The Firearms
MagEzine
A publication of
CenterFire Central
http://www.centerfirecentral.com
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The Firearms MagEzine is no
longer published
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VOL. 2 ISSUE 3 March 1999
Circulation 1225
IN THIS ISSUE
THE EDITOR'S NOTES
Growing Older
WHAT'S NEW AT CENTERFIRE CENTRAL
Servers
FEATURE ARTICLE
Cover Your Brass
By Bill Wade
A SPECIAL REQUEST
401
By John Grover
PRODUCT REVIEW
Sierra Bullets
By Bill Wade
INTERNET RELOADING CLASSES
RESOURCES
Other resources for related information
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
SUBMIT AN ARTICLE
ADVERTISING OPTIONS
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A WORD OF CAUTION
CenterFire Central and contributing writers are not responsible for
mishaps of any kind which may occur from use or misuse of data or
information published, electronically or otherwise by CenterFire
Central. Activities involving firearms, ammunition, components and
equipment require strict safety precautions and training which are not
detailed herein.
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EDITOR'S NOTES
Growing Older
When I was a teenager, I assumed that the gun cleaning equipment that
was on the market was the best that was available. After all, it was in
every discount store and every magazine.
According to an article from the early 80's that I read recently, the
equipment that I purchased really was all that was readily available.
Today's teenagers surely must fall into the same trap because the same
equipment is still carried by the local discount stores when much
better equipment is available.
Maybe we are missing our cue here. If young enthusiasts start with the
equipment we started with, how can we expect them to pioneer new and
better products?
Bill Wade
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WHAT'S NEW AT CENTERFIRE CENTRAL
Yet Another Server
I thought I shopped hard at the end of January for a new ISP. I made
several calls before I found one that actually seemed to know what they
were talking about and followed through on promises.
A combination of customer service and product knowledge that
seems to
be harder to find all the time.
Only after transferring all of my files and re-configuring everything,
did my basket full of eggs develop a hole.
The site was at least staying up now, as far as I knew. It was kind of
hard to tell because I COULD NOT GET A CONNECTION !!
And all of this at price higher than I was previously paying for a host
that kept dropping my site.
GGRRRRRR !
I found a new host that really actually knows what it is doing. The
site files have all been moved, and aside from a couple of glitches I
am still ironing out, it is great.
I am sorry if these moves have created an inconvenience for you but I
feel that things should be much better now.
Bill Wade
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THIS MONTH'S FEATURE ARTICLE
Cover Your Brass
By Bill Wade
In the January issue, I discussed the importance of
record keeping and
some methods of doing so. This month I want to expand on one particular
area of records that is a perplexing side of the chore.
Keeping track of brass.
It is a lot more difficult than it sounds. Having tried different
boxes, labels and memory, I have decided that neither of these are
accurate enough to suit me.
Lets start by looking at a single piece of brass you
found laying on
your bench. Where did it come from? How many times has it been used?
Was it neck sized last time or full length? Maybe it came out of your
pocket after you scored on a coyote last weekend or maybe you picked it
up at the range. No matter how it got there, now you have to deal with
it.
Though tempted to toss it just to keep from screwing up records and
consistency, the price of brass encourages me to be patient and figure
it out.
Today, it is very simple, I turn the case around, look
at the head and
see what color it has on it, look at the correct
is missing a case. It is almost too simple and I wonder why I have not
been doing this for years.
So far I am only doing this on one caliber, but since I got the new 220
Swift, that is all I have played with. Starting with a fresh caliber
and no brass, I was determined to do my best at keeping track of the
brass for this new rifle.
After contemplating my options, I came up with a scheme that actually
works and works very well.
I purchase 100 pieces of brass and immediately, mark the case head with
a colored permanent marker from a set I purchased at a hobby store. The
set contains red, blue, green and black.
Then I go to my computer and enter all the information about this new
brass into a database. But it could be as simple as writing it down in
a notebook.
Usually, I load 20 cases at a time, so a "Batch" is 20 pieces. This
means 5 records for a package of 100 pieces of brass.
The following fields are available for each record:
Batch # (computer generated)
Lot # (I assign)
Batch Quantity
Brand
Caliber
Date of Purchase
Vendor
Price
Color Code
and check boxes for - Neck Turned - Flash hole Debur - Pocket Uniformed
and a field for Comments
Most of the fields are self-explanatory but a couple require
explanation.
Batch #, is a number that will be specific for that Batch of 20 pieces
of brass, and it never changes for the Batch.
the brass came from, but it has to be short and simple.
For example: A bag of 100 pieces of Remington brass, would have a code
like this; BBR100 That is Bulk Brass, Remington, 100
pieces. So I
should expect to find 5 records that contain BBR100.
I pick a color that has not been used or not used on this brand but
there are a zillion ways this could be handled.
The resulting records for a bag of 100 pieces of brass then,
would look
something like this.
Batch # Lot # Qty Brand Caliber Date Vendor Price Color
118 BBR100 20 Rem 220 2/99 Fred's 21 Green
119 BBR100 20 Rem 220 2/99 Fred's 21 Green
120 BBR100 20 Rem 220 2/99 Fred's 21 Green
121 BBR100 20 Rem 220 2/99 Fred's 21 Green
122 BBR100 20 Rem 220 2/99 Fred's 21 Green
If you happen to use a single box of Winchester factory ammo, it would
simply be a Lot # like FAW20A, Factory Ammo, Winchester, 20 pieces,
where the extension of A is the first box.
You can and probably should add the manufacturer's lot number to
records if it is available.
Now, when I load a Batch of brass, I simply reference the Batch # and I
am set.
The actual case status information is kept with the load record. If I
neck size this Batch and load it up, when I find the piece of brass
laying on my bench, I simply look at my load data to find out when it
was loaded last and I know which Batch it belongs in and its case
status.
It sounds more complicated than it really is and you may come up with a
system that works better for you, but I have found this to be fantastic
for keeping my brass in order.
I can generate a report that tells me everything that has happened to
this Batch of brass, by date.
Interestingly, I have found that with the 220 Swift, I can neck size 4
times before needing to full length size. Granted, the loads I am still
playing with are not "Hot" but I am still in the process of working
up
to a "Pet Load" for this cartridge/gun combo.
The tumbler is the only thing that has an ill effect on the marking and
black seems to disappear faster than the other colors. The way
I solve
this is only put a specific color in the tumbler and simply re-mark
once they are out of the tumbler.
These markers also work great on the side of the case unless you tumble
or FL size, then it is gone.
Bill Wade
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A SPECIAL REQUEST
By John Grove
Ah, nostalgia. It's good to look back sometimes. Only problem is I'm
trying to "rebuild" something that no one has a lot of info on and
the
only real reference I have is very suspect, even though written by "The
horses mouth".
What the heck am I talking about? A venerable Herters .401 Powermag
for which the factory loads are EXTREMELY dangerous and no reloading
data exists (that I know of) outside the manual written by George
Leonard Herter himself. Now, this loveable gentlemen was given to
prose so deeply its nigh on to impossible to know just
when the real
info stops and the braggadocio starts. I'm not too sure it ever was
real info for that matter. If one is to believe him, the factory
ammunition will stop any man-eater in its tracks and probably most
tracked man-eaters as well.
Be that as it may, the second (and LAST) factory round I fired took
thirty minutes and a lathe to remove from the cylinder's bore. It
would not extract with any manner of persuasion from a wooden dowel and
mallet. As a matter of fact, the case separated from the rim very
neatly, just where the split from firing occurred. I have since pulled
all 98 remaining rounds and reloaded with an greatly
reduced (from what
the manual called optimum) charge of good old Bullseye. This happened,
as close as I can remember, over thirty five years ago. I have not
fired the animal since.
Now I'm getting ready to.
Fortunately a supply of .401 cases is available from several locations
as well as projectiles (hard cast, thank you very much) in the proper
diameter, .403 as stated in the Herters "yellow book" and as actually
slugged with low temp alloy. I think I have found a mold that will cast
at the required diameter as well. I'll not give you any powder weights
until I get this puppy settled down but, once finished, the full story
along with chrony and accuracy results will appear right where you
found this little article.
Until then, if any of you should happen to have info with regard to the
care and feeding of this beast, I can be found at jgrove@strato.net or
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PRODUCT REVIEW
Sierra Bullets
By Bill Wade
Recently, I contacted Sierra Bullets, http://www.sierrabullets.com on
their TECH LINE (800-223-8799) to inquire as to which bullet would
perform best on Prairie Dogs with my 220 Swift.
Confident that it is a matter of opinion, I wanted to get their
opinion. I plan to use Sierra Bullets this summer at the Prairie Dog
Conference, so I figured I should at least ask them for their thoughts.
Rich, the Ballistic Technician I spoke with, gave me a couple of
options and told me his personal favorite. I scribbled down the charge
weight that he likes, next to the bullet on their chart that was laying
on my desk.
He asked if I had been to the plant and taken the tour. I had not and
he encouraged me to stop by when I get a chance.
I thought that he said IMR4895 was his favorite with the 55 grain pill,
didn't write it down because I assumed I would remember. So after the
call, I grabbed my books and cross checked. Sure enough, it was listed
and the charge was in the range.
I grabbed a box of Spitzer Boat Tail 55gr at the gun shop and loaded 3
charge weights starting low and working up to the Tech's favorite.
When I fired the third charge weight I just shook my head in disbelief.
The groups were fantastic
http://www.centerfirecentral.com/220groups.html
and I was thrilled.
This week, things slowed at work a little, so a buddy and I headed for
the Sierra plant. It is only a couple of hours away and I was sick of
work anyway.
I was not sure what to expect. Would it be a scheduled tour with a
group of people or what?
We walked in and told the receptionist that we had come to tour the
plant. She asked us to have a seat and someone will be right with you.
We waited a couple of minutes and Dave Brown, one of the Ballistic
Technicians came out to greet us.
No group, no crowd, just the 3 of us headed off into the offices. Dave
took us to the area where the Technicians do their thing and introduced
us to 3 or 4 of them, one being the one I had spoken to on the phone. I
handed Rich one of my cards and he remembered our conversation.
I asked him if it was in fact IMR 4895 that he recommended and it was
not, it was 3031. Damn the bad luck, now I have to try that powder too
(smile). He sat down and pulled up the 220 on the Sierra CD program and
printed off a page for me showing the data using a 55gr bullet.
We headed off into the plant with Dave and got to drool over all those
bullets just sitting around waiting to meet targets. He showed us each
step of the bullet making procedure, and explained some of their
quality control checks.
The machinery was fascinating just considering the crucial timing
required for this plate to move here and this punch to come down now.
It was really neat. I don't begin to understand all of it but it was
definitely a learning experience.
Then it was off to the range where they test bullets from each lot. It
was a reloaders dream. Presses everywhere and railguns with
extra
barrels in the rack. 2 small holes through the concrete wall gave the
view down the 200 yard range under the plant.
I guess testing bullets could get boring, but it would be fun for a
while, anyway. I asked the shooter if he enjoyed shooting at the local
range on the weekend he said "yes, but I am not interested in reloading
when I leave here".
I suppose after reloading 10 rounds for each lot of bullets, it would
tend to drive you ballistic, pun intended.
Anyway, it was a very educational little side trip. I have used Sierra
bullets for years in all my rifles and it was a pleasure to see their
operation and meet the folks involved in creating what I consider to be
a top quality product.
Bill Wade
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OTHER RESOURCES
Houtz & Barwick - Outdoor Aluminum Furniture
http://www.houtzandbarwick.com/
Manufacturer's catalog of aluminum camping, hunting & beach furniture
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Copyright 1999 by CenterFire Central
All Rights Reserved