By Art Merrill | Contributing Editor
Hornady’s DGX design shoots for both deep penetration and expansion.
Handloading tools continue to evolve and improve, and in 2018 we’ll see some refinements to existing tools as well as some new offerings in powder and bullets. Among the latter we may find a major turning point in dangerous game bullets that promise what has historically been diametrically opposed bullet performances in large, tough animals: expansion and deep penetration. Do they really work as advertised? Load up some 500 Nitro Express with 570-gr. DGX bullets and let us know when you get back from Africa.
This year Hornady and Lyman again lead the pack in sheer number of new offerings, including obsolete cartridge cases to gladden the heart of the hands-on history buff and new innovations to old presses. Those guys must go through a lot of donuts and coffee at brainstorming sessions to keep coming up with new stuff to make us happy. Our other friends in the business also offer some cool new items. Read on and feel the joy.
Hornady
Rotary case tumblers that clean with stainless steel pins in a liquid media continue to gain popularity, and for good reason: the cruddiest cases come out looking essentially brand new. Hornady’s own spin on the tumbler is a shut-off digital timer that programs in 30 minute increments (other makers use mechanical timers). The six-liter drum can hold five pounds of brass at a go.
Separate steel pins or dry media from cases with Hornady’s rotary sifter.
You might as well get Hornady’s Rotary Media Sifter to go along with it. The sifter separates brass from steel pins, or from dry media if you still use corn cob or walnut shells in a vibratory tumbler. A clear plastic lid lets you watch the fun as you turn the handle.
Hornady combines two ideas familiar to handloaders – trickling and vibrating – in their new Vibratory Powder Trickler. It features high, low and variable settings to more effectively deal with different powder granulations, and pairs up well with Hornady’s electronic scale (not included). Uses two AAA batteries (also not included). Marketing literature (included) says its “modular design…makes cleanup quick and easy,” which apparently refers to dumping the powder reservoir contents back into the can.
If you haven’t looked then you may not know how slim the pickings have been in new 30-40 Krag brass the past few years. Hornady has hopefully changed that in 2018 by introducing their own brass in that venerable caliber. Other new obsoletes from Hornady include 32-20, 307 Win and 348 Win. Under “Brand Spanking New” cases we have the 6mm Creedmoor; under “Relatively New Compared To The 30-40 Krag” we have 223 WSSM and 243 WSSM; and under “Esoteric” we can find the 7mm STW. In all, Hornady brings out a dozen new-to-Hornady case offerings this year. For all of these cases Hornady boasts tight wall concentricity, uniform case wall thickness, and consistent weight and case capacity – all the buzzwords we associate with match quality brass.
Hornady’s steel pin/rotary tumbler features a digital timer.
The new DGX (Dangerous Game eXpanding) bullet from Hornady expands the capabilities of their DGS Dangerous Game Solid bullet by, well, expanding. The DGX shares the same round nose/flat meplat profile of the DGS, and features a copper coated steel jacket bonded to the lead core with a bit of lead exposed at the tip. Hornady says the design permits limited, controlled expansion, deep penetration and high weight retention; it also prevents jacket/core separation when striking bone. DGX bullets will expand up to twice their original diameter at 100 to 150 yards. Those DGX bullet diameters do not include any wimps below .375”, and they run upward into uber-manly .510” territory.
Lee Precision
Lyman brings back an improved C press.
Lee Precision is working on a new progressive press that won’t quite be ready for SHOT Show this month. However, they did send me the following information to share: “We are working on a Progressive Breech Lock Challenger Press code named ‘Pro 4000’ that will be available mid-2018. It will be a revolutionary 4 position progressive press that is completely modular, and easy to use. The modular construction allows as much or as little automation as the operator desires. It will also allow cartridge changeover in seconds. We are currently working diligently on getting new tooling released.” No picture of the press was available at press time.
Lyman
Here’s the beef: 23 pounds of Lyman turret press.
Lyman introduces new presses – or perhaps reintroduces presses with improvements – in their 2018 catalog. The line of three orange (of course) Lyman Brass Smith reloading presses all feature beefy cast iron and steel construction, ball-tipped handles you can set up for right- or left-handed operation, and full 1” diameter rams.
Lyman brings back their “C” style press, this one with a vertical geometry, whereas a previous model had a slight lean backward, away from the reloader. The “C” style press is great when you’re pressed for space and is equally so as a second press, especially for a clear view of bullet seating. This one accepts cartridges with OALs up to 3.7”; for reference, the 25 ACP is 0.9055”, the 338 Lapua Magnum, 3.6811”.
Lyman improves primer feeding with their new Brass Smith O frame press.
The “O” frame Brass Smith has a 5” opening, and the big deal here is the vertical primer feed system that 1.) comes with the press at no additional cost, and 2.) pleases Mr. Safety in featuring a steel shield between the primer and the reloader.
The eight-station turret style Brass Smith features that same vertical primer feed & shield setup, and the turret bolt easily removes for swapping the turret. That shouldn’t be necessary very often as, when we do the math, we see a turret can hold four two-die sets, two four-die sets, two three-die sets, or other combinations we need not exhaustively list here.
Also new from Lyman: a load data book focusing on long range precision cartridges; an anti-static funnel set with caliber-specific inserts; a forced-air dryer to accompany liquid media case cleaners; and black MSR die sets to match your black MSR, in typical black MSR calibers.
Sierra
Competition shooters can choose MatchKings from Sierra that feature “pointed” meplats.
Sierra continues to come through for competition shooters with new MatchKing offerings for 2018. Of course, 6.5mm bullets for the 6.5 Creedmoor top the list as Americans discover what the Swedes knew 120 years ago – the 6.5 is probably the optimum combination of ballistic coefficient and sectional density to be had in any single bullet, whether for combat, hunting or target shooting. Sierra improves their new 6.5mm 150-gr. HPBT MatchKing with a final operation that “points” the meplat, and the 1.5 degree angle where the ogive meets the bearing surface matches that in the throats of many match rifle chambers. Sierra says the BC above 1760fps is .713; SD is .307. There’s also a new 6.5mm 107-gr. Tipped MatchKing (TMK). Other new HPBT MatchKings include a .22 caliber 95-gr., a .308” 200-gr, and a .308” 230-gr. Do note that Sierra does not recommend MatchKings for hunting.
Hodgdon
Hodgdon adds another Enduron powder to its line with IMR 8133 for magnum rifle cartridges. Enduron’s claim to fame, of course, is its propensity to eliminate copper fouling, provide consistent pressure/bullet velocities in temperature extremes and typically ideal load densities. Hodgdon says IMR 8133 compares to Retumbo in burn rate, and suggests handloaders will find it matches up well with 300 RUM, 28 Nosler, 264 Winchester, and the like. The powder should be available next month, and so will load data, the latter at www.HodgdonReloading.com.
Redding
Redding’s PR-50 rounds out their uber-precise powder measure line.
“Redding” is synonymous with “precision,” and you’ll see Redding tools on the reloading benches of all those target shooting guys in pursuit of the Group of the One Caliber Hole. Redding says every powder measure has “a sweet spot that is relative to the dimensions of its metering chamber.” That means one powder measure cannot be all things to all powders, and so Redding makes “weight range specific” measures that throw incredibly precise charges in a specific range of powder weights. Newest and final in this line of four precision powder measures is Redding’s PR-50, which throws consistent, on-the-nosey charges in the 30-80-gr. weight range.
How? “Beyond efficient metering chamber design, consistent charges are assured by a precision ground drum, a honed metering chamber and a unique hemispherical micrometer adjustable plunger, which virtually eliminates powder voids caused when using long grain powders,” Redding literature reads. “The micrometer is designed to reduce backlash in its travel, making for easily repeatable charge weights as well.” Could this be the end of weighing every charge for precision rifle shooting?
Enduron puts the “improved” in Improved Military Rifle powder IMR 8133
The 450 Bushmaster is a new caliber die set for Redding this year. The 3-die sets have the full length resizer needed for semi-autos like the AR-15, an expander die and seating die with integral taper crimping. Originally intended for the CQB taking-out of bad guys, the 450 Bushmaster is enjoying a similar collateral duty in, appropriately enough, taking out feral pigs, hence its increasing popularity.
Redding is happy to take your request for a custom die set, or one for an obsolete cartridge. Email them at engineering1@redding-reloading.com for a price quote, and then they can build your dies based on five of your fired cases or a chamber drawing. And you thought you’d never again shoot the 11x42Rmm Belgian Albini-Comblain Carbine M71 cartridge…
