What is a ballistics chart and how do you get one you ask? Have no fear and read on!
In the simplest term, a ballistics chart is just a table that gives you bullet drop and wind drift at known distances, generally in 100 or 50 yard increments. Once you have this info, you can quickly estimate for your exact range, because the target always seems to 287 yards away…
The first thing you need to generate a ballistics chart is a chronograph. It’s critical that you get the velocity reading out of the exact gun you’ll be using, otherwise it’s just a guess. Most ammunition manufacturers publish velocity data for each load, however, those readings are generally out of a SAAMI Spec test fixture, and not an actual rifle, so the actual reading could be very different. For instance, the SAAMI Spec barrel for 223 Remington is a 24″ 1:12 twist. That may have been accurate with most rifles years ago, before the AR-15 exploded in popularity. Nowadays, you’re most likely to be firing 223 out of a 16″ gas operated gun with a 1:8 or 1:9 twist, so you can expect a much different reading. I’ve personally even seen guns that were in every way identical, have a 30-40 average FPS spread!
The next thing you’ll need is bullet information, such as diameter, weight and Ballistic Coefficient, all of which should be easy to obtain. The only other data you’ll need is what distance you sighted the rifle in, and the height of the centerline of the scope above the centerline of the bore.
Once you have all of your data together, plug it into a ballistic calculator like this one, print it out and keep it either in your bag or make a mini version and tape it to the rifle. There are even apps available for Android and iPhone so you have the ability to make adjustments as needed in the field.
]]>Off the shelf case lubricants come in a variety of types and brands, but there is a DIY method that can save you some of your hard earned money and in my opinion, is some of the best case lubricant I have used in my 15 year history of reloading. The beauty of this case lube is it easy to make, long lasting, very effective, and consists of two easy to obtain ingredients to produce: Liquid Lanolin and Isopropyl alcohol.
I must preface this by saying this is not my recipe as I have seen it floating around on the internet over the years, but I have been using my own variation and method for the past six years and it has proven to be a great alternative to some of the name brand case lubes for only a fraction of the price.
As with anything in the reloading world, you need to exercise caution when working with these components. Do not prepare, mix, or use near or around an open flame – Isopropyl alcohol is extremely flammable. With the cautionary disclaimer out of the way, let’s get started!
Below is a list of the items you will need to create your own DIY Case Lube:
- Liquid Lanolin – available at your local pharmacy or online at Amazon (~$9 / 4oz bottle)
- 99% Isopropyl alcohol – available at your local pharmacy or online at Amazon (~$6 / 16oz bottle)
- 24oz Plastic spray bottle with measurement markings – available at Home Depot, Lowes, Amazon, grocery store, etc. (~$2 / bottle)
- A small bowl or cup
- Warm water
Once you have the above items gathered, it’s time to start on the creation process (3 easy steps).
Step 1:
Take the small bowl or cup and fill it with warm tap water. You will use this to warm up the bottle of liquid lanolin. Place the unopened bottle of liquid lanolin into the cup and allow it to sit there for several minutes to raise the temperature of the oil in the bottle. By warming up the oil, it allows for easier mixing of the oil and alcohol.
Step 2:
Once the oil is warmed up, take the isopropyl alcohol and pour 12oz into the plastic spray bottle. Next, pour 1oz of liquid lanolin into your spray bottle. This is where the graduated measurement markings on the side of the spray bottle come in handy and help you achieve an accurate mixture. I’ve found the perfect mixture for me is a 12:1 ratio of alcohol to oil respectively. If you would like a thicker mixture, then use a little less alcohol (8:1 or 10:1), if you would like a thinner mixture, then get closer to the 14:1 or 16:1 ratio. I wouldn’t go any thinner than 16:1.
Step 3:
Place the top on the spray bottle and start swirling the bottle to allow the oil and alcohol to mix. Once mixed, your DIY case lube is ready for use.
The process I use for lubing my cases involves a 1 gallon zip lock bag. I first spray the inside of the bag with 2 fine misting sprays from your DIY case lube spray bottle. For rifle brass, I take 2 to 3 handfuls of brass and place them in the bag and give the brass inside the bag one fine mist spray. I then take 1 to 2 more handfuls and place those in the bag. This should fill your zip lock bag ¼ to ½ full. It’s important not to overfill the bag with brass. Seal the top of the bag, squeeze out the remaining air, and begin moving and rotating the bag to allow the brass inside to spin and move around inside. This helps distribute the case lube to all the brass inside. Do this for 20-30 seconds to allow for proper lubrication. For pistol brass, I do the same process except I give the empty bag 2-3 misting sprays of case lube and then fill the bag to the ¼ to ½ level. Mix the same way.
For rifle, I process my lubed rifle brass (deprime, size, and trim) and then wet tumble with stainless steel media to remove the lubrication. For lubed pistol brass, I process and load (deprime, size, prime, charge, seat the bullet, and crimp). After the pistol rounds are reloaded, I tumble my loaded pistol rounds in a vibratory tumbler with ground english walnut shells for 20-30 minutes to remove the case lube. After this, your cases will come out free of case lube and are ready to be sent downrange where you can recover your brass and start the process all over again.
Happy reloading!
Also check out this video from Ultimate Reloader
]]>Let’s start with the most basic, Hard Cast Lead.
Cast bullets are made just like they sound. A lead alloy, generally containing 3-6% antimony to increase hardness is melted down and poured into a mold to cast the metal into a bullet.
They are then sized to the correct diameter, lubed and ready to load. Lead bullets are the least expensive to manufacture, therefore usually the least expensive option when it comes to bullets.
Downsides to cast bullets include additional exposure to lead, more smoke while firing and increased leading in your barrel, especially at higher velocities.
Now, let’s move on to the other main type, jacketed bullets.
Jacketed bullets came about to solve the main problems associated lead bullets. Jacketed bullets can hold together and perform at much higher velocities than lead, while reducing the leading and smoke.
Jacketed bullets are manufactured by swaging a bullet core from lead wire, using another punch machine to form a jacket cup from copper.
The cores and cups for a 55 grain FMJ-BTs 223 Remington ready to go into the press.
Bullet core and jacket are then united in another operation before being washed, polished and sent to the next happy customer. Jacketed bullets by nature are very consistent and hard, but this also makes them the most expensive to manufacture.
That leaves us with our specialty, Plated Projectiles.
Plated bullets combine the best of both worlds, the reduced smoke and leading of jacketed bullets, with a much lower cost of manufacturing.
Making plated bullets starts out very similar to jacketed, in which the core is swaged from lead wire. After that, it starts looking a little like a custom bumper shop, as the process of plating copper onto lead to is very similar to chrome plating a part for your custom hot rod.
The anode (in this case copper) is attached to a power source which draws an electron from the material and deposits it into the cathode (in this case, the lead bullet cores).
This makes for positively charged copper, and negatively charged lead cores, which are submerged in tank with a solution that breaks down the copper, allowing it to flow freely and build up on the lead cores.
Depending on the bullet being made, it takes between 6-12 hours for that process to be completed.
After a quick wash and dry, X-Treme Bullets undergo a full re-strike operation to ensure absolute consistency. This allows us to have absolute control over the finished product to ensure you see the best results possible.
Another advantage of plated bullets is that they are completely clad in copper, whereas most traditional jacketed pistol bullets still have an exposed lead base, which can create additional smoke during firing and exposure if you’re hand loading.
Believe it or not, both bullets are the 100 Gr 380 FP. However the bullet on the right has undergone our full strike process to ensure absolute consistenc
X-Treme Bullets manufactures all 3 types, so you have plenty of options to choose from next time you’re in the market for projectiles.
]]>I am by no means an AK expert but have had the opportunity to handle and fire quite a few different varients. The big appeal for me with the C39v2 is it’s all American, refined construction.
It comes with a 1:10 chrome moly 4150 nitride treated barrel, a milled 4140 ordnance quality steel receiver, RAK-1 Enhanced Trigger Group, larger T shaped magazine catch, AKM Magpul Zhukov furniture with adjustable folding stock, standard AKM sights and side mount optic rail.
First impressions of this firearm are very good. Out of the box the fit and finish is excellent, everything fits together with tight tolerances. This particular version came with the Magpul Zhukov furniture and is perfect on the firearm.
The folding stock takes this full size rifle down to a much more manageable size for storage and transportation. In the folded position it is hard to get to the charging handle but you do have full access to the trigger and it is no problem to shoot while folded.
The shooting experience with this rifle is outstanding. It is by far the smoothest shooting AK that I have handled. This is probably due to the tighter tolerances and their proprietary chevron muzzle brake. Reliability has been an unsurprising 100%.
It has cycled absolutely everything thrown at it from mass produced steel case ammo up to match grade ammo. There was no trouble at all getting on target at 300 yards. The RAK-1 enhanced single stage trigger is light, smooth and predictable with an excellent reset. The reset is tactile and audible making it a joy to shoot.
I was able to put a few hundred rounds of Century Arms’s own Red Army Elite brass cased 7.62×39 ammunition. Paired with this ammunition the C39v2 was deadly accurate at all ranges tested from 50 to 300 yards. I was thoroughly impressed with the accuracy of this rifle, I feel confident that with the right optic this would be a 1 moa rifle.
Century is also making the first true return to zero Red Army Standard micro red dot mount for the C39v2. It is a hard coat anodized 6061 aluminum mount compatible with T1/H1 red dot optics. I was immediately impressed with how sturdy this mount is and its perfect placement of the optic.
To test out the micro optic mount I put a Holosun HS503c solar, LED circle red dot optic on the rifle. This was a huge improvement to the shooting experience and accuracy of the rifle. The HS503c is a 2 moa dot with a 65 moa circle.
This optic is very impressive for the price point. The solar panel allows it to operate without using battery power in almost all lighting scenarios. With the battery removed I was shocked at how little light was needed to power the dot.
Once zeroed with the Holosun the C39v2 was unstoppable. Hit after hit on steel at all ranges. This setup was unbelievably fun to shoot.
The return to zero side rail and optic mount work as advertised. I shot groups at 50 yards, removed the optic, reinstalled it and shot another group with zero noticeable shift in zero. Even out to 300 yards the point of impact was unchanged.
Also worth noting, it is possible to field strip the C39v2 with the optic mount in place. The bolt carrier has to be tilted to just the right angle but then it all comes apart for cleaning or inspection.
I had a chance to throw the VG6 Performance EPSILON AK muzzle brake on this rifle and it cut the recoil and muzzle rise even more. It is hard to believe how low the recoil is on this setup.
Adding accessories to the Magpul handguard is a breeze with the built in M-LOK slots. I mounted a Steiner Optics MK4 Battle Light with pressure switch which really opened up the low light/night capabilities of the rifle.
At its price point the Century Arms C39v2 AK-47 is an extremely high value, high quality American made firearm. I look forward to putting a lot more lead down range with this fantastic firearm.
]]>In very simple terms, subsonic means the bullet is moving slower than the speed of sound. Supersonic means the projectile breaks the sound barrier, which produces a mini sonic boom, or a sonic crack. The speed of sound is a variable thing that is affected by temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure. However, the generally accepted answer for the speed of sound at sea level, is about 1100 feet per second. Anything above that risks entering the trans sonic barrier.
Subsonic ammunition is loaded specifically for the projectile to maintain a speed that does not break the sound barrier and create a sonic crack. 9mm, for example, is generally considered supersonic as most 9mm ammo has a muzzle velocity over 1100 FPS. However, by using a heavier bullet – such as a 147gr or 165gr – and changing the load, the 9mm round can successfully be made subsonic. Factory loaded subsonic ammo, like Freedom Munition’s HUSH line, has been formulated with the appropriate bullet weight and load to achieve consistent, subsonic results.
Obviously, subsonic ammunition is ideal for use in a firearm equipped with a suppressor. The loud sound when firing a gun comes from 2 sources: First is from the pressurized gases created in the chamber and escaping through the barrel. The sudden change in temperature and pressure is what creates the ‘gun blast’ we are all familiar with. This is addressed by using a suppressor or silencer which, simply put, gives the gasses a larger chamber in which to cool and dissipate before exiting into the atmosphere. The second source of the loud sound is when the bullet breaks the sound barrier, and as discussed earlier, is is eliminated by using a subsonic round. That being said, if you’re shooting a suppressed firearm, you won’t get optimal performance unless you use subsonic ammunition. A suppressor with supersonic ammunition will suppress the gun blast, but not the super sonic crack of the bullet. Conversely, using subsonic ammo in an unsuppressed gun will still result in the loud sounds of the pressurized gas, but not the supersonic crack of the bullet.
By design, some calibers are better suited to be suppressed than others. The .45 ACP is ideal for suppression because the projectile is already slow moving and generally maintains subsonic speeds. The 9mm is also a good candidate because it generally hovers just above the supersonic barrier in terms of velocity. With the right bullet and specialized loading, it can successfully be made subsonic. 300 Blackout is a preferred caliber for suppression in rifles, for the same reasons discussed above.
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