Couverture CARTRIDGE HANDLOADING.Indd

Home , Bullet, External ballistics, Handloading, Headspace (firearms), Internal ballistics

Jean-Pierre BEURTHERET Freddy DRUBIGNY

C MMP NENTS T LS PR CEDURES BALLISTICS TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD III Secant Ogive 39 Why handloading ? III Hybrid ogive 40 Lead bullets 40 SPECIAL THANKS V Lead bullet casting 41 The metal 41 SECURITY RULES 1 Melting gear 44 About handloading 1 Melting and casting 45 Rules to enforce: 1 Sizing 47 As general rules in the ﬁ eld of shooting sports 2 Copper plated lead bullets 48 Jacketed bullets 48 MEASUREMENT UNITS 5 The monolithic bullets 52 Length 5 The bullet selection 53

Mass 5 Using the molybdenum disulfi de (MoS2) Pressure 6 on jacketed bullets 53 Temperature 6 The minute of angle (MOA) 6 THE PRIMERS 57 Security rules 57 THE METALLIC CARTRIDGE 9 Historical 57 The evolution of fi rearms 9 Berdan primer 57 The pinfi re cartridge 14 Boxer primer 57 The rimfi re and centerfi re cartridges 14 Boxer primer types 59

CARTRIDGES DESIGNATION 17 TO START OUT 63 The essential reloading tools 63 THE CASE 21 The standard reloading process 64 Security rules 21 Case manufacturing 21 THE PRESS 67 Functions of the case 23 Where it all began 67 Structure of the case 23 Bench presses 70 The neck 23 1 - The single station press 70 The head 24 2 - The turret press 73 The body 24 3 - The progressive press 74 Types of cases 24 Rimmed cases 25 WEIGHING AND MEASURING Semi rimmed cases 25 THE POWDER 77 Rimless cases 26 Security rules 77 Belted cases 26 The scales 78 Rebated rim cases 27 The balance scales 78 History 27 The electronic scales 82 The automatic scales 84 THE BULLET 35 The standard masses 88 The ogives shapes 35 The powder measures 88 Tangent Ogive 38 Using a powder measure 90

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V I Table of contents

THE RELOADING TOOLS 93 Examples of the relationship between the The tools of the trade, except dies 93 chamber and case headspaces 125 The loading tray 93 If the case headspace is greater than the The caliper 93 chamber headspace 127 The case lube pad 94 If the case headspace is shorter than the The neck brush 94 chamber headspace 128 The case trimmer 94 Checking the chamber headspace 129 The burring tool 95 Checking the case headspace 130 The powder funnel 95 1 - The RCBS Precision Mic 130 The primer fl ip tray 95 2 - The Hornady tool 132 The comparator and its stand 96 3 - The Wilson gauges 133 The borescope 96 4 - The sticker 135 The tools to remove the primer crimp (swager or reamer) 97 CASE RESIZING ADVANCED TECHNIQUES 137 The primer pocket uniformer 97 Full length external resizing of straight The primer pocket cleaner 98 wall, conical or slightly bottleneck cases 137 The fl ash hole reamer 98 Steel sizing die 137 The Lyman kit 99 Carbide sizing die 140 The trim die 100 Full length external resizing of rimmed, The case neck concentricity gauges 100 semi rimmed or belted bottleneck cases The neck wall thickness gauges 101 (steel sizing die) 141 The case length gauges 103 Full length external resizing of rimless or The universal decap die 105 rebated rim bottleneck cases (steel die) 142 The headspace gauges 105 The cartridge overall length gauges for a CASE NECK RESIZING 147 given fi rearm and a given bullet 105 Conical or bottleneck cases 147 The cartridge concentricity gauges 105 Neck resizing only 148 The impact bullet puller and the collet Straight wall cases 149 bullet puller 105 Why neck size only 151 The reloading dies 106 Partial resizing with a full length Set for straight wall cases 106 resizing die 151 Set for conical or bottleneck cases 106 Small-base full length sizing dies 108 NECK ANNEALING AND THINNING The die lock rings 108 DOWN 153 The neck annealing 153 SORTING THE CASES TO RELOAD 111 Theoretical considerations 153 When annealing the necks ? 153 STANDARD RESIZING OF THE CASE117 The method 154 Case lubrication before sizing 117 1 - With molten lead 154 Case resizing 118 2 - With a propane torch 154 Preliminary remarks 118 Thinning down the neck 155 The decapping rod 119 1 - Neck reaming before resizing 156 The standard setting of the full length sizer die 120 2 - Neck reaming during resizing 156 Steel sizing dies 120 3 - Neck turning after resizing: 157 Carbide sizing dies 121 REMOVING A STUCK CASE THE HEADSPACE 123 FROM A SIZING DIE 161 For a rimless straight wall case 124 For a rimmed or semi rimmed case 124 CASE CLEANING 165 For a belted case 124 Mechanical means 166 For a rimless bottleneck case 125 Electronic means 167

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V I I CARTRIDGE HANDLOADING

CASE PRIMING 171 CASE FILLING PROCEDURES 203 Hand priming tools 172 1 - Using the scale or the powder measure Bench priming tools 173 (procedure 1) 204 Primer seating 173 2 - Using the scale or the powder measure Decapping spent primers 176 (procedure 2) 205 Decapping live primers 176 3 - Using the powder measure only (procedure 3) 205 THE POWDER 179 Additional check 206 Security rules 179 The origins 180 BULLET SEATING 209 The vivacity 181 Methods for determining the maximum Reload Swiss Burning Rate Chart 182 cartridge overall length (OAL) for a given Vectan Burning Rate Chart 183 bullet 210 Vihtavuori Burning Rate Chart 184 1 - The cleaning rod 210 The relative vivacity range 186 2 - The RCBS MIC 212 Reduced loads 188 3 - The Hornady OAL gauge 213 Problems which would be linked to the use The seating dies 218 of reduced charges of slow powders 188 Bullet crimping 220 Problems which would be linked to the use Roll crimp 221 of reduced loads of fast powders 189 Taper crimp 222 What can we say ? 189 Factory crimp 223 Reduced loads of fast powders for lead Profi le crimp 224 bullets in bottleneck case cartridges 189 Use of the seating and crimping dies 224 The chronograph, an essential tool 191 Die setting to seat the bullet without crimping 224 Presentation 191 Die setting to seat and crimp the bullet Functioning 192 in one step 224 Possible uses 192 Die setting to seat and crimp the bullet With air guns 192 in two steps 225 With manufactured ammunitions 192 Checking the cartridge concentricity 225 With reloaded centerfi re cartridges 192 The RCBS Case Master 225 With antique fi rearms 193 The Hornady Lock-N-Load Concentricity Tool 225 For smooth-bore fi rearms 193 Materials resistance tests 193 PRESSURE EXTERNAL SIGNS 227 Distance from the barrel muzzle 193 Developing a powder load 193 CARTRIDGES DISASSEMBLING 235 Basic procedure 193 First method: the impact bullet puller 236 Reloading cartridges for a given fi rearm, the caliber Second method: the collet bullet puller 238 of which is included in the load data of the powder Third method: the locking pliers 239 manufacturer 193 Fourth method: the specialized tool 239 Bullet selection 194 Powder selection 194 CASES CONVERSIONS 241 The conduct of the tests 195 Conversion of 223 Remington into 7 TCU Gas operated semi-automatic fi rearms: 196 by fi re forming 241 Infl uence of the temperature 196 Conversion of 5,6 x 50 R Magnum into Specifi c examples 196 357 Super Mag (357 Maximum) 242 Example 1 196 Conversion of 30-30 WCF into 32-40 243 Reloading of a cartridge referenced in Conversion of 308 Winchester into 7-08 243 the load data 196 Conversion of 22 Hornet into 22 K Hornet 244 Example 2 197 Conversion of 30-30 WCF into 357 Herrett 244 The selected powder for a given caliber Conversion of 30-30 WCF into 30 Herrett 244 does not appear in the load data 197 Shoulder blow out of a bottleneck case 244 Example 3 199 Conversion of 357 Maximum or 5,6 x 50 R Reloading of a cartridge not referenced Magnum into 7,62 x 38 R Nagant 246 in the load data 199 Conversion of 45 Colt into 455 Webley 249

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V I I I Table of contents

BARRELS AND CHAMBERS CASTINGS 253 Test N° 3 313 CerrosafeTM instructions Test N° 4 314 (from a Brownells® document) 253 Test N° 5 315 Chamber casting 254 Test N° 6 316 Removing a broken case from the chamber 255 Test N° 7 317 Warning 255 Test N° 8 318 Note on casting measurements 255 ABOUT THE 22 LONG RIFLE 321 BLACK POWDER CARTRIDGES 257 How to select the ammunition 321 Reloading black powder cartridges 258 Cartridges sorting 321 The barrel length 322 BALLISTICS 261 Why barrels are rifl ed ? 262 THE STANDARD DEVIATION 327 Stabilization of a bullet in fl ight 263 The movements of the bullet 264 SHOT GROUPING ANALYSIS 331 Yaw 264 1 - The H + W 331 Pitch 264 2 - The extreme spread 331 Precession 264 Nutation 264 SECURITY 335 Barrel rifl ing 265 Unusual Accidents 335 Measuring the twist rate 266 Shooting ranges design 336 Internal ballistics 269 Preventing a bullet direct exit 336 The Greenhill formula 270 Ricochets management 339 Miller’s formula 273 Eye and hearing protections for the shooter The recoil 276 and bystanders 339 The barrel vibration 277 The shooter must wear eye protection 339 External ballistics 279 The shooter must wear hearing protection 339 Intermediate or transitional ballistics 279 Lead 341 The trajectory of the bullet 282 Recommendations to shooters 343 The forces at play 282 At the range 343 1 - The effects of gravity and drag 282 2 - The effects of the wind 286 FUNCTIONING OF SEMI-AUTOMATIC 3 - The Magnus effect 286 AND AUTOMATIC FIREARMS 345 4 - The spin drift 287 Firing from an open bolt 346 5 - The Coriolis effect 287 Firing from a closed bolt 346 6 - The Eötvös effect 289 Blowback fi rearms 346 Other infl uential factors 289 Delayed blowback fi rearms 347 1 - The ballistic coeffi cient 289 Locked breech fi rearms 347 1.1 - The drag coeffi cient 289 Long recoil operation 347 1.2 - The sectional density 290 Short recoil operation 347 1.3 - The form factor 290 Gas operated fi rearms 348 1.4 - The standard models 291 1.5 - The sound barrier 297 BIBLIOGRAPHY 351 1.6 - Infl uence of BC on trajectory 299 1.7 - Maximum point blank range (MPBR) 305 NOTES 354 2 - The shooting angle 305 3 - The altitude 308 4 - The atmospheric pressure 308 5 - The temperature 308 When a bullet falls back 308 About ricochets 310 Terminal ballistics 310 Test N° 1 311 Test N° 2 312

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I X The bullet

Sample of jacketed bullets of different calibers.

Some bullets are completely enclosed by a jacket made of at least two parts, where the lead core is not apparent at all. These include, but are not limited to, some composite hunting bullets. The aim is to control expansion and mass conservation at the impact.

To detect a steel jacket, use a magnet. If the magnet sticks to the bullet, it is steel. However, if the bullet Soft point bullets. The lead core is apparent at the has a steel core, as is often the case with Russian tip of the bullet. calibers surplus ammunition, the magnet will stick too. With the magnet, it is impossible to know if we are dealing with a standard bullet with a lead core and a mild steel jacket, or if it is a steel core projectile with probably also a mild steel jacket . To be sure, it is necessary to disassemble a cartridge and examine the bullet. A steel core is visible at the base of the bullet.

In some cases, the bullet may be color-coded. Full metal jacket bullets. The lead core is apparent at It is important to know if a bullet contains a steel core. the base of the bullet. Using brass or mild steel jacketed bullets makes no difference in a standard shooting range. The mild steel jackets are not harder than the brass jackets on the bullet bafﬂ es. It is different with a steel core, even if these standard Russian surplus bullets are not true armor piercing bullets.

True armor piercing bullets have a core made of hardened steel or of another metal having the desired hardness (tungsten alloy for example). The surplus bullets quoted here have a mild steel core. This metal was chosen to save lead. They are not labeled Example of a totally jacketed bullet. This is the «armor piercing» from the military standpoint. But sectional view of a Winchester Silvertip bullet. The even if their performances are inferior to true armor jacket of the body and the base of the bullet is piercings, the installations of the shooting ranges are brass and the jacket of the nose is aluminum. It is a generally not designed to properly stop them. controlled expansion hunting bullet.

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4 9 CARTRIDGE HANDLOADING Photos courtesy of Lyman Photos courtesy of Redding

Redding Big Boss II Lyman Crusher 2 Sketch of a conventional single station press, ﬁ tted with a priming system. The lever is shown in the intermediate position, half-lowered.

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7 2

The headspace

Most rimless bottleneck cases have a 0,1778 mm This information is to be taken into account when we (0,007 ’’) headspace tolerance between the minimum reload for our historical fi rearms. and maximum dimensions. The chambers may have a headspace tolerance up to 0,254 mm (0,010’’) These tolerance issues are the same for the other between the minimum and maximum dimensions. types of headspaces. Since these two tolerances overlap it should not be possible to cumulate up to the maximum value of If the case headspace is greater than the 0,4318 mm (0,017’’). However, between a cham- chamber headspace ber at the maximum dimension and a resized case It will be diffi cult or impossible to close the fi rearm. at the minimum dimension, it is possible to have a NEVER force. As a general rule, a jamming means difference of 0,33 mm (0,013’’), which is more than a problem and overcoming it by applying force is a double the maximum value beyond which safety is very bad method. not ensured. Hence the importance of checking the headspace. These data are from Forster and can be However, the breech may partially close on a cham- found in the documents of the SAAMI or the CIP. bered cartridge. Most fi rearms have a safety preventing the percussion of the cartridge if the breech is Military fi rearms tend to have slightly oversized not fully locked. But, like any mechanical device, this chambers. The rifl e must operate under the worst safety may fail. If the breech is not fully locked and conditions, with soiled ammunitions, etc. This is why if the safety works properly, the fi rearm will not let military cases are sturdier than civilian cases and off when pressing the trigger. CAUTION: for safety have greater headspace tolerances values. Even if reasons, always manage this type of incident as a there is a chamber headspace excess relative to the hang fi re, waiting 15 seconds, with the fi rearm poin- case, the latter will stretch without breaking. ting towards the targets, before opening the breech. It is hard to tell the difference between such an inci- And since handloading is not a military concern... dent and a hang fi re.

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1 2 7 CASE RESIZING ADVANCED TECHNIQUES

The three paragraphs of this chapter look alike, so it is important to tell them apart.

The ﬁ rst paragraph deals with the full length external resizing of straight wall, conical or slightly bottleneck cases, regardless of the shape of their head.

The second paragraph deals with the full length external resizing of rimmed, semi rimmed or belted bottleneck cases.

The third paragraph deals with the full length external resizing of rimless or rebated rim bottleneck cases.

Full length external resizing of straight wall, conical or slightly bottleneck cases

Steel sizing die The sizing die will be set on the press in a standard fashion. Slightly bottleneck cases (44-40 WCF, 22 Hornet, etc.) can also be resized in this way. However, we will see in the next paragraph that a more sophisticated procedure is possible.

Full length external resizing of a rimmed straight wall case (357 Magnum).

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1 1 3 7 CARTRIDGE HANDLOADING

1 - Neck reaming before resizing 2 - Neck reaming during resizing The inside of the neck is reamed to reduce its This technique is used for a case conversion, when thickness. This operation is performed on a case the neck diameter is heavily shrunk or when the new trimmer fi tted to do it. The reamer is set in place neck is located at a place where the walls of the of the case trimmer pilot. The reamer diameter is original case are thick. The amount of brass to be chosen according to the desired neck tension. For removed is important. RCBS and some other ma- some case conversions, it may be necessary to nufacturers market a specifi c full length resizing die, ream unfi red cases. including a reamer used with a T handle tap wrench Some people put forward two things against this or a drill. The specifi c resizing die fi rmly holds the method: case and preserves the external dimensions of the › The reamer may not exactly center into the neck during reaming. With this method, the reamer neck. The thickness of the neck will not enters concentric into the neck. necessarily be uniform around the whole cir- cumference. › The quantity of brass removed is determined by the reamer diameter.

In practice, this procedure works rather well, but it is true that the neck thickness is sometimes thinner on one side than the other after the operation.

Forster neck reamer

The reamer set on the case trimmer.

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1 5 6 CARTRIDGE HANDLOADING

Lyman hand priming tool. The appropriate shell holder is set on the tool. Each primer diameter has its own primer reservoir tray, including the priming rod. These reservoirs are also primer ﬂ ip trays.

K & M hand priming tool. The appropriate shell holder is set on the tool. There is no primer reservoir. The primers are manually fed, one at a time.

PhoPh too YveYv s Struruugegen

Priming arm without primer feed tube on a RCBS press

I think it is better to use a hand priming tool. It gives a better feeling to seat the primer.

Hand priming tools RCBS hand priming tool. The appropriate shell holder is set on the tool. A priming rod is provided for each of the two primer diameters (small and large). The tool tray acts as a primer reservoir as well as a primer ﬂ ip tray.

There are hand priming tools of other brands wor- king on the same principles.

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1 7 2 BULLET SEATING

Manufacturer’s data indicate a maximum cartridge length not to be exceeded. It is a standard measure designed to ensure that any cartridge of a given caliber operates correctly in any fi rearm chambered for that cartridge. But this does not necessarily cor- respond to the optimum cartridge length for a specifi c fi rearm. This optimum cartridge length depends on: › The shape and length of the bullet. › Where the beginning of the rifl ing is located in the barrel (free bore length). › The distance at which the shooter wants to position the beginning of the bullet’s bearing surface in relation to the barrel rifl ing.

The bullet can be seated in the case in order to have more or less free travel before reaching the rifl ing, or even no free travel at all in order to contact the rifl ing when chambered. For a given powder load, the pressure will be higher with a bullet contacting the rifl ing, compared to a bullet having some free travel before reaching the rifl ing, even if, in this case, the deeper bullet seating reduces slightly the volume available for the powder. The chambers of the high-capacity magnum calibers are designed so that the bullet has a longer than average free travel before reaching the rifl ing. This is especially true for the Weatherby rifl e calibers. Weatherby manufactured cartridges are loaded for maximum performance and the free bore of nearly 10 millimeters of the chambers in which they are used is designed to handle the pressure generated.

Some Weatherby calibers. From left to right: 224, 240, 257, 270, 7 mm, 300, 340, 378, 460.

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2 2 0 9 Bullet seating

The same one taken apart. From left to right: the body, the bullet guide, the bullet guide return spring, the seating plug, the micrometer. This tool does not crimp.

Redding 223 Remington seating die.

RCBS 222 Remington precision seating die with a bullet seating micrometer. Unlike the other dies where the bullet is introduced from the bottom, the bullet is introduced through a side window built into the body.

A special shell holder which gets inside the body is provided.

Taken apart: the body, the bullet guide, the seating plug and the micrometer.

With all these dies, the bullet seating depth is ad- Cross section of a seating die for bottleneck cases. justed by screwing more or less the seating plug. The concentricity of the bullet in relation to the case can be improved by seating the bullet in two steps. The bullet is halfway seated. The cartridge is removed from the die by raising the press lever, and then manually rotated half a turn in the shell holder. The press lever is lowered to complete the seating of the bullet. Watch your ﬁ ngers. A faulty timing of the right and left hand during the second ram stroke may leave ﬁ ngers between the shell holder and the die, Redding 6 BR Norma precision seating die with a bullet seating micrometer. and then...

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2 1 9 Pressure external signs

The strain gauge is used to determine a pressure longer manufactured. The Vectan SP3 used in the from the instantaneous expansion of the metal of 357 Magnum is still in production. the chamber. Knowing the peak pressure of the cartridge, we can try to determine if there is a real The standard deviation quantifi es the dispersion of correlation between the case head expansion and a the results. I develop this notion at the end of the given pressure. book. Statistically, two standard deviations from the mean account for 95% of the values. Many years ago (1991 to be precise), I conducted some tests with a friend of mine. We glued strain Example with a mean of 2 000 and a standard gauges on T/C Contender pistol barrels chambered deviation of 100. Statistically speaking, 95% of the in 7 TCU, 30-30 WCF and 357 Magnum, to see if it values lie between 1 800 (mean minus two stan- was possible to evaluate the pressure of a cartridge dard deviations) and 2 200 (mean plus two standard with this technique. The gauges were connected to deviations). an electronic circuit in charge to decipher the information. Prior to the experiment, the cartridges of 30- The smaller the standard deviation, the more the 30 WCF and 357 Magnum were fi red in a pressure values are gathered around the mean, indicating barrel at the SNPE (Société Nationale des Poudres that the values are consistent. To get a meaningful et Explosifs; National Society of Powders and Ex- measurement, the sample studied must be repre- plosives) in order to calibrate the gauges and have sentative of what is being measured. reliable comparison means. The SNPE did not own a 7 TCU pressure barrel, so the only indication we had The larger the sample, the more statistically signifi - for this cartridge was the peak pressure given by the cant the measurement. Here, the samples are small, manufacturer (the GIAT now Nexter). If my memories and they only allow one to begin to get an idea. are correct, the pressure barrel used was of the crusher type. This notion is explained at the end of this 7 TCU results: chapter. The pressure given by the manufacturer is 3 350 bars (48 587 psi). The gauges gave an average pres- The tests were performed with 5, 8 or 10 cartridges. sure of the same value with a standard deviation of The Vectan TU3 used in the 30-30 WCF is no 121 bars (1 755 psi).

Strain gauges glued to a Contender barrel

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2 2 9 CARTRIDGE HANDLOADING

The case The case of 45 Auto Rim can be used. It has the right size, apart from the rim whose thickness has to be reduced from the front side. This conversion is simple, but 45 Auto Rim cases are difﬁ cult to ﬁ nd.

455 Mk I

45 Auto rim

The 45 Colt case can be found everywhere. Cut it to the correct length and reduce the thickness of the rim (from the front face) to 0,8 mm (0,0315’’). Since the 45 Colt case is quite long, you can choose between making 455 Mk I (length of 22,5 mm; 0,886’’) or Mk II (length of 19,5 mm; 0,768’’) cases. Personally, I cut the cases to the length the chambers could handle, that being 23,5 mm (0,925’’), a little longer than the Mk I.

I’m talking about the 45 Colt, which is the real name of the cartridge often called 45 Long Colt. This Long Colt appellation dates back to the time (years 1875 - 1895) where the American army used the Colt Army 1873 in 45 Colt and the Smith & Wesson Schofi eld in 45 Schofi eld. The 45 Schofi eld cartridge is identi- cal to the 45 Colt except for the length. It is 4,7 mm (0,185’’) shorter. The 45 Colt has been prefi xed with «Long» to better distinguish it from the 45 Schofi eld. Lee makes a carbide die set for the 455. Redding proposes a regular steel set.

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2 5 0 CARTRIDGE HANDLOADING

The movements of the bullet Nutation The bullet is the seat of several combined movements. Small periodic movements, small oscillations of the bullet axis around its average position. They are in Yaw addition to the precession and, in reality, the shape of Horizontal oscillation. Its axis is vertical, located in the precession circle looks like the following sketch. the plane of the trajectory and perpendicular to the velocity vector. It goes through the centre of gravity of the bullet. The amplitude can be of about 1 to 5 degrees at the beginning of the ﬂ ight.

Total yaw and precession movements decrease once the bullet has travelled some tens of meters. When exiting the barrel, the bullet, which was guided until then, is in free ﬂ ight and must confront the re- Pitch maining gas under pressure which overtakes it, the Vertical oscillation. Its axis is horizontal, perpendicu- atmosphere, the gravity. lar to the plane of the trajectory and goes through the centre of gravity of the bullet. The amplitude can be This has a destabilizing effect. It takes a little time for of about 1 to 5 degrees at the beginning of the ﬂ ight. the gyroscopic stabilization effect to regain control The combination of yaw and pitch is sometimes re- and properly stabilize the bullet. This explains why, ferred to as total yaw. sometimes, a grouping is proportionally slightly smaller at, for example, 100 meters than at 50 meters. The grouping at 100 meters will always be larger than the 50 meters grouping, but it will be smaller than the double of the 50 meters grouping.

With all these combined movements, the end of the axis of symmetry at the tip of the bullet, has a movement resembling the helical development curve on the next page drawing.

The drawing represents this pseudo spiral seen from Precession the front. It is the movement of the end of the axis of Conical rotation of the bullet symmetry axis around symmetry of the bullet seen from the front, shortly the velocity vector, with the centre of gravity as a after the exit from the barrel, between time t=0 and pivot point sliding on the trajectory (remember: the time t=x. velocity vector is tangent to the trajectory at the centre of gravity). The movement is centered on the centre of gravity of the bullet (red dot in the centre).

Imagine the situation in three dimensions: › Each point of the spiral represents the position of the tip of the axis of symmetry of the bullet at time t. › At each time t, the axis of symmetry of the bullet passes through the point of the spiral concerned and through the centre of gravity.

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2 6 4 Ballistics

Test n° 3 Materials tested (fi ve layers) 357 Maximum: 200 grs (13 grams) soft point bul- Layer 1: a pine board 65 mm (2,6’’) thick, set let V0 386 m/s (1 266 fps): stopped by sheet 1 which perpendicular to the fi ring axis. is pierced (the bullet disintegrated, sheet 2 is intact). Layers 2 to 5: four ordinary steel sheets (24 kg/ mm²), 3 mm thick, set perpendicular to the fi ring axis 30-20: 150 grs (9,7 grams) soft point bullet V0 and spaced 30 mm apart, with the fi rst sheet of the 530 m/s (1 739 fps): sheet 1 pierced, stopped by series set 60 mm behind the pine board. sheet 2 which is pierced too (the bullet disintegrated, All the bullets get through the pine board. sheet 3 is intact).

22 Hornet: 45 grs (2,9 grams) soft point bullet V0 44 Magnum: 240 grs (15,6 grams) soft point bullet 709 m/s (2 326 fps): stopped by sheet 1 which is V0 400 m/s (1 312 fps): stopped by sheet 1 which bulged. is pierced (the bullet disintegrated, sheet 2 is intact). 55 grs (3,6 grams) full metal jacket bullet V0 619 m/s (2 031 fps): sheet 1 pierced, stopped by sheet 2 7x64: 154 grs (10 grams) soft point bullet V0 835 m/s which is very bulged. (2 740 fps): sheet 1 pierced, stopped by sheet 2 which is pierced too (the bullet disintegrated, sheet 3 is intact). 7 BR: 150 grs (9,7 grams) Match bullet V0 556 m/s (1 824 fps): sheet 1 pierced, stopped by sheet 2 243 Winchester: 80 grs (5,2 grams) soft point which is pierced too (the bullet disintegrated while bullet V0 932 m/s (3 058): sheet 1 pierced, stopped making the hole in sheet 2, sheet 3 is intact). by sheet 2 which is bulged.

Ordinary steel plates are effective when set in separate layers, but the impacts are destructive.

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3 1 3 The author Jean-Pierre BEURTHERET Member of the French Shooting Federation since the beginning of the 70’s, he is a competitor, practicing several shooting disciplines and more specifi cally metallic silhouette shooting, in which he won three individual champion titles (two national and one European) and one world team champion title. He has been practicing handloading for more than forty years.

The illustrator Freddy DRUBIGNY Member of the French Shooting Federation since 1976, he won two individual champion titles (one national and one European) in metallic silhouette shooting. He worked for thirty years in an engineering and design department. This experience allowed him to shape and achieve the technical drawings of this book as well as the post processing of the photographs. He also performed the layout.

The book The aim of this book is to explain the subject from a different standpoint than usually found. You will fi nd in it a brief history of the metallic cartridge and the description of its components (the primer, the case, the powder, the bullet) and of the various tools used for handloading. The detailed description of advanced handloading procedures and die adjustments departs from the usual specialized literature and will allow the production of ammunition totally adapted to a specifi c fi rearm, using the standard reloading tables of the powder manufacturers. Cartridge conversions, ballistics, security of the shooters and on the range are not forgotten. The last chapter is devoted to a short description of the automatic and semi-automatic fi rearms operation. This book will allow you a didactic approach into the exciting world of perpetual research which is:

« CARTRIDGE HANDLOADING »

ISBN 979-10-94323-22-9