I haven't mangled brass like this in decades...........

 Bought a S&W in .32-20. Wanted one for roughly thirty years now, but never really ran across any at the shows I frequented. Until lately. Now I have a well-used nickeled example.

I'm well aware that the days of plentiful ammo, which also equates to less common ammo at least being obtainable via the internet, are gone for the foreseeable future. But as far as I can tell, newly manufactured .32-20 doesn't exist. Although I could buy a nice vintage box for somewhere between 3 to 6 bucks a round. That's a no-go.

So, maybe I'll just convert some brass. If I can make .42 Berdan (Russian) out of .348 Winchester, how hard can it be to make .32-20? 7.62x38R Nagant brass is actually available; cutting down the case, no problem; I've got .32-20 dies from reloading for my ex's dad back in the early '90s (I throw *nothing* out). Turned out some nice little cases, slipped right in the cylinder, extracted just fine.

Until I seated a bullet. Looked like the early stages of a snake swallowing an egg. Well, maybe those old Lee dies in the green plastic case are a bit tight. Let's see what happens when loading.............and, no. Stops short. Well, that was a .314 cast and sized bullet. That's a perfect size for exiting the cylinder, but not so much for loading. How about a .311? Same problem. Ok, that should be happening.......What the hell, let's throw a .308 90 grain jacketed bullet on there, that should be fine and......*still* looks like the bullet is way oversize in the case, and still won't chamber. 

Did I buy a gun that somebody messed with a put a different cylinder in? Nope, matching serials numbers on cylinder and frame. And I'd be pretty impressed if some basement 'smith actually managed to shrink chambers. I find it pretty unlikely that S&W accidently bored out the cylinders wrong, and this gun has been fired plenty. 

At this point, I have to wonder if the PPU Nagant brass, being cut back around around a quarter inch, has enough wall thickness and the chambers are tight enough to create this problem. Now it's on to the measuring calipers and reference books to look up specs beyond just cartridge OAL. And if that doesn't do it, I guess I'll be digging out the cerrosafe from its crypt.

How A Good Day Of Shooting Starts.......

 

Be the only person on the rifle range;

Have someone discard 70 once-fired 2012 Lake City 7.62 x 51 cases;

have two old Mausers throw some good groups.

 The Israeli Mauser k98 in 7.62 x 51:

 

Date: Distance Group Size or Score (in.) Shots Fired Powder Grains Bullet Diameter Primer Case Conditions OAL Notes 3/29/2014 50 yds 1.356 5 Win 748 24.3 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR FC 308 Win Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/07/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 1.796 5 Win 748 24.3 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR FC 308 Win Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/07/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 1.886 5 Win 748 24.3 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR FC 308 Win Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/07/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 2.300 5 Win 748 24.3 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR FC 308 Win Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/07/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 3.553 5 Win 748 24.3 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR FC 308 Win Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/07/13 3/29/2014 2.178 Group size Average for Session 3/29/2014 4.356 MOA Average for session

and for the Chilean Mauser M1895 in 7.62 x 51: Date: Distance Group Size or Score (in.) Shots Fired Powder Grains Bullet Diameter Primer Case Conditions OAL Notes 3/29/2014 50 yds 0.946 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 1.419 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 1.593 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 2.185 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 3.353 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 1.899 Group size Average for Session 3/29/2014 3.798 MOA Average for session

Date: Distance Group Size or Score (in.) Shots Fired Powder Grains Bullet Diameter Primer Case Conditions OAL Notes 3/29/2014 50 yds 0.946 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 1.419 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 1.593 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 2.185 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 3.353 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 1.899 Group size Average for Session 3/29/2014 3.798 MOA Average for session

Blowback

Apparently I need to up the pressure in my cast bullet loads for my Type 99. I'm using reformed Remington 8mm Mauser brass, as 7.7 brass was rare when I wanted to load these. There were a number of shots where there was a fair bit of a smokey breeze coming out of the wrong end of the rifle, and a good inch of soot down some of the cartridge case. Think I'll switch the load from IMR 4227 over to Winchester 748; Win 748 runs higher pressures for cast loads at similar velocities, which should form that case to the chamber nicely. Or blow smoke into my face at even higher pressure.

It's Been A While

Due to a deployment, then being back in school while working, and another deployment, it's been some time since I've done much handloading. I believe it's time to inventory the loading room, and do some reorganizing, as there are items that have been on the benches where I left them over three years ago.

One of the reasons I started handloads was my area of interest. I like old military rifles. If you've been around a number of years, you'll know that that some calibers like 30-06 or 8mm Mauser can be plentiful and cheap for years, then next to impossible to find or unpleasantly expensive later (think surplus .303 British- I remember when it was dirt cheap). But there's an area of old rifles and ammunition where handloads are the only practical way to go. Look up the price of factory .43 Spanish, for an extreme example. Even more modern rounds like 6.5 x 55 Swedish or .30-40 Krag, although more available, are relatively expensive as they're generally new manufacture hunting loads. When you get to 6.5 Japanese or 7.62 x 45mm Czech, you can recover your loading equipment costs in a short number of rounds. Granted, a lot of these relatively modern but obscure rounds don't offer anything unique in performance. But without them, an otherwise functional gun is just a wall decoration.

So for the next week or so, I'll be digging out the books and gear to start producing 7.5 French rounds for the MAS 49/56 I dug out the vault. I believe it's been shot once since I bought it back when they were on the surplus market; time to get the grease off it and put it back to use.

Shooty Goodness Stuff

Eight pounds of happiness in a jug showed up at the front door today. I even have enough other components to make use of it. But, beyond that, it's starting to look like someone will have to come up with a smokeless matchlock rifle. Primer shortages suck.

Practice Rounds

Finally allocated some time to load up some rounds. Years of being a brass rat are paying off, as I don't have to search for common cartridges that are anything but; I'll just make my own.

Since primers are scarce these days, this seems look a good season to concentrate on revolvers. I find that I tend to burn through rounds at a slower pace with them, probably because of the enforced breaks to reload. Additionally, I prefer to do most of my firing double-action. If I ever have to use a revolver for defence, I doubt my fine motor control will be delicate enough to safely use single action. I've had to remove a pistol under true stress from a holster once, and I've never forgotten my surprise at how difficult it was. It felt like trying to operate a pistol while wearing winter gloves. Thus, better to learn to work with a heavier trigger weight that reduces the chance of unintended discharge from reduced sensation/motor control.

Here at Schloss Hundsabber, we keep Smith and Wesson .357s as ready guns. Although the models are different, operation isn't. And until recently, ammunition was easily found. Fortunately, these are well suited for cast-bullet reloads, allowing low cost, control in recoil, and above all, availability.

So it's off to the garage casting bench, and a Lee six-cavity mold for the 158 grain lead round nose bullet; a long-standing classic that while not notable for being a reliable man stopper, is very well suited for familiarization with one's revolver. In this case, due to a personal desire to spend minimum time in bullet prep, I had purchased the tumble-lube version, resulting in a bullet with appearance of having been dipped cheap varnish. But at a minute or so in saved labor per round, over the course of what will probably be around 1,000 rounds this year, shiny and pretty can be overlooked. It may not be as pretty as store bought, but it's actually in my hands, and shoots fine:

As a side note; even when sorting .38 from .357 brass well in advance of a loading session, I seem to always have one slip through:

Guess if I'm feeling extra-stingy, I could cut it down to .38 length at least.

This particular run consists of mixed brass (not shooting bulls-eye type targets, so minimal groups aren't a priority), the previously mentioned 158 grain lead round nose bullet, CCI small pistol primers, and 4.3 grains of Winchester 231 pistol powder. Time permitting, I'll find my chronograph this week, and see what we get for velocity out of the three different barrel lengths we have here. If not, I'll just have to settle for shooting a pistol for the first time in nearly two years this weekend.

Admirable Democrats

"Senators Tester and Baucus of Montana faxed a cosigned letter to the Department of Defense asking DOD to reverse their new policy requiring "mutilation" of fired military cartridge brass."

These two Democratic Senators from Montana will be getting a letter of appreciation from me. It's apparently their joint effort that has tipped the Department of Defense into rescinding its brass mutilation policy. I shoot a lot, and I can't afford to buy factory ammo. So it's reloading for me. And one of the best sources for 7.62 and 5.56 brass is bulk suppliers who buy from the government. I've seen a few comments lately that this is simply the ending of government subsidy of shooters, and that we have no right to complain about it. But that's wrong, and here's why:

The government must use ammunition made with virgin brass for quality control; it will not use fired brass because of the impossible task of tracking how many times brass has been reloaded, and thus liable to fail at a critical moment in combat, fail causing injury to service members, or fail during manufacture causing production delays.

Virgin brass has relatively high costs, as it must go through the complete manufacturing process. Manufacturing is what adds value, and cost. Shredding a fired case obliterates all the manufacturing steps past creating a pure alloy. And the steps to shred the brass cost additional money in equipment and staff pay.

Shredded brass can only be sold for its value for the metal; once-fired brass has utility for at least five more firings, without the manufacturing costs. This enhanced value creates higher demand for the case, allowing a higher price. This higher price paid reduces the government's overall cost per cartridge.

The government recovers more of its initial cost through purely voluntary purchases of a surplus material. The consumer gets a known quality product at a lower price. That isn't a subsidy, it's good business, with both parties gaining a benefit they couldn't get on their own. The only person not coming out ahead on this are people who want the shooting sports strangled.

H/T Cogito Ergo Geek