Category: Uncategorized

Last day of August, 8 months down before we can close out 2020. Hopefully we are not jumping out of a frying pan and into the fire…

This week has been a busy one. I got a few emails regarding the load database, made some changes to the submission form based on the feedback I received. Thank you everyone who contributed.

Over the last week I’ve put together 43 entries into the log. Much of it is data that I generated over the last several years, some of it was from a contributor who did some testing with 338 Lapua Magnum. We have nearly identical rifles, and we’ve compared notes from time to time.

The log is now live and anyone can download and view it here. We have to start somewhere and the log as it sits has loads from about the full range of the burn chart, and is a good example of what I’m looking for data wise. I know not everyone is going to have all the information regarding lot numbers, or stock numbers, but give what you can. As long as there’s no glaring gaps in the data submitted it will be included in the database.

I have continued to make progress on reviewing and modeling the Mueller Action. As I’ve modeled things I have come across some holes in the prints where dimensions are missing. The author also mentions he used the prints as templates, but the publisher scaled down the drawings so this would be near impossible unless you got creative. I’ve tried to be creative, as Solid Works has tools for importing and scaling images, but it’s not always and exact process.

When I publish the prints, the parts that are used as a template will be offered at a 1:1 scale to allow for the creation of a template. I have found this to be an accurate method so long as they are not scaled during printing. I have used this method in the past, and when it comes to creating complex curves, it’s hard to beat.

At the rate I’m going I expect to have the prints generated sometime around the end of September. This is a relaxing project, done in the evenings when I’m sick of trying to unpack the garage. You’ll never realize exactly how much reloading and shooting equipment you have until it takes up one whole corner of a two car garage.

That is the weekly update, I hope everyone is staying safe out there. Thanks for subscribing and as always if you want to join the conversation you can check us out on Facebook, Instagram, or shoot me an email at jayandrew338@gmail.com.

Stay Safe and Have Fun!

The Ballistic Assistant

Good Monday Evening.

We are going to roll out a new database, that will require input from a lot of people to make it worth while. Let me explain.

Load data that is published by Hodgdon, Sierra, Barnes, Western Powders, and the other big manufacturers is typically the results of testing under SAAMI guidelines. The test barrels are manufactured to SAAMI minimum chamber dimensions, and are calibrated with SAAMI Standard ammunition prior to each round of testing. Most rifle barrels are a standard 24in and pistol barrels come in various lengths.

Few rifles today have barrels that are 24 inches, and pistol barrel lengths rarely seem to match up with what the SAAMI test length is. In addition there are gaps in the data, where Barnes may decide to test Powder A, B, and C for a certain load, Sierra may test A, C and D. The reasons for this often come down to the cost of generating the data. When I was working in the industry it was estimated to cost $1.3 Million to produce a new revision to an existing loading Manuel.

Powder Distributors and Bullet Manufactures only test a narrow range of powders that they think will work best for the given load. With new powders and cartridges coming out on a yearly basis companies can’t release updates fast enough. Which is why many companies have gone to releasing the information online rather then printing costly revision of dead tree load manuals.

Part of this website is dedicated to providing a resource for hand loaders, both the hobby level guys and the professionals. With the widespread availability of chronographs, we live in a time where most serious hand loaders have a chronograph, magneto speed, or a Lab Radar. Collectively hand loaders generate more data on load performance then any individual lab. While hand loaders sporadically share data, I haven’t yet found a source that compiles test results from hand loaders into a searchable database. That is what I aim to create.

The link for the page is here: Load Database

If you would like to submit your pet loads the form is on the website, fill it out and email it to myself at Jayandrew338@gmail.com. Once we get 50 loads, we will go live with the database. This is a work in progress as I get input from everyone we will change inputs or try and make things easier/faster. There are a few drop down menus that allow you to make a selection instead of having to type in the data. Data will be presented in a downloadable excel spreadsheet which will be locked for editing, however if we can grow the database we will try and offer both the excel table but also figure out some embedded website database. Any way, let’s see where this goes.

We have made progress on the action design we teased last week. For those who guessed, it is a single shot, falling block action published in The Home Shop Machinist magazine in the 90’s. The series was written by the creator Walter B. Mueller, and thus has been dubbed the Mueller Rifle Action.

So far I have found these prints to be mostly complete, with a few dimensions left to builder discretion. Given it was published in a magazine, they cut the prints down to a couple of views and made the grievous sin of trying to fit to many dimensions into one view (Ok, it’s something I hate, not a grievous sin). So I hope to correct some of that in the redrawn prints. I encourage everyone to pick up a copy of this book as Mr. Mueller does an excellent job of laying out some of the math behind the design. Anyone curious in calculating the forces and the resulting minimum material thicknesses required would find this read of interest.

You can pick it up a copy of this print on Amazon.com for about $20 sans tax. Of course I will reference his work in the print, and he gives build details that my print will not.

I think that is all this week. I am still working on flushing out some powder information to add to the burn rate chart. As soon as I get it updated I will release the new version.

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by in the last week. If you have questions, comments or suggestions please email me at jayandrew338@gmail.com. You can also find me at our Facebook Page, and our Instagram page. Looking forward to seeing some load data!

Thanks and Stay Safe Out There!

The Ballistic Assistant

Good Monday Evening,

We are busy settling into the new home, with that comes quite a bit of unpacking and set up. This does not mean that I’ve been completely lax in keeping up on the website. I am working on some updates for the Powder Burn Rate Chart. This is in the response to a two different emails I received in regards to Midwest Powders. We want to maintain a complete listing of powders, so when gaps appear, I appreciate the help in pointing them out.

We are also working on putting together a new set of drawings for a single shot rifle. These will be free for download, along next to the AR-15 lower receiver prints. I have something of a hobby of taking hand drawn or published prints, modeling them in CAD checking for completeness, and then generating prints. I have been disappointed to find many of the prints published in books to be lacking in details, however so far this print has been quite good. Here’s the rendering of the receiver.

When I hit a roadblock sometimes I try and work through the design, but often times the prints are so vague or incomplete I feel uncomfortable continuing with the project. A notable example of this is The .50‑Caliber Rifle Construction Manual written by Bill Holmes. The trigger and bolt assembly is quite lacking in detail, and if someone has an example and would be willing to share some dimensions I’d be interested in getting more info. I think the design would be well adapted to utilize an AR lower style fire control group, as has been done more recently.

As always, credit goes to the original designer. My goal is not to take credit or diminish their work in any way, rather to make their work more accessible. Because of this I do not feel comfortable charging for the work I do, and I actively encourage others to used the published plans in companionship with the authored work.

Thanks again to everyone who sent me an email this week, I appreciate the feedback. For those who are interested in the MP 350, the website lists is as having a very similar burn rate to Accurate 1680, which is a St. Marks ball powder in common use and is pretty much the go to powder for 300 Blackout Subsonic loads. This powder would likely be a good choice for 300 Blackout if the burn rate is similar to A1680.

While they list the OEM equivalent as WC 842, there is some mixed information out there on what WC 842 is, some sources are claiming it is similar in burn rate to CFE 223 or H335. I do not have it listed on my burn rate chart as it was not a powder listed by St Marks when I assembled the chart. This means it was likely unavailable for purchase by an OEM manufacturer of ammunition, the likely reasoning is that it is out of production. I deem obsolesce likely as there are references to this powder being sold as a surplus powder 10+ years ago.

Based on the Information that Midwest Powders is presenting, DO NOT USE CFE 223 OR H335 LOAD DATA FOR WC 842!!!

There is quite a bit of difference in burn rates between A1680 (WC 680) and CFE 223(SMP 746) and H335 (WC 844). Just because the numbers are so close (WC 844 vs WC 842), doesn’t mean the burn rate is. Personally I think if a powder distributor is going to sell powder they should give a few example loads….the fact they are saying to use 10% below the MINIMUM load for WC 842 makes me wonder….then there’s the fact load data for WC 842 is not readily accessible…the more I dig into this the less comfortable I feel about it based on the information that’s being presented.

Accurate 1680 is an excellent powder in 300 Blackout as it produces a lot of gas for cycling a rifle. It also does it at a fairly low pressure, at around half of SAAMI MAP for 300 Blackout. The powder is slow enough, and a 220gr OTM bullet takes up so much case capacity, that you are very unlikely to blow up a gun using A1680 in 300 Blackout. If you try MP 350 in 300 Blackout subsonic load, and the gun cycles and the bullet velocity is roughly 1100fps, then you know A1680 is likely a correct approximation of burn speed. I can count on one hand the number of powders that does this and they all fall within a very narrow burn rate window. (By the way, H322 falls outside the window)

And if it doesn’t…then it’ll make fine but expensive fertilizer. With that said, A1680 is a fine powder used in a lot of magnum loads, and light rifle loads that are loaded to SAAMI MAP, and while my “smell test” might verify it’s suitability for use in 300 Blackout subsonic loads, it still might be different enough that you’ll want to take reasonable precautions when working with it in loads that develop pressures closer to the SAAMI MAP of a cartridge.

I really cannot say more on this except how this powder is being sold, without example load data, really bothers me. I get it, not everyone has a ballistics lab at their disposal, but at least give us what the pull down roads were. I.E. Cartridge, bullet weight, and mean powder recovery weight. 300 Blackout supersonic and subsonic loads are in military circulation, it’s not a lot when compared to 5.56x45mm but they are out there. I am working on trying to get a bit more information on both MP 350 and WC 842, so there may be some updates to the story, but for now that’s what I’ve got.

I think I’ve beaten the dead horse on this. To the guys who asked me about it a few days ago, I’ve had a few more days to think on it. It’s one of those things that gnawed at me. I’ve done some more research, and this is what I have so far. I’ll continue to work on this.

Thanks again to everyone who has subscribe. If you have comments, complaints or suggestions email them to jayandrew338@gmail.com. You can also check us out on Facebook or drop us a like over at Instagram.

Stay Safe Out There!

The Ballistic Assistant

Good Monday Evening,

We stay away from politics on this website, mainly because that is one area where there is more opinion then there is fact. We like to stick to facts, with a few opinions. However the news recently begs for a bit of comment. I have had more then a few people ask me about my thoughts on the New York Attorney General filing to dissolve the National Rifle Association.

My feelings on this are mixed. There have been lots of rumors and news swirling around the gun industry about the NRA for sometime. So much so that Wayne LaPierre has likely done more damage to the NRA by not stepping down, then he has by trying to dispel the myths. Again this is my opinion, and it probably stinks, but I believe that the NRA under Mr. LaPierre’s is suffering from self inflicted wounds.

This opinion does come with a footnote. The NY AG openly stated she would go after the NRA and it’s allies when she was elected. Even if the NRA had a pristine record, she would have found something, it was her mission. This is nothing new. The NRA has long been the punching bag of the political elite. So much so it is difficult to determine if the threat is legitimate or if it is platitudes spoken to appease a political base.

With that said, NRA isn’t blameless here. Having enemies is nothing new, but the accused behavior of the NRA is akin to leaving the kid’s bedroom window unlocked with hopes the burglars won’t notice. If anything, the threat of legal action should have prompted the NRA to do everything by the book, as a defense against possible lawsuits of this nature. The accusations here range from Mr. LaPierre pocketing money directly, to NRA Board Members getting contracts through personal businesses and profiting from the NRA.

Prominent members of the Firearms community have spoken out about this, most notably Tom Gresham of Gun Talk. These charges are not surprising to many of us. What is a bit surprising is the move to dissolve the organization rather then to go after the individuals who misused the money, and abused their positions for personal gain.

So why are my feelings mixed? Why am I not calling on people to circle the wagons and defend the NRA at all costs? Well, because I am not so sure the NRA is the best vehicle to achieve our goals as a firearm community. Yes, it is the most visible, but has when you look at dollars spent, what has been our return on investment? The NRA has largely been on the sidelines on many of the more recent legal battles. Other organizations, most notably Second Amendment Foundation, has championed many of the legal battles and make no mistake, the legal battles are what shape firearm regulations.

Name one piece of legislation that the NRA championed in the last ten years? It really has not. The Eddie Eagle Program was one of it’s most important programs, but politically it’s a not starter. No school that I am aware of would ever think of hosting a firearm safety class taught by the NRA. Its really sad, that firearms ownership and responsibility have become so politicized that a firearm safety class is taboo. The NRA has largely failed to adapt to the changing political climate. Even it’s training classes, such as becoming a NRA Instructor, has become somewhat meaningless in the firearm’s community.

With that said what good is the NRA? Perhaps it is the public face of firearms owner, that serves as a politically convenient punching bag for those in opposition to firearm’s ownership. I, for one, wished it would be so much more. While it frustrates me to see such an iconic organization be taken down by it’s own malpractice, I remain hopeful that from the ashes of the NRA a new phoenix will rise. Whether it be the rebirth of the NRA under new leadership, or the shift in power from the NRA to SAF or one of the other gun rights group, we, as firearm owners need to be united under a banner.

All of this likely seems quite harsh. It stems from my high expectations of a group that largely gives a unified voice in defending the Rights of all Americans. To be clear, and I am less then enthused by the blatant political abuse of power by the NY AG. But there will always be people trying to tear down 2A organizations, it is up to the organization to make sure we do not give them an opening, and it is up to us to hold the organizations that represent us accountable.

I am now stepping off my soapbox.

We got moved over to the new house. I am anxiously trying to get the family settled so I can begin setting up the shop. There is a lot to be done and it seems there is never enough hours in the day. It has been a busy past week with trying to get everything moved that there was not any major updates to the website.

I appreciate everyone stopping by, and checking us out. We are growing, slowly but surely and I look forward to expanding out the content. If you have any ideas, thoughts or suggestions shoot them over to me at jayandrew338@gmail.com, leave a comment on our Facebook page, or check out some of the images over at Instagram.

That’s all for this week, stay safe out there.

The Ballistic Assistant

Hard to believe we are already into August. With everything going on, this year is flying by at a speed that seems surreal. We didn’t do a website update last week in favor of finishing up a write up. This write up is a follow up to an email I received a couple weeks ago. The question posed was what tools are used to conduct quality control. Hopefully this write up provides a good overview of what you can find on a manufacturers floor.

Quality Control Tools for Ammunition

I think many people would be surprised that many of the tools hobbyists use, are the go to tools of most of your major manufacturers. Sometimes the tools are scaled up, or specialized, to more efficiently handle volume, but they are not as crazy as some people might think. The one exception to this is equipment to measure pressure. While the most dedicated hobbyists will have strain gauges to measure pressure, I am not aware of anyone who tests via piezo transducer.

There’s a lot of trouble finding ammunition. One of my fellow employee’s recently bought a Sig 320 and a Sig 365XL. He’s numbered among the many new gun owners of late. He’s been shopping for 9mm, and when he find’s it, he buys what he can. Prices right now are pretty outrageous. Given the tenor of the world, and ramping up of this election cycle, we are not expecting to see an end to this circus any time soon.

For those who do not mind buying ammunition online, Ammo Seek is a good website to use. The website automatically searches the four corners of the inter webs to find ammunition listings. Usually you can find something in stock, and if you are lucky, reasonably priced. I do not know the folks who run the website, nor are they affiliated with this website. Just one of the tricks I picked up when it came to looking for competitive samples during our last ammo shortage.

Ammo Seek isn’t just a tool for loaded ammunition. They also do reloading components. I know primers are harder to find than hen’s teeth. I did a quick search and they have listings for primers, mostly 209 shotgun primers but a few small pistol and some rifle primers. Unfortunately ordering offline usually means you are stuck with the HAZMAT fee. I hate the HAZMAT fee deal, the only why I’ll drink that bitter cup is to order in bulk, which I can’t always afford to do.

A friend of mine commented the other day, that a bad day shooting was still better then a good day at work. My first thought, and immediate reply was, “Unless your bad day of shooting involved chambering a 300Blk in a 223 Rem Chamber, then it’s about sixes”. Of course we all know it that’s not true, we’d rather endure a bad day at work then a catastrophic day on the range.

That’s all I have for this week, I hope everyone stays safe out there. As always if you have questions, comments, or ideas shoot me an email at jayandrew338@gmail.com, check out our Facebook page, or scroll through the pictures on Instagram.

Thanks for Stopping By,

The Ballistic Assistant

Good Monday Afternoon/Evening!

As per the usual my week has been busy. However I did sneak out a write up yesterday. This one is one that I have been meaning to do for awhile. I like odd ball cartridges, and a pistol cartridge designed to function in a semi auto with a service pressure of 50,000psi, is kind of an odd ball cartridge. Even better when there are two competing cartridges both designed for the same purpose, and both are in service today. Read my take on it below.

PDW Round Comparison 5.7x28mm vs 4.6x30mm

To those of you who subscribed you might have gotten the above write up in your inbox a day early. I apologize. One email per week, letting you know about website updates and perhaps a bit of commentary, is all I wish to send to people. I, like most of you, hate spam. I made a mistake when I was publishing the piece which emails it to subscribers rather then just posting it to the site. I’ve left it up for a day, until I was able to send out this update, but will be moving the link so it is properly cataloged on the page. The above link is properly cataloged and should be active as long as the site is live.

How is everyone’s ammo stockpile? Store shelves are looking kind of slim right now. As I am sure you are all well aware, the shortages are not limited to just loaded ammunition. They extend out to reloading components. I remember the last time this happened, it became the golden age of trying new powders. My usual IMR 4895 was completely out of stock. However the stores would sometimes get in a powder that I hadn’t tried before, and I would whip out my burn rate chart, look up loads on Hodgdon and see if I could make use of it.

Occasionally the store wouldn’t have cell phone service, so when in doubt I bought the powder, and if I found I couldn’t use it, I did a bit of horse trading for something I could use. That was back in the day I only loaded for a couple different cartridges. Now I think I have a cartridge for every powder. Sure, I might sacrifice a few feet per second, and maybe it won’t get me the tightest groups, but I have found the most important thing is to have something. Hard to practice without ammunition, and in times like these, you can’t always be picky, and hey, you might find a new load you really like!

What many people don’t realize is how localized these shortages are. If you cross the boarder into Canada, the shelves are more or less stocked and people have access to all the ammunition they care to have. Just don’t try and cross the boarder with it.

Another thing the average consumer doesn’t realize, the shear number of rounds produced in a single day. Remington, for example, produces 22LR, at a rate of roughly 7 Million rounds a day. When I toured their facility the four or five machines producing it, moved at a blinding pace. Remington churns out 9x19mm ammunition at rates exceeding 120 parts per minute. Of course they supply ammunition not just for the United States but also oversea’s. That is just Remington, imagine what the combined output of ammunition is for Federal, Winchester, Remington, Lake City, Barnes, HSL, Sig and dozens of other smaller companies out there.

That doesn’t take into account the hundred’s of thousands of us hand loaders and re loaders cranking out rounds by hand on our Dillion 550, or our Lee Classic Presses. Yet, we still cannot produce enough ammo to keep everyone happy. If we knew the actual numbers I am sure we’d find it nothing short of remarkable.

Rest assured firearm’s companies see the demand, and take measures to respond in kind. However they are cautious about over responding. This was a lesson learned during the Obama Administration. The firearms industry had record sales for eight years, with many new companies springing up to match the demand. It seemed that everyone with a spare CNC Mill or Lathe was turning out AR-15 parts, and everything that ammunition producers were making was selling. (Except for 357 Sig, and 45 GAP…. 🙂 ) In 2016 when a Hillary Clinton victory seemed inevitable, wholesalers, and manufacturers bet big, placing large orders expecting a rush on ammunition and firearms in the days after the election.

When Trump won, the industry coined a new term “The Trump Slump”. Many small mom and pop type shops that had been riding the wave of the past 8 years suddenly went under. Even larger companies such as Remington found themselves over extended, driving them into bankruptcy. (Remington had other issues, but this was a major nail in the coffin). Wholesalers were suddenly trapped with large inventories of ammunition that was not selling. While we, in the firearms community, breathed a huge sigh of relief it created a great deal of trouble for the purveyors of arms and ammunition.

Due to the lessons learned four years ago, the industry is not eager to repeat the same mistakes. It is hard to know if these record sales will lead to future growth of the industry; it does seem as the virus, the riots, and the election is driving first time purchase of firearms and ammunition, the consequences of which will unfold with time.

I didn’t intend this to be a long update, but I guess that’s how it turned out. Thanks for subscribing. We are working on some exciting stuff we’ll be churning out over the next few months so stay tuned. In the meantime feel free to check us out on Facebook, or over at Instagram. As always, if you have questions or comments, please shoot me an email at Jayandrew338@gmail.com.

Had some folks from Zimbabwe email me this past week asking some questions, I really enjoyed working a bit with them. Thanks for the opportunity!

Have fun, and Stay Safe Out There!

The Ballistic Assistant

Good Monday Morning!

There has not been any new content this week. It has been a pretty busy week for us, so I have not had the time to do much else but eat, sleep and work. This is not to say all is lost. The good news is we are moving in to a larger house with a two car garage. A garage to me has never been the place to park my vehicles, it is my workshop space, and I have laid claim to it. Most of the projects done on this site we done in some borrowed space at work. Since changes jobs, this space is no longer available, that and a broken leg, has really slowed me down.

With the additional workspace there are many things I hope to accomplish, the first being getting back to the roots of why I started this website. I truly want to develop a reference site for those engaged on a hobbyist level and those who are professionals. While I worked in the industry a large part of my time was spent collecting data. This data we used for all sorts of things. A particular comment from my boss has always stuck with me. “The amount of data we collected would likely have a tremendous value to those both interested in the industry and those who work in the industry. ” That single comment has stuck with me, and has been the driving factor as to why I created the site in the first place.

While I introduced the concept of the Powder Catalog in September 2019, I have not been able to make much progress. There is a tremendous amount of work to be done here, but it is my intent to work on developing this database, along with a Primer, brass, and bullet databases. The eventual goal is to have a lab set up to do pressure and velocity testing. I am committed to providing the information free of charge, while I may offer items/services for sale at some future date, my intent has always been to develop the foundation and databases first before trying to “commercialize” the site.

There is a lot of work to be done, and it won’t be done overnight, but I feel the move we are making brings me one step closer in to getting these things underway. We will continue to do side projects, some of which are related directly to the site, others not as much. (The VZ-58 build brought a lot of people to the site that might not have otherwise come.) In the meantime I am grateful for the progress we have mad thus far. The site is averaging about 30 views a day, with nearly 11,000 views since it’s launch in September 2019. I know these stats pale in comparison to well established web blogs, but I am humbled to know that 36 people have liked the content enough to subscribe.

I have had a few comments on what appear to be bugs or issues related to the site, one which indicated music started playing when one or some of the pages were opened. We do not have a music plugin for the site, so I am baffled as to how that might happen. I’ll reach out to WordPress and Blue Host to try and resolve some of these issues. I’m still learning a lot about how to run a webpage, so bare with me as we sort these things out.

In the meantime if you have suggestions on powders you’d like more information on, shoot it to me in a email at jayandrew338@gmail.com, or leave a comment on our Facebook page. As we make progress on setting up the shop, there will likely be some pictures posted on Instagram, so follow us over there.

Stay Safe Out There,

The Ballistic Assistant

Good Monday Afternoon!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. It is funny how things change when you get older. Growing up, my family went to firework shows, but we never really purchased consumer fireworks. When I moved out to Utah about 12 years ago I saw all these fireworks stands and I couldn’t justify spending money on fireworks. I always told myself I would be better to spend it on ammunition.

Fast forward to the last couple years. I have two kids, and we’ve bought fireworks, even though the town we live in had a fireworks display this year, we launched our own. Even on a modest budget we were able to entertain the kids for over an hour, and seeing their expressions and excitement made the money spent worth it. Perspectives change over time, and having a family changes a lot.

I found sometime this weekend to do a write up, I’ve been wanting to do for awhile. Lots of people have asked me my thoughts on velocity for certain loads. I’ve played with enough cartridges and loads to know what I like, and what I don’t like. So I have come to my opinions on what the ideal velocity range is on a load intended for long range shooting. I do my best to present it in this write up.

My Ideal Velocity for Long Range Shooting

I don’t really talk about accuracy, and I do make fun of the 7mm RUM a bit, as that is probably the most extreme way to waste powder I have had the displeasure of playing with. Truth is, excellent accuracy can be had with the 7mm RUM, and we’ve seen examples like the 30-375 Weatherby, produce match winning results at velocities that are nearing the obscene. Accuracy really has a lot of variables to it, that include the shooter, and it has been my experience that when most cartridges are shot in lab conditions, from a bench rest, with good bullets, they typically produce accuracy that any shooter would be proud of.

All of this reinforces the fact accuracy is often more about how much range time the shooter has and less about the equipment the shooter is using. A point I do try and make.

Anyway, I know there is a range of opinions and observations out there. Here’s what I’ve observed. If you think I’m way off base, or have made some different observations I’d love to hear about them. Shoot me and email at Jayandrew338@gmail.com, comment on our Facebook page, or leave me a message on Instagram.

Have a productive and safe week!

The Ballistic Assistant

Good Monday Evening. We worked through the weekend and managed to knock out a post this weekend. I am proud to present a true website update. It’s been a few weeks, for that I do apologize.

With Hornady’s announcement of the 6mm ARC I wanted to do some comparisons to other “Long Range” AR-15 cartridges. Hornady is a marketing powerhouse, and sometimes the excitement around a new bold cartridge masks the actual utility of the cartridge. Is Hornady actually breaking new ground here? Or are they rehashing something that has been done before? We take a closer look in this write up.

Why a New Cartridge 2.0

While I did not mention it in the conclusion, it should be noted that many cartridges introduced commercially are introduced first as a wildcat. This 6mm ARC cartridge appears to be no different, as the 6mm AR has been a wildcat for years prior to Hornady’s “Ground Breaking” introduction. However as discussed, dimensionally it is different from the 6mm AR, and while you may be able to chamber a 6mm ARC in a 6mm AR rifle, it may not be safe to do so. I strongly suspect, Hornady took the existing 6mm AR tweak the design a bit, and called it there own prior to introducing it to SAAMI. This is typical industry wide when a wildcat makes the transition into a SAAMI cartridge. (See 6.5 Creedmoor)

I hope you enjoy the article, let me know your thoughts and what you would like to see. I enjoy doing these comparisons, so if there is a cartridge, or cartridges you’d like to see, let me know. You can email me at jayandrew338@gmail.com, or check us out on Facebook. As I work on projects, you’ll see them on our Instagram page, follow us to see what we are up to.

Stay Safe Out There!

The Ballistic Assistant

Good Tuesday Evening,

I apologize for missing my typical Monday update. It’s been a pretty crazy last couple of days. It is taking a bit longer then I would have thought to get over this infection, but we are on the mend. Hopefully we will be back to normal shortly.

Hornady has recently announced a new cartridge, the 6mm Advanced Rifle Cartridge (ARC). From what I have seen so far, it looks to me that Hornady took the 6mm AR wildcat that has been around for sometime, and decided sponsor it’s submission to SAAMI for standardization.

This cartridge was accepted by SAAMI in the June 2020 meeting, and the specs are listed below.

When ever a new cartridge is introduced I am usually pretty skeptical. Sometimes I have serious questions as to why. Given the time, effort and money involved in getting a cartridge accepted by SAAMI, you would expect a new cartridge to fill a niche, or accomplish something other cartridges cannot, but besides marketing, the performance advantage is not always obvious.

In this case there is a slew of wildcat 6mm (.243) cal cartridges for the AR but nothing that has been formally adopted by SAAMI. So this is legitimately filling a gap, albeit a small gap, in the cartridge line up for AR-15’s. It will be interesting to see how this stacks up against the 6.5 Grendal, or the .224 Valkyrie. Both cartridges are SAAMI accepted cartridges geared towards long range shooting from an AR-15 platform, to varying degree’s of success.

Another cartridge that was recently accepted by SAAMI was the 12 Gauge mini shot shells that have gained some popularity. These 1.75in long shells allow you to effectively double the magazine capacity of standard 12 gauge shotguns. They also have reduced recoil, and from what I have heard, turn shooting a 12 gauge into a completely new firearm.

With all the chaos going on, it can be easy to miss little announcements like these. It is a small comfort to see the firearms companies are continuing to develop new products. I personally look forward to seeing a Semi-Auto shotgun that can cycle the 1 3/4in shells and standard 2 3/4in shells. Another development I’d like to see is increasing the pressure on the shot shells.

Pressure on shot shells have not really changes since their inception, the 1 3/4 increases the magazine capacity but sacrifices performance of the 2 3/4 shell. If we increase the SAAMI Max Average Pressure (MAP) from 11,000psi to 20,000psi we can claw back some of the performance loss. This isn’t just a simple change, shotgun actions and barrels would need to be built stronger, and the cartridge would need to be different to prevent chambering in conventional shotguns. Obviously the appeal of the 1 3/4 shells is they can be used in any standard 12 gauge. A higher pressure cartridge would mean a new dedicated shotgun. This becomes a hurdle to it’s success.

This has been a bit of a longer update then usual. I have not been able update the website, over the last few weeks. Between a new job, fighting off a staph infection and just being swamped with a few other things, the website has taken a bit of a back seat. It is not forgotten, I just have not been able to put the time into it that I would have like. Once things settle down a bit, we’ll keep working on the projects we’ve been working on and hopefully post a few conclusions there.

Thanks everyone for the well wishes and for the feedback. As always if you have questions, comments or suggestions, you are more then welcome to email me at jayandrew338@gmail.com, check us out on our Facebook page or follow us over at Instagram.

Stay Safe Out There!

The Ballistic Assistant