Summer of 223

Match prep this summer has meant hitting the reloading bench on a weekly basis. Today's session brought something new. Temps climbed to near 100 at the reloading press. The loaded rounds actually felt warm to the touch. I mean like brass that had been fired a few minutes ago ... not so hot as to burn ya, but definitely warm.

T'was kinda weird.

That there is some mighty testicular marketing.

h/t Hornady.

In preparation for F-Class matches, I've dusted off the reloading bench. Let's see, I've got some of these old Hornady VMax, moly coated, 55 grain, .223 pills to load up. Got some load data. They've been sweet at the 100 yard range. Now, how much will that load drop on it's trip to the 300 yard bullseye? Well, Hodgdon has a nifty ballistics calculator online. But, Cheese, now I need the ballistic coefficient of that there boolit!

Used to be, ya better have a shelf of reloading manuals. Then came the internetwebtubes.
Now by surfing through a handful of manufacturers sites, perhaps a shooting forum or two, there's very few obscure, arcane bits of info that can't be dug up.

http://www.youtube.com/hornadymanufacturing

 So, in the pursuit of external ballistics, I stumble across the youtube video above. They feature some vids of hunting. With a heavy metal soundtrack. Not the stalk. Not the sitting in a stand. More of the "where the critter meets the lead" variety. Terminal Ballistics.

Not for the squeamish, terminal ballistics video is ... ummm ... graphic. Flying gophers, somersaulting coyotes. Even a damn charging elephant. That's some big money safari hunting there.

http://www.youtube.com/hornadymanufacturing

Gotta say, the elephant hunting clip, reminded me of this old, under-rated Clint Eastwood movie more than anything else.

White Hunter Black Heart

All I wanna do is nail the X-ring.

FCC disclaimer; Author received no compensation for the fawning product placement. Not that I wouldn't be pleased if a case of bullets appeared on the front porch. Just sayin'.

Take a quick inventory ...

Dropped into my email yesterday ... a heads up.

Now, I understand that this is a note from a retailer, looking to boost sales.
But I wouldn't be surprised at all if this is right on the mark regarding upcoming shortages.

Pistol Brass Prep

The Ultimate Reloader has posted a great primer on the basics of pistol brass prep.
I purty much follow the same workflow.
My method, starting with fired brass:

• Sort brass by caliber
• Tumble in corn cob with a little brass cleaner added
• Sort clean brass by headstamp. If I've shot only one brand the fired brass is already headstamp sorted. 
• Inspect cases for splits, dents, crushed mouths or other deformities. These are culled and trashed.
• Run clean, brand sorted brass through depriming/resizing die.
• On my Lee 1000, I'll pull this brass and prime using a hand priming tool. Sometimes I'll do this on my Dillon AT500 as well. The machines don't have the same level of finesse that a hand primer does.

At this point, I've got brass that's cleaned, deprimed, resized and reprimed.


Haven't ever lubed pistol brass tho. With carbide dies it isn't required. UR claims that it smooths the operation of his press. OK. I'll bite. I'll try it. I'll let ya know. +1 on the commentors tip of spray lube a small batch 'o brass in a paper bag, then shaking to distribute lube.

h/t The Ultimate Reloader

Point 'n Shoot drills

There's a number of close quarter drills out there.
CarTeach0 lays one out in detail. He includes all the safety parameters. Follow 'em.

While there's no substitute for live fire drills, I got something close.
Plastic bullets.
Loaded with magnum pistol primers, NO POWDER.

Target 45 Plastic Bullets, Made by the Good Ol' Boys in Lewiston

The point of impact will be different than lead. However, for learning the draw, weapon presentation, and firing at contact range, it's the cat's meow. POI isn't different enough at those ranges.

45 Plastic Bullet vs. 185 grain JHP

Bonus is that you can set up a home range. With the proper backstop, the bullets can be collected and reused. A few large scraps of carpet, hung from the rafters of the garage, a cheap tarp doubled over a line behind the carpet, and you've got yourself a backstop.

Don't minimize safety with these rounds. Use all the normal safety gear; eyes and ears. The danger of ricochets also needs to be addressed. These primer powered rounds will still reach 500 fps and can cause injury up to 75 feet.

h/t Carteach0