I came across this chart showing over 260 powders form 15 different manufacturers.
The chart of relative quickness of powders below is intended as a guideline only. Powders within three lines of one another are similar in relative quickness but cannot be directly substituted without due regard for safe reloading procedures.
It is a South African website so you may not be able to get hold of some of these powders.
The NY Times (emphasis mine):
But to arm the Afghan forces that it hopes will lead this fight, the American military has relied since early last year on a fledgling company led by a 22-year-old man whose vice president was a licensed masseur.
With the award last January of a federal contract worth as much as nearly $300 million, the company, AEY Inc., which operates out of an unmarked office in Miami Beach, became the main supplier of munitions to Afghanistan’s army and police forces.
Since then, the company has provided ammunition that is more than 40 years old and in decomposing packaging, according to an examination of the munitions by The New York Times and interviews with American and Afghan officials. Much of the ammunition comes from the aging stockpiles of the old Communist bloc, including stockpiles that the State Department and NATO have determined to be unreliable and obsolete, and have spent millions of dollars to have destroyed.
In purchasing munitions, the contractor has also worked with middlemen and a shell company on a federal list of entities suspected of illegal arms trafficking.
Moreover, tens of millions of the rifle and machine-gun cartridges were manufactured in China, making their procurement a possible violation of American law.
It is a long article. Somewhat sensationalist. Looks like some kids (18, 22 and 25 years old) found a source of soviet ammo and sold it. This is the kind of story that they will make into a move.
Read it here.
UPDATE:
This photo from the US Army shows the state of the boxes of ammo they were receiving
Hat Tip: Danger Room
Guncrafter Industries are selling a .50 GI conversion kit for the the Glock 20/21.
Click to expand the image
The .50 GI round should not be compared to the Desert Eagle’s .50 Action Express or the .500 S&W. It is slightly more powerful than the .45 ACP.
Wikipedia information on the .50 GI:
| .50 GI | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type | Handgun | |
| Place of origin |   United States |
|
| Production history | ||
| Designer | Vic Tibbets / Alex Zimmermann | |
| Designed | 2004 | |
| Manufacturer | Guncrafter Industries | |
| Specifications | ||
| Case type | Rebated, straight | |
| Bullet diameter | .515 in (13.1 mm) | |
| Neck diameter | .526 in (13.4 mm) | |
| Base diameter | .526 in (13.4 mm) | |
| Rim diameter | .480 in (12.2 mm) | |
| Case length | .899 in (22.8 mm) | |
| Overall length | 1.221 in (31.0 mm) | |
| Ballistic performance | ||
| Bullet weight/type | Velocity | Energy |
| 275 gr (17.8 g) JHP | 900 ft/s (270 m/s) | 492 ft·lbf (667 J) |
| 300 gr (19 g) JHP | 860 ft/s (260 m/s) | 493 ft·lbf (668 J) |
The kit will retail for $595.
Hat Tip: Foodpounds
Winchester has launched a reduced recoil .260 S&W for hunting. They claim it has 50% less recoil than a regular .460 S&W cartridge. The reduce recoil comes at a cost of approx. 34% less muzzle energy.
The press release:
For 2008, Winchester Ammunition offers a reduced recoil load for the .460 S&W Magnum, allowing shooters more pleasurable target sessions and hunting options. A proven big bore hunting caliber, the .460 S&W provides excellent energy transfer and deep penetration. The new Winchester Super-X® .460 S&W Reduced Recoil round features a 250-grain jacketed hollow point bullet, a muzzle velocity of 1,450 feet per second (fps) and an impressive 1,517 foot-pounds of muzzle energy.
Engineered to offer nearly 50-percent reduction in recoil compared to full power loads, while still retaining enough energy for hunting at normal handgun distances, the new .460 S&W Reduced Recoil load is an ideal choice for deer-sized game, predators and target shooting. The more manageable recoil also allows hunters the benefit of quicker follow-up shots.
The reduced load still has significantly more muzzle energy than the .44 Magnum.
Left to right: .460 S&W Magnum, .454 Casull,
.44 Magnum, .45ACP, .22LR
The M1028 is a 120mm shotgun shell for the M1 tank. The shell holds 1100 10mm tungsten balls. They are apparently lethal up to 700m (765 yards). Here is a video of the shell being fired in slow motion. It shows the shot breaking the sound barrier and the shot pattern (H/T to Sebastian).
I tried to calculate the weight of each ball. It depends on how pure the balls are. My calculations, based on a company that makes tungsten balls that weigh 18 grams per cm3, indicate that each ball will weigh about 145 grains. That is a combined weight of 159,500 grains / 10 kilograms / 22.8 pounds!
(4/3) x pie x 0.5cm ^ 3 = 0.52 cm3
0.52 * 18 = 9.42 grams (145 grains)
Please correct me if I am wrong.
The requirements of the round were:
The M1028 cross section.
Here is a before and after shot taking during the testing of the round. I am not sure of the range.
Before
Two dummies survived, the wall did not.
The concept of shot is not new. Grape shot or loose stones, metal and glass have been used for as long as cannons have.
American Revolution grapeshot
Sources of information:
M1028 - GARM Final (PDF)
Military.com
PSMVCC (PDF)
JinJu Powder Metallurgy
Have you ever wondered how much big bore ammo cost? Here is a list of cartridges from a few manufacturers. It is not a scientific sample, I have not taken into account quality of the brass or bullets. I am sure by hunting around you could find cheaper prices (ha, no pun intended).
The reason many are very expensive is that they are not mass produced, unlike the .405 Winchester and .375 H&H.
| Cartridge | Bullet weight | Cost/round |
| S&H 2 Bore Blackpowder Express | 3500 grains | $79* | .700 Nitro Express | 1000 grains | $50 |
| .600 Nitro Express | 900 grains | $36 |
| .500 Nitro Express | 570 grains | $14.0 |
| .500 Jeffery | 535 grains | $17.00 |
| .475 No. 2 Jeffery | 500 grains | $19.75 |
| .500/.465 Nitro Express | 480 grains | $13.25 |
| .450 Rigby | 480 grains | $11 |
| .450 No. 2 Nitro Express | 480 grains | $17.50 |
| .450 Nitro Express | 480 grains | $12.50 |
| .404 Jeffery | 400 grains | $42.50 |
| .416 Rigby | 410 grains | $3.32 |
| .405 Winchester | 300 grains | $3.23 |
| .357 H&H | 300 grains | $7.40 |
* Cost of bullet+brass unloaded, includes shipping cost.
Sources:
Hornady’s new products for 2008:
Ruger Compact Magnums
More info here.
Graf & Sons and Hornady are now offering high quality ammo for military surplus rifles.
Calibers they offer:
More info here.
There is ‘big bore’ and then there is the 2 bore. Schroeder & Hetzendorfer make a cartridge called the S&H 2 Bore Blackpowder Express.
These photos are amazing
.700 nitro express next to 2 bore and 3500 grain bronze solid
.500 S&W, .45-70, .700 Nitro Express, 2 bore
The caliber equivalent of 2 bore (’bore’ is generally interchangeable with ‘gauge’ in regard to caliber) is 1.326″ or 33.68mm! The bronze solid bullet weights 3500 grain / 1/2 pound / 226.80 grams!
While technically fired from a rifle these are more like massive shotgun slugs: a heavy projectile at a low velocity. The 2500 grain bronze solid leaves the barrel at 1500 ft/s and with 17487 ft·lb of energy.
Apart from the nerve destroying recoil, heavy rifle, heavy ammo and expense these big bullets slow down dramatically after entering the game and hitting bone. A problem when hunting elephant.
They even come bigger than this. The 1 bore has a caliber of 1.67″. The A Guage/Bore, about 2″, was used for punt guns.
More info at Schroeder & Hetzendorfer.
ACE has an interesting article on the 4 bore.
UPDATE
Jay Schroeder emailed me the pricing for for the brass and bullets:
Cartridge Cases are $495.00 per 10 pack shipped.
Copper FN Solids are $295.00 per 10 pack shipped.
All components are USA made by Americans from American material.
Although it may seem expensive, you are probably not going to purchase more than one set of brass.
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.
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