Month: November 2021

I hope everyone has survived Thanksgiving. I spent a good portion of it on the road between Alabama and Texas. Finally consolidating everything back to Alabama. Now we have the process of moving it from the trailer to the storage unit and then the long process of going through everything. I am just going to say it right now, if you are a handloader, especially if you cast bullets and like to maintain a healthy supply of lead to feed your addiction…it is best to not move often. Your back, your truck, and just about everyone else you know will thank you if you just stay anchored.

Because it was a holiday week and I spent most of the time on the road, there are only a few things worth mentioning. First, CMMG announced a new AR build in 4.6x30mm. They call it the Four Six. It comes in pretty much every color of the tactical rainbow. From what I understand you can purchase just an Upper or the complete rifle. The 4.6x30mm was developed around a 7.0in the barrel and the Banshee sports an 8in the barrel. It is my opinion, that the only proper way to have this rifle is to go through the hoops and get it as a Short Barrel Rifle as opposed to trying to mess with a pistol brace. For two reasons, the first being the ATF is working on trying to put a crimp in the pistol brace popularity, and secondly, a carbine ought to have a proper stock that fits the shooter well and pistol braces just don’t.

Of course, why stop at just having one tax stamp? No doubt this ankle biter is going to have a bit of a bark to it. So you might as well go all in and get a suppressor, and then a proper red dot or holographic sight. Sure the MSRP is $1399, but I do not see how anyone does not end up with at least a $2500 to $3000 dollar rifle by the time they are done with it. Especially if they do the proper thing and stick a binary trigger in it…with how easy the 4.6x30mm is to control, and the fact the CMMG mag capacity is 40rnds….how can you not?

The 4.6x30mm has been out for quite a while mainly as a Military and LEO cartridge, rarely has it been seen out in the wild in the United States. In Europe, there have been a few bolt action production guns on the market, but again only the people who are serious ammo or firearm geeks really have heard much about this cartridge. It will be interesting to see how this rifle does and if it begins to spurn some interest for other manufacturers to offer bolt guns. Personally, I think it would be an excellent 50 to 150-yard varmint cartridge, in a 16in barrel bolt gun and would offer a viable alternative to the .17 caliber rimfire market, and probably would compete well against some of the .17 cal centerfire cartridges.

As far as bullet diameter goes, the 4.6mm is actually a .18 caliber which more or less amounts to a stouter mouse turd in comparison to the .17 cal. If you wish to reload for it and have big meat hooks as fingers, as yours truly does, a pair of tweezers might be a worthwhile investment. Bullets for reloading are hard to come by. If someone has not already done so, I would expect a wildcat .17 cal with 4.6x30mm serving as a parent case to be not long in the making.

The announcement of this rifle is what likely drove quite a bit of interest in the 5.7x28mm VS 4.6x30mm comparison write-up I did a year ago. For that reason, I did an update to the article as the kids napped and the turkey cooked. Made a couple of corrections and a few additions to mention the CMMG Four Six. Thanks to everyone who has read the article and taken the time to subscribe. I appreciate it.

The second thing worth mentioning is a new (to me) Internal Ballistics Software that I was turned on to. As most of you know I have used QuickLOAD for many years. I have been satisfied with it, and have found it to be a reasonably accurate predictor of pressures and velocities so long as I do my part and feed it the right data (Remember Garbage In – Garbage Out is the defining rule for any simulation). The cost or QuickLOAD is about $153 plus shipping, and then if you want Quick Design that’s another $153. You are a little over $300 to get both. Update CD’s cost about $16 and update the powder, cartridge, and bullet library. A new update is released yearly.

Again, before anyone gets on my case about being critical of QuickLOAD, remember, I love the software and have used it quite as both a hobbyist and professionally. With that said, it does have a dated look to it, think Windows 95. QuickLOAD relies on manufacturers to provide a lot of the data, and some powder companies will not provide data on their powder to QuickLOAD so there are gaps. Most notably, St. Marks will not provide data on its powders. While many St. Marks powders are found in QuickLOAD the data has been gathered by some other means.

That is where I have found Gordon’s Reloading Tool to be quite interesting. First, it is free, and it looks to be community-driven, the funding for development is supported through Patreon. The software has a modern look and feel to it, and integrates all of the features found in QuickLOAD, QuickDesign, and more into one package. I have played around with the software to get a feel for it. The user interface is more modern, and in many ways, I find it easier to use.

From what I read and understand, the guys developing this tool do testing on their own, and develop the models based on the results of the testing. They are clear, the math behind the modeling is different than what QuickLOAD uses, and thus the results will be different. You might ask, well which is more accurate? I am not sure yet, but I am going to use both for a bit, and then come back with my assessment. This is not the last time you will see me write about this software, but I wanted to let you guys know it is a tool that is out there and to go check it out.

Lastly if you are a VZ-58 builder and have some time to kill. Garand Thumb released a new YouTube video with a VZ-58 shorty that is worth a watch. Here’s the link. I noticed in his review he did not complain about the trigger, thus there has to be a better option out there. The fire controls were also modernized a bit with larger buttons/levers. I have been itching to do a bit more with my VZ-58. There is likely a continuation of the build series in the works. I have updated the resource/parts vendor list to include Supanik.com which has a lot of VZ parts for those looking for parts to spice up their build or to just complete it.

Anyway, that’s what I have for this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, the best way is to send me an email at jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.

As always, shoot straight and stay safe!

The Ballistic Assistant

We are only a few days out from Thanksgiving meaning we have nearly survived 2021. Once Halloween hits, it seems like all the holidays happen in rapid succession. It’s as if someone is going a feastive mag dump, and then suddenly January hits, and we get into the doldrums. Well, for the majority of the world it’s slow, but for the firearms industry, there is SHOT Show and other trade and consumer shows that tend to happen. If you are in the industry and are in the position to attend these shows, then January, February, and March all tend to be fairly busy months.

This past week I have been fairly busy which has kept me out of the reloading room. I am working on a few things behind the scenes and when I am ready to dive into them, I will make the appropriate announcement. Mainly I continue to pump out 45 ACP loaded with 4.5gn of Bullseye with a 170gr cast bullet. I’ll churn out this load until I run out of brass, bullets, primers, or powder.

As I mentioned last week ago I have been having some issues with the 338 Spectre that I build may go beyond just an ammo issue. I’ll be continuing that project in the near future. I wanted to share a picture of the brass. I have never seen brass crack like that and I suspect a good majority of handloaders have not seen this before either. I posted about the issue in CastBoolits.com several years ago and the consensus seemed to be that it may be due to the hardness of the brass. I suspect there is merit to that conclusion. Starline straight wall brass probably is not annealed at the case mouth like a bottleneck case is. So I am going to anneal the brass. Whether or not it solves the problem, I think at this point it is just best practice. The AMP Annealing machine will make short work of it, and it does a very consistent job of annealing the neck and shoulder.

We will be working through the 338 Spectre build between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hoping to solve each of the problems, and post the process on the site for those who might face similar issues.

I did take some time last week to do a product highlight. This is something that has been out for a little while, but it is a kit that my self and my coworkers helped put together. It is specific to the Redding T7 press. It is a fairly simple product that can really make a noticeable difference in the feel of the press, giving it a more polished and refined feel. You can read up on it here: The T7 Upgrade Kit

Last week we had a major bump in traffic to the website. The tools I have to track the hits to the page, and where they come from are pretty rudimentary. There seemed to be a lot of curiosity about the 5.7x28mm vs 4.6x30mm. The site hit 775 visitors in a 24hr period and 430+ were for that specific article. There is still a notable bump in traffic seven days after the initial. Unfortunately, I have not been able to figure out if it was shared somewhere, or if another website linked back to it. I always like to go back to the source and thank them for sharing the piece, whether it is an individual or it is a group. Anyway, if anyone came across the page via a link in a forum, I would appreciate it if you shot me a quick email to jay@theballisticassistant.com.

Anyway, that’s what I have for this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, the best way is to send me an email at jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.

As always, shoot straight and stay safe!

The Ballistic Assistant

It’s been a couple of weeks since the last update but I have been busy in the reloading room. It has been nice to be able to spend some time back at the reloading bench and cranking out some ammunition. There really are two types of handloaders in this world, the first is the guy or gal who handloads just to spend more time at the range, and then there is the gal, or guy who spends time at the range so they can handload.

The older I get, the more I find myself to be the latter rather than the former. I just enjoy handloading. It is the repetitive process of it that I find to be somewhat soothing, and mind-calming. since it’s been a few weeks I’ll share some updates on a few loads I have been working on.

338 Spectre – 300gr SMK Subsonic

I am going to admit, I am a bit frustrated with this load right now. I do like the 338 Spectre because I think the cartridge has a lot of potential as a utility cartridge. A cartridge that allows you to basically shoot everything from super heavy subsonic bullets to light for caliber rounds. All in a handy AR-15 platform.

At least that is the idea and it’s an idea that works well when it works. Right now, I am having issues getting the rifle to run as I want it. To provide a bit of context, I bought the barrel for the rifle and completed the build about six years ago. However, since finishing the rifle I probably put less than 25rnds total down the barrel. Even then I had a few issues. However, circumstances did not allow me to really figure out what was going on.

Now I am digging into it. I am using 12.0gr of CFE BLK with a COAL of 2.250in. The rifle has very unreliable cycling. Even when cycling dummy rounds. Something is preventing the bolt from closing all the way and it’s not consistent. I made up some dummy rounds to check to see if the COAL was hanging up anywhere, I have tried different mags. Nothing seems to make sense.

If that was the only issue, I probably would not be as frustrated. The other issues, I have are off-center primer strikes (Usually not a problem in ARs) a single-pierced primer, which

could be a warning sign of excessive pressure, and lastly cracks on the brass that runs the length of the case. Sometimes when you have a lot of issues with a project it is good to step away and rethink things for a moment. The bolt does close about 95% of the way but you need to use the forward assist to close it the rest of the way, not ideal.

I think my next step will be to strip down the rifle and recheck everything. At this point I am thinking the ammunition, for the most part, is not solely responsible for everything I am seeing. If it was possible for me to get a box of SBR 338 Spectre ammo to test in the rifle I might, but they are sold out. Even still there is a good shot I email them for suggestions. I have never seen a case crack like the length of the body, so I am convinced there is something going on here that may not be entirely ammunition-related.

It’s a rifle I built, I am somewhat determined to get it purring like a kitten before I am done with it. Ultimately I’d like to provide some data for people looking to load for this cartridge as some of the data out there is a bit hard to read and is suspect.

45 ACP – 170gr Cast Hi-Tek Coated Target Loads

This is another project that has been a long time in the making. It started around the same time the 338 Spectre build did and then due to the very same circumstances, got shelved. I di pick it up about two years ago to start casting bullets and to play with the Hi-Tek Coatings but then again due to changes in employment and moves it got delayed. Well, we are finally here.

Some of this project has been detailed in previous write-ups. ( Hi-Tek Coating, Lee Die Issues) There have been a few challenges with this project. Namely, the mold was supposed to produce 155gr bullets not 170gr, (this could be alloyed related), learning how

to do the Hi-Tek coating was a bit of a process, and then having issues sizing them through the Lee Sizing Die really presented an unexpected challenge. I tried mixing up my own blend of Isopropyl Alcohol, Castor Oil, and Liquid Lanolin, which helped but still was not ideal.

Ultimately what broke this project loose was an opportunity to try ad new product developed to specifically solve this issue. That was AquaLube 3000, the kit can be purchased here. Very simple to mix up and it was a dry lubricant. Sizing the bullets was a breeze. I really am impressed by how big of a difference it made when sizing the Hi-Tek coated bullets. Just to give it the best chances at failing I purchased a brand new Lee Sizing die that had not been polished. Yet, it passed with flying colors. I am going to do a separate write-up on this later but, thanks to Mike for turning me on to this solution.

Since a good portion of my brass inventory is currently sitting in Texas, I co-worker of mine “lent” me about 750 pieces of 45 brass. I was very glad to receive it until I looked and saw most of it had crimped pockets. Since it was the only brass I had, I spent several hours swaging out primer pockets to rescue the brass from the scrap bin. I could have cut the swage out but used the RCBS on the Press Swaging tool because I had it, and I needed to do some testing on some new soon to be released product. So it was long and tedious, but I killed two birds with one stone.

Once the swaging was done, the sizing wax needed to be cleaned out of the primer pockets, so into the tumbler it went, and it came out excellent

pockets, so into the tumbler it went, and it came out excellent. 5lbs of Stainless Steel media, 1 gallon of water, 750 pieces of 45 Brass, about 3 capfuls of Frankford Arsenal Cleaner, and about 2hrs. Honestly, if you like your brass neat and shiny, wet tumbling and SS is about the only way to go. I only complain that my OCD necessitates I do a close inspection of the brass to make sure I don’t send SS pins down my barrel.

When developing pistol loads, I generally load for the economy. I am not loading the fastest, hottest load I can get. Rather I am usually looking for the lightest load that will reliably cycle both of my 45 pistols. A light bullet and a light powder charge are one way to do this, and I loaded these extremely light. Now, there are dangers in doing this, you open yourself up to the possibility of a squib load, or you can double charge a case and cause extremely high pressures. So you should be away of these dangers. A double charge of Bulleyes in this load will not get me above SAAMI Min Proof Individual, in fact, it’s quite close to +P pressures. Given both of my pistols and suppressors are rated for +P I have some margin of safety should there be a double charge.

I ended up settling on 4.5gn of Bullseye, which was enough to cycle both my MK23 and my HK45CT unsuppressed. The pistols cycled the loads suppressed as well. This makes for a fun day at the range of leisurely target shooting. When I get the velocity data, I will publish the loads in my load database. I am expecting the velocity to be around 650 to 700fps based on QuickLOAD estimates. I also find QuickLOAD to be optimistic so it would not surprise me to see that these bullets are dribbling out of the barrel at a measly 600fps.

Still with that said it will be nice to have a 50 Cal full of 45 ACP that I can haul around and have on hand for impromptu plinking. Something I used to do quite a bit but have had far less time to do as of late. I need to get some range time in to see how these loads do on paper and I’ll likely post another update after I have that figured out.

On to Other Things

Lots of other stuff going on in the world. Probably the most notable for me has been following the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. I really do not want to get into the particulars of the case. I do want to draw attention to the prosecution. Something that really stood out to me was how just about anything could be used against you.

This means we need to be very thoughtful about what we do. If we carry a firearm, how is it carried, what types of accessories do we have on it? For example, I have seen a lot of people put cute little Punisher backing plates on their Glock slides. I have talked to handloaders who “Roll their own” +P+++++ ammunition. Other people like to carry ammunition that is rather “Extreme” in design and does not follow the conventional Hollow Point design.

My point is not to tell you what to do have on your firearms or what to load your firearms with. That is a personal decision and is something you will likely decide on regardless. My only point is, if you are involved in a self defense shoot, it’s already a bad day. If for some reason you need to go to court and defend yourself over the shoot, it’s going to be a bad 18 months. If you give the prosecution all kinds of reasons to make you look like the worse, most blood thirty human being possible, it could be a bad life sentence.

Always think about how it will look to a jury. Remember that Jury is probably going to have very little firearms knowledge. Usually, people who do, are weeded out by the prosecution as part of jury selection. Always think, lowest common denominator, the person who has a high school education, and likely has seen a mixture of Law and Order SVU, super hero movies, played lots of Call of Duty, and probably has no idea what the difference is between FMJ and Hollow Point.

Anyway, that’s what I have for this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, the best way is to send me an email at jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.

As always, shoot straight and stay safe!

The Ballistic Assistant

Happy Monday, and boy has it been a Monday. Have you ever stopped and wondered what makes a Monday, a Monday? Is it just the nature of getting back into the routine of things again at work that takes a bit of getting up and doing? Or is there something inherently misfortunate about the first day of the workweek that really just seems to have a bit of a bite to it? It is something of a mystery to me, and judging by everyone else’s struggles, it is a mystery to them too.

There is a bit of good news. I have a few projects I am working on. These are continuations of previous projects. It’s hard for me to believe that about 5 years ago I built a 338 Spectre AR-15 rifle. While I have loaded and put a few rounds through it, I never really got to where I had a few good loads developed for it, nor did I get to really put the rifle through its paces. Not that the rifle is anything special. It is, what you might call, a “Franken gun”. It just so happened that the opportunity presented itself this weekend that I was able to kill a couple of birds with a single stone. I did a bit of product testing and I cracked open the 338 Spectre can of worms.

For those not familiar with the cartridge I did a write-up on it, which can be found here. It is very similar in concept to 300 Blackout, except it’s scaled up to 338 calibers. Designed to fire a 300 Sierra Match King at subsonic velocities. Unlike the 300 Blackout, pressures for this cartridge top out at 37,000psi. Some will say that you can push the pressures higher if you use 6.8 SPC brass, but I am not much of one to push the pressure envelope with my firearms. Energywise, it is similar to a 44 Magnum, but the ballistics are much better as you are able to use a wide range of bullet weights all designed with sleek ogives.

At this time the only source of barrels that I am aware of is from Southern Ballistic Research. The cartridge is proprietary to them and they do support it. I would love to have them chamber a 700 Rem barrel for this cartridge. They used to do it but I do not see it listed on their website currently. Muzzle pressures are similar to that of most pistols thus it is safe to use 9mm Suppressors. A coworker of mine suggested a 10.5in SBR with a can would make a very sweet and handy truck gun.

The loads I work up with all with a 300gr Serria Matchking. It just so happens I have tons of those bullets kicking around. They were pull-downs, so the jackets are a bit blemished. I am sure they would shoot fine from my 338 Lapua Magnum, but when you pay nearly $2.00 a shot, you just want to have the perfect bullet. Eventually, I will likely switch to a cast bullet with a Hi-Tek coating for the 300gr Subsonic Loads. A few mold makers offer an option and I would love to experiment with a 300gr cast projectile with a cavity in the nose.

My plan is to work up a few supersonic loads, I have not decided on what bullets I will use, but I will likely load with a 225gr solid copper. I have a bunch of factory second bullets designed for 338 Federal with very large open tips. I am curious to see if I can get some terminal performance from them in the 338 Spectre. I know Barnes Bullets makes some copper solids around 160-180gr, which might be an interesting load to try. I thought Liegh Defense was offering some super-light bullets around 130 or 110gr that I thought would be interesting but I do not see them listed.

I used 13.1gr of CFE BLK for this load. Burn speed for this powder is very close to A1680 which is an old standby powder for these subsonic loads. Mainly because the powder generates a lot of gas at comparatively low pressures. This gas volume is needed to cycle an AR-15 reliably. There really are only a few powders that work well for subsonic loads in AR platforms. CFE BLK, A1680, and Shooters World Blackout are the ones that come immediately to mind. Quickload estimated a bit north of 1100fps, and I generally find QuickLoad to be optimistic with velocities so I figure this would land me close to the 1050fps which is typically considered the upper threshold for subsonic loads.

When doing the first batch of 338 Spectre back nearly half a decade ago, I had issues with the cases cracking in the body after the first firing. These cracks went the full length of the body, rather than around the head which was odd. Prior to testing pulled the barrel off and then retorqued it. Hoping that maybe it was not seated right and the headspace was a bit long. I’ll be keeping a close eye on it as I test these loads, the brass is all the same, from the same lot of Starline brass I bought 5 years ago so if the issues crop up again, I am not sure what I will do. All part of the adventure. Maybe I’ll anneal the case necks, we will see.

The mag I had for the rifle was pulled apart and the follower was missing. Turns out a follower designed for a 223/556 cartridge does not work well in a magazine designed around 6.8 SPC. It was worth a shot. Function testing this load showed that the bullets were seated a bit long for reliable feeding in the mag and that the mag needed a proper follower. I’ll seat the bullets back a bit and swap out for the right components and try again. Since it was a function test I was not set up for velocities, I get those when I can get out to a proper range and actually get some shots downrange.

The reason I started the website was to share my passion for handloading and reloading. I have a few other projects that stray from this theme but honestly, it’s nice to return to the roots and share what I was able to do over the weekend. I am hoping to spend a good deal more time in the reloading room over the next few months so I hope to be able to bring a bit more content like this. I also hope that will spawn a few more write-ups and help others who might deal with the same problems.

Anyway, that’s what I have for this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, the best way is to send me an email at jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database, the instructions are here.

As always, shoot straight and stay safe!

The Ballistic Assistant