Reloading cartridge

[Timnorris]

I wanted your opinion on handloaded ammo............can it compete with factory loaded ammo ............................I have fired .308 win handloaded ammo in 300 M competetion and was quite impressed.....................never tried handloaded shotgun ammo...........................but when it comes to shotgun reloading in our country only black powder is available and using black powder needs lot of barrel cleaning............................

Timnorris

[BJL]

Ease up on those "......" eh? I haven't met anyone who hand-loads shotgun ammo. Hand-loading is a requirement for match shooting. Factory loads can't give the same accuracy.

[Timnorris]

Yes, reloading is done mostly in competetions but only in rifle competetions mostly..............................I have never heard shotshells being realoaded for trap and skeet events.................................but when I say shotgun reloading I mean for the general use to cut cost..................relo0ading can be easy and cheap in shotguns

Timnorris

[MoA]

Handloading has two major advantages:

1. It is generally cheaper than factory ammo, even with premium components.
2. The ammo is tailored to your gun. And hence more accurate.

I do know people handload shotgun cartridges, however you do need the right die's, powders, presses et al. Is handloaded shotgun ammo better than commercial? I would guess so.

Handloading is done even by people who never shoot in competitions. And it isnt rifles mostly.
I personally handload for my rifles, and pistols. I do not buy any commercially manufactured ammunition currently, excluding .22 lr and 12 GA. The former because it is impractical to hand load, and the latter because I do not have the equipment to do so.

When you handload the ammo is more accurate for a variety of reasons, which can include a tailored COAL, precise powder charges, better powders, primers and cases, and greater precision since everything is in your control.

Match ammunition is available as a commerically manufactured product from the likes of Black Hills, Norma and Lapua. Be preppared to pay over $1 a round though. You can get the same performance or better with a handloaded cartridge for 1/3rd the price though.

BTW black powder doesnt need a lot of cleaning, just a different approach to cleaning.

[Timnorris]

In my opinion (correct me if I am wrong ) if you are yo reload a rifle cartridge you would require less components compare to a shotshell......................but rifle reloading needs more precision because it has very high chamber preassure........................whereas shoshells can be reloaded using even local componets and with less precison such as using cardboard as wad ...................

Timnorris

[TwoRivers]

Since shot shells have more components than rifle cartridges, i.e. the wad column, and use very fast burning powders, they are far more sensitive to component changes. Also, operating at a much lower pressure, a pressure increase that is inconsequential in a rifle would be disastrous in a shotgun. For smokeless powders, strictly follow ALL recommendations given. Shell, primer, powder, wads, wad pressure, shot weight, must all be as specified. Blackpowder is forgiving, and would be safer for the reloader who does not have access to tested data and the specific components. I don't think it would be possible to better the performance of today's factory-loaded shot shells. But you can beat the cost; and come up with special purpose loads otherwise unobtainable. Savings would be greatest in the less common and smaller gauges. Cheers.

[Anand]

The lack of availability of components is probably the reason that reloading is not popular. Although the Arms Act allows for reloading for personal use, there are no primers available in the market.

I know that percussion caps for muzzle loaders and black powder are used for reloading shotgun shells but there is no alternate for rifles unless you use blackpowder, but this requires extensive cleaning, and the rifle will not hit to point of aim as in smokeless cartridges also percussion caps will not fit rifle cases.
As for hand guns some people in the USA use common powders for shotguns and handguns, but we don't have access to those powders. So yes while the benfits of cost and accuracy are there, in India those may not be available to us.
Anand

[Timnorris]

Anand since you mentioned muzzel loader..............................does any Indian company maufacture muzzel loading guns and reloading components

[Anand]

Muzzle loaders are available for relatively cheap so long as you have a license to procure the same, under ammunition you will be granted some number of percussion caps and some weight of black powder that you may possess at one time and the maximum you can acquire in a calender year.

[TwoRivers]

Anand: Burning rates for shotgun and pistol powders overlap. So the smaller gauge shotgun shells and the medium pistol cartridges can be loaded with the same powders. The best powder for even the .22 Hornet was developed for the .410 bore shotshell. Cheers.

[Timnorris]

Slow burning powder like the black powder or cordite need longer barrels since the rate of burn is slow..........if blackpowder is used in shorter barrels some of the powder may go unused out of the barrel.......................smokeless powder burns fast and thus can be used in shorter barrels

[TwoRivers]

Black powder is considered a low-power explosive, it detonates, i.e. burns extremely fast; regardless of charge or projectile mass. Only grain size controls its combustion rate. Its pressure curve peaks and falls rapidly. Its energy content is much less than that of smokeless powder. However, it has considerable residue after combustion, hence the smoke. Smokeless powders are propellants, they have controlled burn rates. The fastest ones, powder for blank cartridges can detonate under some circumstances. Cordite, being a smokeless double-based (nitrocellulose + nitro-glycerine) propellant, is a fairly high energy, fast and hot burning propellant. Cheers.

[Timnorris]

You know Tworivers I knew a person who was from a remote place in Nepal..........................he oce told me that in his native place they used to make their own gun powder out og charcoal and sulphur..........thats what I remember he said...................

[MoA]

Yes you can make your own BP, and tehoretically it might even be possible to make your own smokeless (if you invest in all the equipement et al).
Are either reccomended? Absolutely not! Way too dangerous.

[TwoRivers]

You know Tworivers I knew a person who was from a remote place in Nepal..........................he oce told me that in his native place they used to make their own gun powder out og charcoal and sulphur..........thats what I remember he said...................

Charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter. It was, and still is in places, made by artisans all over the world; long before large size powder mills were established. Dangerous work, though.
When I lived in Afghanistan in the 1950s, locally made blackpowder was all that was available. In quality it varied from excellent to poor, and my shells varied accordingly. Even priming compound was locally made, and primers were reloaded and re-used. Berdan-primed was considered reloadable, boxer-primed was not. New primer caps were made from used automotive brass head gaskets. Those frequently were punched through by the firing pin, though I don't think they ever misfired. The blacksmith would make you a punch for wads, and primer-seating punches were made from old engine push rods. so were the primer reconditioning punches.
When there's a need, and a will, there's a way.
Cheers.