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When a cartridge is fired, the powder burning creates high pressures. 9MM has a maximum average pressure of 35,000psi. A 7.62×51 NATO has a maximum pressure of 60,200psi. These pressures are high enough to move metal.

1/16″ to 3/5″ brass pipe fittings and standard nipples can be used up to 300psi. In certain applications, the pressure can go to 1000PSI, maybe.

What this means is that if the cartridge case is not supported, it will burst under nominal pressures. This process of the case expanding is a “good thing”. It acts to obturate the flow of gasses around the case and out the breach.

For a cartridge to fit into the supporting chamber, it must be slightly smaller, in all dimensions, than the chamber. If it was an exact match, the round would be difficult to chamber.

When the round is fired, it “fire forms” the case to match the chamber. When the pressure goes down, the metal moves back towards its original size, slightly. This allows it to be extracted from the chamber, more easily.

To help with the extraction process, cases are often designed with a slight taper. When the cases are extracted, as soon as they move back even a small amount, they lose contact with the chamber walls.

When we speak of “straight walled” cases, we typically include these slightly tapered cases.

When the size of the diameter of the bullet is significantly less than the diameter of the case, the case needs to be “necked down”. This creates a “bottleneck cartridge”.

A bottleneck cartridge has pressure pushing the brass forward when the round is fired. This causes the case to stretch a little.

Headspacing

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This is a LibreCalc document. You should be able to import it into Google Spreadsheets as well.

Cartridge Cost

Case preparation starts with getting some brass. In my situation, that is range brass. This is brass that I’ve picked up off the ground at my test range or the shooting range. The only thing I know about this brass at this point is that it is brass and not aluminum or steel.

Notice the green sealer around the primer of the top 5.56×45 case. This indicates that this was likely a military specification round. That sealer is designed to keep water out. The primer is also “crimped” or “staked” in place.
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The simplest press is a single stage press.

When starting with range brass, selected for the caliber you wish to reload, you start with an inspection. Then you deprime/decap the case.

You select the correct shell holder for your cases. For 5.56×45 it is a #4 shell holder. This is installed at the top of the ram with gentle pressure.

A decapping die is placed in the top plate and adjusted properly. When you bring the lever down, the ram goes up. The decapping pin then slides through the flash hole, and the pin then presses the primer out of its pocket.

When you raise the lever, the ram goes down and you can remove the case.

You repeat this process for each case you have to process.
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I’ll be addressing comments from Part 1 at the end of this article.

To make a cartridge, you need to place a primer in the case, then add powder to the case, and finally place a bullet in the mouth of the case.

The thing that starts your freedom downrange is the spark button/primer doing its job.

In order for it to do its job, it must be the right type and the right size.

We’ll talk about Boxer primers first.

Both of those cases are 7.62×51 NATO rounds. The top case uses a Berdan primer. The lower case uses a Boxer Primer.

Boxer primers come in two diameters, large and small. They come in three sensitivities, pistol, rifle, and military.

So what are the dimensions of these primers?
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There are only a couple of reasons to reload:

1. You can’t find the cartridge you want
2. You want to save money
3. You want to improve your rifle/ammunition’s capability
4. You want to have another skill

If you want to step up and improve your weapon system’s capabilities, I’m the wrong person to be listening to. I reload for cost and availability.

You will need some equipment before you can start.

• Reloading manual(s)
• Reloading Press
• Scale that reads in grains
• Calibers that read in inches
• Priming tool (on press or off)
• Dies
• Loading Trays
• Powder Funnel
• Trickler

For your first press, you should get a single stage press. The only consideration in which of the many you get is that you should get one that allows you to quickly change dies. It will improve your life.

So which single stage press should you get? The blunt answer is that at this point, it really doesn’t matter. Lee will be the lowest cost, but RCBS, Lyman, Hornady all make great single stage presses. On my wish list is a Foster Co-AX single stage press.

Figure on spending around $200 for your press.

Your scale is what keeps you safe. I have four or five different scales. I would get one of the good mechanical scales AND a digital scale. The mechanical scales work regardless of power and are very accurate. They can actually tell you more than a digital scale. The downside is that they can be slower than a digital scale and might require some practice to read.

For perspective, I’ve not used my mechanical scale in years. I still have it as a backup.

Keep with the name brands on your scale. Lee, Frankford Arsenal, Lyman, RCBS, Hornady are all good names. Of course, there are more expensive, high-quality scales available.

In looking at Amazon offerings, I found a scale that claims to be 0.1gr(ain) accuracy. But the actual accuracy is plus or minus 0.3gr. That means that it could tell you that you had a powder charge of 4.7gr, and it could actually be as high ad 5.0gr or as low as 4.4gr. That 0.6gr movement can be the difference between safe and dangerous.

You will also need a set of 6 inch calibers to read the lengths of cases and cartridges.

Here I strongly suggest dial calipers. Digital calibers can be great if you pay for great. If you aren’t paying for great, you are unlikely to get the reliability and usability you require. Starrett and Mitutoya are top of the line, and you can’t go wrong with them. Fowler is also a known good brand.

I’ve heard good things about Accusize. My reloading calipers are made by Grizzly.

Figure $25 to $125

You will need a way to install primers. Most presses have an on the press option. If you can, pay for this option. There are times when you will need the control and leverage of the press. I have multiple systems. I have a Frankford Arsenal hand priming tool. For me, the advantage of doing it manually while being with my family was the selling point. On the other hand, I used the on press priming tool for almost all of my 5.56 because I was having issues.

You will need a set of dies for each caliber you are reloading. You will need a way of getting powder into each case as well.

For organizational reasons and safety, having reloading trays that match the caliber you are reloading is another requirement, in my mind.

In addition to all of the above, you are going to want (not need, at least at first), brass processing tools, brass cleaning tools, gauges, small paint brushes, wrenches, and a host of other things. This is just the equipment you need to load your first cartridges.

Wednesday, I took some newly made rounds out to the test range to give them a try. We had steel and baby pumpkins as targets. I was testing Winchester #41 military small rifle primers. I was also comparing Rocky Mountain Reloading’s 55gr metal jacket boat tail and Hornady 55gr Soft points.

It was so fun to shoot Flat Dark Evil (FDE). This is a 20″ AR platform I built myself. This is the rifle with the weapon light mounted on it.

The first 10+ rounds downrange rang steel just fine. As for the baby pumpkin. I could see impacts, but nothing really happening.

The next 10 rounds were the Hornady 55gr SP “Varmint” rounds. Double tap to the steel, then double into the baby pumpkin. It has ceased to exist as a pumpkin. Double tap to hostage taker (steel behind steel), double tap to secondary steel, double tap to the other baby pumpkin. Half has gone missing.

Ok. That was impressive. I now have 3 mags full of varmint and a bit more in the ammo cans. I’m impressed.

Final results, pumpkin parts scattered over about a 4-meter radius. There was even some in the tree above the target zone.

I need to make more ammo.

The Bevis v. Naperville has made it to the shadow docket of the Supreme Court. Amy Coney Barrett is the justice that is hearing the request for an emergency injunction pending review.

This case came up through the district court and was appealed to the Seventh Circuit court. The Seventh Circuit was sitting on it when they made an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court for an injunction pending review. The Seventh Circuit court administrative panel then put the case on an expedite schedule.

This was the second time this had happened. The circuit courts know that as long as they are moving rapidly in judicial terms, they are pretty safe from having the Supreme Court slap them down.

The Seventh Circuit panel has now gone on record dissing the Bruen Court. This makes a difference.

Justice Barrett has told the defendants (bad guys) they have until FridayWednesday, the 6th of December, to get their briefs in. I expect to see a spat of amici curiae briefings showing up at the same time. The Supreme Court will act quickly in either granting the injunction or declining to do so.

If they do not grant the injunction, the Seventh will take the case en banc and then sit on it for as long as they can. If they grant the injunction, the Seventh will take the case en banc and move it rapidly.

While the Supreme Court’s injunction is in place, the weapons ban and magazine ban in Illinois is stopped. That injunction doesn’t go away until the Supreme Court denies certiorari or issues their opinion. This will upset the state’s attempt at infringing.

There is another case making its way through the courts in Illinois as a challenge at the state level. I do not have good insight into the court filings for that case. I’ll do what I can do to find information about it. Just know that our friends over at https://www.gunssavelife.com are fighting the good fight.

With that, the comments are open. Have at it.

I’m starting a series on reloading. Mostly as a way of taking/making notes for myself. The first article will be published later today.

B.L.U.F.
Brady’s amici curiae is extremely weak, replaying old, disproved arguments.
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It gets tiring reading the same old arguments from the state, state actors, and state supporters.

Heller tells us that if the plain text of the Second Amendment is implicated by the proposed conduct, then it is the burden of the state to prove a history and tradition of analogous regulations.

I propose this simple test to see if the plaint text is implicated: If Everytown, Brady, or Giffords files an amici brief, then the proposed conduct implicates the Second Amendment.

After Bruen we saw the standard infringers jumping in. The state with their sycophants tossed every regulation that they could find that might, possibly, support their argument for civilian disarmament. We’ve seen 1000s of pages of electronic ink spilled telling us the horrors of guns and how this particular infringement requires a nuanced view of history and tradition.
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This!

OldNFO added this as a comment on one of my posts.

It used to be said that what separates us from the animals is our ability to use tools. They no longer say that, as there are some animals that do use tools, it is still a good differentiator.

It is all well and good to have a tool, but if you don’t know how to use it, it is just about worthless.

My mother gave me a reproduction “coffee grinder” many years ago. It was based on a brass coffee grinder from the area of Turkey. It is a brass cylinder about 10 inches tall, 2 inches in diameter. There is a crank on the top with a grind adjustment nut.

The reason it is a reproduction is that they didn’t have coffee bean burrs but instead pepper burrs. At the time, most people either had expensive coffee grinders or electric grinders. Almost nobody was grinding coffee manually.

On the other hand, it was, and is, a beautiful pepper grinder. For the last 20 years ago, it was forced into service as a coffee grinder. About 15 years ago, it was taken out of service because we had some superb manual coffee grinders.

All of which takes us to Thanksgiving. I make a wild rice, sausage, and Cognac soaked raisin dressing. It needed some pepper. We have a nice pepper grinder for the table, but it is slow to use. I had cleaned the “coffee grinder” a year or so ago.

It was time to put the tool back in production. I did, it worked perfectly. The family was informed that it was ready to use.

The next day, my wife went to make breakfast and grabbed the “pepper grinder” and cranked. The pepper doesn’t come out because there is a catch cup in place.

She can’t figure out how to take the catch cup off. She ends up using the black pepper from a can.

She didn’t know how to use the tool.

I’m willing to bet that each and every one of us have tools we don’t know how to use. There is only one way to know that you know how to use a tool. That is, to use it for the purpose for which it is intended.

I have a suture kit. I don’t know how to use. I could learn. That tool isn’t for me, it is for properly trained medical personnel that don’t have gear.

There is a MIG wielder in the shop, as AvE says, “a grinder and paint makes me the wielder I ain’t”. I should run beads for a few hours, but I never take the time to do so.

I have an internal threading tool I’ve never used. I really should, just to prove to myself I can cut internal threads.

Please take the time to put some tool you own that you don’t know how to use (well enough) in the comments. Maybe take a moment to decide to learn how to use some tool.

It is always better to know how to use something and not need to do so, than to need to know how to do something and having to learn when time is tight/short.