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January 17th, 2010
 Grafs.com has a handy new case lube unit from SmartReloader, the Swiss-owned “yellow” brand now competing with RCBS (Green) and Lee (Red). The SR-104 case lube pad/tray is so new you won’t even find it on the parent SmartReloader’s company website.
The SmartReloader Case Lube Unit is very nicely thought out. A closed-cell-foam lube pad is positioned in the middle. On left and right sides are small trays that can hold your lube bottle or cartridge cases. But the real brilliant feature of the design is the dual-purpose yellow pad cover/brass holder. When flipped open, the hinged cover has slots to hold your cases just like a reloading tray. When you’ve finished lubing your cases, fold the yellow lid back and it completely covers and protects the sticky lube pad. That’s really smart. Now you don’t have to worry about your lube pad attracting dirt, tumbler dust, and even unlucky insects that might wander across it.
If you still prefer to lube your cases on a rolling pad (there are easier methods in this Editor’s opinion), you should check this product out. The new SmartReloader Case Lube Unit costs just $12.99 at Grafs.com, item VBSR01702.
January 12th, 2010
You can quickly access loads for Alliant powders via Alliant’s Online Reloading Guide. There you’ll find hundreds of recipes for rifle loads, pistol loads, and shotshell loads. While it’s great to have web-based reloading info when you have a live internet connection, you can also download the Alliant Reloaders’ Guide in PDF format. That way you can archive the guide on your computer, or keep the file on a portable computer for use in the field or workshop.
CLICK HERE to download ALLIANT RELOADER’S GUIDE (PDF format).
Alliant’s 47-page PDF Reloader’s Guide includes recipes for shotgun, pistol, and rifle. This guide includes important safety instructions, plus reloading data for most popular cartridges. The guide includes Alliant’s new Reloder 17 and Power Pro powders. Unfortunately the listed loads for centerfire rifles only include Speer bullets.
FREE Reloader’s Guide Print Version Offered
You can also CLICK HERE to order a FREE printed version of the 2010 Alliant Powder Reloader’s Guide. Just fill out your name and address. Allow 3-4 weeks for delivery.
January 10th, 2010
Hornady has announced that it is continuing its “Get Loaded” promotion throughout 2010. Under this program, you can get FREE Hornady bullets with the purchase of certain reloading products. For example, you can get 100 free bullets with the purchase of a set of New Dimension dies with Zip Spindle System. You can get 500 free bullets if you purchases a Lock-N-Load Classic Reloading Kit. You’ll find more details on Hornady’s Hornady’s Get Loaded Promo webpage.
Click here to download the 2010 Redemption Form (5MB PDF)
January 7th, 2010
 Hodgdon Powder Company announced that an error occurred in printing of the 2010 version of the Hodgdon Annual Manual. Pages 108 and 109 in the manual, which cover 7mm caliber load data, appear in reverse order. But don’t despair — you can get a free correction from Hodgdon. Do not use the 7mm caliber data as it appears in the 2010 Hodgdon Annual Manual until the corrected copy is received.
Contact Hodgdon Powder Company for a free reprint of pages 108-109. You can phone 913-362-9455, fax 913-362-1307, or send email to help@hodgdon.com. You can also send postal mail to: Hodgdon Powder Co., 6231 Robinson, Shawnee Mission, KS 66202
All Hodgdon, IMR®, and Winchester® reload data is also available on-line at hodgdon.com, imrpowder.com, and wwpowder.com in the Reloading Data Center.
December 23rd, 2009
 A new digital powder dispenser just hit the market. Priced at just $205.99 (at Grafs.com), the new Smartreloader iSD Digital Powder Scale & Dispenser, is about $100.00 less expensive than RCBS’s popular ChargeMaster. Designed in Italy, the Smartreloader iSD dispenser has the ability to work with either 110 volt (American) or 220 volt (European) power supplies.
The new Smartreloader iSD has some impressive features, such as fast calibration and a selectable trickle function. We hope to get our hands on one soon so we can comparison-test it against an RCBS Chargemaster. You can learn more about this new powder dispenser at Smartreloadermfg.com. General specs are very similar to the Chargemaster: the iSD scale has a maximum capacity of 1,500 grains and has claimed accuracy of ±0.1 grains. You can store up to 50 loads in internal memory, and users can select four (4) different measurement units: grams, grains, carats, or ounces.
Where can you find this new powder dispenser? Supplies are very limited right now, but in the USA, Smartreloader-branded products will be carried by Cabelas.com, Grafs.com, Midsouth Shooters Supply, and Cabelas.com. The worldwide distributor of Smartreloader products is H.T. Helvetica Trading, a Swiss-based company. CLICK HERE for a list of Smartreloader vendors in other countries.
December 16th, 2009
 Here’s a nice early Christmas present for precision shooters. Quantities of CCI small and large rifle primers (including BR2 and BR4) have arrived at many of the more popular vendors. Wolf primers are in decent supply and we’re starting to see Remington primers on the shelves. Federal primers are still very hard to find. Shown below are some available rifle primer inventories as of December 16, 2009.
NOTE: Product availability and pricing subject to immediate change. If you need primers, act quickly — this stuff may all be gone in a couple days.
Powder Valley
CCI BR4 SMALL RIFLE BENCHREST primers — IN STOCK at $37.00 per 1000 primers
CCI 400 SMALL RIFLE primers — IN STOCK at $24.00 per 1000 primers
CCI 450 SMALL RIFLE primers — IN STOCK at $24.00 per 1000 primers
CCI BR2 LRG RIFLE BENCHREST primers — IN STOCK at $37.00 per 1000 primers
WOLF SMALL RIFLE MAGNUM primers — IN STOCK at $25.50 per 1000 primers
WOLF LARGE RIFLE PRIMERS — IN STOCK at $25.50 per 1000 primers
Grafs.com
CCI BR2 LRG RIFLE BENCHREST primers — IN STOCK at $202.00 per 5000 primers
Bruno Shooters Supply
CCI BR4 SMALL RIFLE BENCHREST primers — IN STOCK at $59.95 per 1000 primers
CCI 400 SMALL RIFLE primers — IN STOCK at $44.95 per 1000 primers
CCI 5.56 SMALL RIFLE primers — IN STOCK at $44.95 per 10000 primers
REM 9.5 LARGE RIFLE primers — IN STOCK at $44.96 per 1000 primers.
WOLF SMALL RIFLE MAGNUM primers — IN STOCK at $26.95 per 1000 primers
WOLF LARGE RIFLE PRIMERS are IN STOCK at $26.95 per 1000 primers
December 15th, 2009
Darrell Jones, a talented benchrest shooter from Tennessee, has launched a new business that will provide a much-needed service for precision shooters. Darrell’s company, DJ’s Brass Restoration Service, will take your old, many-times-fired brass, and help bring them back to life. Darrell first cleans the cases inside and out using an ultrasonic bath. Then Darrell carefully anneals each case, employing temp indicators to insure the correct amount of heat is applied for the proper duration.
Combined Ultrasonic Cleaning and Case Annealing
The Basic Service starts at $20.00 per hundred cases — and that includes ultrasonic cleaning AND annealing. (Flat rate USPS shipping is extra.) Note: very large cases (such as the .338 Lapua) or damaged, dented cases may cost more. In addition to the Basic Service, Darrell offers a 4-Step Full Service starting at $25.00 per hundred cases (plus shipping). Full Service brass restoration includes:
• Uniform primer pockets
• Chamfer case mouths
• Ultrasonic cleaning and polishing
• Anneal case necks
Ultrasonic Muzzle Brake Cleaning
In addition to cleaning and annealing cartridge brass, Darrell offers Ultrasonic Cleaning for muzzle brakes. This removes carbon buildup to restore critical bullet clearance requirements. The price is $15.00 per brake (plus shipping).
Restoring Your Brass Can Save Time and Money
Your match-quality brass represents a significant investment of money and prep/sorting time. With 100 pieces of new premium brass costing as much as $100.00, we think Darrell’s service is a great deal for shooters who want to extend the life of their brass. We expect his cleaning/annealing service will soon be in high demand. (In addition, on a custom-order basis, for an additional fee, Darrell can trim cases to a specified OAL.) Also, if you have spent many hours turning necks or forming wildcat cartridges, DJ’s Brass Restoration can save you the hassle of trimming, sorting, turning and prepping new cases. You have a lot of time invested in those turned necks and fire-formed cases… you don’t want to toss the brass after a few firings.
For more information, visit DJsBrass.com, or call Darrell at (901) 826-1503. As a special benefit for AccurateShooter.com members, Darrell is now offering free return shipping on any order over 500 pieces (limited time offer). IMPORTANT: Contact Darrell for shipping instructions BEFORE sending any brass for processing. ALL BRASS MUST BE DE-PRIMED before you send it.
December 13th, 2009
If a digital powder dispenser is near the top of your Christmas wishlist, you’ll want to visit the Midsouth Shooter’s Supply webstore. Right now, Midsouth has the RCBS ChargeMaster scale and dispenser combo for just $279.99 (item 044-98923).
Tell Santa to grab one at that price! Most vendors have priced the popular RCBS ChargeMaster at well over $300.00. Cabela’s is charging $324.99 and MidwayUSA is selling the ChargeMaster for $319.99.
December 7th, 2009
Adam Braverman of Nammo-Lapua just confirmed that Lapua, at the behest of the U.S. Palma team, has been quietly developing a NEW version of the .308 Winchester cartridge that has a small BR-style primer pocket. That’s right, this is no joke. Lapua has crafted small primer pocket .308 Winchester brass that will be introduced at SHOT Show in Las Vegas (Jan. 19-22).
The new .308 variant is identical to Lapua’s current .308 match brass with the exception of the primer pocket. The brass will be head-stamped “.308 Win Lapua Palma”.
FLASH HOLES: The flash-hole size for the current pre-production .308 Lapua Palma brass is 1.5mm (.059″), the same as Lapua 6mmBR and 220 Russian brass. Lapua spokesmen were not certain if the flash hole size will change for the regular production brass. Note: if you have a Redding .308 die, you can ask Redding for a smaller decapping rod tip (.057″) to use with the new brass.
Tests Reveal Better ES and SD with Small Primers
Initial tests of the small primer pocket .308 by U.S. Palma team members have been very promising. The small primer pocket case seems to have advantages in both accuracy and the ability to handle high-pressure loads. However, the primary improvement found with the smaller primer is reduced ES and SD. Palma Team members have found that, with almost every brand of primer tested (small vs. large), the smaller version has yielded reduced Extreme Spread and Standard Deviation. This pays dividends in 1000-yard shooting. Also, some testers believe that small primers are more consistent and require less sorting — and that there are more varieties of small primers that seem to work really well in the .308 case. Moreover, the small primer types are more uniform, from lot to lot, than are large primers, according to some testers. More info will follow later today.
December 6th, 2009
 The RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 electronic powder scale and dispenser is the most popular product of its kind on the market. In our original Electronic Powder Dispenser Comparison Test, the ChargeMaster normally dispensed most kinds of powder faster than competitive units from Lyman and PACT. However, after the initial release of the ChargeMaster 1500, RCBS “tweaked” the software a bit to achieve more consistent charge-throws. This slowed down the process somewhat. Some owners have wanted to speed up their ChargeMaster. This IS possible with a relatively simple reprogramming. Most of the internal parameters of the Chargemaster can be modified, under guidance from the tech staff at RCBS.
Gunsmith and Forum member NAT Lambeth reports: “I thought My RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Combo was fast enough. But I still called RCBS and asked for the programing changes to see if I could speed it up. It was a lot easier than I thought. My 1500 Combo was taking from 15-30 seconds to dispense the powder to the tenth of a grain. I reprogrammed the numbers and now it takes between 7 and 15 seconds to dispense to a tenth. This effectively doubled my loading speed. I only changed the HSB_A1, HSB_B1, and BSP_C1 settings.”
Key ChargeMaster Parameters with Default Settings
HSB_A1 (15.68) Grains under target weight to go from full to high speed
HSB_B1 (3.42) Grains under target weight to go from high to slow speed
BSP_C1 (1.08) Grains under target weight to go from slow to final trickle speed
Nat cautions that you should talk to a RCBS tech before attempting to re-program your ChargeMaster: “You will benefit from talking to the RCBS tech. I have now gone back and played with the numbers a couple of times. (The numbers given to me by the tech at RCBS were still a little conservative.) I think each machine may have its own likes and dislikes. If you get too aggresive with lowering your numbers it will over-throw your intended load.”
 Source for ALL the Parameters
There is an extensive discussion of RCBS ChargeMaster programming on the South Africa Hunting Rifle Shooting Assn. (SAJSV) Forum. In this SAJSV Forum ARTICLE, Jaco Brink lists virtually all the programming codes. Importantly, Jaco also provides the default values for various parameters. This is very important, because the ChargeMaster does not have a “return to default” option. Once you change any value, if you want to return to the original value you must enter it manually. Jaco cautions: “I have to advise you to only make changes to your scale if you are confident to do so, and remember that there is not a ‘return to default’ setting in the scale. If all else fails return your scale to the default settings [I have listed].”
CLICK HERE for list of RCBS ChargeMaster Default Programming Values
Use a McDonald’s Straw to Reduce “Over-Throws”
Jaco Brink provided another useful tip to avoid “over-throws” (excess charge weight): “The RCBS employee advised me to take a McDonnell’s straw (because it is thicker than a normal straw), cut off about a half inch piece and put it into the tube where the powder exits. This caused the last [few kernels] of an extruded powder to cluster less, and reduced the amount of overthrows dramatically.”
CLICK HERE for more ChargeMaster 1500 optimization TIPS.
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