I’ve worked according to ITAR rules for many years. Each of those years, I attended mandatory training which included a moderately comprehensive examination. Over those years, I have taught highly technical and sometimes defense-related topics in the United States and overseas to citizens of many countries including some to which the ITAR regulations applied “first […]
Doing It The Right Way
Six work-days to go. In school, I learned that good engineering can be done once but to consistently build things well, you need to write down the process you are following, and then repeat that process each time. Of course, the process isn’t perfect so you add another layer and, whenever you screw up, you […]
Pink Brass and Lemi Shine
Lemi Shine has been questioned as a cleaning agent for brass because, in some circumstances, it seems to turn the brass pink. But is it? The issue is whether or not the Lemi Shine is damaging or somehow making the brass less suitable for use with ammunition. That is, has the brass been weakened, become brittle or […]
Reloading, Where To Begin
Start with a single stage because, no matter where you end up, you’ll want one. I didn’t, but hear my story. My first reloader was a Dillon Square Deal B, a progressive with auto-indexing bought used at a carport sale. It worked well but the restriction to Dillon-only dies bothered me. I didn’t like having […]
Wet Cleaning with Stainless Steel Media
(Revised 03/17/2014) Wet cleaning with stainless steel media is better than the dry, vibratory method and takes no additional time — when adjusted for my needs. Obviously, your needs may be different but the approach I took should work for you, too. Background Cleaning is, of course, used on brass after it has been fired […]
Wet Stainless Steel Media Reference Set
Here is a sampling from the first batch, all “many times fired” shells, tumbled according to the vendor’s recipe. As you can see, even down in the primer pockets, they are (almost) spotless. When I first pulled them out after cleaning, I honestly thought they looked better than new! But there are some downsides. Using […]
Wet Tumble Brass Planning
The wet tumbler and stainless steel media should be arriving soon from Utah. Time to do some planning. Equipment Needed Thumler’s Model B, high speed tumbler 5 lbs stainless steel media (from STM) 1 Tablespoon measure (for the Dawn) 1/4 Teaspoon measure (for the Lemi-Shine) Magnet Sandwich baggie (for magnet above) Container(s) to measure 1.66 […]
Experimenting with LSD
No, not the drug. It’s the Lemi-Shine and Detergent treatment for cleaning ammunition brass for reloading. Heretofore, I’ve been using the dry “vibrate with crushed walnut shells” method to clean brass before reloading. That process basically scrapes off the burnt carbon and other residues from the outside of the brass. A quick rinse from the […]
Load Development, Part Three
Two series of test loads have been fired downrange in the Ransom Rest in pursuit of an accurate load for some 155 grain Moly-coated LSWCs I have on-hand. All testing was performed at 25 yards. Here are the results. Series Grains Group Diameter* Notes 1 6.6 ±0.1 4″ Doubled 1 6.4 ±0.1 2.5″ 1 6.2 […]
Load Development, Part Two
(In case you missed it, click here for Part One.) Reloading data for the 155 grain moly-coated LSWCs is sparse. The two books I have on-hand, Speer and Hornady, don’t list any bullets with this weight for 45 ACP. Fortunately, Hodgdon’s on-line database does and, better still, it includes loads for two powders I actually have […]