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April 2nd, 2007
 Credit Joe Friedrich for this simple yet effective accessory for your benchrest rifle. Joe shoots a .22LR with a tuner. When he added weights to his tuner, he found his rifle no longer balanced well. He wanted to add a substantial amount of weight in the rear without drilling holes in the stock. He also wanted the weight to be removable, and easily placed on another rifle in his stable.
At a local sporting goods shop Joe found a 1.5-lb ankle weight that comes in a padded, tubular elastic cover. It’s like a 1.5-lb sausage in a soft, stretchy nylon cover. (Imagine a really fat, heavy bungee cord). Joe simply attached a plastic zip tie at the end to make a loop that fits perfectly over his buttstock. To “tune” the rifle’s balance, Joe just slides the ankle weight fore and aft on the stock. Yesterday we tried it on a variety of different BR stocks (including a McMillan Edge) and it worked perfectly. This is a great invention, and would work with sporter rifles and ARs just as well. Click HERE for big photo.
March 30th, 2007
There has been much interest in Ultrasonic case cleaning. Here are two tips to achieve the best results:
De-gas the Solvent Before Adding Brass
One of our readers, Eddy M. in Glasgow, Scotland writes: “I have read a couple of articles recently about ultrasonic cleaning of cases and not one has mentioned de-gassing the cleaning liquid before starting to clean items. As an engineer who travelled around for ten years servicing ultrasonic tanks I would like to point out that the cleaning liquid when first put into the tank has invisible disolved air bubbles in it which will absorb ultrasonic energy until the liquid de-gasses. (10 minutes in a powerful industrial tank–longer in a small hobby tank). You must let the tank run on its own for 20 minutes on the first use of the liquid to allow this to happen. Only after the new liquid or re-introduced liquid has been de-gassed will the tank give good results.”
Apply Dry-Lube Inside Case Necks
Jason Baney has found that Ultrasonic cleaning leaves the inside of the case-necks so “squeaky clean” that there is excess friction when seating bullets. On a fired case that has been cleaned conventionally (no ultra-sound), a thin layer of carbon remains to lubricate the bullet entry and exit. To restore that lubricity in cases cleaned with ultrasound, Jason applies a dry lube to the inside of his case necks. Jason prefers the $10.95 moly dry lube kit from Neconos.com. With this kit, small carbon steel balls transfer moly to the neck when you place your brass nose-down in the container.
March 30th, 2007
There have been some questions on our Forum regarding the recommended procedure for flash-hole uniforming on Lapua 220 Russian (PPC parent), PPC and 6BR cases. The factory spec on these cases is 1.5 mm (.059″) for the flash hole. In the past, we found it was normally not necessary to touch the flash holes on Lapua PPC/BR cases. However, with recent lots, a few cases per box will have a little sliver of brass that may obstruct part of the flash hole. It is advisable to remove this–but you don’t want to enlarge the rest of the flash hole in the process. There are a lot of tools on the market to do this job, but we’ve found that some will actually enlarge the flash hole to as much as .067″ which is not good.
The problem with the Lapua brass is a little “quarter-moon” of brass that forms on one side of the flash hole. The objective is to knock that out without increasing the diameter of the flash hole. A simple way to do this is to simply punch out the hole using a #53 or 19/32 pin drill bit in a Pin-Vise (below, about $5). The #53 bit measures .0595″ while a 19/32 is .059375″. You can find pin vises and bits at hobby stores or eHobbyTools.com.
Sinclair Int’l has two flash-hole tools, one that works from the outside (DB 07-3000) and one that works from the inside (DB-2000). The DB-2000 is spec’d to ream a .060″ hole. Depth of cut is set with a conical collar that indexes on the case mouth. Note, this tool can also cut a chamfer or funnel on the top edge of the flash hole. We recommend you set the depth stop so you only clean up the flash hole and do NOT cut a funnel. We also recommend you actually measure the cutter tip to ensure it is the correct diameter–some examples have been oversized–the same problem we found with other brands.
Both Forster and Redding supply dies with a .057.-058″ decapping pin for use with BR and PPC cases. However, the “normal” small decapping pin on some other dies is .0625 (1/16″). Sinclair makes a second tool, DB 07-3000, that cuts to this diameter (.0625″), going in from the bottom side.
Sinclair explains: “This tool was designed specifically to ream small flash holes (.060″) to exactly .0625″. It enlarges the holes just enough for the die maker’s decapping pins to go through without getting stuck… This 3-piece tool has a stainless steel guide that centers the reamer in the primer pocket from the outside.”
Which tool should you use? We prefer to keep the flash-hole as close to factory spec as possible. However, plenty of BR matches have been won with cases reamed to .0625″. The important thing is to remove whatever obstruction may exist in the brass, and make sure all the cases are uniform, whatever hole size you prefer.
March 25th, 2007
 Many die manufacturers use locking rings that require a set-screw to be tightened down on the die threads. That can, eventually, deform the threads. There are some work-arounds, such as placing a piece of plastic between set screw and threads, but there is a better solution. We recommend upgrading your dies with Hornady’s cross-bolt style Sure-Loc Rings. These are made of steel with flats machined in the sides. Here are Sure Loc user reports from MidwayUSA: “Split ring design works better than rings with a set screw that tightens against the die threads. Wrench flats are a big plus–get these rings… and never struggle with your dies again.”-M. Masuda. “All die lock rings should be of the cross bolt design… this ring won’t damage the threads on the die body like factory RCBS and Redding lock rings do.” T. Little. The Hornady Sure-Loc Die Locking ring (mfg. #044000) is available from most major vendors for under $4.00 ($2.99 at PrecisionReloading.com).
March 25th, 2007
 We’ve learned that, when necking down a 6.5×47 Lapua case to 6mm, it’s best not to simply run the brass into a 6-6.5×47 full-length sizer. Reader “Fireball”, who has worked with both a 6-6.5×47 and a 22-6.5×47, offers this tip: “You don’t want to bring the 6.5mm case all the way down to 6mm in one step–it’s too big of a jump. First, to smooth entry, you should run a 6.5mm expander in the case mouth, and chamfer the outside of the case mouth–be sure to remove all burrs and smooth the case mouth. Apply some lube to the neck. Then, if you have a bushing for a .257, put that in a 6BR bushing neck die, and run the case up. Alternatively, you can use a Redding 6BR body die. The body die will funnel the neck down about half way. Body dies are pretty inexpensive ($22.49 at MidwayUSA, item 458797). After running the brass through the 6BR body die, then you can run the case into the Forster 6-6.5×47 Full-length sizing die. The Forster die is excellent–it sizes a no-turn neck just about perfectly, so long as you do an intermediate step first.”
March 24th, 2007
TechShooter has been campaigning a 260 AI with great success. At the Cascade 600-yard range, he recently shot a 600-34X using the new 130-grain Bergers. However, like this editor before him, TechShooter has had signficant issues with doughnuts forming in necked-up Lapua .243 Win brass. In the hopes of avoiding the doughnut problem altogether, TechShooter has been testing Remington 260 brass. Chris reports: “I didn’t like the hassle of the inside neck-reaming the Lapua brass, as well as the possibility that this process could cause excessive runout. I measured the neck-wall thickness variation of Remington brass using the test fixture shown below. Only those cases that were under .0015″ total variation were selected, the rest were set aside. Only about 15 brass of the 500 were outside this tolerance, with the vast majority under .001″.” Chris concluded, and we agree, that the Rem brass is a viable alternative for .260 Rem or .260 AI shooters. Chris tells us: “I am using the Remington brass exclusively now. The Remington brass is of very good quality, at least the batch of 500 that I just got.”
March 23rd, 2007
This morning AccurateShooter.com released its latest Cartridge Guide, covering the .223 Remington and .223 Rem Ackley Improved. This is a major, 8000-word, all-in-one guide to the most popular centerfire cartridge around. We have some exclusive test results on brass, suggested loads, and full info on bullets, primers, and powders. Bookmark this address: 223 Cartridge Guide
March 21st, 2007
 When using the Stoney Point type OAL gauge (now sold by Hornady), we sometimes get a bullet stuck in the rifling. This can also happen with a squib load or when extracting a round with the bullet seated hard in the lands. You can use a cleaning rod or a wood dowel to tap out the bullet, but a brass drop rod will do the job faster and easier, with less risk of nicking your crown.
You can make a drop rod yourself from brass or bronze rod. Just make sure to smooth over any burrs or rough spots on the ends. Or just order the new brass bullet drop rods from Sinclair Int’l. You drop the Sinclair Rods down the barrel from the muzzle end with the rifle standing upright. Sinclair Bullet Drop Rods are made of brass so they will not harm the rifling in your barrel. Each $10.50 set consists of two Drop Rods that will handle .20 up to .416 caliber. Remember, for safety sake, Drop Rods are never to be used to dislodge live or loaded rounds! Always remove the Drop Rod from the barrel before chambering another round!
March 21st, 2007
 Using wet patches or wet brushes is an inefficient way to really saturate the tight bores of 17s, 20s, and 22s. Even with a cotton bore mop, most of the solvent will be squeezed out before it gets to the end of the bore, where most copper fouling occurs. Here’s a simple solution. Get a small plastic “wash bottle” and fill it with your preferred solvent. Then stick the tapered nozzle right in the chamber. The tapered end will press fit in the throat, sealing off the chamber. With the barrel slightly nose-down, give the bottle a couple good squirts until the solvent mists out the muzzle. In just a few seconds, this will put more solvent in the bore than a half-dozen wet patches. Alternatively, plug the chamber and squirt solvent in from the muzzle. It’s also much easier to saturate a bore brush (without spilling solvent on your stock), by using the wash bottle. You can get these bottles from USPlastic.com or lab supply stores.
March 20th, 2007
Do you want the cleanest brass on the block? Hate tumbling cases for hours on end? Then you should try ultrasonic cleaning. Jason Baney, our 1000-yard Editor, spent many hours testing various solvents and methods, and came up with a system that really works. Ultrasonic cleaning removes built-up carbon residues that can alter case capacity. Jason’s methodology has been followed by reloaders around the country with great success. All you need is a small ultrasonic machine (under $75 on Ebay), some beakers, and inexpensive solvents. The results, as you can see below, can be spectacular. CLICK HERE for the full story.
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