|
|
July 5th, 2013
 The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) is showing quantities of M118LR 7.62×51 for sale, stock number 4C762M118LR-240. This is quality ammo, manufactured by Federal. We believe that it is loaded with 175gr Sierra Match bullets, but you should call to confirm that. Packaged in 240-rd cans, the CMP’s M118LR ammo costs $275.00 for 240 rounds (that works out to roughly $1.15 per round). If you need 7.62×51 ammo for your M1A, or tactical bolt gun, this should fit the bill.
CLICK HERE to see Ammo for Sale in CMP E-Store
July 2nd, 2013
 Many parts of the country are experiencing a heat wave right now. It was 117° F in Las Vegas yesterday. Unfortunately, this is “prime time” for shooting matches, so competitors may have no choice but to shoot in very hot weather. When ambient temperatures soar into the 100s, you need to be especially careful about barrel heat. Bad things can happen if your barrel gets too hot. First, with some barrels, the point of impact (POI) will shift or “walk” as the barrel heats up excessively. Second, even if the POI doesn’t change, the groups can open up dramatically when the barrel gets too hot. Third, if the barrel is very hot, the chamber will transfer heat to your loaded cartridge, which can lead to pressure issues. Finally, hot barrels wear out faster. This is a very real concern, particularly for varmint shooters who may shoot hundreds of rounds in a day. For this reason, many varminters switch among various guns, never letting a particular barrel get too hot.
How do you monitor your barrel temperature other than guessing by “feel”? BAR-L Benchrest strips visually display heat readings from 86 to 140 degrees F. Think of these strips as compact, unbreakable thermometers. These adhesive-backed strips can be used to monitor barrel heating. Put a strip on the side of the barrel and the barrel’s temp will be indicated by a stripe that changes from black to green. These strips are easy to read. The green box displays the current temperature of the barrel in both °F and °C. We recommend using the Benchrest strip (86F to 140F), shown in the middle. There is also a “General Purpose” strip that reads to 196 degrees (bottom row).
Installation: Before placing the temp strips on your barrel, clean and degrease the barrel with alcohol for better adhesion. Once in place, the plastic-covered strips should provide years of service. Note, we do not recommend use with high-polished blued barrels.
|
Value-Priced Temp Strip 10-packs
If you have many rifles, McMaster.com (a large industrial supply house) offers the handy reversible, 7 temperature, 86F to 140F strip (item 59535K13) for $10.71 per pack of ten (10) strips. That’s an excellent value.
Another source for BAR-L Temp Strips is Neconos.com. This vendor offers Bar-L temp strips for $9.00, or $25.00 for a 3-pack. From the Neconos Online Catalog, search for “Bar-L” to find the Temp Strips. Three temp ranges are offered: 32F to 86F (Moderate Zero); 86F to 140F (Benchrest): and 86F to 194F (Gen’l Purpose). |
Controlling Ammunition Temperature is Important Too
 Keeping your loaded cases at a controlled temperature is vital for maintaining good ES and case life. At a late summer varmint match we observed pressure signs with cases that had been sitting in direct sunlight for about 15 minutes. As we were running a “moderate” RL15 load, the pressure indications were surprising. Testing over a chronograph, cases that had been sitting in direct sunlight showed velocities up to 70 fps higher than those that had been kept in the shade. Using QuickLoad’s temperature function, we calculated from the rise in velocities that case pressures had increased by over 4,000 psi–just from 15-20 minutes in direct sunlight! Accordingly, you’ll want to keep your ammo out of the sun, in an insulated container. The Igloo Ice Cube MaxCold 70 Roller Cooler can hold enough ammo for a multi-day varmint safari or a week at Camp Perry. It’s large enough to also store water bottles and cold beverages.
June 25th, 2013
AmmoBammo.com, an all-new auction website for guns, ammo, and gear, has just opened for business. This new site boasts “no listing fees ever”. Unlike Gunbroker.com, AmmoBammo has a very simple payment structure. There is no “up-front” listing fee, and no membership fee. If an item sells, AmmoBammo takes 2.5% of the proceeds — no matter what the price. That makes it easy to figure out what it will cost to sell your gun or gear. If nobody bids, or the bids don’t reach your thresh-hold reserve price, you pay nothing. If your product sells, you pay a flat 2.5% final value fee. That seems reasonable to us. Read detailed terms of sale here.
To celebrate its launch, AmmoBammo.com is offering a special promotion. Now through July 15, 2013, AmmoBammo is Waiving ALL Fees on auction listings, including the normal 2.5% final value fee. So, for the next couple of weeks you can sell your stuff, and not pay a penny.
Since this site is brand new, listings are sparse to say the least. As of June 25, 2013 at 12:00 pm, not a single gun was listed for sale (though there were many ammo listings). Hopefully the AmmoBammo site will gain traction as more sellers list their merchandise in the weeks and months ahead.
June 25th, 2013
A new ammunition manufacturer has started up in Stevensville, Montana. ProGrade Ammunition will be offering a wide spectrum of ammo products, with components selected for particular types of shooting. Prograde will eventually offer nine separate types of pistol and rifle ammunition: Defense Grade, Varmint Grade, Cowboy Grade, Hunter Grade, Bear Grade, Range Grade, Match Grade, Safari Grade and Tactical Grade. Our readers will probably be most interested in the “Match Grade” and “Varmint Grade” lines. The Match Grade ammo features mostly Berger bullets (with some Noslers and Sierras), while Varmint Grade ammo is loaded with Barnes, Hornady, and Nosler bullets.
Click Images to Load Full-Size Images (with larger type)
 
We have no idea whether ProGrade Ammunition will shoot well and prove reliable. We don’t know what brass, powders, or primers ProGrade will be using. In a recent press release, ProGrade touts its Match Grade products: “Match Grade rounds are all hand-loaded in the United States and use premium components that are held to higher standards of consistency, leaving little room for inaccuracy. Match Grade means every element is made to be as uniform as possible in weight, primer pocket and neck size. This means everything — from bullet weight and powder weight to brass thickness and case length — is as precise as possible.”
Time (and rounds on target) will determine if ProGrade ammo is good stuff. But in this period of shortages, with ammunition of all kinds being hard to find, it is good to see a new domestic ammo-maker getting into the business, and producing cartridges with high-quality projectiles. We wish the folks at ProGrade success in their endeavor. To learn about ProGrade’s full line of ammunition, call (435) 865-5995, or visit www.progradeammo.com.
June 24th, 2013
Colt’s Manufacturing Company LLC (Colt) is introducing a line of ammunition for Colt tactical and competition rifles. This new Colt-branded “Hunting and Defence Match” ammo will be manufactured by Black Hills Ammunition. The initial offerings are designed for rifles chambered for 5.56×45 NATO and will feature 55gr and 77gr Sierra match bullets. According to the Guns.com Blog: “The 77-grain cartridge may strike a few people as somewhat familiar. It is for most purposes Black Hills MK 262 77-grain ammo… considered by many to be the best factory-loaded 5.56 NATO ammunition on the market.”
Colt Claims Ammo Will Shoot 1-MOA Groups at 500 Yards
Colt says its ammunition will deliver long-range accuracy. During the development process, this line of Colt ammo was ballistically tested in Colt rifles with a requirement of consistent five-shot, one-MOA (5″) groups at 500 yards. Colt calls this the “triple-nickel” standard (5 shots, 5″, 500 yards). Colt claims that the “Triple Nickel” capability of its ammo “assures the experienced shooter incredible performance right out of the box, with no need for load development or experimentation.”
Holding 1-MOA at 100 yards is not that exceptional. But maintaining 1-MOA groups at 500 yards would be impressive indeed. This would require consistent powder charges and tight bullet-seating length tolerances to keep vertical dispersion to a minimum. It will be interesting to test the Colt-branded ammo when it hits the market and see if it works as well as claimed.
“We’re very proud of the ‘Triple Nickel’ requirement of this ammunition,” said said Joyce Rubino, Vice President of Marketing for Colt’s Manufacturing: “Our goal with Black Hills was to bring to market a superior line of ammunition for sport shooters to use in Colt rifles, and we feel we have achieved this through the partnership with Black Hills.”
June 22nd, 2013
Runaway Technology offers a sophisticated yet easy-to-use ballistics program that runs on the Apple I-Pod Touch and Apple I-Phone platforms. The BulletFlight 4.0.0 software contains all the features you would want, including: user-selectable BC models (G1, G7, G8 etc.); output in inches, cm, MOA, Mils, and scope clicks; 360° wind drift calculation; computation of actual BC from collected data; and built-in accelerometer for angle detection.
In addition, BulletFlight 4.0.0 comes with a large database of bullet types (including weights, BCs etc.). You can also create your own custom ammo profiles (with velocity, BC, bullet type), allowing you to easily output ballistic plots for multiple firearms, without having to enter the rifle/bullet profile every time. The latest 4.0.0 version is faster than before, and 299 more projectile types have been added to the bullet database.
BulletFlight 4.0.0 is a very sophisticated program that rivals anything you can run on your home computer. A version of BulletFlight is already in use with the U.S. Military in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Apple operating system and “multi-touch” screen allows an extremely user-friendly interface. (And with the I-Pod Touch, you do NOT need a phone service contract.) “Ruggedized” Otterbox carry cases are also available for both first- and second-generation I-pods.
 |
 |
Software Starts at Just $3.99
There are three versions of KAC BulletFlight, all very affordable. The basic BulletFlt L1 edition (3.1.0 version) costs just $3.99. We recommend the BulltFlt L2 edition (3.1.0 version). At $11.99, the L2 software adds a full calculation screen, the ability to generate a range-card, cosine-angle calculation, and GPS functionality. Finally, the $29.99 BulletFlight Level ‘M’ 4.0.0 version further adds the ability to calculate an actual BC based on bullet drop, two velocities, or flight time. The Level ‘M’ version can also correct for subtle factors, such as the Coriolis Effects, which come into play at ultra-long ranges.
June 19th, 2013
 Magpul is now offering 40-round capacity PMAG GEN M3 magazines for AR-platform rifles chambered for .223 Rem/5.56×45. Just 2 1/8″ longer than a 30-round Magpul magazine, the new 40-rounder will fit and function in standard AR mag wells. Magpul claims that: “The new PMAG 40 is just as reliable, durable, and compatible as the PMAG 30.”
Magpul’s new 40-round magazines should prove popular with 3-Gun competitors. The extra 10 rounds can reduce the number of mag changes, which should allow 3-gunners to shave seconds off stage times. As with other latest-generation PMAGs, the new PMAG 40s feature an over-insertion stop catch that prevents the magazine from being slammed too far into the gun during fast changes. This stop catch prevents mag damage and lessens the chance of a malfunction. For LEO and Military personnel using select fire ARs, Magpul notes that: “The optimized magazine spring can handle feeding at cyclic rates over 1150 rounds per minute.”
Major vendors, such as Brownells, will be selling the PMAG 40s very soon. Brownells is charging $19.95 for the PMAG 40, product #100-012-633WB. We expect these things to sell like hotcakes. The editors of Guns.com note: “These magazines are going to be incredibly popular. Everyone likes extra ammo, even when it’s hard to find. And when most magazines with capacities greater than 30 run $40-$50, at these prices Magpul is going to tear through their competition.”
June 17th, 2013
 Have you been struggling to find brass, powder, and (especially) primers? No luck finding rimfire ammunition or loaded ammo for your pistols or hunting rifles? Well, now there’s a free web-based search service that can help you find what you need. The service costs nothing and you don’t have to sign up to run searches.
GunBot.net employs “search bots” to scour the internet for available inventories of ammo, powder, primers, brass and magazines. GunBot.net checks the inventories of over sixty retailers, including leading vendors AmmoMan, Bass Pro, Brownells, Cabelas, Cheaper Than Dirt, Grizzly, JG Sales, Dan Killough, Midsouth Shooters Supply, Midway USA, Powder Valley, Rainier Arms, Sinclair Int’l, Sportsman’s Guide,, Wholesale Hunter, and Wideners.
Results can be sorted by price or time (most recent results first). You can even get email alerts notifying you when the product you need is available. (To get alerts, you must first log-in and create an account with GunBot.net. There is no charge for this service.) GunBot.net’s search spiders work constantly, so results are normally very current. Pages auto-refresh when new “matching items” are found.
Primers Found Efficiently with GunBot.net
GunBot.net saves us time by instantly checking inventory at many dozens of online retailers. In May, we were looking high and low for large rifle magnum primers. Then a quick search with GunBot.net revealed that site sponsor Powder Valley, Inc. had some in stock. We placed our order and had the primers in our hands the next week. Here’s a screenshot showing primer inventories on June 17, 2013:
June 15th, 2013
 With bullets in short supply and prices rising, here’s an opportunity for you folks located in the middle of the country who can visit Missouri. Sierra offers discounted bullets at its Factory Outlet store in Sedalia, Missouri. Sierra says: “If you happen to be in our neck of the woods, you can purchase available bullet seconds and our full line of products directly from our outlet store”.
View Sierra Bullets Seconds PRICE LIST
Sierra’s Factory Outlet inventory is constantly changing and no guarantees are made as to product availability. Bullet seconds are sold by the pound and are limited to 100 pounds per bullet type and a total of 300 pounds per day per person. There is a limit of 25 pounds of mixed bullets per day. Bullet seconds are for private consumption and not for resale! Factory seconds may include blemished bullets and mixed bullets, so weigh and measure each bullet prior to loading! Factory seconds must be picked up in person and will not be shipped.
For more information, call Sierra at (888) 223-3006 or send email to: sierra[at]sierrabullets.com .
Story tip by EdLongrange. We welcome reader submissions.
June 12th, 2013
 We all know that reloading components have been in short supply in recent months. If you’ve been searching for quality brass, your wait may be over.
A boatload of Lapua cartridge brass has crossed the Atlantic, cleared customs, and is now in warehouses. Many large vendors report that they have ample supplies of Lapua brass in stock now. So if you need some cartridge cases, place your orders today.
Here is a summary of the cartridge types in stock, vendor by vendor. Sorry, no 6mmBR brass on hand at these outfits, but you’ll find most other types of Lapua rifle brass:
| Lapua Rifle Cartridge Brass in Stock as of 6/12/2013 |
| Creedmoor Sports |
Grafs.com |
Powder Valley Inc. |
.220 Russian
.223 Rem
22-250 Rem
6.5×47
6.5×284 Norma
.260 REM
.308 WIN
.308 WIN Palma
.30-06 Spr |
.220 Russian
6.5×47
.260 Rem
6.5×55 SE
6.5×284 Norma
.338 Lapua Mag |
.220 Russian
.222 Rem
.223 Rem
22-250 Rem
.243 Win
6.5×47
.260 Rem
6.5×55 SE
6.5×284 Norma
7.62×39
.308 Win
.308 Win Palma
.30-06 Spr
.338 Lapua Mag |
|
