Extra Low Cost options for volume shooting
This is something of a spin off from my Post 56 at https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...cheap-to-shoot.
The objective is for a round that combines very low cost per shot with use of the ultra easy / cheap to get 9mm brass as a starting point.
The overall effort will also consider other "enablers" such as use of readily available and low cost used rifle barrels for things like stub tubes, sleeves or shotgun inserts.
Although many consider primer cost as a basis that reloads can "only be so cheap", I am one of the few that are cranking out reloaded primers to support routine shooting in more than casual quantities. For more info on primer reloading, see:
The "new effort" I am working on was discussed in the "cheap to shoot thread" with:
- And now I am actively working on going “the next step”. Although the 32 ACPR works great, it has a downside. I have a good bit of brass but not enough to do more than a couple of months or so of loading at one time. Doing a really big batch in Jan - Feb would be so much better. Increasing my 32 ACPR brass stash will involve either more cost or more effort than I want.
- So, even before reading the OP, I had decided I wanted a new option that would use the 9mm as a parent case. I can get all the 9mm brass I want for free as range pickup. I will be doing another Contender stub tube or possibly a liner. I have a 7 TCU Contender barrel that was a carbine cut down to 14”. When cut down, the bore was found to be well off to one side and it was then sold to me cheap. I have 30 cal and 22 cal junk barrels on hand. Either could be used. However, I think the 30 will be easier to form for the brass and I am already set up for the nice 55 gr 0.312” bullet described above. For my needs, the smaller the case capacity the better. This is making me lean toward a neck say 0.3” to 0.4” long. I will be making D reamers and dies out of cheap material I have on hand. I think I will call it the 30 ELC (Extra Low Cost). My out of pocket cost will be zip.
When I was digging around today, I found that my memory had misfired. My junk TC barrel is a 30 Herrett, not a 7 TCU. Darn. I am thinking of boring out the barrel to act as a shroud with a 30 cal barrel inside, but now I will probably need to rob parts from another barrel to get the extractor from a rimless barrel (probably my 10" 222 octagon).
I did fab an initial forming die and made up a handful of 30 ELC prototypes (pics later). Dimensions include:
- Neck ID for chamber will be close to 0.338"
- Neck length looks ok at 0.335"
- Case length as formed was 0.765" (see Note 1 below)
- Case capacity was 11.5 gr of H2O (see Note 2 below)
Note 1: I want this to be easy for converting brass "in bulk". Trimming is a Pita, but the mouths on the formed cases are not as square as desired. Some trimming is probably needed. I would like to shorten the cases, but this make the trimming effort even more of a PITA (this point overlaps with the Note 2 discussion). I am still mulling over my choices for this item.
Note 2: I like the performance of my 32 ACPR (887 fps est velocity for a 55 gr bullet using 1.7 gr of Titegroup). A standard 32 ACP has a case capacity of 9.25 gr of H2O. Shortening the case more than "just enough" to get it square would get closer to the 32 ACPR and probably help with performance, but again it would increase effort. The increase in case capacity only drops the Quickload prediction by 70 fps if I stick with the same charge, so I will probably try minimal trimming, but my thoughts on this may change.