted that he be careful not to break or damage a single board, as they were all desired for something or other. Ic took that inspector an hour to unpack the shipment, as he had the constant supervision of the consignee and some half-dozen Railway Express Agency employees. When he found the contents in order, he was ready to quit; hut we questioned his legal right to leave a package in that condition and demanded that it be packed and scaled as he found it. That svas a task, requiring more time than the unpacking. That inspector learned much during his forenoon of labor. At last, however, the ban on express shipments of smokeless powders has been lifted. Through the efforts of H. S. Harper of fielding & Mull, the Interstate Commerce Commission, under date of December 10, 1935, ruled that on and after March 20, 1936, all express companies might handle ship- meocs of powders when packed as spccilicd. The new packing spec ifica lions are ICC Class 15C. Shipments may total 10 pounds if packed in one- pound cans in an ordinary wood box. No packing material is necessary if the canisters fill the con- tainer, but the outside box muse be labeled “Smoke- less Powder for Small Arms.** Such a shipment takes normal first-class races. So far as the hand- loader is concerned, this new ruling is the most important development since the World War. Previously powder had to be shipped by freight at double the first-class rates — and freight rates arc based on a minimum of roo pounds. Even with shipments by express, liowever, it is well 10 pur- chase in as large quantities as praciicahle. It will cost less per pound when a quantity is ordered, and many bandleaders living in one vicinity may pool their orders for a single shipment. In the Appendix of this volume will be found a list of dealers and powder magazines handling Du Pont and Hercules smokeless small arms |x>wders. Order from the one nearest you, or if in doubt, write Du Pont and Hercules, both firms at their Wilmington, Delaware, offices, requesting the loca- tion of their nearest distributing center. Smokeless powder is also barred from the lug- gage of individuals on trains, bu.se.s, steamboats, ferries or other duly authorized common carriers. Transportation in this manner is punishable by heavy fines. You may, how^cver, transport it lo your heart’s content in your own auto or truck. But a car containing even a single canister of smokeless powder cannot legally be stored in a public garage. The average handloader does not appreciate these facts of shipping, storage and handling. Tliere are practically no restrictions on gasoline, yet a coiitrcic instance comes to my mind as this is being written. A few years ago a junk-store owner had a serious explosion, which completely wrecked the interior of his somewhat decrepit store, blowing out his plate-glass windows and do- ing similar damage throughout the block, includ- ing that done to the windows of a large factory on the opposite side of the street. The man was accused of causing the explosion when it was re- vealed that at this time he had been breaking down a few hundred .38 rcv'olvcr cartridges which had become water-logged during a sporting-goods store STORAGE, TRANSPORTATION, AND HANDLING OF POWDERS 183 fire and had accordingly been condemned and sold as junk. The junk man had been pulling the lead bullets, destroying the powder by pouring it into the sewer and salvaging the scrap lead and empty brass cases. Authorities accused him of thus cre- ating the explosion, and I was called in to inves- tigate the matter. There had been an explosion but no serious fire, the fire damage amounting only to a scant few dollars. Investigation soon revealed (hat in the front room of the shop was a small barrel stove in which a brisk fire was going, because of near- zero temperatures outside at that time. The stove was backed up against a light heave rboard p;mj- tion which separated the front of the store from the shop. On rhe opiioMtc side of the j>arti(ion was a five -gal Ion can which the owner claimed never held mure than '‘a quart or two of gasoline/* and which was used solely to clean his hands after working on old junk. There is nothing more dangerous. The heat had filled that live-gallon can from its small quantity of gasoline with a tremen- dously explosive vapor. Possibly a portion of this leaked out through a poorly sealed cap and be- came ignited. It was definitely proved from rhe condition of the can that therein was the .vjiirrc of the explosion. Spilled powder from the break- down of cartridges was scattered over the floor but hardly any of it had hiinicd, yet authorities, in- cluding an insurance company and its crew of trained investigators, detectives, et al., had aixused this mail of creating the explosion with gun- powder. The author recalls quite vividly an explosion case in which he was called upon to give court testi- mony. In an effort to prove that Du Pont Military Rifle powder #20 was non-explosive, he poured about two ounces into a saucer and was about to touch a match to it in the courtroom. There was a general rush to take said match away from the witness and in the meantime everyone evacuated the courtroom — including the judge! The test was conducted a few moments later in the judge's private clumbers, but even then the Honorable Court felt chat he was being hoodwinked when the powder burned with a soft cellule id -like hiss instead of a tremendous explosion and a detona- tion which he suspected (and rather hoped) would maim, mutilate and totally destroy said witness. After becoming privately convinced the judge per- mitted the test CO be repeated before the jury, although the jury was extremely anxious to retire before the test was conducted. A single ounce of black powder, however, when ignited in a dish, is quite startling to all parties concerned. The un- initiated — and probably llie Interstate Commerce Commission — rcmt*ml>cring this fact, undoubtedly felt that smokeless powder, being many times more “powerful** than black powder, must be even more dangerous under such a test. I would hate to know that there were ten pounds of black powder in caoisters in my home during a minor fire, although I would not be in the slightest disturbed over the storage of an equal amount of smokeless. The handling, loading and storage of black and Lesmok powders, including of course King s Semi- smokeless, present a problem requiring extreme care. Tliese |x>wders arc more dangerous than smokclcs.5. The canisters should never be shaken; they should never be handled during a thunder- storm or in the wintertime when the air is filled with static electricity. The handloadcr should always touch some heavy metal object some dis- tance from the canister before reaching out for it that he may safely discharge any static electricity contained in his body. Accidents from this source are very rare btU have been reported. The unfor- tunate pare of it is, the man who has these* minor accidents rarely reports them. He prefers to keep quiet and “live it down.” Handle and store your powder properly and it will perform perfectly throughout your lifetime. The better grades of powder and practically all dense rifle powders, par- ticularly those manufactured within the last ten years or so, appear to be permanently stable. Sam- ples of nitroglycerine powders manufactured about the year 1900 are today as good ballistically as on the day of their manufacture. T*he same is true of Du Pont Smokeless Shotgun and a number of other powders which have been properly stored. XX POWDER BALANCES AND SCALES P erhaps the most delicate Instrumeat in the handloader’s entire line of tools and acces- sories is his powder balance. This insirumeot is not as thoroughly understood as many persons seem to believe. Furthermore* it can stand very little abuse without losing its sensitivity. Various catalogs use a mixed assortment of terms rather Improperly in describing the performance of vari- ous scales or balances. They refer to the “instru- ment’s “sensitivity,” “sciisibiliiy,** or “accurac)*,” interchanging these terms indiscriminately. There is a difference. It is incorrect to refer to the “accuracy” of a bal- ance. A balance is not “accurate”— k is “sensidve.” On the other hand, the weights used with the bal- ance are not “sensitive” — they are “accurate.” The degree of accuracy will vary tremendously in weights, but on the better quality of these very necessary accessories the manufacturers specify certain classes of Bureau of Standards specifica- tions. Nu powder measure yef devised— and that in- cludes the complicated machiiie-ineasunng devices in use at the various arms and ammunition manu- facturing establishments— can compare with the precisian possible in the assembling of hand loads. Powder charges in factory' ammunition will vary far more than is generally believed. I have un- loaded many assortments of current ammunition and in a given box have found in ten cartridges a variation of at least t.5 grains in handgun loads* and as much as 3 or 4 grains in military rifle cal- ibers. As a rule, however, machinc-loadcd ammu- nition will vary less than a grain on handgun loads and less than 2 grains in the military rifle class. Even our famous Frankford Arsenal excellent Mark I ammunition will vary in certain batches and with certain powder as much as 3 grains in weight. The average shooter, even for match work, is not bothered by inaccurate ammunition because of these variations* but for long-range tar- get work of from 800 to 1000 yards, gready in- creased performance can often be obtained by pull- ing these bullets, weighing the charges, resizing the shell necks, and reseating the bullets. It rnust be understood, how'cvcr, that while ma- chine-loaded ammunition will vary slightly in pow- der charges, there are so many other factors of uni* formky which control the group possibilities of a particular lot of ammunirion that precision hand- loads have to work hard to keep up w'ith the gen- eral run of factory stuff. This includes, of course, the uniform seating of primers, crimping of bul- lets* etc, in factory ammunition — matters discussed elsewhere in the chapter on priming and bullet seating. If precision handloads arc assembled with attention to detail in the choice and preparation of all components. Including the weighing of powder charges, no macliinc-loadcd am muni lion of equal ballistics can possibly comjxire with the hand- loaded from an accuracy standpoint. It has long been an accepted custom among handloaders that all powder charges should be held to Mo grain variation. This is absolutely correct if the best of results are to be obtained. It i.s (X)ssible, as a rule, to be as accurate as this when using sev- eral of the many powder measures on the market with certain granulations of powders; but a powder measure contains a very large element of human error which is added to the mechanical error of the measure; accordingly this writer does not recommend the measuring 0/ any maximum rifle or handgun charges or any other precision load closely approaching a maximum pressure. What then should one use for a powder balance? Best Powder Balances. A good sensitive balance is on expensive piece of equipment. It is impos- sible CO turn out a true precision instrument of this type at a low price, owing to the necessity for much handwork in its manufacture. llicrc arc two essentially different types of in- strument used for weighing powder. One is the overhead-beam type of construction, better known as a “balance,” in wliich a beam having a fulcrum point at its center suspends a pair of balanced pans from opposite ends of the beam and maintains a vertical pointer at its center. This pointer indicates —on a small lined-off scale or “index,” as it is tech- nically called — exactly when the pans are balanced, When this occurs, they hang with the needle point- ing at the center or zero mark. In use, this bal- ance has certain definite combinations of weights placed in one pan and the ingredients to be weighed inserted gradually in the other, until one m POWDER BALANCES AND SCALES 185 balances the other with the needle resting exactly at zero. ITic other form is better known as ^‘scales.” It, too, maintains a fulcrum point, but tlie beam serves as a pointer with some means of indicating when it is in balance on its opposite end. The materials ro be weighed are inserted in some form of pan suspended at one end of the beam to balance. This type of instrument is rarely as sensitive as the true balance and usually does not cost nearly as much. Scales of the “spring’' type, such as are used in crude forms of weighing, arc not manufactured for delicate work and accordingly will not be discussed here. The true balance suitable for reloading not only suspends the beam on “knives” but at either end one may usually find an “upside-down" knife fit- ting into some form of bearing which supports the pan hangers. These knives must always register perfectly in their bearings, as any jar which would throw them side, would give a false reading on the index. On most of the lower- and medium- priced balances, these knives fit into a V-shaped bearing. In other types, they operate on “planes” or surfaces ground absolutely true and Hat. These plane bearings require an additional form of guide to control the exact location of the knife on the plane. It is not necessary to describe the various methods, as these arc more or less manufacturer's ideas and one invariably works as well as another. Tx)oking back at the foregoing description, the hand loader will readily see that the maintenance of the sensitivity of his balance de|>ends entirely upon keeping that instrument free from oil, grease or dust, which would cause its action to become sluggish in the critical points around the knives and bearings. The instrument must be mounted on some solid object so that it is free from vibra- tion and shock. At the same time the legs of the cabinet or drawer are most ciTcctively supported if they are inserted in rubber-bottomed glass cups —similar to the old-style glass cups used beneath the legs of a stove. If these cu{>s arc not available, suitable shock- proof leg supports can be manufactured out of small inch discs of hardwood, properly hollowed out to take the screw legs of the cabinet. Further protection can be assured the delicate knives if the bottom of the supporting blocks is covered with a quarter-inch layer of soft rubber. If one lives in or near a large city, it is a simple matter to obtain a section of a heavy-duty truck -tire inner tube which can be cemented to die bottom of the blocks or cups. This not only minimizes vibration dam- age to the knives, but also makes the balartce more or less skid -proof. Your balance knives must be protected at all costs — they are the critical point in the sensitivity of the balance. If they become dulled— and that only takes an instant with mis- treatment— your balance will no longer enable you to produce the accurate loads you desire. Furthermore, the sharpening of these knives can- not be accomplished by hand; should they be ac- cidentally dulled, the instrument should be care- fully dismantled, packed and shipj^cd to die factory for the resharpening process. Not only must these knives be absolutely sharp, they must also be per- fectly true in relation to their bearings. Any at- tempt at handwork at home, even with the finest Aa exMlJeat little Koop for rtinning powder ioio the pane of yoor baUoce. Thb scoop wm made from a new 30/0d tbelL New ca$e» work better for this, eiiice (Jie iaierior U clean and bright. The handle is a short brati rod wbieh also lervet at a pKig in the primer flash bole of stones and greatest of patience, can usually re- sult in but one thing— total ruination of the knife, necessitating expensive replacement. I know— I experiment^ at a cost of more than $20.00 replace- ment charge! In the lower-priced instruments, knives and bearings are invariably made of steel. In the more expensive grades, knives will be of steel and bear- ings of agate, or both knives and bearings made of the latter material. The steel in these knives is entirely different from ordinary steels. It is in- variably of tremendous hardness, but at the same time more or less heat-treated to eliminate wear. In later years knives have been made of stainless steel, a steel containing a very high percentage of chromium, vanadium, nickel and other metals. Even on a very low-priced German instrument selling for less than five dollars I have noticed stainless steel knives and bearings. When was siatnless steel first used in this im- portant point of balance construction? To tell the truth, I don’t know— and neither docs anyone with whom I have had the privilege of 186 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING talking. Among the balances in my laboratory is an old Becker, manufactured by Becker & Sons, New York. (The firm name now is Christian Becker.) This instrument was manufactured nearly fifty years ago, and there is a record stamped on its cabinet indicating that it was re- turned to the factory for an overhaul in It has stainless steel knives. Whether Uiese knives An excellent low-priced c:)binct balance made by Vobod & Sons, New KocheUe. New Vork were inserted in '93 or at the time of manufacture is not known. In 1934 I had these knives replaced with ones of the agate varict)' — which, incidentally, cost hut a small amount more than stainless steel 1)1 the more expensive varieties of balances. If a handioadcr can afford a balance installed in a glass cabinet, he will in the long run be more than repaid for the added expense. A balance costs money. It can be ruined in a few minutes. A good balance, however, if properly cared for, is good not only for a lifetime, but for several gen- erations. Many better balances go back to the factory at periodic intervals every few years where they arc completely overhauled, checked, and their accuracy restored if they have depreciated in the slightest. Invariably the report on the instrument indicates that it has lost little, if any, of its initial sensitivity, thus indicating that the overhauling job was absolutely ‘‘unnecessary” from a servicing standpoint — merely in the nature of a "check-up.” A cabinet on an instrument not only eliminates the necessity for knocking it down and packing it aTvay each time it is used, but it adds greatly to the appearance of the handloader’s private labora- tory or workshop. It keeps this delicate instrument free from dust, also eliminating side drafts in pre- cisiua lujidiiigs, and tins latter is of extreme itn- (wrtance wherever accuracy is desired. No balance, regardless of its initial cost, should be overloaded in weighing. Since this is an in- strument of precision, it must be treated with more than ordinary care. A careful workman would rebel at the thought of using a delicate set of mi- crometer calipers as a clamp and thereby set- ting them tightly, springing them, and perma- nently ruining them. A rcloader should also re- spect his |X)wdcr balance. If his instrument has a capacity of one ounce, It means very definitely that it should not carry more than one ounce ly; bitkbr pan! The naiurjl comeback to this statement will be that no reloader will throw' powder charges ap- proximating one ounce, True, yet your powder balance will prove of extreme value to you in weighing bullets for precision handloads. Most |X)wder balances have a one-ounce capacity, al- though special instruments are made to weigh up to several pounds. These are primarily designed for weighing gold bullion, and instruments of this type cost several hundred dollars each— often a.s much as S1500. Therefore, you can assume that from i to 1V2 minces is the maximum weight permissible on any powder balance. Since there are 437.5 grains to one ounce avoirdupois, it takes but two 220-grain Krag or Springfield bullets to top the ounce mark. Yet I have seen a great many loaders insert as many as a half-dozen of these bullets — over 3 oz. — in a pan to check the weight of loaded cartridges. This is neither proper nor wise. The overload is bound to strain the instrument, di.stort the beam a few thousandths of an inch, and dull or ruin the knives. Using the Balance. There are certain funda- mental factors controlling the use of any balance if precision results are to be obtained. If these fundamentals are not observed religiously, your particular pec load with 37.7 grains of powder will one day read ^37.0, another day 38.5, and still an- other day 40,0. This statement may be disputed, but it can be readily verified by any rcloader who cares to conduct a series of experiments. POWDER BALANCES AND SCALES 187 Precision handloading means buc one ihing— uniEormicy oE loading, producing uniEormicy of results. Without uniformity there can be no ac- curacy. Many careful haadloaders can definitely trace the change in point of impact or change in zero of their pet loads to this lac\ of uniformity in setting up the powder balance to weigh the charges. Worded differently, may we suggest that you look up any particular load using a certain combi- nation of powders, primers, and bullets in the tabu- lated load sec lion in this book. Notice the dif- ference in velocity caused by a variation in pow- der charge of less than one grain weight. Visu- alize briefly the effect on group size of such low- and high* velocity loads mixed indiscriminately. An entirely false reading can be obtained with any instrument which does not rest on a perfectly solid and level foundation. This is p^micularly true of low-priced balances which arc not sensitive to the fine variations noticeable in the more ex- pensive types. If a balance, for instance, known to be sensitive to .01 grain i.s nor set |>crfcctly level, particularly if it is lipped backward or forward, the operator having experience with that instru- mcnr will linnicdiately notice a sluggishness in ope r. 11 ion, indicating that there is some trouble with die set-up. Accordingly, he can readily locale the source of the trouble. On the low-priced in- strument, however, this is likely to be overlooked. Rcccndy I tested an excellent little low-priccd balance to check the error caused by setting it off level. The actual figures showed that in setting this instrument to throw a io.o-grain charge with everything properly leveled, the average reading — as checked against my supcr-sensiiivc instrument having a known accuracy of .001 grain, and a master set of Vo laud weights meeting Class S, Bureau of Standards specifications — showed an average weight of lo.oa grains and an extreme vari- ation of .04 grain. The instrument was then de- liberately set in an off-level position, although not conspicuously so. It was zeroed in the latter posi- tion and an effort made again to throw 10-grain charges. The average in this case ran 10-44 grains, with a maximum variation of .16 grain. This proper zeroing of the balance is of extreme importance in loading match-grade a mm uni lion or any type of cartridge which develops in the vicinity of maximum pressures. While it is true that the guns of modern American manufacture now on the market will withstand pressures far in excess of the so-called “recommended maximums,*’ it is extremely wise to lake no chances, as maximum and over-maximum pressures can j«riously damage a gun's mechanism without actually blowing it up. See the chapter on pressures for further detail. Another thing which the reloader must take into consideration is the fact that if he has a balance “sensitive to 14 5 of a grain,” it docs not necessarily mean that the powder charges he meters our in using this instrument will he held ihni close. There is a very noticeable human error. This me- chanical sensiiiviiy means that when weights Bcckcr cabinet balance equivalent to of a grain (one milligram) are added in one pan wiih ihc needle in pcrfcci bal- ance with the pans empty, that needle will show a very definite reaction. It may he ouly a sixteenth of an inch, but it can he nnticed. There arc many things entering into this use of a balance which must be considered. No instru- ment cm be used with superlative accuracy if there arc drafts in the room occasioned by open win- dows- This is particularly true of a balance un- protected by a cabinet. That 3 lengthy beam is necessary for the greatest accuracy is a fallacy that has long been in vogue. That it is not true can readily he deiermined by a careful study of the caulogs of balance manufac- turers. A quarter of a century ago a balance for truly accurate weighing was believed to require a beam at least ten inches long, Today the best of these balances have had their beam.s shonciicd to approximately six inches. Why? Simply because 188 COMPLETE GUTOE TO HANDLOADING a short beam results in far quicker reaction to weight variations! The most expensive insirumeiils today arc listed in the catalogs of cheir manufacturers with a very significant item in their specifications — “time of swing/* Some instruments list this as lo seconds, 8 seconds, i2 seconds, 15 seconds, or whatever the specifications call for. In commenting upon this CtosC'Up of 6«ckcr etbinet showing nugnifier lcn» UK<1 lo read the index scale specification, Mr. Emil Volaod, of Voland & Sons, Inc., makers of precision balances in New Rochelle, New York, states: “The time of swing is from the center point to the end of the sw'ing when pans arc first released from the pan stops, and would be reasonably con* stant regardless of load in the pans. The number of oscillations to bring the pans to a complete stop cannot be determined until all weigliing coadiiions arc taken into consideration, such as drafts, vibra* tions on the cable where the balance is resting, change of temperature, etc., all of which affea the number of oscillations of any babnee/’ In the more expensive balances used in various laboratories for precision speed W'ork, various forms of damping devices designed to slow up these oscillations have been introduced, most of which have, of course, been patented by their designers. Since these usually are far too expensive for the average rcloadcr, they will not be discussed here. One very practical type uses a small metal plate suspended from the top of the bow and operating between the poles of a small magnet. How sensitive need a powder balance be for re- loading purposes.^ Generally speaking, a reloader should hold his charges to the maximum variation of ! 4 o grain. In order to do that and still elimi nate the human error, his balance should be sensi- tive 10 at least grain. True precision results can never be obtained unless a slow system of weighing is used with a sensitive balance; the nee- dle or pointer should always come to zero to indi- cate perfect balance of the charge and the weights. This human error cannot be too greatly stressed. If two professional target shots of equal ability were given two target rifles which look approxi- mately the same, but which on actual test show tre- mendous differences in accuracy, the expert shot using the poor rifle will get belter results than a “fair” shot using the same rifle, but will not equal the resiilrs of the other expert or even himself when using the supcr-accuraic job. The same is true of a balance. If a balance is nut scnsiiive to at least Ha of a grain, it has little if any value wduiievcr in the re loader's equipment. After the instrument is properly set up and lev- eled by means of (he various forms of leveling screws or legs on the balance support, it is ready for use. The necessary weights equivalent to the powder charge are then chosen and placed in the pan — after the instrument has been tested without weights to make certain that the pans balance. It is vitally important that the proper bearings be as- sembled on the correct side of the beam. Invari- ably, the left-side parts are marked with a single dot, file mark or prick-punch mark, while those on the right have two marks. On the end of the beams of the better grades of instruments one will A fine link low-priced balance, the Pacific find a small thumbscrew which may be used for zeroing. It is not unlikely that the operator will have to adjust this screw every time he assembles his balance. It is frequently necessary to make ad- justments of this nature when the instrument ha.s not even been in use for some time. The predetermined weights are then placed in the pan. Most laboratories place the weights in the right-hand pan and the charge to be weighed POWDER BALANCES AND SCALES 189 in the left pan. This system does not agree with the author’s temperament and he invariably re- verses il. Since he is right-handed, it is much easier to run jxjwder into the right-liaud pan than to work “cross-armed.” A properly constructed powder balance, however, can be used with the weights in either pan, depending upon the oper- ator’s personal ideas. A great many readers will question the author’s reference to the “removal of the pans to pour the powder charge into the case.” A thorough under- standing of this terminology should be had. In the construction of the balance, wc find that the beam-end bearings arc usually separate units con- taining a form of double or “S” hook. From this hook arc su.spendcd the hows, and to the bottom of said bow's is auached a (lai or concave iray> ofteu called a “pan.” The true pan, however, is remov- able, It consists of a nickel- or chromium-plated brass dish, flat-bottomed, either with a pouring spout or plain. This pan invariably has an integral ear or “lip” intended to be used as a handle. Ac- tually the lip serves a double purpose. If the bal- ance owner ordered a pair of matched pans, he will notice a small patch of solder on the under- side of this “handle.” This is used to balance the units. In setting up the instrument, first level and zero it without the weight of the removable pan.s on the fixed “hnw pans.” Then place the latter in their respective positions and check the iusirumcni again. If it no longer registers “zero,” correct by gently scraping a small bit of solder from the bot- tom of the heavy pan until they do balance. If they arc “way off,” build up the excessively light pan with solder beneath its handle. If you use this maichcd-pan system, be certain that they do match, as you cannot depend on memory to note which one is .3 grains less weight than the other, for which you must make allowance in setting up the instrument. Some pans arc aluminum, and as such do not have solder on the handle for balancing. A fine flic, removing a small hir of the edge of the lip or handle, does the job, but aluminum paiiis arc rarely found in matched sets. Bakclitc, celluloid, glass and porcelain are all available for balance-pan material. The WTiter used a 2^ -inch crown-glass ornamental clock crystal at one lime with excellent success, but the lack of high side walls caused a certain amount of powder spillage in weighing. It is not necessary to purchase matched pans. Two identical pans look excellent in operation, but cost twice as much as a single unit. A single pan can be obtained from any maker of balances and a suitable counterweight made by the operator to balance the pan. On one balance owned by the writer, he used a set of weights to determine the amount necessary tu bring the balance to zero and fuund it ran 176 grains. From the bow bearing was suspended the common double hook, the bow hanging from the upper hook, leaving an empty notch below it. A 180-graia .30/06 Palma match bullet was bored out at the base to form a conical cavity, and a small screw eye inserted. By dint of many removals of the screw eye and a bit of work The author*} set of master weights, made by Voland & Sorts to Class S Bureau of Siaadaids specifjcaijous on the core with the point of a sharp knife, the bullet with its screw eye in the base was made to balance the pan. It was then wiped free of finger- prints and suspended on the spare hook at the lop of the bow. The effect was pleasant to the eye, and the counterbalance was our of ihe way, leav- ing the bow pan dear for the weights desired to balance the required powder charge in the charge pan. Not long ago we found a reloadcr friend doing a fine piece of work without the use of pans. He merely employed one of those small cardboard boxes in which ammunition manufacturers pack 25 metal-jackctcd bullets. He found that the cover nearly balanced the bottom, and brought them into balance through skilful application of a sharp pair of scissors. A bit of experimenting with gummed paper, stuck on the bottom of the lighter one, would also have done the trick. In the latter case, the patch of gummed paper should first be ]90 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING cut oversize and weighed with the lighter unit, the operator gradually cutting it until of the proper weight. It should then be wet and stuck on, and the unit set aside to dry. This system of using cardboanl boxes is not recommended, however, be- cause of the hygroscopic qualities of the cardboard; it absorbs moLsturc from the atmosphere and fin- gers through handling. The fastest weighing is done with one of the belter -grade instruments equipped with “pan ar- rests.’* These arc two small arms — adjustable, of course^which have felt (o[)s to cuiiiact the under- side of the pans and hold them so that die pointer registers at zero on the index. The oscillations caused by the insertion of powder to balance the A griuluulcd bciim jidtn (movable weighn) is ex- crllent for weighing fractions of a gnin weights arc checked by these pan arrests and re- commence w'hcn the arrests are depressed by a con- veniem tiuiinb biiuon on tlte from of the cabinet or balance base. Most quality powder balances have some form of beam support to take the weight of the beam, bow and pans from the knives when the instru- ment is not in use. This is controlled by various forms of releasing mechanism, of which there arc two major types: one, a “lift,” and the other, work- ing in the opposite direction, known as a “fall away.” In the “lift” type, the center beam bearing is controlled by a rotating thumb nut on the front of the base-support or cabinet to lift the beam and $iis|wmlc(.l bows and pans from special holders, thus bringing the knives into proper contact with their bearings. In the “fall-away” type the beam supports arc lowered by a similar thumbscrew arrangement which at the same time lowers the beam so that its center knife rests on the center hearing. In continuing it lowers the bows until the beam knives on either end touch the bow bearings. The fall-away is usually more expensive but the results in operation arc essentially the same. It is of extreme importance that a full powder charge or group of weights be not placed in the pan while the instrument is suspended with the knives contacting the hearings. This can cause serious damage to the krnves. Accordingly, the cxpcricjiccd operator partially fills his pan before placing the knives in contact wi(h their hearings. This is also much speedier than the other way. There arc numerous ways of using the balance ll simplify the work for the operator. One of these is the use of a powder measure sec to throw a charge slightly under (hat required. For instance, when the author loads a 48-grain charge In the .30/06 he sets a powder measure to throw about 46 grains. 'I’his charge is emptied directly into the pan according to the type of measure used at the moment and its ease of operation. Caution! Do not mount your powder measure oil ihc same bench on which your balance is in- stalled. The hammering or vibration is likely to injure the balance knives. The Bolding & Mull measure is extremely useful for this ty|)c of work, although we frequently use one of the several other types available. In the B. & M. the charge chamber is a separate unit. The charge is thrown and then poured by hand from this charge chamber or glorified measuring cup dl- reedy imo the pan. In the latter case we found that very frequently, particularly with large-grain powders such as I MR #3031 and Hi- Vcl, there was a tendency for a great many grains to bounce out of the puns, despite the fact that we use special high-rimmed types. This was over- come very simply. A small piece of ordinary bond letter-paper was rounded to form a section of tube approximately one inch high and two inches in diameter. With the balance weight off the knives, this tube was dropped into the pan and the charge from the powder measure emptied directly into it. '1‘hc tube was then lifted aside to await the next charge. Addition of the iw'o or three grains weight necessary to bring the charge into proper balance is another matter of considerable ini- jx>rtancc if reasonable speed is to be obtained. Oddly enough, there is no set rule for this. The operator should experiment briefly, and once he determines a system which appeals to him, he should use it to the elimination of all others, thus developing skill. Methods* In visiting various laboratories, in- cluding the private labs of a great many reloading friends, wt have watched with interest the meth- ods employed, and while some systems proved ex- tremely speedy for a particular operator, they were worse than useless to others. Some chaps, for instance, use a small spoon less POWDER BALANCES AND SCALES 191 than a Cjuartcr of an inch ui diameter on the bowl. Such a spoon can be readily made out of a piece of sheet aluminum, its bowl formed by a brief hammering with some round-headed blunt instru- ment with the aluminum held over end-grain soft- wood. In operation a small dish of the powder being used is kept on the front of the balance where it can be reached without undue effort on the part of the operator. He dips his spoon in and puts the necessary grains into the pan. I have seen some of the boys in Burnside L;ilx>ratory handle (his spoon system so as to drop a single grain of tijYi. 1 can't use it. Un the other hand, some chaps use a charge cup similar in form to the old-style charge cups still available from the Ideal Manufacturing Company. This was essentially a round cup formed of brass with u short handle soldered to one side. The bulk of the charge is poured from this cup Hirealy into the balance pan and the necessary amount added to bring it to balance. The same pan- checking system is used — with excellent results in the hands of a skilled operator. I use my own system and in the weighing out of a great many thousands of charges of all weights and powders, and have acquired a rea- sonable amount of skill. I use an ordinary new .38 Special or -4.^ Special empty cartridge case which is stored in ihe balance cabinet at all times where it is available for use without extensive “research.” In use, these shells are dipped into the reserve sup- ply of powder usually kept in a small cardboard box in the front of the cabinet, and I pour from the shell by a simple process of slight rotation be- tween the thumb and forcHngcr of the right hand. Even with my supersensitivc balance — which is far too “finicky” for normal reloading use — I very rarely drop too much powder into the pans, neces- sitating removal of a portion of it and beginning over again. The pouring shell used should be a new one, a.s the clean, bright interior gives far better control over the flowing qualities of a fine-grain powder. A used shell can be employed but is not $0 sensi- tive to the motion of the finger tips, h is possible with reasonable skill to drop but two or three ker- nels of the finest-grained smokeless powder such as Du Pont fi204 or Hercules (24cx>. With any of the medium-grain powders, such as Du Pom S18, it is a simple matter to drop a single kernel at a time— all of which is far less chan is required for reloading pirrposes. It is very common for the reloadcr to get too much powder into his pan, thus nece.ssitating the removal of a portion of it. When this happens, it is vitally important that most careful attention be paid, and that no efTort be made to remove any powder without talking the load off the bearnp and hpivesl In a “lift” or “fall-away” type of bal- ance, this is very simple, as a partial twist of the thumb nut does the job. This load must also be taken off the bearings before the pan is removed 10 discharge the powder into the awaiting cartridge cases. I have several friends, however, wiio have an uncanny skill in removing this surplus powder with a scoop or spoon system. I have watched with keen admiration the speed with which they pick up one or two kernels of smokeless powder, Two incxptniive levels of practical value to any band- leader. Torpedo type is about $ inchea long. Tlic pen- cil type U made ot a heugon aluminuiu lube, and measures 6 iochn. Both of dicse are available at any bardwarc suire for a few cents Usually 3 man capable of delicate jx>uring from a spoon or scoop can at the same time handle it with sufficient smoothness to remove powder. However, 1 resort to my same .38 Special or .44 Special shell, using the larger shell for the coarser- grained powder. The weight is taken from the bearings and the ojwn mouth of the shell scoops with a .slight circular motion a small quantity of the powder from the weighed charges. An extremely useful accessory to the rcloader is a magnifying glass mounted over the index to en- large the view of the index scale and the swinging needle. This relieves the eye strain to quite a de- gree when using the balance for an extended time. This magnifier, as made by Voland, consists of a 254 -inch lens with a very narrow rim mounted on an excellent aluminum {icdestal and adjustable by means of a .swinging arm for both height and angle. It sells for $5, and while it is an attractive accessory, it is not necessary for a reloadcr to invest so much ill a unit especially designed for ibis pur- pose. Any small magnifying lens available in the “5 and 10 cent” stores can 1 ^ used. A 2-inch or even ij^dnch pocket “reading glass” can be mounted by the ingenious rcloader to serve the purpose fully as well as the most expensive mag- nifier with achromatic lenses. Distortion does not matter if the glass is centered over the zero point. The disunce will be equal on both sides and will ]92 COMPLETE GUIDE TO H.\NDLOADING serve to show at a glaocc how near to actual bal- ance the charge is at any given moment. After all, it is only the center of the glass, or zero point, which is aauallv used. Balances usually within reach of the average rc- loacler s pockcebook do not have a graduated beam designed for the use of “riders,” but it is often pos-» sible to pick up a used instrument of this type at Weighing powder raUt feit (oncenmtioii oa the work at hand. This job should always b« done sittiag down to relieve as much strain as possible. Far Howing powder from your into your balance pans, it is advisable to rest ihr elbow on a table. An empty cantklge bos before you should be about half filled with the powder being used, and you should always draw from this rather than from the canister. Take ihb }ob scrknialy an attractive figure, and the use of the riders will be briefly de.scribed here. Assume that your beam has a top surface or plane numbered with lOO graduatioas from the center point to each end. Usually these arc num- bered from one to ten, with each space subdivided into from four to ten minor graduations. If the latter, you will find tlic lienni ha^ too line.s on each side of the ceiutr. No. lo (or lOO as you choose lo look at it) will be exactly over the bearing from which the bow or pan support is suspended. A “rider” is a small unit built of wire in various sizes and weights, and designed to straddle the beam. The center portion of the lop is invariably twisted to form a loop which the hook on the rider rod engages (on a cnhl net-type instrument) that it may be lifted off the beam or moved from point to point without touching with the fingers. On non-cabinet or “exposed” balances, the rider is moved with tweezers. If a rider weighs !/:» grain it will balance a one- grain charge in the opposite pan when it is moved out on the far beam to the No. lo mark, located exactly over the knife bearing. If it is placed over the graduation marked “6” a charge of .6 grain will be required in the opposite pan to bring the needle imo balance. If it is moved to three gradu- ations beyond the “7“ mark (assuming the space between the numbers to be subdivided into ten graduations) a weight of .73 grain will be re- quired to balance. If a rider weighing .t grain is used, each graduation, of course, will represent one-tenth of the figure described above. A rider weighing one grain used on a balance having a beam graduated imo ten parts will elim- inate the necessity for the use of fractional grain weights. It is also of extreme value in checking the weight variations in bullets. If, for instance, the rcloadcr desires to check a group of 150-grain bullets and believes his weight will vary from 149.5 to 150.5, he merely places weights totaling 149.5 in OIK pan, then uses rhr riders to balance the bullet. The weight of iltc ndcr is determined, of course, by its position on the beam, added to ihr weights in the pan — in other words, with 149.5 grains total in the left-hand pan. a 1 50-grain bullet in the right pan and the one-grain rider placed on No. 3 gradu- ation to balance. The weight of the «>— and properly tightened they won’t— the charge will remain con- stant, even after the instrument is disassembled and put away. It should, however, be checked the next time it is used, even if it U desired to throw the same weight of charge. Cost. How much must one pay for good pow- der balances, and where can they be obtained? In addition to the loading tool makers previously mentioned, numerous old established manufac- turers have excellent numbers to offer handloaders. Henry Troerancr, one of our oldest balance firms, established in 1B40, is now located at 911 Arch Street, Philadelphia, and manufactures an extensive line of instruments in numerous grades. He publishes a special catalog which can be ob- tained for the asidng. This catalog places several instruments within reach of the average rcloadcr, but because of fluctuating prices it would be better to secure quotations direct Christian Becker, of 92 Reade Street, New York City, another old firm (established in 1836), manu- factures an excellent line of balances and weights. These instruments, however, arc somewhat more expensive than the average rcloadcr would care to use. This firm also operates The Torsion Balance Company of the same address, which manufactures various instruments. Literature on these is avail- able from the manufacturers. Wm. Ainsworth & Sons, Inc., 2151 Lawrence Street, Denver, Colorado, is another old established firm which has for many years manufactured the expensive and highly satisfactory balances and weights frequently found in our best laboratories. While many models are suitable for the rcloadcr, the prices are considerably greater than he would care to pay. Catalogs and special circulars on sets of weights arc available to all who request them. Voland fit Sons, Inc., of New Rochelle, New York, also manufacture a line embracing the medium and higher brackets, many of their models running up 10 fiooo. They have, however, a truly praaical instrument known as a “Pulp Balance,” their number 1053, and priced as low as S22. 1 have tested one of these instruments and found it CO be sensitive to of a grain. It has agate bear- ings, steel knives, brass parts highly polished and lacquered, and is, of course, equipped with a level and screw legs for leveling the instrument. It has nickchplatcd pans 2% indies in dia meter, and on the lowest-priced model has a capacity of 2 oz. (875 grains) in either pan. It is mounted on a mahog- any box coiuaiiiing a drawer which will hold the entire instrument when taken down. Voland also makes this same model, known as 1053-A, with an excellent French mahogany cab- inet, glassed on all sides, and a counterpoised door. The charge is but Si 2 additional for the cabinet, and this, to the writer’s knowledge, makes it the lowest-priced cabinet balance on the market. Il is sturdily constructed, very sensitive, and easy to operate. If a reloader desires a high-grade instrument and is willing to spend a reasonable sum for it, he can often secure from many of the better-grade balance manufacturers a quality instrument either of their own or of another make which has been “traded In” on a new model. These used balances are in- variably overhauled and placed in excellent condi- tion so far as sensitivity is concerned. The Voland pet^le, incidentally, tell me that they frequently have a few of these instruments which are sold at extremely low figures. Among the low-priced outfits, the most practical I have seen in recent years is a handmade affair COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING 194 construe icU by Mark L. Hershey* 89 West Street, North, Hillsdale, Michigan. Mr. Hershey sells these for $3.50 complete, and I find that with rea- sonable care a skilful operator can throw charges accurate to within Vno of a grain. On occasion, however, it will show variations as great as .09 grain. Exieiided testing shows that it runs well under the tenth-grain standard in maximum vari- ation. This instrument comes packed flat in a well- made little siiding-covcr wood box. It is set with a beam support in socket and has a means of ad- The practical little Hersey powder balance justment on the beam for perfect balancing or zero- ing of the instrument. It comes equipped with a small set of handmade weights which run as close to accurate as any of the standard makes of low- priced weights now on rhe market. Don’t expect a dc luxe instrument in this low-priced affair. Mr. Hershey tells me that it was designed chiefly as a check on powder measures, but it is suitable for the rcloadcr who docs not care to spend much money on a balance. Various other types upon which description is readily available in the catalogs of such loading tool makers as Ideal, Bond, Belding ic Mull, will not be described in these pages. Weights and Accessories. No balance, regard- less of its sensitivity, can possibly throw charges more “accurate” than that of the weights used by the operator. Yet very little attention is paid to this weight problem. A good set of weights is fully as delicate as a good balance. In fact, it is mor^ delicate and must be handled with the great- est of care. The weights should not be handled with the fingers, as the slightest moisture on them can create a form of corrosion not visible to the naked eye which will totally ruin accuracy. A good way to cake care of your weights is to store them in a dust-frx box where temperatures arc reasonably constant and free from excessive hu- midity or moisture. »Some handloadcrs use their weights at rare intervals, preferring to make up special weights of brass, aluminum, or some similar material for the actual process of weighing. These are often built up at home in the exact amount of the most common charges used by the bandleader — in other words, to fit his pee rifle or handgun load. The idea is entirely practical, but it is well to check your homemade weights at regular inter- vals against your “laboratory” set of master weights 10 be positive that oxidation or scratching has not altered them appreciably. Homemade wcight.s arc rarely treated with the same reverence by their owner .is hi.s set of “tailor-made” ones, although unqucsiiunably they have a very definite niche in the handloadtng game. In my own work I very often use them— but I also use my expensive sci of master weights for actual loading, particularly loads for super-accuracy. In this respect I take the attitude that nothing yet manufactured is too good for use. I have owned and handled custom-built rifles and shot- guns, arms which cost from $200 up. I have never handled a gun 1 wouldn’t use in the field, regard- less of its fancy stock and fine finish— and I rarely bring it back looking like a war relic, cither. Del- Icare welghis, like a dc luxe gun, can be freely used witliout damage—;/ used right! Weights up CO ten grains arc usually made of aluminum in the low'er-priced sets and in various nickel or chromium alloys, such as “palladium gold'* or whatever the private trade name used by the manufacturers may be. In the more expensive sets they arc made of platinum. The larger weights arc made of either brass, bronze, or solid nickel, and arc protected from oxidation or tar- nishing by gold plating, chromium plating, or a coat ot clear lacquer. The most accurate weights ever turned out can he quickly ruined through exposure to assorted atmospheric conditions. They should be kept in some form of box or cabinet, protected from con- tact with each other and free from dust and dirt. The experienced operator never handles his weights with bore hands. Small fractional weights are manufactured either flat or slightly “dished.’' The flat ty'pes invariably have one edge bent at right angles so that they may be readily grasped with tweezers. I'he rim on the dished types also serves this same purpose. POWDER BALANCES AND SCALES 195 A good set of professional weights iavariahly comes equipped with a small pair of ivory tweezers —usually made of flat spring brass with ivory dps attached by small screws. The ivory will not scratch or otherwise mutilate the delicate weights and is easy to keep free from any corrosion^pro- ducing liquids. TAw tweezers should never be used for any other purpose. A set or **pair” of these tweezers usually sells for about $1.25, while the ordinary plain brass tweezers arc only about 25 cents. Your neighborhood drug store can sup- ply somctliing nearly as good for this purpose in the form of a pair of small eyebrow tweezers such as are sold to the ladies for their periodic hair^ pulling episodes. These tweezers sell for various prices running from ten cents to half a dollar. Weights arc available from all the better-known makers of balances. They are manufactured in both the metric and grain types. Many foreign countries use the metric system, listing weights in grams, milli grams, and centigrams, at the same time listing measurements in the metric system of meters, centimeters and millimeters. Conversion tahle.s will be found in the appendix of this vol- ume, but ihrciighout this hook the American .sys- tem of avoirdupois grain weights lias been used. This, incidentally, brings up an often-asked ques- tion— do sensitivity of a balance as grain? Why, instead, don't they refer to ^00 or Yso giainf” As a matter of faa, most balances arc manufactured today, e\*en in this country, for use with metric weights. Any bal- ance, of course, designed for metric weights can readily be used with weights of the grain system with equal accuracy of result. A gram is the equivalent of 15.4 grains. A milligram, therefore, is i 4 ooo or .001 gram. One milligram, therefore, equals .0154 grain or, to express it in the terms of a comrauii fraaion, of a graui. Since the metric system is more universally used, even in the United States (except among reloaders and am- munition manufacturers) an instrument having a rated sensitivity of one milligram is translated to read %5 grain. The serious reloader who wants a truly accurate group of weights and has a balance capable of utilizing their accuracy can manufacture them for himself by securing a single weight of known ac- curacy. These weights arc manufactured by mak- ers under various Rurcaii of Standards .spcclhca- lions and can be purchased eidicr singly or in sets. They are also manufactured in what is classed as a “single-check’* or “doublecjaie the handle with the right. This is really nuX very difli- culr. The average man, however, is better able to dn the work if he operates the measure handle with his left hand and uses his right for the more delicate job of holding the primed shell in position to receive the charge and place it in the loading block to await bullet seating. This left-handed operation is extremely annoy- ing with one of the author '.s be.st-Hkcd powder measures— the Belding fie Mull Visible. 'I’o use it you hold the metering tube in position on the measure with your left hand (see ill u.st ration). You operate the handle wirh the right. You then remove the lube with the left hand, let go of the handle with the right, pick up your shell and some sort of fuiuiel wich the right hand, and pour the POWDER MEASURES AND THEIR USE 201 Top: Tht Corner An cicclicnt and extremely uniform type* This is about as fast os any measure the authoi has ever tried. Doltom: The old Frankford Ar* senal powder measure with the funnel hopper removed and a straight cylinder hopper used in its place charge Is uoi seriLius, but spilling a powder charge t>ii ii half-filled block of properly measured charges is extremely disconcerting and necessitates the emptying back of all charges and doing the job over again to insure uniformity. The ingenuous operator can, by means of a bit of work and the manufacture of an off-side handle, convert this measure so that the operating lever is moved to ihc left side of the measure, thus permitting the measuring tube to be held in the right hand. If this is done, running powder charges into the shells without spilling is made much easier. Comer has overcome this problem by placing his operating lever on the left side of the machine. While there arc a few minor features which may possibly be improved upon, Comer’s measure is the best tool ever developed for speed loading; and, what is more, it will deliver uniform accuracy at this speed. Using two loading blocks, each fillet! with 50 .38 Special shells, the author has rejwatedly measured a standard charge into these lOo shells, working steadily but not carelessly and being checked by a stop watch at 3*4 minutes average for 100 charges. The minimum time for 50 care- fully measured charges has been lYz minutes. No other powder measure will give anyw'hcrc near this speed. A handloader in watching this operation in- sisted that charges could not run uniform .it such a speed. Ac the time 1 was running an experi- mental i2-grain charge of Hercules C2400. Fifty charges were throw' n in icx> seconds flat. These were then weighed on a balance sensitive to .001 grain and with Class “S” Bureau of Standards weights. The first ten charges thrown (in han- dling powder measures I always throw at least five charges which never enter shells) and the final ten were carefully weighed by means of a rider on the hcAm to less than .01 grain. Maximum vari- ation for any of ihe charges with this powder measure ran .07 grain. It Ls suffieicnrly uniform for the finest of target accuracy. With charges thrown with this measure and loaded into the A hom^marlf pnwrUr mn^nrt which works fairly wtU for throwing handgun charges. The nprighi portion is clamped in a vise or attach^ to the side of the loading bench in an upright position by means of screws. The meaAirc was built fmm odds and ends by a dentist Hornet with the special Springfield Armory Z-2 bullet, one -inch groups rest-shooting ar ic» yards have been obtained, which is as fine as I have been ^Ic CO gel with any weighed charges* contents of the metering tube into it. It is sur- prising to see how awkward this left-hand pouring operation really is; the charge of powder is fre- quently spilled in the process. Spilling the powder 202 COMPLETE GUTOE TO HANDLOADING I think that the uniformity of this measure is partially due to the polished inside of the hopper and partially to the fact that Comer has built into the machine an automatic knocker, spring op- erated, and controlled by the movement of the operating handle. 'I'his knocker taps the hopper at the moment the powder charge is niii in the Loading blocks tre an absolute necessity whether thatg/a be weighed or measured. It is easy u> make them frum a block of wood. Holes should be bored lo a sniloim depth. Many loaders bore completely through the block and then glue to the bottom a thin sheet of wood or very heavy cardboard drum cavity and taps the discharge tube at the in- stant of its discharge, thus making sure that no powder remains in the cavity or tube. Owing to its design, this knocker hits a uniform blow re- gardless of operating speed. Multiple Measures. Another measure that was prominent ten years ago was produced by John A. Truhoii of Detroit. This machine would throw six charges at a time and was adjustable iliroLigh a reasonably wide range, although it was designed primarily for speed in reloading handgun cartridges. The first measure that Mr. Truhon sent me for test W'as made entirely of aluminum — aluminum body and hopper, and aluminum drum. l*hc long drum had six powder cavities wiih an adjusuible bottom of bi ass pkrgs controlled by means of a gear nicely fitted. The idea was excellent but the construction was poor. Aluminum is as soft as any usable metal and will wear rapidly and score easily. We went over these ideas with the designer and he immediately set lo work on a new model which he sent through in due time. Accepting the author’s recommendation, he made the body and hopper of cast iron and the metering drum of bronze. This model was superior to the other, although builr in identical dimensions. Tests showed that it would throw about .8 grain of Pistol I5 and the same amount of Bullseyc when set at the minimum adjustment. It could be quickly set by means of a pointer on one end of the operating gear at any desired charge up to 18.1 grains of 55. At this setting the maximum charge of Rullseye was 19.6 grains, indicating plenty of room to ac- commodate all handgun cartridges. TriJion also sene along a similar drum of non- adjustable type which could be interchanged with the adjustable form. It has nothing in its favor other than being more fool-proof by being non- ad just able, and we would recommend that the adjustable type be used. The measure is supported on a special base made of heavy sheet brass and is attached to four up- rights. A loading block containing rows of six shells is held beneath the measure, which is ad- justed in vertical positions so that its discharge tubes just clear the ninmh of the shells. Operating the handle discharges ihc powder simultaneously from the six half-inch cavities in the metering drum through these individual tubes. For best operation the measure should be attached to the bench by means of screws. Hk B«kJiii£ & Mull powfler funnels are extremely use- ful in running the charge into the cartridge case. Sizes an; available to fit any caliber of neck With this measure comes a special loading block designed by Truhon. It holds 102 .38 Special shells in rows of six each — 17 row's. A sheet ol heavy brass has these holes properly punched in them, the slieet dropping into another heavy sheet- brass tray. This sheet is then turned upside down and the sheik dropped in from the bottom, the POWDER MEASURES AND THEIR USE 203 holes being bored to proper si?:c so that the rim will not |)ermil them lo drop ihrongh. The tray is then placed over the shell heads and the cmiic unit reversed so that the shells remain mouth up. A qk/ijI kink: Ccuinf more powder into j cariridicc ihan in normal The slender hopper fiia over the oucside ot (he ibell neck and powder is grad' ually run into (he shell. The tamping rod is then dropped in and the head of the shell tapped lightly a few (imes nn the bench. The weight of the rod causes the powder to settle more uniformly and occupy a minn mum of space. Photo is of an outKt beJoDgiisg to Harvey Donaldson, noted shooter and writer. "Th^ idea is not new, as Harvey tells me it was given him about 1S95 by the late Rube Harwood, noted experimental shot and master marksman of yesteryear In this posiiion the shells arc quickly filled, where- upon the (>crforaicd sheet is gently lifted off to leave neat rows of eases on the tray ready for the seating of bullets. The major trouble with this measure in the original models we examined was variation in powder distribution from the hopper into the «x cavities of the i^-inch bronze metering drum. Tt is believed that Truhon has cured this fault by means of a newly designed inserted distributor in the hopper; if so, he has developed a very excel- lent measure. Pacific Non- Adjustable. The most recent addi- tion to the powder measure field is the Pacific Non-Adi ustablc, brought out early in 1937. This measure has some very excellent features, chief of which is the surprisingly losv price for an instru- ment of quality. In design the Pacific uses a cast-iron base fitted with clamp screw for attachment to a bench top. As in other conventional tools on the market, this clamp .screw has a capacity of only one inch— not sufficient for attachment lo a thick lx*nch top. Tool- makers seem to think that handloading is all done on the kitchen table— or on some discarded bureau. A onc-inch hardwood board screwed or bolted to the bench top and having a slight overhang will accommtKlale l lie sc clanipnin insiniment.s neatly. Some day measure-designers will wake up. Homenude powderation of the instru- ment. If you intend lu use your measure to run 50 charges of powder, do not fill the hopper until you arc ready to begin. Then throw from five to a dozen charges into a small pasteboard box, which, of course, may be emptied back into the hopper again. Always do your measuring with a slow% steady, uniform wrist and elbow movement, never jerky or careless. The greatest accuracy is obtained only by simplifying all movements, work- ing out a system, and adhering clnsely to it. If you can readily operate your measure at a speed, for instance, of 75 charges per minute, always try to maintain that panicular speed. Do not try to rush it, and do not slow down. Contrary to ex- pectations, excessive slowing dowm permits varia- tion in the settling of the powder column with a resultant effect upon the amount of the charge thrown. Always maintain a uniform level in your hop- per. Keep it replenished at regular intervals, these intervals naturally depending upon the kind of measure and the weight of the charge throwm. It POWDER MEASURES AND THEIR USE 205 is, of course, necessary to replenish the supply far more often when throwing a 40crators prefer to tap the powder measure cither on the hopper or on the discharge tube, or both, to insure “uniform” settling and di.schargc of the powder. The author Joes iiul consider lliis a wise move except with an extremely skilled operator who knows his own measure well. Variation in the force of the tap may produce a corresponding variation in weight of the charge thrown. It should be clearly pointed out that there is a tremendous difference in pow- der measures even of a certain make. This dif- ference is more in the matter of filling than any- thing else, but it is extremely important that the operator learn his own machine and slick care- ten 15-grain charges, using u measure with which he was familiar. He had used this measure for several years and knew its peculiarities quite well. He also knew which powders would handle per- fectly in that measure and which powders would perform better in one of his four other measures. Accordingly, when a skilled handloadcr called upon him, he decided to test out the personal element. This particular combination of powder measures will throw as uniformly as anything wc have ever seen in any form of powder measure, len charges were thrown by the author. On weighing they showed a maximum variation nf .04 grain, an average variation of .05 grain. Believe it or not, this accuracy Is possible with some measures with some types of powder and indicates the possibilities of a measure with which one is thoroughly famil- iar. This ocher chap was then asked to test his skill on the same load with the same setting. He was given 10 charges to discard to “learn” the 2 % COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING measure and then ran an additional lo for record. On wcigliing these, the average variation was .12 grain. This does not necessarily mean that he was [ess skilled than the author, but that he was un- familiar with my particular measure. This is men- tioned as a suggestion to all hand loaders to learn their individual in.st rumen is thoroughly. A mistake frequently made by handlonders is to mount the powder measure on a tabic along with their bench-type landing tools; throw a few CloK'up of meterlac tube un homemade Wnnlg (Mm* dcr measures. Note scale lines filed into tube to permit adjustment for different weight charges charges, and thcjt shift to the seating of bullets, Ic.ivi ng the filled measure to absorb the vibrations of ihe loading tool. There is no more certain method of producing variable loadings than this. Several years ago, while on a visit with that ardent experimenter and handloader, A. L. Wood- worth of the Springfield Armory Experimental Department, A 1 pointed out the necessity for using the greatest of care in this. Woodworth is one of the designers of the Hornet rifle and cartridge and has probably developed more bullets and loads for this combination chan any other individual with the possible exception of Captain Woody. A! both weighs and measures his powder charges and has obtained phenomenal accuracy with hand loads merely because he knows how to use his instru- ment and applies that knowledge each time he handles it. “You should tell bandleaders, both experienced and beginners/’ he once told me, '‘that die use of a powder measure mounted on a loading bench is extremely unwise unless you do alt your measur- ing before you seat any bullets. Unless you obey this law rigidly, it is frequently possible that with certain set- ups a charge may he thrown as much as .3 gyain overweight, which, while it may not be disastrous from a safety standpoint with some loads, is certain to make a great difference in the point of impact. Accurate powder charges merely mean uniform charges, and uniform charges— all other features being equal, particularly with regard to a good rifle, properly selected bullets, and good cases plus good holding — mean uniform point of impact. This, in the final analysis, spells accuracy." No reloader should depend on setting an adjust- able powder measure by using the tables for these settings published in the manufacrureiV catalogs. These tables arc not exact and arc not intended to be so considered. They arc merely guides to sim- plify the setting-up process. It is a good plan for the handloader to check his settings by weighing several charges with the proper powder balance and making the necessary corrections in the meas- urc to produce the proper load. He should also arrange to check on charges frequently to be sure that the adjustments have not slipped.’ The load- ing block should always be used to hold the filled cartridge cases, and if this block is illuminated properly, the contents of the cases may be inspected for uniformity. If one appears to be too full or not full enough, take no chances. Discard it and remeasure the charge. Powder measures are also extremely convenient for the operator who is weighing maximum charges. He may set a meas- ure up Vi grain less than the desired charge and then empty his charge directly into the movable pan of his balance. A sufficient amount of addi- lional |X)wder may readily be added to speed up the operation. No maximum handgun or rifle charges should ever be measured. In this respect, only the greatest of care and reasonable skill iii the handling of a powder balance should be employed. Maximum loads make maximum pressures. Maximum pres- sures have a way of approaching the danger point with very little provocation. Without a quc.stioii, the development of the gravity-feed powder measure is the greatest boon to handloading yet discovered. You can learn much from using one. Use care, learn your meas- ure, and you will get much more fun with less of the tedious problem of weighing charges if you have a suitable instrument. All forms on the market are satisfactory after one has experimented POWDER MEASURES AND THEIR USE 207 with and learned the weak points of his particular specimen. One soon learns that the finer-grained powders work better and throw more uniform charges chan the heavy, coarse-grained forms. HiVel ia is the most difficult powder to measure;, as it happens to have the largest giauulatlon found in any small-arms powder now on the market. By the same token, extremely fine-grained powders in heavy charges are difficult to measure, since they have a habit of settling or “packing.” Coarse powders require more brisk tapping of a measure, since they are inclined to bridge. Kin- dling wood can be “carelessly” stacked in a basket in such a way as to give the impression of a well- filled container. A bit of shaking causes the col- lapse of the stacked wood, and it settles into the basket in such a way that a good deal more may be added tu fill. Tliis is identical with the action of coarse-grained powders and explains the neces* sity for tapping the hopper or discharge tube. . . . Always use a discharge cube as large as possible with the cartridge case in question. Of course a smaller tube is necessary with .25-caliber cases than with the larger bores. An extra-large discharge tube may be used if a small funnel is used over the mouths of the cases. . . . Inspect these discharge tubes each time you use them, and make certain that there are no cobwebs, dust, or other debris w'hich might cause partial stoppage. Pu.sh a dry cleaning patch tli rough to dispel all doubt. For large or heavy charges, use a long tube, as it per- mits of better packing in the shell. And for safety’s sake, alone when weigh- ing or measuring powder charges. You are less liable to make a mistake if there is no conversa- tion to distract your mind. You will find it an excellent aid to safety and accuracy if you will occasionally clictk a charge by weigliing it. For best results, check every tenth charge. This may tell you that something has slipped in your set-up and you are now throwing charges weighing much more or less than the load demands. If you use a loading block, with your filled cases properly lined up, it is easy then to trace back and locate the point where the trouble began. Throw back all charges thrown since this point. A powder measure cannot be made by its makers to throw “accurate” or “uniform” charges. That is the problem of the operator. Any handloadcr will find a practical use for a powder measure, and he will do well to use it extensively tu familiarize himself with its operation. Many handloaders who take the game seriously, practice throwing charges and checking their uniformity against a suitable balance. This is excellent experience. If you have thrown a thousand charges, using your best clTorts toward uniformity, and still can't get good results, then is the time to discard that meas* ure. Usually it is just a case of “getting ac- quainted” to get results. COMMERCIAL LOADING TOOLS AND THEIR USE T here axe just tliree important aeccssities for the intelligent handloader: (i) A firearm to shoot. (2) The necessary components for assem- bling handloaded ammunition. (3) Tools with which to assemble them. A complete reloading outfit is an item of considerable expense, and yet it is by no means necessary to expend a great deal of money in acquiring satisfactory equipment l*hc greatest collection of precision apparatus ever assembled will he a total loss in the hands of an unintelligent operator. At the same time some of the crtidest-looking specimens of home-made equipment can be made to develop true precision hand loadings, equal to the finest faaory match ammunition. It is entirely a matter of skill and intelligent handling. The author suggests that the beginner in hand- loading buy the cheapest tools he can acquire for his initial experimental work. As he acquires skill, along with it will come ideas of his own and he will gradually assemble a collection of loading tools to which he will continually add. My gcv)d friend C. R. Edwards, down in Ches- ter, South Caruliua, has for some years been an ardent handloader. He asked me for data on load- ing tools one day, and I frankly told him that if he was as bright as I assumed, it would be uo- necessary for him to expend a great deal of money in the purchase of special equipment, and so Ed- wards got busy. He wasn’t elaborately equipped with a machine shop, as he explained apologed- cally, or he would develop “better^ took than he now has. His first problem was the resizing of 45 AGP cases for his 45 Model 1917 revolver. He ac- quired, in poking around for odds and ends, an old-fashioned plug-tobacco cutter and this formed the basis for the construction of his sheU resizing outfit. He then located a Ford generator bearing and forced his 45 ACP shells through the hole in the center of the bearing by means of a punch, w'elded by a mechanic, in place of the old cutting knife. The whole thing is mounted so that the hand beneath it will catch the shells as they arc pushed through. Incidentally, he uses this same outfit with various resizing dies for his ordinary cast-bullet resizing. Not a reason in the world why it would not work. And not a reason in the world why some other ambitious handloader without the necessary funds for an elaborate bench press, shouldn’t also acquire something similar and add the necessary finishing touches. Came the problem of dccapping and repriming of shells. There is no particular reason why Mr. Edwards’ tobacco-cutter outfit could not have been altered with interchangeable equipment to take care of this problem. Instead, he continued his search and located one of the old-style rarely used brake-relining tools — the hand-riveter type. He picked this up in a corner of some garage and ^ paid a few cents for it. He then took it home and fixed it up so that a single downward movement of the riveter handle would punch out primers quickly and accurately. A mechanic friend also fixed this up in such a way that it can quickly be turned into a recapping outfit, and as Edwards writes, “It works slick.” The powder measure problem was something else to be solved. This is illustrated elsewhere in this chaprer, and at a glance one sees a neat and thoroughly professional-looking outfit; Let’s analyze the way it was built: The hopper was made of a large brass callow cup from an old steam engine. The body of the measure is a brass bushing inches in diameter by 2 inches long. The rotor is of solid brass. One end of the body of this measure is enclosed by soldering a brass disc to the bushing. The rotor proper has a short shaft which projects through this closed-in body. It is held in position by means of a washer and a cotter pin. The body at the opposite end is par- tially cut away so that the rotor may be given exactly one half-turn, whereupon a pin set into it will strike against the stop surfaces. The adjustable feature of this measure is a half- inch reamed hole half-way through the rotor — but let’s let Edwards describe it himself: “A screw plug is made with the head a lap-fit in the half-inch hole. It has a stem one-half inch in diameter, threaded 28 to the inch. A hole is bored into the bottom of the cavity, tapped to fit, and a stiff spring placed under the head of the screw plug before insertion. This spring provides sufficient COMMERCIAL LOADING TOOLS AND THEIR USE 209 tension to take up minute slack in the threads and to prevent the measure from accidentally getting out of adjustment. With this combination 1 find chat one turn equals about grain of #5 Pistol powder, and this is quite sufficient. An always popular tool: The Ideal tong typ« with dou' bU adjustable chaJiibers. TIk above tool is drsigncd tor the Jfl 5pc€tal “You have to check it more or less against a bal* ance to get your adjustment, but it is really quite easy and is done without disassembling the units. Merely pour the powder out of the hopper and turn the measure upside down, whereupon a screw driver may be Inserted from the bottom to make the changes. If you must keep varying your load, there is a bit of work to this adjustment; but if you use the same load all the time, there is not much to it and it holds its adjustment well ” There is just one thing about a home-made measure which slips the mind of a great many gun bugs. No matter how you design it, there must be no corners or crevices or rough places in the hopper, feed tube or discharge tube to collect even tiny quantities of powder. One chap sent jtic a home-made measure to test out. It was set when we received k to throw about 20 grains of #80 and in making a careful test of the unit we found to our sorrow that every fifth or sixth shot, the meas- ure would commence to taper off, dropping as low as 17 grains, w'hereupon the following charge Would hop up to approximately 23 grains. The error was in his system of discharging the powder. Small quantities collected in corners from each charge, building up slowly, and reducing by an equal amount the weight of the charge going into the case. When the accumulation had piled up to a certain point it was automatically dumped with the next charge into a cartridge case. We sent this measure back, lugcilicr with our sugges- tions, and instead of breaking the designer's heart, received a typical gun-bug letter in return. *T delayed in anstvering your letter of the 20th," he wrote, “as I have been quite busy the past two weeks. Under separate cover I am mailing back that measure which you so kindly returned to me, and thank you for your suggestions. I have fixed it.” He did fix it. You just can’t lick the ambi- tious handloading fan. On the other hand, Edwards states that his pow- dcr measure throws unusually uniform charges, varying no more than the standard factory meas- ures. Wc can well believe ihis. Ali powder meas- ures arc essentially of the gravity feed type. There is no particular reason why an entirely new ap- pearance should not be given a powder measure. Before this lKx>k secs printers' ink, Edwards will have designed a number of new gadgets and at- tachments for his home-made loading set. Wc li'iii Ideal toDg't^pe tool designed for military rifle cartridges oi ihe rimless type. Adjustable chambers rather suspect that he does this because he likes it. Another case where the gun-bug fever is more im- portant than the {>ocketbook. Incidentally, when we asked Edwards for a pho- tograph of his outfit, he dropped in on H. O. 210 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING Nichols, commercial photographer, of Chester, ambitious and mechanically inclined handloader. South Carolina, and asked him to romc out and The head consists of a ^4 -inch diameter piece take a picture. It didn't take long for these two of round cc)ld-rolled steel, llirce or four inches chaps Lo discover that they were both gun bugs; long. A %^Anch hole is drilled in the center lengthwise for two inches or so, ending at a %-inch bole drilled through at right angles. The bar is ^^■11 then split lengthwise to the ^-inch hole. BBII To thi.s a o>llar String the head Is made from ^|HII iV2'inch round steel bored with a ^-inch hole in its center. The collar is about H inch high. The Rouu'ng Torr«t of the Univerul Tool with Ideal powder measure properly movoted. One merely swings the roUling turret head from side to side Co line up die varkuis units for resizing and decapping, throwing powder charges, and bullet seating A Ji-inch cap screw with S.A.E. thread is used willi the 0)1 Ur tapped to receive it. The rod sec- tion is drilled about */g inch to receive the end of this cap screw but is not threaded. This serves to hold the collar in position. The handle was made from a 20-penny nail filed down to fit a 6 -inch hole through the hex head of the cap screw. To hold the cartridge while pulling bullets, file a U-shaped slot in a piece of thin steel and fasten with screws to a table beneath the puller. The lat- ter can be fastened to a wood lever attached to the wall or an upright by means of a strong hinge. Mr. Edwards suggests that it is not a bad idea to U. S. Potent No. 2004420 The Universal Tool complete. At all limes ii is set up fur the various stages of a given caliber the picture was taken “no charge,” and now they are playing the game together. Handloading pulls men closer together. In May 1537, Edwards sent through data on his latest homemade development — a bullet puUer. Designed for pulling .jO-caliber bullets, this idea could readily be adapted to other calibers by the A • » s ✓ ✓ ♦ s' 1 ✓ >> 4 P » S * ^ * 4 . ^ , s ) * < • . ♦ f COMMERCIAL LOADING TOOLS AND THEIR USE 211 fasten puller to a lever with a U-slwpccI bracket so the puller can swing sufTicicntly to let the car- tridge head swing imu the rim-holding notch. “I have my puller fastened to my indispensable bottle capper,'" he writes, “and have a portable outfit which can be clamped to a table or stool and pull bullets in the kitchen on cold days rather than in my storage room. This set-screw and collar idea is the correct medicine tor pulling tight bullets. 1 first tried the puller with thumbscrew 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The Ydnkcc Bench Model D. Varimn auc»ofks an shown: (I) derappnig punch, (2) shell holder, (S) muzzle expander, (4) rau»le mizer, (5) primer seatcr, (6) priming sukc and (7) ballet sea ter a I right angles to the slot about ^ inch from the lx)ttom, but couldn’t get enough tightening effect; the end holding the bullet wanted to spread rather chan lighten. This collar and sec-screw combina- tion, as illustrated, puts the pressure where it should be. For more than 50 years tools for die liandloading of ammunition have hern available to shooters. One of the pioneers in this movement was John M. Barlow, who founded the Ideal Manufacturing Company. Barlow was a shooter. He knew the shooter’s problems and the Ideal tools of his design have been manufactured continuously since their origin. Millions of them have been sold through- out the world, and it is doubtful if there was ever a cartridge manufaaured in this country* that cannot be reloaded with Ideal tools. Ideal tools are of two distinct types — the tong type for ordinary home loading, and the bench or semi-machine type, for quantity production by clubs, police departments and similar orgaiiiza- tions. This latter type became known as the "Armory” lyjw, because it was designed for Na- tional Guard units, who loaded their practice am- munition at their own expense. It was originally designed for the .30/40 Krag cartridge. There was a time when all makers of arms recommended handluading, and this also applies 10 makers of ammunition. Components were listed in catalogs with all details necessary to the The Yjnkrr tong type of tool. Thit H not actually a hand tool, but th« Model u designed lo be damped to the side of the bench. It U avaibble in any standard caliber. Various auc»orica in the iUuMraiions are: (I) loaded shell, (2) bullet seater, (5) shell holder, <4) muzzle ezparsder, (5) muzzle resizer, (6) priming stake, <7) primer acater, (S) dccapping punch bandleader. Winchester had their own line of loading tools. Smith & Wesson the same. Other firms likewise. The Winchester loading nx^l and the Smith dr Wesson type were very similar to the Ideal. Win- chester tools were made in all calibers to which Winchester rifles were adapted. Smith &e Wesson made tools for their own line of cartridges. These tools all sold for approximately the same price. A 1907 price list is exceedingly interesting. The Winchester handloading tool did not contain a bullet mould on the end, as did some of the Ideal numbers. The bullet mould was, as it should be, an entirely separate unit. The tool in all small cal* ibers, up to and including the 44/40, sold for S1.50. Tlic bullet mould was Si.io, charge cups were ten cents each; the complete set of tooK 212 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING bullet mould and charge cup was sold as a unit for 82.50. A differeut type, and somewhat better in con- structioD, was known as the 1894 tool and was dc- Th« fVfw PniTrr Complete Loading Tool. The powder measure i% mounted at the top at the machine and is optional with (he purchaser. Sizing bead holds both bullet seating die and resizing-decapping unit. Oper- ating lever with powerful toggle forces large sliding head containing dies down over sbclL Aoailiaiy lever on the left side of the machine shows the primer scal- ing device. Primer magazine may be seen sticking op between operating handle and powder magazine. Ca- pacity 10(1 primers signed for the Lirge military and sporting sizes, running from .25/35 Winchester up to .50/110 Express. This tool complete, with a separate bul- let mould, charge cup, etc., sold for $3a», and if the bullet mould was desired for hollow-point types, an additional 50 cents was added to the above price. Full-length shell-reducing dies, as made by Winchester in 1907, cost %2.oo each, any caliber. Winchester in that year sold paper patches 111 any size at 50 cents a thousand, and patch paper at 55 cents a quire. Bullet lubricant was listed at the extremely low price of 50 cents a pound, and if wanted in sticks for use in lubricating machines, die price was 15 cents. The Smith & Wesson load- ing tools, as late as 1918, sold at $2.00 per set com- plete. The Ideal tools of today arc essentially of two distinct types — adjustable and non-ad justablc. The loader wIk> is purchasing a new tool should never choose the no ti-ad just able type, as he is very deb- uUcly limited to the use of a single bullei. By all means choose the more modern types with adjust- able chambers, thus permitting the use of bullet scaters to fit any type of bullet. This tong type of tool, often called the “nut cracker,” is by no means as simple to use as many experts would lead a beginner to believe. It re- quires extreme care, and as a result the tong type has come in for much undue criticism, so that the general trend has been toward the use of the so-called “straight-line” in.struments for loading, Strange as it may seem, the major iiy of these straight-line nxds f?o more resize, rejfrime, und seat bullets in a straight line than the tong types; drawings, recommendations, and other ballyhoo to the contrary notwithstanding! Commercial loading tools arc built slightly over- size; were it not so, Bill Jones of Oshkosh, who desires to reload his particular cartridge cases with- out (ull-leiigtli sizing, since his gun has an over- size chamber, would find to his great sorrow that it would be necessary to resize his shells to get them into the chamber of the loading tool. Ac- cordingly ihc.se parts arc cut slightly large to take care of the great variation and Lulcmnces permitted ju the commercial manufaaure of arms. This same oversize tool, if used by the chap who has a tight chamber, >vill show a considerable amount of play, thus killing any “straight-line” effect through a tipping of the case during ihc variuus operations, Regardless of this manufacturing fit, precision results can be obtained with tong type tools. By the same token, some very poor concoctions will be assembled by the careless operator who believes that the tool he bought for a “straight-line” is ac- tually capable of doing his thinking for him. The Ideal user, therefore, should not consider himself handicapped because of “poor” equipment. He should study his tool very carefully, le.ii n Its limi- cations, and solve the problem in his own way. If COMMERCIAL LOADING TOOLS AND THEIR USE 213 he is more interested in precision than in speed, he will be able to produce good handloads. There arc numerous loading tools available. Hardly a year goes by without seeing additional equipment for the handloader. The year for instance, produced lo the author’s knowledge three The Schmitt Tool with shell resizini die in upright po* sition on test. This is hine of bench tool by one of our old and well-known firms, and the initial produc- tion of five others by as many different makers now placing them on the market. The handloadcr should learn early in the game that he can spend much or lirtlc on his equipment, anti if he uses a normal amount of i n tel! i genre in the assembling of his loads, he can prorluce results equal to — or belter than — standard commercial ammunition with al- most any form of tool. Without question, the modern straight-line bench loading tools are superior to the ancient and early tong types. They do, however, cost more money. The beginner will do well, if he is at all interested in the financial standing of his reloading equipment, to confine his initial expenditures to low-priced tools. As he acquires experience, his ideas will develop. I have a prominent handloadcr friend who used to insist that to Luru out ammunition developing the uniform precision of factory loads, it was neces- sary to have a complete set-up of straight-line bench tools, balances and other equipment. He declared that no one using a low-priced tong tool could equal the factory product. This particular handloadcr u.sed a bench tool with dies and acces- sories valued at more than fiuu.oo. His balance was a sensitive affair worth as much. He had other equipment for hand loading which must un- doubtedly have run the cost up an additional $iooxx>—and he thought he knew. The author has spent a considerable amount of time working in the laboratories of Du Pont and Hercules, particularly in the developing of various handloads for this volume. He has used their equipment quite cxTcnsively, and is somewhat familiar with ihat In daily use at Du Pont Burn- .side Lilx>raiories at Penns Grove, New Jersey, and iIr* Hercules Experimental Station at Kenvil, New Jersey. Both of these stations have a cow- plete assonmerfccily Jiormal to use care in assembling his cartridges. The mail received by the author during the past few years containing questions od handloading, complains about the slowness of various tends on Star LDading Machine. This machine delivers a com- pletely loaded »hcU al each cyck ol operattoo ihe market. If you insist on loading lo cartridges per miiuitc, ihc standard coiimicrcial loading tools arc definitely and positively out. You must plan to spend money for your equipment, and you must definitely decide upon some of the expensive pro- ductiuii jobs which cost nut less than $6oxio. The true handloading enthusiast docs not demand speed, he demands precision, and any tool on the market today will deliver this result if properly handled. HAND TOOLS Ideal Tong Type. 1 his tool is available in fotir d'^dnet forms: The iioii-adiusiable type with buUet mould attached, the no n-adju stable type without bullet mould, the adjustable type with bullet mould, and the adjustable without the mould. If you intend to purchase a new tool, by all means get the adjustable type — for reasons previously inentiuiiccl — and have your mould an entirely sepa- 7T < - S ^ ♦ S ^ * ■ — ^ ♦ s * 7% r > > . / - Thf mmt rxprnUvr inridH r>f Sor T oarHiig Machine. *i*bis is sopcrior to all other loading machines in its speed and taruformity oi operation. One merely ieeds shells inio the colaiing tuiniablc and bullrts into (he bullet- sealing station, operating the lever each time. The fully loaded cartridge is automatically discharged through a discharge slot at each operation of the handle rate unit. These various tyj>es are fully described in the Ideal Handbook, available from the Lyman CJun Sight Corporation, Middlcficld, Connecticut, price 50 cents. Accordingly, this book will not en- deavor to repeat the manufacturer's statements con- cerning his own product — information readily available elsewhere. The Ideal Handbook, incidentally, should be in the pussession of every rcloader, whether he uses Ideal equipment or not. It not only contains in- COMMERCIAL LOADING TOOLS AND THEIR USE 215 formation concerning Ideal tools, but also lists all bullets manufactured by that firm^ giving complete specifications of each bullet, including practically every obsolete number for which that firm pro- duced moulds in past years. It is often quite pos- siblc to develop interesting loads with “obsolete” bullets, if they happen to fit the barrel of a modern arm. Another useful number which c\'ery reloadcr should acquire is the Bclding & Mull Handbtx>k, selling at 25 cents, It is available from Bclding & Mull, Inc., Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. This handbook also gives complete instruciioas for in- dividual use of the various Belding 6 i Mnll tonls. It contains much other practical data of inieresi to every handloader. These tw'o handbooks— (he Ideal, the Belding & Mull— arc released annually, and it is wise for handloadcrs to acquire each new' issue as it comes from the presses. Certain changes, additions and improvements are usually made to bring these handbtKd<8 tip to date in every respect. Many thousands of them arc sold each year, and the author assumes that readers of (his volume will have both handbooks available for reference purposes. Current prices on Ideal t(K>ls arc uniformly the same as in rcccnr years past. The }4 tool, equipped wiih biillei mould and non -adjustable chamber, sells for The #6, w'ith double adjustable chamber and bullet mould attached, is $10.50. The J3 double adjustable chamber model, no bullet mould, and the 1 10 ditto, each lists for $6.50. The Jio is csscnririlly the same as the <3, except that it is ad4i})ced for rimless type.s of cartridges. Bond Tong Type. Although this tool is no longer manufactured, it is frequently encountered in the used market by handloadcrs. This tool was the firs: practical “improvenmii” on ihc Ideal and Is known as the Ikmd Model “B.” It is essentially the same as the Ideal, but has a large set of heavy cast-bronze handles. The various accessories are made of cold rolled steel. This outfit is quite a bit heavier than the Ideal, hut in the author’s experience was not in the slightest better. I had one many years ago and was none too w'cll pleased with its performance. Although the dies showed sloppy workmanship, one could, with reasonable care in handling, as- semble some very acctiraic loads. The handles had sharp edges, making it advisable to file them. Although this tool is no longer manufactured, the various parts can be obtained from its makers, the Modern-Bond Corporation, Wilmington, Dela- ware. Thus any handloader having one of these available can readily obtain dies in different calibers to fit these handles. Yankee Tong Type. The Yankee tool of tong- type construction, known as the Yankee Model “C,” is more of a bench type outfit than a hand tool. It can be used in the hand, but is fitted with CtoM'Up of the Star Loading Machine. Note rotating nimuble with sheUs in position, automatic primer feed, and automatic powder measure 3 clamp to enable it to be auached lu the luadlng bench. The author has never personally handled this cool, but knows several persons who have had exceUent results with it. One reader friend wrote me that he had one of these tools, together with a great many attachments for different cali- bers, and that the workmanship in all parts was far superior to the general run of these items. He stated that recently, with the development of a new type of cartridge for which he desired to hand- load, he sought the necessary parts for his Yankee, submitting a fired shell and dummy cartridge to the makers to be used as samples. He requested 216 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING immediate action and was surprised to receive ihc necessary parts made to his order and shipped to him within two days by firsterau>r, good results can l>c ob- tained. It is necessary to set the uml up with die dccapping shank in position and the decapping and priming bushing sec into the head of che tool. The empty cartridge case is dropped over this dccap- ping outfit, pushed into position, and ihc operating lever lifted, thus pressing out the old primer. The second operation consists of reversing the tlet-apping and priming bushing and screwing it iiiio ilic tool head, opjxj.siic side up. The dccap- ping pill is removed from the shank, and the pin- clamp nut is replaced, the empty case chopped into position, the primer pressed over the ^xjckcL with the fingers, the atse pushed under the priming head, and the lever lifted to scat the primer. The third operation consists of stripping down the dccapping shank and dies and setting up an additional shell holder and shell-sizing die to re- duce the neck or body of the cartridge case. The expanding of che inside of the shell, also a very ncctvsary o|x: ration, requires a still further tearing dow'n of dies and riiserlion of expander. After the jjowder is run into die cases, ihe ser-up must be torn dow'ii for the fifth time and replaced with the loading chamber of the adjustable type containing the proper bullet scarce. Criticisms and Suggestions: The dccapping and recapping operations are closely related — the rela- tion being much too close in this particular type of tool. The operator must watch carefully to see that the dccapping pin is clamped solidly in posi- tion by its particular clamping nut. Should this work loose, the pin will very definitely bend, thus mutilating a shell and tying up all decapping oper.itiuus iiniil the bent member is removed and rcplac«l. The principle of removing this pin for recapping is wrong. It encourages the handloadcr to set the cbmp nut with his fingers, whereas in any well- regulated tool, this should be set up solidly with COMMERCIAL LOADING TOOLS AND THEIR USE 217 pliers to prevent its working )oosc and thus be- coming bent. Furtlicnnurc, the head of lliis dc- capping rod, minus its pin, supports the cartridge case from the inside during the priming operation. Should any burrs be raised on a cartridge case around the inside of the flash hole during the per- f orating process in manufacture (sec Chapter III), these burrs will be turned over during the priming operation, thus closing or partially closing the flash hole. Fiirthermnre, when the tool is xiscd with the seiiii-balltwn type of cases (in which the primer pocket projects into the interior of the cartridge case), careless handling is inclined to crush this pocket slightly, thus preventing the primer from seating properly and ruining the shell. In per- forming various operations with this model of tool, the reloadcr should resize, dccap, reprime and con- duct the various operations with as many shells as possible, thus eliminating as much of the tcar- down as he can. The tool is cficctive, but is prob* ably the slowest of all forms in operation. Relding & Mull Model t 26 . The Model (26 is of the straight-line bench type, operating horizontally instead of vertically as do the Yankee, Ideal, Bond, Frankford Arsenal and Pacifle. Interchangeable dies for this tool readily adapt it to other calibers. The instrument is manufactured by Belding It Mull, Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, and sells complete for $7.50. This tool does not scat bullets. Where the Model J26 tool is used, the separate unit, known as the Model dic-and-plungcr-typc straight-line seating tool, iiuisi be used lo complete the handloading operation. This latter tool is an excellent accessory. It sells on the current market for $2.50. Although slow in operation, this Model }2() is much faster than the Model “C” Bond and is equal ill speed to the Ideal tong type. Belding Sc Mull Model $ 2 S. This Model (28 cool is essentially an improvement on the Model J26, and dispenses with the auxiliary hand bullet scater. In shifting dies because of a unique arrangement of lock nuts, the annoying but necessary operations are quickly accomplished, so that the resetting of the tool for additional loading steps is a matter of a minute or two. This tool is particularly useful to the man w'hu desires to reload in small quan- tities. While it is fitted with bullet-seating dies, it has one weak point, in that it is not adapted to cartridges requiring crimped-in bullets, such as the revolver species. Accordingly, the makers suggest that it be used with a Model #26 hand seater for the latter work. This Model #28 tool complete costs $14.00. Schmitt Model 512 . The vSehmirr reloading tool is a beautifully engineered aud finely constructed development designed and manufactured by C. V. Schmitt of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The author first met Mr. Schmitt back in 1927 at the National Matches at Camp Perry, where he had samples of his toob on display at the Minnesota National Cruard tent. Schmitt is a metal-working artist and . ...... , -n f . i Tlic old Bond LoadJug Took Capable oi ^ood work, bot extremrly slow in operation an expert loading-tool manufacturer, but he is one of the poorest correspondents we have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Friends who have purchased loading cools have occasionally been compelled ro write many times before their tool was received, and others inquiring had their communications completely ignored. There has never been a complaint reaching the author on the quality' of the Schmitt tools, and it would seem that the sole trouble lies in the fact that Mr. Schmitt has an active production and no office staff, and cannot spare the time necessary for answering letters. When he gets an order he fills if as soon as he can, and that’s that! The Model 5 12 Schmitt tool is manufactured as 218 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING nicely as any loading tool ever offered to the com- mercial trade. It is an adjustable affair, and addi- tional dies will change it from one caliber to an- other. One of the features of this tool is that the recapping pin can be adjusted to seat primers to £ny desired depth. Thus it is necessary to use only normal care in the seating operation, as once ad- A 1935 dcve]o(>ml ever asscmhieci. Mr. Sc h mill claims iluii the dies can be removed and replaced with others in ten sec- onds, and without disturbing adjusimcms of either die. After handling the ttxil 1 fully agree with him. His Model ii2 has sufficient weight to insure case of operation and great life. It is 14 inches long and weighs about 12 pounds. V^arious acces- sories can be obtained for bullet pulling, bullet lubricating and sizing, and a number of other auxiliary operations. Mr. Schmitt has always requested that customers send samples of empty shells fired in rhe customer’s gun with fullon a large number of them turn right side up. The top end of the tube is slotted and is pressed over each of these primers, thus forcing it into the tube body. The slotting also serves to form a spring to prevent spillage of primers. All upright primers arc picked up in turn by merely pressing this slotted end over each one, whereupon the container is shaken slightly again to produce another group of “right side up" prim- ers. The process is coniiniied uniil the lube is charged willi 50 primers. A number of tubes can be kept on hand properly charged, and when one is empty it is merely necessary to lift it from its socket, insert the charged one, and after it has dropped into position, pull out the cotter pin, thus permitting the primers to drop into the primer- seating punch pocket. A recent test of this automatic primer attach- ment was made on 300 Winchester .44 Special An extffmely useful accessory sold some years ago by ihc Director of Civilian Marksmanshli^thc bullet seating die, <4) body of the tool with neck die in posiiion, <5) sleeve fur hoklliig case in straight line within the tool, (6) die and rratner die for use in reaming case neck, <7) the ease neck reamer. A punch for tcinosing resized shells from the neck die is not illustrated, la use, the unit Nu. 5 is slid into the case neck body part No. 4. The plunger No. 2 is used to force die case and its sleeve to proper depth in the neck sizing die shown at the bottom of the body No. 4. If it is desired lu ream case necks, the occk-sizing die ji pbced with No. 6, which Is also a neck dk but has an unusually long pilot to permit of reaming and trim* ming the ciKs while still clamped solidly in the die. An calreiue pcccision tool dies. At normal speed, 50 bullets can be seated in from Rve to six minutes, thus making the tool effi- cient for quantity loading. The l^acific is available with ordinary soft steel dies carbonized on the wearing surfaces, or with accessories made of high- speed or too! steel. The latter, of course, costs iliglnly more. One of tlie major features of this tool is the fact that various accessories— or units of them— can be sec in pro[>er fwsition and locked by means of a set screw. Even the so-called lock nut which prede- termines the depth to which the dies arc screwed into the tool body may also be locked into position. This is of extreme importance, as the operator may predetermine his setting and leave it entirely alone despite the necessity for shifting these dies from the machine body in handioading various calibers. The author has one set of .^R Special dies de- signed with bullet-sealing punches fitting a certain type of bullet which he uses very frequently for tar- get work. That sec of dies has never been removed from its initial adjustment despite the fact that it has been used for several thousand reloadings dur- ing the past five years, and the same tool body has been used for a similar number of reloadings m dilTcrent calibers. The “setting up” of this tool is, therefore, unusually simple. Bond Model “D.” This is one of the newest of loading tools and is unusually well designed and buili. R. W. Bond, president of Modern -Bond, is himself a very cmhusiasfic rcloader, as a visit to his office will clearly indicate. Although wt do not care for his Model “C” tool and have never recommended it cither in published material or in correspondence, we wish it clearly undcrstcMid that the Model “D” is in no way to be compared with previous Bond tools, nor are any of its parts or dies inte rcha ngcablc. This new tool is of the bench type. It can be operated by holding it in position with one hand, but this is slow and indficient. It should be at- tached to a bench by means of bolts or screws, The base of the unit is cast of malleable iron or semi-steel, and other parts are of various types of siccl meeting the requirements of their several pur- poses. The Bond Model “D” tool made its first public appearance in mid-iy35, although its designing was known to a few writers as much as a year Some of (he author's Pacific Tool's assorted dies, shell holders end other accessories used in reloading different cartridges before its release. It is extremely simple to operate, and the various dies are so rapidly interchanged as to be practically fool-proof. The author used this tool for several months rcloailing for the ,38 Spe- cial. Ar pre.scnt this tool is mnnuf.acuired for the .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .38 Auto, ^5 Colt, -15 Auto, and 45 Auto-Rim. In the near future van- COMMERCIAL LOADING TOOLS AND THEIR USE 223 ou$ other handgun and short ride calibers may be available. The first operation of this new tool is the rcsiz- ing and dccapping of shells. The spring “horse- shoe’’ holds the shell holder in position at the top of two sturdy upright rods. By means of a cam arrangement, a cross arm containing the dies is raised by a forward pull on the operating lever, thus forcing rhe suspended shell into the die, re- .sizing It outside for its full length, forcing out the empty primer and removing the old crimp from the mouth. The downward pull frees the shell, which may then be picked out with the fingers. I’he work is extremely speedy, and with reasonable skill can be stepped up to actual quantity produc- tion with verv little effort. Notes indicate that the author’s first attempt at using this tool resulted in dccapping and resizing lOO cases in ii'/: minutes. Faults of This Tool: Very simple in design and very well built. Resizing shells, however, causes brittle dcbri.s ro Hakepff the inside of the sitell, and the mt»urh-rlown ixttiiiou of the empty cartridge case (luring tlic resizing operation |>crmits this debris to drop into the die. At intervals of about fifty shells, the die should be removed and emptied to eliminate wear and p<3ssiblc mutihuion. This takes no longer to do than it does to read about it. One merely pulls out the horseshoe-like spring, lifts out the die, empties our any possible accumulation, and replaces it. Ihc second operation i.s the priming of the shells. The shell holder and resizing die arc re- moved and the former replaced with the priming head attached hy means of the I torses hoc IcKk to the upper crossarm. The movable arm actuated by the cam slides upward on the two rods, but the resizing die is replaced with a loading “table” reminiscent to the old Frankford Arsenal bench priming press. A bushing cut-out in front, similar to the F.\ unit, holds the shell while the primers are dumped on the circular table in bulk and slid into pasicion by means of the left forefinger. The operation is quite speedy. The same test previ- ously mentioned shows lOO shells primed in ii*4 minutes. Ihc shell is then ready for inseriiun of tlic pow- der charge and the sealing of hullcts. Bullet-seat- ing willi ihis tool requires a third SCt-up of dies and is not only unique but also about as excellent an idea as anything we have yet seen. The prim- ing head in the upper crossarm is replaced merely by pulling the horseshoe spring, with I he entire unit adjustable, of course, and having an adjustable stop shoulder attached. In the movable arm is placed a new type of shell holder cut away in front. The cartridge case filled with powder is dropped into this pocket gently to avoid spillage of powder and a round steel bushing drop|)cd over it. This exactly centers the shell. The bullet i.s inserted hasc-fiist into I his bushing with no reg.ird for the shell beneath, whereupon the operaiiiig lever is pulled, causing the unit to The automatic primer feed attached to the $iandard fa- (iiic Tool. Note primer magazine. Shells arr primrd in (he convcniional way, but prinien are automatically fed IrOdi (be magazine when the primer holder is returned to position, eliminating the necessity for handling primers with llic hiigcis rise until it contacts the seating plunger, which forces it to its proper depth in the cartridge case. Slight additional pressure causes the hushing to contact the stop shoulder or crimp mil on the scal- ing plunger, thus forcing the bushing down over the shell lightly. Since the bushing is counter- bored and beveled, the downward pressure of the bushing forms a perfect crimp on the mouth of the shell. Criticisms: None except that the operator must drop his powder-filled shell into the holder pocket about tw'o-c birds its length. No need of spilling powder if care is used, but almost certain to occur if operator gets careless. It i ns urc.s accuracy of 224 COMPLE'FE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING handgun loads through uniform crimp, whereas most cools arc inclined to place more of a crimp on one side than on the other. A speed test on first trial showed that roo bullets were seared in i6 minutes with spillage of a small quantity of pow- der from two shells, necessitating the withdrawal and the remeasuring of two new charges. This same tool can be used for bullet sizing by replacing the shell holder with proper bullet -si zing dies. Perfection. Tins tool, although rarely encoun- tered in this day and age. is still one of the best bench tools ever built. It was made by Hucter Sidjcrt, who think enough of their individual work to stamp names on dies and other parts they make. The workmanship in the various dies is superior to anything the author has ever seen in any loading cool. This outfit costs money, but looks more like a labor of love than something to sell. F-Jiscmially the Universal is a glorified version of the Pacific. It looks nothing like it, but the prin- ciple is ilic same. The tool is a heavy bench affair weighing 45 pounds. On top is a turret which can be rotated 60 degrees to three positions, ex- }H)sing as many dies or gadgets to the single ver- tical plane of the shell huUler. Slip a shell in this The fktdlng & Mull Model #26 toadiAjt Tool, set up for rmilng and cxpaDdinc. Insert: dre^pping unit Brothers, 1230 Ninth Avenue, San Francisco, be- ginning in the early 1900*8, and chiefly for the .30/40 Krag cartridge. Later it was adapted to other calibers through additional dies. About all I know of the Perfection was gleaned from a visit with my good friend Harvey j\. Donaldson, noted gun bug, experimenter, and writer, who had used one for years. This tool was the forerunner of the Pacific, and ihc firm was purchased many years ago by the Pacific Gun Sight Company. As soon as this firm absorl)ed the Huecer outfit, it drop|>ed this fine tool instead of refining it in a few minor ways. Per- fections have been used by many of our best-known experimenters, and not one who has reported to rhe author has had anything but praise for its per- furmancc. Ir was built along the lines of a drill press — a round base, an upright, and the various dies below where a hand lever could do the work, always under the watchful eye and complete con- trol of the operator. Universal. A development of 1935 was the Uni- versal, designed and built by the Universal Load- ing Tool Company, of 2690 Kellner Boulevard, San Diego, California. This firm apparently has two expert machinists, Lindsey King and S. R. holder, rotate the turret to the left, life ihc Icvrr, and the shell is forced into the die, full-length re- sized, mouth expanded, crimp removed, and dc- cap(X’d. You then drop a primer into a fixed- position priming cup, and lower the lever, pulling the ease from the die and down over the primer. Then, without touching the ease, rotate the tur- ret to the center position, raise the operating lever, and you run rhe ease into a snug-fitting chamber, on lop of which is mounted your favorite powder measure. Operating the measure handle causes the charge to drop directly into the shell, disjxmsing with the use of the customary draw tube. Tlie lever is again lowered slightly, and the turret ro- tated to the right once more, exposing the left- lumc! die — the bullet scatcr. The seating is conven- tional, and when you take the ease from the shell holder, it is a completely loaded cartridge. I have for many months used this tool in .30/06 and .38 Special and fine! it extremely fast. The extra -fine workmanship in the dies, with their minimum tolerances, gives a precision load hard to beat. I suggest, however, for reasons mentioned elsewhere, that the operator make no attempt to run through all stages of the operation at one sit- ting* but be content to throw powder charges and COMMERCIAL LOADING TOOLS AND THEIR USE 225 seal bullets at one operation and do a]] of his shell resizing and priming at a diflerciu time. Loading machines in modern factor ics combine the measur- ing of powder and seating of bullets, but the new primed cases are completely prepared as they arc fed into die loading machine. The handloader will do well to heed this sug- gestion. A certain amount of effort is required to force the case into the die, dccap, extract, and prime, and this causes a jar to the, powder measure which cannot help but settle its contents. Tlius uniform charges arc more difficult than when the measure is handled carefully. in short, straight cases, the Universal lads have de- signed a clever aid to speed and accuracy in the form of a bullet holder built into the seating die, Three holes arc drilled into the mouth of this die, equidistant around the rim. Steel balls lit into these holes, backed by a light ring sp^i^g^ To seat a bullet, push ir into the die with the fingers — the steel balls will center it accurately and hold it until the shell with its charge of powder is entered. At the same time, the bullet-seating plug is drilled through the top center, and a brass ‘‘indi- cator" rod with a knurled cop is inserted. I’his rod drops into the chamber, and rises the length 6huwn for neck si/Jng, expaodiog, aad decapping The Universal dies are polished and lapped, in- side and out. Their threads are beautifully cui, so that they fit snugly into the heavy crinkle- Jacquer finish of the big cast-iron frame. The tog- gle arrangement is operated by two bars, both ex- posed, and these, together with the from of the track in which the shell-holder rahlc rides, are as beautifully engine-turned a.s might be expected on a display model. Dies are heat-treated in an elec- tric furnace, as are all other operating parts work- ing under strain. The (Iccapping pins arc a work of art. Instead of the conventional cap nut holding a glorified nail, these arc long tool-steel sleeves, nicely shaped with the dccapping pin turned as a part of the sleeve. A long body thread and a hole for the insertion of a nail or rod to serve a.s a wrench are located both in the sleeve and in the expander body. They are tempered and drawn to a beautiful straw color, possible only in an electric furnace. Due to their design, they cannot come loose, and a solid pin cannot bend or break in normal service. Remem- ber that, you chaps w'ho keep bending your de- capping pins. For the seating of handgun bullets, or for bullets of the bullet as it h inserted. Thus you can tell at a gbnee if you forgot to insert the bullet before you run the shell into the seating die for the crimping operarion. It saves time, prevents shaving of bul- lets, and gives beautiful crimps — adjustable, of course. All seating dies arc ventilated with a fine hole or two, to permit the escape of air, thus in- suring uniform seating depth. A very excellent took and one a handloader would be proud to own and display to his visitors. Jordan. Developed in 1935 by T., W. Jordan of the Union Auto Specialties (>»., Brtxjkfield, Penn- sylvania, this popular tool was one of the many items which passed through a process of evolution and through different manufacturers. In 1946 the manufacture was taken over by the Cameron Manufacturing Corporation of Emporium, Penn- sylvania. The latter part of 1947 the Masters Machine Works of 15 rook vi lie, Pennsylvania, un- dertook the production of the tool, refining it to a top quality item with a wide variety of precision dies, chrome plating, and other refinements de- scribed in detail in the supplement of this volume. This press is about as much of a straight-line tool as one cm get in the entire loading- tool family. 226 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING and is equaled only by the Schmitt system of ease- guiding the cartridge while the bullet is seated, and the similar system employed by Wilson of Cash- mere, Washington, with his seating tool supporting the case body during the operation, and Potter with his special rifle dies. The Jordan is no toy. It weighs about i8 pounds, has a heavy cast-iron base 6 inches in diameter, supporting an upright post of machine steel i%6 inches thick. Riding on this heavy post is a table inches in diameter and inches deep, holding the various dies. At the bottom is a similar table inches thick. Both of these are of cast iron nicely machined. Cast iron, working against steel, gives a much letter bearing than two similar steels, and the great length of the upper or An 6kce]l«flt hand bullet leat^r o( Belding Ic Mull mami- (ecturt designed lor use with (he Model ^26 tool. Various of ih«>e wiiu are used br (he auchor in seating tpeeial bulteis, as if is capable of brsr*cbs$ work. I( can be used to :ritnp or not, as desired, and is readily ad- justable lor seating depth. The cosi ol these tools is es- ceedifl|]y low movable i.ihlc me.ins a long bearing to reduce wear and distribute friaion. The unique feature of this tool is that it is con- tinually sec up for all operations of handloading in two calibers, if desired. To change from one cal- iber to another, it is only necessary to use the proper set of dies. This has never been done on any other tool so far as I know. IVe used mine for many months, in .30/06, .38 Special, .357 Mag- num, 44 Special and .220 Swift. The first set of Swift dies for this tool were made at my direc- tion, and work perfectly, full-length resizing the ca.sc.s with very little effort, so that 1 may use them in either my Standard W’tnchestcr rifle or my heavy -barreled custom-built job by Sweany. This tool is kept set up at all times for the .220 Swift and for the .357 Magnum. For shell resizing, you slip the fired case into the shell holder, pull down the lever, and a powerful toggle forces the sliding table with the resizing die down over the case, full-length resizing, or neck sizing, decapping, and expanding. Raising the lever extracts the shell from the die, where it is picked from the holder with the fingers. The primer is ilicD dropped into a cup in this fable, and the cartridge ease placed over it. A slight rim. fitting the head of the shell, centers the ease so that when the operating lever is pulled down the plunger enters the case mouth and fortes the ease over primer. Adjusting the plunger insures uni- form seating depth of the primer. With a charge of powder inserted, the really novel features of the tool arc brought out. Moved to a different shell holder beneath a seating die, the lever is lowered parr w'ay, whereupon a sleeve drops over the case, gripping it solidly. A port on the side of this movable table is exposed, and a bullet dropped into the sleeve, base down. There it is guided into the neck in precision manner, the sleeve holding the case solidly throughout the seat- ing operation. A similar sleeve holds the case body during resizing, the sleeve there actually serving as a ^orfy-sizing die w'ith a separate die. The neck is first sized while the sleeve or body die holds rhe .shell, whereupon the continuation of the downward lever movement forces the body die over the shell. In cxiracilon, the neck die is with- drawn first, the expander pulled through, and then the body die removed— a precision group of opera- tions at production speed. Jordan also has available a bullet-sizing die and lubricator for direct attachment to this tool, mak- ing a very accurate and speedy bullet-sizing equip- ment. The bullet is dropped point downward into the guide sleeve supplied, and as the lever is low- ered, it is forced into the sizing die, The lubricant is then forced into the grooves of the bullet by means of a miniature Alemitc gun attached to the movable liead or turret. A.s the lever is clo.scd, the bullet is forced free of the die and brought to the top, where it is picked oil with the finger.s and packed in a suitable container. The sizing die fits in either of the bullet-seating stations of the press and may be attached or de- tached in a few minutes. The lubricator itself is interchangeable with any number of dies supplied by Jordan for various bullets, and handles the I -inch diameter stick lubricant supplied by various loading-tool makers and supply houses in a variety of mixtures. Potter Duplex. One of the newest developments in the loading-tool field is the Potter Duplex, de- signed and manufactured by the Potter Engineer- ing Company, of 10 Albany Slrtfet, Ca/enovia, New York. This firm operates under the direction of Arthur Dick Potter, a mechanical engineer who is a gun bug of the first order. He knows load- ing tools and the loading-tool problems, and my first acquaintance with him was through Fred Ness, of the American Rifieman staff. There is no perfect loading tool on the market, COMMERCIAL LOADING TOOLS AND THEIR USE 227 and Potter realizes this. Accordingly he develops his version what a loading tool should be. It has one particular (enuire which, of no importance to some people, is extremely appealing to the author. Most handloading tools have an aanoying habit of discarding the primer in almost any direc- tion where it will land under foot on the floor or bounce around the community. Potter effectively takes care of this. The tool is bolted or otherwise firmly attached to a bench, table, or other solid support. Primers arc discharged into the base, and any ingenious handloadcr can make a hole in the bench top and run it through to convey the spent primers to some form of box or receptacle under- neath. This is not necessary, however, as that base will accommodate several thousand primers before it needs to be emptied. The Potter Duplex, generally speaking, is of the familiar straight-line bench -press type. It docs not, however, look like any other make of loading tool on the market today. A cast-iron base forms the support, and this is sufficiently sturdy so that when 1 first attempted to use it I found that it could be readily operated without bolting down. Any bench tool, however, should be solidly attached to the top of the bench to prevent slipping around, aud u> allow perfect conirerating lever during the resizing of shells and scaling of bullets. This large cast-iron base has a diameter of inches and is about 5 inches high. Its top is milled to a flat ujX)n which the shell-holding and recap- ping equipment is properly mounted. From this base rises the i! 4 -l^^ch steel-rod upright, support- ing the superstructure with a powerful double toggle operating a sliding head into which the dies arc screwed. 'I his sliding head has a ^Y$ inch hearing and has take-up facilities to properly ad- just fnr any wear which might occur in extensive handling. The long bearing of cast iron against the steel rod should insure extremely long wear and freedom from trouble. From the side of the fixed head or superstruc- ture projects an arm which can be removed if desired. This arm supports a powder measure of potter’s own de.sign and manufacture. It is of the general hopper type, the entire unit being formed of cast iron and similar in operation to the Bond. This measure may be operated at the same time that shells arc resized to throw a charge of powder into a waiting ease, if dc.sired. It is only a mo- ment’s work 10 disconnect it entirely, and a special table bracket may l>e obtained to permit attach- ment of this Potter measure to the bench. The measuring cylinder or metering chamber may be varied and must be set for a given charge by means of a balance, and is then supposed to re- main fixed until it is desired to change again. Ad- ditional cylinders, however, may be obtained to be set for other fixed charges. For rifle charges, a calibrated cylinder can be furnished on special A loo] makrr hiiitd« 9 reloading louh J, B. Swcaoy, noted oeperimenter of Winien, California, dcUgn« a atraigbi'linc tool with die nipporis, for experimental work in the .220 Swift. Note various dies xated on loading beach, also plate of heavy »ice1 uxd foi 500* yard .220 Swift peaeiration tests order. This p.iriicular measure can be set for any given charge of powder at the factory, on order. Special non-adjustabic cylinders for any other given charge can be obtained. This, of course, would eliminate the necessity of using a powder balance for checking the setting. An automatic primer feed is standard equipment on this new tool. The magazine holds lOO primers. The sliding head holds both the bullet scatcr and shell-resizing die ar the same time, and there arc two posirions in the shell holder to accommodate 228 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING cartridge cases. Tlic Grst operation includes the downward movement ot the operating handle. This forces the shell-resizing die with decapper over a cartridge case. The operating handle is then raised to withdraw the decapping pin from the primer pocket, and a small priming lever on the left-hand side of the machine is pulled forward* discarding the decapped primer by carrying it out through a special hole in the base of ihc tool, then moving a new primer from the magazine Into * Tlic present Sweany tool made for Budmell Smith. Thii ii Sweany’j “commercial” model proper position, and forcing it home with the primer-seating punch. The primed shell is then removed from the first position, held beneath the pouring spout of the powder measure, and the handle operated once more, which discharges the proper charge into the case. It is then placed in the right-hand side of the shell holder, under the bullet-se'aiing die; a bullet balanced on the neck; Station i refilled with a bred cartridge case; and the operation repeated. As the cycle continues from this point, a complete car- tridge is delivered at every throw of the operating lever. The powder measure is so hooked up that the operating lever must be thrown all ihe way to the rear to cut the metering drum into the powder charge. If the lever is brought to the upright posi- tion, which raises the die sufficiently to handle all handgun loads, the powder measure is made in- operative, so it is a simple matter to leave the pow- der measure properly cut in without actually spiU- ing any powder. The tool IS so hooked up that any of the opera- tions necessary to handloading can be conducted separately without creating any complications. This is not true of some of the other tools on the markcL If, for instance, you should decide to re- size and decap your cases without repriming, no change in the set- up is ncce.ssa ry, and the only alteration necessary is lo remove your charged magazine of primers. The magazine is built with a cut-off so that it may be left in position and merely cut loose from feeding if desired. By the same token, lo reprime properly resized and recapped shells — if you desire lo clean the pocket before this operation— is really very little additional work. One merely slides the properly treated empty shells into position, operating the auxiliary or priming lever on the left side of the machine forward and backward, and the joh is done just as fast as you can feed them in, Ditto for bullet seating. The resizing dies used by Mr. Potter are of a dcivign exiremcty interesting to the bandleader. They are merely ground and hardened tool- steel bushings screwed into the die body. The ch.inge of worn resizing dies necessitates the expenditure of only 75 cents. Complete description of the other dies is impossible at this writing as the tool is undergoing a few minor changes at the author's suggestion. Mr. Potter is endeavoring to simplify his dies to meet the cvcr-prcscnt problem of the hand) oadcr— additional dies for dificrenr calibers and styles of cartridges at a minimum price. On one make of bench tool, for instance, the author discovered, on making his inventory not long ago, that he had more than $75 worth of additional dies for various calibers of cartridges. This particular amount of money had been invested by the simple process of adding equipment for a new cartridge now and then. Until the actual chcck-up, he hadn't realized how much money had been spent. Mr. Potter has designed a very excellent tool and one which has the appearance of being sufficiently sturdy for heavy production of quamiiy loading. At the same time it permits of the finest precision for the chap who desires to load twenty-five or thirty cartridges of a given type at one time. With proper dies on hand, the changing of set-up from one caliber to another is a matter of less than three minutes. Hall Bench Tool. A 1936 newcomer to the handloading tool field was Fielding B. Hall, of 1322 Montana Avenue, Los Angeles, California, COMMERCIAL LOADING TOOLS AND THEIR USE 229 with a bcnch-typc tool having many desirable fea- tures. This particular tool is of the horizontal straighi-liue variety, on the same general operating principle as the Schmitt, but diitcring tremen- dously in detail. The Hall tool I tested was for the .^o/o6 caliber. It is unusually sturdy, with a steel frame supported on four cast-iron legs at the corners. The design is such that should the legs become accidentally broken, they can be replaced inexpensively without necessitating alterations of the tool pro|>er. I first used this tool in the early w'intcr of 1936. I found it entirely practical for work at hand, par- ticularly where rea.sonablc quantities of ammuni- liuD must of necessity be loaded. A joh requiring assembling of a small quamiiy such as twenty of a given lead with the various tear-duwii steps be- tween the operations makes this rather slow to handle. Special tool-steel dies of precision manufacture arc supplied. The tool is sufficiently powerful to full-length resize .30/06 shells without undue effort. The resizing die and shell holder arc held in posi- tion in a large sliding block riding on a bed similar to that used in a lathe, this block being iji X X2 inches, whereas the rails or tracks on which it slides arc inch thick and inch wide. The entire tool is between tS and 20 inche.s long and will occupy that amount of bench space. The front die holder is threaded to accept a neck-expanding unit and bullet seater. A special decapping pin, which is also used to drive the case out of the sizing die, is installed in the rear die holder and the recapping pin is properly shaped so that it may be used to swedge out primer pock- ets of Frankford Arsenal make when that unfor- tunately inconvenient ring crimp has been used around the primer to hold it in position. The operating handle of the Ilall tool is a sturdy steel lever two feet long. It is located near one end of the base. It was found lliat little effort was re- quired in this (Kjwerful tool for full-length resiz- ing. It is of extreme importance that as many cases as possible be put through at one time. Setting up the tool for different operations is slow and pains- taking work, although no more so than with the majority of other tools on the market. The very excellent resizing die is equipped with three tiny vents at the neck to permit the escape of air. Since it is always advisable to oil cases lightly by wiping them with an oil-dampened rag, these vents prcveju “oil buckling^ of the case due to surplus oil collected therein. The surplus merely exudes from the die. Another feature of this resizing die is that it is properly constructed to eliminate the dangers of increasing headspace. This is extremely impor- tant in high -power rifle cartridges. With many of the tools on the market, if the cartridge case is forced loo deeply into the resizing die, the shoulder is altered slightly or moved back, thus creating a serious problem of headspace. The Hall die cannot be used in this manner, as the case is forced into the die until the head is flush with one end. Visible insj>ecuon of the opposite end of a die indicates whether the shell has stretched, as this die is made of the proper length so that no part of the neck should protrude when fully seated. These sizing dies are made by F. K. *l*h« Hall Bmeraiion performed, the turret is rotated to position Ko. 2 without touching the shell and the hand-lever operation repeated. This runs the expander into the cartridge case, removing all traces of crimp and slightly belling the mouth of the shell, if desired. This, of course, is adjustable to any degree desired by the operator. The shell is again withdrawn and the turret ro- tated to position No. 3, which consists merely of ao adapter for an Ideal powder measure. Riding the shell into a proper receptacle there permits one to drop the charge of powder directly into it, by operating die Ideal throw lever in the conven- (ional manner. The shell is withdrawn once more iuid the turret rotated to stage Ko. 4, which brings the bullet-seating chamber in line. The final oper- ation seats the bullet and crimps it if desired. A very useful feature of this tool is the fact that dies drop into proper pockets in the turret holder instead of being screwed into position. It is a simple matter to remove them in just a few min- utes. At the same time, with predetermined sel- ling on the adjustment, it is not necessary to tamper with them during the different loading operations. Another unique feature is the shell holder. This differs from anything on the market in that a single shell-holder unit built into the rising table enables the same tool to handle, without adjust- ment, ev'cry shell from the .22 Hornet up through to the .375 H. & H. Magnum scries. This consists of two V-shaped knives backed by springs. These knives properly grip cither the rim or the ex- tractor groove, depending on wdiether one is using rim or rimless shells. If one desires merely to prime with this tool, it is not necessary to make any change, other than in primer-seating punches for different sizes of primers. “V” knives are re- leased by pressure of a finger on a plunger at one side of the table. Due to the design, these always perfectly center the shell. Adjustment is available COMMERCIAL LOADING TOOLS AND THEIR USE 231 to take care of different rim thicknesses in certain calibers if necessary. The tool 1 tested was very well made and I regretted that it was necessary for Mr. Ward to withdraw this item from the market. He hoped to adjust patent difficulties, but was unable to do this. Mrs. Ward wrote me that her liLisband died in 1946 of a heart attack. He always main- tained a love for his tool, developing many special gadgets and accessories for this, but they are not mentioned herewith because it is not known whether they will appear upon the market. Many of these the author has been experimenting with for the past six months, including various types of reamers, shell trimmers, and guide chutes for con- veying primer debris from the pocket away from working parts of the tool and particularly from the priincr-seadng punch. xxm DIES AND GAUGES A FEW scant years ago the haodloadiDg fan had few if any dies and gauges to aid him in his handloading. Today this problem is being recognized and rapidly cared for. Within the next few years there will be a great many more brought on the market. Precision handloading depends not only upon the skill of the individual but upon the types of tools he uses. If he can afford to invest the money in handloading equipment he can greatly improve his product, and there is something about the own- ership of precision equipment which in a great many instances causes a feeling of satisfaction that makes the investment well worth while. No handloading fan should attempt to hand- load any type of ammunition without equipping himself with that basic in.strument, the microm- cier. This can be obuiacd at prices ranging from S3 to S25, and while the author does not care to recommend the very cheapest of instruments, he recognizes the necessity for a reasonable degree of precisioQ. Micrometers. The two most popular makes of micrometers today are those of Brown & Sharpe and the L. S. Starrett Company. Both arc entirely satisfactory. One of the most practical of these micrometers, and one which the writer has used for many years, is the Starrett Si 13 onc-inch mi- crometer with vernier reading to .0001 of an inch, it is even advi.sahle to get your micrometer calipers equipped with a ratchet in the end of the spindle, ahliough to a skilful operator this is not necessary. The handloading genius will probably know more about the use of a micrometer caliper than the average machinist, strange as it may seem. I have been in various machine shops, garages, and so forth, and watched the efforts of dozens of mechanics trying to measure with this very com- mon tool. It is astounding to notice their methods. Perhaps the best and simplest way to explain the use of a micrometer is to quote from the tool catalog of the L. S. Starrett Company. “The pitch of the screw threads on the con- cealed part of the spindle is 40 to an inch. One complete revolution of the spindle therefore moves it longitudinally one fortieth (or twenty-five thou- sandths) of an inch. The sleeve is marked with 40 lines to the inch, corresponding to the number rf threads on the spindle. When the caliper is closed, the beveled edge of the thimble coincides with the line marked zero on the sleeve, and the zero line of the thimble agrees with the horizontal line on the sleeve. Open the caliper by revolving the thimble one full revolution, or until the zero line of the thimble again coincidc.s with the hori- zontal line on the sleeve; die distance between the anvU and the spindle is then Ho (or -025) of an inch, and the beveled edge of the thimble will co- incide with the second vertical line on the sleeve. Each vertical line of the sleeve indicates an addi- ditional Ho of an inch. Every fourth line is made longer than the others, and is numbered 0, i, 2, 3, and so forth. Each numbered line indicates a dis- tance of four times Ho of an inch or Vio of an inch. “The beveled edge of the thimble is marked in twenty-five divisions, and every fifth line is num- bered from 0 to 25. Rotating rhe rhimblc from one of these rrurks to the next moves the spindle longitudinally Hs of Ho of an inch or actually one one-thousand ch of an inch. Rotating ic two divisions indicates two one-thousandths, and so forth. Twenty-five divisions will indicate a com- plete revolution or .025 inch. “To read the caliper, therefore, multiply the number of vertical divisions visible on the sleeve by 25, and add the number of divisions on the bevel of the thimble from the zero line which co- incides with the horizontal line on the sleeve. In use the frame is held srarionary; the thimble is revolved by the thumb and forefinger, the spindle being attached to the thimble re vu Ives with il and moves through the nut in the frame approaching or receding from the anvil on the opposite end. The article to be measured is placed between the anvil and the spindle and the spindle screwed down on it gently.*' It is extremely important that one be careful not to strain the instrument. It is a very simple mat- ter in measuring mctal-jackctcd bullets as small as .30 caliber to tighten the spindle sufficiently to register two or three thousandths less diameter than may be correct. Always open the spindle siifil- dently to permit of careful wiping of both ibe DIES AND GAUGES 233 spindle face and the aovih as an accumulation of a thin him of grease or dust can give a false read- ing as great as .tM>2 inch. On lead bullets of the so-called cast variety^ extreme tare must be taken in the measuring, as it is quite simple to crush a lead bullet as much as .006 inch if too much pres- sure is brought to bear upon it. Not only is it pos- sible to damage the micrometer in this fashion, but the measurements result in a false reading. Unless one can read the measurements correctly, he might as well refrain from taking them. 'i'hc handloading fan will find that his microm- eter calipers arc more valuable if the sleeve is grad- uated with a vernier to enable him to read to .0001 of an Inch. Ihillet measurements are frequently read iji these small figures, and w'hilc a half-thou- sandth (,(xkj 5) can readily be escimiitcd with the ordinary “mike,’' the proper use of the vernier eliminates the necessity for this. On page 240 is an illustration clearly indicating the method of reading the vernier on your micrometers; it is given here through the courtesy of the L. S. Star- rett Company. Instructions accompanying a cal- iper so graduated read as follows: “Readings in ten-thousandths of an inch arc ob- tained by the use of a vernier, so named from Pierre Vernier, who invented the tJcvicc in 1631. As applied tn a caliper this consists of ten divisions on the ;uli us table sleeve, which occupy the same space as nine divisions on the thimble. The dif- ference between the width of one of the ten spaces on the sleeve and one of the nine spaces on the thimble is therefore one-tenth of a space on the thimble. In illustration 'B' the third line from O on the thimble coincides with the first line of the sleeve. The next two lines on thimble and sleeve do not coincide by one-tenth of a space on the thimble; the next two, marked 5 and 2, arc two-tenths apart, and so on. In opening the tool, by turning the thimble to the left, each space on the thimble represents an opening of one-ihmi- sandth of .in inch. If, therefore, the thimble l>c turned so that the lines marked 5 and 2 coincide, the calijvr will be opened two-tenths of one one- thousandth or two ten-thousandths. Turning the thimble further, until the line 10 coincides with the line 7 on the sleeve, as in engraving ‘C/ the cal- iper has been opened seven ten-thousandths, and the reading of the tool is ,2507. “To read a ten-thousandths caliper, first note the thousandths as in the ordinary caliper, then ob- serve the line on the sleeve which coincidc.s with a line on the thimble. If it is the second fine, marked i, add one ten-thousandth; if the third, marked 2, add two ten-thousandths, and so forth.'* Various instruments in both Starreti and Brown & Sharpe can be obtained, but calipers of about one-inch capacity will prove to be the most popu- lar among handloaders, as they permit of the measuring of all kinds of bullet and case diameters. If rhe hand loader cares to add a valuable too! to his present r(|uipmcnt, or if he has none available, he will find it quite practical to obtain — instead of the standard one-inch mkroincacr — a specimen of Some of die equipment used by V. E. Wilton, die and gtaufr maker of CflUimere, Washington, for the manu* lacnirc and testing of headspace gauges. The above sel-op shows a surface plate, and at ihe left, on the suiface pUie, is a soifacc gauge with dial indicator. Headspace gauge In pmiiinn for measuring. l.ower end resting in special ring gauge and upper end lield ver- tical by a support which is cut away to allow a stack of gauge blocks shown in the center 10 be set on ihe ring gauge for comparison purpose!;. On the right arc rwo finished headspace gauges designed for use in the Springfield the two-inch gratlc similar to the Sliitcu 1 pm now using, r.iiher ihe ti or the would be satisfactory for lliis work. The only difference be- tween these rwo instruments is that the 3213 is graduated with the vernier on the sleeve, while the #2 lacks this useful and practical scale. The two-inch micrometer will check measurements from one inch to two inches, and with a very prac- tical attachment bearing the Starretc number of 212, this tool can instantly be converted to handle measurements from zero to one inch. It can there- fore be used to replace the standard one-inch mi- crometer and for handloading is much to be pre- ferred, particularly since the two-inch capacity will permit the overall measuremeni of any handgun cartridge and the measurement of case lengths, out- side diameters, and such things. The attachment is an additional spindle which slips over the anvil, thus extending it exaedy one COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING m inch. It is properly fitted with a device to permit ir to be maintained at a constant zero, and to be changed from a micrometer measuring from zero to one inch to an additional tool measuring from Wilsun ^ujfcs. Top thr«c uniiA: A Wilson ihrooi gaugie. The handle portion at the top ia screwed into the gauge proper at the bottom, the sleeve at the center Is then inserted in the chamber of a Springheld rifle with the buU removed. The throat gauge is then slid into the sleeve wlrh the sleeve pressed up against the shoul- der taper. The ground forward end carefully fils this taper. The gauge is then pressed into the chamber snugly and the foiwaid portion of the section shown at the bottom K designed to flr into the throat of the rifling, the front section being of land diameter. The wear on the throat is shown in the flat or cui*off portion of the sleeve. If there is no wear, the circuofmotial line shown at the bottom portion next to screw thread should coincide with the extreme end of the sleeve. If (hit goes {/h inch beyond the end, it indicates that there is that amount of wear in the throat, and the haodfoadcr sliouUl seat his bullets out lo a greater overall length el store. This has a capacity of 4 inches and is excellent for measuring cither outside or inside diameter, the latter as small as .25. Brown & Sharpe list this tool as their 5960. Many 236 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADINC handloaders have been using a tool of this oature over a long period of time and have found it to be highly satisfactory. It consists chiefly of a moV' able jaw on a small square which can be adjusted to any measurement by means of a screw. One side is graduated into sixiy-founhs of an inch while the other side reads to hundrcrltlis. The use of a scale like this to check accurate readings re- quires a small magnifying glass, but this need not be a complicated instrument. One magnifying ap- proximately three or four times will show up the hundredths scale quite effectively. In checking the overall length of a cartridge, one can readily determine the seating depth of a bullet. Wilson's latest adjvstabic (rimmer, in which one ooii, equipped with proper shell holders, will handle all casea trom the .22 Hornet to the .379 II. & II. Magnum. This Trimmer, hreauw nf the idjusiable icanirc handliit; all calibers, does not clumber the inside oi ihe eaae neck and turns up a very slight burr both iiuidc and out. The auxiliary burr- re moving tool Is supplied with (his and is capable of handling all calibers. It is very simple to UK This is of extreme importance if precision results arc to be obtained. In ihe loading tabulations of this bting experience he knows exactly what the hand loading fan wanes. Cartridge Case Trimmers. It is a recognized fact that a cartridge case will stretch upon firing. No way has yet been found to prevent this, and the only answer has been to trim the case. There has been, however, no definite way to trim this brass properly or to gauge its length to prevent over- trimming. Previously hand loading fans have been compelled to dress down their case mouths with a fine file, trying these in the gun or gauging them beside a new and unfired cartridge case in an effort to guess the length. Accordingly, authorities in writing on this subject have deliberately steered clear of descriptions and have merely stared posi- tively that "the repeatedly fired cartridge case should be trimmed to return it to normal.” They have left it up to the fan himself to figure out the system. There has long been a need for a satisfactory trimmer capable of keeping the cartridge case in proper condition. The unfortunate part of this problem is that every caliber of case requires a different dimeusioii of trimmer, and accordingly DIES AND GAUGES 23 ? ihis problem is greatly magnified. Mr. Wilsou lias designed a trimmer which at this writing is avail- able for a number of cartridges and is so designed that it can readily be adapted to other calibers at a nominal expense. The author has experimented with a number of sample models of this tool, but the final iy|>c which has been placed on the market appears to embrace all the features essential tor best performance. It is certainly all that one can ask for, both in method of operation and in precision of the work; for cases must always be irunincd with care and great pre- cision or the value of the handloads will be lost. end. The cartridge case in its holder is placed in the guides lu position and the reamer inserted into the bushing where it contacts the case neck, where- upon the crank is operated. The easiest method of handling this is to palm the ball and spin gently. It may be operated at a speed satisfactory to the operator and cuts down the surplus metal on the case mouth. It takes merely a few seconds, and the stop collar causes the reamer to stop cut- ting when the case is shortened to the necessary standard. With this new instrument I took a sealed carton of 50 .50/06 commercial primed shells, ran tliein through the reamer, and found A very uselul iKcessory foi the precUioo heodloadei’: A caliper «|uarc equipped with vernier. Such an instrument can be obtained wiihoQi vernier, of course, at loa moiKy. These arc manufactured by both Brown b Sharpe and the L. S. Starreit Company, and oiher toolmakers. The above tool is a Brown Si Sharpe. It has a capacity, depending on nae, of from a few inches up (o more than a foot, and with the vernier can be used lu read lengths in .001 ioek. When used for inside measurements, the minimum reading is J5, and ro ihe scale reading, Y* inch must be inlded to gel proper inside diameter This trimmer as designed will handle either new factory cases or those which have been fired and left unresized or fired and resized. Operation is cxccptinnally simple. To use this trimmer, one simply .slips an empty shell into a cylindrical steel holder one inch in diameter and approximately lYt inches long. This holder is a carefully ground steel rod having a hole through it reamed to the exact taper of the cartridge-case body. The entire neck projects through, as does a small portion of the head. The case is pressed into this holder with the fingers, and the steel block is then dropped into the block holder, in which the guides arc two round steel rods, thereby centering it through the famous vcc- hlnck principle. At one end of this guide or track is a carefully positioned block which contacts the head of the cartridge case, acting as a stop. At ihe other end is a cylindrical guide or bushing through which the cutting reamer operates. The entire unit may be held in the hand, clamped in a vise, or attached to a bench witl'J screws. Bench aitaclimcnt is to be preferred. The reamer is equipped with a stop collar and operating crank having a round ball approximately ao which were not touched by the cutler. The remainder were trimmed and cham- fered in varying degrees, but before the batch had been completed, there was quite an accumulation of brass chips. The entire 50 shells were run through in approximately two minute.s. When Wilson first brought this trimmer out, it had a two-way reanier designed tu chamfer cases in the same operation. The original models were made only for the .30/06, and thus could be so constructed. But the demand for a trimmer forced several additional calibers to the fnint, and the reamer was ground so that it becomes nothing more than an end mill, trimming off the brass flush and square. Thus the same tool can be used for .22 Hornet, ,220 Swift, .25 Roberts, .257 Rob- erts, .250/3000, 7 mm., .270 Winchester; .30/30, .303 Savage, .300 Savage, .30/40 Krag, .30/06 and .3cx> Magnum. Ocher calibers are being added, so chat by the time this appears in print, most of the popular rifle sizes will be available. How is it possible to adapt this tool? The case- head stop has a screw adiusimeni, and the base is drilled for six stop positions, covering all case lengths from the Hornet to the ,300 H. & H. Mag- 238 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING num. Therefore the scop is moved to the ap- proximate position, the fine adjustment obtain^ with the screw, and the proper shell holder used, To trim to different calibers, one need purchase only additional shell holders. A length gauge would be extremely useful, however, for setting up, Brown k Sharpe 2-inch Micrometer with Ad|mtable Anvil This i» an exirtmely practical tool and the purpoK of tvro separate instruments. It has a ca- |udiy railing fruni aero to one ioeh. as illustrated above, and when the anvil is slid back to proper pneU tion, the capacity is increased from one inch to two inches. A standard which U scot with the Instrument is used to check the adjustiDcnt und the handlodJcr will do well to keep a trimmed ease in his kit as a master gauge, properly inscribed nn.irs side by mraas of Mmc scratching device. NaUi rally the trimming operaciou leaves a slight burr, bath inside and outside the neck. Wilson supplies with the trimmer a special burring cool which removes the inside burr and gently reams the neck, while at the same time the opposite end will straddle the case neck to remove the outside wire edge. Headspace Gauges. It is indeed unfortunate that headspace gauges arc not available to handloaders in the assortment of calibers necessary to satisfy the diversihed list of shooters. They arc precision iastruments — a hit out of the reach of many of us. These gauges can be obtained by users of the ex- cellent .'^0/06 rifle, and the same gauges for the .30/06 can be used interchangeably with equal pre- cision in the .270 Winchester caliber, since that car- tridge is the .30/06 necked to .27 caliber with an identical angle of neck caper. Headspace gauges can be obtained in this caliber by the members of the National Rifle Association through the office of the Director of Civilian Marksmanship, together with a few other very special instruments; but the price is high. These gauges are not listed in the regular DCM price list, and it would be best for the prospective purchaser to write direct to the of- fice of the Director of Civilian Marksmanship, War Department. Washington, D. C., for prices and ordering last ructions. Generally speaking, the Ordnance Department uses four different tyj)cs of headspace gauges for the .30/06 cartridge. Headspace tolerances are, of course, in this caliber, the distance between the face of the dosed breech bolt and the mid-point of the forward taper of the shoulder, fust behind the neclt^. Two definite measurements arc used — a maximum and a minimum the former being 1.946 inches and the latter 1.940 inches. These gauges look like a hardened and ground steel dummy cartridge case, less the neck, and with the center or “wai.sr” of the shrll body cut out merely for relief. When a rifle leaves the armnrv — and incidentally this also applies to tiie commercial manufacturing plants and the Ixttcr class of gun- smiths who fit barrels— the chamber must accept the minimum-length gauge but must not handle the maximum. Ordinarily, with a tolerance of .006 inch, the average rifle hits about half-way between this, or about 1.9435. In addition the Ordnance Dep;irnnem uses a “field gauge’' or similar type which measures 1*950 inches. This gauge is used by Ordnance officers to Anolhcr uschil dcsijpi is the StarreR Ad)uslible Aovil, designed fur micron ictcrs having a oormal capacity of from I inch 10 2 inches. Whh ihis type of design 9 sundard 2 - inch microoieter which can normally be used for mcasuremcDts only of 1 inch to 2 inches is con* veiled by means i>( a separaie amil, auactied in an in- stant by means of a single set screw. This fits over ihe re^lar anvil and once adjusted for zero may be used for scTeral chaflge.ovcrs without further adiusuneot. An extremely UKful accessory check the rifles in service, particularly to find rifles which arc irregular through the interchanging of bolts by enlisted men to get “a smoother-running action.” If any rifle accepts this “no-go” gauge, it is immediately withdrawn from service and shipped to Springfield Armory or some similar 239 DIES AND GAUGES supply and service depot to have tlie headspace cor- rected. This correcting cannot Bt poke in the FIELD, even by trained Ordnance men. There is still a fourth type of gauge — a microm- eter type used only at Springfield Armory and other large manufacturing plants for a more de- tailed check. This appears like a neckless .30/06 case, but is split at the center, and the forward half screws over a spindle, much like the spindle of ordinary micrometer calipers, or “mikes” as the workman calls them. The easiest way to visualize this gauge is m visualize a mike wid^oui the horse- shoe arm, and with a movable rotating spiiidle- nosc, shaped like the shoulder of the chamber. This gauge is rotated co position, inserted in the chamber in much the same way as the fixed type, and the boh closed If the bolt closes easily, the gauge is withdrawn, opened a few more ten- thousandths, and given further trial. When the bolt doses lightly but without undue force, the gauge is removed and “read” from the micromctric scale, much the same as reading micrometer cal- ipers, except that the gauge functions through a very narrow range of perhaps a couple of tenths of an inch. This gauge proves useful as a final check, and is widely used in Match Springfields lo gel the headspace at about i.9435 inches. The gauge is delicate because of its fine screw threads, as the latter can be ruined through an oversize setting and an application of the powerful leverage of the Springfield camming lugs in closing the bolt. There is much less danger of breakage in the use of the "fixed” type; hence this is far more common in the arms plants. How is this headspace adjusted.^ Roughly chambered barrels arc fitted in position on the action and then chambered the remainder of the way mostly by hand with special finishing ream- ers. Various gauges arc tried, beginning with the minimum. After the chamber accepts that, the piogrcas is slow, as but -0035 inch needs to be re- moved to complete the job, and twice that amount will spoil it. In the case of a rifle with too much headspace, the barrel is removed from the action, the shoulder butting against the forward ring of the receiver turned off the width of a single thread, and the barrel replaced in the action, bul turned one complete revolution more than its original po- sition. It is not possible “to take up” headspace by tightening up the barrel — if it is already tight — because that would twist the front sight to one side, and a lialf turn would place the sight on the bottom o£ the barrel. The newly fitted barrel is then rechambered a bit deeper, the headspace gauges being used to control the depth of the cut. Several gunsmiths have recently placed on the market headspace gauges of (he fixed type for the .30/06 and ocher calibers. 1 recently acquired a pair of these from the same Wilson previously mentioned and find them to be superior to Ordnance Department gauges, especially at the most delicate part of the gauge — the head. Illus- trations of one of these gauges compared with ao Ordnance Fidd Gauge clearly show the superiority of the Wil.son gauge. These instrumenrs, of A mkromcier stand is a very useful, slihough net abso- luidy iKUttiry, item. This can be adjusted to hold a micrometer at any aiidci thus allowing both hands for the work. Bullet diameterc may he quickly checked by using the right hand to operate the spindle and the (eh hand 10 hold bullets course, must necessarily be ground to shape and then hardened, the final fitting being accomplished in a universal grinder to remove any “scale" or warpage. Wilson has eliminated sharp corners in the bottom of his extractor groove cut, a note- worthy improvement. Any metallurgist will tes- tify that even a strong steel forging will fracture in a sharp angle under stress, regardless of the “re- inforcement of construction.” Springfield Armory gauges frequcuily have the entire rim cliipped off through dropping or careless handling in a tool kit. The latest report was that Ordnance Department gauges of the fixed type could be purchased for 54.50 each ($9.00 the pair) plus 10 per cent tax, plus 20 cents packing charge, plus postage. Wilson sells his gauges for 54.00 each, postpaid, and they are highly useful to those who desire to check as- sorted .30/06 rifles at regular intervals. Early in April 1935 Mr. Wilson brought out a gauge that should be in every handloadcr’s kit — cspcciallv chat of the rifleman who loads for tlic 240 COMPLE'FE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING .30/06 and .270. I have been using one of these for some time, and am so enthusiastic over its value that I use it to check every .30/06 cartridge 1 load, and all resided eases before loading. This gauge is actually a .30/06 semi'ch umber, full shell length, carefully reamed into a block of what ap> pears to be finely outside-ground cold rolled steel, in making this gouge, the rod of steel is first reamed so that a 1,946 headspace gauge will drop A h»riJlo4icnd on the shoulder of the car- tridge to cltcck I he forward movement of the case, and if a rim is iu fair shape, unbiittcrcd and clean, there need be little worry here from .i safety stand- point. It then resolves itself imo a inniier of an undersize case, which gives poor accuracy. Throat Gauge- Another pair of Wilson develop- ments arc his ,30/06 throat gauge and his can ridge- ease micrometer for .30/06 and .270 Winche.ster cases. The throat gauge is unique in appearance and operation. It is composed of three pieces, in- cluding the handle section, and fits compactly into a kit six inches long. 'Ihc illustration of this throat gauge clearly indicates its operation. A great many of these thro.it gauges have been sold to clubs and to Marine Corps rifle teams who have a lot of arms to take care of. This inslrumeiit is essentially a club proposition, as the irulividiiiil rifleman would have very little need for k. It tells you when you must go in for a new barrel because of wear on the leadc or throat of the rifling. E^mially it consists of a throat gauge rod with pilot and guide. The gauge portion is a carefully ground tool-siccl rod with a pilot end in land di- ' ameter which enters the rifling quite readily. : Rack of this the rrxl is ground according to stand- | ard specific a I ions of the throat. In use the pilot ' or sleeve is inserted into the chamber with the bolt removed. The handle section is screwed to the end of the rod merely to lengthen ic out and facili- tate handling. This is then gently pushed through the sleeve until it can enter no farther. The pilot end rides in on lop of the lands and (he remainder continues until the ground taper strikes the rifling throat. A register mark on the rod will coincide with the far end of the sleeve if the Springfield rifle DIES AND GAUGES 24 ! is new and in perfect condition. A section of ap< proximately inch is cut out of the top of this sleeve so that one can notice the amount of wear which will be indicated by the distance beyond the entl of the sleeve that the throat gauge can be in- serted. Using one of these insiruments nnt long ago, the author tested a number of difTereat Springfield target rifles and found that the wear on tlie Icjidc of the three particular target rifles showed Jie to %e inch on the throat gauge. This may have been a matter of but a few thousandths on the leade, bur in a standard length of cartridge the bullet would have to jump that distance before striking the rifling. The answer, of course, would be that with a slightly worn barrel, it w»ould be necessary ro scat the bullets farther out of the ease neck. In many instances this makes the cartridges too long to funciion ilirough the magazine. This gauge will not indicate the erosion wear insofar as di- ameter is concerned, as the gauge is ground to .308 inch — equivalent to groove diameter. It is interest- ing CO note that new Winchester .30/06 barrels which we tested with this instrument showed that they arc throated about Ha inch tighter than the Springfield standard. As a club or team instru- ment this is an excellent device, but the price of $10.00 is somewhat high for the individual. Cartridge-Case Micrometer. 'l*hc cartridgc 4, 5, 6, «w., lines on the vernier of .001% . 002 ", JMi\ .004% .Ci05", .006", etc., respectively, the dilference increasing .001" at each vernier division in numerical order umil, at the 2$th graduation, (he lines again coincide (sec upper cut). Thus, when the lit, 2nd or Srd, etc., line on ihe vernier coincides with a line on the scale, the zero on the vernier has moved 1, 2, oi 3, cu,., ihuuundtlis of an inch past the previous fortieth graduation to bring these lines together. To read — Note the inches, tenths and forticiHs of an inch that the zero on the vernier baa moved Irutn (he zero on the scale, and lu tills reading add (he number of thousandths indicated by the line on the venucr that coiacides with a line on the scale. Ex- ample: The left hand cut shows the zero graduation on the vernier oniiciJirig with a forlielh gtaduadon on the scale (ihe second fortieth beyond an even tenth gradu- ation). This indicates that the reading is exact with re* ^Kcl to (he fortieths of an inch. The reading there- fore eqoaU 2.000" -j- 300" -f 0150" — 2.350% The right hand cur, however, shows the ISth vernier gradu- ation coinciding with a line on the scale. This, then, equaU 2.000" -f JOO" + ,050" -f- i)18" is: 2.368". Ver- niers wiili 25 divisiims arc used, for English measure, on all Brown k Sharpe verniers with the exceptions of 'lliread-TooJ Verniers ?^576 and Gear-Tooth Verniers ^580, 20 10 2 diameter pilch, 00 which verniers with 20 divisions arc used rifle. Each graduation on the plug equals .001 inch, and they arc spaced widely enough to permit of ready estimation of one-half thousandths. To read the “mike“ one merely adds the number of points between the register mark on the case body and the zero on ihc plug, anrl adds them to the 242 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING minimum standard at which the gauge U set — 1.940. 'I’hc average Springfield rifle, if in perfect condition and new» will measure approximately 1.943, A couple of thousandths either way is all right. If the rifle has excessive headspace, this micrometer will show it quickly and accurately, provided, of course, that the case has been fir^ with a full-charge load to expand it properly. This gauge is a precision instrument and also sells for I7.50 — originally priced at $10. With this case gauge I tested a certain "custom- built** rifle belonging to a friend not long ago. He was using standard commercial ammnniikm in a .30/06 hunting load, and the first sliut locked the gun .solid. He brought it to me for examination, and after a great deal of work I Anally opened the bolt and 'withdrew the fired case. I tried the Standard 1.950^' ‘no -go*’ — gauge and found that this rifle readily accepted it, which confirmed my suspicion chat headspace was excessive. That same case, which is still in my possession^hc rifle has long since gone back to the makcr***measured in Wilsons gauge 1.963 inches, or more than the maximum permissible headspace! An ex- tremely dangerous job of chambering had been pul into that barrel, and the shooter was very lucky not to have wrecked the gun or himself or both. A gauge like this belonging to a club— or to the individual who uses many rifles in the same cal- iber-will prove of extreme value and be a worth- while investment. It mav also be used to check the "headspace" of loaded cartridges to determine the proper setting of the resizing dies. Bullet Spinner. An interesting tool about which there is much comment in recent years is the bullet spinner. 7 he first of these was designed by the lace Lawrence Wcstniizcr of San Jose, California, who died in 1946. Manufacture was resumed by Cox & Sprague of 631 North rjth Street, San Jose. Designed for .jo-caliher bullets, it would not work w'cll with smaller sizes such as caliber. The idea of a bullet spinner is to eliminate, so far as possible, bullets and cartridges which are not perfectly true — in other words, 'bullets whose axes are not perfectly parallel to the sides of that portion contacting the barrel, or cartridges which may have perfect bullets seated somewhat out of line to give more or less of the same effect. Wesnitzer’s bullet spinner operates on a very simple mechanical principle. It is designed with a cast aluminum ba.se machined with two large holes for attaching to a bench. Two small carefully ground steel rollers of a diameter of 1.125 inches arc sup|>orted upon hardened shafts carefully ground so chat there is no noticeable play. One of these is driven by a iwo-inch knurled wheel. The bullet lu be examined is laid in the groove between these two rollers, and a small swinging arm equipped with a carefully ground one-inch wheel is dropped down to form a third point of contact. The large knurled knob on the driving wheel is then rotated slowly and the point of the bullet watched closely during this operation. ’Ihc amount it wobbles indicates the degree to which it is not concentric. In using this instrument Mr. Wcsniizer recom- mends that a shaded desk lamp be placed in such a position that it will cast the shadow of the bullet nose on the base or on a bench. The degree of wobble can be noted by examining this shadow while the bullet is being spun. There is no means of measuring the actual amount of wobble, but the system is extremely rapid, as it cakes but a few minutes to go through a batch of 100 mecal-cased bullets. On cast bullets it docs not appear to be so satisfactory, as the lubricant on the surface of the bullet prevents proper rotation, owing to the smoothly ground surface of the driving wheel. I.x)aded cartridges can readily be checked with this iiuirumenc by rotating the necks over the bul- let and watching the amount of wobble of the case. It 1$ surprising to notice the large amount of am- munition, both handloaded and factory type, which will be found with a decided wobble. Certain of our authorities assert that this wobble or lack of concentricity means absolutely nothing, so far as shooting qualities may be concerned. They are undoubtedly correct in this, particularly with re- gard to normal usage of the ammunition; but for long-range shooting, at from 600 yards on, care- fully selected components and kandloadc which have been spun will greatly reduce the number of unaccount^les one frequently gets in this shooting game. Mr. Wilson also has designed a couple of bullet spinners, both of which he brought to the National Matches in 1935. One of these is of wood and so simple that it can be manufactured by any ener- getic handloader. It consists of a small oak block supporting two one-half-inch square sections of similar wood. One of these blocks is carefully milled out to hold the head of a cartridge, and the design is such that anyone could manufacture this mol to accommodate any form of cartridge case. A groove of the “V** type is formed to support the neck. A string is wrapped once around the body of the cartridge case and passes through two holes in the base block. This small unit, less than six inches long, is then damped in a vise, either in a vertical or a horizontal position, and the string DEES AND GAUGES 243 used with a sawing motion to spin the cartridge. Guided in its “V” blocks, the case cannot wobble. The shadow of the bullet on the base will clearly indicate whether or not it is properly aligned in the case neck. Mr. Wilson brought another spinner, constructed with a toolmaker’s precision and with the greatest attention to detail This spinner is not on the market at this writing, and k is quite doubtful if it ever will he. It is just a toolmaker's idea of a precision insiriimeiit which not only discloses the Lict that a bullet is not true but reveals the exact number of thousandths that it may be out. The designer uses this for his private testing of Frank' ford Arsenal Mark 1 bullets for precision handload- ing designed for long-range shooting. The body of this tool is built with two chucks, each of which is ball-bearing, the base chuck being equipped in addition with ball-thrust bearings. The bullet base is inserted into this specially de- signed capered chuck, which does not permit of any play, and the thumb nut of the nose plunger is pulled our, as m.ay be seen in the illustration. This withdraws the nose chuck and permits insertion uf the bullet. A spring then returns it to bear evenly on the bullet, holding it in perfect align- ment in these carefully ground chucks centered on “V’’ blocks. Measurements are taken with a Fed- eral micrometer dial gauge reading in one-half thousandths of an inch. It is a simple matter to estimate figures as fine as onc-quartcr thousandths (.00025). ** cither clamped in a vise or attached to a bench by means of screws. The plunger of the dial gauge is brought into contact with a .side of the bullet and the dial set at zero. .A .string wnip[>cd around the axis of the base chuck is then pulled backward and forward, spin- ning the ball-bearing chuck and its bullet. A glance ac the dial gauge shows the plus or minus variation of these bullets. In using this instrument the author found several FA. and commercial specimens in excess of five one -thousandths (.0005) out of true and a goodly quantity varying one-half of this figure. The cost of such an instrument, however, svould be prohibitive unless the hanH- loadcr were sufficiently ingemoas and equipped with suitable tools to construct it himself. The gauge alone sells for approximately $15.00. Mr. Wilson is planning on a similar design, less elaborate in construction, which he may possibly place on (he market. In place of the dial gauge, he plans to hinge a small steel arm in such a posi- tion that it will contact that portion of the bullet which the handloader desires to check. This arm will extend upward and the variation will be mul- tiplied tremendously on the protruding end. This “wiggler,” as the designer calls it, will enable the operator to approximate the amount his bullets arc out of true. For precision loading such as is demanded by long-range shooters, it is permissible to have a bullet approximately xk> 2 out of round. In a batch of 100 or so bullets, you will frequently find an occasional one or two w'hich will run as much as as 10 off center. Bullets of this nature might well explain that unaccountable shot at 1000 yards. Straight-Line Tool. One of Mr. Wilson’s master developments is a precision straight-iinc tcx>l which offers everything except speed, and for certain types Inwlc micrometm srr cKttrmrly useful for gauging flrek diameters. Minimum diameter possible with this unit is .200 inch of work speed is the last thing to be desired. This tool U clearly illustrated, with its various com- ponent parts. The cartridge case is pressed into 2 shell holder very similar in design to that used in the trimming of cases. This shell holder is ground to exactly one inch in diameter and fits into a nne- inch hole reamed in the body of the tool. Tlie case, therefore, is guided in an absolutely straight line free from tipping or buckling while the neck is being resized. A properly designed neck-sizing die is screwed into the end of the tool, the case dropped into the instrument with its shell holder as guide, and a plug properly fitting und with a stop shoulder to prevent over resizing is used to force the shell into the neck -sizing die. Should the handloader desire to ream his case necks, it must always be done while the neck is supported in a sizing die. This W*ilson tool uses a special die iiuu which a carefully ground reamer is fitted. It is rotated by hand until it penetrates the neck of the case. Due to the system of guiding with a long pilot in the neck sizing die, it must enter the case neck in perfect alignment, thus eliminating the tendency to ream the neck with walls of uneven thickness. Since lack of uniform- ity is one of the chief criticisms of cartridge- case necks, the thick portion is trimmed in excess 244 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING of the thin section, thus restoring the neck to per- fect balance. In designing this reamer Mr. Wilson experi- mented with case necks until he had his reamer of proper size so that the necessity of using an ex- pander with metal-case bullets is totally eliminated. This is nut the simple task one might think, sintt the brass neck will spring hack when relieved from the constriction of the sizing die, and this must be taken into consideration in selecting the proper diameter of reamer — otherwise these necks will be too large to hold the bullets. With this tool it is not necessary to re-ream case necks after the initial reaming; to prepare them for reloading purposes, one ncck-resizes the case only. If cast bullets of a somewhat larger diameter than ,3085 are used, it is, of course, necessary to use an expander plug. The shell is removed from the die by the simple process of punching it out with a rod, and owing to the weight of the instrument it may be held in the hand during this process. One then merely empties out all reamer chips, and the case with its neck perfectly centered both inside and out is ready for the powder charge, primer, and bullet. Addi- tional attachments for this tool permit k to be used also for the seating of bullets in perfect straight- line, with the body of the case supported by the shell holder to prevent any tipping. On a visit with Harvey Donaldson, noted experi- menicr of Fulrcmville, New York, several years ago, the audior picked up a useful tip which he has since been using very effectively in his own work. In loading certain calibers Harvey found «hat the loaded cartridges appeared very similar to others, and accordingly desired to pbee some posi- tive identification on them. His system was quite simple — he stamped a letter or figure on the bullet. This sounds like a complicated job, but it is really quite simple if you have the proper equip- ment. Letters, figures or special symbols can be obtained in a plain hand-cut marking stamp with a sharp face, so that a very light hammer blow is all that is necessary to mark brass, copper or lead. Harvey’s system was to stamp on the bullet, par- ticularly a metal-jacketed bullet, just in front of the case neck, a small “o,” “4” or whatever symbol he desired to use. This was quickly and neatly cut into the bullet jacket with no damage or mu- tilation, and since it is in front of the driving por- tion, it in no way affects the accuracy of the bullet. On lead bullets, especially those of the flat-nose variety, Harvey’s system was tn stamp his symbol on the flat-nose portion. For proper marking in this manner, stamos not larger than Yzo of an inch tall and of sharp Gothic face arc desirable. The writer has found that the Hoggson Brand hand-cut steel stamps (formerly known as the Yale brand), made by the Hoggson 84 Pettis Manufacturing Company, New Haven, Con- necticut, are extremely well made and with proj*)er care should last nearly a lifetime. These cao be obtained in almost any desirable size, running in heights of Vq 4 Hi, He, ! 4 s, %2, Ho, H, Ho inch and up to i inch. Of the sizes mentioned, the Ho is best adapted to marking material for the gun bug and handloader. Incidentally, these same dies are suitable for mark- ing on ordinary soft-steel tools, for identification purposes. They should not, of course, be used on hardened articles such as resizing dies. The gun bug will find it extremely desirable to code his ammunition In this manner, if there 1 $ any doubt of its becoming mixed. He can also code certain shells by stamping on the head a sin- gle identification letter or figure, indicating use of that sltcll in a particular rifle or revolver. The way to iWld the bullets or shell necks dur« ing the process of stamping is to use a smalt V« block. This prevents slipping and holds the bul- let or case neck firmly and without mudlatiun. A useful block which I saw at Donaldson’s and which impressed me $0 favorably that I purchased one on my return is the Starrett S129 Bench Block, made by the L. S. Starrett Company, of Athol, Mas&achu.setts. This little block is useful for a great many tinkering jobs and should be in your kit. It is a hollow steel casting, carefully ground and machined, and runs about 3 inches in diamerer by iH inches high. It is ground at both top and bottom, with a perfectly flat surface on top, having a V-groovc He inch wide. The block has holes on various sides to permit of drilling small rods if desired and may be used with an ordinary pin punch to remove primers on odd shells that you desire to dissect. The cost is very reasonable. The unit weighs but i pound, 10 ounces. Another very useful V-block which the author has used for many years is the Brown & Sharpe {751. It is another low-priced unit, consisting of a carefully ground steel forging, having a shape simi- lar to the letter “M‘* in cross-section. This little beach block can be used either side up for han- dling flat or round stock and comes equipped with a detachable clamp. It weighs two pounds without the damp and 2% pounds with it. It runs 2 inches square id cross-section, by 3 inches long and a 90-dcgree-anglc V is ^He inch DIES AND GAUGES 245 wide and about % deep. A round rod up to about of an inch can be handled in this block and with the clamp can be held very rigidly during a drilling. This block is perhaps a bit more desirable for marking the larger calibers, although ii can be used with numbers as small as .22 caliber with uo trouble. Both of the above-mentioned V-blocks arc nicely ground and tempered so that with normal care they will not scratch or batter. Incidentally, the chap who desires to mark his tools and other gun parts can do so in a neat and eAective way and will do well to have a special name scamp made for that purpose. I hcsc stamps are hand-cut, and of course made to specifications in any desired size. The author had one made by Hoggson & Pettis and uses it to label his various tools and microme- ters, special screw drivers and other important small pieces. It has greatly reduced the annual loss of small tools through “borrowing.’* These name stamps are very reasonable in price and with proper care will last indeHnicely. On page 120 is an illustration of a sec of bullet swages designed and manufactured by Donaldson for his own use. Reference Co that picture will show Donaldson’s name neatly applied to ihe body of the tool by means of one of these stamps. XXIV THE HEADSPACE PROBLEM IN HANDLOADTNG F ew subjects are so thoroughly misunderstood as that ambiguous term “headspace.** It is a subject which should be studied very carefully by any bandleader, and its principles and application to the arms for which he desires to reload should also be kept in mind. Just what is meant by “headspace”? Essentially this: the distance between the lace of die breech when the action is closed and the base of the car- tridge. Headspace, in very simple language, merely means clearance. The ideally perfea gun would have a cartridge case which fitted the cham- ber without any tolerance whatsoever, so that when the cartridge was in place there would be not more than .001 of an inch or practically no headspace or clearance between the face of the brccch and the shell. Why do we not actually have such a gun? In the first place, from a manufacturing stand- poirit, shells must vary. This is absolutely unavoid- able. The dies used in the forming of cartridge cases are inclined to wear; therefore, in manufac- turing, the cartridge must be gauged in maximum and minimum gauges. The dies used to form the shells are invariably of minimum size, therefore the first cartridge cases to be formed with these dies will be slightly smaller than those of a few thousand drawings later. Despite the fact that the dies .are made of the highest grade of tool steel that is practical, and are thoroughly hardened (not merely case-hardened) and heat-treated to give maximum wear, even the soft brass which is being forced into them will cause a certain amount of wearing away of the steel. Therefore, these cartridge cases gradually become larger and larger as manufaauring pro- gresses. The dies are regularly inspected, and when the wear reaches the maximum or “no-go” point, they are discarded and replaced with new ones. Every factory maintains a staff of expert tool- makers and a tool-making division engaged only in the manufacture of dies, gauges, and various forms of special tools used in the manufacture of the cartridges. The haodloader must not get a mistaken idea of the above statement concerning the wear of the die and the so-called “large” and “small” cartridges chat are turned out. The tolerance from maxi- mum to minimum is extremely small. In fact, it is nearly negligible. An example of this is revealed in the official specifications for the .30/40 Krag car- tridge. Rim thickness may vary from .060 to .064; rim diameter from .535 to .545; overall length of the cartridge case from 2.304 to 2.314. At the shoulder the diameter or length cannot vary more chan .003 or .004 before the dies are rejected. In the .30/06 wc have a perfect example of the popular rimless cartridge. Tlic diameter of the base of the shell just in front of the rim — exactly .2 inch from the base — may vary from .4608 to 4698. At the shoulder the measurements call for a maximum of .441 and a minimum of ,432. In overall length the tolerances are 2484 to 2494. The chambering of a barrel must also abide by certain tolerances, and maximum and minimum chambers arc more or less standardized; the cheaper the gun, the more inclined it is to have an oversize chamber. It is very rare that chambers arc permitted ro be actually undersize. In the .30/^ at the slioulJer of the cariridge case, the maximum diameter permitted in manufacture is 441. The minimum chamber at this point is .442 with a maximum of .443— in other words, from .001 to .002 more space than the maximum factory- cartridge size. These tolerances must be acknowl- edged in manufacture. In the older types of black-powder rifles and even those designed for smokeless powder and made twenty-five years ago there is a tremendous variation in case size, and most chambers arc quite oversize. The .22 Hornet, for instance, is nothing more nor less than a strictly modernized and standardized version uf the uld J22 WCF w ith the black powder eliminated and the 45-grain lead bullet replaced with a similar weight of metal- jacket bullet. If you can come across one of the old .22 WCF cartridge cases which has been fired in a WCF rifle of the Winchester Single-Shot Musket variety, you will find the case so badly swelled that it i$ impossible to insert it in a modern wcll-chambcrcd Hornet rifle. Even the old WCF factory loading is inclined to bind in certain places when entered into a modern Hornet chamber. These so-called “tolerances” in cartridge-case manufacture, as well as in standardization of THE HEADSPACE PROBLEM IN HANDLOADING 247 chambers, greatly aifect the headspace in a rifle. It is also for this reason that the careful bandleader who uses a cartrit^e case which has been '^hand- Acted’* to his particular chamber through the act of Bring and expansion, is inclined to get much better performance with handloads than with fac- tory ammunition, all other things being equal. Headspace is an extremely flexible proposition. The generally accepted theory of it is that head- space is adjusted at the factory making the gun and cannot be altered at home. As a matter of fact, mure trouble is occasioned by this false under- standing of the picture than by the actual use of rifles having excess headspace. Despite the fact that your rifle is dcAnitely adjusted at the factory so that the clearance between the average cartridge and the face of the breech is in the vicinity of .00^ inch, lack of understanding and careless resizing of Bred cases can increase headspace to the point where the cartridge is absolutely dangerous I The writer has a particular pec SpringBeld Sportcr with a minimum headspace. According to factory standards this headspace measures, with all the dc (I II Cl ions for cartridge-case size, about .0035 inch. Ill other words, with an average cartridge placed in the chamber, a piece of shim stock ^0035 iudi thick placed over the head of the cartridge and held in position through the simple process of pointing the muzzle downward while the holt is being closed wdll cause the bolt to close very tightly. I have experimentally resized cartridge cases to the point where this headspace was in* creased to .017. Such a cartridge might blow the gun up if it were Bred. Tins is pointed out in order that handloaders may fully appreciate the im()ortdncc of using extreme care in resizing car- tridge cases. In the final formation of any cartridge case, par- ticularly of botde-neck or taper shape, it is merely driven into a die of that shape, If a rimless car- tridge is run into that die .01 deeper than normal, the cartridge case will be made just so much smaller and the headspace will be increased by tliat Bgure, assuming, of course, that the resizing die is of identical dimensions with the cluimbcr. // the resizing die be somewhat smaller (and most full- length resizing dies are smaller), this will increase the headspace still more! Bear this in mind. It is very important. A rimless cartridge* enters into the chamber with- out Slopping until the tapered walls of the car- Iritlge case either meet the tapered walls of the chamber snugly or the tapered shoulder where ihe case is necked down meets its corresponding sec- tion of the chamber wall. If a case is ^ghdy sniall for the chamber, it will enter more deeply and headspace W'ill be increased. There is an exception to the above statements. Strialy speaking, the undersize cartridge case can- not always enter the chamber until it contacts the walls. The extractor will stop it at a eextain point as the hook contacts the rim. Obviously the amount of depth is governed by the amount of play in the extractor hook. At be.st this is reason- ably large to permit of odd sizes of rims. Wear in the hook will also permit the case to enter more deeply if the chamber walls do not interfere. Thus, in Bring, the cartridge is driven forward by the Bring-pin blow until the chamber walls or extractor snub it. If the former, it centers. If the latter it cannot help but tip, as the extractor bites into but one side only. Why will excessive headspace cause trouble? This question, often asked and often misunder- stood, is really quite simple in both theory and practice. Ac the instant of Bring, the powder is converted into a gas at tremendous pressure. Even in the tiny Hornet cartridge, with normal loadings this pressure runs, according to the various claims of factories and ballistic laboratories, in the vicinity of 40,000 pounds per square inch. According to a natural law of physics, any force exerted is equal in all directions. In other words, that 40,000 pounds per square inch is proportionately the same on the base of the bullet as on the head of the car- tridge case, and on the inside walls of this car- tridge case. The force of the firing-pin blow drives the cartridge to full depth into the chambci before the primer is ignited. The nearly instantaneous development of pressure expands this cartridge case so that it thoroughly fills the chamber, and this pressure on the walls of the cartridge causes the brass case to cling tightly to the walls of the chamber. Assume that at this instant you have a headspace of xx)5 inch, or, in other words, that amount of clearance between the base of the cartridge and the face of the breech. The cartridge case cannot move backward owing to this tremendous pressure on the walls. The case head, however, is totally unsupported, and the result is that the cartridge case stretches under this same pressure on the in- side of the head, so that it is forced backward against the breech face until this backward motion is arrested by the locking system of the breech. A stretch of .005 inch is within reason, and the soft brass case will do this nicely. If excessive head- space causes the case to stretch twice that amount, or a disunce of .010, there is a possibility of the brass rupturing at the Doiot where the solid head 248 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING o£ tht cartridge is chinned down to form the inside walls of the case. The result is a spilling of the entire surplus of hot gases into the breech of the gun, and at this tremendous pressure the damage is quite serious, although in a condition of this sort the brccch of a modern gun invariably holds. It is for this reason that modern military rifles of bolt-action types have so-called “gas ports’* in the receiver. The theory is that in case of a head rup- ture the gases will squirt out through these ports and cause no damage to either the gun or the shooter. As a matter of fact, however, the gas A vtffiil h^d«pace for determinmg Uk hc9dsp»ce or mechaaicfll requir^meots of a SpHogAfld fiflr catr. This gaage i» made by L. E. Wilson, of Caahmere, Washington. !n using it one merely drops the properly resized case Into a special chaoibcr manufactured to exact caK length. There are steps on each end indi- cating maximum and ninimum. If it proieeis above the maximum at the head, the cartridge caa< has too much headspace. U it dropa below the step, too Uttk. On the opp^re end, if it pro)ect$ heyorul the high step, the case is too long, and needs trimming. If below the low step, it is too short, although it can be used if It meets other requireaients ports do not always work according to theory; many rifles arc completely shattered through the stock, the gas running down inin the magazine, blowing out the trigger guard, magazine floor- plate and similar mechanism, and occasionally actually bursting the breech. These accidents oc- cur infrequently, but their possibility should be recognized by every rifleman. Cases which have been reloaded a number of limes and full-length resized after each loading to restore them to “factoiy specifications” and then shot continuously in a gun having this excessive headspace, will sexjner or later rupture. The best of brass will in time become brittle. The cheapest of brass will let go in a few loading:^. Most par- ticularly is this true if the cartridge was primed with a mercuric primer, whether corrosive or non- corrosivc. Mercury attacks the brass, changing its crysulline structure and making it extremely brit- tle and lacking in tensile strength or ability to stretch. The chapter on primers shows illustra- tions of cartridge cases, the heads of which have been pulled off in resizing dies after the use of mercuric primers. (See page 6i.) In setting up the resizing dies it should be borne in mind diat any resizing of the neck of a rimless cartridge case which in any way alters the shape of the taper of the neck is more or less cenabi to affect headspace. This is one of the reasons why the writer heartily approves of the Pacific-type re- loading tool and its accessories, even though these tools have certain weak points. The shell to be resized goes into the movable shell holder, and the raising of the operating arm pushes this fired case into the resizing die. It is nearly impossible to push the case into the die too deeply, thereby changing rhe shoulder; this is due to the very simple fact that when the shell holder is raised to meet the die and the shell is forced in irs full length, the shell holder cumes in a>mact with the bottom of the die, effectively arresting its progress. Some Pacific dies arc, however, made somewhat short, and in this case it is unfortunately easy to shorten the brass shell in resizing. Intelligent handling will prevent this trouble, especially if the stop nut is damped in the proper position and lei'T THBKE. Use a new factory case as a gauge in set- ting this die up, and then fix it permanently in this posirion. Even in removing the die from the tool frame there is no necessity for disturbing this ad- justment. This danger of altering headspace by excessive shell resizing is not so imminent in rimmed car- tridge cases as in the rimless variety, as the neck or shoulder of the case is not used to arrest the forward motion of the cartridge itself. The rim is designed to contact the breech end or face of the barrel as well as to offer a grip for the extractor. It is possible, however, to change headspace slightly in rimmed cases, as this rim is battered or thinned down through careless manipulation in re- sizing dies after repeated reloads. When the rim of a cartridge becomes visibly bartered, it should be disc.irded. Ic will be seen that the problem of headspace is not only one of rifle manufacture but one which should be understood in principle by the hand- loader. He should examine all cases after firing, to notice indications of partially ruptured or stretched heads and cracked necks. IE he finds many such indications it will be both wise and economical for him to discard* that particular batch of shells. Despite the interesting fact that pre.«urc is re- corded as “pounds per square inch ” ihe shooter is , Interred in his assumption that when a cartridge ' registers 40,000 pounds per square inch, it neces- THE HEADSPACE PROBLEM IN HANDLOADING 249 sarily means that there is 40,000 pounds pressure on the face of the breech bolt. As a matter of fact, this pressure is astonishingly small. A 40,000- pound Hornet cartridge, for instance, is so low in breech'face pressure that many ordinary actions can be altered to handle this very exc^eot car- tridge. Breech-face pressure is controlled by the inside diameter of the cartridge case at its largest point — just in front of the solid head. In the Hor- net this diameter averages about .240 inch, hence the area of ihe scaioo creating the bolt-face pres- sure is only .04524 square inch — the accepted for- mula for determining area being as follows: square the diameter and multiply by .7854. Thus we find that a breech-face pressure of something under 1850 pounds is exerted on the face of a Hornet breech mechanism with the pressure level at 40,000 pounds. In the Krag cartridge with the same pressure level (40,000 pounds per square inch) wc find a different picture. Here the diameter of the inside face of the cartridge case is .375 inch; thus with the same formula we find that the area of the thrust portion is actually .11045 inch. This means a pressure of 4400 pounds on the breech- bolt face— nearly three times as much. These pres- sures depend entirely on the problem of uniform friction of the outside of the cartridge case, which permits it to stick to the walls of the chamber. Thus does a cartridge case function. At the in- stant of firing, the pressure expands it so that the outside walls of the case cling to the inner walls of the chamber. The pressure is so great that the car- tridge case cannot be moved as long as the pressure continues; thus a case can stretch only until its rear face or lie ad contacts the breech boll. If there is any give to this, the case will scretch even more. Should there be any excessive headspace, the case will be propelled forward in the chamber by the force of the firing-pin blow before the primer is ignited. There ignition occurs, building up a heavy pressure which causes the cartridge case to cling tightly to the walls of the chamber, leaving the head unsupported. Two things then occur — the cartridge case can stretch at the head or solid portion where the walls of the case join the solid head, due to lack of adhesion at that point — or the primer will be forced out. Pressure on the primer? Negligible, yet of extreme importance. Primer pressure is, normally, that pressure of combustion which leaks through a flash hole to force the primer out of its pocket It really is quite low, but effective; in fact, machine guns have been designed to function through this backward pressure, not of the cartridge case but of the primer. Normally, the pressure on the primer, which is created by the gas leaking backward through the .08 -inch flash hole is controlled not by the size of the flash hole but by the size of the primer, lake a pair of cart- ridges such as the Hornet and the .30/40 Krag, both developing the same breech pressure of 40,000 pounds per square inch. The .o8-ioch flash hole has an area of about .005 square inch, According to die calculations of Bertram R. Harper of South Charles Con, West Virginia, due to the laws of hy- draulics, the 40,000 psi is exerted over the entire surface of the primer or .0162 square inch for the .175 Hornet primer and .0346 square inch for the large .210 Krag primer. Thus at the 40,000-pound pressure level this would give actual pressure against the small primer of 648 pounds and against ihe large primer of 1384 pounds. This should be clearly understood, since a discussion of increasing pressures by extra-large flash holes discussed on page 35 is not in contradiction. Increasing the flash-hole diameter increases the breech pressure through increased or over-ignition. The above dis- cussion of pressure on the primer is based on breech pressure at 40,000 psi. In this back pressure, the primer expands and is driven backward against the face of the breech bolt in a normal -headspace rifle, and the cartridge case goes back along with jc. In an excessivc- headspace arm, the cartridge case docs not respond as rapidly as the primer, owing to the fact that the heavy breech pressure causes the walls of the car- tridge case to cling to the walls of the chamber. The primer, Iwwcver seated, provided it be fric- I ion-tight and have little if any side pressure, is propelled backward out of the cartridge case until it strikes the breech face. The force of this 200* pound blow flattens it more or less and is followed by a retreating cartridge case which more or less “crawb over” the projecting primer. This re- swages it into shape to tightly fill the pocket. If the primer is blown too far out, leaking is bound to occur, resulting in what is technically known as a leaking or blown primer. This gas leaking by the primer very frequently stretches the pocket so badly that the case is damaged beyond repair. Should you find any primer leaks in examining a fired case, discard that case immediately. Do not attempt to reprime it. Primers arc by no means an indication of high pressure, although they frequently disclose exces- sive headspace. Look at it this way. If a primer prnjKts beyond the pocket on a fired shell so that it can be clearly seen and felt, there must be some reason for iL If it were possible to breech your 250 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING gun with a typical Mann-Niedner minimum head- space adjustment — in other words less than ,001 inch clearance between the face of the cartridge and the face of the breech bolt — how could your primer project even with excess pressures? It might flatten tremendously* but it could not pos- sibly project because there would be no place for it to go to w'hcn the pressure started to back it out. The author has examined experimental cartridge Breadiing aysiemt greatly affect the headspace of the gun, On the left li a arandard Sphng6ekl barrel with a cartridge inserted. Note extractor groove in the Urge portion of the cartridge caae sticking out of the chan* bcr> due to the shape of the breach of the boh. Ihc entire extractor groove is vmhU. Right: A 0. Note dlstortioa of primer; Super X Hornet pressure 43300; test loads of 7 men. registering 72,000 pounds pressure. Note blowu primer alwayr has been. Cartridge ca$es are today made of brass, and while the brass now used is supposed to be considerably stronger than that of past years, there really is not so very much diAerence. Lab* oratory tests made with .30/40 Krag cases of a cer- tain commercial make, known to have been manu- factured in 1900, certainly indicate that thcK cases were equal to 1937 manufacture. We have im- proved our guns through knowledge of steels and methods of heat-treating, but we have done very little for the cartridge case. Before 1900, ruptured cases were very frequent, even with low-pressure loadings. It did not re- quire hundreds of reloads to create a fracture; fraciures frequently occurred with new factory am- munition. The direct result of this was the devel- opment of the Ideal Broken Shell Extractor and similar extractors, which Ideal advertised would '*put a head on it.*' Certaiu arms makers even went so far as to publish in their catalogs that the actions of their guns were siilHcienily strong so that there would be no danger 10 the shooter or gun in case of shell ruptures. We are now in an era of high-pressure loadings. Ruptures of any kind at high pressures are ex- tremely serious matters. When a rupture occurs on a 50,000-pound cartridge, it means that gases compressed 10 50,oo0'pounds'per-$qudre*inch pres- sure are released into the mechanism of the gun where they have no right to be. Something ha.s to happen, and it usually can he depended upon to happen. Reloading at high pressures is a seri- ous problem, and one which is worthy of more than pas.sing consideration. High pressures are tolerated only because they are necessary to achieve certain results. Were ic possible to derive high velocities without high pressures, the shooter could be extremely thankful. Unfortunately, high veloc* icies and high pressures appear to go hand in hand, and the present trend of loadings indicates that they are here to stay. The present mciht^ of taking breech pre.ssiires is by no means an accurate one. Within the next few years an improved method will undoubtedly be found, and when it is found, ballistic engineers will learn things about pressures which at present are unsuspected. The modern rifle will stand a much higher pressure than it is jXDssible to achieve with the present type of cartridge case. The man wl)o insists upon experimenting with high pres- sures is certain sooner or later to meet with dis- aster. Even as this is being written, a noted ex- perimenter, a man who had count]c.ss thousands of shots with all types of rifles as his background, and who has manufactured precision tools, barrels and accessories, sends me an interesting letter. In it he apologizes for not writing for the past month and explains it by saying that he had a “liulc bit of trouble” in which an experimental cartridge and rifle failed to deliver the goods at high pressures. His letter in part runs as follows; '^That load was certainly potent, and 1 suddcDly learned that i could no longer count past 42 grains. I could count right up to 42, but I could not count past there. I wanted to show a friend 4000 is 252 THIS PRESSURE PROBLEM 253 plus, and it took 42 graios to do it. After 1 catne back from the explosion, 1 found that I had gone to 42, two grains over the maximum safe pressure in that particular combination. The next day 1 counted 37 abrasions about my face and forehead, any one of which w'ould have put out an eye had it struck it, Most of these were extruded brass. 1 still have three pieces of steel in my face, parts of the extractor, and one of these is in the middle of my forehead, stuck to the bone. [ was going to leave it there, thinking I might have some- thing on you guys when we get older, for bcin^ was discussing the pressure problem and plans for the development of a gun and am muni lion now known as die .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum. “Breech pressure,** he stated, “is a problem which has not as yet been solved to my way of thinking. The figures the laboratories give are not 25,200 pounds per square inch but 25,200 ‘X’s.' The fig- ure is comparative only for that type of pressure gun and cartridge.*' And we might add “operator” as well. A certain group of .38 Special experimental high- vclocity loads prepared by the author w'crc assem- Pre*Amt cylinders of varioos types designed for ride, revolver, and eanoon pressure tests. Left to right! Pcrforaied French c> Under for taking light cannon pressure; French pressure cylinder lor heavy riHc pres- sure; some for medium ride pressure; some for light riRe; lead pressure cylinder used for revolver and shotgun pressure; same type of cylinder after compressing in pressure gun registering aboui 16,000 pounds; the standard copper crnslier cylinder used for rifle pressure; some cylinder after compression in pressure gan registering 51,000 pounds. Hie dny pressure cylinder on the right is a before*and -after version of the sundard Frankford Arsenal copper crusher cylinder used for revolver pressures and one after compression at a pressure registering 21,000 pounds. Illusiraijons approiimaiely actual Stuck to the bone, It might stop my forehead from ever wrinkling; but it hurt my hat, so tomorrow I shall have it removed. ...” Not a lecture — not a joke— just a warning. He was using a breech pressure in the vicinity of 65,000 [xmnds In a modern heat-treated Springfield with a special barrel. The Springfield has been defi- uilcly leslcd at 110,000 pounds* pressure — BUT NOT WITH BRASS CARTRIDGE CASES! The reason for the popubrity of the boli-aciion arm is the rigid system of locking the breech. In a properly made rifle, the breech is rigid at the time of firing. Lever-action types, slide actions, automatics, and many single-shots have a certain amount of spring or give to the mechanism at maximum pressures. This greatly overworks a cartridge case through stretching It, and means more or less of the same thing as excessive head- space. In lieu of a better dcsigDalioii for pressures, we mu.st accc[>t the custom which has been in use for more chan forty years and call our breech pressures “pounds per square inch." To my mind, it is extremely doubtful whether this is a matter of actual pounds. Several years ago while on a hunt- ing trip, Colonel D. B. Wesson of Smith 6t Wesson bled with elaborate precision. All bullets were hand^/30 Winchr«irr. This was previously drilled and the opeo* ing covered with a pap^r sticker to prevent spillage of powder. Beside it is a German Mauser cartxidge maou* factured by F.N. in Belgium. A slkkcr b posied over it to hold (he powdrr charge before (he cartridge is in* sericd in (he gun. This is the conveniionai foreign pressure can ridge. Cen(er: .22 Hornet. Right: two 7*mm. cartridge cases used to legister pressures. Mutila* lion around the hole is caused hy pushing (be gas check into the cartridge case in extracting from (he guo reading pounds per sejuure inch.** This chare is known a$ die la rage table. So much for the mechanical theory. What is the mathematical practice involved ? Quite simple. The average piston has a diameter of .206 inches. Thus the area of the chamber end of the piston is about .x6i stjuare inch. The crusher cylinder has a known area, a known length, and a known density, and tarage tables arc prepared by actual tests, Therefore, with these known figures, the tarage table is prepared by mathematical cilciila- tion, thus obviating the necessity of figuring re- sults on each shot. There arc scver.1l types uf crusher cylinders in use. Small-bore riinfircs and most handgun pres- sures which do not exceed 15,000 pounds pressure are taken on cylinders of pure lead .500 inch long and .^^0 in diameter. At Frankford Arsenal very liny copper crusher cylinders arc used, averaging .IQ5 inch in length and .121 in diameter. Samples of both types fired in the same gun show pressures translating to ‘‘20,000 pounds,” the lead cylinder being shortened or barreled out to a length loss of .044. 'The tiny FA coppers shorten .0625. For rifle pressures we use a copper crusher cylinder with a diameter 01 .225 and a lengtli of .500. Sam- ples measured by the author when fired at a pres- sure registering 50,000 pounds, measured .4135— a loss of .0865 inch. Id Europe the lead cylinder is not looked upon wiih favor, so a small copper type very similar to the Frankford Arsenal revolver copper is widely used. These cylinders are slightly shorter and measure .187 inch in length. A box of them in the author's laboratory bears the label “ Laboratoire Central de la Marine, Fans. Lot ^250. Cylindres Crushers de 4 m/m 90X ^m/m. Tarage du !grain gas-check and 19.0 grains of Hercules 1^2400 which gave a muzzle velocity of 1775 and a pressure of 23,900 pounds. In my gun, this com- bination would do I Vi -inch groups, and occa- sionally better, rest-shooting at 100 yards. In a friend’s 7-mm. converted Spanish Mauser military gun this load was useless and could not be counted upon to do better than z^-inch or 3-inch groups at that range. Experimenting with it, my friend found that an 18. 2-grain charge grouped approxi- mately the same as my own. Some 20.5 to 22.0 grains, same powder and other components, also gave Miperfinc accuracy, but my thoroughly ac- curate load didn’t perform so well in his barrel 258 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING This same peculiarity of different barrels and thetr sustepiibiliiy lo various loads affords a source o£ practically endless cxpcrimcuiaiioii for the careful handloader. If he records the results of his ex- perimental work he will find that the data of his inaccurate loads are fully as important as those on more successful developments. Problems of Interior Ballistics. There are nu- merous things frequently cropping up in this game of interior ballistics which cannot be explained. We have the problem of exterior ballistics fairly well licked, hut the true happenings between the time the firing pin falls and the bullet leaves the muzzle of tlic gun arc not thoroughly understood today, regardless of what certain technicians would lead us to believe. The author was once told by a well-known authority that the reason for the in- accuracies of certain reduced, mid-range, and full- charge loads in certain barrels was that there were certain “critical points in the velocity of particular bullets which caused some peculiar form of barrel vibrations, etc., etc., which created inaccuracies.^ It sounded logical. Yet in my Springfield, a cer- tain reduced load at a certain velocity in the mid- range brackets is what one might call in the ver- nacular “lousy.” Assuming that this was the criti- cal velocity, Uus particular aiirhority was possibly correct. Yet when this velocity was duplicated with an entirely different kind of powder, the ac- curacy left nothing to be desired. How can you explain that sort of thing? Pressure? Perhaps. The pressure of the two loads was slightly dif- ferent. Yet the second powder, loaded at the same pressure as the first, gave good accuracy, but the first, loaded to the pressure level of the second, was none too good. Quite probably it was a com- bination of velocity and pressure, or perhaps k was the somewhat different type of ignition. The truth of the matter is that the question has ncvci been satisfactorily explained. But it really docs not matter, The reduced lead as well as the high- pressure load problem requires, for best results, careful fitting to the gun in which it is to be diot. Reduced loads do not necessarily mean special components, particularly with regard to bullets. Standard bullets with proper powder and proper loading will deliver extremely satisfactory results. The handloader must always bear in mind, how- ever, that accuracy is the primary requisite of re- duced loadings. With proper loads be can turn practically any kind of high-power or medium- power gun into a satisfactory all-round weapon. This is also true, of handguns. Some cxcdlcut re- duced loads for medium and large power guns can be developed for indoor shooting. For out- door work and so tii47> HiVcI f2, HiVcl S3, S4064, #4198, J4320 and 13031. The reduced and mid-range loads sugge.stcd in the load tabulations arc for rhe most part care- fully tested dcYciopmcnt.s. A great many of them the author ha.s personally tried and found to be excellent. On die others he has the word of well- known experimenters or of the various laboratories which have done actual testing. Bear in mind that for individual guns it is usually necessary to vary these charges somewhat. Do not attempt to overwork your components. Never try to drive light-weight bullets at an exces- sive speed if you are seeking target accuracy. If you stay within reasonable bounds you will be cer- tain to develop reduced loads for your rifles and handguns which will deliver the goods in an ex- cellent way. Ill handgun calibers, the .38 Special is by all ixlds the most popular on the American market today. This cartridge lends itself to every- thing from light “cellar’* charges up co superpower REDUCED, MID-RANGE, AND TARGET LOADS -REASON AND IMPORTANCE 261 Magnum loads. T\\t imfortimalc part of reduced loads in revolvers, however, is the inability to ad- just sights. Many of these loads will shoot either high or low', but they can be made to shoot ac- curately even though the sights of the gun will not permit of proper adjustment to center groups at point of aim. If you are interested in shooting small groups, an achievement that indicates care- ful holding and good control of the gun, reduced loads will enable you to practice indoors economi- cally. Ill the .38 S(>ecial you can cither use cast, round balls or purchase in live -pound lots the txw Buck. This makes an economical load, since these balls have a diameter of .36 and run slightly better than 100 per pound. The last time the author pur- chased these, he paid the retail price of 75 cents for a five-pound bag of shot, approximately 15 cents per h undred for the “bullets.'* In his particular guns he tried the various powders and found that 2.0 grains of Bullseye, 2.3 grains of 5 $, or 2.7 grains of King s Semi -Smokeless shot extremely accurately with little noise and recoil, giving a velocity of about 7U0 f.s. Still better loads included 3 grains of Du Pont Bulk Shotgun or the same charge of Hercules E.C, Three gniins of Infallible shotgun also worked exeellently. Four grains of tSo was quite unsatisfactory but 4 grains of Gallery I75 shot well. The above comments were based upon shooting in a six-inch barrel. The best of these loads were those shot with bulk powders. Erratic shooting was noticed with the bullet seated in rhe mouth of the sliell, $0 the un- resized shells were belled gently at the mouth to remove the crimp, and a tooo ball pressed inside the shell with the fingers and seated until it came in contact with the powder charge, using as a “bul- let seater“ the rubber end of an ordinary lead pencil. In loads such as these the handloader will do well to experiment. Bearing in mind that his shotgun powders arc suitable only for light loads in rifles or revolvers, he can proceed to assemble his components until he develops the right cumblna- tioii to deliver the results he desires. Five Classes of Reduced Loads. In discussing reduced loads for rifles, J. R. Maitcrn, in bis excel- lent book, published ten years ago, listed five clas- .sificatJons upon which no writer has been abk to improve. Maitcrn *s facts were determined through countless thousands of his own experimental fir- ings, and these classifications should be adopted by the handloading fan. Mat tern lists them as follows: Class I. Velocity 600 feet. “Cellar** loads extremely light. Accuracy range about 50 feet. Class 2. Velocity 800 feet Gallery loads only slightly heavier for 25'yard indoor shooting. Class 3. Vriociiy 1000 feer. Short <>uiclix>r loads. Ac- citrare range from 50 10 lOO yards. Class 4. Velocity 1400 feet Standard outdoor reduced loads with accuracy range to 200 yards. Class 5. Velocity iBoo feet Mid-range loads accurate to 600 yards in .30 caliber rifles. The major advantage of adopting standard loads for small game and target shooting is that the handloader accustoms himself to light recoil and economical loads, thus permitting a great many more shots to be fired. He must bear in mind that the hard alloy bullet of the cast variety will not upset with low-pressure smokeless-powder reduced loads as will a much softer factory-swaged type. On low-pressure loads it is better to have a bullet too tight clian too loose. One must also hear in mind that many of the light-weight small-caJiber jacketed bullets have extremely soft jackets, thus permitting them to expand and fill grooves. Nearly any bullet, if it fils reasonably well, can, through experimenting, be made 10 shoot ac- curately with mid-range loads; but properly fitted bullets are more inclined to be uniform and more effective than the ill-fiuing type. Some handioaders insist on using an entirely dif- ferent type of bullet for ♦'educed loads— bullets which /oo/^ different and thus will prevent the slightest mistakes of idemifiauion. Olliers see no necessity for this. If a shooter is careful in his loading and in his labeling of ammunition, there is no particular reason why full-charge and reduced loads should become mixed. Any shooter who is unable to keep his ammunition in such a way as to prevent these mistakes will do well to stay out of the handloading game. If you want your bullets to look different, you may make them so. Anyone who adopts this system very dearly classifies a bul- let and limits its fidd of usefulness. It should be kept in mind thai ceriain reduced loads do not begin Lo fill the cartridge case with powder, and that it is possible to load double or even triple charges. With proper care in hand- loading and suitable inspection before the seating of ihc bullets, double charges should never occur. Slight variations in reduced loads involve no ele- ment of danger, but double charges, due to the high-speed burning characteristics of reduced-load powders, arc inclined to run pressures to the dan- ger point. In the lighiest of loads it is advisable to ckvate the muzzle before firing the shot. This runs the powder into the rear of the cartridge case, where it may readily be ignited by the primer. II the muzzle is pointed downward, in many cases a 262 COMPLETE GUTOE TO HANDLOADING hangfire, occasionally quite pronounced, will occur, and in no case will accuracy be up to par. Extremely light loads with mctahjacketed bul- lets, particularly where the powder charge is not against the primer, may even result in a bullet’s failing to leave the barrel. Under such conditions, removal o£ the bullet is not an extremely difficult proposition, since in all probability it is not swaged or upset into the grooves properly. In such a case use the flat end of a cleaning rod inserted from the muzzle, open the breech, and try to push the bullet out. Do this, if possible, by a steady p>rcs5urc of the hand rather than by hammering. If it is neces- sary to hammer, use the heel of the hand first, then a wood mallet on the handle of your cleaning rod if the bullet refuses to start. One little turn, well worth considering, particularly where a bullet has progressed only six or eight inches into ihe barrel, is to insert the cleaning rod from the muzzle, bringing it into contact with the bullet, and then, holding the piece horizontally or even vertically, cap the end of the cleaning r<^ gently against the wall or on the floor. If care is taken, sufficient steady pressure can be brought to bear to push out the bullet without bending or springing the rod. Reduced loads arc by no means the crude develop- ments a few full-chargc shooters arc inclined to label them. The reduced load has its own place in the realm of handloading. It makes an all- round gun of your pet weapon. There is another use for reduced loads wlijch the handloadcr will not overlook^smaU game hunting with a “big” rifle or handgun. In the latter field, various big-bore handguns make exccllem killers when loaded with mid-range target loads of the “wadcutter” family, Many tests conducted with these clearly place them far ahead of the .22 rim- fire series in killing power, and at approximately the same cost. They are easy to handle, to load, and in the guns for which they arc designed, the low recoil and noise reduction make for better shooting. In the rifle group, huuiing loads offer no end of experimental work. Years ago, when the author was a “one-gun” bandleader, his favorite chuck and crow load in the .30/06 was a Winchester .32/20 soft-point n 5-grain bullet loaded at about 1700 f.s. This was not a toy load — it would shoot through a telephone pole, and it would certainly anchor a chuck. That chin gilding-metal jacket with the generous exposure of soft point would in- sure mushrooming of that particular load at all ranges up to 200 yards. The exact load of {Bo is not before me, but it was developed to fit my barrel, with the result chat the short stubby bullet would do better than i^-inch groups at 100 yards when properly handled. A fnend uses as his small-game load for the Springfield, the 80-grain Western hollow-point .32/20 with 50 grains of HiVel {3. Not exactly a reduced load, as the muzzle vducity is almost 3700 ts. He said it was accurate and gave me ten loads. In my Springfield I shot five of them at 100 yards — and made a nine-inch group. The muzzle blast was bad, the load was noisy — and to me it was one on which Td write “NG.” Yet the chap w'ho used them insisted that it was fine up to 100 yards — and he proved it by getting chucks consistently. . . . Others use Lugcr and Mauser pistol bullets m the Springfield. IVe shot some fine 50- and 1 00-yard groups with the Lugcr bullet, but never had any success with the Mauser. Reduced and mid-range loads make an all-round gun out of a one-purpose weapon. The various bullets will make the .30/06, for instance, suitable for indoor gallery work, outdoor short-range prac- tice, squirrel hunting, varmint extermination, small-game hunting (diHering from varmint shoot- ing in that it is necessary to save meat or pelts) ; deer, and up to the largest of North American game — elk, moose, Kodiak bear. How many of these .30/06 loads can you iuy? Notes on Target Loada. Here are a few special notes on target loads of extreme importance to the bandleader. The finest of accuracy, pariicukrly at long ranges, is achieved with slow-fire shooting. Thus in slow-fire target work, load direct to the chamber instead of through the magazine. Such loading not only means minimum damage to the bullet in feeding, hut also permits one to omk a crimp. Crimps are useful only on cast bullets, and then for magazine fire. The recoil will frequently change the seating depth of an uncrimped bullet, particularly if it remains in the magazine for several shots. In revolvers, uncrimped huDer.s fre- quently ride out of the case, jamming the gun and spilling the powder charge through the mechanism. There is still another reason for “single-shot ioadii^.” This permits of any overall length of cartridge. For magazine fire, your cartridge must not exceed a certain maximum length. Some will not work well when short stubby bullets are used. But always the bullet should be loaded as far out of the case as is practical. Why? Simply because, if your bullet fits into the I cade or throat of the rifling, it gets off to a much better start, with less mutilation, less strain on that important part of the rifling. The leade has a tremendous job to do. The bullet, clean and unmutilated, jumps from the REDUCED, MID-RANGE, AND TARGET LOADS -REASON AND IMPORTANCE 26i mouth of the shell, driven by tltc tremendous volume of gas at high pressure. It is forced into the bottom of the grooves, swaged into shape, and twisted sharply to start it rotating with the rifling. Naturally, the hot gases back of the bullet and much of the still burning charge of powder are driven into the rifling, as the bullet, moving down the bore, actually increases the length of the chamber. These gases reach their greatest heat and probably their highest pressure when the bullet is an inch or two down the barrel. (This has been proved through .special laboratory apparatus that photographs the pressure curve by means of a Pier.zo electric gauge, cathode-ray tubes, and camera equipment.) Thus this portion of the bore gets the roughest treatment from both the bullet and the blast of hot gas. “Wear*' in a rifled barrel is first noticed in the leade. And wear at this point is frequently a cause of inaccuracy. A few thousandths of an inch here, since it is on a taper about the same as the contour of the standard bullet nose, may necessitate a new overall length greater than previously used with the same bullet, if a good fit is desired. Tliis may run to 14 inch or beuer. One rifleman friend uses metal-jacketed bullets in his Springfield, and loads them at least Ms it^h larger than the barrel will handle. To close the bolt requires some slight eflort, as the bullet is seated the remainder of the distance by the clos- ing motion. Withdrawal of a live cartridge clearly shows land marks on the metal jacket. Perhaps this is an extreme, yet it produced a couple of bench-rest two-inch groups— ten shots— at aoo yards for that chap when used with his ancient Win- chester A>5 scope. If you load for target, get all you can out of your load. And remember this law : Before you can take it out, you must put it in! At Camp Perry’s 1935 National Matches, the Wimbledon Cup battle saw many hand loads. The author saw one chap run his possible with 14 “V*s,” using his own loads. A tricky fish-tail wind, typical of Perry, cost him several V’s, as it did other contestants. That shooter picks his long- range cases carefully, inspects every bullet, con- ducts all ocher operations as though he were to sell the cartridges for $1 each — and they do not fail him. Tve never heard him oiler an alibi. This rifleman always loads so his bullets just touch the leade. Certain cast bullets will not work well if they have to jump a great distance from the mouth of the case. Many will deliver results even better if they arc well .seated into the rifling. Such bads should never be extracted once they have been seated, as iIk bullet frequently pulls out of the case neck, spilling powder in the chamber and action and necessitating a session with a cleaning rod to remove the bullet. The target rifleman has many of these problems to solve for himself. Careful bading will fre- quently make a fine target specimen out of a worn or discarded barrel. He quickly learns that maxi- mum power is not a requisite of target work, and that the loads well under the recommended maxi- mums give better accuracy. The reduced and mid-range field is the greatest for I he experimental shooter and haodloader. xxvn OBSOLETE BLACK POWDER AND FOREIGN CARTRIDGES T here are large numbers of foreign guns on the market today, many of them, of course, being of the so1cs arc hot plugged up and if the center flash hole is used in their place. An expert can braze these holes in the cartridge-case head and will do SO on a small quantity of shells for a rea- sonable sum. On the other hand, it must be borne in mind that any brazed cases are likely to alter the primer pocket and may anneal the brass, mak- ing it dangerous to reload again. The flash hole OBSOLETE BLACK POWDER AND FOREIGN CARTRIDGES 265 should also ht drilled to an Amcricaa standard or approximately .080 indi. Ik fore any auempc is made to handload foreign cartridges one should determine whether or not the proposition is worth while. Many foreign guns have poor barrels to start with, and the chambers are clumsy, awkward and oversize. Individual variations are such that no detail dimensions can be given. A lead slug pushed through the bore with a cleaning rod and then measured will de- termine the groove diameter which will enable one to select the bullet properly. One should also bear in mind chat most foreign loading firms believe in using an undersize bullet. This frequently runs as much as .006 or .007 inch undersize— a practice which would be severely frowned upon in the United States. A few of the foreign cartridges arc, of course, manufactured in the United States. This greatly simpliiies the problem, but in aU types of cases one should choose a properly fitting bullet, selected not from the specifications of some handbook but as a direct result of personal measurements of one's own barrel diameter. Among the foreign rifle cartridges manufactured in thU country are tlu; 8*mm. Lcbcl, the .305 nriti.sh, the Rus- sian, the 8-mm. Mauser (7.9), many of the Mann- licher-Schoenauers, the .300 H. & H. Magnum, the .375 H. & H. Magnum, and of course the 9«mm. Mauser and the always popular 7-mra. Among the old foreign cartridges for which components can be purchased here are the .43 Spanish Mauser, the 43 Egyptian, the 11-mm. Mauser, and a number of handgun cartridges such as the 7.65-mm. Luger, the 9-mm. Luger, the 7.63 Mauser, the 455 Weblcy Mark II, the 455 Colt, the 5.5-mm. Velo I>^ and similar specimens. A numb^ of foreign cartridges, not sold in the United States, are manufactured by the Dominion Cartridge Company, Montreal, Canada, and it might be practical to obtain com- ponents from this firm, particularly since you can later use American primers in the reloaded shells. Duty, of course, is high, about 30% ad valorem. Usually the bandleader must resort to altering existing foreign cases. This primer proposition creates a serious problem. One practice recom- mended by several authorities is highly dangerous. Do not drill out the flash holes to an extra large sisel This will give over-ignirion, resulting in highly raised pressures which in many foreign rifles would be certain to prove disastrous. This suggestion is not based an guess work but is a direct re.sult of tests conducted for the author by the Hercules Powder Company at its Experiment^ Station in Keovil, New Jersey. Fire-Fitting. Occasionally one can use American cartridge cases of a dificrent caliber through the process of “fire-fitting.** This is highly dangerous unless conducted in a slowly progressing manner. Cases a trifle too snull or too short to fit the cham- ber are loaded laboriously with very light charges and then fired within the chamber of the rifle. Continued reloading and firing will expand the case so that ir fits. Then and not until then, may the cases be used fur mid-range target loads. Under no condidoiis should they be used for full charges. In this process of fire-fitting, the shooter must al- ways wear glasses, as more or less gas is bound to leak back through the action, particularly if a case of hard brass splits under the strain. This fire-fitting stunt was conducted by one shooter with excellent success in adapting a batch of 7.62-mm. Russian cartridge cases of American manufacture to the 8-mm. Mannlichcr rifle. He put in very light loads and inserted them in the chamber of his gim. The first thing he discov- ered was that, while die cartridge would chamber, the boll could not be closed upon it. Examination disclosed (hat the head of the Russian cartridge had a convex base and was slightly thicker than standard. This was dressed of! with a file and the primer seated |ust below the surface of the dressed case head. Tlien the cartridge was chambered. About five or six light charges expanded it to fit the chamber properly. Bullets for Foreign Barrels. Do not let the pub- lished ballistics of foreign cartridges lead you astray in your efTort to dupliaite them should you have suitable cases. Fur the most pare these figures are obtained when the cartridges are shot in long military barrels, many of them greater than 31 inches in length. On the other hand, most of the sporting rifles to handle these cartridges have bar- rels running from 18 to 26 inches, and this means a velocity loss frequently as high as 450 foot-sec- onds. It should also be borne in mind that many of these foreign rifles are chambered for rhe old-style blunt-nose bullets and in many cases have an ex- tremely narrow throat. Even with carefully hand- loaded ammumtion accuracy is difficult to obtain unless a proper selection of bullet is made. No general directions can be given here other than to state that each handloader should check his barrel carefully and experiment with different shapes of bullets either jacketed or cast in an effort to de- termine that which works best in his gun. Jack- eted bullets may be difficult to secure but cast bul- lets arc never hard to find. The Ideal people have a wide variety of obsolete moulds as well as the 266 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING standard sizes, and in this long list can be found a bullet which would work fairly well in almost any type of gun. If you do not care to purchase a mould for this experimental work, you can arrange with Lyman to obtain a hundred or two properly cast and lubricated bullets. Then, if they prove praciical, comes the time to decide whether or not you wish to purchase a mould. The question u( resizing your bullets, if of the cast variety, is not very complicated. Makers of any reloading tool equipped to resize, can supply on order almost any size of die you may require. They will be glad to aid you. If you can secure a suitable bullet mould which casts approximately .010 too large, it is a simple matter, even in a hard alloy, to bring the bullets down to proper dimen- sions. If bullets are cast i to lo or i to 15, it is best to run them through the resizing die twice, stepping down the .010 in two different stages. If they are of softer metal, no trouble will be experi- ciiced ill using a single die. If you have an old bullet mould which casts undersize, this can be increased in size with a little patience, if you desire to retain the same general shape of bullet. The process is really quite simple. Remove or open the sprue cutter, cast a lead slug in the mould using a flattened nail head in the center at the time the metal is run in. This will serve as a lap and can be sawed off with a hack- saw and used in a small hand twist drill The bullet should then be coated with oil or water and an ordinary ftnt valve grinding compound smeared over its entire surface. The mould should then be closed on it but spaced open slightly at the blocks with a thick sheet of letter paper. The lap is then spun slowly, which will gradually enlarge the cavity. As this increases in size, the mould blocks can be closed down on it through elimination of the paper. It should be borne in mind that the lead lap will wear out much faster than the metal of the mould, and therefore it may be necessary to make several dif- ferent laps. This job is a rather slow one but is well worth while if one desires to increase the size somewhat. At frequent intervals the mould should be washed free of all grinding compound, reheated, and a few trial bullets cast with it to be carefully measured. This is tlie only way one can properly determine what size he is getting. Even with calipers the inside measurements taken on a cold mould would be useless for comparison with the finished cast bullets from a properly heated one. Obsolete and Black-Powder Cartridges. Many handloaders like to acquire an old-time gun to play around with reloading. There is still as much accuracy in an old .45/70, .32/40 or .38/55 as there ever was. Handloaders can bring out that ac- curacy with many of the obsolete black-powder cartridges, particularly as the .28/30 Stevens, the .25^/20 Single Shot, the ^0/72 and a few of chose, are capable of liner accuracy than ever before with some of the modern powders, primers and bullets. One should bear in mind that most of these old- timers were designed for lead or lead-alloy bullets, and that the use of jacketed loads will create ex- cessive wear on the soft rifling. Most of these barrels were rifled in steel about the equivalent in strength of the modern cold rolled, .so they will not stand the pressures of smokeless powders even if they were capable of withstanding the wear and tear of the jacketed bullets. For many of these old cartridges, with Du Pont Bulk Shotgun, Rifle Smokeless Si, Schuetzen, Gallery Rifle S75, and many of the similar obsolete and hard'tO'locatc powders, are extremely useful. These powders arc never obsolete as long as one can aquirc them, and occasionally old lots can be picked up in sporting-goods stores and supply lioiises. In I he al>sencc of these smokeless powders of low-pressure variety, semi -smokeless and black powders can be used to gtx>d advantage. Of course black powder is dirty to handle and rather messy on the gun, necessitating extensive water cleanings, but It is still capable of delivering excellent ac- curacy if properly handled. Ballard rifles are being picked up on the market today in excellent condi- tion, and many a rifleman has been exceedingly proud of the development of handloads with the old-timers even in this modern age. If properly handled, the Ballard is capable of delivering Springfield accuracy up to 200 yards. In many of the cases one finds odd-size primers nccesritating chat the px)cket be altered in size and shape. The author docs not recommend drilling out these pockets as do some other writers. It is much better to have a swage made and force them to the shape desired. The Schmidt primer-pocket swage intended for the .30/06 cartridge as a crimp remover is an excellent device for use in the old- timers. Any soft brass rifle case can have the pocket enlarged to the exact size necessary to handle mod- ern primers such as the FA J70, the Remington or the Winchester tiio. An interesting and often overlooked source of supply is the professional cartridge collector. Charles Shattuck of Cherry Creek, New York, has long been a dealer in modern odd cartridges for collectors. He buys in huge quantities, usually iu whatever amount he can acquire, and under nor- OBSOLETE BLACK POWDER AND FOREIGN CARTRIDGES 267 mal conditions maintains a stock oE more than 40,000 diilcrent cartridges. Very frequently he has some of the old-time Sharps, Ballard and similar cartridges in quantities sufficiently extensive lo iiucresi )i and loaders. Of course he deals these out to collectors for from 3 cents to 10 or 12 cents each, but when sold in quantity, the price is more within the range of customary new ammunition. The Ideal Manufacturing Company, jiow owned by the Lyman Gunsight Corporal ion of Middlc- iield, Connecticut, also occasionally locates a few of the old Ideal Everlasting shells. Although these cases have been obsolete for a great many years, the manufacturers frequently have calls for them and are in a position to make up a batch at a reasonable price if the quantity is .sufficiently large to warrant the necessary work. Such caruiclge cases are, uf course, hand-made out of solid rods rather chan in the customary swaging system. The handloader equipped with a small machine shop for metal work might be in a position to make up a few shells himself. If this is done, of course, the inner walls must be of the straighi-bore type even in the bottle-neck cartridge, and the problem is quite complicated, yet still within the ability of a good workman. Swages can be made by many of the toolmakers should you care to pay the price, so that you can purchase shells slightly larger chan ncce.ssary and swage them to the proper size and shape. Of course, this process is costly, as a great many shells are mutilated in the operation. Also the original cost of dies is rather extensive. In the various magazines, from time to time, some of the larger supply houses announce sales of obsolete ammunition. Any houses known to handle this material would be well worth inves- ugating, as they frequently have cartridges that they do not care to advertise, By writing them di- rect you will save yourself much research; a few postage .scamps sene here and there may locate a reasonable supply of old-timers that cau be used in your gun. H the primers have died, the bullets can be withdrawn, caked powder removed, the shells decap ped and reprimed, and the shells can be completely reloaded. In reloading these old-timers it is well to bear in mind that they are frequently susceptible to bullet tempers. If you can locate any old-timer who handloadcd these now obsolete cartridges before 1900, he will be glad to give you interesting infor- mation. He will tell you how they experimented with various bullet alloys until tliey found one which fitted chat particular barrel. Sometimes it was hard, again it was soft. But always a critical alloy gave the best results, and then only after they had experimented to discover it. You, too, may have to experiment. If you get an old-time rifle tlrat is in good condition but still does not shoot accurately, the fault is yours, not the rifle’s. Any gun which would shoot well twenty-five years ago and is in a condition equal to that of twenty -five years ago is capable of producing fully as good results today. If you have one of these old-timers, you might care to experiment with paper-patch bullets de- scribed elsewhere in this book. If you have no bulk powder on hand, try Hercules Sharpshooter or Unique, hut only in very light loads. It will be well to write directly to Hercules before attempt- ing to load these pow'ders. Semi-smokeless pow- der is always superior in performance to that of black if properly used. Of course this is dirty to handle and to shoot, but is not nearly so bad as black powder, particularly since the making of black powder today is practically a lost art, as the demand for it docs not warrant ihe high degree of perfection that manufacturing standards once de- manded. Black-Powder Factory I..oads. There was a time when practically ihe entire series of cartridges could he nbiaijred factory-loaded with black pow- der. Today the survivors are rapidly falling by the wayside. As this is written (1937) a check of the arms and ammunition factory cartridges shows that the only black-powder loads available include the .22 Winchester Cemerfirc; tftc .25/20 Single- shot; the .25/20 Repeater; .32/20; .32/40; .38/55; 40/60/210; 43 Egyptian Mauser; 43 S|)anish Mauser; 43 German Mauser (ii-mm. Mauser); 45/60/300; 45/70/4055 -45/75/35O1 and .50/70 Government. The entire list of rifle cartridges totals but fourteen. In the handgun field the survival of the black powder cartridge is greater than in the rifle line. Here we find the .25/20 Repeater often used on handguns, particularly of foreign manufacture; the .32 Smith & Wesson; the .32 Smith 61 Wesson long; .32 Short Colt; .32 Long Colt; .32 Coll New Po- lice, .32/20; .38 Smith & Wesson; .38 Smith & Wesson and Colt Special; .38 Short Colt; .38 Long Colt; .38 Colt New Police, .38/40; .41 Short Colt; 41 Long Colt; .44 Smith & Wesson American; 44 S. & W. Russian; 44 S. & W. Special; .44 Bulldog; 44 Wcblcy; .44 Cole, 44/40; .45 Colt; .45 S. Si W.; 45 Wcbky and 450 Revolver, a total of 26 car- uidges. All but two or three of these are, how- ever, available in smokeless-powder loads. Many of these old-timers can be stepped up in accuracy 268 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING Co a point even superior to that of their early days. If you reload these black>powdcr cartridges, be sure CO wash your cases thoroughly as soon after firing as possible. H you can avoid it, do no re- sizing whatever, as black powder has a tendency to corrode the inside of the cartridge case and re- sizing merely causes this to flake off where it can drop into the case cavity and at the same time weaken the wall. If you must use black powder, use the proper size for best results. For heavy rifle cartridges re- quiring 50 or more grains of powder, use granu- lation Fg or FFg; for lighter toads use FFFg; for handgun cartridges, FFFFg is practical. Most handgun shooters have trouble cluefly because they use coo large a granulation of powder. The largest practical granulation is about FFFg. Really brge cartridges, such as some of the old Sharps .50/95 and the .50/115 Bullard, the 45/70 Government, the .40/60, and the 45/60, work ^st with granu- lation about Fg. A suggestion for loading these old cartridges comes from H. A. Donaldson of Little Falls, New York. Mr. Donaldson loads both black and smokeless powders quite heavily, and in a great many cases, experimenting with certain loads known to be safe, he uses more powder dun the case will normally handle. His system of running this powder in Is extremely interesting. First he uses a shore length of four or five inches of brass rod which will just slip through the mouth of the case. A small funnel is built to fit the case neck, the powder poured in, and the rod inserted. Thia retards the flow of the powder somewhat. The case, of course, slowly fills up to the neck and the powder flows slightly into the long funnel neck. The rod is then lifted to permit this to settle as much as possible, whereupon it is replaced, serving as a weight. The head of the cartridge case is then tapped gently with a number of light blows, and this causes the powder, under the pressure of the rod, CO settle considerably. It is just possible to get three or four more grains into almost any car- tridge case. Unless you know your load thor- oughly, however, this practice is of course dan- gerous. There is a great field for experimental shooting and hand loading with the old-timers. A friend of the author who should really know better, re- cently acquired a 45/100 Sharps, and with this big blunderbus has been endeavoring to develop Gai^ tery loads for shooting in his rather spacious cellar. C^tainly this man has other guns — several .22's and others far more suited for indoor work— yet he has decided that a truly accurate indoor hand- load can be developed with the old Sharps, and he is determined to stay with it until he gets the right combination of pow'der and bullet. He is having his fun, and rhat, after all, is the primary objec- tive in this handloading game. If you don*t like shooting, you won^ like handloading. If you like to get the best out of your gun, you will want to experiment. Experimental work is practical, pro- vided one exercises the proper safety precautions. Do not overload the old guns and they will do their best t>y you. XXV FOULING AND ITS CLEANING PROBLEMS T here never has been anrf probably never will be any excuse for complclc neglect of ibc clcamug of a modern firearm. In this day and age arms and ammunition manufacturers insist in their advertising matter that you don't need to clean a gun if you use their “No-Foulcm" primers. Perhaps they are right. The use of modern non- corrosive primers certainly simplifies the process of cleaning, but cleaning is a necessity just the same, all advertising to the contrary notwithstanding. A number of expert gunsmiths and barrel makers have written me to the effect that since the advent of non'corrn.sivc priming they have replaced more ruined barrels than in the previous years when ammunition bad poison primers and shooters understood this fact. There are three very definite reasons for clean- ing your gun bore after use: atmospheric and per- sonal handling, which may create rust; primer and powder fouling; and finally a somewhat different sort of proposition— metal fouling. The hand- loader will find this in many of his experimental loadings, and it is well to know just what to do about the problem. Some of our shooters visualize metal fouling only on the basis of their own private experiences. This “metal fouling*’ consists of a thin smear of copper on the interior of the barrel; a smear which immediately looks bright if you merely wipe out the powder fouling with an oily rag. That is NOT metal fouling. Anyone who has shot the old cupro*nickeI bullets, particularly those of wartime manufacture, may have fouled a barrel so badly that he could not consistently stay in the black at 200 yards prone. Looking through the bore, he found chunks of fouling in the form of flakes soldered or bonded to the rifling. He took the gun home and went at it with 28% Stronger Ammonia, Chloroil, Crystal Cleaner, or one of the other po wrier solvents of extremely potent nature. Of the various useful solvents, one of the most practical was 28% Stronger Ammonia, and it is well to mention the method of cleaning here and now, because the handloadcr in using up old batches of cu pro-nick el bullets with certain loads will occasionally run into this type of fouling. Method of Cleaning. The breech of the mecha- nism is stoppered up by means of a good clean rubber stopper. Do not use wood or cor^. The barrel is slowly poured full of “Stronger Am- monia,*’ available from drug stores and containing 28% gas. The so-called “household" ammonia is like warm milk in comparison. One good whiff of the “Stronger .\mmonia" will cause an iron man to shed tears. It is perfectly safe to handle if care is taken, but its use requires a certain technique which with experimental variations may prove disastrous to a barrel. Before you use 28% Stronger Ammonia in your pet artillery, it is a good idea to take an old razor blade, put a drop or two on the polished steel, lay it aside for a few minutes, and then forget it. Don’t wait a weekj but cume back in half an hour and look that steel over. You will notice an almost unbelievable amount of rust where the ammonia touched it and dried off. That same thing can happen inside your barrel, and no self-respecting shooter will feel very good about it. The answer is, “Be careful!” After plugging up the breech to prevent any liouid from leaking into the action, fill the barrel com- pletdy full of ammonia. This may he done by gently pouring it in, being very careful u> sec chat the pouring is gentle; or it may be done with an ordinary cyc- vertised as non -gumming, non^acid and Don't his and non-that had a very marked acid reaction in chemical tests made by the writer. It ha.s also some excellent gumming properties, as he has learned by examining many weapons an wliich this oil had been used exclusively. Furthermore, cer- tain arms manufacturers who once recommended this oil have ceased to do so. If you want a very good low-priced gun oil, ex- periment with ordinary engine oil of a body about SAE ao. This oil is really of high-grade quality — if you don't attempt to play with the grades sold by chain stores. For instance, a quart of the iinesc of Jenny, Quaker State, Shell, Mobiloil, Icxaco, Wolf’s Head or your particular pet brand, if of these better grades, would cost 35 cents, and while you may not care to pour 35-cent oil into your old Model *‘T,” it is an excellent economy for fire- arms use. A quart of this high-grade oil can be broken up into small batches and distributed among your friends, aud will come pretty close to supplying ihc neighborhood for life if used solely for guns. Firearms really require very little oil, all talk to the contrary notwithstanding. There is such a thing as overdoing anything. Another very high-grade oil, one probably superior to most of them, is the aoti-freezing oil sold for use in elec- trical refrigerators. A small quantity of this can be used in any gun. It will not corrode and is reasonably free from gumming. Gumming. This, by the way, is another subject of those polite fictions used widely by the chaps who prepare advertising copy for oil makers. There lias never been an oil manufactured which would not gum somewhat. When you read an ad- vertisement saying that a certain oil is absolutely free from gumming qualities, shove your tongue in your cheek, turn over the page and read the testimonials of how Mrs. Smith reduced 47 pounds in 10 days using cast-iron pills, and at die bottom of the same ad another testimonial from skinny Mr. Twiddlcfingcrs who, by raking the same pills, added 11 pounds to his inj-stripjied, iu less than a week. If you believe everything you see in ad- venising, you might just as well assume that most of these oils arc non-gumming — which they ain't. It U well to understand what gumming actually is. Any oil, if permitted to stand in the sun and slowly cook, with the air carrying away the volatile fluids contained therein, will thicken up and is said to ‘‘gum.’' On the other hand, from the stand- point of the shooter, that isn't by any means all there is to gumming. An oil smeared on a thin steel plate and kept under proper conditions may still be wet and oily instead of sticky at the end of a six months' rest; that oil may be said to be of “non-gumming” iiaiurc. At the same time, if you stir in a mixture of flour, of fine dust or debris such as powder fouling, into that same pure non- gumming oil, you gradually accumulate a solid or sticky mass which not only dries out to a hard un- yielding surface, but also causes the oil to work out at the same time. Under these conditions your non^umming oil becomes a gumming oil. Not long ago a police chief laid three Scr\icc revolvers on the author’s desk and asked him to find out what was the matter with them. He said they were not rcliahle. A dry firing test verified this. They did not function perfectly, either single or double action, anywhere from 3 to 15 shots, whereupon something would stick and they would refuse to cock. We stripped them down. All the interior parts which Aould have been bright FOULING AND ITS CLEANING PROBLEMS 271 were painted a ru$ty brown. The guns had been in service for more than 20 years and had been shot but little. They had b^n well oiled with reasonable care by the officers to whom they had been issued, but these oils had dried oui> leaving a thin brown smear over all metal parts. This kind of smear has absolutely no lubricating qual- ities. In fact, it is the exact opposite of a lubricant. Movement of the parts causes a sticking which is extremely inconvenient. In the aforesaid revolvers, that gum was so thoroughly dried that it could not be wiped off, even after a three-hour soaking in high-test gasoline. It was necessary to put each part on a buffing wheel and burn the debris. Mind you, there was no rust in this, merely an accumulation of oil, plus a little dust, plus the natural oxidation which time and air bring about on all elements. To prevent oil from gumming, use as little as possible and wipe all oiled parts at frequent in- tervals. This doesn't necessarily mean a stripping of the gun every time you shoot it. It is a good idea, however, to strip your guns at least once a year, if you know them well enough, whether they have been used or not. Clean all parts by soaking in gasoline and then wipe with a clean dry rag, and reassemble. Use oil very sparingly. The more you use, the greater the tendency to collect dust, dirt, powder fouling— with the consequent reac- tion which forms gum. If you have a small part working in a channel perfectly smooth with a clearance of a couple of thousandths of an inch, you can't shovel that channel full of gritty d&ris and still expect the small part to work smoothly in it. Just a simple law of mechanics. This Hot-Water Cleaning. Great-Granpaw had a custom-built rifle. True, it was only a flintlock and today might bring in the used market some five or six dollars as an antique; nevertheless, it was a custom-built rifle. It cost good coin in those days. U'hc barrels were laboriously made by hand, the lock work was cither handmade or imported by some small gunsmith who then hand-fitted it co the barrel and stock to meet hi$ particular require- ments, and, all in all, it was a rather expensive proposition. Perhaps Great-Granpaw went in for the old-fashioned turkey shoots, perhaps he was just a hunter. Anyway, he used his gun, used it frequently, and used it well. Result was, Great- Granpaw burned a great deal of soft coal in the old smokcstick and the gun still came up smiling, despite the fact that its barrel was made of nothing but pure soft iron, not nickel steel, Winchester Proof Steel or Ordnance steel as it would be today. The secret of this long life was proper cleaning. Great-Granpaw couldn’t go down to the store and buy himself a bottle of Hoppe's K9 or Brown- ing's Powder Solvent or any of the other concoc- tions for which tliey nick you twenty-five or thirty cents. Instead, he went out to the well, dragged up a bucket of water, heated it on the kitchen range— not by the process of turning on gas or flipping an electric switch, but by the old-fashioned method of whittling up perfectly good trees with an axe, thinning them down to proper dimensions, and pushing them into the old cast-iron stove. When Great-Granpaw heated water, he worked for it. When he got through heating, he used it well, not skimpingly by moistening a single clean- ing patch, but by careful manipulation of that water to cleanse the whole bore thoroughly, After he graduated from flintlock to percussion cap with the modern times coming on, he found that it re- quired particular a c tendon after firing co prevent rusting and corrosion. Being an energetic man and also rather frugal, he managed to heat a little bit more water and scrubbed a bit more thor- oughly. He never dunked the gun, realizing that the hot water poured into the wooden parrs might cause warpage. Great-Granpaw was iiuelligeiu. Then came Granpaw^and Dad. The flintlock became obsolete. In its place came the percussion gun and d\t breechloader. Pop played around with the old black-powder paper and linen car- tridges, finally getting himself one of those new- fanned "ca'tri’ge guns." He soon found that this, too, required cleaning . . .and then came smoke- less powder. Pop still stuck to his cleaning be- cause he found that, while smokeless powder sim- plified the it would by no means eliminate the necessity for it. About that time a lot of these chaps who saw a chance now and then to dig up a few extra dollars began to bring out these new-fangled cleaning solutions. These didn't go over so well with Dad. He still stuck to his old watereDd too much on those solvents^ and we ruin our barreb. Then we buy new ones and repeat the process. Shortly after the close of the war, the Depart- ment of the Interior Bureau of Mines for some reason or other became interested in the problems of the Ordnance Department, which complained that too many of its “properly cleaned** firearms had gone and eaten themselves away. “Corro- sion ” the Ordnance men said, “appears to be tak- ing place despite proper cleaning and coating of the bore with oil or grease.” Why? So the Bureau of Mines began investigations which ctil- minated in 1922 with the publication of the now outof'princ Technical Paper 5 t 88 entitled “Cor- rosion Under Oil Films with Special Reference to the Cause and Prevention of the After-Corrosion of Firearms,” by Wilbur J. Huff. 1 don't know who Mr. Huff is, but he apparently had an unlimited supply of laboratory equipment at his disposal to aid him in hb investigations. Great-Granpaw, however, could have explained the whole thing to him in fifteen seconds. “Your bar*l,'* the old gent would have said, “won't rust on ye if ye clean it afore ye ayl it,” and with that he would have considered the explanation complete. It is indeed unfortunate that Technical Paper S188 cannot be reprinted by the Bureau of Mines. The tests were refreshingly complete. They showed that modern smokeless powder apparently left a non-corrosive residue, particularly in the so- called “modern formulas,” so they began to in- vestigate the primers. They fired normal charges in special rifles, using instead of a regular primer a means of electric ignition. No corrosion in the barrel. Then they cried primers. To sum up, they found that the sout half size and tried that. Never be- fore or since have we seen such a tremendous mass of metal fouling in a barrel. There were big gob^ 274 COMPLETE GUTOE TO HANDLOADING and flakes of ic, some of it curling up badly and appearing almost to choke che bore down to less than .22 caliber. We immediately returned to the firing point, showed che barrel to the team captain and range officer, and they immediately volun- teered to strike oO the original score and permit it to be rc-shoi. However, the idea of shooting a strange rifle in a match had never appealed to me, so f permitted the score to stand, the appearance of the barrel alone serving as an alibi for the poorest piece of si looting done during the Matches. Back at camp we proceeded to completely wear down two new brass bristle-brushes in an effort to Leading cao seriously injure the accuracy of any gun. The above recovered revolver bullets were shot from a badly leaded bore scrub out that fouling. No go! We got a lot of it, but there stilt remained a worse dose than 1 had ever seen, even with cupro-nickcl. So I hiked over to Commercial Row and turned the weapon over ro Paddy O’lkrc to experiment with. “Sure,” said Paddy, “and I have seen plenty of metal fouling with copper jackets, but I never saw nothing like that I” And he proceeded to clean it for us after much work with Hoppe's 89 and later Chloruil. That afternoon wc shot it again. It performed in accordance with its previous excellence. What had caused the trouble? Quite possibly an abnormally soft bullet which had stripped in passing through the bore, thus plugging grooves with chunks of copper. This, of course, would ac- count for the first mass. Following shots, instead of wiping out the fouling, merely packed it down, possibly adding to it through the abrasive action of fouling agciinst jacket surface. It is quite possible that succeeding jackets, although in perfect condi- tion, were thrown out of balance through the mu- tilation in passing over the previously deposited lumps. This example is not extended as a boast or an alibi. Wc would much rather forget shooting a score such as we did and letting the team down in that fashion. It is pointed out to show that metal fouling can occur with any form of bullet jacl^cU A 1 Woodworth of Springfield Armory suggests that it is even wise to remove the thin coppery smear one finds in his barrel after using gilding- metal jackets. This is not a troublesome fouling^ and is usually ignored, as it cannot be seen in looking through the barrel. To find it, one must look into the muzzle from an angle, whereupon he notices a trace of copper, more in the form of a tint than an actual fouling, smeared the length of the bore. Usually this will cause no trouble, yet in the finest of target barrels it can, under certain atmospheric conditions, create an electrolytic action and roughen the bore surface beneath the smear. Particularly is this true when corrosive primers arc used. Certain formulas of non-corrosivc mix- tures can do it. Ammonia doping is rarely neces- sary with this type of fouling — most of the pre- pared solutions similar to Hoppe's 89 will do the job quickly and well. Keeping a Gun Clean. After cleaning a barrel with water, coat it with oil, but do not use the scKalled ''antitrust ropes, as they are inclined to evaporate the oil and absorb moisture from the air. In theory they arc excellent. In practice, they are not so hot. The best way to leave your barrel after cleaning is to coat it with a light oil. Riel & Fuller’s Ami-Ru.st is excellent despite its awful smell. You coat your metal w'lth it, and the solvent dries out, leaving a wax-like coating which very effectively prevents rust. Another product w'hich thoroughly and effec- tively protects gun barrels and other metals from rust and corrosion is RIG, otherwise known as Rust Inhibiting Grease. RIG is a development of the RIG Products Company, now located (1948) in Oregon 2, Illinois. The firm is headed by Rus- sell, Wiles, Jr., noted shooter. As previously stated throughout the above sug- gestions, it is necessary first to clean your guns and have them in perfect condition l>efnre the ap- plication of oil and grease, if true protect ion is desired. RIG, on the other hand, offers an en- tirely different type of protection. A good way of testing this is to use safety razor blades and apply a perspiring finger tip to the blades after they have been thoroughly cleaned in boiling water. Then, once the finger marks have dried, coat one blade so handled with ordinary oil and the other with RIG, and place them both where they w'ill be exposed to the elements. You will notice that, under ordinary oil, corrosion will begin after a few days. Under RIG there apparently is no change after two or three weeks of exposure. RIG is neither an oil nor a grease. It is, in fact, a semi-grease which is sufficiently fluid at room FOULING AND ITS CLEANING PROBLEMS 275 temperatures to penetrate fouling and seal itself to the steel. It will not harden, crack, peel, or run off. It does not appear to be a powder solvent and will not attack, discolor, or oxidize various metals. It is light in color and all tests the author has made indicate that it is absolutely acid free. If you put it in a clean barrel and leave it for three or four moiulis, when wiped out it will still be clean, wliich is something we have been unable to say about a great many of the oils on the market. In use, it is not necessary to clean your barrel thoroughly even after using corrosive primers. Merely coat a patch with this semi-grease and swab out the barrel a single time. This is espe- cially valuable as a protection when Lesmok or scmi-smokeless powders are used. The author should like rn caution hamlloaders who insist on using Frankforcl Arsenal primers, hence depending iou% upon RIG. A great many tests have verified (he prediction that, under rea- sonable humidity conditions, RIG will protect a barrel completely for at least three weeks when put away uncleaned except for running a single patch through the bore. If you intend to put your barrel away for a longer period, be sure to clean it by the hot- water method. If the gun is in use each week or every other week, it is not necessary to go to this length. When non-corrosive primers are used, a single application of RIG will pruiect the barrel indcHnicely. Incidentally, this material is fully as useful on fine tools, micrometers, dies, gauges and other equipment of the handloader. It is not necessary to drench small cools with this material to gee 100% protection. Merely coat a cleaning patch lightly with RIG and wipe over the bright metal. When it is next used, a clean cloth will cake off enough of this so that the equipment can be ban- died without soiling the fingers. If you intend to lay your barrel away for any length of time, coat it with a siiglidy heavier- bodied oil than standard. There is very little necessity for grease in this day and age. The best way is to use a heavy oil carefully rubbed into the barrel by the use of a medium-fitting patch, and tlien inspect your barrel at the end of a couple of months. The process doesn’t take a great deal of time, and it is a simple matter to wipe out the barrel with a dry patch and re-oil it. Grease is a horse of a different color. If you put it in, yr>u get a messy job; it gets into all pans of the action and gums things up, requiring half a day to re- move it. Any of the so-called “powder solvents’* are ex- cellent to use in a barrel if non-corrosive priming is used. They should be aaompanied, however, by a vigorous scrubbing with plenty of cleaning patches made of ordinary cotton flannel, some- times called “Canton flannel.” Do not be stingy vviili these patches. Be sure your cleaning rod fits properly. A brass rod may be practical, but this author has thrown away too many of them to see any advantage in their use whatever. A jointed steel rod is useful in the rifleman’s kit, but here its practical use ends. A solid one-picce steel rod is by far the best for home use. It is always set up, it has no joints to work loose, and it is not as likely to develop kinks. Keep it clean. A simple method of cleaning is to rake the oily patch with which you completed the swabbing of the barrel, wrap it around the rod, and gently polish. The process takes but an instant. Use brass bristle-brushes regularly. A 45-caliber brush can be used until it is worn down so that it no longer functions properly in a .45-calibcr barrel. The energetic shooter can give it additional life by putting a slight twist in its brass backbone, thus causing the bristles to bear on the outside of the twist. By rebending from time to time considerable extra life can be drawn from it, and in many cases it can then be rele- gated to use in .38-caliber handguns or rifles in- stead of being totally discarded. By the same token, .3Hty eases arc ejected. If the handloader shoots alone, he develops the an- noying habit of keeping one eye on the flying brass so it will not be lost, and this is by no means con- 280 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING dud VC to good shooting. Accordingly, while hand- loading for automatic pistols is practical, it has never found extreme favor among shooters. The several media meal reasons mentioned explain why manv of our ammunition manufacturers arc rather reticent about selling components for automatic pistol ammunition. The revolver is extremely interesting to the handloader. He can understand a few of the weak points of his gun and govern himself accordingly. First of all, factory working pressures for handgun ammunition arc much lower than those for auto- matic pistol fodder. Neither Hercules nor Du Pont will recommend loads developing pressures much in excess of 15,000 pounds. Faccor>' working pressures for all revolvers are held down to this limit, with the exception of the .38 Special high- velocity loadings including the Winchester Super- Speed, United States Speedster, Remington .38/44, Peters High-V'clocity and Western Super-X. Ac- tual tests made in several pressure guns by or under the direction of the author indicate that these loads have pressures of 20,000 to 21,000 pounds, which explains why they are recom- mended for use only in heavy-frame guns. One revolver cartridge having a high pressure is the new Smith Sc Wesson .357 Macnom, described in more detail in Chapter XXX. Automatic pistol ammunition, on the ocher hand, is built with a working pressure of 28,000 to 30,000 pounds in such calibers as the .38 ACP, 9-mm. Ltiger, and so forth. The Luger is breeched up in a way very similar to a rifle. The .38 ACP has an extremely heavy barrel supporting the cartridge case. The additional wall thickness of this barrel in the vicin- ity of the chamber permits of these high working pressures. Most handguns which blow up show first signs of danger at the breech end of the barrel. Where this barrel screws into the frame, one will note a thin projection extending to the forward face of the cylinder. This is a delicate pare of a barrel, and this part is a bullet resizing die, swage, or what you may choose to call it. The rapidly trav- eling bullet jumps from the cylinder into this throat or cone of the barrel, which is somewhat larger than the bullet itself. The force of the action, how- ever, expands the bullet to a size greater than the barrel diameter, and when it strikes this throat or cone, it must be swaged down to proper size and at the same time must be given the necessary ro- tary motion to start it through the bore. If the load is too heavy for the gun used, or the bullet is too soft, one will notice a belling of the barrel breech after extensive firings. If this starts, the barrel should be rejected, as the belling will im- incd lately iucreasc the space between the barrel and cylinder. The gun should be returned to the faaory for the fitting of a new barrel. Continued use will mean continued belling out of that barrel and will eventually result in a totally ruined gun through splitting the frame at that point. With maximum pressure loads tc3o great fur the gun to stand, several things can happen. With the modern swing-out cylinder revolver the loads can strain the mechanism so that the cylinder strikes on the rear of the barrel and causes bind- ing. The tremendous torque of the bullet as it starts down the barrel can blast the frame out of alignment. Last but by no means least, a more or less delicate top strap running from the forward end of the frame across the top of the cylinder may become so strained by the forward drag on the bullet as it hammers the rifling that a rupture Hollow-poiat bullets can be made to perform properly itt the JS Speebl if used In the hi^.velodty loadings. Above are two 38 Speda] bandloads using bo)Iovr*poiot bullets HANDGUN AMMUNITION 281 will occur, u$ua!ly at the angle between the top scrap and the standing breech in front of the hammer. The next problem is the cylinder. Handgun makers, including both Colt and Smith & Wesson, have always made their barrels out of soft steel. Both makes arc of an entirely different formula, and each, of course, claims superiority over the other. Whcji used with ordinary lead bullets, both makes of barrels will last indefinitely, as, despite the softness of the steel, repeated tests have shown that they have a useful life with factory loads of from 30,000 to 60,000 rounds — which is a lot more than the average handgun shooter will pour through one barrel in a lifetime. Cylinders, on the other hand, are built of a s|x:cial chrome nickel steel, each manufacturer again using his own for* rnula. Of the two makes, the SmiUt & Wesson ap* pears to have the edge on the Colt, hut with any reasonable loads or normal overloadings either the Colt or Smith & Wesson guns will stand up. Handgun shooters far and wide arc constantly mistreating their handguns for reloading purposes. The marvelous thing about it is not that guns blow up, but that more of them do not blow up. Within the present week of this writing the author received a letter from a chap in Philadelphia who tried to use a n-grain charge of Bullseye behind a standard bullet in his .44 Special Smith 6c Wesson Military Target. The pressures of this load must have been equal to or possibly greater than that uf the Springfield rifle. He only fired two loads, tying the gun securely to a post and pulling the trigger with a string. The gun, so he reported, held perfectly, and he did not continue his test for fear of damaging the gun— not by blowing it up but by denting its nice shiny finish because he was unable to lace it down properly so that it would not tear loose from its mounting. That's good logic— not! During the past twenty years our two American handgun manufacturers of consequence have been more or less continually improving the steel used in their guns. They have concentrated upon the real wear on the cylinder, both Colt and Smith & Wesson vising the finest chrome nickel they can possibly secure. They know only too well that a gun may be strained through various parts, but chat it really docs not begin to blow up until the cylinder lets go. When this happens, the net re- sult is frequently the splitting through of the walls between the chambers on both sides of the one being fired, thus shooting three cartridges simul- taneously and generally removing about that many chambers of the gun. This, of course, usually takes off the top scrap along with it. The gun is, incidentally, turned into scrap metal. While this form of accident docs happen more or lew fre- quently because of careless hand loading, an over- charge, or the wrong kind of powder, the odd part of it is that die shooter is rarely injured. Never- theless, it is unhealthy to try. The arms makers, knowing a few' of the things which can happen, have not only taken high-grade steels for this es- sential part of the mechanism, but have continually experimented with various forms of heat treat- ment CO make these cylinders stronger still, The standard .44 Speciat cartridge ihown at the left can be converted into a far more deadly cartridge by ihe addiiion of a hollow-pmnt bullet, as shown. Ttiis makes ao ciccllcnt hunting revolver of this caliber Handloading for Revolvers. Thus understand- ing the weak points of handguns, proceed carefully to analyze methods of handloading. Always use the low'cst power of load which is consistent with the work ar hand. A luw-velocity load with a light bullet means less wear and tear on the gun, on the shelter, on the brass cartridge case, on the powder cannisier, and on the shooter's pocketbook, to say nothing of his shooting arm. Of course, if you must have recoil, you must; but the average shot can usually do better with a mid-range bullet load than he can with a Supcr-dc Luxe hell-tootin’ maximum load. As with all other forms of handloading, the handgun game begins with the brass cartridge case. 'Hiis should be decapped as soon after the firing as is possible, and an efiort made to clean out the primer pocket to free it of debris. Most of the new nonossiblc that for many years to come the semi -balloon head will be available on seme dealers' shelves when “new” ammunition is purchased. For handgun use there arc two deflnite sizes of primer pockets: the .175-inch and the ^lo-inch. The .175 is the most common. It is used by Rem- ington, Winchester, Western, U. S., and formerly Peters. The large size is now standard for all .38 Specials and ocher big calibers in Peters and high- velocity Winchester and U. S. The semi -ha I loon head, while It h.is hern ahaudoned in cartridges of the .38 SiKcial variety, is still widely found in the big bore.>i such as .45 Colt, .44 Special, and so forth. This case will not stand the pressures of the modern solkl-hcad web type and should be care- fully set aside to prevent its being accidentally mixed with the so lid -head web variety. None of these cases should be depended upon to handle pressures in excess of 15,000 pounds. What would happen if the cases became mixed? In 1933 Du Pont Burnside Laboratory ran tests of this sort to gather definite answ'crs to this ques- tion for the author. Primers used were Wiu- che.ster JioR non-corrosivc. Two types of Win- chester .38 Special cases were used — the semi- ballooQ head and the sol id -head web. Standard Winchester factory bullets backed up by a 5-grain charge of Pistol #5 completed the load. In a series of tests, the semi -balloon type head gave a mean instrumental velocity of 891 f.s. with a pressure of 14,500 pounds. The solid-head w it will not help you a great deal if the laboratory sends you information on a load with a Bond t58'grain bullet and Pistol Powder 56 . Don’t expect the laboratory experts to be mind readers. State your case and you will get proper assistance. Seating the Bullets. After your powder charges have been decided upon, weighed or measured and entered into the primed case, you are ready to seat the bullets. This operation, of course, depends to no small extent on the type of cool available. In- formation on this is submitted with the tool by the manufacturers. Every handloadcr should be sure to get all available factory licerature covering his individual make uf tuol. There is one point in the handloading of ammu- nition which to a great extent controls the uni- formity and accuracy of shooting — the crimp on (he bullet. A ballistic engineer connected with one of our large ammunition factories once told the author that most home loads in handgun calibers were inferior to fuciory loads, and chat diis was due chiefly to the crimp. Even the best-made load- ing tools on the market will vary, and some of them have an annoying habit of running off side crimps very consistently. This permits of a crimp which is much deeper on one side of the shell than OQ the other, and results in improper delivery of the bullet. It is usually caused by an oversized loading chamber which permits the natural thrust of the tool to cause the cartridge case to be tilted to one side during the bullet-seating and crimping process. Few if any of our so-called straight-line bullet scaters actually seat in a straight line, not because of their design but because of these manu- facturing tolerances. You can scat a bullet in a straight line, but unless the case is held rigid dur- ing the process there is bound to be a certain amount of tipping. Handgun ammunition for hunting may include any of the various forms of wad-cutter or hollow- HANDGUN AMMUNITION 285 poiac types. Among these are the very excellent Keith-Ideal form and the Sharpe bullets in .38 Special^ .357 Magnum and ^4 Special, moulds for which are made by George A. Hensley of San Diego. These combination wad< utter and square- nose forms of bullets, together with many others of similar outline now put on the market by Bond, Bclding & Mull, and Ideal, both in solid and hol- low-point construction, offer the utmost in shock- ing power. In loading them there is just one par- ticular caution^ne should use a bullet-seating punch which properly fits the ends of the bullet. The methods of seating, loading, preparing the shells and crimping are exactly the same. The handgun fan who does his own loading will greatly inacase his shoodng possibilities, whether he casts his own bullets or purchases them all pre- pared. The gentle art of handloading for handguns also makes an arm more of an all-round weapon than would be possible with factory ammunition. It is a great sport! XXX MAGNUM HANDGUN AND RIFLE POSSIBILITIES T I IIS is the day of Magnum ammunition. Al- though there are thousands of handloaders who stick by the old-style equipment and arms and prefer to load only light or uurmal charges, there are likewise a goodly number who seek the most loads smokeless powders, he should load to die black-powder pressure level and attempt to use cer- tain of the old bulk powders in preference to the later dense pow'ders. There has been a great deal of improvement m powerful loads it is possible to assemble. Mag- steels, whether they be ordinary soft steels or vari- num loads include the group of cartridges known ous forms of nickel steel. No attempt will be as “high-velocity** or “high-power.** Perhaps ibe made here to describe steels, as the subject would require an entire book. Thirty years ago, very little was known about heat treatment. Today it is one of our most definite sciciice-s, and .steel can be made from two to live times its usual strength merely through scientific heat treatment. If you had a VV'inch ester Model 1892 manufactured in 1905 and an Identical mcxlel manufactured in 1935, assuming the original gun to be in perfect condi- inside and out, you might place them side by side and notice al>soluiely no di (Terence at Arst glance. Careful study, however, will reveal that mum of tolerance, slap, looseness or whatever you may choose 10 call ir. That, however, is the minor Rtasont why txiremely high mnti oai uxU part of the whole thing. There will he little lab- in ihfi old -style SpringHckl riH« with ih« 2 rifles Maginmi ain munition as ammunition having “a were fired with a Magnum .38/40 load, it is quite greater chamber capacity thnn military dimensions, possible that the earlier gun might go to pieces, and power beyond the normal expectancy of the while the later one would be perfectly safe. These caliber.’* A Magnum load, therefore, is anything facts must always he considered in handloading, which is “stepped up*' in power and should be so A few things about the gun and its |X)$siblc treated by the handloadcr in analyzing the possi- strength can be determined by the handloader bilitics of his equipment. through visual inspectioi.. He should tc.st the The first thing to look for in developing any headspace, check up on the size of the firing-pin Magnum load is the quality of the gun which is hole and the type of blow the pin delivers to the to use it. llic famous .38/40, for instance, of Win- primer. He should check his chamber to deter- Chester or Marlin make, is not merely a definite mine whether it is oversize and give the bore the MAGNUM HANDGUN AND RIFLE POSSIBILITIES 287 his mind, write direct to the factory listing the serial number and model, and ask for the ap- proximate dale of manufacture and the pmbahle pressures that gun will stand, assuming il to be in good condition. The factories will be glad to cooperate with you. All firearms, whether they be ancient, more modern or strictly up to the minute, have certain very definite limitations of strength. To attempt factory-loaded .30 Government Model 1906 car- tridges where the breech pressures are up in the neighborhood of 50/XK) pounds with perfect safety. Our control tests and comparison of firings of various brands and types are made in the Model 95 as well as bolt-action models of this caliber, and we have yet to find a failure due to weakness. We have consistently recommended against the use of cartridges giving extreme pressures in the Model A f«w of cKc cxpyard groups using the Win- Chester .357 Magnum machine-loaded canridges. Every shot fired in the above 6*shot group will cut well into the head of a .38 Special canndge case. Above groups are a complete cylinderful, not 6 shots from a single chamber as often fired 10 reduce group size in revolver testing 290 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING room for more. The steels have been chaaged a number of times, heat treatment has been im- proved, and finally the carbon-steel receivers have been abandoned in favor of the more modern nickel sleds. Up to 1918, receivers were built of a Sled under War Department formula >1325, con- sisting of carbon 2 to .3%; manganese from i to 1.3%; phosphorus maximum .oj/ct sulphur maximum .05%> and silicon .15%. In other words, it was a low-carbon steel, easily machined, soft but not brittle. With a normal service cartridge de- veloping a breech pressure of about 48,000 pounds, the two small bolt lugs take an actual blow of about 6500 pounds. That upset the soft steel of the receivers, so the old process of case hardening was resorted to to get a good wearing surface. These rifles stood up well. In fact, they were the only ones used throughout the entire war. More than 800,000 were made ar Springfield, and approxi- mately 2000 additional made at Rock Island Ar- senal were so constructed. The only trouble with the case-hardening of the receiver is the resulting inability to maintain uni- form depth. Because of this, a great many of the early receivers were quite brittle, without the necessary soft core to give strength. If you have a Springfield with a serial number below 800,000, it should he safe with normal loads, provided all the parts are in perfect condition. It is unwise, however, to step a gun of this type to Magnum loads. If the serial number is over 800,000, the hardening process had been abandoned and a modern heat-treating process employed in its place. Early in 1927 nickel-steel was employed, replacing the old low-carbon steel. This change began with serial $1,275,767. The Springfield Armory for years has been in- structed to destroy all the old case-hardened receiv- ers as rapidly as they come in for rebarreling for Service use. 1 know of one particular test made by a friend on a casc-hardcncd receiver. The barrel of the gun was clamped in a vise and the receiver tapped a sharp blow with a sled hammer, causing the fracture of one wall. Continuous tap- ping completely broke up the receiver. The stunt was deliberately conducted to test the strength of the metals. This particular gun was an esj-iecially .selected one bearing the original serial $658,179, manufactured in 1917. An actual photograph of this receiver and of the fractured steel at the right side is shown hcrcw'ith and clearly indicates the brittle grain of the metal. Guns of this type should never be used for Magiurni loadings. Just how much pressure will a Springfield action stand? We hesitate to answer this question, be- cause a great deal depends on the cartridge case. If the case is made especially to withstand a pres- sure of 100,000 pounds, the gun would probably be safe with this load. Experimental operations at Springfield, which included nickel -steel receivers of the latest type, show proof tests at 120,000 pounds per square inch. No hand loader, however, should Thr« 100 shot Machine mi twenty yanls with tunaioadcd 3S7 Magoom revolver ammunition. Loaded hy the author. Fired at Smiih k Weuon heiory. Note: Tlii» ammunition waa loaded for lead- ing tests by ihe author and consists of measured powd« charges — not precision •weiglied charges. Leh and center largeis shot with standard Winchester bolkts, standard factory velocity. !.efc target with grease wads, center target with colloidal graphite hibtkadon applied to bullet groove. Right target with Md'grain Sliarpc IIollow-Foint bullet Colloidal Craphiie Lubrkant plus grease wad. Muzzle velocity IdOO 14. Each group was fired in a different barrel MAGNUM HANDGUN AND RIFLE POSSIBILITIES 291 actempc to load any of these bok>gim cartridges at pressures in excess of 6 opoo pounds. Despice the excellence of the Springfield and Mauser types of action, they have one extremely serious fault. If you remove the bolt of your gua and drop a loaded cartridge into the chamber, holding the receiver up to the light so that you can IcKjk down to the brccch of the barrel, you may be astonished to learn that the entire head of the cartridge case projects appreciably from the barrel. This is the major weak point of the action. field, owing to the design of the action and locking lugs. Were a Springfield gun refitted with a barrel duinbereci for the Krag cartridge, and dc- s^ned so as to fit up to the face of the bolt, it would stand much greater pressure than normal. J. B. Sweany, California cxpcrimcuier, gun hug and toolmaker, has for some years been playing with Magnum .la s, and during the latter part of his experimental work was joined by the late Grosvenor Wotkyns, co-designer of the Hornet cartridge. Experimental development of a new Four food lort^- TWO -shot groops (uvttt hiU cf linden) with .357 Magnum handloadfi, machine rekl, dur* ing leading tests; range, twenty yards. Left to rghi: Lot E-5-E, Winchester bullet, Wincheuer lubricant, Donaldson grease wad, standard velocity; Lot E-7'G, Sharpe 146-gnin Hollow-PoiDi bullet, lubricated with Sharpe Colloidal formula #2. No grtase wad. MV 1575 Ls.; Lot ]4d*grain Sharpe Hollow-Poiot bullet. Ideal lubricanL Donaldson grease wad. Velodiy 1322 f.t.; l^t B*4*D, l5S*graio Magnum bulkl bearing Sharpe Colloidal Lubriunt #2. Instrumental velocity at 50 feet 1441 /.s. If a c;^rtridge having a soft case is fired in (hat action, the brass of the case, due to excessive pres* sure, will start to flow backward at the unprotected portion of the head, chu.s causing the head to tear loose from the cartridge walls and releasing a tre- mcndcus volume of gas into the mechanism. This invariably results in a blown-up gun, al- though when the pieces arc recovered it will be noticed that usually the receiver is in reasonable condition and that the bolt remains closed and locked. The chap who is having a special rifle made to his order in the .single-shot variety should never have it chambered for a rimless cartridge case, since the rimless case has no ad va mages over the rimmed in single shot. In bolt-aciiun rifles of the Krag type, where the rimmed cartridge case is used, the entire cartridge drops into the barrel, so that its rim comes in contact w'ith the forward face. There is less likelihood, therefore, of a rimmed case in a properly chambered barrel letting go at high pressure. The Krag is not as strong as the Spring- cartridge is always excessively dangerous. Certain conditions of bullet, powder, case shape, and so forth, will produce tremendously high pressures. In developing the Sweany and Wotkyns .220 Magnum, Sweany wrecked at least one Spring- field to the author's knowledge, an accident due entirely to the unsupported head in ihc Spring- field system of breeching. He was playing with 65 ,o(x>- to 70,000-puund pressures. Accordingly he went to work on a new type of system of his own design, upon which he has made application fur Letters Patent. Known as the W. & S. breeching system, this is designed for the rimmed or rimless cartridge case. In it a recessed barrel cavity or counterbore holds not only the entire case head but the rim as well. A very small extractor cut is u.sed, and experimental firings at a pressure of ()0,ooo pounds indicate that cases that would let go in other types of breeching systems have con- sistently held in this new W. & S. type. Sweany rebuilt a new Springfield action for the author, chambered for his new' high-velocity cartridge, and 292 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING even at extremely high and impractical pressures vve have found extraction to be reasonably easy. In ('hnpter XXIX die Magnum izing of hand- gun ammunition is discussed, but ii is worthy of further comment here. mind of the author several years ago. On a hunt- ing trip with Colonel D. B. Wesson, Vice-President of Smith St Wesson, a pair of heavy frame Out- doursmen model revolvers were used with a large assortment of handloads developed and previously Srime iwrnty*yard sjx*sfaot machin«*m( targets fir«d with hangrain HollowPoini bullet, siandbrd Ideal Lubricant, Velocity 1475 f.s., all ihxce targets. J.ower row: left, same bad as middle row; eenia. two groups wriili Sharpe HoiloW'Pmnr, Ideal Lubricant backed by Donaldson grease wad. Velocity, V570 f.s. Extreme right, six-shot target fired with Peters Mid 'Range Wadcutter Special load jo same Magnum barrel with groups fired in lower row. All groups 8lx*shol. Upper right, lOtlshot group, Sbarpe Hollow •Point I4d'grain bullet, Ideal Lubricant, Donaldson g’*ease wad. Cun bedded into machine rest as firing continued, and shots progressed lower. Otherwise groups would have been approximately one-half the above measurements, vertical. All targets diot at twenty yards, proving that accuracy can be obtained io high-velocity revolver loads The only rriie Magnum handgun on the market at this wriiiiig is the Smith & Wesson .357. This is an unusually potent combination and is de- scribed here in detail chiefly because a letter has just been received from a friend who, against the recommendation of the author, had an ordinary- weight revolver re chambered to handle thU car- tridge. Ic took just one shot to take his excellent gun to pieces, and he admitted his mistake — too late. He was not injured, but the gun was ruined beyond repair. Ihc .357 Magnum cartridge was born in the tested by the author. In the field they proved entirely practical, but Colonel Wesson was not con- tent to attempt the development of a Magnum .38 special cartridge for ordinary revolvers, and set to work on a new gim planned in the field. It might as well be mentioned chat the Smith St Wevsson .357 cartridge is loaded by Winchester at this writing at a working pressure of 35>ooo to 38^000 pounds per square inch, the greatest pres- sure of any handgun cartridge and approximately twice as heavy as any other revolver cartridge. For more than a year before the release of this MAGNUM HANDGUN AND RIFLE POSSIBILITIES 293 gun. Colonel Wesson manufactured a few pilot models, building and rebuilding each one, re* designing this and that until he found a suitable combination. The author is not connected with ThU ih in pound specimen of Bay Lynx or bobcat «as shot with a S. It W. .357 Magnum bullet about three minutes before this picture wa« taken. Damage >vas ail internal. Note faint daces of nosebleed, ihe only external bleeding any arms or ammunirion maker and desires this tact clearly understood. He did not design (he gun or the cartridge, although he cooperated and collahorated in a minor way. A number of his ideas incorporated in the de- sign of this gun were brought out and tested through an understanding of handloading prob- lems, and a number of weak points in ordinary revolvers were quickly corrected. More than a year elapsed before the design of this Magnum gun was completed by Smith & Wesson. During this time Winchester. Remington, Du Pont Hum- side Laboratory and the Hercules Experiment Station had cooperated with the author in testing more than itx> Hi /Te rent Magnum hand loads with assorted hulleis, including the 146-grain Sharpe Hollow -Point and 156-grain Sharpe solid bullets designed for this cartridge. More than 10 dif- ferent powders were tested and rejected by the author before Winchester undertook on its own initiative the dcvelnpmeiU of this Magnum car- tridge. Among the things which these makers definitely proved was that their long-accepted cus- tom of manufacturing hollow or semi -hoi low-base bullets was not practical for velocities such as were sought and which for the most part had been ex- perimentally achieved with hand loads. Working with pilot guns built to handle a working pres- sure of 35,000 pounds, one of which was proof- tested by the author with 200 loads developing Springfield rifle pressures, Winchester began ex- perimental work. Numerous cases were manu- factured— cases with normal heads, extra thick heads, normal side walls, extra -thick side walls, flat inside the powder chamber of the brass case and later a dished or cup-shaped drawing. They experimented with numerous bullets, including the majority of cast types, both the Keith and the Sharpe. The Shar^K bullet was based on the Keith, de- rigned by Elmc»’ Keith of Nonh Fork, Idaho. It was somewhat lighter, and diflerent in every di- mension from the Keith form, having been defi- nitely engineered to fit the Smith & Wcs.son .357 M\cnum and .3)5 Special barrel. It has approxi- mately % the bearing surface of the Keith. The Sharpe bullet is so cast that it does not require excessive resizing. Most Keith bullets arc cast oversize, and when properly sized to meet the A rjbbU tut in the south end while going north 1$ gen< crally nicswd up. Note the explosive effect on this run- ning bunny. \ bullet from 2 357 Magnum revolver struck him in the left rump, completely destroying the left bind quarter and thoroughly gutting the animal on the spot (Tlie left hind fool was not lucky for this rabbit) barrel specifications show much greater bearing; in some cases, uptm actual measurement, they present approximately 50% greater surface to the bore than the Sharpe type. 294 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADIKG Winchester, in experimenting with this cartridge, rejected buth the Keith and the Sharpe, adapting u> a certain extent a number of the Shar|)c cn- Ai)ulhcr deer killer mrris his doom. Thi$ twenty‘U(- poiiod female cat wa& shot in the left shoulder with a 145-grain H. P. Sharpe bullet, velocity 1500 ill the $. k W. .357 Magnum revuKer. The hullei, ranging through the animal and destroying bone and tissue, came to rest near the base of the spine, still within the body. Entrance hole approximately .45 caliber. Note closeup of wound gineering ideas, thus explaining why this bullet is called the “Sharpe type” of contour. The Keith bullet cannot be given the velocity possible to other bullets of the same weight, because of its excessive bearing, although it is ballistically one of the best- shaped bullets on the market. This .357 M.\cnum cartridge is an excellent killer for several distinct reasons. Ir has greater velocity than ever before attempted with any liand- gun, .superior energy and high rotation velocity, which, combined with the bullet contour, is re- s()onsible for its shocking e/Tect upon tissue. It is opening an entirely new field for the handgun shooter, and within the next few years there will be many improvements and steppings up of exist- ing handgun cartridges. The author warn.s against the conversion of existing handguns, even of the heavy-frame type* to handle this .357 cartridge. It has been experiment ally dure, and the experi- mcnier.s c neon me red the same complications a.s Cxjloncl Wesson did in his development of the uhra-magnum revolver. They arc too numerous lu mention and shall not be described here. The stepping up of ordinary cartridges l>eyond recommended pressure limits has always been fraught with danger and should be seriously studied by each hand loader before he attempts to solve the problem, 'I’hc author does not rccurn- mend this, simply because it is impossible to do so without a thorough understanding of each indi- vidual case. Ir can he dune, l>ut it is always at your own risk. It should be borne in mind that pressures be- yond ilie normal recommended limits mean a much higher chamber and barrel icmj>craiurc. They bring out problems of fouling with both lead and mcial-jackcr types, and in many cases cause serious erosion. In no case can the shooter dci^cnd upon Magnum ammunition to deliver the normal barrel life of standard -pressure lyjvs. Experi- menters working on .22 super-velocity cartridges have learned much of Magnum limitations. One experimental rifle cartridge, to the author’s knowl- edge, developed a velocity in excess of 4500 f.s. with a 56-grain bullet. This partinilar combination, using straight nitruccllulose powder, showed serious Uirrel erosion in loo rounds and w'as promptly abandoned. With the advent of the new Winchester Model 70 rifle in .300 and .375 H. & H. Mngnum calibers, rifles of more than normal jxm’cr are made avail- able. Tlic .375 H. & H. is the most powerful car- tridge manufactured in America, and we predict that hand loaders will do a great deal of experimen- tal work with these numbers. Ikar in mind that in working with extra power, extra velocity and similar projects, unknowm factors enter into the case and every precaution must be maintained to see that bounds of safety arc not exceeded. In addition to actual power, hand loaders during the next few years will be experimenting with MAGNUM HANDGUN AND RIFLE POSSIBILITIES 295 ultra*Iiigh velocity devciopmeius in both rifles and ammunldon. Already we know of a great many of these now under way, but at the present stage of development little can be said about them. The United States Government is also interested in ultra velocity and the tremendous power achieved through velocity alone. At Springfield Armory early in 1937 James V. Howe, author of The Modern Gunsmith and noted toolmaker and experimeiuer, took charge of development work In an effort to pass the 5000 f.s, velocity figure. On February 12, initial results were achieved. Vdoc- ities were recorded of 5122 f.s,, using special ma- terials, special barrels, and other special equip* ment. These tremendous figures were topped with an additional shot which registered 7100 f.s. Details of this experimental work are an Army secret at the present time, but it clearly indicates that the ultra-high velocity of which we have dreamed for years may soon become a reality. Jim Howe tells die author that using the same methods of barrel- and bullct-muking employed fur previ- ous tests, he believes chat there will be no dil^ulty in achieving 10,000 f.s. While we cannot reveal the weight of the bullets used in this experi- mental work, even should the 10,000 f.s. figure be reached with a tiny 48 grain bullet equal to the Hornet or .220 Swift, it would develop 10,217 foot- pounds of energy, and what this bullet would do at such velocities can only be judged in theory at the present time. Without a doubt, it woiJd pro- duce instantaneous kills through nerve shock, similar to el^trocution. Howe states that high velocities were achieved with normal Springfield pressures, and that the ammunition and barrels can be produced at a cost but slightly higher than that of present barrels and Springfield ammunition. The 7100 f.s. cartridge case in the author’s files shows 110 signs of excessive pressure. At the time of going to press, IIowc and his assistants had recorded a velocity be 1 ween 8500 and 9000 f.s.— the highest in the world. Experi- mental work by the Government will continue. Thus do we progress through research. There will be more of this, and the handloader will con- tribute hU share to the development of the fire- arms industry. This work always begins with the stepping up of existing loads in the better-known caliWs. There is just one caution: Do not carelessly attempt to Magnumize your rifle or revolver. First look the situation squarely in the face and determine whether the increased power will prove usable. If you must Magnumize, then go ahead-^T YOUR OWN RISK. XXXI SHOT LOADS FOR REVOLVERS By J. G. Kixk, MI>^ Lisiowcl, Ontario, Canada T he use o£ shot in revolvers and pistols is by no means a new idea. The muzzle-loading horse pistol was loaded with small rocks, nails, scraps of metal, and in later years with large shot; and the records indicate that at dose range it was a formidable and effective weapon. In recent years, attempts have been made to shoo! shot from rifle barrels, revolvers, and other firearms, the re- sults generally being far from encouraging. There was a time when all the American am- munition makers included shot loads in their line for the majority of rifle and revolver cartridges, particularly those having a straight shell. These proved entirely unsatisfactory, as the rotation of the charge imparted by the rifling caused the in- dividual pellets to fly off on a tangent, thus creat- ing a “cartwheer* and completely shattering the pattern, so that with a perfect hold one would find, at a normal range of twenty yards or so, a hnllowt considerably closer and to give a more even pattern. Ic is quite possible to obcain from 75 to 80 pellets of t^yYz shot uniformly dis- tributed in a 12-inch ring at 20 yards, Number i shows a pattern of %']V^ as placed in a life-size silhouette of a grouse at 20 yards. Num- ber 2 shows a pattern of S7V2 at 10 yards. At this range the load is almost too destructive when prop- erly centered on small game. Number 3 shows a pattern of BB shot in an outline approximately life- size of a snowsboc rabbit. It would of course be effective, but there are aliogeiher too few shots in this charge. Can this gun be used for full-charge factory- loaded cartridges? Number 4 clearly shows what the gun might be expected to do in a pinch if these loads are used in a smooth-bore. That particular pattern was shot at 20 yards indoors under difRcult conditions. Hold was at six o’clock. It will be noted that all the bullets keyholed or struck side- wise. This is a powerful load with sufficient ac- curac)' for short-range shooting. Some effeaive results with excellent accuracy can he obtained by using a handload with round balls of proper size tu fit che bore. Mr. Dalrymple recommends the use of pure lead for these round ball loads, and states that they do nor harm any of his choke-bored barrels. I have in my possession a target shot with one of Dalrymple's .45 smooth- bores with 7 -inch barrel, chokc-bored. Seven shots were fired at 40 feet, all of them grouping in a i^-inch circle. The bandleader has an excellent field for ex- perimenting in the smooth-bore shot revolver. This gun is entirely practical and would be more widely used if its advantages were really under- stood. I QUANTITY PRODUCTION FOR POLICE AND CLUBS T he available hand loading cools and equipment are not suitable for what is generally termed ‘^quantity production.'* Any attempt to handload large numbers of shells without proper equipment quickly proves discouraging. Handloading of that kind requires dIfFerent treatment and different tools. Quantity production of handloaded ammunition began around 1900, when National Guard outfits throughout the country started to reload their .30/40 Krag cartridges with cast bullets in order to economize on ammunition expenses. At that time there were only a few tools on the market, all of them hand-operated types such as the Ideal tong* Winchester, UMC, etc. Accordingly, John N. Barlow of the Ideal Company set to work tc solve this problem. The result was the famous Ideal Dench Loading equipment, which has been on the market for over a third of a century. Since that time a multitude of s[>eed tools have been brought out, many to fall by the wayside. In 1909 Frank* ford Arsenal developed a bench loading tool, of which only thirty-four sets were ever actually manufactured. It was designed for handloading both the .30/40 Krag and the Model 1906 car* t ridges. Need of Speed Tools. Today there is real neces- sity for these speed tools and for quantity produc* tion. The average police department gets no prac- tice whatever with its various handguns. Not one police ofTiccr in a hundred can shout with even medlucre success. Police departments do not en- courage the training of their officers, a fact due chiefly CO lack of understanding of the necessity for a reasonable training of their personnel, and to the high cost of ammunition. You cannot make a good shot out of anybody, be he police officer, military man, or civilian, by teaching him at the rate of less than fifty shots per year, and many hundreds of police departments do not even allow that amount of ammunition. In other depart- ments the officers are invited to train, and a range is made available; but they muse purchase their own ammunition, and a $35xx>*a*week cop with a wife and family to support cannot afford to buy a box of police cartridges every week at $1.75 to $2.25 per box. During the past decade there has been a growing tendency to recognize the necessity for target prac- tice. Police departments have learned that hand- loaded ammunition is quite satisfactory for this purpose, and the cost is only a fraction of the ex* pense of factory -luadccl cartridges, even at the price quoted to municipalities, which are not required to pay the customary tax. The average police department, for a reasonable initial investment in equipment, can get abundant practice at extremely low cost. The best way of doing this is to organize a special department, make a range available, make target practice com- pulsory, award medals to the officers; and, as a ^ few cities are now doing, increase the officer's monthly salary in accordance with his ability to shoot This increase may run from (2.00 or i^x>o up to $13.00. It costs the city comparatively little in comparison with its other police maintenance, increases the morale of the department, and gives the men a form of ^'promotion.*' The first thing to do is to scour the department to locate a gun bug. One or two usually can be found in every police department. The most likely prospect should be trained in the art of handload- ing ammunition. In practically every city of any size, there arc shooters who are gun cranks of the first water, and who specialize in handloading their own ammunition. These may be located through shooting clubs or through the local sport- ing-good$ stores, which they frequently visit, thus becoming known to the various managers and clerks. An individual of this type is usually will- ing to donate his services to a police department to help it organize. Rarely does a department find it necessary to pay for such services. The gun bugs are an extremely fraternal clan, always willing to help. The choice of handloading equipment is ex- tremely important. The department should set aside a certain amount of money to cover the initial investment. It should have a complete line of bench loading tools, not the hand type. There should be a good grade of loading tool, capable of decappii^, re-priming, full-length resizing, and otherwise preparing the case for the charge of pow- der. There should be a quality powder measure I QUANTITY PRODUCTION FOR POLICE AND CLUBS 301 and an accurate set o£ weights, with a sensitive bakiicc, so that the powder measure may be checked at frequent intervals. The police officer selected by the chief as the handloading expert sliould be in exclusive charge. The hanciloading room should be in police lieadquaners and sliould at all times be kept locked, with one key in die Just what type of tool should this officer have? Star Machine Loader. There is the littlc-known but cxircmcly handy outfit, the Star, made by the Star Machine Company of San Diego, California. Costing in the vicinity of $65.00, this loo! will load approximately 500 rounds per hour, and do all steps ill the liandloadiiig process except the casting The loadlns room of J. B. Smith, of hCddlchory. Vermont 1 b ihb work$hop t handlofl(ler« who desired to $hmt exTcnxively, (wgan what is today ibe brgcsl lusiom loading business in tbe United Slates, lo this room are loaded an average of aboat 6000 ditfexmi cartridgeit each munth— freguendy more. In eighteen months Mr. Smith consumed about IiS,000 of a ceriaio make of J2 caliber biillris In addition to his other handloading. Note convenience of sei-op of various tools used, also storage of bullets below work bench possession of the chief or man on the desk, the other in the possession of the officer in charge. Definite instructions should be issued to all officers never to enter this room except on business, and then only with proper authorization from the chief cir from die desk sergeant. Unless the operator is thus protected by rigid routine, the interference with his duties will be so great as to affect the quality of his work. With proper equipment this officer may he assigned to the job of handloading ammnnirirm one day a week, and with regular w'eekly shoots of the entire department he should be able 10 keep ic plentifully supplied with am- munition. of bullets. It was designed by C. R. Peterson. Ap- plication for patent on this tool has been made, and it is actually a loading machine rather than what is generally accepted to be a “loading tool.’* In using it one mounts the entire unit on a small tabic or bench having a hole exactly beneath the register hole in the base of the machine. Loaded cartridges as diey come from the outfit will drop through this opening into a box or other device beneath the bench. It occupies very little space and is easy to operate. The tool contains all the neces* .sary resizing dies, de- and recapping cools, an auto- matic primer feed, built-in powder measure, and suitable bullet seater. The powder measure is non* 302 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING case is then entered into the machine, and at the same time the pro|>er bullet is balanced over the mouth ot the cartridge case Si now on the rear of the machine. Operation of the handle takes die other cases through the corresponding steps, seats the bullet in fit, and puts on an excel lent and uniform crimp. As another cartridge case is en- tered into its proper turntable slot, drops through the hole in the base of the machine and thence through the hole in the bench. A receptacle beneath the bench in the form of a padded slant- ing incline will conduct the loaded cartridges to some form of container, where they may be in- spected and packed in boxes or used in bulk for shooting purposes. From that time on, each throw of the operating lever and the feeding of a new fired cartridge case results in die discharge by the machine of a completely loaded cartridge. All that is necessary is to feed in the shells, place a bullet on the top of the cartridge case containing the powder charge, and complete one cycle of the oper* ating lever. The dies arc atljnstcd for this tool at the factory, but may be changed or altered by re- leasing their lock nuts and removing them from their proper jwsition in the loading insirumcnt. The Star progressive loading machine, designed for com- pleting a round oi .iS Special ammunition ol each throw of the lever the operating handle downward, and then releases it. This punches out the fired primer and full- length resizes the shell. The operator then inserts another fired case, rotates the turntable an addi- tional fifth of a turn, and repeats the handle opera- tion. The second shell is dccappcd and resized, while the first shell, sitting under another set of dies, is expanded slightly inside, the crimp properly removed, and the case furnished with a new primer, the operation being entirely automatic. A new shell is then inserted and the process re- peated once again. Number one shell this time moves beneath the automatic powder measure, and a suitable charge is run into it while case ti is re- primed and #3 decapped and resized. A fourth The heavy bench resisiog press of the Frankfoitl Arsenal, famous loading tool set, sold some years ago to members of ibe NRA. Note sturdy consiruciion and horseshoe operating lever 1 his machine is really capable of precision work and h quite simple to operate. It will soon save its cost in loaded ammunition, and an operator adjustable, and therefore docs not require check- ing with powder balances. The operator inserts an empty shell into position on a rotating turntable, moves it one notch, pulls QUANTITY PRODUCTION FOR POLICE AND CLUBS 303 equipped with it and a proper supply of bullets and primers could easily turn out 3000 cartridges in an eight-hour day. He might even do better with proper training. Tbe latest version of Ideal Armory kaodini preu equipped with automatic primer feed as iUoitrited The primer feed on this machine is extremely interesting. The primers are stacked in a brass cube, cup-sidc up, and in this position are fed one at a time by a horizontal slide to their proper posi- tion beneath the pocket of the resized cartridge case. While being held there in a proper Etting guide, (he Enal movement of the operating lever causes a punch, designed Co fit the particular primer being used, to rise up through this guide hole unci force the primer to its proper depth in the pocket of the case head. Since there arc two distinct sizes of commercial handgun primers, both in the snine caliber of case, it is necessary to equip the machine for the particular primer one desires CO use, These primers have a diameter of .175 and .210 inches. To change from one to the other necessitates three additional pieces of equipment and about three minutes of labor. The magazine guide is removed, the primer feed slide lifted out with the fingers, and the primer seating punch and Its bushing removed by means of a small spanner wrench or screw driver. The proper size is then placed in jKisilioii, the operation is reversed, and a magazine of proper size to handle the additional primers inserted in its socket. Loading this magazine is a simple job. The tube for primers is loaded with an auxiliary feed, and through an ingenious arrangement the charg- ing of the magazine is merely a matter of a minute. To charge the magazine one pours ihc primers loosely into some holder such as a carfridge-bnx cover. Some of these will fall right side up. The loading tube is held in the fingers much as a pencil would be handled, and is slit on one end so that it may be forced over a primer. When the up- right primers have all been picked up, one merely shakes the box gently for a couple of seconds, which causes additional primers to right them- selves. As these are picked up the process is re- peated. A hole drilled through the side of this magazine charging tube in the opposite end con- tains a cotter pin, and primers are picked up until the column reaches this pin. It is then inserted Close-up of tht Ideal .Innory preu showing primer feed tube over the magazine tube on the m.achine, the pin withdrawn thus causing the column of primers to drop from the charging lube into the magazine. To prevent spilling, the top of the magazine tube 304 COMPLETE GUTOE TO HANDLOADING is concaved and the end of the charging tube is beveled to slip into it. The cotter pin is used u> free the last primer, being held by the jaws in the opposite end if necessary. With the magazine filled, a special rod is slid into the open end of the tube to add sufficient The Ideal Armory pre&9 set op tor bulkt seebDg is the JO/06 caliber weight to cause uniform feeding of the column of primers and to prevent jams. The height of (his rntl in rhe iruigaziiie tube indicates when the prim- ers are running low and enables the operator to recharge it. Should he neglect to do this* the end of the rod will drop into the primer feed slide, thus locking the machine and preventing the load- ing of cartridge cases wirhnm primers. It is a very excel lent iiisirument. Should it be desired to load assorted kinds and charg:es of powders, additional powder-measure slides can be obtained to fit the lu^. The hopper of the measure should be checked cacli lime the primer magazine is charged, to imure a plentiful supply of propellent in the loaded cartridges. This pov^er measure is equipped with an automatic vibrator which scales the powder charge Lo the capacity of the metering slide at each operation of the lever, ihus insuring uniformity of charges. Pacific Bench Loader. Another highly practical tool is the Pacific bench loader. This can readily be adapted to cither rifle or handgun cartridges through the addition of the proper dies and other pans. In the hands of a skilled operator it is capable of extremely rapid operation. One of these loaders has been used by the Los Angeles Police Department fnr several years, and m that rime more than bilf a million handgun cartridges have been loadctl with it. The Pacific is described in detail in Chapter XXII. With (his tool it is necessary to use a powder measure, and a powder measure should always be checked at frequent intervals by throwing an occa- sional charge and w'eighing it on a suitable balance. The cartridge cases should always be stacked in loading blocks made by boring suitable holes in a block of soft w(X)d; soft wtioti is more practical than hardwood as it is somewhat lighter to handle and fully as serviceable. To simplify the m.imifarture nf these loading blocks, several of wdneh sIiuliIJ be on hand, one may bore the lu>les of }>roper diameter to allow the free |ussage of the head of a cartridge case through a one-inch board, the edges of which have been beveled slightly to eliminate splinters. To the bot- tom of this board may be tacked, or glued, a sheet of thin fiber or reasonably siifT cardboard to pre- vent the cases from dropping through. The block should have a capacity of at least 50 cartridges in rows of five and ten. As the charges arc run into the individual cases they arc placed in the loading block and rhe filled block held ro the light to in- sjwr (he contents. This lakes but a muinent, and any case having an excessively large or small chaige will be quickly noticed, and may be picked out. With the cartridge cases proj>er]y charged with powder, one is ready to seat bullets, 'llie combi- nation resizing and decapping die is unscrewed from the arbor and replaced wdlh a similar-appear- ing unit known as the bullet-seating die. The operating lever is lifted, thus raising the shell holder and forcing the cartridge case and bullet into the seating die, where the btillei is pressed home to the proper depth and the crimp applied. The lever is then dropped downward, withdraw- ing the now fully loaded cartridge, which is lifted free of the shell holder and dropped into a con- veniently located box. Notes in the author’s load- QUANTITY PRODUCTION FOR POLICE AND CLUBS 305 {ng file give an approximate idea of the speed of this tool. Tested without priming the shells but resizing only .38 Special Peters cases, three 10- minute runs showed an average of 135 per 10- minute stretch, or 403 cases in the half-hour period —a rate of over 800 per hour. This test was run in resizing cases for a friend who desired to do liis own priming. Similar tests, which included the hand insertion of primers in lIic scatmg-punch guide, the test be- ing conducted for uniform results rather than speed, show appro.ximately 200 in a half-hour period. With the automatic primer device this was increased to about 375. The seating of bullets in a test in which uniform results were desired shows an average of about six minutes and a maximum of six and one-half minutes to scat 50 bullets— a rate of nearly 500 per hour. Ideal Armory Outfit. The Ideal bench IcKiding outfit is another excellent piece of equiprneiu, and is effectively described in the Ideal Handbool^^. There is no necessity, therefore, for repeating the description here, as this book is designed to give iafonnation essentially unavailable in manufac- turers* catalogs. The Ideal bench type, or the armory type, as it is often called, may be obtained with an automatic primer feed which ie reported to be thoroughl) reliable. Frazier Multiple Loader. Another extremely in- teresting tool, which is not thoroughly known or understood, is the Frazier, described in Mattern’s excellent book on handloading published in 1926. I his tool is designed for loading rifle cartridges and is in some ways unique. The author has never .seen one uf these tools and has no informa- tion in his files concerning Us maker or as to whether it is still available on the market. Like the Ideal bench type, it accepts cases one at a lime, dccaps and full-length resizes them. The Frazier tool uses a hand primer feed. The cases are in- serted into a round drum which holds 48. The primers are dumped on a smooth plate which cov- ers the case heads, and arc fed by sliding them with the fingers over their respective holes until they drop down in proper alignment with the primer pocket. The drum is then inserted in the machine and the operating lever forced downward, which seals two primers at a time. Following this, the drum, still containing the cases, is turned over and a powder charge run into each by means of a Bond, Ideal or other powder measure suspended on a swinging arm. As the contents of the drum are completely charged with powder, the bullets arc dropped into the drum holes to meet the case necks, and the operating lever again worked, seat- ing the bullets two at a time. Between movements of the operating lever it is, of course, necessary to band-rotate the drum to the next pair of cartridges. The Jordan Bench Press. A recently designed cool capable of exccllcut performance made its ap- pearance at the 1935 National Matches at Camp Perry. Designed by L. W. Jordan of the Union Auto Specialties Company, of B rook vi lie, Penn- Th« Ideal Armory press set up to (ulMength resize cai- trid^ cam and dccap at the same time. Tool set up in SpecuL Nuic »licl] huldcr damped by means of spreial damp nuts and steel fingers sylvania, rhi.s tool shows originality chiefly in that the gf>od of various other tools on the market have been combined into a single instru- ment with a few additional features. It may some day be equipped with an automatic primer feed. At present none is available. This tool is de- scribed In detail in Chapter XXII. Schmitt Model it 12 . The chapter on "Quantity Production” would not be complete without a de- scription of the Schmiii Model {12 tool designed and manufactured by C. V. Schmitt of Minne- apolis, Minnesota. Schmitt has been building loading tools for more than ten years, and has hundreds of them in daily use by police depart- ments or clubs. His machine is capable of greater accuracy of precision loading than any tool thui 306 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING far mcntioQcd> with che possible exception of the new Jordan and the Potter Duplex. This, too, is described in Chapter XXll. The Ideal Armory type operates with the car- tridge cases held in a vertical position, as do the Frazier, the Jordan, the Frankford Arsenal bench type, and the Star. The Pacific operates at an angle slightly off the vertical. The Schmitt, on the other hand, functions in a horizontal plane; bur this is fully as satisfactory, as speed is not the objective. There is, of course, less danger of spill- ing any of the powder charge when the case is moved in a vertical plane chan when it is hori- zon ral, bur the author has loaded several hundreds of assorted cartridges wirh a Schmitt tool without a single casualty so he believes that this objection will not affect the careful ojxrrator. Police Departments and Clubs. The operations just described essentially cover handgun loads for police departments. They may be as readily ap- plied to club-operated loading equipment available to various members; they may dso be applied where hand loaded ammunition is sold through the club to its own members. We have not included a description of bullet casting, as many clubs prefer to purch.'ise met a I -jacketed bullets for rifle use or to cast bullets previously .is.sembled by some indb vicinal who has s[)cciaUzcd in this subject. For the police department or club that (.^refers to do its own casting of bullets, certain e<)uipmcnt should be made available. A gas furnace is an excellent aid, though an ordinary gas stove serves the purpose welt. If available, a good single- burner gas place may be used. The casting should be conducted in a room entirely separate from that in which the loading is done, or at least in a far corner, since it necessitates the use of fire and thus Increases rhe hazard, particularly if ammunition, powder or primers are stored nearby. One should, therefore, use extreme care in selecting a place for bullcr casting, particularly if for a police depart- ment or shooting club. If police officers insist upon doing this work themselves, the operator in charge of loading can undoubtedly arrange facilities in a basement, eliminating the necessity of using the loading room. It is extremely doubtful if the fire inspectors would permit the police to operate a loading room in which a stove had been placed — for obvious reasons. It is possible to obtain the so-called armory moulds of the gang type, in which from three to a dozen bullets arc cast at a single pouring. The author has never used any of these, and while some of his friends have had the experience, the Idea does not appear to be practical; unless one can load ammunition with a reasonable degree of precision, one might as well leave the subject entirely alone. Handloaded ammunition can be no more accurate than the bullets. Accordingly, it is wise, if mul- tiple moulds are used, to confine them to the so- called double-cavity types. I'hcsc perform with reasonable accuracy, and since bullet casting is never speedy, the results should be satisfactory enough. The operator will do well to rcatl the chapter on bullet casting elsewhere in this book; it will give him all rhe essential information. Quan- tity production by individuals and clubs is entirely practical, and permits of a far greater amount of actual practice at a minimum expense. If you insist upon using multiple moulds you will find some excellent specimens manufactured by major companies such as George A. Hensley, Ideal, and Fielding 13. Hall. Shortly before this volume went lo press, Mr. Hall sent through a collection of multiple bullet moulds for examina- tion and we found them to be highly practical. Hall sent through big moulds including a ten-, cavity job, fiveby'four, conveniently placed to support the mould while pouring from a reasonably large ladle, relieved the strain considerably. Incidentally, the blocks should he rested on wood rather than on metal. In one half-hour test, I cast 450 bullets; in an- other, 380. There were very few rejects, indi- cating chat the conditions were just about right for proper casting. Incidentally, this ten-cavity mould had bronze-lined cavities which aided greatly in dropping the bullet. The five-cavity mould that Hall sent through was cut in soft steel, and consisted of a single row. This five-cavity number was for ^5n the purposes for which it is loaded; whether it is for rifles or for handguns; whether ic is a target bullet or an expanding bullet, and whether one desires to learn the probable results on game or the degree of uniformity of grouping. At some time or other ever)' hand loader will want to test ammunitirin for all of these particular reasons. gun “arc accurate.” If he misses, the combination is “no gcH)d.” Like as not, he docs his shooiioi from an offhand j')osition. lie hasn’t the slightest idea what he is doing, and the element of his own personal shooting ability apparently does not enter into his calculations at all. Such a test is abso- lutely useless. The handload er, however, is usually not that ; t>'pe of shooter. He is an intelligent person who wants to know what he can do. He uses every possible artificial aid in testing his ammunition for accuracy, with the sole idea of obtaining llw smallest groups and the greatest possible climiaa' TESTING BULLETS 309 uon of human error. This is the correct method of conducting tests. Ihc handioader who lives in the country is in- deed fnmmaLe. If he has available a private rifle range he is even more fortunate. Certain gun bugs gather in a group even when they live in the city* drive our of town to a suitable spot, find a place four legs built of 4x4 spruce or hardwood, and the legs should be sunk from 4 to 6 feet into the ground: the greater the depth the more sturdy the bench is likely to be. Since it will stand roughly about 3 feet high, the timbers should be at least 9 feci long, not less than 4x4, and preferably 6x6 or 4x6. The portion of these legs which goes into A pvtoble sbooiiag bench H a ver^ u$e ^1 areraory lor teU work. Thir one, derigned and inanubctQred lor the author by E. C. Dyer of PortJand. MaiACi weighs fifty *ei^t pounds and is made of straiKh(*srain maple with a soft pine top. The V>block U adjustable for clcvalioii. The (wiu Iviwaid legs arc bulled to)cctbcr at the bottom and form a more ri|id suppori than a siD^le Imoi leg. No siool it used, as the scat is built into the rear legs. This folds compactly without looseoing or removing aoy bolts and can be carried in a car 10 a soitabte shooting range with natural facilities for safety, and arrai^c with the owner of the land to borrow or lease the prop- erty for a small sum. Here they may shoot to their hearts’ content. They go ahead with the insulla- lion of n suitable rest. Building a Shooting Bench. Perhaps the finest of accuracy tests, either with rifle or with handgun, can be conducted from a shooting bench. A bench of this type should be considered as a permanent installation, not a temporary or portable a flair. If it is solidly built, the experimenter can use it as a base for a machine rest, several nf which are avail* able at a reasonable price today. Tlicre are shoot- ing benches and shooting benches. The most solid \s invariably ihc most practical. It should have the ground should be thoroughly treated with creosote, asphalt or some other wood preservative before insertion. A bench so constructed will last, exposed to the weather, for many long years. If the shooter owns his own land and expects to occupy it for a number of years, the best method of anchoring these legs into the ground is to dig holes varying in size from 18 inches to 2 feel and at least a foot deeper than the depth the legs are to be buried. Sturdy rocks are dropped into the bottom of the hole u> form a solid bed. The legs .ire then dropped into position on top of these rocks, and concrete is poured in to fill the hole, with occasional large rocks tossed in to blend with the concrete and further anchor it. It is possible.^ 310 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING of course* to use forms around the lej»s and thus economize on concrete. The bench, however, will be sturdier if the mixture is poured in until it fills the hole and all the tiny irregularities in the walls of the hole, thus anchoring it more solidly than (h If) ugh the use of forms themselves. Be certain that your concrete bed goes below the frost line to prevent winter damage. The legs, of course, should be pro|Vrly lined np in the direction of the target before the concrete is poured or the earth shoveled back. Then, when your mixture has thoroughly settled or your con- crete is thoroughly hardened — in about a week— ymi arc ready to huild your bench. If you set ilie legs in concrete, you will he unable to remove them without digging up half the comrnimiry, which means that they must be squared up through the use of level, plumb line, etc., hejore the concrete is poured. You cannot alter them later. The same also goes for the lining up of your bench legs, if it is desired to use only dirt to fill the holes. It will be found that short sections of boards lightly nailed to the legs will aid greatly iti iriieing them up. These boards can be torn of! before the cop is built and after ihe framework serves its purpose. Do not cut off the top of the legs or posts until the entire job of bedding the tegs is completed. Let them stick up in an irregu^ lar fashion until you arc ready to build your top. They con then be squared up so that the bench is level. The height of the shooting bench depends en- tirely upon the individual shooter's preference and his physical characteristics, It should be con- structed with an arm on the right-hand side pro- jet ling out beyond the right rear leg of the bench from 1 8 CO 24 inches. This, of course, will be suitably placed during construction and permit the shooter to move up to the bench so that his stom- ach rests against the rear edge and lus side against tlie projecting arm, whereupon (he arm serves as an admirable elbow rest for the right elbow. For left-handed shooters, of course, this arm should be on the left-hand side, and many gun bugs con- struct an arm on either side to permit either right or left shoulder testing. 'I’hc top should be built of not less than 2-inch planks. The sturdier its construction, the more durable it will be; and oak is by far the best ma- terial for this purj>osc. It should be braced as much as possible and chnuld have not more than a 2-inch overhang; but this overh.i ng is imixiriam. Many hamlloaders, for instance, on a comfortable summer's day will decide that they want not only to shoot from the bench but to conduct loading operations in the field in an effort to determine a p.irtlcnlar load dc.sircd. A sturdily constructed shouting bench with proper overhang will permit of the attachment of powder men.sure, b.ilancc, loading tool, and any other ctjuii>ineiu you may happen to bring along; and if it is built large enough, these instruments can be left in position until you are through shooting. Wherever possible, nails should be eliminated from rhe construction of a shooting bench. Bore pro|)er holes and use large and sturdy bolls or lag screws, backing up the lag screws, of course, with large iron washers. If it is desired to present a smooth surface — and this is more or less essential — a ajuntcrborc can be made in sufficient size by use of an extension bit, sj that the washer and lag screw head or bolt will be flush with the surface. After a damp sj>ell, the bench should be tightened up for the next few' weeks until it is certain that it is properly staunch; whereupon those counter- bores can be filled with putty and the euiire sur- face of the bench painted. Painting a shooting bench is far more important Wiih an uUl disoirdej riAe, one can make a useful machine rest for icstmg revolver ammunition. This one is designed by Ranee Triggs, nf Chatham. New Jersey. Tlic revolver is clamped beneath the old riAe barrel and a telescope sight permits of long-range sighting TESTING BULLETS 311 ;han many gun bugs realize. Paine haa long been a wood preservative. The painting shoukl be Hone so chat all parts of the wood arc completely cov- ered and all leg joims are sealed to prevent the entrance o{ moisture which might cause warpage. 'rhe boys around Chatham. New Jench. He has seen several dozens of these used by various shooters, and prac- tically every one w'as different from all the rest. The idea of all of them, however, is essentially the same, and the hand loading fan should first sketch out his bench on paper and then consult some of his friends for additional suggestions. There is just one thing to remember: you can put all the bracing you desire around the sides and front, but the rear must be kept completely open, so that during the shcMiting process the chap using it may sit close and still have plenty of room for his knees and legs. Any type of seat may be built to go with it, but a backless stool is usually quite satis- factory. An ordinary kitchen stool serves well for this purpose if the ground is hard packed. It should not be wobbly and shoukl be of a proper height to fit the man using the bench. By all means, construct your shooting bench fir ft, The building of something lo sit on depends entirely upon the consrniciion of the shooting bench itself, and is really, one might say, a more or less unim- pj>rtant detail. Not long ago the author visited a friend who has a private test range and a shoot- ing bench beautifully constructed and p;uutcd, which must have cost him more than $50. It had all the features one could possibly wish for, and at the same time the only thing available for the shooter to sic on was an empty .30/06 ammunition case, stood on end. It happened, however, to mrei .ill the requirements of this particular haiidloading fan — and that was enough. Using a Shooting Bench. After the shooting liench is comfilcicd, it is ready for use. Some chaps like to lie down and do their test shooting from a prone position, hooked up in a sling. A shooting For work a spotting scope is hij(h1y dcsirsblc. Tho BsukIi & Lomb prisnsde model c^iinot be beaten (or this purpose bench, however, provides the necessary artificial aid to diminale completely the human error of AoW/ng. Ic cannot, of course, eliminate the sight- ing error, which is something else again. With a suitable bench rest it is possible, up to 200 yards, 312 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING to equal machine-rest firings with any given rifle. I say this without reserve. If a chap knows his gun» knows his sights, and knows how to use his bench rest, he can shoot smaller groups than is possible in a machine rest. The average machine Pftf 200-yar4 test work with t revolveri the author made special bases for a Weaver 3.30 telescope sight. The gun IS held in two bands and shot from a bench with ihe eye in proper relation lo the telescope rest, contrary to the greatly misunderstood idea of these mcchiinical devices, is by no means fool-proof and dej)ends on ihc skill of the o|>crator to a con- siderable extent. 'I here arc two methods of testing for accuracy with a shooting bench. One is the muzzle and elbow rest, the other the forearm rest. Still an- other inciliod, sii liable only for rifles of very mi- nute recoil, is the straight forearm rest in which the gun, while b:tlanced on a sandbag, is ion died of! with prc.isure between the forefinger and thumb, the latter steadied against the trigger guard and the rifle not touching the shoulder of the shooter. This little trick can be acquired only through experience, and is suitable for light squib loads in heavy bull guns or for any of the standard loads for low recoil guns such as the .22 Horna. The muzzle rest is widely used by many .shoot- ers, but this is one method which the author has never cared to recommend. Through the use of a muzzle rest (resting the muzzle on some object) there is a great possibility of scattering shots to the four winds because of the vibrations of the barrel. At the same time, if coo much downward pressure is made against the muzzle rest and this pressure is varied betw'een shots, there will be a very no- ticeable stringing with certain types of guns and cartridges. The Sandbag Rest. There is no such thing as a conventional “forearm rest." My good friend H. Guy Loverin, of Lancaster, Massachusetts, who in recent years has done much of my bullet casting, rests the forearm across either a sandbag or a padded wooden block. The sandbag is most con- venient and should be made of one or two ten- pound .sugar bags filled with a good clean sifted and comparatively dust-free sand properly sewn up. It should not be completely filled, but should have sufficient flexibility lo permit the shooter to re- shape it lo fit the forearm of ilie gun— or hi.s own forearm and wrist, if he desires to rest them. If two sandbags are used, different heights can readily be obtained. This is far more convenient tlian using a single large bag. One sandbag may be stacked on top of ihc other very conveniently and moved forward or b.ickward until the projw posi- tion is obtained. They will remain in that position more or less of their own inertia. Shooting of this type is actually one-hand shoot- ing with a rifle. The forearm is bedded iiuo die sandbag to steady it, the initial work of course be- ing done by hammering the sandbag gently with the doubled iist to form a proper groove. The butt of the rillc is braced against the shoulder with A good (hooting bench is doiiable foi any iotm of test Uiooting. The above bench is made from 6x6*indi posu and set Are feet into the ground, and not even n heavy Maine frost will throw it oat of alignment. No nails axe used 10 this bench— nothing but bolts and lagserews the dix)w lying almo.st flat on the extension arm. The left elbow is then laid equally flat on the table body, and the shooter hunches down until be is in a comfortable and steady position. A telescope sight is very useful for this test work, and if the TESTING BULLETS 313 shooter is in proper position there will be no wavering of the target thus necessitating “holding.” Another method of using the sandbag rest is to grasp the rifle in normal shooting position, the left hand grasping die forearm. The hand is then H. Gu7 Loverin, nf T.anca$Kr, Masuchus^tes, nored com* merciai builei'Caning specialist, does bis test work from a sbooting bench pushed into the sandbag to bed and support the wrist in proper position. In this case the hand practically rests on the rear curve of the sandbag while the forearm of rhe gun does not touch ii iti any way. Still a nut her method of accuracy testing is either with or w'ithout the sling, sitting at the bench, the right elbow resting on the extension of the bench top and the left on the top of the bench. In every case the shooter should hunch up lo steady his own body against die bench itself, and should be su/ficicutly free to move around for the neces- sary reloading and yet return quickly and surely to the same flring position. Accuracy tests of ammunition should be con- ducted systematically if anything is to be learned from their performance. Your group firing can t>e at any desired range and may be either five- or ten-shot groups. It should, however, be extremely uniform in firing speed. If, for instance, you are shooting a high-vclociry load of ten shots, do not attempt rn rapid-fire your string, despite the fact that with the artificial rests available this might be comparatively easy. Stan your string as they would do it in a laboratory — by fouling your barrel with a couple of junk loads, odds and ends — using a bullet and powder similar to the load which you have. If you desire to fire a ten-shot group, the most practical method w'ould be to start with a clean barrel and fire two shots of rhe same load but not for record. You can throw these down in one corner of the target or into your backstop without attempting to shoot for group itself. Then, with barrel properly fouled, you are ready to start in your test string. Fire with reasonable speed, ap- proximately one minute between shots. If you have a spotting scope handy— and this is the most useful accessory to any riflemaa who desires to test for accuracy— the interval of time between shots can be readily consumed by tilting the head to one side and spotting the shot through the telescope, then returning to the shooting of the arm. Never run your cartridge into the chamber of a warm barrel and let it stay there. Insert it only when you are ready to shoot, and then shoot as promptly as you can, consistently with perfection of aim. If you arc shooting for group, do not bother with the location on the target, and do not change your sights until the string is finished. Group and scores are diflereiu diiugs, and you can learn much wiilujut adjustment of sights. One lc»ad, fijr instance, at loo yards in a particular rifle will group exactly where sighted, Another load using a different bullet, different velocity, or even the same velocity with a different bullet and dif- ferent powder, might easily group high, low, left Horaei bulleis may be tested for expandon by shooting into ordinary turf near small slakes pudied loto the ground at nages of from 100 to 200 yards. The above bullets were recovered at lUO yards and dearly show that hollow points do not expand. Note constriction of bnUet where core flows forward within the jacket. The opKt bullets were recovered specimens of the soh -point varieiy. Note the difference or right. Always keep a record of the results of these rests. Otherwise, they will be in vain. Machine Rest. A machine rest is very desirable, but unfortunately it is rather expensive, difficult to obtain, and more difficult to operate. For the 314 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING handloader, the most practical machine rest con- sistent with the average pocketbook is the Weaver, which sells for about Jio. This rest is a modifica- lion ol the type mount and consists of two heavy steel “V*’ blocks moimced on a one-inch steel plate which in turn is bolted to the shooting A white pistcr, either square or round, stuck in ihe center ol a black bullscyc makes an eacclknt aiming point If a telescope sight is uced (or testing. Hie above group was shot by Captain Q. L. Woikyns with his original version o( the .220 Swift; range 100 yards, siM of paster approximately one ineb square bench. The may be varied in distance from each other by means of di/Terent holes drilled in the base proper, in use, a special cbmp which comes with the rest is put around the barrel of the gun just in front of the forearm and clomped by means of wing nuts. On this clamp is a prong which fits in a slot to zero the rotation of the gun around the axis of the barrel The “V” blocks ai front and rear, into which the rifle is laid, coinrol the centering of the gun on the target. T\xt: weapon is merely laid in these “VV* with the barrel guide pushed into its proper slot, which lines the gun up with a certain predetermined aim- ing point. The recoil of course, is more or less free, as the gun is permitted to slide backward normally. For each shot it is pushed forward again until this barrel clamp guide registers. In opera lion it is quite simple, but the best results are obtained by an operator after practice. This par- ticular outfic can be used with excellent success on rifles having a recoil as great as the Springfield. It does eliminate the sighting error to a marked degree, but the zeroing of the gun to locate the impact on the target is more complicated than the iorearm- and elbow-rest type of shooting. This rest is manufactured by W. R. Weaver of El Paso, Texas. The chap who desires to use his bench rest for the testing of handguns will find that the sandbag stunt is of extreme value. For this work the shooter sirs up to the bench, takes his weapon in both hands, and rests the hands on or against the sandbag. Sighting, of course, is done in da* nor- mal way, and the arm must be extended to its full length or the sights will be more or less blurred making it impossible to do good shooting. Another method of testing handgun stuff is by means of a special machine rest of the type recently designed and built by Ranee Triggs, of the Madi- son, New Jersey, Rifle and Pistol Club. This stum has been worked out a number of times in years past, and consists of using an old solid-frame rifle of Sh.irjw, Ballard or what have you which is so completely rusted or ruined ihat il is no longer fit for service. A muzzle clamp is bolted through the barrel at the midway point where the forearm is removed. A special clamp, hinged to the rear of the barrel by means of a boll running through it, goes down to the frame of the revolver and buttons around the forward part of the grip. This must be designed properly by the gun bug to fit his particular guns or the clamp will scratch and otherwise mutilate the barrel during the firing operation. 'I'hc rest, however, can be built with equipment which any gun bug can dig up in his junk bin and is therefore not ex|*>ensive. li re- quires a sliooting bench and some form of a muz* Black rn$tcn un a grty or white background serve ex- cellently as aiming points (or telescope sight testing zie support tn hold the barrel, although the butt of the rifle is cither rested on the bench or held against the shoulder. If a muzzle support is of the movable variety, the shooter can fire on several targets at will, and thereby test his handgun am- m uni lion at shore and long ranges. TESTING BULLETS 315 If telescope sight blocks are mounted on the barrel of this gun, the shooter can utilize his ordi- nary target rifle scopes to very good advantage. The gun is buttoned into position and a few shots fired to zero the point of impact with the scope. From that lime on, ihe trigger is released by means of pressure between the thumb and forefinger against the trigger and back of the trigger guard, using the gun, of course, single-action. Aiming is done by means of the telescope sight. It is possible to test handgun cartridges at 200 yards and farther with a device of this sort, and it is surprising to learn that in a good target revolver, Match grades of ammunition such as the .38 Special arc capable of shooting into groups as small as four inches at 200 yards when fired from a si:t-inch barrel. The Tviggs machine rest was hinlt entirely by Mr. Triggs, who appears to be a skilled armteur gunmakcr as well as an expert pistol shot. He used an old Sharps carbine of Civil War vintage, supporting the muzzle on a flat steel triangle to prevent canting. This triangle rests on a soft rub- ber pad filled to the firing table. His equipment is now in use at the Madison, New Jersey, Rifle and Pistol Club Range by various members of the club for the sole purpose of testing out their handguns and assorted loads of handloadcd and factory loaded ammunition. With this rest it is possible to shoot a revolver with rhe consistent precision of a rifle, When used with the telescope siglii. it also permits of a very fine aiming point which could not be seen with the naked eye from the firing line. Targets. What to use for targets? This ques- tion frequently arises in the minds of those who wish to test for accuracy. If a telescope sight is used, any form of buUscye is satisfactory, but I he type of reticule must he taken into coiisideniiioii. If cross-hairs arc used, (he smallest possible bulls- eye will give best results. Using an 8 X scope with .0005 or .001 cross-hairs at 100 yards, the author likes to use a standard small-bore target with an ordinary one-inch round white target paster in its center. Aiming is not at the bullseye but at the target paster in its center, and this white against the black is quite visible through the telescope and can be quartered with the cross-hairs to gready eliminate error of aim. When open or peep sights are used, a bullseye is not as satisfactory for group shooting as the io- verced “T'-type target. This target consists of a black horizontal line from the center of which runs a black vertical. The size depends entirely upon the range at which it is to be used. For 200 yards these black bands should be from 2*4 to 3 inches wide. For 50 yards not over one inch wide. Experimenting will show the handlnader which is the most satisfactory for his particular type of sights and his individual eyesight. WesniiMr bvltet spinner. Thi« spinnrr m:iy he tisrd to buUeis or \o»he6 csirtrid^s lor conccodidty, The cartridge is placed in the position shown, and ihe large wheel rotated with the hngcr. If the bullet is sealed perlcilly true and is in iuelf concentric with its own axis, neither the cartridge case nor the bullet point will wtdible. If it wobbles badly, reject it for precision shooting. Lower: The spinner osed (o clieck buUcis. If an overhead light is concentrated on the bullet, the wob- ble can be more readily detected by observing the shadow of the builet There arc two methods of manufacturing these inverted **T” targets—they cannot be bought. The first is to paint them on ordinary heavy paper or cardboard; the sea>nd is to cut them out of black paper and paste them on white or ivory. The latter method is excellent if the gun bug happens to have plenty of black paper. It he lives in a city or near a photographic gallery the photographer will be glad to give him all the black paper he 316 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING cares to carry away. For this purpose the ordinary red paper wrapped around roll lilms i$ exceedingly useful. This paper is surfaced with a dull black on its back or inside. It is thrown away by pho- tographers, and a single trip to a studio where ama- A homemade bul!et spinner designed for checking cevn- ccntricity of loaded cartridges. The device is damped in a vise of some sort and the cartridge case laid into the proper groove. Tlic Deck u{>cratcs in a V groove. The cartridge case Is spun by polling back and fi>rth on the string wrapped around it. Wobble of the bullet is noted during the inspection teur developing and printing is done will net the gun bug a supply which will last him for many months. It should be cut in strips of suitable width. There is, of course, no necessity for mak- ing your target too large. Only experimentation will show you the proper size, as eyesights and gun sights differ tremendously. A smaller “T’-lype target can be used at long range if the bandleader tests with 3 telescope sight liaving a thin tap>er or flat top post, The bands, whether used for open or iron sights, should never be wider than abso- lutely necessary to give a distinct vision of the “T* when sighting it in. At the same time they should not be too small. Aiming {x>int, of course, is at the junction between the horizontal and vertical black lines. A six-oVlock hold should he taken with the front sight just touching the black of the “T.” Game Bullet Tests. Another test which will ap- peal to every handloading fan is one to determine the mushrooming qualities and shocking power of various game bullets. This problem is far more complicated than that of accuracy. It necessitates particular tests for each type of bullet. There arc a great many factors controlling the expansion of various game bullets, and wherever po.ssible an atrempr should l>c made to simulate actual condi- tions. There has never been a positive substitute for game. If you want to know how a certain bullet will perform at 200 yards on woodchucks the only way to determine this is to shoot it at 200 yards — against woodchucks. Extreme care in shooting must be undertaken. A particular friend of ours had a brilliant in- spiration some ten years ago, and we conducted tests under his idea until we learned that in theory it was wrong. Bullet performance, of cour.se, de- pends to a certain extent upon the velocity. An expanding bullet will perform differently at 200 yards and at 500 yards if driven at the same muzzle vdociiy in the $;>mc gun. This chap wanted to know what the performance of bill Ins would be at 200 yards, so we set to work to diutnune the remaining velocity at th.it range with (he particular bullet in question and the load which wc desired to test. Starting at a muzzle velociiy of 2600 in a twelve-inch twist, we found that that particular bullet should have a remaining velocity calculated by means of accepted ballistic tables of 1663 f.s. Accordingly, wc went to work on that basis and loaded 10 a muzzle velocity of about 1660, thus hoping to obtain the desired ballistics equal to 200-yard shtwiing. Wc found, however, that ex- pansion was nil and the results most unsatisfactory. Then we determined to learn ihc reason for this. The true gun bug is never stumped. Sooner or later he learns the answer, and in this case we did it with reasonable accuracy in a short time. The gun in question had a twelve-inch twist. At a muzzle velocity of 2600 f.s., therefore, the bullet had a rotational speed imparted by the twist of 2600 revolutions per second. When we loaded down ro 1663 muzzle, the rotational twist was only 1663 revolutions per second. I do not have the calculations at hand indicating the approximate rotational speed remaining at 200 yards when started at a muzzle velocity of 2600, but the loss is TESTING BULLETS 317 comparatively negligible. It is well to bear this in mind. If you desire lo test for penetration, mush' rooming qualities, etc., at 200 yards, you cannot simulate remaining velocity by loading to a low muzzle velocity, unle.ss you use a special barrel which will develop the necessary rotational spin. This, of course, is out of the question. Mushrooming tests can be conducted in various materials. Some factories use soft pine boards, plane boLli sides, and thus reduce them 10 a thick- ness of % inch. These are invariably mounted in little sliding racks so that they may be easily re- moved, the boards being spaced one inch apart. It is well to point out here and now that if you desire to conduct any experiments with boards you are going to run into an expensive proposition, par- ticularly if you use a high-power rifle. The boards must be at least 10 inches square or the bullet will split the remaining boards and pass out, thus wast- ing a great amount of wood and giving no infor- mation whatever. Also, your wood must be hand- selected for imiforniiiy of grain. It must be first qtialily stuck, free from knots, sap, pitch, and other variables. Such wood is extremely expensive, and the cutting of it necessitates the waste of a great deal of additional stock, which, while suitable for building purposes, cannot be used in your penetra- tion tests. Some people use cypress, some spruce, oak or any other hard or soft wood. It is well CO point out here and now that mush- rooming tests made in boards have no value what- ever to the hand loader. They will show you just what that particular bullet at that particular velocity will do in rhar parricul.ir type of wood. .A single shot is useless. At least ten shots must be fired to verify the findings with that individual load, and you will create an awful lot of extremely mutilated kindling wood suitable for no other pur- pose. A few years ago the author was requested to make a series of tests using a particular expanding bullet manufactured out of the country but suit- able for the .30/06 rifle. In firing twenty-five shots for test, approximately $25 worth of Grade A pine boards was consumed and wc learned very little of the performance of the bullet In queslion, par- ticularly In regard lo game. Handgun and rifle bullets can often be tested for “wounding” power by shooting into cakes of soap or blocks of paraffin. This, however, despite recommendations of many writers, is by no means as practical as it would seem. Soap is soap, not flesh, and no two batches of the same brand of soap arc likely to give iden- tical results with a given load. Not long ago 1 was conducting a series of tests with a .22 Long Rifle Hollow Point. I purchased two dozen bars of a certain brand of laundry soap and got some excel- lent funnel-shaped holes that were extremely uni- form. When all the soap cakes were consumed, we went lo another store and bought an addi- tional half-dozen of the same brand. Using car- tridges from the same box, we found that instead of having the funnel-shaped holes, the cakes were ShaUTT'proof wlndshifld gla^s is excellent foi comparing shockiog power of different bullets. Windshield glass aod wiodshield wings in sections large enough for test purposes can easily be obtained fiom aulo dcalci? for die asking. Hie above section was shot witli a .220 Swifi sofi'poim bullet ai a muzzle velocity of 4200 f.s. completely sbuiered, kxjking marc like victims of a high-power rifle than of a .22 Hollow Point. There was absolutely no comparison. What was the answer? Simply that the two batches of soap were from different lots. The com- pletely shattered cakes had been on the shelves for a long time, and had dried out and become brittle. Accordingly, the bullets shattered them on impact, whereas the softer ones merely tunneled out as the bullets expanded. Thi.s rest has been verified on at least half a dozen ocher cakes, and the author, when using soap for tests, verifies his firings with a particular standardized load. In- stead of bujnng in large quantities and keeping the soap on hand, he buys merely tliat which is desired 318 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING at the time and shoots at least two shots with a previously tested load, noting the dicct. This is compared with a “standard record" in which two cakes of soap were photographed front and rear to show the effect of the particular test bullet. In- formation thus obtained after firing the new load and compared with the old will give a rough idea of what the bullet will do— against soap. One of the most practical tests is against modcU ing clay. This is more inclined to be uniform than anything which the milhor has tested to date. Standard modeling clay, either gray or green, and having an oil base, is purchased in the regular pound bars. It is somewhat expensive but can be used over and over again. The last batch wc purchased cost 25 or 30 cents a pound, and we ordi- narily buy it in ten pound lots. This clay is very dense and will not harden. The type which is mixed by the artist and which sets into a solid mass is o£ no value whatever. In using modeling clay it should be pressed by hand into a loaf of sorts. Packing ir into an ordinary tin bread pan, such as is obtainable in hardware or ^-and-uxent stores, is an ideal met hod of making these blocks. It can be hammered slightly to cause air |>uckets to fold out. Shooting into this clay with a high-power rifle, however, is inclinctl to blow an excessively large crater with a loss of much material. The writer handles this most effectively by placing a large block of clay, approximately 6x6x6, on a light wood pedestal balanced inside of a corrugated board, paper or fiber carton. A carton of this type is inexpensive and can be obtained usually for the asking from any business house. The hWks should be placed well inside the motrth of the box, which is stood open ciul toward the shooter. A suitable backstop must be provided for the bullet, of course, which is rarely, if ever, recovered. The back of the block of clay should not be closer than eight or ten inches from the bottom of the box. In firing, the bullet is aimed at the center of the mass and will blow .1 large crater through it. The characteristics of this crater can be measured by the shooter and entered in his notebook, whereupon the various gobs of clay are scraped from the sides and bott<»n of the box and the mass remoulded by packing it back into the little bread (in. An unusually uniform material for testing bullet expansion is that of ordinary pulp-paper maga- zines. The shooter who lives near a large city can easily arrange with the magazine distributor (not the retail dealer) to let him have all the magazines he wants, either for the asking or for the scrap- paper value, which is usu.illy merely a few cents per hundred (x>unds. Pulp-paper magazines arc invariat)ly sold to dealers on a basis of being “re- turnable.” This means that the dealer may return any unsold copies when the next issue comes out and receive full credit. The unsold magazines re- turned to the distribuiing houses create a problem ot disposal. Extreme care is being taken to prevent their leaking into second-hand magazine establish- ments which bootleg them at two or three cents a a>py in retail sales. These magazines, therefore, arc carefully destroyed. At the distribuiing house the covers are stripped from (hem, and these the distributor returns to the publisher that he in turn may get his credit for un- sold copies. The remaining material is junked, ond to prevent its being used for re-sale purposes, it is either run through a cutting machine or the individual magazines are torn through the center to destroy their usefulness, whereu(x)n they are bundled up and sold as scrap to junk dealers. A gun bug, if he has a reasonable standing in the community, can readily convince the manager of the distributing house that any magazines passing into his possession will uol be used for re-snlc pur- poses, and can therefore obtain them before they arc either cut or torn. The cutting and tearing de- stroys their usefulness completely. ON THE OPPOSITE PAGE A few experimental firings with various bnUcts into identical cakes of soap on the same day with the lot of soap. V'ariatio&s in difiereot batches of soap will give similarly varying results. Nuenbera 1 and 2: The 357 ^MagDum**; enirance tUajneter 138, exit dianictci 1.58 inches. Noike breaking effect on soap cakr. Nom> ben 3 and 4: The .44 Sharpe Hollow'Poiot **MagDam" at a velocity of 1200 with a 242-gnio boUet This is the m(Kt powerful **big bore** load ever attempted. Note comparison with th« standard 357. Entrance diameter 1-13/16, exit diameter 2*/a inches. Numbers 5 and 6: Remington .22 High-Speed Wadcnttcr. En- trance diameter 7/16, exit diameter % inch. Numbers 7 and 8: .38 ACP Hollow Point at 1300 advertised ve- locity (aaually about 1200). Same mcaaertments as .22 'Wadcnttcr. Numbers 9 and 10: Remington 38/44 standard factory load with lead bullet. Enirance di- ameter 7/16, exit diameter V 4 inch. Nambers II and 12: U. S. Cartridge Co. 38 Mid-Range Wadcuiter. An excellent killer on small game. Entrance diameter 1-3/16, exit diameter 1M> loch. Notice diitcrettce in Searing effea of **Magnum** bullets. Numbers 13 and 14: Tlic much touted .22 Super-X Hollow Point in a 6-iocb barrel. Entrance diameter 3/16, exit diameter VA inch. Soap specifications: Fresh lot P&G white naphtha cake, width 2 V 4 inches, height inches, thickness IVi inches. Lower right: Interior of paste- board carton used for rwo shots at cakes of soap placed on a pedestal five inches from the back. 357 Magnum cartridge, handloaded. Note splattering effect of small pieces of soap 320 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING The magazines will usually be delivered to him in bundles, and every effort should be made to secure one par tic i Jar type of magazine. In years past the author has consumed a great many tons of Short Stories, merely because this magazine had a greater number of pages than the average pulp. In use, the bundles, normally tied together, arc stacked on end to present a square face to the shooter. Several bundles are lined up with the The authoi tries out en experimental Bausch ft I.ninb 80-cnm. Binocular Coaching Scope. No trouble locating bullet hoks with tbia unit ropes still remaining in position. The shooter then steps back to his firing point, aims at a black cross crudely penciled in tlic center of the magazine facing him, and fires his shot, taking care that his line of sight is parallel with the line of magazines. Otherwise, the bullet will come out through the side, top or bottom of one of the bundles. Occa- sionally it will do this anyway. You will find that the penetration of any particular load is surpris- ingly uniform in this material. The best way of counting it and recording it is demonstrated in the following extract from the author’s notebook: ‘Tirst 5 magazines, no expansion; hole diameter .30 ca!.; started to open on 6th; diameter of crfurnied, give results indicating chat this material more closely approximates the effect of bullets on tissue than any other substance. The best way to handle your dry-test shooting against magazines is to load the car down with these bundles and set forth for your pet range. The safest place for the cunducting of these tests is a convenient sand pit. A few miles from ihc author's home we have one of these, with the per- mission of its owner to use it for testing. There is, therefore, no danger of stray bullets or ricochets to worry alx»ut. After we finish our shooting— it takes a tremendous number of magazines in high- power rifle tests— an enormous bonfire is built and the material consigned to the flames then and there. Incident ally, it requires a considerable amount of time for these tests, because the mere shooting is the smallest part of the job. Shooting your holes in paper means nothing unless the in- formation is recorded. If you use normally dry magazines, the results from day to day, week to week, and month to month w'ill compare favorably with each other, and a complete detailed shoc-by- shoi record showing the effect of the expansion and the uniformity of upset should always be entered in your notes. The wet magazine process is more effective but considerably more messy. Much of this work is conducted by the author by filling ihe family bath- tub full of water, soaking the magazines in the tub until they are completely filled w'ith the liquid, and then transporting them to the range in pails. The surplus water is drained off so that the maga- zines are just wet enough to exude a small amount TESTIKG BULLETS 321 for test purposes is cardboard in thin sheets. The Western Canridge Company uses this method ex- clusively instead of testing in pine boards. The material, however, costs money. Beaver board is fully as effective, since that is actually nothing more than standard heavy-weight cardboard or pasteboard. E>o not use wall board containing gypsum plaster. Colonel W. A. Tewes, TcclinicJ Cvmtort on thf ranj^. A oe« version oC recording firing sal problem which is quite serious. They must be stacked out where they will dry thoroughly before they can be burned, lliis material is more useful for handgun tests where it is possible to conduct .said tests in tlie cellar or back yard of the shooter. The best method of lining up magazines for lesi work is to utilize a six-inch boai^ ranging in length from four to ten feet. This is propped up at a suitable angle and the magazines stacked on edge thereon. This prevents the tipping sideways or the canting of the bundles, which might cause a bullet to leave the stack. High-power rifles may be tested against either wet or dry magazines to simulate effect on big game by placing a one-inch oak beard in front of the first magazine to simulate a heavy bone or shoulder joint of a moose or big bear. This will start expansion and indicate whether your bullet will hold together or fly to pieces, as its path can be traced in the magazines behind the w'ood. Another material widely used by some shooters Director of the Peters Ballistic Institute, suggests the following method for the home testing of a bullet “to determine its action on smaller animals like deer”: “We instituted a test on a single cake oC Pels- Naphtha Inindry soap,” he w' rites, “backed up by two bags of approximately 50 pounds of cotton waste. First firing the bullets directly into the waste and recovering them, we noted no expan- sion. Then firing through a cake of soap, set on end, with the flat side toward the rifle, backed by die waste at a range of 20 feet, we secured perfect expansion (using the 225-grain .30/06 belted bul- let). This is a test that you can conduct yourself for your own satisfaction. I( is more accurate than shooting into boards or trees, wherein the expan- 322 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING sioQ is more or less uncertain, due to the wedging effect of wood fiber, which has a tendency to keep the point of the bullet from expanding.” Ricochet Shots. The average gun bug who has any idea of keeping his loads within the prescribed safety limits will want to determine the mush- rooming or shattering qualities of his high-speed varmint loads on ‘*miss^ shots/* This particular testing requires no equipment but is more or less work. The best way to do this is to make up a number of small sticks to which a small white rag is tied. You then seek out your held, select a suit- able spot for the bullet to strike in the soil, sand, gravel or turf, and push the stick into the ground lightly, merely so that the white rag will be visible as an aiming point. A dozen or more spots can be chosen at the same time, whereupon the shooter paces off 100 or 150 yards for his firing. The shooting may be done from an oiThand or prone position, depending entirely on what he has in mind. The loads in question are aimed at the ground in the vicinity of each little stick and two or three shots are fired, whereupon the shooter goes up, locates the bullet holes and by means of an old kitchen knife, trowel, stick or bare hands he proceeds to dig around in an effort to find the bullet. With reasonable precision he can deter- mine whether the bullet penetrated the earth and blew up, penetrated the earth without expanding, or ricocheted. H difTerenr kinds of soil arc chosen for this particular experiment, the bandleader will learn much concerning the possibilities of that par- ticular load. This test may at a later date save someone's life, or at lease save the handluadcr a considerable amount of embarrassment. If you shoot on land that is not your own, there is noth- ing which will cause the owner to put the thumbs down so quickly as the whine of a ricochet. Bear this in mind. Safety is important. A number of years ago the author conducted this particular test with all standard factory makes of Hornet cartridges. He found that more than 80^^ of all hollow-point loads, regardless of make or muzzle velocity, would ricochet from rurf or sand from an oflhand position at approximately 150 yards. At the same time tests conducted with tory loads of Remington, Winchester and Western soft points failed to show a single ricochet, and but one soft-point bullet was recovered in reasonably whole condition, the bullets shattering completely in the soil even without contacting gravel. The only hollow points which did expand at that range showed that the bullets had not only penetrated the surface soil but had run into a coarse gravel. Id some cases they penetrated the soil, struck gravel, and went screaming off into the atmos- phere. This information in a detailed report was submitted to all the ammunition makers, where- upon they stated that hollow-point bullets in the Hornet would not ricochet any more than any other type, and that they had never received any complaints from shooters concerning them. An article written by the author for a sporting maga- zine mentioned these ricochets and stated naively that his experience was probably unusual, where- upon a flood of letters of other shooters descended upon him verifying the ricochet experience. The answer to this is more simple than the am- munition makers care to admit. The standard Hornet bullet, for instance, for which the makers claim a muzzle velocity of 2625 f.s., actually docs not start out much faster than 2500 f.s. muzzle. This has been proved by chronograph tests con- ducted by the author. This same bullet, due to its light weight and poor ballistic coefficient, has a remaining velocity of from 1700 to 1800 f.s. at 150 yards, and despite its great accuracy and excellent elfcet upon varmints at that range, the hollow points very evidently do not expand on contact wiili the ground. Those which we recovered in- variably idKDwed a constriction at the base indicat- ing that the jacket had stretched, permitting the core to flow forward. Before you rake any form of varmint hunting load into the field for use against small game, test it for ricochets under varying con- ditions, bearing in mind chat any bullet can be made to ricochet from water, from ice or from stones, and even from ordinary soil, if shot at the proper angle. Select the bullet which gives the finest accuracy, the most uniform expansion, and the greatest freedom from ricochets, and then be careful in your shooting. In addition to the above-mentioned tests there arc a number of others which arc widely used in different places but which actually give little or no practical information. In Canada the Dominion Cartridge Company tests its various game bullets by shooting at large blocks of pure lead and notic- ing the different type of craters formed by dif- ferent bullets. Still others shoot against mild steel plates. Your tests should be planned out to indi- cate their probable value for the purposes for which you have designed them. And let us repeat — there is no substitute material for living flcshl Bullets will even perform differently for different shots in the same kind of animal. You can only get a rough idea from your testing, and if the same materials are used, you can get very practical com- parative information. XXXIV PRACTICAL HANDLOADING COMPUTATIONS WITH THE SLIDE RULE I N 1614 John Napier of Mcrchiston, Scotland, first published his Canon of Logarithms. In presciuiiig to the world his famous system of logarithms, Napier concisely set forth his purpose as follows: ^‘Seeing that there is nothing that is so troublesome co mathemarica! practice nor doth more molest and hinder calculations than the mul> tiplication, division, square and cube root exuac- tions of great numbers, which besides the tedious expense of time, are for the most part subject to many slippery errors, I began, therefore, to con- sider in my mind by what certain and ready art I might remove those hindrances." Napier budded iKtter than he knew. His invention of logarithms made |x>ssll)le Uie modern slide rule, and while it is a far cry from 1614 to this twentieth century of ours, his principles can well be applied by the ener- getic handloadcr to simplify certain very practical calculations. The slide rule is an accessory that is of extreme value to the intelligent handloader, par- ticularly to that type of individual who likes to ex- periment. Briefly the history of the slide rule is this. In 1620 Gunter invented the straight logarithmic scale and efTecred calculations by it with the aid of dividers. . . .In 1630 William Oughtred arranged two of Gunter's scales, adapting them to slide along each ocher and keeping diem together by hana. He thus invented the first instrument that might be called a slide rule. ... Id 1675 Newton solved the cubic equation by means of three paral- lel logarithmic scales and made the first suggestion toward the use of an Indicator. ... In 1722 Warner used square and cube scales. ... In 1755 Everard inverted the logarithmic scale and adapted the slide to gauging. ... In 1815 Roget invented the log-log scale. ... In 1859 Lieut. Am^dcc Mannheim of the French Artillery invented the present form of the rule that bears his name. . . . In i88r Edwin Thachcr invented the form which bears his name. ... In 1891 William Cox patented the duplex slide rule. The sole manufacturing rights to this type of rule w^ere then acquired by Keuffel & Esser. Since that time there have been a great many improvements in slide rules, chiefly in adapting them to special purposes. Today slide rules are made for the exclusive use of electricians, surveyors, merchants, chemists, artillerymen (range finders), and numerous specialists in other fields. In preparing this book on hand loading the author b^me interested in the slide rule, as his previous experience indicated that it might prove 10 be an excellent time saver. In ballistics, particu- larly as they apply to the handluacling fan, such calculations as the determination of energy, the weight of bullets when changing an alloy, and the like, entail a vast amount of figuring, particularly if they arc worked out in a mathematical way. Since our experience has been confined chiefly to the use of Mannheim and Polyphase • rules, we experimented with certain problems in ballistics and found roost rules to be quite inadequate for solving them. .Accordingly, after making a thor- ough study of the various types of slide rules on the market, the Polyphase Duplex Trig* w'as found to be ideally suited for this work. By prac- ticing the following individual problems on a Polyphase Duplex Trig • slide rule, the handloadcr will quickly determine the necessary variations to adapt them to his individual requirements. In use, 1 slide rule of this nature is sutTicicntly accurate to properly determine the answers to these various problems. For example, if a bullet of known alloy and known weight Ls altered by changing the alloy, the slide rule will reveal the new weight far more accurately than it is [X)ssiblc for the handloadcr to estimate. Ic takes no more time to work out the problem than it does to read the following siep-by-step analysi.s of the various problems. PROBLEM I A hand-cast bullet from a .38 Special mould weighs 158 grains, when cast in bullet metal alloy composed of 20 parts lead to i part tin by weight. (a) What would the bullet weigh if cast of pure lead? (b) What would it weigh if cast of an alloy of I to 15? (c) What would it weigh if cast of an alloy of I to 10? * Reg. U. S. Patent Office by Rexi/Tel & £sxr Co. 324 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING SOLUTION First find the volume o£ the bullet V = 158 158 X 20 I 21 X 1835 21 X 2880 when 1855 grains = the weight of 1 cu. in. of tin in grains 2880 grains = the weight of 1 cu. in. of lead in grains To 158 on D sec 2t on C Opposite 1835 on Cl read .00406 Set indicator to 20 on C 2880 on C to indicator and at index of C read ^522^ on D V = .00406 + />5225 = .0563 cu. in. To answer problem (a ) : Multiply the volume by the weight per cu. in, of lead: .0563X2880 To .0563 on C set 2880 on Cl Ac index read 162.1 (grains) To answer problem (h) : Use the following (or* mula: Weight = W = V -- a y + (b a) 2 where a = pans of metal A (lead) b ~ total number of parts of metal A and metal B (tin) y = weight per cu. in. of metal B 2 weight per cu, in, of metal A a =e b = 16, y — 1855, 2 = 2880 _ 0.0363 X i6 X 1833 X 2880 ^ (1 X 1855) + (15 X 2880) 00363 X 16 X 183^ X 2880 = 45:555 ^ 106.7 ra.i« To 0.0563 on scale D set 45055 oil scale C> indicator to 16 on scale Q 1833 on scale Cl to indicator, at 2880 on scale C read 106.7 To answ'er problem (c) : 0.0363 X II X 1833 X 2880 ^=(:'Xi855) + (^oX.88a) = '° 7 - 9 g”‘“ PROBLEM 2 Given a bullet weighing 146 grains in pure lead such as would be determined in the original dc^gn of a new bullet. How much would that bullet weigh in pure tin.^ How much would it wcigji in pure antimony? SOLtmON Specific gravity of lead =11.38 “ “ “ tin = 7.35 " “ “ antimony = 6.76 To 146 on D set 11.38 on C At 7.35 on C read 94.3 on D At 6.76 on C read 86.8 on D Weight in tin = 9^.3 grains Weight in aotimony = 86.7 grains PROBLEM 3 CHven a bullet of pure lead. What will be the weight of a bullet cast from the same mould with an alloy 1 part tin to io of lead? Also wliat will the bullet wdght be if cast 1 part antimony to 40 of lead (factory standard alloy for most revolver bullets)? For example, a bullet weighing 146 grains if pure lead is used. SOLUTION The volume of this bullet is From the solution of problem i (b) we get the formula for the weight of this bullet with an alloy I part tin to 10 ot lead. ox >307 X II X 2880 X 1855 = ( 7 >^ + (.0 i^55 ) " Tlic weight of this bullet, i pan aruimony and 40 pans lead, is 0JDW7 X 41 X 2880 X 1706 + (40X1 - 7 ^= grains PROBLEM 4 A bullet weighs 146 grains in an alloy of i part tin to 20 of lead. Should you desire to try an anti- mony alloy, how much will it weigh if cast i part tin to 30 of antimony? SOLUTION V = W ay + (b — a) z b y 7. _ ^ (^ X 2880^ + (20 X 1855) 146 X 30^ 5= — w w o = 0.052 cu. m. 21 X2880 X 1833 To 146 on D set 21 on C, indicator to 39980 on C, 2880 on C to indicator, at 1855 on Cl read 0x52 on D. PRACTICAL HANDLOADING COMPUTATIONS WITH THE SLIDE RULE 325 Weight o£ bullet cast i part tin to 30 of anti- mony: 0.052 X 31 X 1706 X 1835 (i X 1706) + {30 X 1855) ^ 88.9 grains PROBLEM 5 The handloading fan frequently uses an alloy of lead and antimony from battery pbtes or from some similar source which when melted up proves to be too hard for use and its actual contents are unknown. Assume that it Is definitely known that the alloy contains two metals — lead and antimony. How would you determine this alloy that you might add a proper amount of lead to soften ii to the desired degree? The first step is to cast a pure lead bullet from the mould, then cast samples of your unknown alloy. Your notes will indicate something like this: Pure lead bullet— 167^96 grains, unknown alloy bullet — 163^39 grains. (Actual samples submitted to the author by a reader for analysis.) SOLUTIOM Weight of I cu. in. of lead = 2880 grains Weight of I cu. in. of antimony = 1707 grains Volume o£ bullet =-l^ 2880 Let X = the fraction of weight of the lead in the bullet, and y = the fraction of weight of the anti- mony in the bullet. Then x + y = i The volume of the bullet: V = 2880 2880 1707 w . . . . 2880 X 1707 Multiply by — ^ set y = i — x 167.3 X 1707 -2880- 1173 X 1173 x = 2880 — ^^ =2880 — 1749 = 1131 104.5 X — ^ = 0.964 grains y = 0.036 grains If y = 0.036 is one part by weight Then X is 26.8 parts. Therefore the alloy contains i part antimony to 26.8 parts of lead. PROBLEM 6 Assuming that the handloading fan desires to design a new bullet and determine its weight in advance from his drawings, he will find it eX' trcmely convenient to know certain steps which will save much figuring. Assume his bullet is about .40 caliber and h.is a jiose shaped like a cone, a true spitzer or “pencil point.” First determine the volume of the cone using the following ex- ample. Height, ^56 inch, diameter at base, .3855 inch. What would this weigh in lead ? SOLUTION Volume of cone = r* Jr — 3 Where r = radius of base, h = height of cone. Volume of given cone = (.1927)* *^1773 cu. in. There are two slide rule solutions: (a) 1. To .1927 on D set .1927 on Cl Indicator to 456 on C 3 on C to indicator At n on CF read .01773 2. To .1927 on D set 3 on B Indicator to .456 on B Index to indicator Ac ?r on B read .01775 ^ (b) To find the weight of the above cone in lead: In solution (1) instead of reading the vol- ume at ^ read the weight 51.05 grains on DF at 2880 (the weight of lead per cu. in. in grains) on C In solution {2) bring index of B to .01775 on A. At 2880 on B read 51 on A PROBLEM 7 Below are formulas for figuring the volume of the frustum of a cone, extremely useful in devel- oping the square-nose wad-cutter or “man-stopper” type of bullets. The following example is used to illustrate. Diameter at base, 1.276 inches; at top, .857 inch; altitude, 1.5 inches. SOLUTION Volume of a frustum of a cone = Ja (b' + c* + bc) Where; a = altitude, b and c arc the diameters of the two bases The volume of the given frustum of a cone — — *-5 + (-857)^ + (1-276 X .857)] 326 COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING (= ^1.5 (l^2S + .735 + IJ593) = n 1.5 X 3^56 . . — = 1.357 cu- *n.) At 1.276 on D read 1.628 on A At .857 on D read .735 on A To 1^76 on D set .857 on Cl At index of C read 1^)93 on D Perform the indicated addition and to 1.5 on D SCI 12 on C At 3^56 on C read 1.357 PROBLEM 8 Suppose you desire to figure the volume and weight of a round lead bullet, diameter ^68 of an inch. SOLimOM Volume of a sphere = ^ d‘ when d = diameter. Weight of the given sphere in lead =t (^68)’ X 2H80 = 154.5 Stains To ^68 on D set .468 on Cl Indicator to ^68 on CF 6 on CF to indicator Ac 2880 on C read 254.5 on DF PROBLEM 9 Another practical problem applies very definitely to the design of new bullets and the determination of their weight before any attempt i$ made to manufacture a mould. One can thus closely ap- proximate a desired weight without the expense of regrinding or manufacturing new cherries. Visu* alize the following bullet and sketch it brielly on a scrap of paper that you may determine the neccs* sary slide-rule steps. Diameter as ca.st, .430. This bullet is of the “man-stopper** wad< utter type* square nose, hollow point. Overall length, .^8 inch. Length from base to wad-cutter shoulder* .423 inch. Length from wad-cutter shoulder to nose, .365 inch. Diameter at nose, .350 inch. Di- ameter at sharp shuutder* ^oo inch. The bullet will have two grooves for lubrication, width A) and depth .03 each. In addition it will have one “V* -type crimping groove, width X)2 inch, depth nf V, XJ2 inch. The hollow nose is to be a straight cavity, diameter .140, depth 400. First, determine volume, then weight in lead, then in alloy. The various steps are below. Volume of two square-type grooves =5 2 X 0.04 X 003 (043 — 0.03) JC — 0.0024 ^ 04 ^ = oxio}02 cu. in. To 0^)024 D set 04 on Cl at ^ 00 CF read 0^)0302 on DF Volume of V-type groove = ox)2 X om X 042 = 0.00027 ^tJ. in. at 0.000084 ^ 0.00027 Volume of frustum of cone = (b* + c’ + be) = ^ 0.365 o-4>* + (0'35)“ + (0'4 X (0.16 + 0.1225 + 0*14) = 0.365 - 04225 = 0.0404 CU. m. To 0.4225 on DF set 12 on CF at 0.365 on C read 0.0404 on DF Volume of cavity in nose = (ox>7)^:t04 = ox)o6i6 cu. in. To 007 on DF set 0x^7 on CIF at 04 on C read 0.00616 on DP Total volume of bullet ^ 0.0614 — 0.00027 + 0.0404 — o.ou6i6 = ox)Q235 cu. in. Weight when cast in lead = 0^)9235 X 2880 = i66a> grains. Weight when cast in 1 part tin and 20 parts lead 21 X 2880 X 1855 -o^i 5 X aSBo) + (20 X 1855) 21 X 2H80 X 1855 = 0.09235 = 259a grams To 0^59235 on D set 39980 on C, Indicator to 21 on C, 28^ on Cl to indicator at 1855 on C read 259.3 on D. PROBLEM 10 This problem shows a single adaptation of the slide rule to determine the velocity of recoil. The rifle weighs 9 lbs. 3 oz. The projectile is a 173- grain, .30/06 Mark I cartridge, velocity 2725 f.s. Weight of powder charge 45 grains. The ac- cepted formula for this pn^lcm is given below. SOUUTIOK Volume of cylindrical part = jih = (0.215)* Ji 0423 = 0x614 To 0^15 on D set 0.215 at 0423 on C read 0x614 on DF w I- ViW' W SOLUTION V' — velocity of recoil W — w'eight of rifle w —weight of projectile W' — weight of powder PRACTICAL HANDLOADING COMPUTATIONS WITH THE SLIDE RULE 327 In the above formula the value of V' is approxi- mately 7/10 of the total or maKimum free recoil of the riHe; the remainiug 3/10 is die result of (be secondary pluse. The secondary phase is that which takes place after the projectile leaves the barrel and is due to the reaction of the gases from the rifle upon the atmosphere] it varies as the caliber, velocity and shape of the projectile. The velocity of free recoil due CO the secondary phase has been determined by experiment with the Sebert velocimctcr, the value of which being added to the above formula gives the formula for the total or maximum free recoil of the rifle as expressed V'— ^ “ W in which V' is the total or maximum velocity of free recoil of the rifle. W, w» and W' arc ex- pressed in grains. The above formulas, of course, can be figured in the long way by proper application of mathe- matics. 'l*he slide rule steps for the same problem arc given oclow. wV + 470oW^ _ (r73 X 273?) + (4700 X 45) W 64750 471400 — 1 1150 492450 ~ 64750 ~ 64750 “ ' To 173 Oft D SCI index At 2725 on C read 471400 on D lo 4700 on D set index At 45 on C read 21130 on D Perform the indicated addition* To 492450 on D set 64750 on C Ac index of C read 7.6 on D PROBLEM II Another ballistic problem is to determine the striking energy of a 175-grain bullet at 150 yards. The remaining velocity is determined as 2615 f.s. by machemacical calculations. SOLUTION Formula: Striking encrg>- = ^ ^ ft. lbs. To 2615 on D set 2615 on Cl Indicator to 7000 on GIF 175 on GIF to indicator At 64.32 (2g) on Cl read 2658 on D The Polyphase Duplex Trig* rule can be ob- uined in any store dealing in drawing materials, mathematical and surveying instruments, or gen- eral tools. It is a standard model, thus eliminating the necessity for the bandleader to have one built to order. A special rule would cost an enormous sum of money. The rule is available in three lengths — five, cen and twenty inch. I’hc ten- inch scale gives accurate results up to one part in one thousand or Ki> of i per cent. Shorter lengths arc not recommended. The twenty- inch scale is accurate rr> within one part in two dtou- sand. With a slide rule of tliis nature, you can do not only ballisiic computations but all forms of general mathematical problems. Each rule comes with a special 92-page problem and instruction book. One may spend as much as is desired on acces- sories and can obtain with it a magnifying lens which mounts on the movable indicator. Ihis magnifier is not essential, and while it enables ac- curate placing of the various units and index lines, it actually slows up the operation. The author has worked some of the more complex problems will) his rule and found that the results dciermined with the aid of the magnifier were but slightly more accurate ilian wlicn it was not used, and in most cases results were obtained in much less time without it. The excellent book accompanying this rule may also be obtained for study b^ore one makes a purchase. These are sold through the same source of supply in your local city for 50 cents, and incidentally can be obtained, in addi- tion, covering the various individual types of rules. They indicate in detail all instructions necessary for operation, and anyone with normal intelligence, by means of this book, can readily educate himself into quick handling of the slide rule. After be- coming accustomed to it, he can use it to excellent advantage. Slide rules are used for accurate calculations in all forms of business, and are of great assistance to bandleaders. Practically any problem arising, if it can be worked out by mathematical formulas, can be solved in a small fraction of the lime through the proper application of the slide rule. The above problems very clearly demonstrate what can be done. To the uninitiated, they seem extremely complicated and hard to work, but a slide rule is not a difficult instrument to master. U. S. Patent Office by KeufTel & £&$er Co. XXXV RECORDS— VALUE AND METHODS OF KEEPING T r^ERE are two kinds of handloading fans: those who just toss together a few cartridges with no interest whatever other than that they “go off’ when the trigger is pulled, and those who take their handloading seriously. The man who is really interested in the handloading game will keep records, and the more extensive records he keeps, ihc more successful will be his handloading. There arc certain hanclloadcrs, for instance, who have an elaborate bookkeeping system. Strange as it may seem, this system, though elaborate lo design and volume of records, is by no means dif- Rcult to handle; and by means of it the owner can And the information he wants when he wants it, and not an hour later. This, then, is one of the basic reasons for keeping records. Another very important reason for recording data pertaining to your handloads is the establish* menf of certain standards of your own. By that I refer cither to power, to accuracy, to a combination of boili, or to the selling of sights. I have one friend, for instance, who uses a i^dnch Feckcr relescofK of the straight target variety. This is an eight -power. He uses it on six different guns. Among these guns are three Winchester Model 54 rides in various calibers, one of them with 0 heavy barrel, one Winchester 53, and one Springfield .30/06. I asked him at one time if he did not con- lider it a practical thing to acquire more telescopes. He said that for his purpose the single scope was very satisfactory, .and by using it he was always certain of the results. And he docs not find it necessary to burn over half of his excellent hand- Icxids merely to sight in. His record book enables him to shift the telescope from one rifle to another and zero it first by adjusting the mount according to readings previously determined. One, or a max- imum of three shots, will enable him to correct any minor variations which may occur in different groups of loads or other unknown conditions since he last fired that particular assembly of com- ponents. You chaps who are beginning your handloading will do well to take this particular suggestion from the handloaders of much experience. Keep rec- ords. Keep them as detailed as you possibly can, and keep them w'here you can find the information you are seeking. All those handloaders and ex- perimemers whose names are familiar to you in the national magazines today have voluminous records of the loads they have assembled. Records are very closely associated with inspec- tion. If you find a particular load which is prov- ing destructive to your brass cartridge cases, record these data. Do not merely throw away the load and proceed to forget about it. A year hcncc you may spend much time, effort and good material re- loading that same unsatisfactory combination, par- ticularly if you have loaded a great many different loads in the meaniime. It is impossible to remem- ber cveiything. The system you should adopt for recording vari- ous data depends entirely upon the amount of handloading you intend to do. If you load for a great many cartridges, a far more detailed system will be necessary than if you are loading for but one or two. Experiment very slowly. If you find an unknown load, do not assemble more than ten cartridges. Then take these to the target range and try tlwm oitt to dererminc whether or not they w'ill prove to be entirely satisfactory. If they show good promise, load another group and con- tinue your testing. If they arc unsatisfactory, dis- card the loads immediately and note in your data book that you tried a few of that particular com- bination and found them to be unsatisfactory. The best way of keeping this kind of data, I have found, is in a loose-leaf notebook, preferably of a size which may be inserted in the shooting kit or in the pocket of an ordinary business coat. Page size should be in the vicinity of 5/2 by 8!4 inches. This .size is convenient, and suitable fillers may be ubuiiied ai any slaiioncry store. The reason for using a loose-leaf notebook is that it will prove more satisfactory when you add to it, or experi- ment with additional loads in a given caliber. These loads may be inserted at their proper place and grouped as you desire— by powder or by bullet or by cartridge or a combination of all three. Another interesting way of recording your data is to adopt a system such as is used by the author — a variation of the Dewey Decimal Sy.stcm. Prop- erly developed, this form will give you a code num- ber for every' type of cartridge you may care to RECORDS— VALUE AND METHODS OF KEEPING 329 load) either now or at a later date. In addition, it permits of a very definite classification which will enable you to tell at a glance what the par> ticular combination of powder and bullet may be. Thus, for instance, the author steps to his ammU' nition cabinet and piclcs up a box of cartridges bearing the i meres dug label A- 1-2- 1-35. This may seem complicated, bu: let us briefly analy^se it. The cartridge is the .38 Special. “A*' is my symbol anything else you may choose. 1 use pink, pale blue, medium blue, yellow, medium green, pale green, bufi, while, orange and brown, all printed on gummed paper scraps from a printer’s waste** box. These are approximately the size of the top of a .38 Special box and thus may be pasted to an ammunition box of almost any size. The label is replaced with each loading. Below is an oudine of the type of label used; Load No Primer CARTRIDGE Shell Ma^e Resized Inside Neck^ Bullet Mal^e Weight Diam Crimp Lgth, Pou/dcr Weight M.V Pressure For Cun No Date Loaded Tools Sight Setting Range Remarks for the standard factory I58*grain Winchester bul- let. The first i refers to the powder, which is my code number for Du Pont Pistol #5. The next figure, 2, is ihe particular load, essentially referring to the weight of the powder charge, while the other number i refers to the cartridge case. 'l*hc last number indicates the number of times that load has been prepared, and naturally increases with each batch I load. Referring ro my notebook, I find this code num- ber to be a tested load using standard factory bul- lets, Remington Solid Head shells and Winchester 5 108 primers, non-corrosive, non-fulminate type. This particular handload has a powder charge of 5 grains of {5, and on actual test at the Burnside Laboratory I obtained an instrumental velocity of 923 f.s. with a mean pressure of lywo pounds per square inch. When the components arc varied, the symbol is changed to an entirely different type; thus the same loading with Remington shells, Remington primers and Winchester bullets would be A -I -2-2, plus, if course, the figure indicating the number of times reloaded. Each reloade. can work out his own system along these lines and use his own notebook. If it is kept handy he will never have any trouble iden- tifying the entire story of any lot of ammunition upon which his identification symbol appears. In addition, 1 use a special label for each box of reloaded ammunition. This label has progressed through various stages, and in recent years has been printed on gummed paper in a variety of colors. The cost of printing is by no means ex- cessive, and the colors are extremely handy for identification of the caliber of bullets used, or of In commenting upon this label it is well to analyze the best method for filling it out. Under “Cartridge*’ you list the caliber. Under “Load No.” goes your own private identification code. “Shell Make ” is obvious. “Resized” is important. In this space you insert “Full,” “Neck Only,” or “New,** which should indicate to your own satis- faction the type of ammunition. “Inside Neck.” Here you should give the diameter uf your neck- ex pandcT plug. Under “Primer” you may list not only the factory number but “NCNF,“ meaning “Nonc of records may be kept on bullets. Bullets, however, should be classified not only by the factory number and weight but also by the diameter. Do not accept the factory’s word for any bullet diameter. Select at random ten bullets from a given box. Measure each one extremely care- fully with micrometer calipers reading at least to .001 inch and if possible to .0001. On each box jot down with ink or wax pencil the maximum, mini- mum and average of those ten bullets. Record this information at the top of your inventory sheet. Thus it will be seen that suitable records, despite the fact that they represent some additional work, will, in short order, .save considerably more than the amount of lime they consume in their prepara- tion. It is embarrassing to plan to load a certain combination only to find that, despite the fact that you “thought you had” a quantity of a certain bullet, you have far loo few to attempt assembly of that parricular load. Should you desire these handloads for some match, this may even let you out of the shooting, as you may not be able to get them in time. XXXVI MAKING MUZZLE LOADERS PERFORM By E. M. Farris Secretary, National Muzzle-Loading Rifle Atrociation O NE recent convert calls it “This Muzzle- Loading Mania, “ but a better moniker would be “The Ret urn to First Principles,” Whether one is interested in the round ball, flint or percussion rifles lor squirrel or small game h 1 ii Three prominent mU7:z1c-]oading bus get together at the National Shoot. Left to right; ‘'Boss’* Johnston of Radio Station WT.W; center. Gilbert AngeU, niccville, Tennessee^ right, Walter Cline. Chattanooga, Trmtes- see, President of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association shooting, or the types taking picket or stream-lined bullets, it is all the same: yoti work out your own mu77.Ie-loading program in all its complicated de- tails or you fall flat. Those details involve a knowledge of low-pressure powders, black or semi- smokelcss, their granulations (and be it known that FFg black and FFg semi-smokeless are far from the same sizes) ; a knowledge of what secures most uniform ignition in each rifle in his arsenal; of the percussion caps today available, along with the great variety of sizes; the size of patching (patching of projectiles is required by the rules of the game today), and the various and numerous materials that may l*>e used for this function — linen, couon, oiled paper, buckskin, fish skin, frog skin and what not; what metaU may be used in pro- jectiles, and how best to find and fabricate the components into a uniform and properly shaped ball or bullet; yes, and a keen knowledge of pitch of rifling, depth and width of lands and grooves, proper cleaning of the bore and powder chamber. Lubrication of patches requires knowledge, and personal experience seems to be the only qualified instructor in this angle of the game. One rifle will do splendidly with a “spit patch” while another as similar as a twin brother will have on oiled patch or none. Design of .stock comes in for some real study in today’s tlevelupmein of this department of marksmanship, sijicc the old stocks fit few of us in this generation. Then come sights, something that received but little thought in the day of the pioneer, judging from the slight change that took place be- tween the late flint-lock period and the end of the hunting-rifle period. Is that list anything to challenge an ambitious shooter? Don’t anticipate any great progress in the revived movement if you are not willing to seek light on ail those points. And do not hope to discover much of ir in books. No one wrote much on these subjects in the heyday of the muz- zle loader, and no one would have entirely agreed with him if he had. In short, no two who read this chapter will agree that the writer is more than a half-baked upstart in smart muzzle-loading matters — which won’t be denied, if you want the whole and unadulterated truth. In thdr order we arc going to say something about each of the foregoing items. Nothing con- clusive, just enough to wher the appetite of the MAKING MU 22 LE LOADERS PERFORM 333 reader so he will want to dig deep and soon be able CO write a bonk of his own on the subjects created. Powder. Nothing but low-pressure jiowdcrs should ever be used in the old rifles. There arc scmi-smokele$s or black from a bench rest in a iwclve-jx)und rifle almost dislocates a shoulder (the I2I pounds bcliitid the rifle may be partly the cause of the shock), but this same rifle in i86^ was sold with the recommendation that 85 to 86 grains too many with rusted breech pins, cylinders and nipples. Modern pow'ders would blow out so many and bring injury to such a number of rifle- men as to relegate the game into disrepute in a of Curtis & Harvey's 55 was proper. Further, **Boss'* Johnstnn and Powell Crodey, fr., noied radio maDufacturcr, Both from station WI.W. Mr. Croslry is a muzzle •loading fan. attending all the major matches and active in piomoting this rapidly growing game jiffy. Only black and semi smokeless powders arc safe— jot that down where it can’t be forgotten. Semi-smokeless powder is a product of the King Powder Company, while sporting black can be had in King’s, Hercules and Du Pont. Semi-smokeless burns “damp” and is the best for dry, hot weather, since a patch wdll absorb it readily. The black varieties arc good, undoubtedly much better than pow'ders of fifty to seventy* five years ago. The writer does know' that a charge of 70 grains A winning combanstion. Walter Groic, of Camon, Ohio, >^ith bU excellent old Brock way rifle a charge of 65 grains of semi-smokeless has given best results in ex|>erimcnis to date. So it might be inferred that the 1937 product is more efficient in foot-pounds energy, grain for grain. The three granulations generally iisc just so ii prevents the lead from coming in contact with the harder barrel metal. Such a contact will utterly ruin a shot. Uniformity is most difficult to achieve in patching with cotton or linen fabric, since it tends to wrinkle, and it may never wrinkle twice alike. On one shot the fold may fall into a groove, and the very next shot the fold may come on a land, especially if it is a wide land. It seems to make little difference whether one uses an already cut disc patch or cuts the fabric alter the ball is pushed in flush with the mu/zle, but by far the majority of lovers of these round ball guns use the latter way. Ko one today uses buck or fish skin for p.atch- ing. Those were emergency measures in the pio- neer days; they are too lacking in uniformity of thickness for match work today. In the fine, long-range match rifles the linen disc patch is still seen, but the trend is to the two- or three -strip paper patch. The disc patch will still wrinkle in these rifles, but with the false muzzles and bullet starters that arc part of the equipment of the best outfits, this pesky habit is partly elimiiniicd. Fine shooting has been seen with rifles using this patch. In cases where the paper strip is used, it muse be of a tough grade of bond or imitation parchment, (rood bond is often found in fine office stationery. Good imitation parchment frequently comes wrapped around butter. The stationer and the manager of your creamery can help you if you want a source of supply. This paper should be cut '‘with the grain/’ Crain is readily noted when you get to tearing strips of the brand you happen to be cx{>erimcnting with. Say you arc using the rwev strip patch; you must cut it so that when it folds up around the base of the bullet an