Cast Bullet Association Blog Rss Feedhttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/Rss2_.aspxRss 2.0 for the user blogs.en-usFri, 25 Sep 2026 12:16:35 GMTCast Bullet Associationchefreiss@gmail.com(Cast Bullet Association)info@morganids.com (Richard Morgan)360Drop tube for extra powder capacityhttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2019/12/184/drop-tube-for-extra-powder-capacity By Jeff BrownLately I have been working on a load for my .303 Pygmy (.303 British x 1.5 inches) that will produce field accuracy with a 180gr air cool wheel weight alloy (ACWW) and a muzzle velocity....


By Jeff Brown

Lately I have been working on a load for my .303 Pygmy (.303 British x 1.5 inches) that will produce field accuracy with a 180gr air cool wheel weight alloy (ACWW) and a muzzle velocity of 18-1900fps. The Pygmy has a case capacity similar to the 7.62X39mm so rather limited and to compound this situation and in order to produce the desired velocity in such a small case the pressures are likely to exceed the tensile strength of ACWW. In the past I have loaded the same bullet over a charge of Bench Mark, albeit with heat treated WW alloy, at the desired speed but such a hardened metal will not expand on game. The best way I deduced to reach the required velocity yet stay inside a pressure range suitable for acceptable accuracy with ACWW was to use a comparatively slow powder for a stubby little case. Bullet casters have reported very good results in the past burning a full case of VERY slow burning powder the likes of surplus .50 BMG propellent. The burn rate of the powder is so slow that there is physically no way to overload the cartridge and filling the case to the base of the neck then seating a suitable lead alloy bullet on top of it is the prescribed formula for a safe, modest pressure load. Looking over my stock of powders the slowest candidates on hand were IMR4064 (half canister given to me) and H4350 (AR2209 by ADI Australia). Both powders have a burn rate significantly slower than that of Benchmark however the challenge with the comparatively very slow H4350 was to get enough of this ‘coal’ into the little case to achieve the speed. 30gr of H4350 gives 1850fps but comes within 1/8th inch of the case mouth and when seating the soft ACWW to correct OAL on this charge the compression required was beginning to deform the bullet nose. Scratching my head for a solution I recalled my black powder cartridge rifle (BPCR) loading days and using a drop tube to squeeze the absolute maximum amount of black powder into a case. For the uninitiated, a drop tube is a length of tubing of a desired length down which a powder charged is trickled into the cartridge case at the bottom. The drop from height allows the powder to pack down tighter and thus allows for a larger charge to be loaded. My own drop tube is an aluminium arrow shaft approx. 2 feet long. Dribbling the charge down the tube into the Pygmy case packs the powder down approximately an additional 1/8 inch and sufficient to seat the bullet to the right depth in the neck without the need to greatly compress the charge and/or damage the bullet. I have been able to achieve 100% load density with a very slow powder in a tiny case producing workable field velocity at pressures that the relatively soft bullet metal will tolerate.

Below L-R: Drop tube with funnel set up on loading bench, cartridge case with drop tube in mouth, charge comparison L: drop tube, R: poured.



]]>Mon, 30 Dec 2019 02:21:22 GMThttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2019/12/184/drop-tube-for-extra-powder-capacityFrom the mailbag 20 years ago.http://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2019/12/183/from-the-mailbag-20-years-ago. CASE SHORTENING:I would like to comment on the article "The Long And Short Of Case Length" that appeared in TCB-119. My reloading experiences over the last thirty years have led me to the same conc....




CASE SHORTENING:

I would like to comment on the article "The Long And Short Of Case Length" that appeared in TCB-119. My reloading experiences over the last thirty years have led me to the same conclusions Mr. Fortier reached, although I am more inclined to believe that case shortening is the result of good case fit rather than a fat chamber. This "good fit" is, in my opinion, definitely caused by use of a well made neck die and moderate loads; the key being moder­ate loads. As near as I can determine by my own research, this maximum is around 48,000 C.U.P.; from this point on the brass degrades steadily to the point of failure. I doubt that the chamber pressure of most accurate cast bullet loads exceeds 40,000 C.U.P., and are probably closer to 30,000.



At the start of the propulsion epic, case brass begins to move towards the elastic limit as deter­mined by that particular lot's composition and anneal. We are talking about the normal expansion of the case to seal the chamber and allow the neck to expand for bullet release. This is not to be confused with the flow of brass that occurs when its elastic limit is exceeded, beginning around 54,000 C.U.P. If we have head space under control and a solid action the only way the case can move is radially or, as Mr. Fortier stated, "at right angles away from the longi­tudinal axis of the case.- It is apparent that under these conditions cases will grow shorter when fired and lengthen upon full length resizing.

A case in point is my 7BR XP-100 which has very tight headspace. I use factory 7BR brass that is match prepped, including neck turned. I estimate my load at 38,000 C.U.P; bolt closure is always firm. After neck sizing a case eight to ten times the bolt begins to bind and the bolt face starts to brass-up. Why? As the cases grow shorter and fill the cham­ber radially they become harder to chamber. Careful measurement of the neck wall shows very little increase in thickness, indicating no brass flow, just case shortening radial expansion. A pass through the full length resizer, set to just leave a bright ring at the datum line on a smoked case, cures the problem. Now, upon firing, the case can move rearward just enough to allow normal springback and ease bolt opening.

If you can lay your hands on a Hornady Hand­book published in the early 1960's you will find a page devoted to this subject, with the results of Hor­nady's test. This quote from the manual sums up the matter nicely: "All cartridges with minimum head space grew shorter when they were fired and all with maximum head space grew longer. Cases which fit the chamber very well have only one way to expand when powder gases push on their walls, outward. The increase in diameter of the case neck and body is at the expense of overall case length." It may date me a bit, but I bought this manual new and my experience to date has proven it correct. John Morehart

COMIC RELIEF (Ed: this is GOLD!)

In 1981 1 was hunting on an excellent lease on the Mexican border. One morning I developed a craving for roast turkey and broke out my spare rifle, a 94 Winchester in .30-30. My load was devel­oped especially for turkeys, and consists of a very soft 156 gr. 311466 bullet, Remington 91/2 primer, and 10 gr. of Unique; the load clocks around 1600 fps.

On foot, about a mile from camp, I suddenly came face to face with a nice buck. Slipping into a hasty sling, I snapped off a quick shot at the deer's throat and cut his left jugular vein. The buck imme­diately departed for distant parts, and after a few profane remarks of self-castigation, I started trailing him.

Now, my eye doctor has calibrated my bifocals at seventeen inches which required me to hunker down pretty close to the deer's track to see them. Unbeknownst to me a fellow hunter was watching me from a high bluff several hundred yards away.

My search for the buck took about two hours and when I finally dragged into camp with the deer, about dark, everyone was looking real quizzical at me. Later I found out the reason for the strange looks; it seems my friend had returned earlier and told everyone that I was tracking a deer by scent —bending down and smelling the tracks. The guys I hunt with have been kind of leery ever since.

Duane Whitehead

HUNTER SAFETY AND YOUTH SHOOTING PROGRAMS

I am a long-time employee of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and a Hunter Education Instnic­tor. I live an a very small community which, I am sorry to say is somewhat anti-gun, but I am doing what I can to advance shooting sports. I am active with the small local 4-H Club and, with some recent organizational improvements, I have positive feelings. I also am try­ing to interest the State of Texas, in allowing me to set up a Long Range Silhouette facility on one of the Wildlife Management Areas where I work. I consider this to be a super public access (non-consumptive) activity, but the bureaucracy grinds slowly. Anyway, as you may know, anyone who endeavors to work with the public, and certainly with youths, in shooting sports, will do so with very little official or monetary support.

Some time ago I wrote to Thompson Center explaining my abnormally high use of their Bore Butter and mentioned how and why (we use cast bullets handloads in the local 4-H program) I was using it. I received an extremely nice letter apolo­gizing for the fact that I had not been made aware of their Instructor Pricing Program. For another related program I determined that the .44 Magnum rifle was the only thing which meets my requirements for introducing junior high and high school students to big bore silhouette shooting. When I contacted H&R 1871 Inc. (New England Firearms) to see if they might make their .44 Rem. Mag. Handi-Rifles avail­able for Youth Shooting Sports purposes, at below-retail prices, they replied very positively.

Some may wonder why .44 Magnum Handi­Rifles? Name one other big-bore single shot rifle for which factory ammo with lead bullets is available (for this particular program we must use factory ammo —probably legal reasons). The .45-70 can be used, but recoil will discourage most youngsters . When fitted with vernier tang and globe front sights, the Handi­Rifle, with its 22" barrel, is surprisingly accurate up to 300 meters. I had an older H&R Topper rifle that was great up to 200 meters, but the new ones have better rifling and stronger actions, which adds an extra 100 meters of range. The new rifles are also furnished with an effective recoil absorbing butt-pad, which is very well received by kids who may never have fired any­thing larger than a .22 rimfire.

If you can somehow find the space to include a mention that Thompson Contender and H&R 1871 Inc. very generously support programs for Youth Shooting and Hunter Education, please do so; I am sure that other manufacturers probably do so as well.

Mustafa Curtess

OVERSIZED BULLETS.

There has been some discussion lately about the pressure effects of shooting oversized bullets. Some years ago, we were at a private range playing with a variety of rifles. I suggested to a neophyte that he try a few shots with my .220 Swift, which was already set up on the sandbags.

At the first shot, there was a funny report and quite a cloud of smoke. He had picked up the wrong ammo box and had fired an 8.15x46R cartridge loaded with a 170 gr. bullet. When we extracted the cartridge case, it was found to have obturated nicely and showed no signs of high pressure. We would have liked to have seen the bullet after it came out of the .22 caliber bore, but it was nowhere to be found and we didn't want to try shooting another round.

The charge in the 8.15x46R cartridge was 11 gr. of #2400, and would give very mild pressures in the schuetzen rifle. The cases were formed from .30-30 brass. The case that came out of the .220 Swift was smoothly, but not sharply, expanded ahead of the web, so the pressure was probably well under 40,001) C.U.P. Consequently, I am dubious that a few thou­sandths difference in bullet diameter will make much difference in chamber pressure.

R.G. "Chris" Christensen

CASTING SAFETY

Recently I put some scrap, pure lead round balls into a can to be melted down for schuetzen bullets. Later while casting, I added them to the molten alloy, rolling the balls across my fingers into the pot. After the balls were in 1 found a live percussion cap lodged between my fingers.

I was fortunate, the live cap probably would have blown molten alloy all over the place. Be care­ful, when you use scrap lead from your reloading area, always add it to a cold pot.

Joe Wiest







]]>Wed, 11 Dec 2019 02:51:55 GMThttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2019/12/183/from-the-mailbag-20-years-ago.Ultrasonic brass cleaning.http://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2019/12/182/ultrasonic-brass-cleaning. A few weeks back a friend of mine offered me the use of his ultrasonic cleaner to run some of my cartridge brass through. He assured me that the device was the 8th wonder of the world and would res....
A few weeks back a friend of mine offered me the use of his ultrasonic cleaner to run some of my cartridge brass through. He assured me that the device was the 8th wonder of the world and would restore the lustre to my long suffering cases and much to my amazement that is exactly what it did. I ran .22 Hornet, .303 Pygmy, .303 British and 6.5X52mm Carcano brass through the gadget and without a word of exaggeration the end result was brass that genuinely looked like it had just left the factory. Some of the cases, like the Hornet brass, had been fired only a small number of times however .303 Pygmy (.303x1.5) had been reloaded dozens of times and tumbled in walnut media only. The end result was the cleanest primer pockets I have seen on fired brass and near spotless interiors.

Ultrasonic cleaners have been around for many years now serving as jeweler cleaners and such and now the mainstream reloading equipment manufacturers have leapt on the bangwagon. Lyman, Hornady and RCBS all offer cleaners operating at high frequency and with heating facility to raise the temperature of the cleaning solutions to optimum operating level. Each company has its own proprietary fluid for the cleaning process but after a small amount of research I was able to establish that favourable results were being achieved by using a solution of white vinegar and water with a small amount of dishwashing liquid. Being a career cheap skate I decided to give this a go and mixed up a litre of 50% white vinegar and water and added a less than scientific '3 or 4 drops' of dishwash.
The ultrasonic cleaner I using was not a huge unit and whilst it held 50 .303 British cases I found 40 was a better fit. Of course small cases fit a larger number and 50 of my wildcat .303 Pygmy cases flew into the hopper which holds 500ml of fluid with ease; 600ml at a push. Run time was up to 7 minutes 30 seconds so dropping the first run of brass into the cleaner with the diluted vinegar solution the device was set to run. After the first 7:30 cycle the solution had turned a little murky. By the end of the second cycle the brass was barely visible in the tank. After a third and final cycle the solution was so filthy that visibility was zero. Just remarkable.



.303 Pgymy (.303x1.5) brass prior to treatment in the ultrasonic bath. Most of the cases had been fired many, many times as wildcat and once as the parent case.

The same brass after 3 cycles of 7 minutes and 30 seconds in very warm 50/50 white vinegar and water with a small amount of dishwashing liquid. Pre final rinse was in water with detergent then one final cycle in plain water.






The solution after each of the three cycles of 7 minutes and 30 seconds.

L-R, solution after three cycles, residue in the hopper after rinsing, recovered dried carbon from 45 cases.

Hornet and Carcano brass about to go through the cycle and the finished results.

]]>Wed, 11 Dec 2019 02:45:45 GMThttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2019/12/182/ultrasonic-brass-cleaning.