DIY Stuck Case Remover

I’ve been told that for reloaders it’s not if you get a stuck case, it’s when. Thus it’s good to have a stuck-case remover handy for when that happens.

Thing is, as I read the reviews of most commercial stuck case pullers, they’re all decent enough but eventually seem to all break. That’s why when I found this article on a DIY stuck case remover, I thought how awesome!

Primers Backing Out

The first round tests of my .223 hunting load resulted in one big issue: the primers were backing out.

foo.c‘s guess is it’s the brass, which was brand new Remington.

So I hit Google to see what I can see.

It seems that Remington brass isn’t regarded as the highest quality brass (not like Norma and Lapua), but it’s generally regarded as good brass. So maybe it’s not the brass?

Some things I’m finding in my reading:

  • Too short for the chamber. Could be excessive headspace, could be the cases were sized too short for the chamber.
    • Hrm. I’m loading to .223 Rem specs, but the Bushmaster is 5.56 chambered. Could it be things were sized just a wee short for that chamber since a 5.56 chamber (compared to a .223 chamber) has a longer leade and headspace dimensions?
  • Too low a pressure.
    • This might go along with the above. The chamber was slightly larger, thus when the case expanded it didn’t expand
  • Chamber wall cling. That is, there’s enough pressure to expand the case sideways to cling to the chamber walls, but because there’s more free space along the axis running through the bullet from primer to tip, coupled with less pressure, now there’s not enough to fill things backwards including pushing the case back against the bolt face so as a result the primer can back out a bit.
  • New brass. It just may be formed to “conservative” tolerances and/or have case uniformity issues. Debur the flash hole, uniform the primer pockets, etc.. to help.
  • Full length sized brass, similar issues to the above.

This was a useful resource.

Check out this PDF showing the dimensional differences between .223 and 5.56.

It sounds like the primers backing out may be normal for my situation.

If the loads are very weak, unlikely to see primers backing out as there’s probably just not enough pressure.

If the load is perhaps just under max, that’s enough pressure to cause things to back out.

If the load is max to hot, it’s probably more than enough pressure to cause things to sit tight.

What could cause lower pressure? Well, I’m loading a .223 Remington and shooting from a 5.56x45mm NATO chamber, which is going to be just a hair longer. It could also be due to the shape of the bullet (the ogive on the Barnes TSX). It could also be the length at which I loaded the cartridge really putting the bullet off the lands.

This is all just hypothesizing.

The bummer? After talking with foo.c I had resigned myself to just switching to NATO brass (Lake City, WCC, whatever I happened to have). Thus I took all of the Remington brass from yesterday and threw it with some other dirty .223 brass into the brass tumbler to get cleaned up and put in the bucket for reloading at some future date. Thinking about it now, I should have kept that brass: 1. to measure it and see how the size changed after shooting, 2. to go ahead and reload it and try again. Now that it was fired in that chamber, it may have taken on a different and better shape.

So I’m tempted to keep my NATO brass in reserve and continue with the Remington brass. I will pick up a few more dodads at the store, like something to debur the flash holes and to uniform the primer pockets. No harm in that. Then see how it goes. But this time, I’ll reload that same Remington brass and see how it goes. If I still have primers backing out, then I’ll look at other options.

I might even consider doing a test-run of brass this way. That is, instead of using the Barnes TSX bullets, I’ve got some 55 grain Winchester FMJ. I could work up a quick load with some of those to preserve the Barnes bullets.

Ah, so many things to consider. 🙂

.38 or .380

When we’re talking about .38 or .380, you’d think that would mean the same thing… but we’re not talking math, we’re talking gun calibers, and .38 Special and .380 ACP are two different things. However, they tend to come up a fair lot in conversation when people talk about “small guns” for concealed carry.

A friend of mine has been looking to get a gun for defensive purposes, he’s been asking me many questions and I’ve been answering the best I can. Recently the discussion turned to small guns, including things like .380 semi-autos like your Ruger LCR and Kel-Tec’s and I brought up things like a .38 Special snub revolver.

While looking up some other things, I came across this article by Jim Williamson discussing the .38 snub vs. the .380 semi-auto. It’s a decent read if you’re researching into such things.

Over at hipowersandhandguns.com there’s an article on the same topic.

Both authors come down on the side of a good .38 revolver. Basically, the ballistics of the .38 round offer a bit more than the .380 round. The revolver is going to be less prone to malfunctions, which some .380 semi-autos can be notorious for. As well, some of the .380 semi-autos can be very small and very hard to shoot, which could lead to not practicing with them; larger .380’s such as the Bersa Thunder may not have the same issue. But in the end, both are considered “merely adequate” in light of other options available. Still, something is better than nothing, and both are squarely in the “something” column.

.38 Special load recipe – for plinking, using Berry’s bullets and TiteGroup powder

Now that I’ve settled upon a .38 Special load, I thought it’d be good to give it its own entry for ease of finding it.

First attempt here. Results here. Chrono results and last word here.

This is a recipe for .38 Special (not +P). The goal is for a plinking/practice load. Something that doesn’t cost too much. I don’t want it to be a high power load so I can shoot a lot of them in a practice session or a class, but I also don’t want it too wimpy because I’d like it to still have some oomph so practice sessions don’t get too comfortable and have too much of a leap towards self-defense ammo.

The gun used is a Smith & Wesson 442 snub nose revolver with a 2″ (well, 1 7/8″) barrel.

I may no guarantees about this data. Use at your own risk. You assume all responsibility for yourself and your actions. Your mileage may vary.

Bullet — Berry’s Manufacturing Preferred Plated Pistol Bullet, .38 caliber, 158 grain, round nose (RN), double-struck (DS)

Powder — Hodgdon Titegroup, 3.5 grains

Primer — Remington 1 1/2 small pistol primer

Case — CBC (Magtech) brass, used

Cartridge Overall Length — 1.510″

Crimp — “light” Lee Factory crimp

In my testing that produced a velocity of 581 feet-per-second, which is reasonable for a 158 grain bullet and compared well against a Magtech factory load (158 grain LRN). Again remember, this is standard .38 Special NOT .38 Special +P.

Note as well, this is merely one recipe. Over time I may change it or just switch to something else entirely. But as of this writing, it’s what I’m using for my plinking loads.

Chronograph results – .38 Special and .223 Remington hunting load

Went to the rifle club this morning with foo.c and his chronograph. Read his write-up.

Might as well dig into the results.

Continue reading

Stuff from stats

It’s been a while since I looked at my stats and the search terms people are using to get here.

Looks like this one turned into a gun one.

can you reload brass for springfield xd

Yes.

what is the most controllable 9mm

There’s no blanket answer for that as what one person can control (or find controllable) may be different from another.

However, as a general rule, a physically larger and heavier gun is more likely to be controllable. As well, a gun that fits properly in your hand, in terms of getting a good and complete grip on it (with both hands, and the skin of both palms contacting the grip), not having to reach too far (or too little) to get at the trigger, getting all your fingers — especially your pinky — onto the grip. All of these things will help.

how to manage pistol recoil

Technique.

There’s the Todd Jarrett approach, which is “grip the gun 20% tighter”. That is, grip it, now tighten your grip up more. Massad Ayoob calls it a “crush grip” and writes about it here.

But I’ve recently been re-reading my Brian Enos book and he’s not such an advocate of that. He more advocates finding just the right amount of tension that lets the gun recoil then come back to exactly where it was before the trigger was pressed. He says there’s no way to stop recoil, so don’t fight recoil; just let recoil happen and manage it, letting the gun fire then come back to exactly where it started. There’s certainly something to this.

I’ve been experimenting more with both of these approaches. I see merit in both.

airweight snub nose vs steel frame snub

First, let’s clarify. “Airweight” are Smith & Wesson’s lightweight revolvers (e.g 642, 442, 638, 438) whose frame is constructed from aluminum. Thus they are lighter than steel, but consequently can also only chamber up to .38 Special +P whereas many steel can chamber .357 Magnum (e.g. the S&W 640, 649). Then there are the “Airlight” series (e.g. 340, 360), whose frame is made from a scandium alloy. These are even lighter than the Airweight models and can also handle .357 Magnum.

So apart from the above weight and chambering differences, what do you want to know? Well of course, there are also price differences, as the Airlight’s tend to be very expensive. I’ve handled one but never shot one. The Airlight’s are amazingly light, you barely notice it in your hand. Consequently, I can imagine they’d also be painful to shoot, especially .357 Magnum loads. Weight helps to soak up recoil, and weight is one thing the Airlights lack. I mean, shooting .38 +P loads out of my Airweight can sting your hand enough… I can’t imagine less weight and more recoil being pleasant.

The lightweight models are of course designed for carry, so they’ll be comfortable. But the steel really aren’t that much heavier. It’s a personal choice, and depends in part on how much you’ll shoot with it. Some people say to get both: a steel and a lightweight, in a similar form factor (e.g. both “Centential” body style, both “Bodyguard” style) and outfit them with the same setup in sights and trigger and grip and so on. Then use the steel to practice with, since it will be more pleasant to shoot, then carry the lightweight. All depends what you want to do.

corbon dpx or hornady critical defense

That’s up to you. Try both in your gun. If one doesn’t work reliably in your gun, then don’t use it. If both work reliably, pick the one that works better for you. For instance, while presently I use Buffalo Bore 20/20C in my .38 Special snub revolver, I am fortunate that my local Cabela’s carries Buffalo Bore; I know BB isn’t available everywhere. If say you can’t get enough of your desired self-defense ammo, that can play a part into it as well.

my m1a doesn’t cycle the bolt after ever

If your M1A isn’t cycling, you may have problems with the gas system.

When I first got my M1A it was “short stroking” meaning it would fire, but it wouldn’t fully cycle. Sometimes the brass would not eject at all. Sometimes it might eject but a new round doesn’t get stripped from the magazine so the next shot just goes “click” on an empty chamber.

In my case the problem was the gas system. The gas cylinder lock was not completely tightened down from the factory, thus the gas holes weren’t lined up fully and consequently not enough gas was getting into the gas cylinder to operate the action. I was able to test this by field stripping the rifle such that I could see the gas port in the bottom of the barrel. Take a 1/16″ allen wrench and insert it through the gas port into the bore of the barrel. There should be zero resistence when you do this, and looking down the bore you should see the allen wrench sticking up into the bore. If there’s any resistence, if you don’t see the wrench sticking through, then things aren’t lined up. When I called Springfield Armory about this the tech on the phone said I should be able to tighten the lock down another full turn (or 2… surprised it came from the factory that way). Sure enough, one more turn and things were lined up and short stroking no more!

But there can be other reasons for it. Clint McKee has a Q&A on this topic but with a Garand. Still, the M1A and Garand are close enough relatives that the answer applies just as well.

223. semi automatic banana clip

Magazine. Not clip. Know the difference.

minimum caliber for texas concealed hand

Ugh. I hate it when the stats thing cuts off the phrases.

As of this writing, there is no minimum caliber for carrying.

The only caliber minimum is during the taking of the qualifying test, a .32 caliber is the present minimum.

On a related search….

texas concealed carry .22

Yes, you could carry a pistol chambered in .22 LR but you cannot use it to qualify.

is a .223 legal for deer hunting in texas

Short answer: Yes.

Better answer: A summary of the “means and methods” from Texas Park & Wildlife.

So using a single-shot or semi-automatic rifle chambered in .223 Remington without a suppressor, that’s usable for game animals.

Working up my .223 loads

Now that I’ve some time, I’m working up my .223 Remington loads, with the goal being finding a good hunting load.

This will be shot out of a Bushmaster Super Light Carbine. 5.56 chambering, 16″ chrome-lined slim-profile barrel with 1:9 twist.

The basic ingredients:

Bullet: Barnes TSX .224″ 62 grain

Case: new Remington brass, .223 Remington

Primer: CCI #41

C.O.L.: 2.250″

The powders are where I’m varying things up. I want to experiment and see what sorts of results I’ll get. I have three powders: Varget, H4895, TAC. Using Barnes Reloading Manual #4 data, I’m starting at the minimum load then working my way up in 0.5 grain increments. For example, according to the Barnes data I’d start with 22.5 grains of TAC. So I’d load 3 with 22.5 grains, then 3 with 23.0 grains, then 3 with 23.5 grains, then 3 with 24.0 grains. The max charge is 24.5 grains and for now I’m going to stay away from max. Each powder has a 2.0 grain range, so 4 steps is enough for now. Granted I could probably go to max and be fine (it is a 5.56 chambered rifle and I am loading .223), but 1. I think this is enough curious data collection for now, 2. things are kinda tedious and I want to get things done so I can go to the range and chrono tomorrow so if I can keep the number of rounds to reload down, that’ll work. And yes, just loading 3 of each. I figure 3 should be enough for me to get a basic idea if it will work or not and what sort of performance I’ll get, yet not cost me a ton in components (mostly bullets).

These are the first rifle rounds I’ve ever reloaded. I learned a few things:

  • You need a lot less case lube than you think. I had no idea how much I really needed and apparently less than I thought. I dented the shoulders of my first few cases due to too much lube. Oh well, live and learn.
  • I tried priming using the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme press, but it just didn’t feel right — I couldn’t seat the primers down far enough. I used the hand-primer tool instead and was able to get things seated all the way down. Not sure exactly what the deal is, but it was a tight primer fit. Given the way rifle reloading’s process flows vs. handgun reloading, I’ll probably use the press for handgun priming and the hand-tool for rifle priming. Of course, my Hornady Lock-n-Load press is coming so I doubt I’ll do much more handgun on the single-stage press.
  • Lee shell holders don’t fit the RCBS hand-primer tool.
  • I’m glad I bought a powder trickler. I set up the powder drop to drop the min charge. Then I’d use the trickler to add the 0.5 increments. Should have some well-measured charges.
  • TAC does meter very well, but because it just flows so nicely it bounces out of the brass scale pan and makes a mess. Meanwhile, the Varget and H4895 often cause the powder drop to not throw, but they don’t bounce around and makes such a mess. As well, it’s easier to clean up the Varget and H4895, whereas the TAC takes forever to clean out of the powder drop and the powder trickler.

Foo.c and I will head to the range in the morning. He’s going to let me use his chronograph to see how things perform. I’m going to take some other .223 ammo with me as well to get some “factory” readings for comparison.

Stay tuned.

Pulled the trigger

… so to speak.

Due to some wonderful gift cards I received for Christmas, I decided now was the time to get the Hornady Lock-n-Lock AP. This should allow me to churn out 9 mm and .38 Special reloads at a good pace. Right now I’m only going to focus on handgun reloads for such quantity. Eventually I’ll sink the money for rifle-based things (e.g. shell plates to hold .223, etc.).

The press and various supporting parts are all on order, thanx to foo.c checking my shopping list.

foo.c also recommended I check out powderfunnel.com’s Powder Through Expander die. Supposedly it’s universal and much easier to use.

Can’t wait!