This last week has been a busy one for me. I have not been able to put a lot of time into the website. I do not have a book review to post for this week. It was something I wanted to do but we just ran out of time to get it finished. With that said we did go live with the SAAMI Shotshell Cartridge Catalog.
As someone who has only dabbled with shot shell reloading this was a fun catalog to put together. Shot shell cartridges have very low pressure compared to most other metallic cartridges. Faster burning powders, and powders with higher nitroglycerin contents are typical for powders specific for shot shell cartridges. These powders often cross over to many pistol calibers but not all powders that are suited for use in shotgun loads are good for pistol loads.
Much of this is due to the differences in service pressures, where shotgun powders are designed to burn optimally at 11,000 to 14,000psi, many pistol cartridges have a service pressures of 35,000psi. These differences can result in dangerous pressure spikes, and inconsistent loads. This is to say, a that pound of Green Dot sitting on the shelf is tempting to try in a pistol load, but it is not recommended.
I have accepted a new job in Alabama, which means we have one more move in us before we hit a long term home. Hopefully once there we can restart on some of the project’s we’ve been working on. The limbo that I’ve been in during the last few months has been difficult. These next few weeks promise to keep me pretty busy, but I’ll try and continue to make progress on keeping the site up to date.
As always if you are looking to get in touch, best way is to send me an email jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler (if they ever get back online) Facebook, Instagram, MeWe, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.
Good Monday morning! I hope everyone has had a good weekend; we had an interesting one. Unfortunately, interesting does not mean I got out to the shooting range. I hope to do that sometimes soon, it has been too long, and I need some trigger time. For this week we have a few website highlights that we have rolled out. First of the weekly book review.
Click on the photo to be taken to Amazon to purchase. A portion of the proceeds will go to helping support the website.
I really enjoyed Gunsmithing Modern Firearms for two reasons, the first being I can relate to the author. I am a left-handed shooter, who grew up in Vermont, and has a hobby that often exceeds my wallet. Secondly, he is not afraid to say, “I wrote this at the time, but looking back at it, here’s how I would have done it differently.” The book itself if well put together, and has many gems for people who do things on a shoestring budget, but want to do it right. I really appreciated the book and do recommended it for the budding gunsmith. You can read my full review here. Thoughts On: Gunsmithing Modern Firearms.
In keeping with the project I started on the SAAMI Pistol Cartridge Catalog, I have rolled out the SAAMI Rimfire Cartridge Catalog . Doing this project has really served two purposes, the first being to provide a slightly easier way to look up SAAMI Standards on cartridges. The second reason is to review the cartridges out there that have gain SAAMI recognition. It is not to say these are the only “Safe” or useful cartridges out there. Rather it is what the firearms industry has put into the money and effort to standardize which cartridges. Some of the pressures surprised me, frankly, I thought rimfire cartridges pressure wise were closer to shotgun pressures then modern pistol cartridges.
The last major update for this week is a write up on the 45 ACP cartridge. This is one of my favorite cartridges to load and shoot for. Not because I have any outdated notions of its ability to stop threats, rather I find it more pleasant to shoot then some of the other more modern cartridges out there. I am a big believer of carrying and practicing with a firearm that you enjoy shooting with, and in a cartridge, you enjoy shooting. For me, the 45 ACP has found that niche. If you would like to read my write up on the cartridges you can read it here: 45 ACP
With the website updates out of the way I wanted to take a moment to comment on some of the interesting news coming out of the firearms industry over the last few days. The first most notable event is the National Rifle Association has filed for bankruptcy. The NRA has committed that it will still honor all its memberships and it will still send out the monthly magazines. While I do not proport to be an expert in bankruptcy law, or for that matter finance, there are a few things I have learned about it being part of a couple companies that have gone bankrupt.
The first being, its bankruptcy is very often a good thing for a company, especially one that has been mismanaged and saddled with inordinate amounts of debt due to mismanagement. It does not seem like this is the case with the NRA. Rather it would seem it is a political or strategic move to restructure the organization and, in some way, facilitate its move to Texas. There is little doubt that some of this is in response to the investigation being conducted by the New York Attorney General into the NRA’s financial dealings.
If you have been following me for any length of time you will know I am not a huge fan of the leadership of the NRA. I think they are as crooked as crooked can be.
While some bankruptcies may lead to a restructuring of an organization, I would be surprised if that were the case in this instance. Perhaps I am being a bit cynical when I say that I believe this is a purely an attempt by the NRA to shake off some of the lawsuits and legal action being taken against them rather than to produce a change in leadership that would heal the fractured organization. Time will tell in terms of what will ultimately happen to America’s oldest civil rights organization.
Another thing that caught my eye was Winchester’s announcement of price increases for ammunition. Which started making rounds again despite the letter being dated in August 2020. They were not just increasing the price of future orders, but retroactively increasing prices for orders which had been placed but had yet to be fulfilled. Understandably this left a lot of consumers agitated.
While we are picking on Winchester for a letter dated in August 2020, we can expect similar market influences to increase ammunition prices across all the major brands.
While I think Winchester should honor sales made prior the increase in price announcements, I am not as alarmed by the increase. As we know, ammunition is largely made of metal, three primary metals are used in most of the ammunition manufactured, copper, zinc and lead. Well, I happen to be somewhat keen on the copper market as I worked for a time at a copper mine, and I do still consult for them. I know when the price of copper is high, business is likely to be good, and when it is low, less so. Right now, the price of copper is high. Excitingly so, at least for me.
Copper is a volatile commodity and there is no telling how long these high prices could last. We could see it drop next month, or it may be a year before the prices drop. A Copper Operation pictured to the left is where I continue to consult for and has been shutdown in part due to low copper price. The restart of this facility will produce at least a hundred jobs to a community that is severely lacking.
The last few weeks it has not been unusual to see copper hit $3.60/lb or higher. Last year this time, copper was below $2.70/lb. So, in the last few months we have seen copper price jump by almost 30%, which means the brass (70% of which is copper) and copper jackets all just cost at least that much more to make. It is good for the mining industry, but of course it depresses the ammunition industry.
While it is quite normal to see small increases in ammunition cost, especially when it comes to market inflation or increase market demand, Winchester’s increase seems to be more a response to an unplanned for increase in material cost, combine with high demand. The profit margin on ammunition is slim, it does not take much of an increase to wipe away that margin. The troubling thing with Winchesters approach is that it will likely set the price market wide. Smaller manufacturers look to larger manufacturers when it comes to price setting to be competitive. If Winchester can get away with a 10% or 30% increase on some product lines, then a smaller manufacturer is likely to try and increase prices as well.
Due to the political climate, it is likely we will continue to see the price and demand remain high. This is somewhat a uniquely United States issue, as those north of us, or those across the pond do not see ammunition and component shortages on the scale that we witness here. Undoubtedly, we will see the emergence of a new “bubble” where manufacturers begin to get used to selling everything they can possibly make. Especially if the Biden/Harris Administration are elected to a second term. With the unpredictable nature of politics and the resulting market fluctuations it is unlikely that we will see significant expansion in the production of primers or powders to respond to market demand. Too many people in the industry are still sore from the 2016 – 2017 market crash the industry experienced and are not too keen for a repeat.
Alternative case technologies like the one produced by Shell Shock Technologies may be poised to increase market share should copper prices remain high.
What we are likely to see is the continued mainstreaming of alternate cartridge case material. This maybe the polymer cases that companies like True Velocity, Nammo, and PCP have been marketing. Or it could be steel, aluminum or, composite three-piece cartridge cases that SIG, and Shell Shock Technologies produce. I suspect it in the coming years this marketplace will become more and more competitive, especially if the cost of copper remains high. This is especially true if alternative case technology gets adopted by the US Military, as what gets adopted by the military usually receives a significant boost into being a commercial success.
Regardless of what happens we have had an interesting start to the year and the next four years are going shaping up to be quite interesting. As always if you are looking to get in touch, best way is to send me an email jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler (if they ever get back online) Facebook, Instagram, MeWe, and Reddit. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.
What a week it has been. My goodness, I for one was hoping 2021 would settle things down a bit, but alas it seems there is a few more parting shots to be had. I have been sorely tempted to do some form of write up on my thoughts on what took place over the last week but have not been able to find the right words. I will leave it at this, as an ardent supporter of the Constitution, I do not believe the individuals responsible for the sacking of the Capital were justified in doing so, and I believe what they did will ultimately be used as the impetus for further curtailing of civil liberties. This is deeply troubling to me. Enough said.
For our book highlight of the week, we have The ABC’s of Reloading. I own a copy of the 8th Edition and have written my thoughts based on that, there is a 9th Edition available. I do not know how the two editions differ but either way, it is a worth adding to your library. Especially if you are looking at getting into reloading for the first time. You can check out the write up here: Thoughts On -The ABC’s of Reloading
Clicking on the photo will take you to Amazon.com to purchase the book. A small portion of the sale will help support the site at no cost to you.
As I was doing some research for the 303 British write up, I stumbled on CartridgeCollectors.net. There is some good information here on wildcat, obsolete and rare cartridges. This includes images and information regarding headstamps. In doing some exploring on the website, I found a link to CartridgeCollectors.org which is a membership site dedicated to the collecting of ammunition and cartridges, however much of the information requires a subscription to access.
We have added a new reference to the site, this is the SAAMI Pistol Cartridge Catalog. Here we list out the Pistol Cartridges Recognized by SAAMI, provide the SAAMI Print, and a quick summery for each cartridge. The aim of this is to make it an easy reference. I plan on doing something similar for Rifles, Shotguns and Rimfire in the future. We may expand on these catalogs in the future.
The last piece of content we added to the site was a write up regarding the 303 British. This storied cartridge makes my list of favorite cartridges. I was introduced to this cartridge when I bought my first rifle and have developed a fondness for it. You can read my thoughts on it here: 303 British.
We have continued to make some progress on finishing up the Pistol & Shotgun Smokeless Catalog. I have a bit more to do in order to get things completely wrapped up, I’ll continue to work on it, and hope to have it completely finished before the end of the month.
That is all I for the updates this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, best way is to send me an email jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, MeWe, and Reddit If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.
Happy New Year! Honestly, I’m what they call a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to holidays. I did not stay up to midnight, or do anything special. Went to bed the usual time and woke up the next day as per the usual. The only difference to me was having to remember to write 2021 on everything. We have been working on bringing new content to the website, here’s some of what went live last week.
If you are like me and are a fan of military surplus rifles, you may appreciate this book. I bought this book as I wanted to get a better understanding on what I could do to tighten up the groups on my Lee Enfield. I found it to be extremely helpful with some idea’s that I would never had thought of on my own. You can read my full thoughts on the book here. Thoughts On: The 2012 Complete Book on Lee Enfield Accurizing
Clicking on this picture will take you to Amazon to purchase the book. A small percentage of the sale will help to support the website.
We continue work on the Shotgun & Pistol Powder Catalog it’s not quite 100% where I want it before moving on to the Magnum Pistol Powder Catalog, if you have not checked it out please do. In the future we will be adding individual entries that will have additional information such as densities and pictures of the grain. We just want to get the majority of the powders listed.
I continue to do write ups on some of my favorite cartridge. This week we’ve taken a look at the 338 Spectre, a proprietary cartridge that is supported primarily by Southern Ballistic Research (SBR). I’ve done a bit of work with it, built an AR chambered in it, done some initial load work ups, but am not done playing with it yet. It’s a fun cartridge that offers a bit more versatility then some wildcat cartridge’s out there.
In keeping with the cartridge highlights, I have set up a page regarding some of my Favorite Firearms and Firearms of Interest. The rules are the same, if I own and enjoy shooting it, it becomes a Favorite Firearm, (Some guns I own, are more of a “meh” and do not make the list) if I’m interested in the firearm but do not own it, it’s a firearm of interest. I do a fair amount of research into the firearms I own, and the ones I’m interested in. So this is an opportunity for me to share it with everyone, who may have similar interests.
That is all I for the updates this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, best way is to send me an email jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, MeWe, and Reddit If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.
This is the last website update for 2020. Thankfully, 2020 is almost over. It has been a year for the record books, and I do not think anyone has been spared. We have had our fair share of challenges. However we had made a lot of progress on the website in the past year, adding more content, working on making it a bit more useful as a resource. We’ve also had some great conversations with people. I am working on formatting them to add to the mail bag session.
As for our library, we wrote up a review on an old classic. This book is one that should be in everyone’s library, as a reference on how it used to be done, and in some places still done. Thoughts On: Advance Gunsmithing
Click on the photo to purchase this book through Amazon, we earn a small commission off purchases when books are purchased through the links provided at no cost to you. An easy way to support the site.
We also did some updates to the powder burn rate chart. Expect to get a few more updates in the future. Somehow I missed a lot of the new IMR pistol and Shotgun powders introduced in 2017, those have been added in there proper positions. Powder Burn Rate Chart Update 12-22-2020
One thing that has bothered me since I launched the site was the powder catalog. I intended for it to be one thing, but realized that I may have bit off a bit more then I could chew. So I rethought the approach and began to rework it. There is quite a bit of work that goes into the catalog, we are approaching 600 powders on the burn rate chart, and each one will need an entry at some point.
We are starting with the faster burning Pistol and Shotgun Powders. This is still a work in progress, given the complexity of it, we wanted to get to a point where we could go live, and continue to work on it. Here’s where we are at so far. Pistol and Shotgun Powder Catalog
In doing the research for the Pistol and Shotgun Powder Catalog I found a new online resource which I’ve included in the resource section of the site. This site has some great images of powder and the canisters they come in. I expect to use them more in the future. In the mean time, take a moment to check it out, you won’t be disappointed. National Center for Forensic Science Powder Database .
We have also kicked off a new page, with the hopes you’ll get to know us a bit better through the cartridges that interest us. Here’s the new page Favorite Cartridge’s and Cartridge’s of Interest . I plan on doing a write up on each of the cartridges, going on an in-depth exploration and discussion on each one. We kicked it off with this one 30mmx173 Write Up.
If you’ve been looking for a 30mmx173 print, I’ve managed to put one together for you viewing pleasure. Clink on the image to download the PDF.
In firearm news the ATF has pulled down the request for comments on the pistol braces. The firearms community is celebrating it as a win, that the 48,000 comments resulted in the ATF backing down. This celebration bothers me a bit as that is not how I am reading this at all.
Yes, in my free time I’ve been known to play a few sessions of “Among Us”
Gun control is often called the “third rail” in American politics. Rightfully so, it’s a charged issue for both proponents and opponents of the issue. Opponents are looking to score a political win and will use such wins to raise money and clout. I suspect there are a few things happening here, none of them have to do with the pushback the firearms community mustered.
The incoming administration asked the ATF to hold off, with plans to reintroduced the ban sans the $200 amnesty as an executive order. Much how the bumps tock ban was handled. This would be an easy win for the Biden administration and they can hold it out as a totem to supporters to say “See we stood up to the gun lobby”
The ban will show up in a new Assaults Weapons Ban push. Executive orders (EO) last as long as the administration is in power, a new administration can reverse any EO, including an EO on bump stock bans. So codifying it in legislation means that the only way it can be removed is through future amendments to the bill. Again, it’s unlikely we will see any sort of amnesty or “Understanding” and “Good Faith” as was being proposed by the ATF.
Someone caught on that offering to waive a $200 tax stamp is going to cost a lot of money. Think about it, if 100,000 people decide they want to take the ATF up on it’s offer, register their pistol brace equipped firearms as SBR’s that will result in a $20,000,000 loss to the ATF. If the ATF proposes the amnesty and then backs off of it when it enacts the guidelines, then they can expect to spend close to that in lawsuits. It placed the ATF in a no win situation. (If this route is offered, please consider putting a proper stock on the firearm and turn it into a true SBR. I think you’ll be much happier then continuing to use a pistol brace)
So yes, while people are celebrating the fact that ATF has pulled the proposed rule. I am less optimistic. This may make me a geek, but when I read the news the ATF was rescinding their proposed rule change the following meme captured my immediate thoughts.
Alec Guinness knew what was up, this is true of sand people, internet trolls, and Shannon Watts
The next time we do a formal website update we will be in 2021. I suspect many will celebrate the end of 2020, as it has been a rough year for everyone who participated. We will see what 2021 holds, whether or not things begin to return to 2019 levels of lunacy, or if we end up at some weird “New normal”. We will see if things like, the COVID vaccine can weather virus mutations, how many EO’s are enacted that further restrict Rights, what kind of backwards logic legislators try to cram down our throats, and whether or not the GOP can hold the senate.
Either way, we will keep on, keeping on. There is plenty of work to do on the website, plenty of infomation out there to collate, research, organize and present, and hopefully at some point we will get the site to where it is a halfway decent resource for the firearms community.
As always if you are looking to get in touch, best way is to send me an email jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, MeWe, and Reddit If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.
Good Monday Evening! We have had a busy week for the website. I have spent a lot of time behind the computer working on a few different things. When I took a break, I usually took a break to work on something website related. So first thing is first, we are rolling out a new resource The Ballistic Library .
This is my library of books that I have sitting on the shelf. I have collected them over the years and have read through them. Sometimes they are quite good and sometimes they are not as good as I would have liked. Either way, there they sit. This library will hopefully help people looking to build their own libraries. I am working on writing reviews for each entry, so you will know what you are getting. The first three reviews I’ve linked below.
The library is also a means to help support the site. Clicking on the links will take you to Amazon, where if you make a purchase, we will get a percentage at no extra cost to yourself. In the future we would like to build affiliate programs with Brownell’s, Natchez and Midway USA, so we can all keep the money within the firearms community, however we are still too small of a site to qualify. All in good time.
The second feature I’ve added is a commentary or opinion page. There is a lot that happens in the firearms world. New guns, new ammo, and an ever changing political landscape. Sometimes something bugs me, and I just need to get my opinion out there or want to highlight something I think is of particular importance. Often times these “Commentaries” are not related specifically to a project, or fit neatly into a category. So for this I have created Jay’s Commentary.
The first entry into Jay’s Commentary is a piece I wrote called What’s the Deal With Pistol Braces? Personally I do not agree with the stance that is being taken by many in the industry. I do not think it helps us at all to make this issue the hill we die on, as some seem to be willing to do. Not when we have a possible assault weapons ban on the horizon, and especially not when we are the ones who more or less abused what was suppose to be an aid to our wounded vets. Let’s focus on solving the real problem, the NFA, not quibble over poorly devised work arounds that pistol braces have come to represent.
I know that’s going to be a stick in some people’s craw that I am not jumping on board with both feet, but my position has not changed from when the issue was with bump stocks. People openly flaunted the law, openly discussed purchasing pistol braces as a means to get around the NFA. What did they expect to happen? As I said real victims here are the vets who benefitted from the legitimate use of these braces.
The new making the rounds that I really wanted to highlight was a new firearm rumored release coming from Kel-Tec. It appears they may have been planning a SHOT Show 2021 release of a new pistol referred to as the P50. The only teaser image I have seen is shown below.
I would appear to be a pistol based on using the P90 style magazines and firing the 5.7x28mm round which has becoming increasingly more popular as of late.
Besides this image which has been reported on by many sites, there is little be found in the way of information. What surely must be a very front heavy pistol it will be interesting to see how practical this thing is. Kel-Tec has always made some interesting firearms, and I have not heard much bad about them, except to say they seem to have supply issues, meaning they cannot build them fast enough. As a company that’s not always a bad problem to have.
Given this is probably the third or forth US Firearm to be commercially manufactured to fire the 5.7x28mm it will be interesting to see if there is a company that will submit it to for standardization. It remains a CIP cartridge, and CIP standards are likely being followed by those who manufacture for it. Since a special lacquer is applied to the outside of the case in order to aid in feeding, it would be interesting to see how SAAMI incorporates this in the standard. CIP makes no mention of the coating, SAAMI may follow suit…we will see.
By the way here are some cartridges that have recently submitted to SAAMI which are of note (The full list can be found here);
SIG 277 Fury – SAAMI MAP of 80,000psi – 135gr@3000fps from 16in Barrel
Special notes on the drawing advise that cartridge case and firearm must be of special design to handle the high pressure.
12 Gauge 1 3/4 Shot Shells – SAAMI MAP of 11,500psi – 1oz slug @1200fps from 30in barrel
Introduces a new chamber, which may mean we’ll see some “short” action shotguns?
6.8 Western – SAAMI MAP of 65,000psi – 175gr @2840fps from 24in Barrel
Looks to be a new short action cartridge.
6.5 Weatherby Rebated Precision Magnum – 140gr@3,075fps from 24in barrel
Curious as to why Weatherby went with a rebated rim?
That is all I have for this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, best way is to send me an email jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, MeWe, and Reddit If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.
We are halfway through December and about two weeks left of 2020. 2020 has been both the longest and shortest decade of my life. It seems like this year has both dragged on and blazed by at the same time. Sad to say, it does not look like 2021 is shaping up to be much of a better, at least not as far as the firearms community is concerned.
The news that has been breaking over the weekend concerning the ATF’s raids on Polymer 80 has many of us concerned as to what the future might hold for 80% firearm receivers. From everything I have read, what seems to have the ATF’s ire is the kit being offered by Polymer 80 which included not just an 80% pistol frame, but also the jigs, tools, and parts needed to complete the pistol.
The frustrating part of this is the fact that the law has long been that the part considered a firearm, the frame or receiver, is the only part that requires a background check. Every other component in that kit can be purchased online/over the counter without any sort of paper work. If the frame or receiver is unfinished, or deemed to need at least 20% more work to finish it, then it is lawful to purchase it without filling out a 4473. The precedent that the ATF is trying to set is that “A kit” of parts and tools, accompanying a 80% firearm is essentially the same as a 81% firearm and should be treated the same. We know it’s only these kits, as that the only thing they’ve targeted, the rest of the Polymer 80 inventory is on sale right now.
The ATF is going so far as to request customer records, and then tracking down customers who have purchased these kits and demanding forfeiture in lieu of a obtaining a warrant and searching a homeowners house. If I was someone who had purchased on of these kits, and the ATF came up to my door demanding I hand it over or they will get a warrant to tear through my house, I would be inclined to turn it over. I completely understand where owners are coming from.
I strongly suspect we can see more of these shenanigan’s from the ATF over the next few years. Unfortunately there are lawyers who take definitions and laws which seem pretty clear to you and I, but argue to form these legal grey area’s. All it takes is one court case and a willing judge to redefine a that serves to only burden the law abiding. The frustrating part is it can take years and large amounts of $$$ for cases like these to work their way through the legal system. It’s all politically motivated garbage, that just further infuriate those in the firearms community.
If I was to guess what we are going to see in the next four years, here is my list.
ATF redefining a pistol brace to a stock, and classifying any weapon with a pistol brace an illegal SBR. (Before you think I’m going a bit far, look at what they did with Bump stocks…)
Reinterpreting the definition of pistol in order to limit the importation of firearms which currently fall under the “Pistol” version of long arms. This would include weapons like the CZ Scorpion EVO, AR-15 variants, and PCC pistol configurations.
Another hard look at M855 ammunition, that has long enjoyed a sporting exemption. This came under fire back in 2015/2016 but ultimately retain its exemption.
A further slow down in NFA transfers. Current wait times for paper transfers are around 9 to 12 months, while electronic transfers typically take 1 to 2 months. It would not at all surprise me to see the ATF change it’s rules on individual ownership and trusts to further burden the process.
A hard look at the definition of 80% and homemade firearms. This includes 3D Printing or sharing of CAD models, and prints online.
I also anticipate we will see at least one or two more big pushes for a so called “Assault” Weapons Ban (AWB) in the first two years of a Biden/Harris administration. Two years from now, are elections which are projected to be favorable to the GOP. If this election was any indication, we are likely to see the House flip Red, which will help (not totally prevent) any sort of AWB from being enacted. If the GOP retains the Senate in January, we may stand a better chance at preventing an AWB, but I would not bet a dime on it. There are two many GOP senators which are pretty tepid on firearms.
From all indications should an AWB come to the floor in the House, it will far more reaching and more restrictive then the 1994 bill that expired in 2004. While many in the firearms community will cast their hopes to the conservative majority on the Supreme Court, this is not the sure bulwark some believe it to be. If the Bills that have been submitted in the past are any indication, we can expect pretty much every semi-automatic rifle, most shotguns and a good deal of pistols to be affected by this change. It is unclear to me at this time if there is any grandfather provisions for existing firearms.
Biden has already announced his support for $200 tax stamp on firearms that fall under these arbitrary Assault Weapon definitions and are in current circulation. Further more he wants to enact a tax stamp on each magazine that holds over 10 rounds. Ten mags, that is $2,000 dollars, in tax stamps. I think I tallied it up, and I was well over $10,000 in tax stamps for what I owned should this legislation go through. My collection is not all that big compared to many I know. Do not lie to yourself, they know full well the impact of this legislation will create a financial burden so large for most firearm owners, that firearm owners will opt to destroy their mags, hide them, or turn them in. Which ever you do, it has the same effect, removing these magazines out of circulation.
Unfortunately it is hard to talk about firearms and stay completely out of politics because the two have become so intertwined, to the point what is legal one year, can turn you into a felon in the next year if you are not paying attention. Being involved with organizations like the Gun Owners of America, or the 2nd Amendment Foundation is about the only way to keep tabs on what’s going on.
As far as other news goes, I have been quite busy with trying to find some work. Both of my consulting contracts have fallen through, one permanently the other one has just been delayed. In the mean time we’ve still got bills to pay and lives to live and all that takes a bit of money. So I’ve become a full time job seeker, at least until things pick back up again. That has once again put a bit of a delay on some of my other projects. We’ll continue to work on them as we have time and post updates here.
As always if you are looking to get in touch, best way is to send me an email jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, MeWe, and Reddit If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.
I was reviewing some of the draft write ups I had been working on and realized I did not publish the first sight in attempt on the VZ-58. I have since corrected that issue, the write up is now live and can be accessed at the following link.
For me the big news actually comes from a sister site my wife and I have been working on. We have been wanting to set up a business offering freeze dried goods for sometime. However we now just pulled the trigger on it and the site went live this past Friday. We approach freeze drying a bit differently, where we do not freeze dry meals, but all of the ingredients so you can make your own meals. It’s a new site, we’re still working through proofing and setting things but it is live and we’ve been processing orders. You can check out the site here.
As far as firearms news, it’s been fairly quite over the last week, I have not seen any big announcements or new releases. I’ve been busy helping my wife with the site so I have not had time for much else. Weather wise it rained a good part of last week so even in the little free time I had I was not able to get out to test fly the drone. It’ll all happen in good time.
Just a short update for this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, best way is to send me an email jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, MeWe, and Reddit If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.
Jay’s Note to the Reader; When I originally wrote this post my impression of “How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety” was taken at face value. The cover of the book was good for at least one laugh, which it got from this gun toting, feline loving, bearded guy. However a reader informed me that the contents of the book is far less innocent. Having not read the book myself, I cannot endorse it, nor can I endorse it’s contents. As I have researched it further, I believe the Author intended this to be a satirical commentary on Alt-Right issues, and this is reinforced when examining The American Association of Patriots website. Either way, whether is satire or not, it is not wholly consistent with the theme of this website. I have made the decision to remove the Amazon link to the product and have added this commentary. Take the cover at face value, it’s good for at least one smile….after all that was my original intent.
Good Cyber Monday! I’ve been busy over the last week and do have some updates that went live. Before we get into it, here’s something that is bound to make you smile.
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We are working on getting affiliate programs set up for this website, and some of the other websites we’ve been working on. Amazon is probably the most well known affiliate program and easiest to set up as they do not have a minimum traffic requirement. We tried to apply for the Brownell’s affiliate program but were turned down due to limited traffic. Obviously we’d like to support the industry when ever we can, so we’ll continue to work on the website and reapply after we have grown a bit.
We looked at doing a Patreon, but I could not justify doing it. I am not set up to do exclusive content. We do not particularly like website banners, flashing advertisements, or popup windows. Instead will look at providing links to some of the items we like or we use in projects or around in our reloading room. We will see how this works, hopefully we will raise a little money for our next rifle build.
We have also updated the Burn Rate Chart to include two additional powders that somehow we missed. N555, and Sport Pistol. N555 is a slower burning double based rifle powder marketed by Vihtavuori. It is most suitable for 6.5 Creedmoor, or similar cartridges. Sport Pistol is an Alliant powder, with a burn speed similar to that of Bullseye, depending on the load it is either a very similar burn speed or a little slower. Remember a burn rate chart indicates relative burn speed, and should not be the primary source for developing loads.
There is just not enough room for the camera and wires. It’s hard model the amount of space you’ll need for wires, and I’ve made several attempts at trying to route them better but it’s a mess with no easy fix.
In other project news, we’ve received the final parts for the drone and are working out a few of the final bugs before the test flight. I hope to have that initial flight this week weather pending. We’ve already seen the limitations of the current design, namely it’s a bit small to fit everything we wanted in it. I’ve already finished the initial redesign of the airframe, which we have dubbed Spear XL.
I am working on a write up detailing this new airframe, but suffice it to say it’s larger, and will provide the space needed for a camera.
We’d like to thank the folks over at reddit, the website really blew up this week as the link to the VZ-58 build was shared there. There are a few loose ends we need to tie up to completely finish that project. We are hoping to finish that up in the next few months. It’s been a popular project, and we are looking forward to tackling our next rifle build.
Lastly, we added a new section to the website that was suggested by one of our subscribers. We added a Mail Bag section. You can submit questions, topics or suggestions to the website through the contact form listed. This saves a step, as you do not have to open a email client. Secondly we will begin posting some of these conversations. Of course we will protect your privacy, first names only and we will not share your email address.
As always if you are looking to get in touch, best way is to send me an email jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and I am also on MeWe, and now we’re on Reddit If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here.
It’s the Monday before Thanksgiving, and there’s a lot to be thankful for. I’m not sure if it’s been an eventful year because of the pandemic or if it’s been an eventful year despite the pandemic. Either way it’s been a hell of a ride. We appreciate everyone who’s stuck with us.
I cannot remember if I mentioned the news about the 2021 SHOT Show being cancelled. It happened around the time we were moving, and getting settled in. So many of the big announcements that were likely being saved for the SHOT Show are being trickled out now. (This actually has been the industry norm for sometime, but more so now that SHOT is not happening)
Vihtavuori has release the N550 power. This is an addition to their N series of powders which are double based rifle powders. They cover the full burn rate from fast burning rifle powers and slow burning magnum powders. I personally am a fan of N570 in 338 Lapua as it is one of the few powders I can hit 2700fps with 300gr pill and a 24in barrel. However N570 is difficult to meter with traditional powder throwers, N565 is suppose to be and improvement but I have not tried it yet. You can find more information on their N500 series of powders here.
There continues to be waves made about True Velocity’s ammunition. Last years SHOT Show had the announcement that they were teaming up with Sierra Bullets to offer a line of polymer cased ammunition for the commercial market. These cases are a bit unique as they have a steel case head, with a polymer case molded around the head. The more current news is they are joining SAAMI as a voting member, and they are working with both Australian and the US Military. All of this was reported by The Firearms Blog.
Having True Velocity as a member of SAAMI is likely a very good thing for the industry. Since SAAMI establishes voluntary guidelines that the majority of US Manufactures adhere to, we are likely to see some new SAAMI guidelines on the manufacture and testing of polymer cases. The big benefit to polymer cases over brass is the weight and the reduced cost. It might not seem a big deal to hunters, but to soldiers on the ground, a load out of 200+ rounds weighs a fair amount. Reducing that by 60%+ is potentially a big deal and could allow a solider to carry more ammunition, or maintain the same load out, and cover ground faster with less fatigue.
6.8 TVCM cartridge that is currently in trials. It is a rather unique design, kind of a hybrid between caseless ammunition designs I’ve seen and conventional ammunition. On the plus side, apparently the case is biodegradable…well the plastic is, the steel head will be around for awhile.
A year ago (I know it was an eternity ago) Sig Sauer was promoting their new 3 part case design in the 277 Fury, which boasts a service pressure of 80kpsi and uses a combination of steel and brass to lighten the ammunition while boosting performance. True Velocity is promoting their 6.8TVCM for military contracts and it seems they are trying to compete somewhat with the Sig 277 Fury, as this has been their statement to multiple publications.
True Velocity’s ammunition – and particularly our 6.8 TVCM cartridge – are changing the paradigm,” Tedford said. “It turns out you don’t have to operate at unsafe chamber pressures in order to generate increased velocity, enhanced terminal performance and improved accuracy. Our cartridge achieves all of these things, while maintaining safe operating pressures and drastically reducing the overall cartridge weight.”
True Velocity President Chris Tedford
Personally I still see some limitations of polymer case ammunition, which will not be foreign to anyone who is familiar with firearms design and their workings. For one, the spent cartridge case acts as a heat sink and by ejecting the case you are ejecting a lot of latent heat that would otherwise be soaked up by the chamber. This is one of the design failures of most caseless ammunition. Plastic is not a particularly good conductor of heat, so what mechanism will be that heat sink and allow for sustained fire without over heating the barrel? Is the steel case head a sufficient heat sink? The second problem I have is the melting point of most polymers is well within operational temps of many automatics. What does this ammunition do when it is left in a hot chamber at the end of a firefight? None of these issues are groundbreaking revelations, I’m just curious as to the solution.
It is still something to see if polymer cased ammunition is accepted in the commercial market. I for one have preference for ammunition that I can reload. I will pay a little extra to buy Boxer primed ammunition over Berdan primed ammunition, unless I’m tight on cash, and low on reloads, it would be hard for me to justify purchasing poly cased ammo. Further more a lot of people see polymerization of many items lessens the quality of that item. It took time before polymer framed firearms became the mainstay of the firearms world, and people still dog on the introduction of polymer framed variations of their metallic counterparts. I suspect a good deal of the market may be like that until the it is adopted in some form or fashion by the US Military. Like it or not, when it comes to trends in firearms the success or failure in US Military trials has a big weigh in on whether or not a new idea gains steam or falters.
Bringing this back home to updates on projects. We are 95% of the way there on conducting our first test flight. We received the spare batteries and props from Flite Test today. I am waiting on an airspeed sensor. The original one I ordered, I couldn’t get to work with the Pixhawk Cube flight controller. I’m still not sure why, but I ordered another one from a different company so we will see. Should arrive this week, maybe next if USPS is as slow as it was on this last package.
We ordered a few different types of props to see how they might differ in performance. We will be able to track this and other performance characteristics with the flight logs kept by the flight controller.
The construction of the thing has been a small lesson on trying to get lots of different components to talk and work together. It has been a bit of a challenge and it has been fun. We’ll have a write up detailing some of these challenges and also what our solutions were. We will also include the results of the first few flights, or first flight if we crash. We still have to add in the airspeed sensor and perform some final calibrations prior to that. Exciting times.
That is all for this week. As always if you are looking to get in touch, best way is to send me an email jay@theballisticassistant.com. You may check us out on Parler, Facebook, Instagram, and I am also on MeWe, but I have not done much with it yet. If you’d like to submit a load to our load database the instructions are here. I may be updating this form in the future to streamline the submission, for now continue to use the spreadsheet.
