GUNS Magazine January 1958

L -...-.. ..Ell.. SAYS . . .
(Continued from page 10)
.476, .475 Nitro and No. 2, and the S00,
.577 and .600, all take the No. 40 British
Berdan cap furnished by I.C.I. in England.
Cases, bullets, and Berdan caps are imported
by Frank Clark Jr., Box 297, Cheyenne,
Wyoming. Winfield Arms Co. of Los Angeles
furnish an excellent little Berdan decapper;
or one can drill a hole through a hard-wood
board to hold the head of case, then drive
a heavy awl through the fired cap on about a
45 degree angle to just miss the anvil, and
Government Primers
Many ask whether Government primers
sold through the N.R.A. are corrosive or not,
and when the change occured. The change
from corrosive to non-corrosive primers was
authorized in 1949 and some small lots made --- ~ .
then; but generally speaking, one can consider
all Government-arsenal-made primers
made after 1950 as being non-corrosive and
all made prior to 1950 as being corrosive.
pry out the fired cap. R.C.B.S. Gun & Die
Shop, Oroville, California, can furnish reloading
tools to full-length resize the cases
and seat the bullets.
For the smaller bottle-neck cases 4060 Dupont
works very well; also in many of the
larger cases; and both 3031 and 4895 may
be used. Usually one can start at about the
same weight of I.M.R. powder as the original
Cordite charge, but usually you have to add
a few grains weight to bring the load up to
normal elevation.
For the various black powder double rifles,
a modified cordite load is now furnished in
England and Hilary Maclnturff of Usk, Washington,
has done a great deal-of work with
these rifles and loads and makes molds and
tools for them.
The cases should all be full-length resized
and necked small enough to hold the bullet
tight. Lyman Gunsight Corp. furnishes a case
indentor that can also be used to indent the
case in three places right over the cannellure
located near the base of the bullet on
about all British bullets for these big rifles.
Each individual rifle is a law unto itself
as regards individual loading, and some experiment
is usually needed to bring both barrels
together at 100 yards on double rifles.
Sometimes a few grains more or less powder
will bring the individual groups of each
Resiae All Cases
All pistol and revolver cases should be
full-length resized, not only to insure a
smooth easy fit in the chamber of the hand
gun, but also to insure uniform bullet pull
and, most important, a perfect waterproof
seal of the bullet in the case through friction
in seating the bullet. If the pistol or sixgun
bullet is loose in the case, no amount of
crimp in revolver loads will seal against
moisture or gun oil, and a good uniform
crimp cannot be maintained as the brass will
vary in thickness.
Auto pistol cases must be full-length resized
and also kept trimmed to exact factory
length for best accuracy, since many auto
pistol cartridges headspace from the head of
the case to the front or forward lip. These
should never be crimped but should depend
on friction fit of bullet to hold the slug in
place.
For revolvers, cases should all be resized
also so they will fit freely in the chainbers.
If they are tight in the chamber you
may not get them all the way in when loading,
with the result that you will get missfires
due to the case rim not being down
hard against the rim cut in the chamber.
When the striker hits the primer, the blow
is cushioned by having to drive the case fully
down in the chamber.
barrel together. The larger case cartridges
usually work best with 4064 while the
Many reloaders complain that their fine
Colt & S&W revolvers work ' .' '.' '
t
straighter cases like the .450 Nitro Express factory loads, but missfire with mcir reiuaus.
usually work best with the faster burning
3031, and 4895 will also usually substitute.
In most cases, this is the reason. They are
neck sizing only, and the cases are not free
In my experience, one can start with the in the chambers. Some revolver chambers
given load of cordite~that is, use same num- may vary slightly in internal diameter and
ber of grains of our powders as the original
cordite charge. Bores should be cleaned with
some cases may thus expand until they are
shorter than cases from other chambers. This
hot water. followed with solvent and oil after in turn will effect the amount of crimp on
drying, . -. after firing - with corrosive primers. that particular case unless you full-length
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