ATK (Alliant Techsystems Inc.) has been awarded a U.S. Army contract to run the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP) for the next seven to ten years. The U.S. Army selected ATK for both the production of ammunition and continued operation/maintenance of the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP) in Independence, Missouri. The initial contract period is seven years, and if all award terms are exercised, the ATK’s future Lake City contracts would cover a 10-year period.
ATK is now the #1 producer of small arms ammunition in the world, manufacturing billions of rounds each year. Lake City is a key source of ATK ammo production. ATK began operating the plant, located in Independence, Missouri, in April 2000 and has increased production from 350 million to more than 1.4 billion rounds annually. The plant has the capability to produce a mix of 5.56mm, 7.62mm, .50-caliber, and 20mm cartridges, as well as ammunition links.
ATK is an aerospace, defense, and commercial products company with operations in 21 states, Puerto Rico, and internationally. ATK is the parent company of numerous major gun industry brands, including: Alliant Powder, CCI, Champion, Federal, RCBS, Speer, and Weaver.
Mark DeYoung, ATK President and CEO stated: “ATK is proud to continue our collaboration with the U.S. Army, building on more than a decade of direct operational experience, to assure the continued health and vitality of the small-caliber ammunition enterprise.” Mike Kahn, President of ATK Defense, added: “ATK is committed to the future success of our warfighters by optimizing and sustaining LCAAP. We are fully committed to delivering to our customer a lean, scalable and sustainable operation that will serve our nation for years to come.”
Remington has announced that it is recalling four (4) lots of Remington .338 Lapua Magnum ‘Express Rifle’ Ammunition. The recalled lots are: L13SA29L, L13SA29R, L13SB29L, and L13SB29R. The reason for the recall is that the listed lots “may have been improperly loaded. Improper loading may cause malfunctions which may result in damage to the firearm, serious personal injury or death.” CLICK HERE for more information, and to download PDF Recall Notice from Remington.
This article originally appeared in Sinclair International’s Blog, The Reloading Press.
In the August 2012 Reloading Press, Bill Gravatt, President of Sinclair International, shared his experience using the Thumler’s Tumbler and stainless steel pin media to clean some .308 brass just before the National Matches. He discovered that combo is really great for cleaning brass.
This month, I want to share the results of a test I performed with stainless steel pin media, and give you some tips on how to best use this media to get cases as clean as you can. I’ve been using tumblers of some sort for more than 30 years. I got started with a sealed rotary tumber that my father and I made out of an old rock polisher we hooked up to a washing machine motor. While not as nice as a new Thumler’s Tumbler, the one-gallon capacity on that old tumbler means it’s still good for cleaning brass.
The Brass: Good, Bad and Downright Ugly To really test the stainless steel media’s cleaning power, I mixed three kinds of pistol brass that offered different challenges. First was some very old Amron headstamped .357 Magnum brass. The late Ken Lomont of Lomont Precision Bullets gave me the Amron brass as partial payment back when I was still in high school and working for him. I’ve been shooting it for years, so it’s obviously very durable. But it’s also very hard to clean, which made it great for the test.
I threw in some once-fired nickel-plated .357 SIG brass from Federal that had a lot of soot inside. I wanted to see just how well the stainless steel media could handle really grimy jobs. Finally, I added in the worst brass — some very corroded 9mm range pick-up brass with spots of verdigris all over them and dirt down inside them. They were terrible, which made them perfect for the test.
Case Prep For Cleaning Before I ran the cases through the tumbler, I knocked out all of the fired primers so that the stainless steel media would be able to get into the primer pockets and run through the flash holes. The media that we have at Sinclair is only .040″ in diameter, so it will easily go through the .080″ diameter flash hole on most domestic-produced brass, as well as the smaller .060″ flash holes found on some other cases. Once I knocked out the primers, I poured the brass and the media into the tumbler drum together.
Mixing The Solution Then I mixed up the cleaning solution. I poured ¾ of a gallon of water into the unit, and then put in four tablespoons of Dawn dishwashing detergent. I also added one teaspoon of lemon juice to keep the brass from spotting when it dried.
With everything ready, I sealed up the drum and started the unit and let it run for three or four hours. When I opened the drum, I could tell the media had done a very good job of removing all of the crud from the brass. The water was black, as you would expect from all the carbon inside the cases. After pouring off the solution, I separated the brass from the stainless media and rinsed it off. It took three rinses in clear water to make sure the brass was free of all the carbon the media scrubbed off.
Then I rinsed the media, too. Rinsing the media is important: if you don’t do it, the media will be dirty when you use it next time. The media is easier to rinse while it’s still damp, and it cleans easily with clear water. As you can see, the brass cleaned up very well and showed no evidence of water spotting because of the lemon juice. The range pick-up brass came out fully usable, showing no signs of corrosion. The nickel brass looked as if it were brand new and unfired. The Amron cases looked the best that I can ever remember seeing them. Some of them still had a light amount of carbon just behind the case mouth, but a quick twist with 0000 steel wool took care of this easily during inspection of these cases before loading. All of the primer pockets were clean and clear of carbon. Impressive!
Based on what I have seen, I will definitely use stainless steel media a whole lot in the future, even though I will still keep some of the treated organic media around for when I want a very bright shine on the brass. Several of the other Sinclair International Reloading Techs plan on trying the stainless media as well, so they might come up with some other tips for you in the future.
As always, if you have questions, please do not hesitate to call on any of us on the Sinclair Tech staff to assist you.
Bob Blaine, Sinclair International Tech
NRA Certified Reloading Instructor and RSO
TECH TIPS — Avoiding Problems with Stainless Media
Do Not Use Stainless Media Dry — I have had customers call and ask if stainless steel media can be used dry. The answer is that you will not like the results. Everything will go to the media, but it will still leave the brass dirty. If you use stainless steel media dry, you have to run it through a cleaning solution to clean the media. Then, it’s good to go again.
Do NOT Use Stainless Media in a Vibratory Tumbler — When using stainless media, you need a rotary-style, liquid-containing tumbler. You want to use stainless steel media ONLY in a rotary tumbler. Do not use stainless steel media in a vibratory type cleaner.
Team Lapua’s Francis “The Animal” Kuehl won the 6th NorCal Tactical Bolt Rifle Challenge (TBRC) held September 29-30 at the Folsom Shooting Center in California. Along with winning the Match Overall title, Kuehl was TBRC Top Steel Evolution Shooter this year. Kuehl, a mild-mannered CPA in real life, has been the man to beat at the TBRC in recent seasons. His 2012 win marked Kuehl’s third overall victory in the TBRC, having finished first in both 2011 and 2009. This year, Kuehl was shooting a .260 Remington. For ammo, Kuehl used 6.5mm Lapua 139gr Scenars pushed by VihtaVuori N160 powder in Lapua .260 Rem cases.
The match featured five separate ranges, and four different evolutions (Long Range, Short Range, Steel, and Run & Gun) over two busy days of shooting. 77 competitors shot the course of fire that called for 215 rounds fired if a competitor was able to fire every required round. Shortest shot was at 25 yards, with the longest at 1000 yards. The long-range segment called for 36 rounds fired from 800 to 1000 yards. Most of the match was shot from 200 to 600 yards, with a small percentage of targets set inside 200 yards for the short range evolution.
The CMP has recently received a large quantity of Remington-made .22LR ammunition, now ready for immediate sale in 5000-rd cases. This 1990s-vintage ammunition has a 40gr lead round-nose bullet and a Muzzle Velocity of approximately 1135 fps. This stuff is a bargain. Price is $125.00 per 5000-rd case plus $24.95 shipping/handling. (That works out to $1.25 per 50-rd box). Item number is 4S22RSURP-5000. Ammo is now available on the CMP E-store but will not be available in the CMP Stores for another two weeks. CLICK HERE to ORDER.
Ammo Cases Are Sealed in Foil
This is U.S. Military-contract Remington .22LR ammunition. Each 5000-rd case comes in original packaging, consisting of ten (10) 500-rd bricks made up of ten (10) 50-rd boxes each. The 5000-round case is over-wrapped in a sealed foil barrier for long-term storage. For more information visit www.thecmp.org/Sales/ammo.htm. NOTE: Purchasers must provide proof of citizenship and be a member of a CMP-affiliated club. See CMP Eligibility Rules.
From the late ’70s through 1983, a huge, concrete-walled warehouse in Houston was used for benchrest testing. Virgil King and Bob Fisher set up a bullet-catching backstop at the end of a 30-yard-wide, 325-yard-long fire lane that remained unobstructed even when the warehouse was in use. This allowed accuracy tests in virtually perfect “no wind” conditions. Over a six-year period, about 30 shooters were invited to test their rifles. The results were amazing, with numerous “zero groups” being shot in the facility. Many of the lessons learned in the legendary Houston Warehouse still help benchresters achieve better accuracy today.
Dave Scott explains why the Warehouse was so unique:
“Over a period of six years, the levels of accuracy achieved in the Houston Warehouse went beyond what many precision shooters thought possible for lightweight rifles shot from sandbags and aimed shot-to-shot by human eye. For the first time, a handful of gifted, serious experimenters — armed with the very best performing rifles (with notable exceptions) — could boldly venture into the final frontiers of rifle accuracy, a journey made possible by eliminating the baffling uncertainties of conditions arising from wind and mirage. Under these steel skies, a shooter could, without question, confirm the absolute limits of accuracy of his rifle, or isolate the source of a problem. In the flawlessly stable containment of the Houston Warehouse … a very few exceptional rifles would display the real stuff, drilling repeated groups measuring well below the unbelievably tiny .100″ barrier. The bulk of rifles, however, embarrassed their owners.”
Scott’s article also reveals some interesting technical points: “One thing that IS important is that the bullet be precisely seated against the lands. T.J. Jackson reported this fact in the May 1987 issue of Precision Shooting. In a letter to the Editor, T.J. wrote, ‘…in all our testing in that Houston warehouse… and the dozens and dozens of groups that Virgil King shot in there ‘in the zeroes’… he NEVER fired a single official screamer group when he was ‘jumping’ bullets. All his best groups were always seated into the lands, or at the very least… touching the lands. Virgil said his practice was to seat the bullets so the engraving was half as long as the width of the lands. He noticed an interesting phenomenon with rifles that could really shoot: if the bullets were seated a little short and the powder charge was a bit on the light side, the groups formed vertically. As he seated the bullets farther out and increased the powder charge, the groups finally became horizontal. If he went still farther, the groups formed big globs. He said the trick is to find the midway point between vertical and horizontal. That point should be a small hole.”
You should definitely read the complete article, as it provides many more fascinating insights, including shooting technique, barrel cleaning, neck-turning, and case prep.
Barnes Bullets has produced some videos showing the processes used to make Barnes’ popular TSX (all-copper), Match Burner (lead-core, copper jacket), and Varmint Grenade (copper jacket, powdered metal core) bullets.
Drawing Copper Wire for TSX Bullets
The first video features the TSX. These all-copper bullets start by drawing and cutting solid copper wire into slugs. The material is first drawn down to the correct diameter and then cut to the proper weight on a large industrial shear press. Great care is taken to ensure the most consistent weight possible. The machines are checked frequently. The video below show how copper wire is sized (in the first black box on the green machine) and then travels over a series of rollers to the cutting station.
Extruding Lead Wire for Bullet Cores
The second video shows the extrusion of lead core material for Barnes’ Originals and Match Burner bullets. First, soft lead is melted into 16″ long by 2 ½” round ingots. The ingots are then fed into a large steel tube and hydraulically forced through a cone at about 3500 psi, producing lead wire. This extrusion process makes the lead wire to the correct diameter. The lead wire is then fed into a cutter that chops it into the correct weight. After cutting, the lead cores are sorted and again fed into the bullet presses.
Powdered Metal Mixing for Varmint Grenade Bullets
The third video shows the mixing of metal for the composite cores in Varmint Grenade bullets. This powdered metal core is one reason why Varmint Grenades fragment so explosively on impact. The core for these bullets (identical to the MPG bullet) is made from a very fine copper and tin powder. After mixing, the metal powder matrix is fed via the hopper into the Fetta press. This machine then feeds the powder into a chamber where it is compressed into a solid core that can be put into a copper jacket. In the video, the powdered metal is fed into the machine on the left. It’s a bit difficult to see, but there is a bottom punch that matches each top punch. The two punches come together to form the core.
This is a very expensive, high-output machine. Fully tooled and set at a reasonable speed, it can make upwards of 90,000 cores per hour!
Story Tip by EdLongRange. We welcome reader story ideas.
Choosing the right-diameter bullet can have a big effect on accuracy in match rifles. “Wait a minute”, you might say, “doesn’t one simply choose a 6mm bullet for a 6mm barrel and a 7mm bullet for a 7mm barrel, what’s the big deal?” Well… it’s not that simple. Not all bullets of the same nominal caliber actually have the same true diameter. We’ve seen different-brand 6mm bullets vary by as much as a full thousandth (.001″) in diameter. We have seen undeniable evidence that a poor “fit” of bullet diameter to bore dimensions can result in a poor-shooting gun, even one with a high-grade barrel.
Conversely, if you find the bullet diameter you barrel likes, that may instantly improve your accuracy. The accuracy gain may be more significant than making changes to the bullet seating depth or even powder charge. The importance of bullet diameter is compounded by the fact that 6mm match barrels are available with both .236″ and .237″ land diameters. Some barrels prefer “fat” bullets while other barrels prefer “skinny” bullets.
Last year, Jason Baney measured 12 different sets of 6mm Match Bullets, including a couple different lots of the same bullet design. Interestingly, Jason did measure the “old” Berger 105 VLD, the new-generation Berger 105 VLD (first lot from the new die), and the “new, improved” Berger 105 VLD from the new die, after it was polished. Ten (10) Bullets were measured per type. Each bullet was measured three times (3X) around the largest circumference, normally where a pressure ring would be located (some bullets have a pronounced pressure ring, others do not). NOTE: We provide the numbers from Jason’s tests, but remember that bullets from different production runs may have slightly different dimensions. You should augment our findings with your own measurements from later-produced bullets.
The first two columns of the chart show the smallest and largest bullet diameters measured for each 10-bullet sample. The third column shows the extreme spread over each 10-bullet set. Note, these numbers are NOT averages, but represent the “low” and “high” diameters for each set. (FYI: Jason noted that while the Lapua Scenars were very consistent, an earlier 2005 “JEVDAK” lot had smaller meplats than 2007 and 2008 lots.) A Mitutoyo Micrometer was used, zero-checked for each bullet.
Here’s an interesting factoid from Hodgdon Powder’s new Facebook Page:
The story of Hodgdon Powders begins with one number: 4895. Founder Bruce Hodgdon, a handloader and U.S. Navy veteran, knew that after WWI tons of surplus powder were dumped at sea. After WWII, rather than let it all go to waste, Bruce borrowed against his life insurance and bought 25 tons of 4895 from the U.S. Government. It was the perfect powder for the flood of surplus M1903 Springfield rifles chambered in .30-06. The rest is reloading history.
Shown below is the life insurance loan contract that funded Bruce Hodgdon’s Purchase of 25 Tons of 4895 Surplus Powder:
Hornady just unveiled its “new and improved” online Ballistics Calculator. It’s free, fast, and easy to use. New enhancements include selectable G1 or G7 BCs, drop and windage in MOA and MILS, metric value option, and the ability to enter shooting angle, wind angle, and more. To access all these features (such as G7 BCs), you’ll need to select the “advanced” display from Hornady’s Ballistic Calculator Entry Page. That will open up more entry fields. Default values are entered in the temperature and pressure fields, but you can override these with your actual field data. You can select a zero range from 0 to 2000 yards, with intervals from 25 to 400 yards. Once you’ve entered all the values, simply click “Calculate” and the program provides your drop numbers in a handy chart.
Printable ‘Cheat Sheet’ for your Rifle
One very cool feature of Hornady’s online calculator is the “Cheat Sheet” — a handy, printable come-up table. Once you’ve entered your variables and run the calculator, the results appear in a handy table that you can print-out and affix to your rifle stock. Here’s a sample Cheat Sheet prepared for Berger’s 105gr VLD and a 6mm Dasher*.
Although it can employ G7 BCs now, the Hornady Ballistic Calculator, unlike the JBM online solver, does NOT include a built-in database of G7 values, based on field-testing by Bryan Litz. For that reason, the JBM Ballistics Calculator is still our first choice for an online ballistics solver. We really do like Hornady’s handy “Cheat Sheet” option though. You can, of course, get a Litz-derived G7 value from JBM and then plug that number into the Hornady Calculator to produce a printable drop table.
*NOTE: Note: Even if you have a Dasher and use the Berger 105gr VLDs, you should run your own solution with your specific sight height, elevation, temp, pressure, humidity, and zero distance.
ATK (Alliant Techsystems Inc.) has been awarded a U.S. Army contract to run the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP) for the next seven to ten years. The U.S. Army selected ATK for both the production of ammunition and continued operation/maintenance of the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP) in Independence, Missouri. The initial contract period is seven years, and if all award terms are exercised, the ATK’s future Lake City contracts would cover a 10-year period. 
To really test the stainless steel media’s cleaning power, I mixed three kinds of pistol brass that offered different challenges. First was some very old Amron headstamped .357 Magnum brass. The late Ken Lomont of Lomont Precision Bullets gave me the Amron brass as partial payment back when I was still in high school and working for him. I’ve been shooting it for years, so it’s obviously very durable. But it’s also very hard to clean, which made it great for the test.
Before I ran the cases through the tumbler, I knocked out all of the fired primers so that the stainless steel media would be able to get into the primer pockets and run through the flash holes. The media that we have at Sinclair is only .040″ in diameter, so it will easily go through the .080″ diameter flash hole on most domestic-produced brass, as well as the smaller .060″ flash holes found on some other cases. Once I knocked out the primers, I poured the brass and the media into the tumbler drum together.
Then I mixed up the cleaning solution. I poured ¾ of a gallon of water into the unit, and then put in four tablespoons of Dawn dishwashing detergent. I also added one teaspoon of lemon juice to keep the brass from spotting when it dried.
Then I rinsed the media, too. Rinsing the media is important: if you don’t do it, the media will be dirty when you use it next time. The media is easier to rinse while it’s still damp, and it cleans easily with clear water. As you can see, the brass cleaned up very well and showed no evidence of water spotting because of the lemon juice. The range pick-up brass came out fully usable, showing no signs of corrosion. The nickel brass looked as if it were brand new and unfired. The Amron cases looked the best that I can ever remember seeing them. Some of them still had a light amount of carbon just behind the case mouth, but a quick twist with 0000 steel wool took care of this easily during inspection of these cases before loading. All of the primer pockets were clean and clear of carbon. Impressive!
Based on what I have seen, I will definitely use stainless steel media a whole lot in the future, even though I will still keep some of the
Team Lapua’s Francis “The Animal” Kuehl won the 6th NorCal Tactical Bolt Rifle Challenge (TBRC) held September 29-30 at the Folsom Shooting Center in California. Along with winning the Match Overall title, Kuehl was TBRC Top Steel Evolution Shooter this year. Kuehl, a mild-mannered CPA in real life, has been the man to beat at the TBRC in recent seasons. His 2012 win marked Kuehl’s third overall victory in the TBRC, having finished first in both 2011 and 2009. This year, Kuehl was shooting a .260 Remington. For ammo, Kuehl used 6.5mm Lapua 139gr Scenars pushed by VihtaVuori N160 powder in Lapua .260 Rem cases.
The 
Dave Scott explains why the Warehouse was so unique:
Barnes Bullets has produced some videos showing the processes used to make Barnes’ popular TSX (all-copper), Match Burner (lead-core, copper jacket), and Varmint Grenade (copper jacket, powdered metal core) bullets.
