Category: Uncategorized

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

Well, the past week has been an interesting one, to say the least. If you have been paying attention to the news, you have likely seen a few interesting news stories involving firearms. As you may imagine I have a few thoughts. Smith and Wesson also announced a safety recall on their new shotgun, three months or so, after it was first announced. So there are a few things to cover.

I think the most eyebrow-raising thing that came across the news feed this week was the negligent discharge (ND) of a firearm on the movie set “Rust”. Unfortunately, this resulted in the death of one Cinematographer and the injury of a Producer. The details of this shooting are slowly coming out and it is likely we will not know the full story for at least a few weeks or months. This means we all should be slow to make any full judgments of who was right or who was wrong.

Because I am in the same boat as all of you and do not know anything other than what has been published, I am going to refrain from assuming what happened. However I will note a few things about blanks, and about the shooting communities reaction, of which I have been somewhat disturbed by. As it would happen I am in the middle of a project where I am developing blanks for a commercial project so this story hit home for me in more than one way.

Many surplus blanks have a cardboard or wax plug that serves two main purposes:

1. Retain the powder
2. Create pressure within the chamber

It is more common nowadays to use some sort of crimp to crimp the case mouth close. The crimp accomplishes the same thing that a cardboard or wax plug did previously. This means that blanks are usually pretty obvious to someone who has handled ammunition before. However, we also know that live rounds, in this case, ammunition with a loaded projectile, have a tendency to find their way into the chamber of a firearm. It is just something that everyone needs to be aware of. This is why multiple levels of checks must be performed prior to declaring a firearm “cold”.

However, the danger is not only from a live round finding its way into the chamber. The danger can also come from debris that has found its way into the muzzle or chamber area. Debris in the form of brass shavings, dirt, cleaning patches, even the cardboard or wax plug used to seal the blank can become a projectile. Let alone the gas pressure can become a hazard in itself. We should never assume that the gas pressure in the blank is “safe”.

Chamber pressures in blank cartridges may reach 15 to 20kpsi. These are far below what the service pressure maybe, but can still result in muzzle pressures in excess of 1kpsi. Not to mention that the powders used to create blanks tend to be fast-burning pistol powders. Because of the lower chamber pressure, caused by the relatively light impedance and crimp or a plug offers, a substantial amount of powder may exit the muzzle burning. This can create a bright flash and can cause powder burns.

We do not know all of the details of the ND that happened on the movie set of Rust. Whether it was a blank that propelled a bit of debris down the barrel, or if it was live ammunition. Either way, we can definitely say that some level of negligence occurred which resulted in the unfortunate loss of life. This is a point that I wish we focused on more in the firearms community.

We all know that the Hollywood Elites are venomously anti-gun. Often what they say, is not only wrong, but it can be outright insulting to us. The amount of money that is donated to groups that support the effectual abolishment of the 2nd Amendment that comes from this crowd is likely well in the millions per year. We also recognize that there is a certain amount of hypocrisy that is taking place, as blockbuster movies are made with firearms. Those movies could not be the “action-packed” thrillers without the use of the very same firearms that Hollywood seeks to ban the common man from owning.

With those things at the forefront of our minds, we should not gloat over this tragedy. At the end of the day, an innocent woman lost her life leaving behind a son, and a husband. A producer was injured, an actor now has to live with the act. There is no other way to say this, it is a tragedy, and we should recognize it as such. It is a valuable reminder to us that every safety rule is written in blood. We can disagree, without being disagreeable. The insensitive memes and the disparaging comments coming from many in our community are somewhat disheartening and paint us all in a bad light.

I think I have said my piece there. We will find out more details about this incident in the future. Already a few studios are announcing that they will no longer use live firearms, instead opting for airsoft models. Honestly, with the quality of the airsoft replicas on the market, I think that is probably a smart move by the studios. I can only hope that when the special effect guys/gals go in and touch up for muzzle flash they can also add in the brass flipping out of the gun. While they are at it if they could touch up the linked ammo on belt-fed guns. I notice the primers are often missing from the rounds, if the CGI folks could touch up the primer pockets so the cartridges actually have CGI primers in the back end, I’d appreciate it. It’s the small details…

The other story that caught my eye was the Smith and Wesson recall on their new KSG like a shotgun. I call it KSG like, because of the external similarities, even though the internals are pretty unique to this firearm.

The recall has been prompted by a few instances of cracked barrels. Apparently, it only affects shotguns that were manufactured prior to October 15, 2021. This is pretty much the majority of the firearms on the market since this shotgun was announced around the end of August. That may be part of the good news, the issue was caught early in the production series. However, it only solidifies my belief that you never buy the first version of any new product. This is more than likely a heat-treating or other metallurgical issue. If you have one of these shotguns, it would be prudent to send it in and get the barrel swapped out.

Well, that is 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 has been a few weeks since the last update. I was on the road for about two of those weeks. First time driving up from the South to the NorthEast. I found it to be a fairly decent drive. Spent a few days in New Jersey at a machine shop to sign off on some new product coming off the line. This will be announced on CreedmoorSport.com when it becomes available and I will do a write-up article explaining the development and its production. I am pretty excited about it.

Since getting back to Alabama I have been rushing around playing catch up which accounts for the rest of my absence. The weather here in Alabama is, as a friend of mine put it, “Fat Boy Weather.” As a naturally raised Yankee who happens to be horizontally challenged (for the moment), this weather is much appreciated. I actually believe it is getting to be perfect casting weather. Too bad half of my equipment is currently in Texas. We will hopefully get all of that consolidated here in November and then start doing so more casting projects in December.

As far as industry news goes, there is a lot that has been happening. Right now it is SHOT Show registration. If you are going, or have people you would like to go to, nows is the time to get in. If you were hoping to check out the Sig Sauer booth, unfortunately, they will not be going this year, however, Vista Outdoors has expanded their booth to cover the vacuum that Sig will be leaving. With COVID a big part of the news, it will be interesting to see who will and who will not be there. When Sig made the announcement that they were pulling out, SHOT was suddenly up in the air for a few days, but I think with Vista Outdoors doubling down, we are likely to see it happen this year. I will be going this year, there will be some writes up that come out of this year, and I’m excited to be able to put those together.

The other piece of news that caught my attention was Hodgdon closing the last domestic Black Powder Manufacturer in the United States. Goex powder has been with us for well over 200 years and Hodgdon announce, rather unexpectedly, that they were closing the plant in Camp Minden, Louisianna. Unfortunately, Hodgdon really did not give many details on why it was closing the plant down. Leaving a lot of us speculating. With the advent of so many black powder substitutes, it is entirely possible that the production of Black Powder just cannot be done competitively enough to make it worthwhile. Remember Black Powder is truly explosive, unlike Smokeless Powder. Meaning that the manufacture, transportation, sale, and storage of Black Powder is a logistical challenge compared to Smokeless Powder. Unless some other company purchases the GOEX brand/assets we are likely relegated to imported brands of Black Powder if we want the true “Smoke Pole” experience.

Anyway, that is 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

This update is coming on a Tuesday, instead of the usual Monday. Life just got a bit busy. I do not have very much in the way of firearm news to cover so I wanted to take a moment and share some data I was given. This was supplied to me to take a look at and pass some judgment on. The question on hand was whether or not the powder thrower was functioning as advertised.

Before I get into the data, here is a little preface. It is important for everyone, including precision hand loaders, to not only understand there is variation but to embrace a certain level of variation. Otherwise, you can spend a lot of time and money trying to solve a problem that is very likely a perceived issue rather than a significant or practical issue. We see these problems a lot in the manufacturing and engineering world. A considerable amount of time, effort, and money are spent chasing issues that are later determined to be of little consequence.

Handloaders focused on precision can often be swallowed by the “No Variation Monster” and it’s partly the industry’s fault. We sell people on the idea that absolutely no variation leads to winning matches. Like all good lies, there is a bit of truth to it, it is “A Factor” but not “The Factor”. Plenty of matches have been won with ammunition assembled hastily, sporting all sorts of grievous sins. It turns out, ammunition and rifles tend to outperform shooters, even competitive shooters, and the deciding factor between wins and loses comes down more to raw ability rather than equipment.

When it comes to handloading, I have set my own rules on dealing with variations that I follow. I share these because they keep me from going insane, and they have worked well for me. Keep in mind, that sometimes adjust the rules for specific loads, and that I base the powder measurement rules on using a powder measure that measures powder volumetrically.

Jay’s Rules for Handloading Sanity:

1. Charge weight
   1. +/- 3% if less then 25gn of target or +/- .2gn which ever is greater
   2. +/- 1% if greater then 25gn but less then 50gr
   3. +/- .5% if greater then 50gr
2.  Case Length +/- .005in
3. Cartridge Overal Length (COAL) Base to Meplate +/-.005in
4. Cartrdige Overal Length (COAL) Base to Ogive +/- .002in
5. Bullet Weight Variation for Pistol +/- 1.5gr for rifle +/-0.5gr

There are a few reasons why I allow greater variation for small charges, and it deals with how volumetric throwers can sometimes struggle to throw small charges accurately, and that most scales are not very accurate at the lower end of the weight range. I also am not shooting these cartridges extremely long distances where I would expect to see the point of impact shifts from velocity variation.

So let’s dig into the data a bit. I’ve run some quality control charts for the sample set, to illustrate how this thrower is performing and to quantify how many “bad rounds” I would expect to have. The below chart is based on the thrower being set to 42.0cc, with a sample size of 10 throws.

Based on these results, my +/- 1% rule allows for +/- .265 grain of variation. This sets the acceptable upper charge weight of 28.86 grain and the acceptable lower charge weight of 26.33gr. The performance of the powder thrower was well within the upper and lower spec limits that I set. If I was consistent in my throwers, I would expect that there would be very few “bad charges” thrown. Because the sample size is so small, and there are no sub lots it is very hard to say if this is sustainable. (It likely is not) However, based on these results, I see no issue with this powder throwing a ball propellant. In my opinion, there are likely other significant sources of variation that I should spend my time on.

Let’s take a look at an extruded powder. The sample size here is even smaller at 7 throws, which is less than ideal, but we will do what we can.

Ok, this is a bit more interesting. At 58 grains we are close to cut off for 1%. We applied the tighter 0.5% spec and it would seem that this spec is a bit too tight for this powder in this thrower. About one-fifth of the rounds loaded would have a charge weight that was either too heavy or too light as we have it currently spec’d. Now that is not to say there is a problem and that I should completely scrap the process. Only to say we probably should dig into this a bit deeper. Statistically, this is a significant variation, but we have yet to determine if the variation is practical. If it is, then I am going to have to throw a charge light and trickle in the last few grains. Doable, but that takes more time. Let’s run the ballistics through QuickLoad and get an idea of what the difference might be.

Shown above is the QuickLoad Set up for the nominal Charge of 58.54gr. This charge is a little light for the 300 Win Mag, but for comparative purposes it is fine. Notice the velocity and pressure, 2,440fps and 45,086psi respectively. That is the nominal load.

Increasing the charge to 58.83 grains yields 45,660psi and 2450, while decreasing the charge to 58.25 grains results in 44,524psi and 2,429fps. In velocity that is roughly a difference of +/- 0.4%. Pressure is about the same. So a .5% tolerance in powder weight in this load yields approximately the same difference in pressure and velocity according to Quick Load. Again, you may look at this and say, that could be significant. So there is one more step we need to take to properly display the practical effects of this. That is to run the ballistics on each load based on predicted muzzle velocity.

This is where we begin to see the actual difference that .5% charge weight makes in this particular load. Notice the drop at 1000 yards, it is basically within 1 MOA at 1000 yards. That is 10.47 inches difference in impact from the highest shot to the lowest shot. Keep in mind we are looking at a singular factor. There are many variables that impact where the shot ultimately will land. These variables can cancel each other out or can stack and magnify one another resulting in a flier that is greater than 1 MOA from the center of the group.

So, after doing all this work, what have we learned, and are we going to change our process? Velocity variation that results from the .5% tolerance does not become a significant factor until we reach ranges beyond about 600 yards. Beyond that, it is application-specific, keep in mind premier factory ammunition is almost always +/- .5 to 1.0gr at these charge weights. If I was shooting 1000 yard bench rest or F-Class, I might say this is not acceptable, but if constrained on time, and did not want to weight every charge, then I would probably let it slide.

Was the unit defective? What sort of consistency should we expect from our powder throwers? Honestly, this is the consistency I would expect in a powder thrower. The next level is throwing charges light and trickling in the last grain on the scale. As previously mentioned factory ammunition uses volumetric throwers. Even on “Top of the line” premier products, the machines just are not capable of consistently holding tighter than +/- 0.5 grains of powder over a given run. Especially when throwing charges over 50 grains. Thrower performance varies with brand, quality, and user.

Anyway, that is 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

Good Monday Evening! It’s been an interesting week, for the firearms community and the nation at large. Before I touch on a few of the current events I’d like to roll out a new webpage that I’ve been wanting to do. It is a product highlight page, it is a way I can bring attention to some new products that catch my eye. Sometimes it will be new products that I have a hand in developing, or it may be something that I am able to work on within the course of my job and want to spread the word. The new product page can be found here: Product Highlight Page.

At this time, unless it is linked to Amazon, I am not getting any sort of commission or free product. It is just stuff I’d like to draw attention to because either I had a hand in its development or I think it’s a neat thing and would like to get the word out. The first of these products is something I had a hand in designing and bringing to market. It is called The Puck, and it started as a handy multi-tool for Case Prep, but we found out it had a lot of utility beyond that.

If you’d like to read more about it here is a write-up I did on it The Puck. I talk a bit more about the inspiration and how we have found it to be useful. I know it’s a dead-simple tool, but it’s really proven to be pretty handy both on the reloading bench as an addition to a field cleaning kit.

Moving on to current events. When it comes to what is going on in the firearms community the big news is that David Chipman’s nomination to head the ATF has been pulled. Basically, the Senate did not have the votes to confirm him as head of the ATF. While this is a significant win for the firearms community, I am a bit pessimistic that it is going to do anything more than delay the inevitable. Look for another nomination, who is just as anti-gun, but has a less overt history.

We should be wary of anything coming out of this administration at this point. Especially given the pattern of flagrant disregard for the Constitution. If recent events are any indication, it would not surprise me if we see more Executive Orders that come out of the Oval Office which on their face are blatantly unconstitutional, but will issue anyway. The strategy seems to be, that try and force everything you can through and let the Courts figure it out. Right now COVID is being used as the blanket justification, but I suspect the recent rule changes being proposed by the ATF may also be part of that same strategy.

While I do not mean to be all doom and gloom there is a bit more bad news to share. It does not look like this component shortage we have been dealing with will be relaxing any time soon. Many powder suppliers have begun to announce that they will not be accepting new orders for powders from many medium to small ammunition plants. They are likely concerned that they will be struggling to keep up with the current contractual obligations they have with large OEM and Military contracts. This also means we are likely to see price increases in the coming year on powder, so when it is available it is likely to be anywhere from 5% to 10% higher.

The shortages are not unique to Ammunition and Ammunition Components. Pretty much every supply chain, from raw materials like steel and copper to semi-finished good like computer chips are facing major slowdowns. The cost of a standard shipping container has gone from $2,500 to over $20,000 in some cases. This has been going on for many months now, so it is not new. However, we thought maybe the market for ammunition and related components was beginning to ease, but that seems to be reversing right now.

The industry is at mercy of the State Department. Given the recent moves from the State Department to clamp down on Russian Ammunition imports, many are wondering if there might be more clamping down on importation which will future starve the industry of much-needed components. That could really have a disastrous impact on many small to midsize ammunition and firearm retailers.

That’s all 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 about two years since the website has launched. Being that I launched it around Labor Day 2019, I have been happy with how things have progressed. Careerwise I could not have forseen all of the changes that would happen over the last two years. I know I have mentioned that I have returned to the shooting industry but I was purposefully not specific about where I took a job.

As it relates to some of the new product spotlights I’ll be doing in the coming weeks and months it is important to me to disclose where I am so people are aware there is a bit of a bias. I am currently working for Creedmoor Sports located in Anniston, Alabama as a Senior Technical Product Expert. A lot of my time is spent on new product creation, but also as a technical resource for customers who might need a bit of help when it comes to reloading, and general shooting questions.

This website was created while I was working in the mining industry as a way to fill my time during a period of care and maintenance where the mine was shut down. We still had to be on-site to make sure the equipment did not walk off, but I had so much free time that I built a website that would help share my passion with the rest of the world. Now that I work in the industry, I am able to share that passion with like-minded folks every day. This is not a declaration that the website will go away, rather it is to expose the bias you are likely to see. I am likely to review many new Creedmoor products as many of them are of my design or came out as a combined effort between myself and other members of our team at Creedmoor. Since I had a hand in their creation they are my “babies” and I am anxious to both get the word out and also to solicit discussion and reviews of these new products from everyday people.

This is likely the only post you will see about it, though I will be updating the “About” page. I do not like to “toot my own horn” but I also want to be honest and forthright about any perceived bias. That may come across in my future posts. I have been working at Creedmoor since February 2021, but somewhat worried about conflicts of interest and wanting to get settled into the new position prior to making any announcements I opted to wait. Anyway, this website will continue to grow independent of my employment, and I’ll do have plans for new projects and finishing old ones all in due time. Meanwhile, if you have new ideas for reloading equipment, shooting equipment, or anything related to that, my ears are always open.

There are a few other industry news segments that are worth touching on. Those who do a lot of online reading on Firearm Blogs and Websites will be saddened to hear that Chuck Hawks has passed. His website, ChuckHawks.com, founded in 1997 was one of the first online gun rags out there and many of us perused his pages. It is sad to see another industry influencer go. The official announcement on his website can be found here. Thanks, Don for bringing this to my attention.

As far as new firearms go, the most notable firearm I have seen announced is Smith and Wesson’s M&P 12 which many will point out is very, very similar at least in form of the KSG 12 that Kel-Tec has been making for some time now.

Smith and Wesson claim this shotgun has basically been designed from the ground up to operate the new 1 3/4 long 12 gauge shells that were first made popular by Aguila and have since been standardized by SAAMI. At the time I note that we very likely see new shotguns that were designed around this “Mini” shotshell now that it had been adopted by SAAMI. We did not have the wait long.

As I have not handled one, I really cannot give much beyond my first visual impression. I think it looks very tactical, and I can see where it would have some real-world application but it is really not the sort of gun that really appeals much to me. I am too much of a traditionalist, for the most part, I tend to buy with my eyes, and I like traditional-looking shotguns and rifles. Also, it is of note that it would seem that Smith and Wesson really took a stab at Kel-Tec, which would not be the first time a Kel-Tec design was more or less imitated. Ruger did it with the LCP about a decade prior.

I am still waiting for the ammo maker to come out with an all brass shotshell about the same length as the 1 3/4 but can handle pressures of around 21,000 to 36,000psi. You would truly have close to a 2 3/4 shell performance out of a much smaller shell. Likely the best of both worlds. When that does happen, I’d like to convert my Benelli over to feed them.

There is one last thing I might touch on for a moment. We often think of things in isolation. Meaning what happens to one thing, or in the case of one issue, does not bleed over into other things. For example, what might happen in an Abortion Rights Case, will never bleed over to anything related to firearms. After all what could the two issues possibly have in common? Again, to be clear in my bias here, I am ardently pro-life, so I approach things through that lens.

If you have been following the news, Texas has pulled an interesting trick to try and get around many of the legal barriers to restricting abortion rights. Regardless of how you feel about the issue, it is worth understanding how this law was set up. Basically, it allows for individuals to civilly sue abortion providers if abortion is allowed to take place prior to 6 weeks. The Supreme Court upheld the law, but only because the plaintiffs lacked standing. This law made it so that the State was not enforcing the law, but it was enforced by citizens through the use of civil courts.

How does this relate to firearms? Well, again, the legal world does not live in isolation. What happens on one issue, may have some carry over to other. There has already been talking of trying to hold firearm holders legally responsible for crimes if their firearm is used. I believe in some jurisdictions you can be held legally responsible, which may include doing time if you are in violation of reporting a missing firearm, and it gets used in a crime. While this Texas law still has to work through the courts and is not in the clear just yet, I would be wary of similar proposed laws being put on the books regarding firearm owners.

How hard would it be for an FFL to get liability insurance if the State in which he/she resides has a similar law? Something that says in essence, that if an FFL sells a firearm and then that firearm is later used in a crime then a civil suit can be filed against the FFL and monetary fines can be assessed. Then it is not the State that is enforcing or infringing on the Right, at least not directly. While we think we would always win the favor of the courts, this has not always been true. I think FFL’s would find it impossible to operate in states where such laws were in place.

Yes, right now this is speculation, but I would not be at all surprised to see this trick pulled in States where the Firearm Laws are already quite strict. Pay attention, not saying that we should oppose or support the law in Texas, just saying keep your eyes open. If I was on the other side of the debate, my first response to this law would be “Huh, neat…”

That’s all 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

Good Monday Evening! It has been a while since I have been able to send out an update. I have been dealing with some personal issues over the last eight weeks which has forced me to step away. While these issues have not come to a resolution I have found that I currently have an abundance of time to devote to projects that have been otherwise lagging.

Enough about me, there has been a lot going on in the firearms world. The NRA show was canceled, mostly due to COVID concerns. At this point, I suspect it is about a 50/50 chance that SHOT Show happens this year. This is really due to a lot of companies not wanting to take the risk of exposing employees. Whether or not you and I think it is warranted is pretty much irrelevant. Companies are all about minimizing risk to themselves, whether it is engineering safe products at the expense of cool features, or keeping employees from getting sick, risk management is a big thing most large companies deal with on a day to day basis.

If you have been following what has been going on with the ATF you’ll note that the comment period has ended for the redefinition of a firearm. This is Proposed Rule 2021R-5, which is a pretty insidious power grab by the ATF. We are likely a year away from finding out when this rule is going to go into effect. I really have very little faith that the comments submitted will deter this administration from pushing forward with this rule change. Which means this will need to play out in the courts, but that can only happen once the rule change is made. So we will be waiting to see whats happens for a while. Personally, I am about to stock up on some 7075 bar stock. I figure should the rule change move forward, there will be a lot of people looking to buy 1% lowers. ;-P

The other significant thing I have been following is this ban on Russian Ammunition imports. Honestly this was something most everyone who follows this stuff expected to happen. Our current President cannot get his legislation through Congress so they are doing other things to curtail access to arms and ammunition. I wrote about Biden using the State Department to clamp down on imports around the beginning of the year. I am somewhat surprised it took as long as it did. This honestly could only be the beginning. While this was thinly veiled as a “sanction” against Russia for some illicit behavior, it was honestly just low-hanging fruit.

Probably the most well-known brand of Russian ammunition is the Wolf Brand of ammo. I have used it, specifically in my VZ-58 build. Personally, I am not a fan of steel-cased ammunition, I find it tends to be a bit more sticky when it comes to feeding and extraction. Brass is my personal preference but I know plenty of people who use it and like it just fine. So I am not going to bag on it. I currently am sitting on some 40 rounds of 7.62x39mm, this might be something, along with my primer stash I hold on to for a while. Might be worth something someday, then again, with demand for this stuff as high as it is, maybe I should sell now.

This has been a pretty short and to the point update. We are two years into the life of this website. 75,000+ visits, and 150 subscribers. I am very happy with the progress made and am thankful for everyone who visits, who has left a comment, or who has emailed me. We will keep on, keeping on and see where this goes.

That’s all 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