Winchester Releases Commemorative Ammo

Here’s an item for you cartridge collectors and history buffs out there. Winchester® Ammunition plans to release a Theodore Roosevelt commemorative line of ammunition. This celebrates 150 years of Roosevelt’s influence as a political leader, avid outdoorsman and hunter, and champion of wildlife conservation.

The Theodore Roosevelt cartridges feature a nickel-plated shell casing bearing a special Roosevelt head-stamp in three calibers: 30-30 Win, 45 Colt, and Roosevelt’s favorite big-bore lever-gun round, the 405 Winchester. The most powerful cartridge ever chambered in a lever gun, the 405 was used extensively by Roosevelt during his 1909-1910 African safari.

Roosevelt, along with his son Kermit, spent nine months on safari in Africa, and his adventures were widely reported by the U.S. press. After that safari, Roosevelt will forever be associated with the Winchester Model 1895 lever gun. Roosevelt brought four 1895s to Africa, one in .30-40 and three in 405 Winchester. For dangerous game, the .405 was Teddy’s cartridge of choice. Famously, Roosevelt called his 405 Winchester lever gun “Big Medicine”. Teddy’s “Big Medicine” helped make the Model 1895 rifle legendary.

The Theodore Roosevelt line of cartridges features:
– Nickel-plated shell casing bearing a Roosevelt head-stamp
– 30-30 Win with 150-gr Power-Points in 20-round box
– 405 with 300-gr jacketed flat point bullets in 20 round box
– 45 Colt with 250-gr flat nose lead bullet in 50-count box

All Theodore Roosevelt cartridges are packaged in collectible, foil-embossed boxes, each emblazoned with vintage Winchester artwork and photography.

Drive Band Bullets From GS Custom In South Africa

There was much interest in the solid bullets featured here yesterday. In particular, many readers were interested in the drive band design shown on the LM-105 bullet.

The drive band design was created and originally patented by GS Custom Bullets in South Africa. GS Custom originally designed and produced these distinctive drive band bullets in 1997. According to GS Custom, “the first LM 105 bullets were in fact manufactured and tested by us in South Africa in 2003 [and enhanced in 2005]. It is possible that Mr. Moeller developed a similar looking version on his own. We have further developed the bullet early this year to increase accuracy and barrel life over the 2005 design.”

GS Custom has been making bullets since 1983. It currently has a range of 226 different bullets for tactical, hunting and sport shooting, of which 172 are drive-band bullets. GSC SP Bullets, such as the orginal LM-105 design, are turned monometallic copper bullets. They are Long Range VLD Match Bullets of advanced design to minimize barrel wear and maximize speeds.

Ordinary (non-drive-band) solid, lathe-turned bullets look beautiful, but in the larger sizes there are some problems associated with solids. Gas sealing can be worse than jacketed bullets, and solids have been known to copper foul barrels more quickly than conventional bullets. The hardness of the bullets is tough on throats as well.

To overcome this issues, GS Custom puts drive bands on its bullets. Designer Gerard Schultz explains how the drive bands work: “Bullet engraving pressure is very light — this gives lower temperatures in the throat area of the barrel and extends barrel life. The transition from case to barrel is much smoother than [conventional] bullets — this reduces vibration and improves accuracy. SP Bullets are manufactured in such a way that the drive bands seal gas sooner and more effectively than conventional or grooved bullets. This reduces gas blow-by, reduces temperature and extends barrel life. Longer and faster shot strings can be made without the damage that would normally occur due to heat build-up. Barrels remain clean longer and are easier to clean — shot strings are extended and wear is reduced.”

Schultz believes that drive band technology allows increased speeds over conventional bullets of comparable weight. The added speed means wind drift is reduced, trajectories are flatter, and time of flight is reduced. The lathe-turning production process also allows the bullet to be optimally pointed for the highest possible BC for a given bullet weight and length.

GS Custom sells its bullets through an international dealer network, including Custom Brass & Bullets in the USA.

The Beauty of Solid Bullets

When it comes to creating the perfect, streamlined bullet form, solid projectiles represent the ultimate in bullet construction. Made of solid metals such as bronze and copper-nickel alloys, these bullets are lathe-turned for perfect uniformity, and the highest possible Ballistic Coefficient.

Lost River Ballistic Technologies was one of the pioneers of solid, lathe-turned projectiles in the USA. The original .408 Chey-Tac ammunition used bullets produced by Lost River on Swiss-type CNC lathes from solid bars of proprietary copper nickel alloy. Lost River’s bullets are hard to find today, but reader DesertLefty recently offered some for sale in our Forum Classifieds. We just thought you’d like to get a look at these slippery beauties. Shown below, for comparison purposes, are 6mm and 6.5mm Lost River projectiles, along with two conventional bullets. From left to right: 6.5mm 139 gr Lapua Scenar, 6.5mm 132 gr Lost River J40, 6mm 100 gr Lost River J40, and 6mm 115 gr DTAC.

DesertLefty notes: “You will need a very fast twist barrel to stabilize these. The manufacturer’s web site is no longer working, but I think the recommended twist was 1-7 and the BCs were about 0.7 for the 6.5mm and 0.6x for the 6mm.”

If you are intrigued by the ballistic performance of lathe-turned solids, check out the website of Germany’s Lutz Möller. Lutz has produced a series of ultra-high BC bullets, both solids and conventionally jacketed projectiles. His 105-LM bullet for the .338 Lapua won the 2005 Lapua Sniper Cup. The circular driving bands you see are a distinctive feature of Möller’s bullets. The bands reduce drag in ultra-long bullets by effectively reducing the bearing surface in contact with the rifling. This 105-LM bullet has an amazing BC of 0.93. Lutz also has a .408 Chey-Tac bullet with a 0.95 calculated BC!

LM-105 photos © copyright Lutz Möller, All Rights Reserved.

New 2200 FPS .22 Mag Rimfire from Hornady

This should interest varminters looking for a harder-hitting rimfire round with better ballistics and accuracy. The most common .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (WMR) ammunition features a 40gr round nose or flat point bullet with a Muzzle Velocity of about 1910 fps. All the major makers — CCI, Federal, Remington, and Winchester — sell 40gr ammo loaded to this specification.

Hornady’s new 22 WMR offers a more accurate bullet traveling faster — roughly 300 fps faster to be precise. The new Hornady round features a 30gr V-MAX™ bullet leaving the muzzle at 2,200 fps. The new 30gr Hornady 22 WMR ammo should be available in “early February” according to Hornady.

While the new Hornady 22 WMR offers significantly better ballistics than a typical 40gr, 22 WMR load, other ammo makers do offer similar high-speed 22 WMR loadings. Both CCI Maxi-Mag +V and Federal V-Shok ammunition push a 30gr HP bullet at a claimed 2200 fps. But the Hornady round, with its higher-BC, V-MAX™ bullet, should maintain a velocity edge downrange, as less speed is lost to aerodynamic drag.

Excellent Accuracy
Hornady claims the new 22 WMR loaded with the 30gr V-MAX™ is “significantly more accurate” than any other 22 WMR ammo they’ve tested. According to Hornady’s Dave Emary, “we started with a better bullet, and the added velocity provides a flatter trajectory.” Even out of old, inexpensive rifles, the new ammo is delivering 1.5 MOA or better groups at 100 yards. That’s exceptional for a 22 WMR according to noted gun writer Chuck Hawks: “I have also owned and used enough .22 WMR rifles to know that they will seldom match that level of performance. I used to have a rather accurate Mossberg bolt action varmint rifle that would consistently shoot into about 1.5″ at 100 yards if I did my part. That is as accurate as any .22 WMR rifle I have ever tested.”

We think the potential is there for even better accuracy, perhaps even half-MOA in a match barrel, but unfortunately Hornady decided to short-load the ammo, pushing the 30gr bullets well inside the case. Bad move. As a result the case crimp is right on the ogive (and with production variances, the crimp may actually be forward of max bullet diameter). Given the shape of the bullet, which curves aggressively away from the case mouth, there’s no way you can get the seated bullet to touch the rifling, even with a zero-freebore match chamber. This was a deliberate decision on Hornady’s part, but we still wish the ammo was loaded longer — even just a little bit, to ensure that the ammo is crimped on the full-diameter bearing surface. We have seen examples of 17 Mach 2 and 17 HMR rounds with crimps forward of max bullet diameter and this kills accuracy while causing problems such as mangled case mouths and canted bullets with extreme run-out.

Compare the CCI Maxi-Mag +V shown above. It has a distinct driving band. This ensures that the crimp is on the full diameter of the bullet. We would like to see Hornady load its new 30gr 22 WMR longer to ensure that the crimps are ALWAYS on the bearing surface, and NEVER on the ogive. If Hornady is already at SAMMI max Cartridge OAL of 1.350″, it could modify the plastic bullet-tip to allow the bullet to be moved further out of the case.

RWS Brass on Sale at Natchez

Without question, Germany’s RWS produces some of the finest cartridge brass in the world. RWS cases are drawn in three stages, and after each draw they are annealed, pickled, rinsed and subjected to further quality improvement measures. This achieves specific hardening of the brass cases and increases their resistance to high pressures. Every lot is pressure-tested before release. Excellence doesn’t come cheap however–RWS brass is among the most expensive you can buy. Right now though, Natchez Shooters Supplies is offering big savings on RWS brass. Most calibers are discounted at least 30%. Here are some examples (prices for 20-case box):

RWS 6.5×68, RW2144697, $21.10/20 (reg. $30.01)
RWS .280 Rem, RW2144514, $22.22/20 (reg. $31.59)
RWS 7×57, RW2144484, $17.10/20 (reg. $24.31)
RWS 7mm Rem Mag, RW2144875, $22.22/20 (reg. $31.59)
RWS 30-06, RW2144433, $21.66/20 (reg. $30.79)
RWS 300 Win Mag, RW2144778, $20.52/20 (reg. $29.18)
RWS 375 H&H Mag, RW2145162, $19.38 (reg. $27.57)

Many of the top 1000-yard shooters use RWS brass for their big 30-caliber rifles, starting with a cartridge such as the 8×68, or 375 H&H magnum. Legendary long-range shooter Dave Tooley reports: “As far as brass goes, for my 30 BooBoo, I use the RWS 8×68 brass. Quality is as good as it gets, and it lasts forever.” RWS also offers premium brass for many of the big game and hunting calibers such as the 380 Blaser, 7mm Rem Mag, and 8×57.