by Art Merrill | Contributing Editor
NAS3
A small company with a big departure in cartridge case technology earned my coveted 2017 plaque recognizing The Most Innovative New Product That Could Possibly Have The Single Biggest Impact On Ammunition Technology Since Invention Of The Self-Contained Brass Cartridge. Obviously, it’s a large plaque.
We told you about the new Shell Shock Technologies NAS3 (Nickel Alloy Steel) 9mm cartridge case last year. This year SST brought the case to SHOT Show where it garnered lots of attention, and not just because it’s so shiny. Completely brass-free, SST makes the case by bonding a stainless steel cylinder to a nickel alloy case head. Available as a handloading component, SST claims that, compared to brass it is lighter, stronger and cheaper; that it can be color coded for instant ID and picked up with a magnet; that it can produce +P velocity without +P pressure; and that it needs no trimming even up to 40 reloadings. Could NAS3 presage the end of the brass cartridge case? We’ll be working with the NAS3 case this year to examine that possibility. For 500 new cases, MSRP $60. www.shellshocktechnologies.com.
L-Tech
L-Tech uses a new case from SST to load its Full Stop ammunition. (Author’s photo)
OK, this is stretching the handloading thing, but here’s a way to test the NAS3 cases in your handgun right now before committing coinage to the specialty dies needed for loading them. After the FBI consigned the 9mm Luger in 1986 to the same death as the .38 Special, improvements in bullet technology are making the 9mm Luger viable once again. L-Tech of Eubank, KY, which manufactures the Sig Sauer ammo brand, introduces new Full Stop self-defensive 9mm ammunition, an unusual lead-free copper bullet loaded in the SST NAS3 case. Upon striking soft tissue, the bullet opens up into a three-bladed propeller configuration; driven at +P velocity, the 124-gr. CuHP bullet (“Cu” is the symbol for copper) acts pretty much like the blades in your kitchen blender. The cartridge performs just about identically with the FBI’s darling Speer Gold Dot 124-gr. +P loading in FBI barrier penetration tests, but without producing +P pressures. L-Tech plans to introduce an even higher velocity +P loading later this year.
Hornady
You can check your handloaded cartridges for proper fit in your chamber with Hornady’s precision Lock-N-Load Cartridge Gauges – a whole lot safer than chambering live rounds in a firearm in your workspace, eh? Made to exactly replicate SAAMI spec chambers and available in various calibers. MSRP $23.33
Hornady’s Duo is a take-anywhere case prep tool.
We’ve seen new choices in case cleaners the past few years, the trend appearing to go toward liquids, either in ultrasonic cleaners or in “cyclonic” rotary tumblers with stainless steel abrasives. Hornady splits the difference and adds retro with the dry media M1 Case Tumbler that can clean 400 .38 Special cases or 180 .30-06 cases at one go. Hornady says the tumbler’s action is both vibratory and cyclonic – how they keep it from dancing across the floor, I don’t know. Run time, of course, depends on how dirty your cases are and how fresh the media. MSRP $75.
Everybody wants a faster, easier, more convenient way to prep cases. With Hornady’s cordless, rechargeable Case Prep Duo multifunction tool you can clean primer pockets, chamfer mouths and brush out necks just about anywhere. The tool has rubber feet for non-skid bench work, and the rear half can fold down to use like a drill or a Glock. Now you can take all those magazines out of the bathroom or wait busily in the car while the wife goes clothes shopping. Comes with a charger (of course) and ID and OD case mouth chamfering tools. MSRP $64.59.
Hornady’s 10th Edition Handbook of Cartridge Reloading will tell you everything you need to know about loading Hornady bullets, including the excellent new ELD and ELD-X line of hunting and match grade projectiles. They’ve added to the manual a few more cartridges to exceed the 200 mark, and tested about 1,300 new load combinations, as well. It’s a great reference book too, with lots of how-to and juicy info on internal, external and terminal ballistics. Combine the new manual with Hornady’s free online ballistics calculators (www.hornady.com), and you’ll know your bullet drops, from Death Valley to Denali. At about 1,000 pages, that’s 4.2¢ per page with an MSRP of $42.07.
IMR
New “color” powders from IMR.
The French get credit for developing the first smokeless powder in 1894, history somehow failing to attribute it to America’s Du Pont, which had a smokeless powder suitable for shotguns a year earlier. Ah, well! Du Pont’s IMR powders have gone through generations of permutations and improvements, and there are five more newbies for 2017. “All of these powders are REACH compliant,” Hodgdon spokesman Chris Hodgdon said in a press release, “meaning these propellants are not harmful to the environment.” While that greening is unlikely to prompt the headless talkers at NPR into happy handloading, the rest of us get the additional benefit of nice things like fine-grained IMR Target metering smoothly into tiny .25ACP cases. How about tiny .17 Hornet? We’ll have to check the online reloading data at www.HodgdonReloading.com to see. Small-flaked IMR Unequal works for shotgun and pistol cartridges. The three other new IMRs have colorful rainbow names – Red, Green and Blue. Red is for shotgun and lead bullet pistol loads, and Green and Blue are for shotgun.
IMR Red, Green and Unequal sell with only 14-oz. in the 1-lb. containers; few noticed when grocers pulled that fast one with 12-oz. coffee and bacon years ago. Coincidence? No. I just checked with Chris; he said it’s because of the powders’ density, like only cramming 9-oz. of Trail Boss in the same container. MSRP is in the ballpark with the other IMR powders.
Sharp Shooter Rimfire Reloader
Reload .22 Magnum with the Sharp Shooter kit. (Author’s photo)
The folks that brought you .22 Long Rifle cartridge reloading in 2015 expand your capability to the .22 Magnum. Sharp Shooter’s .22 Magnum reloading kit is identical to their .22LR kit – a combo bullet mould/crimping tool, teeny-weeny powder scoop, teeny-weeny funnel, teeny-weeny scraping & primer packing tool, eyedropper bottle and some load data. The bullet mould isn’t really necessary, as .22 Magnum can take the same lightest-weight bullets that .223 Rem utilizes, but it’s there for any unforeseen but not unexpected prepper situation should jacketed bullets be unavailable. MSRP $89.95.
The prepper can use the finely ground tips from strike-anywhere matches for primer material that works most of the time, but let’s take advantage of 22 Reloader’s 100 percent reliable mix-it-yourself Prime-All, instead. Prime-All comes in four individual sachets of boring inert chemicals that become exciting “BANGs” when combined and struck with a firing pin. One pack can prime about 2,000 rimfire cases. MSRP $19.95.
In addition to priming rimfire cases, you can use Prime-All in conjunction with the 22 Reloader #11 Percussion Cap Maker to turn your favorite aluminum beverage cans into, you guessed it, punched-out #11 percussion caps for your favorite muzzleloader. MSRP $44.95. www.22lrreloader.com.
Lyman
Lyman has a digital lead thermometer for bullet casters.
Here’s a company that delves into aspects of shooting sports beyond handloading – tools, range gear, pistol grips, cleaning stuff – but each year Lyman seems to come out with at least one goodie for our reloading bench. Last SHOT Show it was stadium seating for our rifle cases in so-configured loading blocks. This year Lyman expanded those to pistol cases. MSRP $7.95.
Most handloaders being well-organized, we appreciate things like Lyman’s new stackable Custom Fit Loading Blocks. Each of the six polymer blocks holds 50 cartridges in a specific family size; the hole diameter is marked on the block, so when we’ve used it often enough we’ll have memorized that, “Ah yes, .218 Bee and 6.5 Grendel are in the same 0.445” case diameter family,” and we can rattle off another interesting cartridge factoid for our admiring friends. MSRP $5.96.
Not really handloading, per se, but bullet casting is a part of handloading like the Marine Corps is part of the Navy – or the Navy is part of the Marine Corps, depending on whether you ask a Marine. Regardless, Lyman’s new Digital Lead Thermometer is cool enough to be worthy of note. MSRP $29.95. www.lymanproducts.com.
Nosler/Redding
Redding brought out new dies to accompany introduction of the 22 Nosler cartridge.
At SHOT Show 2017 these two makers jointly introduced the 22 Nosler cartridge and the dies for reloading it. Redding is offering the 22 Nosler dies across its die spectrum, from Standard dies for beginners and the frugal-minded to their pricier bushing style, Type S and Type S Match Sets for advanced handloaders squeezing the last mmmph of performance from a cartridge.
The 22 Nosler fatter-than-223 case wrings max 22 performance from the AR.
The new cartridge is Nosler’s shot at getting max performance from a .22 in an AR platform. It’s completely new, without a parent cartridge. OAL is about the same as .223 Rem, but the slightly fatter, slightly rebated-rim case (which shares bolt face dimension with the .223 Rem) will need 6.8 SPC mags to feed in the AR. The ammo is available now; at press time Nosler had yet to determine sources for rifles or AR barrels.
All photos from manufacturers except as noted.
