ohland
08-23-2015, 11:50 AM
https://books.google.com/books?id=yR4AAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA50&dq=%22small+game%22+bullet&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CE4Q6AEwB2oVChMI85rhkay_xwIVRRKSCh3ZSgSU#v=on epage&q=%22small%20game%22%20bullet&f=false
Fur-Fish-Game vol 24, No 6, December 1916, pages 64-65
Points On Reloading Rifle And Revolver Shells.
By Maurice H. Decker.
NOTE: The scan is blurred on the right side of page 64, and is cropped on the left side of page 65. I have enclosed the ambiguous text in “[ ]” to indicate it is my best guess of what the sentence would require to make sense of the passage.
NOTE: The snippet "he will soon find that he is making good wages for the time spent in the loading operation" might be taken to infer the author suggests the reloader can make money by reloading for others. I re-read the passage, and it seems to me that the author is using a period colliquism to say that the effort spent by the reloader is well repaid by the quality and the reduced cost of the rounds that reloading can provide. [I know that I've saved so much money reloading that my wallet is always bulging with new bills... Or is that unpaid bills? v/r, Lub Monkey]
NOTE: The Federal government really does not want individuals reloading for others (and charging for it!) without getting their cut. IOW, you need the proper permits and licenses before becoming a commercial reloader.
NOTE: Ambulance chasers (like John Kerry) LOVE people that commercially reload without proper insurance, permits, testing, quality control, or things like that. If someone crams one of your products in a gun that is woefully underdesigned (oh, say a 38 Special +P+ into a top break S&W), no matter if you loaded to SAAMI standards, there will be bloodsucking gerbils at your throat. IMHO, it would be... a bad day... if some yahoo destroys his period revolver (and perhaps suffers injury) and it turns out that the defendant wasn't licensed, insured, had no process control... No matter that the S&W revolver cannot take the pressures, the lawyers will look for something to pry some money out of your wallet, even though the idiot stuffed something into his gun that was way over-pressure.... PS. I assume only a man would be so stupid as to use over-pressure cartidges in a period gun.
But anyways, let us return to the wild freedom of yesteryear...
EVERY SHOOTER who has the time and ability to reload his own ammunition, should do so for the following three reasons : First, he can prepare the exact load just suited to the sort of work he intends to perform, whether game or target shooting ; second, he can save considerable money by doing so and we can all use just a little more cash to advantage than we now have; and third, he can assert his independence and preserve his self-respect (both characteristics being prominently present in all outdoor people) by being in a position to use, or not to use, just as he likes, the factory ammunition which is handed to us to shoot in our rifles, or let alone. There is no sound reason why the rifleman should shoot expensive cartridges when engaged in target work, or in using full power loads for short range shooting when he can prepare his own brand of shells, making them of any powder he chooses and at very low cost, at that. Any careful shooter will find it easy to reload or load shells. A few tools and a little application and patience are all that are necessary and if he does considerable shooting at all, he will soon find that he is making good wages for the time spent in the loading operation.
The first step in reloading is to save and properly care for the empty fired shells. The old primer should be removed as soon after firing as possible and to wash out the powder residue from the inside of the shell. Hot water, with a little soda dissolved in it is excellent and accessible to all and the shells will dry from their own heat after they are removed from it. Before laying them away they may be primed with new primers and the end of the shell opened up a little to allow the bullet to enter without scraping or deforming itself or the walls of the case. After shells have been fired a number of times, or in the case of some of the extreme high power calibers but once, they will become expanded, or lengthened out of shape to such a degree that they will not fit the chamber of the weapon properly. In such cases they must be resized in a special die made for the purpose. This tool can be obtained from the same firm that manufacturers the regular tools and at a very moderate price.
Some shooters prefer to buy the empty primed shells for very high power rifles and then reload them but once, thus doing away with the operation of resizing. This is a fairly profitable practice, for if the shooter even buys everything—bullet, powder, primers and shells from the factory, he can make good wages loading them up together, and in addition obtain a load of the regular power, but very easy on his rifle barrel, as is the case when the Ideal Gas-Check projectiles are used. Such shells as the .30-32, .32-40 and the pistol and revolver shells will stand from ten to twenty charges before they have to be resized, so one can see that for these ordinary sizes just the regular tool will be sufficient, for at the end of this time the shooter can afford to throw away the shells. For such high power sizes as the .30 Govt., .33, .22 H. P., etc., however, the shooter should write to the tool makers and ask them just what sort of an outfit he will need to turn out efficient, economical work.
After the shooter has a sufficient quantity of primed, clean shells of correct size upon hand, the next step is the casting of the bullets. Right here let me say that if one is shooting a high power rifle and will not use more than 1,000 rounds of home made ammunition in a season he will find himself money and time ahead if he buys the bullets ready made from the Marlin Firearms Co., who make the complete line of Ideal tools.
The bullets come all lubricated and sized, two operations that cause the shooter more trouble than all the other work of reloading put together. They are packed neatly in boxes of fifty and if of the Gas-Check variety, have the gas-checks affixed all ready for the shell. Such high power bullets as these checks are made of a special mixture of three metals and the shooter usually has to send for this to the factory as it takes experience to smelt these and blend them evenly, so he will be much better off to buy the bullets first hand. For ordinary lead bullets, however, any one can do good work in casting them. All he needs is a mould, a good hot fire in the cook stove and the set of three extremely useful little casting implements known as the Ideal melting pot, Ideal dipper and stove ring or cover.
The pot holds just the proper quantity of metal to keep an even temperature and the cover fits any size cook stove hole and lets the pot down close to the fire. The dipper fits up to the mould nicely and is the only, contrivance one could use that insures full even bullets with a minimum of trouble. A little patience will be necessary when the shooter first starts to cast bullets with a new mould. Such must be well broken in before a full smooth bullet will come and the only way in to stick to it until the proper results are obtained.
Also any mould, old or new, must be brought up to the proper temperature to get smooth, well formed bullets and the correct way to do this is to heat it up by continual casting. Never put the mould into the molten lead to heat it up. Special directions that are very easy to follow go with these casting tools and the shooter should be careful to read them completely thru and remember the points on pouring the lead from dipper to mould and separating the two. A small percentage of tin is usually used in lead bullets, about one part to forty of lead is right for the average bullets.
However in writing to the tool makers for directions in regard to the [extent] of the outfit of tools necessary the shooter should specify just what cartridges he expects to load and they will gladly instruct him in regard to the proper temper of bullets, proper size of primers, brand and quantity of powder to [use] etc. If the metal solders fast to the nozzle of the dipper touch it with a piece of tallow or beeswax. If the bullet sticks fast to the mould open the latter wide and tap lightly on the [mould] bottom with a small stick of wood. Never attempt to pry a bullet from the mould, as it will surely dent or deform the edge and each succeeding bullet will stick worse than ever. Have a pail of cold water to dip the handles of the mould in when they get hot and have a piece of soft thick cloth to drop the bullets on.
One of the best mixtures for lubricating bullets is cylinder oil and paraffine, two things [within] the reach of all. The proper proportion of [each] can be determined by starting with a very [little] paraffine and increasing the quantity until [the] mixture when cold will be hard enough [not to] wipe off the bullets and soft enough [not to] crack and fall off. I set the bullets on [end in] rows and then pour in the melted lubricant [until] the top groove is covered. The pan is then [set] away until hard and the bullets cut [out by] slipping over the end of each a shell of a [slightly] larger caliber, with the head cut off. Thus [each] succeeding bullet pushes out the other. [The] bullets are then forced thru the sizing [hole of the] reloading tool, which sizes the lead [to the] correct diameter and cuts off and packs the [lubricant] into the grooves. If, however, one [expects] to load quantities of several calibers he [should by] all means obtain one of the Ideal [Lubricators] and Sizers which with one movement [lubricates] and sizes the bullet without touching it [with the] fingers and affixes the Gas-Check, if any is [needed]. Lubricant for this handy tool comes in sticks [and] the shooter finds it altogether unnecessary [to get] greasy or mussed up in handling the [bullets or] grease.
After shells and bullets are prepared and are in tip-top shape next comes the operation of measuring and loading in the powder. The little scoop that comes with the tool is O. K. for all bulk [black?] powders, but when the high power, dense smokeless stuff is used one must employ finer accuracy and use the Ideal powder measure. A scoop, [?] such as is used with the black is impossible [to use with?] smokeless powders for the weight and density [of] the different brands vary and to be safe [all?] charges must be weighed or measured out [with a] fine degree of accuracy. A few grains of [black] powder one way or the other would make no difference as far as safety is concerned, but of course, to get even, accurate results the charges must be regular and uniform ; but if one [were] to load in a few too many grains of some [of the] most powerful smokeless brands, he would [most] likely have a wrecked gun or constitution [on] his hands.
However this is not [intended to] frighten any prospective recruits to the [reloader’s] ranks, but is merely meant as a timely [warning] to know what one is about, in other words To [make] sure you are right and then go ahead. After [the] powder is measured and placed in the [shell, the] bullet is entered into the end by hand, the [whole] outfit placed in the tool and a good firm [pressure] seats the bullet the proper length or [unreadable !] crimps it securely into place. If the bullet does not slide into place with a medium pressure then there is too much powder in the shell, its mouth has not been properly opened up, the bullet has not been sized or the sides of the shell are covered with powder corrosion. The fault must be located at once, for severe pressure will spoil the shell and in some cases result in dangerous pressure.
Fur-Fish-Game vol 24, No 6, December 1916, pages 64-65
Points On Reloading Rifle And Revolver Shells.
By Maurice H. Decker.
NOTE: The scan is blurred on the right side of page 64, and is cropped on the left side of page 65. I have enclosed the ambiguous text in “[ ]” to indicate it is my best guess of what the sentence would require to make sense of the passage.
NOTE: The snippet "he will soon find that he is making good wages for the time spent in the loading operation" might be taken to infer the author suggests the reloader can make money by reloading for others. I re-read the passage, and it seems to me that the author is using a period colliquism to say that the effort spent by the reloader is well repaid by the quality and the reduced cost of the rounds that reloading can provide. [I know that I've saved so much money reloading that my wallet is always bulging with new bills... Or is that unpaid bills? v/r, Lub Monkey]
NOTE: The Federal government really does not want individuals reloading for others (and charging for it!) without getting their cut. IOW, you need the proper permits and licenses before becoming a commercial reloader.
NOTE: Ambulance chasers (like John Kerry) LOVE people that commercially reload without proper insurance, permits, testing, quality control, or things like that. If someone crams one of your products in a gun that is woefully underdesigned (oh, say a 38 Special +P+ into a top break S&W), no matter if you loaded to SAAMI standards, there will be bloodsucking gerbils at your throat. IMHO, it would be... a bad day... if some yahoo destroys his period revolver (and perhaps suffers injury) and it turns out that the defendant wasn't licensed, insured, had no process control... No matter that the S&W revolver cannot take the pressures, the lawyers will look for something to pry some money out of your wallet, even though the idiot stuffed something into his gun that was way over-pressure.... PS. I assume only a man would be so stupid as to use over-pressure cartidges in a period gun.
But anyways, let us return to the wild freedom of yesteryear...
EVERY SHOOTER who has the time and ability to reload his own ammunition, should do so for the following three reasons : First, he can prepare the exact load just suited to the sort of work he intends to perform, whether game or target shooting ; second, he can save considerable money by doing so and we can all use just a little more cash to advantage than we now have; and third, he can assert his independence and preserve his self-respect (both characteristics being prominently present in all outdoor people) by being in a position to use, or not to use, just as he likes, the factory ammunition which is handed to us to shoot in our rifles, or let alone. There is no sound reason why the rifleman should shoot expensive cartridges when engaged in target work, or in using full power loads for short range shooting when he can prepare his own brand of shells, making them of any powder he chooses and at very low cost, at that. Any careful shooter will find it easy to reload or load shells. A few tools and a little application and patience are all that are necessary and if he does considerable shooting at all, he will soon find that he is making good wages for the time spent in the loading operation.
The first step in reloading is to save and properly care for the empty fired shells. The old primer should be removed as soon after firing as possible and to wash out the powder residue from the inside of the shell. Hot water, with a little soda dissolved in it is excellent and accessible to all and the shells will dry from their own heat after they are removed from it. Before laying them away they may be primed with new primers and the end of the shell opened up a little to allow the bullet to enter without scraping or deforming itself or the walls of the case. After shells have been fired a number of times, or in the case of some of the extreme high power calibers but once, they will become expanded, or lengthened out of shape to such a degree that they will not fit the chamber of the weapon properly. In such cases they must be resized in a special die made for the purpose. This tool can be obtained from the same firm that manufacturers the regular tools and at a very moderate price.
Some shooters prefer to buy the empty primed shells for very high power rifles and then reload them but once, thus doing away with the operation of resizing. This is a fairly profitable practice, for if the shooter even buys everything—bullet, powder, primers and shells from the factory, he can make good wages loading them up together, and in addition obtain a load of the regular power, but very easy on his rifle barrel, as is the case when the Ideal Gas-Check projectiles are used. Such shells as the .30-32, .32-40 and the pistol and revolver shells will stand from ten to twenty charges before they have to be resized, so one can see that for these ordinary sizes just the regular tool will be sufficient, for at the end of this time the shooter can afford to throw away the shells. For such high power sizes as the .30 Govt., .33, .22 H. P., etc., however, the shooter should write to the tool makers and ask them just what sort of an outfit he will need to turn out efficient, economical work.
After the shooter has a sufficient quantity of primed, clean shells of correct size upon hand, the next step is the casting of the bullets. Right here let me say that if one is shooting a high power rifle and will not use more than 1,000 rounds of home made ammunition in a season he will find himself money and time ahead if he buys the bullets ready made from the Marlin Firearms Co., who make the complete line of Ideal tools.
The bullets come all lubricated and sized, two operations that cause the shooter more trouble than all the other work of reloading put together. They are packed neatly in boxes of fifty and if of the Gas-Check variety, have the gas-checks affixed all ready for the shell. Such high power bullets as these checks are made of a special mixture of three metals and the shooter usually has to send for this to the factory as it takes experience to smelt these and blend them evenly, so he will be much better off to buy the bullets first hand. For ordinary lead bullets, however, any one can do good work in casting them. All he needs is a mould, a good hot fire in the cook stove and the set of three extremely useful little casting implements known as the Ideal melting pot, Ideal dipper and stove ring or cover.
The pot holds just the proper quantity of metal to keep an even temperature and the cover fits any size cook stove hole and lets the pot down close to the fire. The dipper fits up to the mould nicely and is the only, contrivance one could use that insures full even bullets with a minimum of trouble. A little patience will be necessary when the shooter first starts to cast bullets with a new mould. Such must be well broken in before a full smooth bullet will come and the only way in to stick to it until the proper results are obtained.
Also any mould, old or new, must be brought up to the proper temperature to get smooth, well formed bullets and the correct way to do this is to heat it up by continual casting. Never put the mould into the molten lead to heat it up. Special directions that are very easy to follow go with these casting tools and the shooter should be careful to read them completely thru and remember the points on pouring the lead from dipper to mould and separating the two. A small percentage of tin is usually used in lead bullets, about one part to forty of lead is right for the average bullets.
However in writing to the tool makers for directions in regard to the [extent] of the outfit of tools necessary the shooter should specify just what cartridges he expects to load and they will gladly instruct him in regard to the proper temper of bullets, proper size of primers, brand and quantity of powder to [use] etc. If the metal solders fast to the nozzle of the dipper touch it with a piece of tallow or beeswax. If the bullet sticks fast to the mould open the latter wide and tap lightly on the [mould] bottom with a small stick of wood. Never attempt to pry a bullet from the mould, as it will surely dent or deform the edge and each succeeding bullet will stick worse than ever. Have a pail of cold water to dip the handles of the mould in when they get hot and have a piece of soft thick cloth to drop the bullets on.
One of the best mixtures for lubricating bullets is cylinder oil and paraffine, two things [within] the reach of all. The proper proportion of [each] can be determined by starting with a very [little] paraffine and increasing the quantity until [the] mixture when cold will be hard enough [not to] wipe off the bullets and soft enough [not to] crack and fall off. I set the bullets on [end in] rows and then pour in the melted lubricant [until] the top groove is covered. The pan is then [set] away until hard and the bullets cut [out by] slipping over the end of each a shell of a [slightly] larger caliber, with the head cut off. Thus [each] succeeding bullet pushes out the other. [The] bullets are then forced thru the sizing [hole of the] reloading tool, which sizes the lead [to the] correct diameter and cuts off and packs the [lubricant] into the grooves. If, however, one [expects] to load quantities of several calibers he [should by] all means obtain one of the Ideal [Lubricators] and Sizers which with one movement [lubricates] and sizes the bullet without touching it [with the] fingers and affixes the Gas-Check, if any is [needed]. Lubricant for this handy tool comes in sticks [and] the shooter finds it altogether unnecessary [to get] greasy or mussed up in handling the [bullets or] grease.
After shells and bullets are prepared and are in tip-top shape next comes the operation of measuring and loading in the powder. The little scoop that comes with the tool is O. K. for all bulk [black?] powders, but when the high power, dense smokeless stuff is used one must employ finer accuracy and use the Ideal powder measure. A scoop, [?] such as is used with the black is impossible [to use with?] smokeless powders for the weight and density [of] the different brands vary and to be safe [all?] charges must be weighed or measured out [with a] fine degree of accuracy. A few grains of [black] powder one way or the other would make no difference as far as safety is concerned, but of course, to get even, accurate results the charges must be regular and uniform ; but if one [were] to load in a few too many grains of some [of the] most powerful smokeless brands, he would [most] likely have a wrecked gun or constitution [on] his hands.
However this is not [intended to] frighten any prospective recruits to the [reloader’s] ranks, but is merely meant as a timely [warning] to know what one is about, in other words To [make] sure you are right and then go ahead. After [the] powder is measured and placed in the [shell, the] bullet is entered into the end by hand, the [whole] outfit placed in the tool and a good firm [pressure] seats the bullet the proper length or [unreadable !] crimps it securely into place. If the bullet does not slide into place with a medium pressure then there is too much powder in the shell, its mouth has not been properly opened up, the bullet has not been sized or the sides of the shell are covered with powder corrosion. The fault must be located at once, for severe pressure will spoil the shell and in some cases result in dangerous pressure.