SmallCaliberCentral

If I could only have one, I'd sooner have a .222 Rem Mag, which -- Surprise! -- was the parent case for both the .223 Rem and the .204 Ruger. It has better small bullet performance than the .223 and better barrel life than either.

...The average velocity of the 6 shots was 3824fps, ... Holy Moley!! I get about 3200 fps from a .243 WSSM shooting 70-gr SMKs with RL-19. Not that I'm complaining. That load is pretty rough on hides as is. And I just about cut a bobcat in half with it. Can't imagine what another 600 fps would do f...

jo191145, the old Greenhill formula used a specific gravity of 10.9 for lead. According to Lilja, modern jacketed bullets run from a specific gravity low of 10.0 for JHPs to a high of 10.4 for soft-nosed bullets, and that includes the copper. Polymer tips float so their SG is less than 1.0, probably...

I am just as dubious of that .210 as I am of Nosler's .206. Berger claims a G1 BC of 0.176 for their 35-gr .204 varmint bullet. It beggars belief that Hornady and Nosler's 32-grainer could have a higher BC than Berger's 35-grainer. It should come as no surprise that most of the bullet companies publ...

The 40-gr bullets all have very slightly different designs that will affect stability. Unless you intend to go overboard (and get, say, a 1:9 even though you believe a 1:10 will suffice), the most practical solution is to follow the manufacturers' recommendations. Some publish the numbers and the re...

Is my face red. The 40-gr V-Max and the 39-gr SMK both have plastic ballistic tips. An OAL measurement that includes the plastic tip is meaningless for stability calculations because the ballistic tip's material has a substantially lower density than the "regular" bullet material. Both wil...

Yeah true. I feel like a circus animal that jumps through hoops trying to get a new rifle. Recently in my state they have made it VERY difficult to get a rifle of the same calibre. You need to show the authorities just cause. Look on the bright side. With the tighter gun laws, Oz now has ZERO crime...

..."Molybdenum Disulfide contains sulfur free radicals that can become problematic when humidity increases or the bullets get wet.... I do recommend hBN over the other coatings, however, I think this is pure BS. That's a very old knock and I think it was only ever a myth. I have no direct or s...

I could believe it if it weren't for the wind. I've only ever owned one .204, it was the first rifle I ever reloaded for, and I shot several groups < 1/2" @200 yards and a few under 1/4" with it while I still was pretty much a reloading novice. So I know it ain't my skill, it's the luck of...

Fred, How long do you run the cases when you use the steel media, and are you using any additive or detergent? Have you tried it in a vibratory tumbler? I would expect the standard light duty vibratory tumblers sold for polishing cases might not vibrate well enough with the extra weight of the wate...

I was getting good results with Varget for the 39gr Sie BK,When IMR 8208 XBR became available,I switched,mainly because it is the least temperature sensitive powder,on the planet I got improved accuracy with 32gr and 39 gr BK bullets,higher velocity and less pressure,at max loadings.In my gun(Savag...

Fred_C_Dobbs - Very interesting read, and it confirms some of my theories. I will test some 40 V-Max this weekend as I suspect they will also have sever "coning" at closer ranges. I guess this is a "little" bullet barrel :lol: . -Neil Neil, I don't think it's as bad as all that....

All bullets wobble a bit immediately after exiting the muzzle, some more than others. It's called coning . All other things being equal, from the same barrel, a longer bullet should experience more pronounced coning than a shorter one. According to my references, the 39-gr SBK is 0.733" long an...

I use Lock-Ease in my barrels after cleaning but does anyone coat their bullets with graphite also? I started doing it after reading some of C.S. Landis's books and the mention of graphite wads between the bullets and powder. An old school reloading friend told me about the graphite wad trick years...

Silverfox, your 39-gr SBK must be kin to my 32-gr Nosler. This has been sitting on my reloading bench for a couple of years now. http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/8159/rdeformed32nosler.jpg The gray color comes from me tungsten coating it. I have a Savage 12 but I don't shoot 32-gr SBKs. My 32-gr N...