METALLIC CARTRIDGE HANDLOADING PURSUIT OF THE PERFECT CARTRIDGE METALLIC CARTRIDGE HANDLOADING PURSUIT OF THE PERFECT CARTRIDGE by M. L. McPherson Safari Press TABLE OF CONTENTS About the Author .................................................................................................................................................................vii Preface ...................................................................................................................................................................................ix Style and Other Notes .........................................................................................................................................................xii A Day at the Range with Friends ......................................................................................................................................xiv Chapter 1: Safety, Accuracy, and Functionality ..................................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: The Cartridge Case .............................................................................................................................................9 Chapter 3: Maintaining the Cartridge Case .......................................................................................................................34 Chapter 4: Improving the Cartridge Case ..........................................................................................................................43 Chapter 5: Loading the Cartridge Case..............................................................................................................................78 Chapter 6: Primers ...............................................................................................................................................................95 Chapter 7: Primers, Seating, and Reading .......................................................................................................................111 Chapter 8: Propellant ........................................................................................................................................................119 Chapter 9: Loading the Propellant ...................................................................................................................................174 Chapter 10: Bullets ............................................................................................................................................................192 Chapter 11: Loading Bullets .............................................................................................................................................244 Chapter 12: Accuracy Load Development ......................................................................................................................276 Chapter 13: Internal Ballistics ..........................................................................................................................................290 Chapter 14: External Ballistics .........................................................................................................................................317 Chapter 15: Bullet Making ...............................................................................................................................................324 Chapter 16: Bullet Casting................................................................................................................................................338 Chapter 17: The Loading Press ........................................................................................................................................349 Chapter 18: The Basic Handloading Process: .................................................................................................................361 Chapter 19: Interesting Pictures .......................................................................................................................................365 Chapter 20: A Different Sort of Varmint Rifle: ...............................................................................................................377 Appendix A: Glossary ......................................................................................................................................................385 Appendix B: Sources ......................................................................................................................................................403 Appendix C: Interesting Riflescope Test Results ...........................................................................................................408 Appendix D: Very Long Rifle Shooting .........................................................................................................................411 McPherson with Jim Lockwood (Master Leathersmith and friend) at 2002 Shootists’ Holiday: That year, the Shootists hon- McPherson, Internal Ballistics Seminar, 2003, Varmint Hunter’s ored McPherson as Shootist of the Year; the following year they Jamboree: McPherson has given handloading seminars in Ari- honored him as Innovator of the Year “for advancing the shoot- zona, Colorado, and South Dakota. At the Jamboree seminar, he ing sports.” The Shootists is a group founded by John Taffin, al- and By Smalley offered a detailed explanation of what actually most on a lark. During a get-together with friends and acquain- happens inside a gun during the period from primer ignition to tances to do a bit of large-bore revolver shooting, Taffin asked, bullet exit from the muzzle. “Wouldn’t it be fun to do this every year?” It certainly is. vi ABOUT THE AUTHOR M. L. (Mic) McPherson has been an avid shooter since gone to print. For example, application of this age six, when he began wearing out the first of many BB technique disclosed eight previously unrecognized guns. By eight, he had graduated to 22-rimfire rifles and errors in the first edition of a reloading manual from a revolvers. For many years thereafter, until the model-rocket major data source. bug took hold for a time, he spent every penny he could earn Precision Shooting Publications released his on BBs and rimfire ammunition. Since then, he has worn gunsmithing tome, Accurizing the Factory Rifle, in 2003. out several revolvers and many barrels on various rifles. It continues to be a bestseller for Precision Shooting A seminal event occurred when he was not yet a Publications, and sales show no sign of slowing. Because teenager. Ken Runnestrand, father of Roy (Mic’s first many gunsmithing schools now use it as an introductory lifelong friend), invited Mic to join him and Roy on a text, it is bound to achieve the rare status of a perennial trip to a nearby informal shooting area, Ken was testing bestseller. a rifle he had built. While there, Mic observed hundreds He has contributed hundreds of articles to magazines of discarded, empty, centerfire cases, including examples such as Precision Shooting, Varmint Hunter, American of dozens of kinds. He vividly recalls wondering then, Rifleman, Very High Power, and Guns. While these cover and for many years afterward, why so many different many subjects, most at least touch upon handloading. kinds of cartridges existed. This fascination ultimately An avid experimenter, he has visited many ballistic developed into a genuine pursuit revolving around the laboratories and has done tests in several of those, including question: “Does an ideal case design exist?” Norma’s, Sierra’s, Speer’s, Western’s, Accurate’s, Ultimately, this interest led to McPherson’s Hodgdon’s, and Hornady’s. Results of his experiments editorship of the acclaimed eighth and ninth editions of in those labs answered some important questions and Cartridges of the World, which he views as among his suggested many others. most significant works. Because he made many thousand He attended the prestigious (invitation only) Oehler editorial improvements and factual corrections in that Research Pressure Testing Seminar. While there, he work, one can appreciate and understand his pride of demonstrated the degree to which charge position accomplishment. matters. This led Oehler to adopt charge-position testing He also edited and coauthored Reloading for as a standard load evaluation tool. Shotgunners, 4th Edition, which has been a bestseller. McPherson is coholder of four patents on optimized In that, he was the first to present shotshell data in an cartridge design. These parametric patents cover the alphanumeric system that any user can easily understand physics behind what represents optimum cartridge design, and with which any user can locate any desired load as measured by ballistic efficiency. These also address the rapidly and without confusion. theory and mathematical constructs needed to understand As a consultant to Barnes Bullets, he pioneered how an optimum cartridge design works. Extensive a spreadsheet analysis method for evaluating loading laboratory testing has proven that the resulting SMc™ data, to discover and correct data sheet recording and [au: Chicago Manual of Style discourages the use of typographic errors. This approach is invaluable to the the ™ symbol in text. FYI] designs deliver maximum industry. Those who use derivatives of this system performance and barrel life with minimum barrel heating routinely discover errors that would have otherwise and recoil. vii PREFACE As I write