Article

2009-05-22 Economy

300k Bullets A Day, 100M Primers On Order

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Posted by Anonymoose 2009-05-22 00:00|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11129 views ] Top

#1 Looks like AB's order for the burg's relaoders

Posted by OldSpook 2009-05-22 00:38|| 2009-05-22 00:38|| Front Page Top

#2 I have brass, primers, bullets but powder is in short supply in my area.

Posted by tipover 2009-05-22 01:02|| 2009-05-22 01:02|| Front Page Top

#3 Long waits for reloading presses. They can't keep them in stock. But now is the time to get one, even if you have to wait. If you lay in a supply of components, you'll be set for a long time.

You'll have some more luck with reloading if you reload for a cartridge based on a common cartridge family, but in a less common caliber. Good examples would be 280 Remington (a 30-06 necked down to take a 7mm bullet) or 7mm-o8 (a .308 necked down to take the same) or .338 Federal (308 blown out to take a .338 cal bullet) because getting the original brass is easy and with a couple of dies you can make as many cases as you need. And since none of those use the two most sought after calibers of .223 and .30, supplies are a bit less likely to run out.

For a pistol, the .357 mag is a great choice, you can shoot either that caliber or a .38 PSP from the same gun.

Tipover, you could try one of the mail order houses like Midway for powder, they seem to be OK in terms of supplies.

Posted by no mo uro 2009-05-22 06:05|| 2009-05-22 06:05|| Front Page Top

#4 It's just unreal, he said. Somewhere in lots of basements around the country, there are millions of rounds of ammunition being stored.

Heh. I know individuals each with a fair fraction of a million rounds in their basements, and I am sure it is the tip of the iceberg. Try billions. Reminds me Sagan's 'billions and billions' line.

Posted by Whiskey Mike 2009-05-22 07:09|| 2009-05-22 07:09|| Front Page Top

#5 WHat about 7.62 NATO (or .308win) .45 ACP .40S&W and 9mm for reloading as a starter? Most people that have guns have those calibers. For instance hunting rifle, 1911, and a glock.

Thats neo counting the .22 rifle, or a shotgun most peopel woudl have as well - that ammo is still relatively plentiful.

Plus I and many others have something that shoots 7.62x39 which you can get still ammo for.

Posted by OldSpook 2009-05-22 09:01|| 2009-05-22 09:01|| Front Page Top

#6 I have been hoping that some bright individual would make a RONCO home ammunition maker. While it can't completely automate the process, the idea would be for it to perform some of the trickier processes to produce a very standard bullet.

Then to build and distribute hundreds of thousands of these devices around the country, with no record of who owns them.

Posted by Anonymoose 2009-05-22 10:08|| 2009-05-22 10:08|| Front Page Top

#7 Army working on green ammo

LAS VEGAS, Nev. Army ammunition officials hope to field a new, environmentally friendly 5.56mm bullet this summer.

One of our big efforts right now is to develop green ammunition, Lt. Col. Jeff Woods, product manager for Small Caliber Ammunition, said at the National Defense Industry Associations International Infantry & Joint Services Small Arms Systems Symposium.

The Army began working on its lead-free bullet program in the late 1990s to help reduce the tons of environmentally harmful lead being shot into the soil of training ranges across the country.

The first attempt featured a tungsten alloy that didnt perform well and proved to be almost as harmful to the environment as lead, Woods said.

The new M855A1 lead-free slug will be made of a bismuth alloy that works much better and is designed to work specifically with the M4 carbine, he said. It will provide more consistent performance than the current M855 round and perform better against hard targets, Woods said. It will also use a propellant that reduces muzzle flash. Its not a true green ammunition yet because there will still be trace amounts of lead in the primer, Woods said, adding that there is an effort to remove all lead from the cartridge in the future.

Its good for the environment, Woods said, estimating a result of 2,000 metric tons [of lead] per year not going into the environment once this round replaces the M855.

The plan is to start issuing the first of 20 million of the M855A1 lead-free slug cartridges in August, Woods said.

Save the planet. Shoot a Taliban.

Posted by tu3031 2009-05-22 11:12|| 2009-05-22 11:12|| Front Page Top

#8 Don't forget LEE bullet molds, the only problem with lead bullets I've had was in my sks, the lead fouled the gas port requiring dis assembly , as for lead itself, common wheel weights are essentially the same as Lyman #2 lead, and work just fine, Add a melting pot and some Lee pound ingot molds and you've got a complete Start to shoot, system, (for the SKS and other 7.62x39 a .308 slug works great in a .312 barrel, and is usually more accurate to boot.)

I now also stock several brands of .308 slugs, both solid and lead (Copper coated, they shoot fine. NO MORE VENT PLUGGING WITH BRASS, JUST WITH LEAD)
Don't forget a inertia bullet puller/extractor, there ARE oopsies now and then.

Bullet lube is also plentiful, I use 50/50 beeswax and paraffin, put an old aluminum pie plate on a solid surface, put bullets in, as many as you can base down, and pour melted wax until the base grooves are covered, let cool and separate,(They'll be a huge round solid wax disc) ready to load.

I keep any "Extra" slugs in glass mason jars (Mayonnaise) so I can see what's in there.

By the way, Smokeless powder (Propellant) is available by mail order, it's classed the same as charcoal briquettes. Non explosive, and it's not, only when contained within a sealed chamber (Cartridge)will it go boom.

Posted by Redneck Jim">Redneck Jim 2009-05-22 15:12|| 2009-05-22 15:12|| Front Page Top

#9 Sorry, I forgot,

Your FIRST PURCHASE shoukd be two or more different reloading manuals, even if you only intend to load One cartridge only.

Posted by Redneck Jim">Redneck Jim 2009-05-22 15:22|| 2009-05-22 15:22|| Front Page Top

#10 We seem to have everything here in western KS with the exception of primers. Would definitely underscore RJ's comment about the manuals. Most powder manufacturershave a free one available but with the most generic loads available. Midway also has a nice cartridge gauge available. It's a "go-no go" type of tester for overall bullet dimensions. Would suggest Cabala's online for reloading presses. Their prices are cheaper than going to the manufacturer direct-go figure! There is also a site for a yearly fee called www.loaddata.com that warhouses reloading data for over 200,000 different reloads.

Posted by Everyday a Wildcat! (KSU) 2009-05-22 16:36|| 2009-05-22 16:36|| Front Page Top

#11 For those who really care about 'green', there's always Barnes bullets, which are made either from solid copper (Triple Shocks) or a copper/tungsten combination (MRX). You do have to be a little careful about headspace, but they are very uniform, excellent quality, and are lead-free. IME these are extremely accurate at the range and they perform very well for hunting (good penetration and OK expansion), also.

If you don't care about being lead-free, use Trophy Bonded Bear Claws, the old Jack Carter non-tipped ones if you can find them. There's a newer, tipped version which according to what I've heard is a bit flatter shooting but I haven't heard about its performance on game. The old style is still available and I can vouch personally for its expansion, penetration, and effectiveness on game. If I could shoot one bullet, this would be it.

If you have questions about primers and recipes for reloads, most bullet and powder manufacturers are very good about assistance. E-mail them, give them a bullet style, weight, caliber, and powder, and they will give you a recipe. If you reload multiple calibers, buy reload manuals like the other commenters said.

I don't shoot many all-lead bullets (well, except for 22LR and a 44 cap-and-ball revolver) because I have mostly modern calibers but shooting an old caliber like 45-70 or 32 Special or 30-30 has the advantage of being able to use all lead bullets you can cast yourself like Redneck Jim does. Those are hard to use in more modern calibers due to lead fouling at the higher velocities.

Moose, most standard bullets aren't that tricky to produce once you have the press and gauges.

Posted by no mo uro 2009-05-22 17:27|| 2009-05-22 17:27|| Front Page Top

#12 Oh, and a bullet-puller is a must.

Posted by no mo uro 2009-05-22 17:29|| 2009-05-22 17:29|| Front Page Top

#13 And a decent powder scale.

Posted by Redneck Jim">Redneck Jim 2009-05-22 18:40|| 2009-05-22 18:40|| Front Page Top

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