Who doesn’t want to save money? If you can get a significant discount, you should really take advantage of that opportunity. Guys, we’ve been tracking prices on shooting sports products at vendors around the country. Sad to say, we’ve seen price increases across the board in 2019. Reloading components, loading tools, stocks, targets, electronic gadgets — you name it, the price trend is moving upwards. Thankfully our friends at Precision Reloading are holding the line. Even better, Precision Reloading is running a really significant promotion right now.
Take Note! For today and tomorrow, January 16 and January 17, you can get 15% OFF All ORDERS over $100.00. That’s right, save 15% on your purchases at Precision Reloading with Code 15OFF. If you buy a $400.00 item that could save you $60.00. Yes, this applies to pretty much everything in stock at Precision Reloading, including all major brands below (and dozens more including Lapua, Berger, Forster, Hodgdon, Nosler, RCBS, Redding, Sierra etc.).
If you need bullets, brass, powder, dies, presses, powder dispensers, check out this sale. It’s a very good deal. Use Code 15OFF at check-out to save 15% on your orders over $100.00.
Sierra Bullets has released very complete load data for the popular 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge. This medium-sized cartridge has become one of the most popular chamberings for tactical and PRS shooters. The 6.5 Creedmoor combines excellent accuracy, good mag-feeding, good barrel life, moderate recoil, and reasonable component cost. That’s why this cartridge has caught on quickly.
Developed in 2007 by Dennis DeMille and Dave Emary, the 6.5 Creedmoor is a shortened and improved 30 TC cartridge case that was inspired by the .308 Winchester design. This short action design was created to maximize case capacity and a wide range of loading lengths, while still fitting in standard short action magazines. With the correct twist barrel, the versatile 6.5 Creedmoor can take advantage of the wide range of bullet weights available in 6.5 mm (i.e. .264 caliber). Reloaders should keep in mind that the 6.5 Creedmoor works best with medium to medium-slow powders such as H4350, Varget, Win 760, and RE-17. The light recoil and adaptability of the efficient 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge has already proven itself in high power, precision rifle series and benchrest competitions. Couple that with respectable barrel life and its intrinsic accuracy potential and you have a recipe for success which should insure its legacy for decades to come.
Here are three tables from the Sierra Bullets Reloading Manual (5th Edition). IMPORTANT — This is just a sample!! Sierra has load data for many other 6.5mm bullet types, including FB, Spitzer, SBT, HPBT, and Tipped MK from 85 grains to 142 grains. To view ALL 6.5 Creedmoor DATA, CLICK HERE.
INDICATES MAXIMUM LOAD – USE CAUTION
LOADS LESS THAN MINIMUM CHARGES SHOWN ARE NOT RECOMMENDED.
INDICATES MAXIMUM LOAD – USE CAUTION
LOADS LESS THAN MINIMUM CHARGES SHOWN ARE NOT RECOMMENDED.
INDICATES MAXIMUM LOAD – USE CAUTION
LOADS LESS THAN MINIMUM CHARGES SHOWN ARE NOT RECOMMENDED.
At the request of our readers, we provide select “Deals of the Week”. Every Monday morning we offer our Best Bargain selections. Here are some of the best deals on firearms, hardware, reloading components, optics, and shooting accessories. Be aware that sale prices are subject to change, and once clearance inventory is sold, it’s gone for good. You snooze you lose.
1. CDNN — Browning A-Bolt III Rifle, $349.99 with Rebate
Here’s an awesome deal on Browning hunting rifles. Browning will give you $100 Cash Back on a wide selection of hunting rigs. For example CDNN now offers the A-Bolt III Composite Stalker in .30-06 Springfield for just $449.99. With Browning’s $100.00 Rebate, you net cost is just $349.99. The same deal is offered for other chamberings, including .243 Win, .270 Win, and 7mm Rem Mag. That’s a great price — you could pay that much just for a custom barrel. NOTE: This Browning Bucks $100 Rebate Program also applies to Browning rimfire rifles and shotguns. There is a $50 Rebate for X-Bolt rifles. To make this deal even sweeter, CDNN is now offering a FREE 3-9x40mm Bushnell scope with each A-Bolt III Rifle sold. Check it out:
2. Precision Reloading — Discounts on All Powders in Stock
Right now Precision Reloading is running a big sale on reloading powders. Save 10% or more on all leading powder brands: Accurate, Alliant, Hodgdon, IMR, Norma, Ramshot, Vihtavuori, and Winchester. The sale applies to all one-pound containers, as well at 5-lb and 8-lb jugs. If you need powder, don’t hesitate — this promotion ends 10/19/2018 at 11:59 pm. NOTE: In addition to powders, Precision Reloading has CCI primers on sale this week — save up to 17% on all CCI primer types.
3. Midsouth — Lyman Brass Smith Ideal Press, $69.99
Lyman’s new Ideal compact press works great as a second, lighter-duty press. It also is a good choice for loading at the range. It can easily be mounted to a range bench with C-clamps. With its cast-iron body, this C-Frame press is stronger than other presses in its price class. If you are looking for a secondary press for decapping, bullet-seating and other tasks not requiring heavy leverage, this is an excellent choice. The Lyman Ideal costs just $69.99 at Midsouth Shooters Supply.
4. Midsouth — 10% Off All Sierra Bullets
Need match or hunting projectiles? All Sierra bullets are on sale right now at Midsouth Shooters Supplies. Save 10% on Sierra match, hunting, and varmint bullets, including regular and tipped bullets. Competitors take note — Sierra’s MatchKing bullets are top performers in many disciplines. The 6mm and 6.5mm MatchKings are great for PRS, and the new heavy (183gr and 197gr) 7mm MatchKings (pointed at the factory) have worked great for F-Open shooters. Here are some of the great deals:
6mm 110gr BTHP MatchKing (100) — $36.18 marked down from $40.20
6.5mm 142gr BTHP MatchKing (100) — $39.45 marked down from $43.84
7mm 183gr BTHP MatchKing (100) — $44.255 marked down from $49.16
5. MidwayUSA — Big Sale on Zeiss V4, V6, and V8 Riflescopes
Zeiss makes great scopes with superb glass, reliable tracking, and very positive clicks. Now you can save hundreds on Zeiss V4, V6, and V8 optics. The V4 is an affordable scope for hunters, while the V8 Line offers a stunning 8X zoom ratio. The V6 models, with 6X zoom ratio, are outstanding scopes that compete very well with Nightforce and other top brands on price and performance. Competition and long range shooters should definitely look at the V6 line-up. NOTE: These discounts are part of a Zeiss Field Days promotion running through 10/29/2018. See similar incentives at other retailers.
Leica’s outstanding Geovid 10×42 binoculars feature a built-in laser rangefinder rated to 2000 yards. We’ve used this HD-B 2000 unit and the optics are superb and the rangefinding is super fast. When placed on a tripod for support we were amazed at the ranging ability of these Geovids. Give credit to great glass, minimal beam divergence and Leica’s excellent error correction software. Act now and you can save $1000 over the original price. Note: This is discontinued model that has been replaced by the newer Leica HD-B 3000, priced at $2999.00.
7. Brownells — Sig P320 9mm Pistol, $399.99
The new SIG P320 is one of the best compact 9mm carry guns on the market. Accurate, slim, and reliable, it has earned praise from owners and reviewers alike. Yes we would rather carry a P320 than a sub-compact Glock. This modular, striker-fired pistol features a sub-compact grip, slim slide, and Night Sights. Safety features include a striker safety and disconnect safety. Brownells’ sale price is $399.99, marked down from $579.99. NOTE: Some buyers report you can get an extra $20 OFF with code “M8Y” entered on the final payment screen.
8. Midsouth — Hornady 17 HMR Ten Boxes for $84.99
Varmint hunters take note. Here’s a great deal on premium 17 HMR ammo. Midsouth is selling 500 rounds of Hornady 17 HMR ammo for $84.99. That works out to just $8.50 per 50-rd box — the best price we’ve seen in a while. Loaded with 17gr V-Max bullets, this ammo is accurate — expect about 1 MOA at 100 yards in a good rifle. The V-Max bullets are effective on small varmints out to 200 yards.
9. Amazon — Two Rolls of 3″ Neon Target Stickers, $14.95
We like these bright, Neon 3″ target stickers. They are big enough to see easily at 600 yards, giving you a 1/2 MOA target center at that distance. For $14.95 at Amazon.com, you get 250 3″-diameter self-adhesive centers (125 targets per roll) that stick to almost any surface The high-contrast fluorescent red/orange color provides an excellent HI-VIZ aiming point, along with good contrast for bullet holes that fall within the 3″ circle. To help line up your reticle cross-hairs, the target centers feature black markers at 3, 6, 9, and 12 0’Clock. NOTE: These stickers may qualify for FREE Shipping with combined orders over $25.00.
Are you feelin’ lucky? Well here’s your chance to win. For 12 Days in December (through the 22nd), Powder Valley is giving away a total of $15,000 worth of products from big name suppliers. That averages well over $1,000 worth of product prizes every day. This is top-of-the-line stuff, including Powder from Accurate, Alliant, Hodgdon/IMR, Ramshot, and Shooters’ World, Bullets from Berry’s, Nosler, Sierra, Speer, and Zero, Ammunition from Hornady, Nosler, and Zero, plus Reloading Hardware from Hornady. Each day there will be a new set of prizes. Today’s prizes (for December 13, 2017) are Zero Bullets and Zero Ammunition.
It’s easy to qualify to win one of the Daily Giveaway prize packages. Simply visit Powder Valley’s Facebook Page, and make a comment on the featured Daily Giveaway Post. You don’t have to fill out any forms, but you must have a Facebook account so you can comment. Each day the folks at Powder Valley will select winners from among the visitors who commented. In days ahead there can be multiple daily winners. And on Day 12 there will be very special prize give-aways including Powder Valley Gift certificates. NOTE: You can enter multiple times by commenting on multiple days, but sorry, if you win, you are no longer eligible.
Powder Valley Daily Giveaway — New Prizes Every Day
Powder Valley’s 12 Days of Christmas promo kicked off Monday, December 11th, 2017. To enter, you must visit the Powder Valley Facebook Page. Once there, scroll down to find the Giveaway of the Day. You need to comment on that post to be entered. Winners will be selected by lottery from those who comment. Each successive day, through December 22nd, there will be another product giveaway post.
To be entered in this Powder Valley Contest, you need to go to the Powder Valley Facebook Page and post a Facebook Comment for the Daily Prize story. NOTE: You MUST post your comment on Powder Valley’s Facebook Site, NOT HERE. And you need to comment each day to be entered in that particular day’s contest. To have repeat chances to win you need to comment on multiple days. Got it?
At the request of our readers, we provide select “Deals of the Week”. Every Monday morning we offer our Best Bargain selections. Here are some of the best deals on firearms, hardware, reloading components, and shooting accessories. Be aware that sale prices are subject to change, and once clearance inventory is sold, it’s gone for good. You snooze you lose.
1. EuroOptic Moving Sale — Prices Slashed on Schmidt & Bender
EuroOptic is moving to a larger facility. To ease the transition, EuroOptic wants to reduce its vast Schmidt & Bender inventory: “We at EuroOptic are gearing up to move to our brand-new facility, and we’re making you the benefactor — by giving you a chance to get some stellar pricing on Schmidt Bender optics, and thereby saving us some sweat moving all of our inventory! We’ve got some absolutely awesome deals available, for only the next two weeks — sale ends July 26th.”
Here are just a few of the bargains. Many other S&B models are discounted — from 1-8x24mm all the way up to the vaunted 5-25x56mm PM II, with most models in between:
Sale tip from EdLongrange.
2. Amazon — RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Press, $112.49
We said this was a great deal last week at $126.99 — and now the Rock Chucker is just $112.49 at Amazon — the lowest price we’ve seen in years. The RCBS Rock Chucker remains a classic — a big, strong, versatile press that can handle most reloading chores with ease. And now you can get a genuine Rock Chucker Supreme for $112.59 — an insanely great deal. The Rock Chucker offers plenty of leverage for case-sizing and the “O” is tall enough for long cartridges. The Rock Chucker has a very strong base and should last a lifetime. We do recommend doing priming with a separate priming tool.
3. Natchez — Leupold VX-6 Scopes Closeout, Save Hundreds
Natchez Shooters Supplies is running a big sale on Leupold VX-6 scopes. You can save hundreds of dollars on a wide variety of VX-6 optics, from 1-6x24mm up to 3-18x50mm models. If you are looking for a high-quality hunting optic at a great price check out these deals. For example, Leupold’s 2-12x42mm FireDot (Illum.) Duplex VX-6 scope is marked down from $1199.99 to just $749.99 — a $450.00 savings! Shown above are four hot deals, but a dozen Leupold VX-6 models on are sale now.
4. Natchez — Special 5 Reloading Press Kit, $199.99
This is an excellent entry-level reloading kit, which is on sale for $199.99 at Natchez Shooters Supplies. We like the relatively compact Special 5 press for most reloading duties. Eventually you many want to add an additional large heavy press, but this will get the job done. This kit includes an RCBS Powder Measure, Digital Scale, Powder Trickler, Hand Priming Tool, Load Manual, Loading Tray, and more. It’s hard to beat this combination of tools for under $200.00.
Lapua Scenar-L bullets are superb. We have found these bullets to be extremely consistent in weight and base to ogive measurement. Scenar-L bullets also shoot great. We think serious shooters owe it to themselves to try a box of Scenar-Ls for their favorite match rifle. And now .224, 7mm (.284), and .308 caliber shooters have the opportunity to grab some great Scenar-Ls for an amazingly low price. Right now Grafs.com is running a SALE on select Scenar-Ls in .224, .284, and .308 calibers. These are priced 46% Off, saving you up to $26.00 per 100-count box! NOTE: The 180gr 7mm and 220gr .308 bullets are both outstanding choices for F-Class and long-range competition.
Grab a Walther PPS M2 for under $300.00. This is a great little concealed carry pistol. You can run it with a flush mag for deep concealment or with an extended mag that provides a more comfortable grip (photo at right). This week, CDNN Sports is offering special sale pricing on the Walther PPS M2. Get $60 off regular the retail price. Combine that with Walther’s $100 manufacturer rebate, and you can get the PPS M2 for just $299.99.
We do like this little pistol — it’s comfortable, accurate, and has a decent trigger. The PPS M2 is the carry choice of our System Administrator. READ PPS M2 Review.
We use 1″-diameter Target Spots for sight-in and practice at 100-300 yards. These bright red/orange self-adhesive dots are easy to see. At 100 yards the high-contrast black diamond centers provide precise aiming points. We found this 10-pack of target spots on Amazon at a rock-bottom price. You get 630 total stick-on dots for just $9.65 with FREE Shipping. You can also get 360 Birchwood Casey 1″ dots from Midsouth for just $3.15, but shipping is extra. If you’re already ordering something from Midsouth, you may want to add the dots to your order.
8. Amazon — PRS Practical Shooting Book — $17.88
Thinking of getting started in the Practical/Tactical shooting game? Looking for ways to be more stable when shooting from unconventional positions? Then you may want to read Marcus Blanchard’s Practical Shooter’s Guide (A How-To Approach for Unconventional Firing Positions and Training). Unlike almost every “how to shoot” book on the market, Blanchard’s work focuses on the shooting skills and positions you need to succeed in PRS matches and similar tactical competitions. Blanchard provides clear advice on shooting from barricades, from roof-tops, from steep angles. Blanchard says you need to train for these types of challenges: “I believe the largest factor in the improvement of the average shooter isn’t necessarily the gear; it’s the way the shooter approaches obstacles and how they properly train for them.”
9. Bullets.com — Big CLOSEOUT Sale on Ammo
Bullets.com has a large selection of rifle, pistol, and shotgun ammunition on sale. You can get name-brand ammo at big savings right now. If you’re looking for factory pistol ammo you should definitely shop at Bullets.com this week. And there are even deals to be had on ultra-premium Lapua ammo — just about the best factory ammunition you can buy (at any price).
Berger Bullets is becoming part of the Nammo Group, joining Lapua, Vihtavuori, and SK Ammo. This is big news, as it combines one of America’s leading bullet-makers with a major global enterprise that produces superior loaded ammunition, powder, bullets, and brass. This is potentially a boon for shooters as Nammo’s resources will help Berger increase production capacity, expand its line of products (including loaded ammunition), develop new bullet types, and invest in new, advanced machinery that should increase output and efficiency. In addition, we do expect to see new lines of loaded ammo combining Lapua brass with Berger match bullets. That combo will be tough to beat. Overall, this is a very positive development for Berger which will be able to call upon Nammo’s engineering expertise and advanced production technologies. It’s also a great thing for shooters, who can expect improved availability of the most popular Berger projectiles.
Berger Will Be Leaving California
As part of the acquisition of Berger Bullets by the Nammo Group, Berger plans to relocate its operations, moving its factory from the current Fullerton, California location. Berger will definitely be leaving California in the future.
Eric Stecker, Berger’s President, says the exact timing of the move has not yet been set, nor has the location been chosen. Arizona is high on the list of potential sites, but Berger is considering other states as well. Once the new factory location is determined, Eric says he expects the move to be completed “by December 2018 at the latest”.
In this exclusive AccurateShooter.com interview, Berger President Eric Stecker talks about Nammo’s acquisition of Berger Bullets and explains how that will bring about important positive changes, including increased production capability.
Notice from Berger Bullets
We take great pride and tremendous pleasure in announcing that Berger Bullets has joined forces with the Nammo Group. This Norwegian/Finnish corporation control many premium brands including Lapua (Brass, Bullets, Ammo), Vihtavuori Powder, and SK Rimfire Ammunition.
The joining of Berger Bullets with these world renowned, premium brands ushers in a new era of quality, performance and product availability for the discerning shooter. Today, under the Nammo Group ownership, we join three other companies that share a strong passion and commitment to precision shooting performance. We are very excited to join forces with these premium quality brands, which are committed to precision and quality.
Nammo Resources Will Help Berger Grow
The Nammo Group brings to Berger Bullets a level of support that is rivaled by few and bested by none. Nammo will support us in many areas including production capability expansion, advanced engineering, innovative product development, and the opportunity to share technology between all of these top quality brands.
Our immediate goal is to significantly improve the availability of Berger products. Throughout our history the demand for Berger Bullets has exceeded our capacity even as we’ve grown our output capabilities numerous multiples over the last few decades. Our first obligation to our customers is to improve the availability while we remain committed to our highest level of quality in the industry. Much of what has made Berger Bullets successful will remain unchanged. Bryan Litz is developing more great bullets for Berger and our technicians will still be answering your emails and calls.
Our website will remain at www.BergerBullets.com and all methods of contacts will remain the same for now. As we run across any changes, we’ll make sure we keep you updated on our website and through emails. So please, keep your information current on your email subscription and we promise to keep you posted.
The Nammo Group, www.Nammo.com, supplies high performance products to the aerospace & defense industry. Its core businesses are military and commercial ammunition; shoulder-fired systems; rocket motors; and demilitarization services. Nammo has 2,100 employees located in 12 countries.
Here is the original Sierra manufacturing facility in Whittier, CA.
Sierra Bullets — How It Got Started
Report Based on Story by Carroll Pilant, Sierra Bullets Media Relations Manager
What became Sierra Bullets started in the late 1940s in a Quonset hut in California. In 1947, three aircraft machinists, Frank Snow, Jim Spivey, and Loren Harbor, rented machine space to produce rivets for the aircraft industry along with fishing rod guides and rifle front sight ramps. In the post-WWII years, sport shooting was becoming hugely popular, but quality ammunition was in short supply. For shooting enthusiasts, reloading was the solution to the ammo supply shortage. Snow, Spivey, and Harbor recognized this, creating Sierra Bullets to help fill the void. Before long, they were selling a 53-grain match bullet to the Hollywood Gun Shop. These bullets are still in production today as the Sierra #1400 53-grain MatchKing.
A few years later, an accomplished competitive shooter named Martin Hull joined Sierra. Hull helped develop new bullet types and served as manager of Sierra’s ballistics laboratory for nearly 20 years. With Hull’s help, Sierra’s output grew rapidly. The California company outgrew several locations before it moved to a large facility in Santa Fe Springs, CA, in 1963.
New Owners and New President in the Late Sixties
In 1968, the Leisure Group bought Sierra Bullets. Other Leisure Group companies included Lyman Reloading, High Standard Manufacturing Company, Yard Man, Thompson Sprinkler Systems, Flexible Flyer Sleds, and Dodge Trophies (Which made the Oscar and Rose Bowl Game trophies).
Soon after purchasing Sierra, the Leisure Group hired Robert Hayden as President and General Manager. Hayden was a mechanical engineer who had worked for Remington Arms. Hayden remained the president of Sierra for 42 years, retiring in 2012 when Pat Daly became president.
Sierra Moves to Missouri
In 1990, Sierra relocated to Sedalia, Missouri, where the company remains today. Sierra Bullets now employs over 100 people including five full-time ballistic technicians who answer daily reloading and firearms questions by both phone and e-mail.
The Making of MatchKings — How Sierra Produces SMKs
All Sierra bullets begin life as a strip of gilding metal, an alloy consisting of 95% copper and 5% zinc. To meet Sierra’s strict quality requirements, the gilding metal requires three times more dimensional and quality control standards than is considered standard in the copper manufacturing industry.
A blanking press stamps out a uniform disc and forms the cup that will be drawn into the MatchKing jacket. The cup is then polished and sent to a draw press to be drawn into a jacket that is longer than needed for the future MatchKing, thus allowing for the trim process. Press operators constantly check concentricity to make sure we have only quality jackets. The jackets then go to a trimmer where they are visually inspected again.
After being polished a second time, the jacket travels to the bullet press. In the meantime, 80-pound lead billets are being extruded into lead wire for the cores where great care is taken so that the core wire is not stretched. The core wire is lightly oiled before continuing to the bullet press to be swaged.
The lead core wire and trimmed jacket meet at the bullet press where the first stage forms a boattail on the jacket. The lead core is then formed on top of the bullet press and fed down into the jacket. In one stroke of the press, the MatchKing is formed.
Quality control technicians pull samples from each lot of MatchKings to make sure they meet Sierra’s stringent standards. Samples are then sent to Sierra’s 300-meter underground test range (shown below) to be shot for accuracy on mechanical mounts referred to as “unrestricted return to battery rests” that Sierra designed and built in-house.
After inspection, the bullets are placed in the familiar green box along with reloading labels. They are then shrink-wrapped and shipped all over the world.
Are you feelin’ lucky? Well here’s your chance to win. Over the next twelve days (through December 23, 2016), Powder Valley is giving away a total of $20,000 worth of products from big name suppliers. That’s an average of $1,667 worth of product prizes every day. This is top-of-the-line stuff, including Powder from Accurate, IMR, Ramshot, and Vihtavuori, Bullets from Berger, Berry’s, Hornady, Lapua, and Sierra, Brass from Lapua, Hornady and Nosler, Ammo from Hornady, Nosler, Lapua, and Silver State Armory. Each day there will be a new set of prizes. Today’s prize is a Hornady reloading press.
It’s easy to qualify to win one of the Daily Giveaway prize packages. Simply visit Powder Valley’s Facebook Page, and make a comment on the featured Daily Giveaway Post. You don’t have to fill out any forms, but you must have a Facebook account so you can comment. Each day the folks at Powder Valley will select winners from among the visitors who commented. Today (Dec. 12th) there will be one winner of the Hornady Press. In days ahead there can be multiple daily winners — as many as 20 to 30 per day. NOTE: You can enter multiple times by commenting on multiple days, but sorry, if you win, you are no longer eligible.
Powder Valley Daily Giveaway
The Powder Valley 12 Days of Christmas promotion starts today, December 12th, 2016. To enter, you must visit the Powder Valley Facebook Page. Once there, scroll down to find the Giveaway of the Day. Today’s Giveaway is a Hornady Press. Look for the post shown below. You need to comment on that post to be entered. Winners will be selected by lottery from those who comment. Each successive day through December 23rd, there will be another product giveaway post.
To be entered in this Powder Valley Contest, you need to go to the Powder Valley Facebook Page and post a Facebook Comment for the Daily Prize story. The give-away for today, December 12th, is a Hornady Lock-N-Load AP Press. NOTE: You need to post your comment on Powder Valley’s Facebook Site, NOT HERE. And you need to comment each day to be entered in that particular day’s contest. To have repeat chances to win you need to comment on multiple days. Got it?
Nosler has introduced a new line of RDF™ (Reduced Drag Factor) bullets that feature very high BCs, hybrid-type ogives, and tight, factory-closed meplats. Based on initial specs, Nosler’s new RDF bullets should be very competitive match projectiles for their respective bullet weights. Nosler claims its new RDF bullets have “the highest BCs and smallest, most consistent meplats of any hollow-point match bullet line on the market.” RDF projectiles will be initially offered in four calibers: .224, 6mm (.243), 6.5 mm (.264), and .308.
NEW Nosler RDF Bullets:
· 22 Cal 70 grain — G1 Ballistic Coefficient 0.416 | G7 Ballistic Coefficient 0.211
· 6mm 105 grain — G1 Ballistic Coefficient 0.571 | G7 Ballistic Coefficient 0.280
· 6.5mm 140 grain — BC field verification in process
· 30 Cal 175 grain — G1 Ballistic Coefficient 0.536 | G7 Ballistic Coefficient 0.270
High-BC RDF Bullets Feature Compound (Hybrid-type) Ogive Profiles
Nosler designed RDF bullets to have very high BCs for flatter trajectories and reduced wind drift. Nosler achieved high BCs by adopting a modern hybrid-type compound ogive, which bridges traditional tangent and secant bullet shapes. Another benefit of the compound (hybrid-type) ogive, is that this shape is normally less sensitive to bullet seating depth than a pure VLD-style, secant ogive shape. That allows hand-loaders to seat off the lands and still get excellent accuracy, which can be maintained even as the throat moves out over time. RDF bullets also feature a long boat-tail for aerodynamic efficiency.
Factory-Closed Meplats — No More Trimming and Pointing Tips
Compared to conventional match bullets, Nosler’s RDF bullets look quite different because the tips have been tightly closed up at the factory. Nosler claims a a 40% average reduction in meplat size vs. conventional hollow-point bullets. With Nosler doing the work on the tips, hand-loaders no longer need to point and trim tips, a laborious task done to improve BC and, more importantly, to make BCs more consistent for every bullet in the box. Consistent BC translates to reduced vertical spread at long range.
John Nosler Talks about RDF Bullets:
“Long-range competitive shooting [is] one of the fastest-growing shooting activities in the world, and quality bullets are the cornerstone of the sport” said John Nosler, Executive V.P. for the company. “Our engineers were challenged with delivering a bullet that would drastically reduce aerodynamic drag and increase ballistic consistency, providing shooters with an indisputable advantage. What we achieved is a leap in match bullet technology….”
Guys — honestly, if you do anything today on this site, watch this video. You won’t be disappointed. Guaranteed. This is a very informative (and surprisingly entertaining) video. Every serious hand-loader should watch this video to see how cartridge cases are made. Your Editor has watched the video 5 times now and I still find it fascinating. The camera work and editing are excellent — there are many close-ups revealing key processes such as annealing and head-stamping.
VERY Informative Video Show Cartridge Brass and Ammunition Production:
Norma has released a fascinating video showing how bullet, brass, and ammunition are produced at the Norma Precision AB factory which first opened in 1902. You can see how cartridges are made starting with brass disks, then formed into shape through a series of processes, including “hitting [the cup] with a 30-ton hammer”. After annealing (shown at 0:08″), samples from every batch of brass are analyzed (at multiple points along the case length) to check metal grain structure and hardness. Before packing, each case is visually inspected by a human being (3:27″ time-mark).
The video also shows how bullets are made from jackets and lead cores. Finally, you can watch the loading machines that fill cases with powder, seat the bullets, and then transport the loaded rounds to the packing system. In his enthusiasm, the reporter/narrator does sometimes confuse the term “bullets” and “rounds” (5:00″), but you can figure out what he means. We definitely recommend watching this video. It’s fascinating to see 110-year-old sorting devices on the assembly line right next to state-of-the art, digitally-controlled production machinery.
Video suggestions by Boyd Allen and EdLongrange. We welcome reader submissions.
Developed in 2007 by Dennis DeMille and Dave Emary, the 6.5 Creedmoor is a shortened and improved 30 TC cartridge case that was inspired by the .308 Winchester design. This short action design was created to maximize case capacity and a wide range of loading lengths, while still fitting in standard short action magazines. With the correct twist barrel, the versatile 6.5 Creedmoor can take advantage of the wide range of bullet weights available in 6.5 mm (i.e. .264 caliber). Reloaders should keep in mind that the 6.5 Creedmoor works best with medium to medium-slow powders such as H4350, Varget, Win 760, and RE-17. The light recoil and adaptability of the efficient 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge has already proven itself in high power, precision rifle series and benchrest competitions. Couple that with respectable barrel life and its intrinsic accuracy potential and you have a recipe for success which should insure its legacy for decades to come.
Grab a 
Berger Will Be Leaving California
Norma has released a fascinating video showing how bullet, brass, and ammunition are produced at the 
