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The explosion was a
very loud, low frequency thump that sounded like a giant muzzle loader,
and came from somewhere off to my right. I turned, and saw several people
swarming around a shooting bench about five down from mine. I then noticed
a young man sitting at the bench holding both hands to his head. Blood was
gushing out between his fingers splashing a garish abstract pattern on the
concrete. An older man, his father, was trying to assist him. Fortunately,
the young man was both conscious and coherent. Four police cars, a fire
truck, and an ambulance responded to the 911 call put out by the range
master, and the young man was taken off to the hospital.
While we were
waiting for the ambulance, I examined the remains of the Winchester Model
70 chambered in 300 Winchester Magnum that the young man had just fired. I
have never seen a gun so thoroughly destroyed. The barrel was blown
completely off the action and had come to rest about 5-6 feet in front of
the shooting bench.
The receiver had a
long strip of metal about an inch and half wide blown off the upper left
hand side for the full length of the action. This ribbon of stainless
steel was twisted and covered in blood and what looked like small bits of
tissue. It reminded me very much of shrapnel from a Viet Nam era 750 lb
bomb. This is what undoubtedly hit the shooter in the head. The sides of
the remainder of the receiver were bulged outwards and distorted. The
magazine was just a small scrap of twisted metal. One of the lugs of the
bolt was no longer square but was pushed back at a 45 degree angle. A
Bushnell scope was blown off the receiver and was torn in half. A steel
scope ring was later found embedded in the overhead along with about a
half dozen smaller miscellaneous fragments. The black composite stock was
completely shattered into chunks about the size of a charcoal briquette. I
have seen a couple of gun blow up’s over the years, but nothing as
complete as this. All of the components of the rifle were completely
destroyed.
As we were waiting
for the ambulance, I found that the young man’s father had loaded the
cartridge that blew up the gun. I asked “What kind of powder was in that
cartridge?” The gentleman, who was thoroughly shaken, replied “I don’t
understand. The book said you could put 79 grains of powder in, and I only
used 75.” I responded “But what kind of powder was it?” “Wolf powder.” Now
it was me that was totally befuddled. Wolf powder? Wolf doesn’t sell
reloading powders. “Where did you get it?” I asked. He then babbled
something about “green cases”. Seeing that I didn’t understand, he bent
over and picked up a discarded 223 steel case with a greenish Parkerized
coating. Alarm bells and sirens immediately started blaring in my head.
“You mean that you pulled apart 223 ammo and used that powder to load your
300 Win Mag? He nodded in the affirmative.
Just when you think
that you’ve seen it all, or at least heard about it all, something comes
along and really stuns you like a 2x4 across the forehead. This was
definitely one of those occasions. How anyone could put 75 grains of a
totally unknown powder into a case and not think anything about it is
completely beyond me. I guess he thought powder is powder and that it‘s
all the same. Wolf 223 ammo is made in Russia, so who knows what kind of
powder is used in its manufacture. Obviously the burning rate of any 223
powder is way, way too fast for use in a 300 Mag. When I explained this to
the gentleman he said “Well I guess I learned a lesson today.” That’s one
way of putting it, but at what expense was the lesson learned?
The moral of the
story is that if you don’t know exactly what the powder is, don’t
load it. So throw away that unmarked can of powder that your Uncle Leo
gave you 10 years ago when he was cleaning out his garage. He was pretty
sure it was 4895 but maybe it wasn’t. Also make darn sure the powder is
suitable for the application. Real men do read reloading manuals - that is
if they want to keep their heads attached.
Hodgdon 2008 Reloading Annual Manual
Speaking of
reloading manuals, I recently picked up Hodgdon‘s annual issue. It is
really nice. It’s in a magazine format and has articles from some of
my favorite writers including Sheriff Jim Wilson, Layne Simpson, and
Charles Petty. However, don’t get the idea that this is a lightweight
manual. It’s got plenty of beef with 5000 loads for more cartridges than
any other manual, and even includes data for the brand new 17 Remington
Fireball. (Man, I’d like to have one of those in a XP or an Encore.)
As you know, Hodgdon
is the 800 lb gorilla in the reloading marketplace for powder and owns the
IMR and Winchester brands. That’s 55 different powders being sold by the
same company. The reloader never had it so good. Consequently, data for
all those powders are included in the manual as well. There’s also a
relative burn rate chart listing 117 different products. As far as I can
tell the only thing that isn’t included are ballistic charts and reloading
instructions.
If you’re an
experienced relaoder and you already have a regular Hodgdon full sized
manual, the Annual is a good way to keep the data up to date at a minimum
cost. However, for a new relaoder or an infrequent relaoder, I’d stick
with the regular manual because of the availability of the reloading
instructions. Hodgdon does have those instructions on its web site
however. You should also visit the web site from time to time anyway as
it’s a neat place and will have the latest info on powder and loads. The
Annual is available just about everywhere and retails for only $8. Many
places have it for less.
I was reloading for
my XP 223 not too long ago, and I noticed I was getting low of my favorite
silhouette powder - H322. So I decided to try something else in order to
save it. While scrounging through the closet in my gun room, I came across
some H335 that I used for a project a couple of years ago and then
foolishly forgot about. The light bulb came on, and I decided to give it a
try in the 223. 25.5 grains went into a Remington case with a Winchester
primer and a 50 grain Sierra Blitzking bullet. Redding dies (of course)
were used to put everything together. Velocity was a zippy 2802 fps and
the group was a very nice .265” at 50 yards. The gun was shooting about as
well as I could hold with my Leupold 2.5 x 8 and it doesn’t get better
than that.
H335
Intrigued, I thought
I’d give it a spin in my 6 TCU XP-100. This time I used 26 grains of H335
with a 70 grain Nosler, Remington cases, and Winchester primers. The
velocity was 2530 fps and the Nosler went into a beautiful half inch”
group at 100 yards. I was liking this better and better. Next came my XP
chambered in 7 BR. 30 grains with a Sierra 140 grain boat tail, Remington
cases, and Winchester primers produced 2152 fps and a .723 inch group.
Well I had run out of
XPs, so I thought I’d try it in my .204 Cooper rifle. 27 grains was dropped
into a Hornady case with a 32 grain Nosler and was ignited by a Winchester
primer. Velocity = 4012 fps and produced a group of .365” at 100 yards. Now
that’s what I call hauling the mail.
I have to admit that
I’ve gained a new respect for H335, and it’s beyond me why I haven't used more
of it. I still like H322 the best, but I also like the smooth way H335 meters.
So in those applications when I want to use bullets that are just a little
heavier, I’m going be reaching for the H335 instead.
Issues
There are a couple of
things that I want to get off my chest. Both of them have to do with money and
both are my personal opinions, and not IHMSA’s.
If you haven't bought
any rimfire ammo lately, hold on to your hat. Prices of the overseas stuff
have gone crazy. I usually buy by the case to save some bucks and was recently
stunned by the new 2008 prices.
I like shooting Wolf
Match Target when I practice, and then Eley black box in matches. They both
shoot to the same point of aim in my guns. The Wolf is amazingly accurate for
its price range, but out of a box of 50, I’ll usually have 5-10 rounds that
will be fliers. One or two will be real doozies, and the rest will be what I
call mini fliers. For some reason, no amount of weighing the ammo or
head-spacing the rims eliminates this problem. I personally think the fliers
are due to bullet or priming defects, and I’m leaning toward the bullets.
Anyway, since I’m just using it for practice, who cares? This past year, with
careful shopping, a case of Match Target could be had for around $300. Now,
the price is more like $360-$370 plus shipping. A case of Eley Match EPS or
round nose is now running $900 and up. Mama Mia!
We’re often given a
number of dubious reasons for these huge increases. One of the most popular
is that increases in the cost of lead due to the war in the Middle East are
driving the cost of rimfire ammunition. Really? A check of the metals markets
however showed that the price of lead has been actually declining.
The other most common
reason given is the decline in the dollar against the Euro. This is the more
valid of the two. The drop in the dollar makes foreign imports more expensive
in the U.S. and the cost of U.S. goods cheaper overseas. This is good for
business, but it’s not necessarily good for you and me since the domestic
manufacturers have been totally uninterested or unable to produce match
quality rimfire ammunition. This in turn makes U.S. rimfire competition
shooters completely dependent on foreign producers.
No matter the cause, the
huge cost run-up of rimfire ammo and centerfire components as well, will
definitely have an effect on the competition sports and its membership. I
believe this is the biggest issue we’re going to have to face this coming
year. When the American shooter is already facing economic pressures on
several fronts, discretionary spending is going to take a major hit. That’s
going to translate into less shooting i.e. cutting back on practicing,
participating in fewer matches, and going on shorter and fewer hunts.
In some rimfire
competition sports, the shooters are taking matters into their own hands by
organizing “Outlaw Matches”. These are non sanctioned matches in which the
cost of the ammo is limited to no more than a certain price - say $3 - $4
dollars a box. The shooters will agree before hand to go by the prices set by
a certain seller such as Graff, Midway or who ever. I personally don’t like
this idea for a number of reasons, but I totally understand the reasons behind
it.
The other issue that I
find particularly disturbing is the deliberately deceitful pricing policy for
shipping that is used by some of the big catalog retailers who cater to the
shooting sports. What I’m talking about is charging the customer a certain
amount of money for shipping, when the actual shipping cost is actually far
less than what was charged. To my mind, this is nothing but a hidden price
hike.
Here’s the deal. You
order X number of items from a shooting sports internet retailer, and are
charged X dollars for shipping. If you look up the carrier’s rate for the size
and weight of your package, the shipping charge seems to be accurate. HOWEVER,
the internet retailer isn’t charged the standard rate that you and I pay to
ship a package, but rather a special commercial rate which is substantially
lower. The difference between what the retailer told you what the shipping
costs are, and what they really are, is pure profit that goes into their
pocket.
The really disturbing
thing is that this profit is based on a deliberate and calculated lie which is
told every time someone places an order. This isn’t just a little nickel and
dime rip off. When you consider the sales volume of the big guys, it’s
millions out our pockets. Frankly, I think this is a disreputable and even
disgusting practice.
So what can you
do? Don’t give the rip off retailers your business. Do your shopping with
retailers that charge a flat shipping rate or those that crank in the shipping
costs into the price charged for the product. Their prices may seem a little
higher, but when you consider shipping, they’re not. Become informed. Examine
the shipping policy statement on the retailer’s web sites to determine if they
have a flat shipping rate or not, or if the shipping is included. Times are
hard enough for the average shooter without giving these guys more of our
money than they have coming.
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