The Firearm Blog

The 8 mm Lebel (8×50Rmm French) was and first smokeless powder cartridge adopted by the military of any country. It is also the one of the most bizarre looking cartridges I have seen.

Photo from Wikipedia

It was introduced in 1886 and served through WWI. It was made obsolete in 1929 with the introduction of the 7.5×54mm MAS mod. 1929 (7.5 French) cartridge.

Eley have rebranded most of their .22 ammo and introduced a new produce called Team, an improved version of Club.

(Click to here to expand)

I think the branding was a good idea. The boxes look like and the names are better. For example “Tenex” is better than “Tenex Ultimate EPS”.

The press release

ELEY is proud to announce with effect from 1st January 2008, the new re-branded product range, which features a rationalized product choice and introduces “Team” a new .22 calibre cartridge.

The re-branded product range, coincides with Eley’s 180th year of manufacturing high quality ammunition and will strengthen the company’s position in the worldwide market place. All the ELEY products have been re-branded with a new design but the product colours will remain the same to ensure customers can clearly indentify their chosen ammunition.

Changes to product range:

The premium products, Tenex and Match, remain unchanged, apart from dropping the terms Ultimate and EPS from the name. These products feature the well known flat bullet profile, but are also available in round nose versions (Tenex Pistol and Match OSP) which are ideal for semi-automatic rifles.

The introduction of the new blue labeled “Team” product is an improved version of the Club ammunition using the same flat nose bullet as used for Tenex and Match. We believe this product will allow club shooters to use a quality of ammunition closer to that used by championship shooters, but at a much lower cost and therefore giving them the edge over what they are currently using with existing Club ammunition. This product will be available only in limited quantities!

The popular Club product will remain unchanged apart from the re-branded label. Target Rifle and Standard have been replaced by a new improved product launched as “Sport” and packaged with a new green label.

Managing Director Mike Semens-Flanagan commented:

“Eley strongly believe these changes will not only help to consolidate our position in the market but also give customers shooting with our ammunition a better product and clearer choice.”

More info at Eley.com

B.B. has written an interesting article on early target shooting with the Zimmerstutzen rifles.

The Zimmerstutzen was the ancestor of the 10-meter target [air] rifle and extends back to at least 1840. Zimmerstutzen is the rough translation of “parlor rifle” in German. The first zimmer was powered by a percussion cap that propelled a small lead ball through a short rifled barrel.

What I found fascinating was that there were 25 different Zimmerstutzen calibers!

A Zimmerstutzen comes in the nominal caliber 4mm, but in fact there are over 25 discrete calibers that range from 4mm to 5.55mm, in half-milimeter increments.

Zimmerstutzen vs .22LR

Read the article here.

There is an interesting discussion over at rec.guns about the best way to deal with a squirrel chewing on the roof. It is worth a read.

“Pumper Hinkle” sums up the options:

Hmmm. I understand your problem better now. For the squirrel to be
chewing on your roof, though, he must be sitting still for at least a
little bit.

I believe that if it were happening to me, I’d get a night vision scope for
the bolt-action .22 and sight it in using BB caps. I’d then set up a
sniper position and be patient. Once it stands still, bang.

Or, well, you could get a .410 shotgun and some light loads, and figguring
on patching the roof maybe.

Or, I believe you can fire .45 colt cartridges in a .410 shotgun, and I
believe you can get .45 snake loads.

As you’ve observed, the .22 snakeloads don’t cycle in autos, and the rifling
disperses the shot too much. I believe I once heard of a smoothbore .22,
which would give better range.

But I assume you don’t want to buy another gun, especially some sort of
specialty gun. So, back to first suggestion, night vision scope on the
.22.

CCI have renamed Quik-Shot as SHP (Segmented Hollow Point) and are now offering it as a subsonic round!

It will drive a 40 gr bullet at 1050 ft/s with 98 ft/lbs of energy! This is great news for me. I have been using Quik-Shot but since I use a suppressor subsonic is preferable.

CCI’s unique Segmented Hollow-Point (SHP) bullet is now available in 22 Win Mag and a 22 Long Rifle subsonic load. This offering is ideal for bigger targets that require a larger wound area and makes perfect sense in the 22 WMR. The flat-shooting SHP is designed to break up into three sections on impact for even more stopping power. These three segments diverge from the main path for unique terminal performance on game. The subsonic 22 LR offering is great when hunting around a populated area and a quiet, effective round is needed.

More here.

The 5mm Remington Rimfire Magnum is back!

The 5mm Rem Magnum was originally produced from 1970 to 1974. Only a few firearms where chambered in it. The bolt action Remington Model 591 and Model 592 where chambered in it and Thompson Center Arms offered it for a brief period of time.

In comparison the 30 gr .22 Magnum (WMR) traveling at 2,200 ft/s generates 322 ft/lb of energy.

More about the Centurion 5mm Remington Rimfire Magnum @ varminter.com

For those who held onto their Remington 5mm Rimfire rifles in hopes that someone, someday, would revive this fine cartridge, their prayers have been answered in the Centurion made 5mm Remington. For those of you who wished for a new generation of 5mm rifles and handguns, your day is at hand. There can be little doubt that the reintroduction of this cartridge will produce a new line of firearms to augment the original Remington rifles that might be in a shooter’s rack. And with current powder technology, better bullets and a better understanding of internal ballistics, there is yet, more to come! Future development of newer, higher performance Centurion 5mm Remington ammunition is already underway! The future indeed looks bright for this old veteran cartridge…

UPDATE:

THe ammo should be available after SHOT Show. According to an bayouboy @ RFC Aguila said:

OUR WEB SITE IS DOWN FOR UPDATING, THE AMMUNITION IS BEING SHIPPED THIS WEEK
AND WILL BE AVAILABLE AFTER THE SHOT SHOW, PLEASE CHECK BACK WITH US, THANKS
FOR YOUR INTEREST.

UPDATE: More info at GunPundit

These Varmint Grenade, made by Barnes are amazing. I am going to have to try them out in the near future

In the below video they fire one of them into a grape and the bullet completely disintegrates.

Barnes makes these in .243/6mm (62 gr), .22 (36 - 50 gr) and .204 (26 gr) caliber.

More on the bullet here.

From AccurateShooter.com

One of our readers asked “What effect does altitude have on the flight of a bullet?” The simplistic answer is that, at higher altitudes, the air is thinner (lower density), so there is less drag on the bullet. This means that the amount of bullet drop is less at any given flight distance from the muzzle. Since the force of gravity is essentially constant on the earth’s surface (for practical purposes), the bullet’s downward acceleration doesn’t change, but a bullet launched at a higher altitude is able to fly slightly farther (in the thinner air) for every increment of downward movement. Effectively, the bullet behaves as if it has a higher ballistic coefficient.

Worth a read. More here.

DEMIGOD has written a comparison of the 6.5mm rounds: the .260 Remington vs. 6.5×47 Lapua vs. 6.5 Creedmoor.

It’s been a good year for 6.5 mm. The .260 Remington has hit full stride after a ramp-up of several years, with top competitors at most field-style long-range matches shooting it. Lapua’s 6.5×47 saw the first wave of custom LR rifles built around it in 2007 and proved to be just as good as people hoped. Finally, Hornady is announcing its new 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge at SHOT 2008. How do these three mid-size 6.5 mm cartridges stack up against one another? I spent much of 2007 figuring out the answer to that question.

6.5mm Creedmoor

More here.

DEMIGOD LLC has an interesting article on the .260 Remington, a necked down .308.

The .260 Remington provides long-range ballistics conventionally limited to the magnum calibers. Because its parent case is the ubiquitous .308 Winchester, building a rifle in .260 can be as easy as fitting a new barrel. The .260 provides much less wind drift and drop than .308 but has less recoil.

The hunting pedigree of 6.5 mm in Europe proves the caliber is formidable for practical use. For long-range shooters who want a better cartridge than .308, but don’t want the costs associated with big overbore magnums, the .260 is just the ticket.

More here

Winchester will be launching a new line of Safari ammo. They will be offering it in calibers 375 H&H Magnum, 416 Rigby, 458 Winchester Magnum and 416 Remington Magnum cartridge and will be using Nosler Partition and Nosler Solid bullets.

The new ammo will be available later this year.

They have not yet updated their website with the details.

The Press release:

When Africa calls, so does the need for being equipped with the proper ammunition to take down the game on your hunting list—and being prepared for game that may not be. Winchester’s new Safari Ammunition line was engineered to not only tackle the toughest game in Africa and the rest of the continents with supreme confidence, but to provide performance and versatility in virtually any situation.

Offered in the venerable 375 H&H Magnum, 416 Rigby and 458 Winchester Magnum, as well as the 416 Remington Magnum cartridge, the new Winchester® Safari line makes the most of these popular and proven African cartridges by pairing them with the finest bullet choices available—Nosler® Partition® and the new Nosler Solid™.

Nosler Partition bullets—with copper alloy jackets and lead-alloy cores—have long been favored around the world for accuracy and terminal performance on game. The new Nosler Solids—featuring a unique design and homogenous lead-free alloy construction—provide spectacular penetration and an impressively straight wound channel on large, thick-skinned game.

According to Glen Weeks, Winchester Centerfire Product Manager, “The Safari line was developed to meet the most demanding hunting needs. Each of the cartridges in the line provides the energy and knockdown power needed for the largest and most dangerous game. The Partition offerings are ideal for dangerous, or large thinner skin game, while the Solids will offer maximum penetration on the toughest hide and bone.”

Winchester Safari Ammunition features nickel-plated cartridge cases and is packaged in reusable 20-round plastic boxes with labels featuring recently discovered vintage Winchester artwork. The line will be available summer 2008.

This is a fantastics idea. ‘thinking’ over at RFC posted how to make wax pellets for an airgun. Perfect for shooting bugs indoors!

All you need a some wax, a lighter ,some putty for a mold and a pelet.

WARNING: If you plan on shooting an airgun in your house, I recommend cleaning the airgun first to remove any lead. I check myself for lead poisoning every so often.

Read the tutorial here.

Remington have announced a very cool looking new sabot slug called the “AccuTip Bonded Sabot Slug”

Looks cool doesn’t it?

It doesn’t just look intimidating, it’s flattening whitetails and competitors in the tipped-slug market with devastating ferocity. Guided by our new Power Port™ Tip, the AccuTip Bonded Sabot Slug delivers a degree of accuracy and terminal performance unmatched by any other we tested. This masterpiece of aerodynamics consistently prints tiny 100-yard groups and transfers tremendous knockdown force out to the farthest reaches of shotgun range. It’s the largest tipped slug you’ll find anywhere.

In field testing, this huge .58-caliber slug produced gaping wound channels and crumpled every deer it touched with a single shot. From 5 to 200 yards, it yields perfect mushrooms and over 95% weight retention thanks to its spiral nose cuts, bonded construction and high-strength cartridge brass jacket. With performance as revolutionary as its appearance, this is one tip sure to get stunning results. Available in 2 3/4″ or 3″ 12-gauge versions for 2008.

• Power Portâ„¢ Tip delivers dramatically superior accuracy
• Spiral nose cuts and proprietary bonding technology control expansion at all ranges from 5 to 200 yards
• Huge .58-caliber slug is the largest tipped slug available today
• Over 95% weight retention – weighs more after impact than all the others start with!
• Slug jacket made from high-strength cartridge brass
• Designed for use in fully-rifled barrels only

UPDATE

Check out these amazing photos of the sabot being fired

Hat Tip: vinatoare.ro

Jack @ Rule .303 posted his top five worst new cartridges

1. 7.62×39 Ackley Improved
2. .22 belted magnum
3. .338 rimfire
4. 28 gauge Buckhammer saboted slugs
5. .50 BMG shotshells

I posted a comment saying a hotter 7.62×39 might not be so bad.

Jack went on to post an interesting comment on why this would be a very bad idea, at least economically

Steve,

In theory, one could give the 7.62×39 the Ackley treatment and wind up with a cartridge that makes an extra 120 fps or whatever. And I agree that this would be kinda neat in theory because a little extra oopmh at 150 yards would make this a better deer cartridge.

However, let’s think about this a little bit. The allure of 7.62×39 has little to do with it’s ballistics. America is falling in love with 7.62×39 because it’s become the cheapest centerfire cartridge available (excluding corrosive milsurp ammo). At a time when ammunition costs in general have been going ballistic (heh heh) this thing showed up right on time.

Buying specialty ‘Ackley improved’ ammo would probably cost $16 a box or so. As much as a box of 30-’06 hunting ammo. Kinda defeats the purpose, huh?

As far as reloading goes, one of the attractions of Ackley chamberings has always been that you could shoot the regular ammo in it and the standard cases get blown out to the slightly larger Ackley dimensions of the chamber. Then you can reload that brass and you have cartridges that give you the full Ackley advantage.

That’s great, except that the vast majority of the 7.62×39 that is out there is not brass. It’s steel cased, which is such a pain in the butt to reload that it’s basically impractical. Heck, some of it is even berdan primed as well. I don’t even know if steel cases will blow out to Ackley dimensions on firing the way that brass cases do.

Read the rest of his comment here.

Since when has a bad idea ever stopped a cartridge manufacturer? So if Winchester, Remington, Hornady, Federal or Sierra are reading this and you are looking for the next fad, checkout my .30 Steve.
It is guaranteed to kill deer just as well as the old fashioned 7.62×39mm but costs 5x as much! Your shareholders will love it!