Have read about half of the posts on this topic, some really great inventions.
This is not an invention, it is something to keep you from blowing up a firearm.
REDUCED LOADS, does that make your neck hairs stand up?
I love 'em, makes shooting some of the more powerful rounds I load for, a delight to shoot. How about an 06 with 15 gr. of Unique? A 150 grain FMJ pulled bullet at about 1500 fps, less recoil that a 243, but about the same amount of energy at a 100 yards.
I should probably tell you to be very careful with the reduced load development, for an 06 size case I start with a max load for a .45 Colt in the area of the bullet weight I want to load, then adjust accordingly.
The key thing to this is keeping the powder where it has to be, in front of the primer and not laying on the bottom of the case, that's called a flash over. Years ago I saw a beautiful 98 Mauser in .308, blow up on a guy, beside ruining the rifle, it put this chap in the hospital for a long time and cost him an index finger and thumb plus the sight in one eye, it was caused by a reduced load of 2400, about 20 grains as I remember. If you read on the net and in most if not all loading books you will find other horror stories about this practice.
I have fired several thousand rounds of reduced loads without incident, but I will not tell you it can't or won't happen with my technique. USE EXTREME CAUTION, TREAD LIGHTLY, AND DON'T DO THIS IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IS BEING SAID!!
To start with I cut a belted magnum case off behind the shoulder, drill the primer hole out to accept a 16 penny nail, sharpen the new case mouth with a chamfering tool. I now have my plug cutter, now the stuff that holds the powder in the bottom of the case, local hardware store, foam pipe insulation, the round stuff with the hole down the center and the side maybe spit, comes in lengths of 4 feet or so, and the walls are about half to three quarters of an inch thick.
Use the plug cutter you made in the beginning and twist the cutter into the foam and form a plug, push it out with nail, you inserted it into the case with the point sticking out threw the primer hole.
Now roll this plug between your fingers like you would an ear plug and insert it into the mouth of the case, just like an ear plug, it will expand to take up the void. Depending on what you are loading, find something to push the plug all the way down to the bottom of the case, it should now be seated over the powder. These plugs don't move around very much, but if you don't feel comfortable with one plug, in like a .300 Win Mag or such, add another plug or two, the object is to keep the powder from moving away from the bottom of the case, Now seat your bullet to the correct depth for your firearm.
I have not tried this in the short magnums, but I am positive you will need to make a larger diameter plug cutter.
I WILL STRESS AGAIN, IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS, DON'T DO IT!!
I cannot stress enough to take extreme care when building reduced loads in this manner, check every thing every time you do something, then check it again. don't assume you have one charge of powder, dump it and start over.
When I load reduced loads, I have my bowl of plugs sitting next to my scale, it goes as such. Dump the charge into the pan, weigh the charge, dump the charge into the case in block #1, put the pan down, insert the plug into the case as I remove the funnel, push the plug about half way down in the case and move it to block #2. Then when done with the case charging and initial plug install. I then push the plug all the way down to the bottom just before seating the bullet.
This sounds a lot confusing to me as I reread it, but I don't know of any way of making it sound better.
If you feel you understand what I am trying to convey here, try one or two rounds and see if this is something you would like to do.
It is also effective for detecting the flinches. Slip one of these in while at the range and see if you react any different when you pull the trigger.
Shoot safely and be careful.
Post any questions, I'll be happy to answer them if I can.
This is not an invention, it is something to keep you from blowing up a firearm.
REDUCED LOADS, does that make your neck hairs stand up?
I love 'em, makes shooting some of the more powerful rounds I load for, a delight to shoot. How about an 06 with 15 gr. of Unique? A 150 grain FMJ pulled bullet at about 1500 fps, less recoil that a 243, but about the same amount of energy at a 100 yards.
I should probably tell you to be very careful with the reduced load development, for an 06 size case I start with a max load for a .45 Colt in the area of the bullet weight I want to load, then adjust accordingly.
The key thing to this is keeping the powder where it has to be, in front of the primer and not laying on the bottom of the case, that's called a flash over. Years ago I saw a beautiful 98 Mauser in .308, blow up on a guy, beside ruining the rifle, it put this chap in the hospital for a long time and cost him an index finger and thumb plus the sight in one eye, it was caused by a reduced load of 2400, about 20 grains as I remember. If you read on the net and in most if not all loading books you will find other horror stories about this practice.
I have fired several thousand rounds of reduced loads without incident, but I will not tell you it can't or won't happen with my technique. USE EXTREME CAUTION, TREAD LIGHTLY, AND DON'T DO THIS IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IS BEING SAID!!
To start with I cut a belted magnum case off behind the shoulder, drill the primer hole out to accept a 16 penny nail, sharpen the new case mouth with a chamfering tool. I now have my plug cutter, now the stuff that holds the powder in the bottom of the case, local hardware store, foam pipe insulation, the round stuff with the hole down the center and the side maybe spit, comes in lengths of 4 feet or so, and the walls are about half to three quarters of an inch thick.
Use the plug cutter you made in the beginning and twist the cutter into the foam and form a plug, push it out with nail, you inserted it into the case with the point sticking out threw the primer hole.
Now roll this plug between your fingers like you would an ear plug and insert it into the mouth of the case, just like an ear plug, it will expand to take up the void. Depending on what you are loading, find something to push the plug all the way down to the bottom of the case, it should now be seated over the powder. These plugs don't move around very much, but if you don't feel comfortable with one plug, in like a .300 Win Mag or such, add another plug or two, the object is to keep the powder from moving away from the bottom of the case, Now seat your bullet to the correct depth for your firearm.
I have not tried this in the short magnums, but I am positive you will need to make a larger diameter plug cutter.
I WILL STRESS AGAIN, IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS, DON'T DO IT!!
I cannot stress enough to take extreme care when building reduced loads in this manner, check every thing every time you do something, then check it again. don't assume you have one charge of powder, dump it and start over.
When I load reduced loads, I have my bowl of plugs sitting next to my scale, it goes as such. Dump the charge into the pan, weigh the charge, dump the charge into the case in block #1, put the pan down, insert the plug into the case as I remove the funnel, push the plug about half way down in the case and move it to block #2. Then when done with the case charging and initial plug install. I then push the plug all the way down to the bottom just before seating the bullet.
This sounds a lot confusing to me as I reread it, but I don't know of any way of making it sound better.
If you feel you understand what I am trying to convey here, try one or two rounds and see if this is something you would like to do.
It is also effective for detecting the flinches. Slip one of these in while at the range and see if you react any different when you pull the trigger.
Shoot safely and be careful.
Post any questions, I'll be happy to answer them if I can.
