Category: Uncategorized

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

This past week did not go as planned. I thought I was nearly out of the woods as far as my ankle was concerned. Fate had other plans. I started getting sick on Tuesday, and by Friday I was having emergency surgery. Turns out I developed a Staph infection which pretty much knocked me on my butt, and is still kicking my butt.

As a result I have not gotten anything done in regards to the website this week. I apologize, definitely not what I was hoping to report. Such is life sometimes and I am glad the outcome is not as bad as it could have been. Even still I’ve gone back to almost square one on my healing. I’m back to crutches and have to take it pretty easy for awhile. We will try and get updates done in the mean time.

We do have some exciting news, we will be moving closer to the new job and into a place that has a proper garage and workplace. Which means for me, a little more time and independence on some of the projects I am able to work on. I am excited to be able to set up the hand loading equipment again, and work on stuff from home rather then a corner work space at work.

In the end all good news for the website. Just, with all good things, it will take some time.

That is all for the update this week. As always if you have suggestions, comments or questions you can email me directly at jayandrew338@gmail.com, check us out on Facebook or look us up on Instagram. Thanks for subscribing!

Stay safe out there!

The Ballistic Assistant

Two days ago, launched one of the greatest military operations of all time. The scale of which is unmatched in modern history. Unfortunately due to COVID, this was the first year in the 75 years since D-Day, that a memorial was not held.

Over the weekend I participated in a Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) match. While I do not own a M1 Garand, I was able to admire many marvelous examples of these historic rifles. I shot my M1A along side, a Johnson rifle, Mauser, Springfield, and other fine examples of both modern and historic military rifles. There is something about a rifle, that connects the shooter with the history, and I believe shooting it well honors those who used the rifle to preserve the free world.

This past week we did do a bit of an update. We had an opportunity to try our bullet lube, and while there are some tweaks I’d like to make to the formula, it worked splendidly. We want to try to dilute it down to from a 1:5 ratio of lube to alcohol to a 1:10. Here’s where the update was posted.

Homemade Case and Bullet Lube

The recipe I used probably made a life time of lubricant which should be good for case sizing and bullet sizing. There’s a few more tests we want to run it through, but the results are promising so far. We’ll continue to update things as we put it through it’s paces.

We still have updates to write on how polishing the Lee die went, and it’s results. It has occurred to me that if we’re going to do all the work of polishing the die, we probably ought to discuss making our own die. I suspect we can tweak this die design a little bit to make something that is as good as the Lee dies, but with a few tweaks to make things a little better.

Life continues to be busy, but we’ll continue to do our best to bring updates on our projects as I am able to work on them. As always if you have comments or suggestions please reach out to me at jayandrew338@gmail.com, or check us out on Facebook. If you want to see what we are up to in real time, we occasionally post photos on our Instagram page. Thanks to all those who subscribe!

Thanks and stay safe out there,

The Ballistic Assistant

Just when you think things are calming down…

While I haven’t formally updated the website in the past week, I did want to do some informal updates to you all with the promise I’ll be formalizing the updates this week. The home made sizing lube at the 1:5 ratio worked splendidly and provided a little bit of lubricant to help ease the bullets through the polished Lee Bullet Sizing Die. What has yet to be seen is if we can use our homemade sizing lube with a standard factory sizing die. We also want to see if we can dilute the lubricant down to a 1:10 and still get satisfactory results. My aim is to use just enough lube to do the job, and not have a bunch of residual lubricant to clean off. There is still some work to be done to wrap up these projects.

As you can image I have been quite busy over the past week getting settled into a new job. Couple this with a fairly long commute and it has given me very little time to work on any thing else. Which is why there isn’t a formal update to articles over the past week. I’ll likely have to shift gears and steer away from some of the more involved projects for awhile and work on projects and write ups that do not require much in the ways of workspace or tooling. We will have to see what time allows for.

In the mean time, stay safe out there. I, like many others, have been watching keenly the happenings going on in our country. I do not doubt that the events and the consequences of 2020 will be felt for sometime to come. Be vigilent.

As always if you have comments questions or suggestions you can email them to jayandrew338@gmail.com, or hop on to our Facebook page. We are also on Instagram and post photos of what we are up to long before they hit the site.

Thanks for subscribing!

The Ballistic Assistant