February 2007 No. 245 Rifle Magazine Presents - HANDLOADER $4.99US $5.99CAN Printed in USA $4.99 U.S./$5.

Transcription

1 February 2007 No. 245 Rifle Magazine Presents - HANDLOADER $4.99US $5.99CAN Printed in USA $4.99 U.S./$5.99 Canada

2 AMMUNITION RELOADING JOURNAL Redding T-7 Turret Press Reloader s Press - Dave Scovill.500 Smith & Wesson Update From the Hip - Brian Pearce.276 Pedersen Cartridge Board - Gil Sengel Page February-March 2007 Volume 42, Number 1 ISSN Issue No. 245 Handloads for the Hunter How to Develop Field Loads John Haviland 48 Handloading the.338 Winchester Magnum The Champion Medium Bore Brian Pearce Page Norma MRP-2 Propellant Profiles - R.H. VanDenburg, Jr. Page The in Leverguns A Classic Target/ Hunting Cartridge from Yesteryear Mike Venturino Years of Bullet Casting Mike s Shootin Shack - Mike Venturino Page Winchester Special Classic Deer Cartridge or Misfit? Gil Sengel 30 Boutique Bullets for Big Game Barsness surveys the bullet market. John Barsness Page Page Handloader 245

3 On the cover... The Redding T-7 turret press. Photo by Stan Trzoniec. Page 30 Page 48 Page 6 78 Barnes X-Bullet Triple-Shocks Product Tests - Al Miller Issue No. 245 February-March Marlin for Moose Bullets & Brass - What s New in the Marketplace Inside Product News - Clair Rees Page AMMUNITION RELOADING JOURNAL Publisher/President Mark Harris Associate Publisher Don Polacek Editor in Chief Dave Scovill Managing Editor Roberta Montgomery Art Director Gerald Hudson Production Director Becky Pinkley Contributing Editors Associate Editor Al Miller John Barsness Ron Spomer 97 Master Index Brian Pearce Stan Trzoniec Clair Rees Mike Venturino Gil Sengel Ken Waters Advertising 98 Case Shape Hunting Handloads - John Barsness Page Publisher of Handloader is not responsible for mishaps of any nature that might occur from use of published loading data or from recommendations by any member of The Staff. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Publisher assumes all North American Rights upon acceptance and payment for all manuscripts. Although all possible care is exercised, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for lost or mutilated manuscripts. Don Polacek: don@riflemag.com Stefanie Ramsey: stefanie@riflemag.com Tom Bowman: bowmant@mauryboyd.com Advertising Information: Circulation Circulation Manager Michele Morgan circ@riflemagazine.com Subscription Information: Handloader (ISSN ) is published bimonthly by Mark Harris Publishing Associates, Inc., dba Wolfe Publishing Company (Mark Harris, President), 2625 Stearman Rd., Ste. A, Prescott, Arizona (Also publisher of Rifle magazine.) Telephone (928) Periodical Postage paid at Prescott, Arizona, and additional mailing offices. Subscription prices: U.S. possessions single issue, $4.99; 6 issues, $19.97; 12 issues, $36.00; 18 issues, $ Foreign and Canada single issue, $5.99; 6 issues $26.00; 12 issues, $48.00; 18 issues, $ Please allow 6-8 weeks for first issue. Advertising rates furnished on request. All rights reserved. Change of address: Please give six weeks notice. Send both the old and new address, plus mailing label if possible, to Circulation Dept., Handloader Magazine, 2625 Stearman Rd., Ste. A, Prescott, Arizona POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Handloader, 2625 Stearman Rd., Ste. A, Prescott, Arizona Wolfe Publishing Company 2625 Stearman Rd. Suite A Prescott, AZ Tel: (928) Fax: (928) Copyright Mark Harris Publishing Associates, Inc. February-March 2007 Background Photo: 2007 Kenny Bahr 5

4 RELOADER S PRESS Dave Scovill Back in 1955, I started reloading with a Lyman 310 tool, affectionately referred to as the nutcracker, because that s what it looked like, and probably could have been used for. My stepfather, Lester, bought dies for the three rifles we had on hand, a 7.7 Arisaka, a Krag and a.257 Roberts. We used the same powder in all three, IMR-4320, and never approached a maximum load, usually settling on suggested starting loads listed in the then-current Lyman/Ideal manual. Several years later, upon acquiring.44 Magnum,.44 Special and.45 Colt handguns, I started out with Lyman 310 dies for the.45 Colt and added a Lyman Spartan press (single stage) and Lyman All American.44 Magnum/.44 Smith & Wesson Special dies for the.44s. A Lee Loader was used for the.38 Special. I still have all those dies and the Lyman press. Over the years, a number of different loading presses were added, including several from RCBS, Redding and Lyman, along with a wide selection of reloading dies. Lately, however, I ve come to rely on turret presses. REDDING T-7 TURRET PRESS The Redding T-7 is set up to load the.45 Colt in new, unfired brass using five dies to neck size, size inside neck diameter, seat bullets without crimp, profile crimp and roll crimp. Cases were previously primed. The other die in this setup is to seat bullets in.223 Remington cases. But before I get too far, let me explain how I got here. One of the biggest time-consuming problems is swapping die sets. The problem is setting up the dies in a single-stage press, sometimes with several bullet designs and/or weights, then returning them to the box when cartridges are changed. Of course, the problem of swapping Production is sampled periodically to ensure loaded rounds chamber properly. dies is aggravated with a singlestage press that requires two die changes for most bottleneck cartridges and three for most handgun rounds. For a time, I tried the various progressive reloading presses, but again, it was a matter of swapping dies or constantly resetting them for various component changes. Ultimately, I came to prefer the progressives for long runs with whatever cartridge, but they are a pain when you only make 10 or 20 rounds with each test load, then switch powder charges, bullets and primers and start over. Constant die adjustments consumed more time than it took to load 10 to 20 on a single-stage or turret press. So, sometime back, I asked Redding to forward a T-5 Turret (five die stations) that allowed 6 Handloader 245

5 The finished round fits the 1917-era Colt Single Action Army.45 Colt chambers as closely as possible, including bullet diameter to chamber throat diameter. 8 me to leave the.45 Colt dies in place and swap rifle dies. At the time I was in the middle of several runs with various rifle cartridges, so the T-5 allowed me to leave the dies of interest in the press until the project was finished. When a project wasn t finished, and I needed to make another run of handloads with another cartridge, I used a singlestage press for the short term and avoided having to remove and reset the dies in the turret press. Fortunately, I have a good sized reloading bench in the house that can handle two fullsized reloading presses, and a lot of other stuff, and another makedo bench in the garage that is used for reloading and sizing cast bullets. The Redding T-5 worked so well, I couldn t resist the urge to add a T-7 with 7 die stations, which along with the T-5 makes a total of 12 stations. Since I m constantly experimenting with wildcats, and a few cartridges for which I might use four or five separate dies to form an off-breed load for which no commercial dies are available, the T-5 and T-7 together are a little overkill but easily solve the time/efficiency related problems I ve experienced with singlestage and progressive presses. Here s an example: To eliminate the lead shavings when some cast bullet designs are seated and crimped with the same bullet seating die, I ve experimented with seating handgun bullets in the case, then using a profile crimp die to start the roll on the case mouth, and finish with a roll crimp die to avoid buckling the case mouth on frangible handgun/rifle cartridges like the WCF,.38 WCF and.44 WCF. That setup requires a total of five dies to complete a round. For everyday use, I usually have a set of.45 Colt dies set up in three stations, sometimes four or five when working with different bullet designs, hence bullet seating dies with the correct nose profile, and leave the dies for the current rifle project, in this instance the.223 Remington, in place, any one of which is over the shellholder with a simple rotation of the turret. Now, I leave the dies in the T-5, using five stations, including two bullet seating dies, for cast and jacketed bullets. To switch over to the WCF, it is a simple matter to adjust the dies for the.3 inch longer case and/or add an additional neck sizing/expander die and remove one of the bullet seating dies. Either way, it s a lot easier and less time consuming than swapping the whole set of dies from to For most of us, the T-7 allows room for two sets of handgun/ pistol dies or three sets of rifle dies. For me, that leaves one Handloader 245

6 station for a priming die or a bullet pulling collet, if I goof things up. While it never entered my mind when ordering the T-7, I find it has a slight advantage over the T-5, which is set at an angle, while the T-7 turret is parallel to the floor. So, who cares? The problem is that most shellholders are a bit oversized to make room for variations in rim diameter and thickness. When the press is at an angle, the cartridge case wants to lean back, which can result in a misaligned case when it starts to enter the sizing or bullet seating die. For sometime, I had unwittingly been holding the tip of my left hand index finger against the base of the case, to hold it straightly, to avoid denting or buckling the case mouth if it hits the bottom of the die. I also found it was easy to tilt my head just a bit, to see that the case mouth was true upon entering the die. Of course, the tilting case problem is pretty much eliminated with the T-7, and while I have to lean over just a bit more to see under the turret on the T-7, I find it is really a matter of breaking the habit acquired in the use of the T-5. It might be easier to just saw off the bottom of my reloading stool legs a couple of inches, so I don t risk getting a kink in my neck. Then too, anyone who has ever tried to saw off four legs of a stool and still have it sit squarely on the floor knows it might be best to just quit while I m ahead. Moreover, if I d had a turret press years ago when I usually had two, three or four loading projects going at the same time, it would have saved a lot of grief compared to what I experienced with that old Lyman Spartan. KEN WATERS NOTEBOOK I ve just finished a quick read of Ken Waters latest book, or notebook as it were. It s a collection of Ken s correspondence, dating back to 1968, up through If there s a topic that isn t covered, ranging from older black powder cartridges and rifles and most, if not all, of the modern topics, I don t know what it might be, although the correspondence predates the short, fat craze. I m thoroughly amazed that one man could have all this information salted away all these years. No doubt, Ken is the most informed rifle/cartridge authority on the planet a walking encyclopedia. Of all the firearms related reference books I ve had the pleasure of reading over the years, this one simply skunks the competition. Ken may well be the finest mind this industry has ever seen, bar none. Absolutely remarkable.

7 John Haviland Handloaded cartridges work best for hunting, if you pay attention to the details. Those fine points include proper brass sizing, primer seating, powder choice, bullet seating and a sure fit of the finished product in your rifle when the moment arrives you ve waited for all year. Handloads Hunt How to Develop Field Loads 40 Handloader 245

8 for the er BRASS AND SIZING New cases or brass that have been fired only a few times are best for cartridges that have a lot of hunting hope riding on them. Fired cases that have been used extensively can have enlarged primer pockets or thinning walls that will split forward of the head the next time they are fired. More than one hunter has gone in search of a cleaning rod after yanking open the rifle s bolt, to only see the case head extract from the chamber. New brass needs a little cleaning up before loading. Running case mouths over the expander ball in a sizing die irons out dings. Trimming the cases and removing the burrs on the outsides of the mouths take off the rough edges. A slight bevel on the inside of the mouths allows the bullets to slip easily into place. Turning the necks on cases for a hunting rifle is pretty much a waste of time. Twenty cases grabbed from a bag of 50 Winchester.243 Winchester cases showed next to no variation in neck wall thickness. However, if neck turning brightens your day, cut off only the high side of the necks. Removing any more brass thins necks too much, and they can t be reduced in diameter enough to securely hold a bullet. The result is a bright and shiny batch of ruined cases. Nearly as disheartening is to discover in the middle of elk country that cartridges won t chamber, or chamber only with a hard shove. The advice has always been to full-length size cases for pumps, levers and autoloading rifles. That s good advice, as these actions are short on force to chamber improperly sized cartridges. Proper fulllength sizing for these action types sizes the full length of the neck for a tight grip on the bullet and reduces case body diameter but sets back the case shoulder Left, it all comes down to one shot. Your handloads better work. Right, one shot took this New Zealand red stag. February-March

9 Above, the Stoney Point Bullet Comparator measures where the ogive comes to full bullet diameter. Right, the overall length of a cartridge must be short enough to fit in the magazine. Take care to guard against cases that have become work hardened from sizing and firing. They might fail to size down to the proper dimension and jam your rifle. That s why new or reasonably new brass works best. PRIMERS Seating primers is as easy as seating them in a case and forgetting about them if a few precautions are taken. Since I started reloading, I ve never touched primers because of the wives tale about moisture or oil on my fingers contaminating them. The very few misfires I ve had over the years I blamed on the fact I had somehow touched the primers. But the head of the CCI primer plant told me that reason was highly unlikely, because the priming mixture in most primers is covered with foil paper. The main cause of a misfire is a primer not seated with its anvil in tight contact with the bottom of the primer pocket. With the primer suspended in the pocket, the firing pin fails to make a sharp strike and there s a dud. The firing pin has made a deep dent and driven the primer into the pocket, so everything looks like it should. Hitting the primer again probably won t fire the primer, though, because the first hit fragmented the priming mixture. Two steps make sure primers are seated firmly in the pocket. Cleaning the primer pocket of residue allows the primer to fully seat. With the primer seated, it should sit slightly below flush with the face of the case head. Running a finger over the primer to feel that it s indented ensures it s seated correctly and you re ready for powder. POWDER A big game hunter might end up sweating in 90-degree heat sitting in a tree stand in Alabama or A case full of powder can alter exact bullet seating depth. Cycle all the cartridges through your rifle, just to make sure. February-March

10 Handloads for the HUNTER freezing at 30 below zero on an elk hunt in the Rockies. Through it all his handloaded cartridges must deliver uniform velocities. Hodgdon Extreme, Ramshot and Vihtavuori N500 powders are touted as delivering uniform velocities over these temperature extremes. I ve recorded bullet velocities of the same loads with these powders in cold and hot temperatures, and they do provide uniform speeds. Other powders, such as Winchester s 748 and 760 Ball powders, are supposed to produce wide swings in velocity when the temperature fluctuates. But danged if I can tell any difference in the trajectory of my.223 Remington loaded with W-748 shooting prairie dogs in the 100-degree As these groups fired from a.338 magnum show, a properly bedded rifle should shoot fairly well with about any suitable powder. heat of July or in December at 30 below zero hunting coyotes. Then again, perhaps that complacency was a sign of my ignorance. So I thumbed through my records to see how much some of these powders varied in velocity at different temperatures. A short list is shown in Table I. With that worry taken care of, go ahead and use the powder that provides good speed and accuracy in your rifle. BULLET SEATING DEPTH Back when I was young, I messed up on a six-point bull elk because I didn t read reloading manual instructions. I haphazardly loaded a couple of boxes of shells with 180-grain bullets. They fed, chambered and fired fine. I failed to realize, DEVELOPING A LOAD It would be better to rub a bald guy s head and wish a rifle would shoot more accurately than to hold the false hope a rifle will perform better with one grain more or less of powder or bullets seated a few hundredths of an inch closer or farther from the rifling. A properly bedded rifle will shoot reasonably well with about any ammunition it s fed. With a particular bullet in mind, I select a few powders to try by following the recommendations in handloading manuals and shooting articles and keeping my ears open to what others say. I selected Ramshot Hunter, IMR and H-4350 when I wanted to come up with an antelope hunting load for the Barnes 100- grain Triple-Shock in a Browning A-Bolt.25 WSSM. The first goround was with powder weights two grains below listed maximums. The three loads shot just under to over one inch at 100 yards. I slightly boosted the powder charges, and what the rifle turned in is listed in the table. All the loads are close in group size, which shows the rifle is properly bedded, and I can worry my bald head about other things when working up loads. 100-yard bullet powder charge velocity group (grains) (grains) (fps) (inches) 100 Barnes Triple-Shock Hunter , H , IMR , Notes: Overall loaded length is 2.72 inches. Be Alert Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data Appropriate load informtaion and basic handloading guidance is available from a variety of powder and bullet manufacturers. Handloader 245

11 though, the bullets were seated out too far and were jamming into the rifling. Anyway, I went hunting. I drove into a park, and at the far end stood a few cow elk and a sixpoint bull. The elk took off running, and I bailed out of the Scout with my rifle. The elk made the trees before I could get off a shot, so I ran back to the Scout to drive up and chase after them on foot. When I opened the rifle bolt to remove the cartridge from the chamber, the case and spilling powder were all that came out. The bullet remained firmly stuck in the bore. I had a cleaning rod in the car and used it to knock the stuck bullet out of the breech. But by that time the elk were long gone. Since then I have kept a watchful eye when seating bullets. For hunting cartridges, bullets seated so they sit.03 to.05 inch from contacting the rifling is a good place to start. Cartridges may need to be shorter, though, to fit in a rifle s magazine or to feed reliably. A multitude of methods and tools provide a precise measurement to set overall cartridge length. A couple of tools include the Frankford Arsenal Cartridge Overall Length Gauge and Stoney Point O.A.L. Gauge. A quick method is to insert a cleaning rod with a flat tip in the muzzle until the tip contacts the bolt face and mark the rod at the muzzle with a fine line. Next take a fired case and crimp the case mouth ever so slightly so it holds a bullet with a bit of resistance. With a bullet sticking obviously long out of the case, gently insert the case in the chamber and close the bolt. Slowly insert the cleaning rod until the tip contacts the bullet and make another mark on the rod. The distance between the two marks is the overall length of a cartridge in your rifle with that bullet design touching the rifling. However, don t be surprised Make Frangible Bullets for Pest Control and Prevent Ricochets! Shot-Filled Bullets Segmented Bullets Multi-Core Bullets Want to know more? See my free online swaging book at or contact: RCE Co Colver Rd. - Phoenix, Oregon Tel: richard@rceco.com Website: JDS Quick Measure Cut Your Reloading Time! Not Your Powder! This powder measure will not cut powder! Charge directly into the cartridge cases Charge 100 cases in less than 4 minutes Johnson Design Specialities 4607 W. Elderberry Avenue Spokane, WA smalstuf@mindspring.com SHOOTING CHRONY The Greatest Bang for Your Buck! For Precise Ammo Velocity Measurement For Rifles, Handguns, Archery, Shotguns, Airguns & Paintballs Choose from 10 Models MSPR: $89.95 to $ We Accept Trade-ins If it doesn t unfold... it s not a Chrony! Have a look at our Shooting Chrony Ballistics Program on our Web Page: SHOOTING CHRONY, INC E. Robinson Rd. PMB #298 Amherst, NY chrony@shootingchrony.com chrony@shootingchrony.com February-March

12 46 Table I Effects of Temperature Extremes average bullet powder charge velocity Fahrenheit (grains) (grains) (fps) (degrees).35 Whelen 250 Speer IMR , , mm-08 Remington 130 Speer W , , mm Remington 70 Nosler IMR , , Be Alert Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data. The bullets were seated out too far and were jamming into the rifling. after seating bullets that the length of cartridges may vary some. One reason is the ogives of bullets can fluctuate at the point they reach bore diameter. A second reason is powder charges that compress when bullets are seated apply varying amounts of pressure to the bullet. When I loaded the 7mm-08 with Nosler 150-grain Partitions, the bullets slightly compressed 46.0 grains of W-760 with a cartridge length of 2.78 inches. A box of 20 cartridges varied only.008 inch in length and.004 inch from the face of the head to bore diameter on the ogives. Pretty good. A slightly different story occurred with the.300 WSM loaded with 72.0 grains of Reloder 19 and the Swift 165-grain Scirocco. The bullets forcefully compressed the powder when seated to an initial cartridge length of 2.85 inches. Out of a box of 20, though, cartridge lengths measured as long as inches and varied.022 inch in length from the case heads to bore diameter on the ogives. The bullet of the longest cartridge was still well short of touching the rifling and just fit freely in the magazine of my Winchester Model 70. That might not be the case with other rifles and even more compressed powders. I did worry that over time the tightly compressed powder might exert enough pressure to overcome the grip of the 300 s short neck on the bullets and slightly push the bullets out of the cases. However, two days later the lengths of the 20 cartridges remained exactly the same. SHOOTING With hunting cartridges and rifle in hand, head to the shooting range. From earlier load development, you know the loads are accurate and have an idea of their velocity. Sight in at 100 yards dead on or however high for longer ranges. Then shoot at those ranges. Computer ballistic programs estimate bullet drop close enough for a virtual world, but hunting is reality. So to shoot antelope out to 350 yards, you must learn the trajectory of your.270 Winchester. That shooting develops confidence in the load, your rifle and yourself. That certainly is what hunting handloads are all about. One final task remains to make sure the hunting cartridges are completely reliable. To ensure they cycle, run all of them from the rifle s magazine into the chamber and eject them back out into your hand and store them in a box like little jewels. All there is to do now is endure the agonizing wait for hunting season. Handloader 245

13 Handloads for the HUNTER only slightly to retain the proper headspace. The rim is supposed to provide the proper headspace for rimmed cartridges like the Winchester, but cases run fully into a sizing die can set a case shoulder back as much as.01 inch. That amount of play might well split the case the next time it s fired. So I adjust sizing dies so shoulders are set back.003 inch for rimmed cartridges, so in essence Partial, full-length sizing works well for bolt-action rifles. the cases headspace off the shoulder. No chambering problems arise with such a setting. This partial, full-length sizing works well for bolt-action rifles too. For bolt actions, though, shoulder setback is kept at.002 inch. Measuring this precise amount of sizing is easy with tools like Above left, primers should be seated to contact the bottom of the primer pocket The face of the primer should be slightly below the case head. Right, new cases (right) often have out-of-round and rough case mouths. A little preparation makes them round and true. the RCBS Precision Mic or Stoney Point Headspace Gauge. These tools measure a fired case from the face of the case head to the reference line on the shoulder. The case is sized and measured until the desired amount of setback is achieved. For the record, the shoulders of Federal, Remington and Winchester factory loads varied from.003 to.005 inch from contacting the shoulder in the chamber of my Ruger MKII Model 77. A less precise method involves alternating sizing the case and chambering it until the action closes without any resistance. At some point while adjusting the sizing die closer to the shellholder, the case is sized enough to slightly push its shoulder forward, and the case won t fit in the chamber. A couple of more fractional turns of the die is usually the point where a case is sized to chamber freely. Once cases are sized, trim them to the proper length. Cases of the same length are essential for applying the same amount of crimp into a cannelure on a bullet. A too long neck can also bind a bullet at the head of the chamber when a cartridge fires. Without a doubt, overly long necks are the reason a usually safe load suddenly causes a blown primer or smoke curling up out of an action with the bolt frozen shut. One last warning about brass. Below, case mouth walls are very even in thickness. There is little need to turn case necks for hunting rifles. Right, the Stoney Point Headspace Gauge measures the shoulder length of cases fired in your rifle Handloader 245

14 INSIDE PRODUCT NEWS Clair Rees One difficulty of reloading paper and plastic shotshells is the sometimes poor condition of the case mouths after firing. Rough crimps that remain can interfere with the reloading process. If crimps are too badly damaged, the hull must often be discarded. The Thermagic hull conditioner was developed to save every last hull from an early retirement, said Bryan Ayers of Ayers Arsenal, distributors of the unit. Replacement hulls are expensive and some can be difficult to locate. The Thermagic conditioner irons out the fold and roll crimps in hulls, he added. Not only is the conditioner able to iron out the ugly in fired shotshell hulls, it can also change the hull s crimp style. This is useful when you want to change to a rolled crimp from a folded crimp hull, and vice versa. Sorry, but Thermagic hull conditioner can t weld cracked or split hulls together. Operation is easy and straightforward. First, de-prime and sort hulls into similar types. Different materials used by different manufacturers require different working temperatures. Securely clamp the Thermagic unit in a vise or to a bench. Then plug it into a grounded 110-volt AC outlet. Start by setting the thermostat to approximately the 10 o clock position, then wait 10 minutes for the unit to heat up. Test the temperature by placing an expended hull over the forming mandrel and slowly pushing the shotshell down with a rotating motion. Continue rotating the hull in place for another five THERMAGIC SHOTSHELL HULL CONDITIONER to seven seconds, then remove the hull while rotating it in the opposite direction. Quickly insert the cooling mandrel into the hull, which is now HOT, so beware of burned fingers! Now examine the treated hull. If necessary, adjust the heat setting to achieve the desired results. A setting that is too high will cause the hull to stick and become distorted. A too-low setting won t remove all the crimp. Hulls form best when a minimal heat setting is used. Overcooking the hull alters its properties and may destroy its usefulness. Thermagic conditioners are available in nearly all gauges, ranging from the tiny 32 gauge to the big 8-gauge behemoths. Ayers says these conditioners are be- REDDING PRECISION coming highly popular with double-gun shooters and cowboy action competitors. MSRP is $ The device isn t imported. Thermagic conditioners are manufactured in northern Wisconsin, right here in the U.S.A. For more information, contact Ayers Arsenal, Dept. HL, 32 E. Division Ave., Barron WI To order a Thermagic conditioner, e- mail: Thermagic-Sales@yahoo.com. CASE TRIMMING LATHE 84 Handloader 245

15 Redding now offers a new Model 2400 case-trimming lathe that incorporates the extended cast-iron frame of the Model 1400-XT, allowing it to trim longer cases. The new lathe has an innovative pushbutton on top of its sturdy, cast-iron frame. Pressing the button unlocks the chuck, freeing it to effortlessly move back and forth. This makes inserting and extracting cases faster and easier. It also helps align the cartridge case and pilot. The new quick-release chuck lock allows the lathe to accommodate cases up to 3.25 inches in length. This means it can handle today s long-action cartridges and some old-time classics as well. The pushbutton collet chuck can also be used with an optional power adapter for speedier trimming than manual operation provides. Redding claims its case-trimming lathes are the only case trimmers on the market that turn the case and not the cutter, adding that, this feature guarantees a perfectly square case mouth with every cut. The trimmer features a new micrometer said to improve the precision and repeatability of case-trimming operations. The micrometer can be set for changes as little as.001 inch. This lathe is a welcome addition to my handloading bench. It operates smoothly and is very easy to use. The Model 2400 case-trimming lathe comes equipped with a universal collet designed to fit all popular cases, which should eliminate the need to buy other collets. It also has a replaceable titanium nitride (TiN) coated cutter. Six pilots are supplied, ranging from.22 through.30 caliber. Both.22- and.30-caliber neckcleaning brushes come with the lathe. Large and small primer pocket cleaners are also included. Predrilled holes in the frame keep extra pilots handy and allow horizontal mounting of a neck-cleaning brush to speed neck-cleaning chores. Redding s new Model 2400 Precision Case Trimming Lathe (Item No on the Redding website) is priced at $198. For more information, contact Redding Reloading Equipment, Dept. HL, 1089 Starr Road, Cortland NY 13045; or visit online at: Lewis Lead Remover Available for More Calibers Brownells now offers the Lewis Lead Remover in additional firearm calibers. Five new Lewis Lead Remover kits now fit.30/.32-,.38-,.44/.45- and.50-caliber rifles, as well as.32-caliber handguns. Brownells Vice President Pete Brownell said the new kits represent the second consecutive expansion of the Lewis Lead Remover line since it became part of Brownells family of cleaning products in For many shooters and gunsmiths, Lewis Lead Remover is the gold standard for simple, effective removal of lead buildup from handguns, he said. With that reputation, we felt dutybound to make its efficiency available for other guns. So that s just what we ve done first with kits for shotguns, and now with kits for additional rifle calibers and.32-caliber handguns. The newest Lewis Lead Remover kits are available now in Brownells Catalog No. 58. Rifle kits include a rubber tip with 8-32 threads, specially woven brass patches and a wrench for attaching the tool to cleaning rods. Handgun kits include a handle, cone, rubber tips and woven brass patches. The new rifle kits are priced at $8.99, while the.32 handgun kit sells for $ Lewis Lead Remover Kits are also available for 9mm/.38-,.40/41/10mm,.44- and.45-caliber handguns, as well as for 12- and 20-gauge shotguns. Quality hand-cast bullets for reloaders, competitors & recreational shooters! Extensive selection of pistol, rifle, big bore & paper-patched bullets. Website: Hesper Rd. Billings, MT Tel: mfg, inc. Got Creep? Heavy Trigger Pull? Too Much Overtravel? TIMNEY HAS THE SOLUTION!! Fully adjustable triggers for bolt-action rifles. service@timneymfg.com - Free Brochure - TIMNEY MFG, INC. Dept. HL W. Clarendon Ave. Phoenix, AZ TEL: FAX: February-March

16 For more information, contact Brownells, Dept. HL, 200 South Front Street, Montezuma IA 50171; telephone toll-free: ; or visit online at: Sheffield s Mountaineer Is Budget-Priced Multitool Sheffield Mfg. now offers a sportsman s version of its imaginative multitool. Sheffield says the Mountaineer (12300) is the first multitool designed exclusively for rock climbers, bikers and extreme outdoorsmen. It also offers lots of utility for hunters and shooters. A heavy-duty, 14- in-1 multitool, the Mountaineer features a lightweight aluminum handle and stainless steel construction, along with heavy-duty brass bolsters. It s equipped with a convenient D- ring with a locking snap that allows the tool to be securely hooked to a belt, another D-ring or a backpack. The Mountaineer incorporates 14 different tools, including 1 4- and 1 16-inch slotted screwdriver blades and a No. 2 Phillips screwdriver. There are also regular and long-nose pliers, wire cutters, wire strippers, a saw blade and a drop-point knife blade, along MAUSER 98 FIRING PIN & COCKING PIECE 86 with a can opener and bottle opener. A file and awl complete the assortment. All the tools are ruggedly proportioned, and the knife blade is satisfyingly sharp. While the knife blade, file, D- ring clip and saw blade are easily accessed via fingernail slots in both blade and handle, the other tools aren t quite so handy or easily deployed. I had to use a coin to pry the awl, can opener and screwdriver blades from their recesses in the handle. The Mountaineer folds into a compact inch long, inch thick and 3 4 inch deep package that fits nicely in your pocket. The solidly built multitool weighs an even 8 ounces. The most surprising thing about this new multitool is its extremely reasonable $24.99 price. This price is made possible by Gentry Custom, L.L.C. - Custom Gunmaker - Available in right and left hand. Call or write for details. 314 N. Hoffman Belgrade, MT (406) 388-GUNS the fact that like so many things we outdoor sportsmen buy these days the Mountaineer is manufactured in China. Quality appears to be very good. Sheffield is proud to introduce its newest multitool, the Mountaineer, to the outdoor market, said Steve Maltese, Sheffield director of marketing. The company will continue to offer innovative, outside-the-box products to meet specific needs of the outdoor industry. Like Sheffield Lock Back utility knives and pocket knives, the company s multitools come with a limited lifetime warranty. For more information, see your outdoor retailer; call toll-free: ; or visit online: Burris 2-7x 35mm Fullfield II Riflescope The Fullfield riflescopes Burris offers have long provided very good optical performance at affordable prices. A compact 2-7x 35mm scope designed for slugshooting shotguns and muzzleloading rifles is the latest addition to the Fullfield II lineup. When I unpackaged the new scope, it reminded me of the 2-7x Compact and 2-7x Short Magnum scopes Burris also offers. The big difference is these scopes both Handloader 245

17 wear objective lenses measuring just 26mm in diameter. In contrast, the new 2-7x Fullfield II features a larger 35mm objective. How does this difference affect hunters? The 2-7x Compact and Short Magnum scopes feature exit pupils ranging from 3.8 to 10.4mm in diameter, depending on magnification. The 2-7x Fullfield II sports a more generously sized exit pupil measuring from 4.6 to 16mm across. The larger the exit pupil, the more light reaches your eye. The result is a brighter image that s easier to see in low light. Although designed as a muzzleloader and shotgun scope, the new 11.4 inch long, 12-ounce 2-7x Fullfield II should be just about perfect for the light, bolt-action rifles I prefer. The scope provides 3.1 to 3.8 inches of eye relief, which should be sufficient for most chamberings. If you have a particularly hard-kicking rifle, the 3.75 to 5.0 inches of eye relief offered by Burris s 2-7x Short Magnum and Compact models could make these scopes a better choice. The scope I received for testing sported Bill Jordan s Advantage Timber camouflage. It also comes in a plain, matte black finish. Camouflaged scopes may be just the ticket for gunning sharpeyed gobblers, but I question the value of a camouflage scope finish when you re hunting deer, pronghorn or elk. I ve proven to myself that these critters are color blind. In contrast, most birds see colors just fine. This scope is supposed to be waterproof and fogproof, so it went into a warm-water bath for more than a half-hour. No bubbles or leaks were apparent, and the scope remained fog-free. Thanks to good optical design and multicoated lenses, images viewed through the scope were bright and clear. The 2-7x Fullfield II scope I tested sported the excellent Ballistic Plex reticle, which can be a real boon for long-range shooting. The windage and elevation dials are knurled, making adjustments possible with your fingers alone. However, I found the dials easier to turn with a coin. Adjustments are made in 1 2-MOA clicks. I particularly liked the fast-focus ring at the rear of the eyepiece. I m happy to see this European-style focusing appearing with increasing frequency. With the optional Ballistic Plex reticle, the new 2-7x 35mm Fullfield II scope has an MSRP of $313. See this new scope at your Burris dealer. For more information, contact: Burris Company, Dept. HL, 331 East 8th Street, Greeley CO 80631; or visit online: RUGER M77 MK II Adjustable Trigger ($108 - all calibers) Pull - Creep - Backlash - Left or Right Hand RUGER #1 and #3 Adjustable Stainless Steel or Blue Steel Trigger ($53) Pull - Creep - Backlash BROWNING A BOLT and A II Adjustable Steel Trigger Tin Coated - gold color ($115) Pull - Creep - Backlash RUGER M77 Blue Steel Trigger Guard Tang Safety ($62) Ph/Fax (208) MOYERS GUN REPAIR 1452 SUNSET STRIP Mt. HOME, ID M77 is a registered trademark of Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. February-March

18