Reloading

So you’re thinking about taking up reloading (also called hand loading), which is the process of building ammunition up from its component parts. Today’s ammo prices are at historic highs and sometimes we experience shortages of some calibers.  Reloading seems to be the answer to those important factors for many shooters.  There are plenty of considerations that go into the decision to start down the path. I’ve made most of the mistakes and enjoyed most of the pleasures of building ammo, so I thought I’d give you the benefit of my experience while you ponder your decision.

Safety - First and Foremost!  Know this!  If you decide to get into reloading or bullet casting, you owe it to yourself and your family to learn well and observe strictly the safety rules of these endeavors.  Like so many things in the shooting sports genre, the process is completely safe if all the rules are respected.  Take a few shortcuts or fail to learn the rules and disaster of the most serious variety will one day make you very regretful -- or maybe even very dead.

There are a lot of logical and illogical reasons to make your own ammo.  It’s almost never a good idea to think you can make some to sell “on the side” or give away to any but your closest friends.  I’ll get into that later, but please remove those from consideration right now.  Reducing your cost of shooting is valid in some circumstances but is not as good a justification as it might seem, even given the lofty price of “store bought” ammo these days. Quality of the product, in excess of “factory” ammo is a lofty and attainable goal but is not as easy to achieve as one might think. Some reasons that might not have occurred to you are; reloading is an enjoyable pastime/hobby, adequate supply of ammo for personal use is more controllable, and pursuit of quality cartridges is gratifyingly educational and can enhance your overall shooting experience.

This isn’t going to tell you how to make great ammo at home but it might help you with the question of if you should even try.

So, let's go through the facets of the discussion and I’ll tell you what I learned on my journey into the swamp of boolits, brass, primers and powder.  Lets define some terms first, so we’re on the same page together. A piece of handgun, rifle, or shotgun ammunition (cartridge) is made up of several basic components. Bullet (some of us like to call them boolits) -- the metal object that is pushed out of the cartridge and down the barrel by rapidly burning gunpowder (it does not, technically speaking, explode). Brass - a metallic canister typically formed of brass  - but also sometimes made of aluminum or steel - is the container which holds all of the components in place. Powder -- gunpowder, a powdery or flaky chemical substance which burns very rapidly once it is ignited. Primer -- a small, button-shaped, metallic object installed in the base of the brass which ignites the powder when the gun’s firing pin strikes it. So, if I have a bullet, a piece of brass, a primer, some gunpowder, and some tools, I can make a cartridge to fire in my gun. It’s not rocket science but, done safely, it does require the right tools and some education.

Time Out -- for a moment to address one of my pet peeves. We don't call the fully assembled product a bullet.  It’s a cartridge, dammit!  A bullet is only one piece of the total ammunition package - a metal projectile which is tossed downrange while the remainder of the cartridge is either retained in the gun for manual removal or ejected from a semi-auto as a part of the firing process.

Cost
Most everyone who gets into reloading thinks or talks about ammo cost as a primary - or at least a major - factor.  With my setup, I can build a box of 50 cartridges in the 357 S&W Magnum caliber for as little as $4.00.  Yep, a completely safe and relatively accurate .357 mag cartridge for about 20% of what I’d pay at the gun shop, internet or big box store. This $4 figure is achieved partly by using a boolit that I cast myself from scrap “lead” I get for free, while using store-bought boolits raises the cost by about $5 per box - or more.  The $4 figure also assumes I’m using brass (spent cases) I pick up at the range after they’re discarded by other shooters. If I have to buy brass, either used or new (aka virgin) the cost will go up by another $5 to $10 per box, depending on the caliber.

A 50-round box of fairly decent quality 9mm Luger can be had for something around $12 these days; cheaper if you get it on the internet in a 1,000 round batch.  The $4 minimum cost mentioned above is still valid for this caliber, so the saving is smaller, but still significant assuming the use of used brass and homemade boolits. If you have to resort to virgin brass and “factory” bullets (for those who want to shoot mostly/only jacketed bullets, the cost differential becomes very small.

Some consideration, therefore, should be given to which calibers and components will be reloaded to determine if the cost saving is really a factor. Cost saving amounts of “insignificant” to “enormous” are possible and depend on many factors, some of which are unknowable at the time of the initial decision. Most reloaders, myself included, would advise against starting the project if cost saving is the only or main reason - unless you shoot a helluva lot of ammo on a regular basis.

We haven’t discussed the cost of the tooling necessary for the job. Costs here vary greatly and depend on many factors, such as how much labor-saving you want, how much equipment quality you’re willing to pay for, the quality of the tools themselves and the quality of the ammo produced, etc.  Acquisition of a proper setup doesn’t stop with a press and a set of dies, either.  There is a myriad of $5, $10, and $20 accessories that you’ll probably decide you “have to have” once you’ve started wading into the pool on the shallow end. High quality ammunition can be made with an inexpensive single-stage press and some budget dies ($300 for the total package), but that arrangement requires a lot more operator time and a quality control protocol than, for instance, a professional-grade progressive press with all the appropriate accessories ($1,000 or more).

As with guns, the first set of tools will probably only lead to another “upgrade” but starting with the basics allows you to spend a smaller amount while learning enough about the subject to decide intelligently what you really want or need.  Remember also, that absorbing the cost of the equipment into each box of ammo produced is going to take a lot more time if you shoot 100 rounds a month, than if you shoot 500 a week.  Make out a spreadsheet and do the math; you might find that gun store ammo is cheaper for you than reloading your own.

Ammo Quality
Manufacturers of ammunition produce a very wide variety of products aimed at various segments of the shooting population.  Long range marksmanship, long range hunting, rifle, pistol, shotgun, plinking, self defense, and casual target shooting are but a few of the specific purposes for which ammunition of a given caliber can be tailored. Many very serious competitive marksmen make their own ammo simply because they can’t get the quality or consistency they demand for their specific niche from “over the counter” sources.  Most folks who reload don’t go to those extremes of quality assurance, but higher quality ammo than the internet or gun store’s “budget brands” is fairly easy to produce at home.

A $12 box of 9mm ammo from any of the current list of manufacturers is a compromise of several factors because the producer has no way of knowing how the consumer will use its product. Those compromises, and to the extent they are applied, result in a product that is acceptable (albeit sometimes marginally) for a wide range of uses but excellent for none.  Since most of us shooters spend the majority, or maybe the entirety, of our time engaged in one type of shooting per caliber it would be easy for us to tailor our ammo to fit our use.  In making our own ammo our choice of powder, boolits, brass, and primers can be combined, with some experience and testing, to produce a cartridge vastly better for our chosen purpose than the $12 box, or even most of the more expensive products.

Because we can build better quality ammo does that mean that we will; or even should? Again, this depends on what kind of shooter we are and what kind of shooting we do.  If you’ve gotten this far into reading this little epistle you’re most likely more than a 50-round-per-month shooter.  You’re at least serious about the sport, if not an outright enthusiast. Still, if you’re not driven to, and capable of, producing ever smaller groups on paper, and shoot more than a box of ammo twice a month, you should probably stick to store bought.  One proviso, however - if you seriously want to get a lot better at shooting and know that practice is what it takes to get there, reloading can help a lot with that mission because of the cost and quality of the ammo it takes to do that much practice.  Yes, you can get high quality ammo, engineered for a specific purpose, at the store but that drives the price way up; and buying a lot of ultra-cheap crap over the internet will disappoint once you realize that the quality of ammo has more to do with your shooting success than you ever imagined.

As A Hobby In Itself
Reloading is a manufacturing process that produces a product necessary to feed our shooting endeavors. Seldom, however, do reloaders see themselves simply as a laborer in a manufacturing process. We gain varying degrees of satisfaction and/or enjoyment from the time spent at the reloading bench.

… A great way to spend some time doing something constructive.
Reloading can eat up a lot of time.  Yeah, we hear stories about how someone’s setup is capable of turning out 600 rounds per hour but those are special situations.  The typical reloader spends a heck of a lot more time than that in the production of high quality specialized ammo, which requires painstaking attention to detail. Not many of us are in the game for mass production - we think of our setup more as an artist’s brush than a cookie cutter.

All that having been said, a couple of hours utilizing a well designed setup can produce enough high quality ammo for a competitive match or range session with the guys. This is, of course, after all the education and practice is behind you and you know what you’re doing; and remember that safety thing - no shortcuts here.

….. Working with your hands while challenging your mind.
One of the reasons many of us choose to spend time at the reloading bench is that we are challenged by the very complicated science of ballistics.  If you’re not a trained ballistics expert you probably have no idea how complicated handgun and rifle ammunition design happens to be. Choosing a powder and bullet size/shape/composition for a given cartridge is barely scratching the surface in the effort to produce ammo that best fits a particular need, let alone one that will adequately fit several needs.

Within limits, of course, a functional cartridge can be made from a variety of bullet lengths and diameters; perhaps as many as 10 or 20 combinations.  The best 9mm combination for a Glock 19 will most likely not be the best for a Beretta 92, even though both are built to spec for the “9mm Luger” caliber. This is because Glock and Beretta make barrels of differing bore diameters and the design of the rifling in their barrels is different.  Both will put holes in a “center mass” target from 7 yards pretty consistently with almost any commercial ammo, but getting a 2” 5-shot group from 25 yards will absolutely require ammo customized for the particular gun.

The myriad of component combinations provides an opportunity to fine-tune ammunition to fit your needs more precisely.

Supply problems
From time to time ammunition - either ammo in general or that of a particular caliber - becomes hard to find and/or ridiculously expensive.  These episodes are nothing new, although the rumors about causes of the problems seem to be getting more imaginative and rooted in paranoia. Empirical evidence seems to confirm, however, that upward price mobility always follows these temporary shortages.

Each of us active shooters prepares for these situations in different ways. It’s a wisdom born of pain.  Stockpiling or hoarding ammo of the caliber we shoot the most if one way of ensuring a personal supply against the possibility of shortages or rocketing prices. A prudent amount of “inventory expansion” - as I like to call it - entails quite a few decisions, however; any of which can easily be wrong -  leading to a waste of a lot of money. I once bought a buttload (yes, buttload is actually a real unit of measurement - albeit not currently in common use) of 9mm ammo and found later that the quality was not all that great, its suitability for my purposes was questionable, and the shortage I expected never happened.  I’ll eventually shoot it all (if I live long enough) but I could have put that money to better use if I’d made a better decision.

Reloading is a better way to prepare for shortages.  Having on hand a reasonable inventory of components allows me to produce a variety of ammo on more of an “as needed” basis to meet my particular - and changing - shooting needs. Sure, I keep an adequate supply of loaded ammo in the calibers and load varieties I shoot regularly, but I don’t have to keep an excess on hand to combat potential supply and price problems. A particular powder, for instance, can be used effectively for assorted loads in several calibers. Some boolits, even, can be used in different calibers. A stockpile of only 2 sizes of primers will cover virtually ALL handgun ammo.

Reloading components are not immune from occasional shortages and price increases but these events - when they do occur - seem to be of less frequency, intensity and shorter duration than for loaded ammo.

Ballistic Science
If you’re in the pilot's seat, pulling back on the stick will make the airplane go up and pushing forward on it will make the airplane go down, but that’s not enough education to qualify you as a 747 Captain.  The boolit comes out of the pointy end of the gun when your booger hook yanks on the trigger, but that’s not enough education to qualify you as a shooter.  In both of these “tongue in cheek” examples additional education is required to make you safe and a great deal more is required to make you even marginally “good at it.”

How you grip the gun, how you manipulate the trigger, how you view the sights, breathing control, your shooting stance, etc. are all factors in how effectively you can put the boolit on its mark. The extent to which we learn and execute the proper application of those, and other, basics of gun control also affects the amount of enjoyment and/or satisfaction we get from a range session or, God forbid, how successful we might be in a personal defense event.

Utilizing a decent quality gun and “store bought” ammo,  mastery of the shooting basics is achievable for most of us - given a reasonable amount of practice. Advanced education and a lot more practice can make some of us into much better than average shooters. If you throw good eyesight, talent, and desire into the mix a champion marksman or competitor might emerge. At this highest level, however, special guns and ammo are required because the personal skills of the operator have exceeded the capability of “production” guns and “consumer grade” ammunition.

As we strive to improve our shooting skills, education and experience with the science of ballistics can help by making us more aware of the various aspects of firearm operation. Reloading can provide an excellent and enjoyable means to acquire some or a lot of this knowledge as a very positive side effect. Combinations of boolit size/shape/weight and the type and amount of powder in a given caliber is almost unlimited. Each different combination will yield a dramatic or insignificant difference in the way a boolit will exit the muzzle and fly to the target. These variations have much more effect on the flight of the boolit than most shooters realize. Most combinations will not be good, some will be acceptable, and a few will provide excellent results - in terms of making a small group of holes at the appropriate place on the target. By controlling the variables in the construction of the ammo, we can learn about and control the ballistics of our shooting. The process is - concurrently - enjoyable, educational, and productive.

Don’t sell your reloads
Gun manufacturers typically insert language in the warranty that voids it if “reloads” are used.  There is a good reason for this.  “Store bought” ammo is guaranteed by its manufacturer (well, the vast majority of it is) to meet industry standards for various specifications. Ammo within these standards will not cause damage or excessive wear to a gun or its operator.  Since an individual reloader may not even know or have access to these standards, it is entirely possible the reloaded ammo might not comply. Ammunition manufacturers spend considerable sums of money on equipment and procedures to control the quality of their product. The level of quality assurance in Bubba’s workshop may or may not be high enough to prohibit a destructive event when the firing pin engages the primer.

For these and other reasons, reloads have a tarnished reputation among casual shooters, and especially those that know little or nothing about the reloading process.  I don’t feel insulted at all when a shooter declines to shoot reloads in his gun because there are plenty of true stories of Bubba's ammo blowing up his friend’s Glock. No, I’m not Bubba and I have absolutely no fear of my own ammo but that’s because I know how much care I put into my process and I have only myself to blame if I make a mistake.

So, Bubba is an excellent shooter and extremely sober, careful reloader.  He uses quality equipment and keeps it in good condition. He uses high quality components and matches them with proven recipes known to work safely in the gun involved.  Bubba is, however, a human and, as such, is capable of an innocent mistake.  Bubba’s mistake finds its way into Marcel’s Glock and it blows up in the Marcel’s face. Marcel’s widow is convinced by a shyster that the Court will award her Bubba’s house, bass boat, and pickup truck.  Bubba’s troubles are enormous no matter the final outcome.  All Bubba was trying to do was recoup the cost of his reloading components and a favor for his shooting buddy, Marcel.  It wasn’t worth it.  Keep your reloads to yourself.

Safety is the first and final word
In the aviation business we used to say; “Flying is 99.9% sheer boredom, punctuated by 0.1% stark terror.”  Thousands of commercial flights travel millions of miles with millions of passengers EVERY DAY without a single injury or fatality because the industry keeps safety as Job 1. I’ve loaded thousands of rounds of ammo in my workshop without a serious incident. Even the one minor “Oops” event I can remember in my shop was contained to that category, instead of escalating into an “Oh shit!”, because of adherence to established safety guidelines.

Safety is not free, and it can sometimes be inconvenient. Some safety protocols may even seem unnecessary or “that’s for pansies.” If you’re not willing to pay for and strictly adhere to the safety rules, please don’t get into reloading. It just ain’t worth the risk.

Respectfully Submitted
The Bunker Bunch
July, 2016

Ruger GP100

Sturm, Ruger & Co. has, over the years, made some of America’s finest handguns – revolvers included. In contrast to many of its competitors, Ruger has consistently improved the design quality of its product and customer service and is among the best in the industry in these categories. Lacking a longer tradition of wheel gun manufacturing from the 19th century, the company’s guns are better known for their robust construction, durability, and high quality “fit ‘n finish” than for their adherence to “traditional” design.  The GP100 is a prime example of this characterization of Ruger’s mission.

Once available only in the powerful .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum (357 mag) caliber but recently also offered in .22 Long Rifle (22lr), the GP100 is built like a tank but has a very stylish appearance. Like most other 357 mag guns, the GP will fire .38 Smith & Wesson Special (38 spl) ammo just fine. Unlike some of its competitors, however, which give up some of their accuracy when 38 spl is used, the GP manages to retain its great accuracy with the shorter 38 spl cartridge. This isn’t such a big thing for those who re-load their own cartridges and can make “downloaded” 357 mag ammo which produces the same (or even less) felt recoil as the milder 38 spl.  For those who buy “store-bought” ammo, however, the cost and felt recoil of shooting 38 spl is significantly lower and the comparable accuracy (38 spl vs. 357 mag) of the GP is a very big plus in this situation.

The GP100’s cylinder has 6 chambers in 357 mag (10 for the 22 lr) and is a double action (D/A) revolver, meaning a pull of the trigger will advance the cylinder and cock the hammer if it is not already cocked, prior to letting the hammer fall.  It can also be operated in single action (S/A) mode, where a trigger pull allows the cocked hammer to fall.  For personal defense, the D/A option provides a safe condition for carry because of a safety feature called the “transfer bar,” which prevents the hammer from igniting a primer unless the trigger is activated - even with an extreme blow to the back of the hammer, as in getting dropped directly onto the protruding hammer spur.  Inclusion of the transfer bar allows the GP100 to be carried with the hammer down on a loaded chamber without fear of unintentional discharge.

The GP100 is a bit “beefy” in comparison to similar sized revolvers -- both contemporary counterparts and historical examples of handguns in this class.  This gives it a look, feel, and reality of strength and endurance but does not endear it to those who would use it as a daily carried personal defense weapon.  With the right holster, however, as with slightly lighter revolvers of yesteryear, there’s no reason not to consider it for such duty.  Many law enforcement officers have walked around their entire career with such a “six-gun” strapped to their waist, and the GP adds the enhancement of powerful 357 firepower to that situation.  Given that 357 mag ballistic energy rivals that of the .45 ACP, deployment of the 357 mag in a defense situations gives up very little in terms of “knock-down” power or round capacity in comparison.

The GP100 comes with a fiber optic front sight and an adjustable rear sight in both 357 and 22 models.  The adjustable rear is a “must” for target shooters and allows fine tuning the gun to a shooter’s personal shooting style rather than the shooter having to adapt to the gun.  It also allows any shooter to become as accurate as possible with far less practice than guns with fixed sighting systems. Some “luddite” (tongue firmly in cheek) marksmen do not prefer the fiber optic front sight but this can be easily changed to something more traditional.

Ruger produces the GP100 in several variations, including differences in caliber, finish, and barrel length.  There are also "distributor exclusives" that add various upgrades desireable to some shooters. The Bunker Bunch has been using a stainless 357 mag 6" version for some time now and it is one of our two "go to" guns for testing 357 mag and 38 spl ammo.  We've just recently acquired a 22 lr model and will be reviewing both here.

Both of our GP100's are used exclusively at the range for target shooting. We use neither as a "self defense" (carry gun) nor a "home defense" (available around the house for intruder defense) gun. To meet our use, we've enhanced our 357 mag version to have a VERY light, crisp, and smooth single action trigger pull. This is desirable for us shooters to get as much accuracy from the gun as we are capable of imparting through the "man/machine" interface.  We would never use a gun with this kind of trigger feel in a defense situation where extra adrenaline might make for an "twitchy trigger finger."  The 22 lr version is new enough that we've not yet made that upgrade but we'll do so shortly - after a reasonable break-in period - and, after modification, we expect the trigger feel to be virtually the same on both guns.

The size and shape of the two versions of the same model are not identical. Barrel length, etc. are different, but the overall package is matched ergonomically so that the balance and general "feel" of the gun in hand are extremely close.  The "grip frame" is interchangeable and the mechanical design (if not the actual size of the parts) is the same. The 357 mag version comes in both "blued" and stainless models and is available in several barrel lengths.  The 22 lr version is, currently, available only in stainless and only with a 5.5" barrel.

Product descriptions are available at: http://www.ruger.com/products/gp100/models.html
Both of our guns came equipped with the very nice looking and moderately ergonomic rubber grip with wood insert panels as shown in the above picture.  Our preference, generally, for marksmanship exercises with revolvers is the Hogue rubber finger-groove grip and we've installed that one on our 357 mag.  The 22 lr will get that grip when we do the trigger enhancement.

Ruger revolvers have quite a reputation among wheel gun pistoliers for their robust construction (especially the Super Redhawk) and the GP100 is no exception.  We put a lot of rounds through our range guns and we have no fear of ever wearing out a Ruger.  While we don't make a habit of firing "full boat" maximum pressure loads at extended range sessions, we always drag out the Ruger when testing those kinds of loads because we’re confident the GP will not be adversely affected even if one is inadvertently slightly "overloaded."  We’d never knowingly fire a grossly overloaded cartridge but there's plenty of "beef" built into these guns, especially in the dimensions of the cylinder bore and frame dimensions, where ammunition ignition stresses are brought to bear.

Our experience with the 22 lr version is not yet extensive enough to form a solid opinion of its accuracy capability.  We are, however, favorably impressed with its performance so far and are cautiously optimistic that it will attain a ranking in this category as high as our highly prized S&W Model 17s (aka K22).

In conclusion; we’ve found the GP100 in 357 mag to be one of our most favored revolvers, and expect the 22 lr version to be a similarly valued addition to the stable.  Its inherent accuracy and ergonomics make it easier to shoot accurately than many others. With the proper ammo, this is a gun that’s just plain fun to shoot all day long.

Respectfully Submitted
The Bunker Bunch
July, 2016

S&W22 Victory

Contrary to normal practice in the firearms industry, the Smith & Wesson SW22 Victory became widely available for consumer purchase soon after its initial public announcement - instead of the lengthy marketing run up normally allocated to the process of new product launch.  We saw this gun at a dealer show in early January and two showed up at our local shop - The AR Bunker - a few days later.  All of us wanted to shoot this beauty the minute we laid hands on it at the show but we couldn’t agree on which of us would actually make the purchase, so a few days of good-natured bickering finally produced a volunteer.

The Victory is, among its other virtues, an extremely ergonomic pistol.  Our small band of pistoliers consists of shooters with a wide variety of hand sizes and shapes, so there is no handgun that is “perfect” for all of us.  The Victory is no exception but it comes as close to the mark as any we’ve tested in a long while. It gets scores of “very good” or “excellent” from all of us, with more of the latter than the former. One of us even deemed it “a perfect fit.” The grip shape is wide where it needs to be wide and thin where it needs to be thin.  The bottom of the backstrap is nicely curved forward to prevent it from digging in at the bottom of the palm of the strong hand. Trigger placement is a nice compromise of fore and aft, which, along with its carefully crafted shape, accommodates both long and short fingered shooters.

Standard equipment includes front and rear fiber optic sights and the rear sight is fully adjustable for elevation and windage.  While many target shooting champions do not favor fiber optic sights, these are not so bright that they distract from the sight picture, but do aid in quick acquisition.  A picatinny rail mount is included with the purchase package and can be easily installed in lieu of the rear sight for those who might want to mount a red dot or other optic instead of the “iron sights.” Magazines are 10-round capacity and S&W also includes an extra - which is almost unheard of these days with new 22 pistols.

Stainless steel is found throughout. Frame, barrel, receiver, and bolt are all stainless, lending weight and durability to the gun.  The Victory is not a dedicated, high-end target pistol like it’s S&W 41 cousin (which costs almost three times as much) nor is it a lightweight utility/plinker/varmint shooter, but it is suitable for either use while its cost is much closer to the latter than the former.  The plentiful use of stainless steel provides the weight necessary for accurate target shooting and the ruggedness that withstands shuffling around in a backpack or other outdoor recreational activities.

Take down (field stripping) does require a tool but it is a common allen wrench which is included with purchase and is the only tool required. Once one screw is removed, the entire upper assembly - consisting of the receiver, barrel, and bolt - disconnects from the frame and this simple process reveals all that is necessary for routine cleaning.  Further disassembly of parts in the bolt and receiver - for those more mechanically inclined or experienced - are also very straightforward with common tools, making more detailed maintenance easy to perform.

Putting the Victory through its paces at the range was a real eye-opener.  As much as we all liked the looks of this pistol, appreciated its weight and balance, and admired its design and engineering, we were doubtful that S&W could pull off a “real winner” for the target shooter at this price point.  We thought; “there must be a wart or two somewhere on this princess.” After about 50 rounds each we were all smiles, with astonished comments flowing freely between us. Quickly throwing a few rounds at a steel target from 25 yards let us know that some serious accuracy would be available from this chunk of silver delight.

The trigger is not a “world class” contraption as would be found in competition pistols costing $1,500 or $2,500, breaking like a glass rod, and tripping the sear at 2.5 lbs of pull weight.  It is, however, more than competent for the kind of serious marksmanship practiced by mere mortals. Combined with the overall ergonomics of the pistol, its trigger will not prevent the average shooter from reaching his/her full accuracy potential.  Said another way, the Victory’s trigger will allow a “fair-to-middlin” shooter to achieve tighter groups. For those that know the terms, there is a small amount of take-up, followed by a very small amount of creep, and then the break is very crisp.  There is also an over-travel adjustment for those who want to tweak it.

3” to 4” inch groups, at 25 yards, freehand, with bulk ammo were achieved on our first outing with the Victory. Feeding the Victory a variety of inexpensive bulk ammo, we had no failures to feed or fire attributable to the gun. It even functioned perfectly with subsonic ammo, which chokes many pistols not fitted with a suppressor. Our experience on the first outing leads us to expect some very pleasant results when we get to test the beast again after some more break-in and with some premium ammo from a bench rest.

In summary, this gun is an ideal balance between design, engineering, and ergonomics.  Form does not give way to function, nor vice versa.  Our examination (2 of our group are highly qualified gunsmiths) revealed a high level of build quality and no obvious design features that would predict failure.  The design is simple and straightforward.  Rube Goldberg was definitely NOT invited to this party, and his absence portends long life and reliability for the pistol.  Parts and materials seem to be of very high quality and build quality is as good as we’ve seen in modern firearms.

The SW22 Victory belongs in a class with the Ruger Mk III and the Browning Buckmark, at least in terms of build quality, reliability, and ruggedness and is every bit as good as those other two; but is a better pistol out of the box as a target shooting competitor. (Way better than the Ruger in terms of ease-of-maintenance).  So, it ain’t a S&W 41 nor a Hammerli Xesse but it also ain’t $1,300 and most shooters will never achieve the skill level necessary to justify the extra expense of those high-end models.

Respectfully Submitted
The Bunker Bunch
June, 2016

PS: The SW22 Victory is in stock and available from The AR Bunker.  More info and specs are available from www.smith-wesson.com

Remington Golden Bullets

The ubiquitous .22lr is, probably, the most popular caliber in use today.  Several factors influence its popularity, including soft recoil, relatively inexpensive ammunition cost, and vast number of firearms owned which are chambered for the cartridge. The expansive number of shooters who employ the “22” for recreational purposes (plinking at tin cans, varmint hunting, casual marksmanship, etc.) mostly seek inexpensive ways to pursue their efforts, and the Remington 22 Golden Bullet HP (GB) has become very popular among this crowd. Frequently, perusal of .22lr ammo at one’s local sporting goods store or gun shop will result in the GB having the lowest price among the selection available.  Also, availability of the GB seems to be among the most consistent in today’s tight supply environment.

Among more serious rimfire operators the GB has a (mostly undeserved, as we shall propose here) reputation for low quality and reliability.  During some serious, objective tests, our little band of pistoliers found this notoriety to be mostly false; or at least greatly exaggerated. Make no mistake, this epistle is NOT intended to imply the GB is a high quality product.  It is not in the same league with the match grade .22lr ammo on the market in terms of accuracy, consistency or reliability.  So, it is not, deservedly, the first choice of marksmen who place great value on reliability of ignition and ultimate accuracy from a given firearm. Neither, not surprisingly, does the price of the GB reside in the lofty heights of that “match grade” ammo.

Accuracy
Choice of ammunition has a greater effect on where a bullet will impact a target than most shooters realize.  Shooter skill, ammunition quality, and firearm quality - in that order - are the most important factors in placing bullets close to an intended point of impact. A shooter with minimal-to-moderate skills cannot expect to dramatically improve his/her performance by buying expensive guns and ammo.  For someone, however, who has excellent shooting skills and a firearm proven to be capable of exploiting them, choice of ammunition can dramatically decrease the size of a bullet impact group on a paper target, or the chance of delivering a first shot deadly blow to a game animal.

Our extensive experience with all kinds of shooting, especially rimfire, dictates the use of a much higher quality ammo than the GB when we’re engaged in serious competition.  When we’re just practicing trigger control or some other facet of shooting, where very tight groups are nice but not essential, the GB - and other “budget” products - provide excellent choices for minimizing the cost of that kind of shooting.  Ammo cost should not deter a marksman from engaging in enough practice to hone his/her skills

Performance
We recently tested several brands/grades of .22lr ammunition to verify the manufacturer’s claims of velocity.  Included in these tests was the size of impact groups on a paper target at 25 yards.  We did not test longer range results, which would be more impacted by velocity variations and by design and ballistic coefficient of the bullets because that was not the focus of our curiosity.  In our tests, the GB demonstrated muzzle velocities very close to Remington’s claims and a very good consistency of the velocity from shot to shot.  Other things being equal, these results place the product in the “good” category.

While the GB provided Point of Impact (POI) groups about the same as its “budget” competitors, it did fall short of generating the kind of “one ragged hole” performance of the much higher priced “match grade” ammo we included in the tests.  When you can achieve groups of 2” (average) from a pistol, handheld, on a bench rest, at 25 yards, over and over again, you’re a good shooter, your gun is a good one, and your ammo is “decent-to-good.”  This is what we got with the GB.  Admittedly, the “match grade” ammo produced notably smaller groups - as expected.

While we’re at it, we must note that just because a manufacturer claims a product is “match grade” is no guarantee. Neither is price an exact measure of accuracy or consistency capability.  Further research is necessary to determine the true “value” of a particular cartridge.

Reliability
The .22lr cartridge in general is far less reliable than its centerfire cousin.  It’s not the caliber but the ignition method and mass production characteristics that control this more than anything else. There seems to be more of a variation in quality from the various manufacturers in their various products of the same caliber, and there are greater differences in various factors within this caliber among the manufacturers.

When we couple these differences with the fact that “22” semi-auto pistols and rifles are frequently “ammo sensitive” we find that a particular firearm will function more reliably with one brand of ammo over another.  There are pistols and rifles out there that will function perfectly with CCI Mini-Mags but are “spotty” with the GB or the Federal Champion (Federal’s budget offering), and some guns work well no matter what they’re fed - but that’s a topic for another article.

The GB does not function perfectly in all semi-autos, although there are plenty of popular guns out there that “like” it as well as anything else.  Neither do the “budget” products from other manufacturers. So, in terms of semi-auto function, a particular gun will “like” some ammo and not others.  It’s a crapshoot, and the GB is not more to be scorned than others in its category.

Also, an occasional misfire (failure of the primer to ignite the powder charge) might be a nuisance, but the degree to which a particular shooter will find it offensive is very subjective and varies widely.  Some will endure the inconvenience in exchange for lower cost while others will pay a higher cost to eliminate the irritation. Also, in serious marksmanship competition a failure to fire or feed is more important than when pushing a tin can along the ground at the range for fun with one's buddies.

When we eliminate the “semi-auto malfunction” variable from the question by testing with revolvers, we can more accurately evaluate the “ignition quality” of the GB and others.  Among our small group of pistoliers, several are very serious shooters.  Any malfunction experienced - no matter the casual nature of the particular shooting exercise - demands an immediate detailed inspection and diagnosis of the problem.  For these folks, failure to hit the bullseye or produce a small group can be acceptably excused if it’s “fog on my glasses” or “too much caffeine this morning” but a firearm related or ammo related malfunction is cause for much distress. Since we have to rely on manufacturers for our .22lr ammo (we hand load almost all of our centerfire ammo) each of us has a sincere preference.  Even so, budget constraints will keep the $10/box stuff in the range bag unless the friendly casual competition gets intense.

Without objective, data based, testing some of us began to refer to the GB as “Golden Misfire” and began to shun its inclusion in our regular range activities.  For reasons lost in the mists of time, one of us had accumulated a large inventory of GB and was averse to the purchase of a replacement while thousands of rounds of GB remained on the shelf.  So, with plenty of testing fodder available, and a desire to determine if the “Golden Misfire” moniker was undeserved, objective analysis was undertaken.

Using both older stock GB (more than 3 or 4 years old) which had been stored in cool, dry conditions and newer purchases (got a deal too good to pass up) the notorious GB was fired exclusively in several range exercises from a S&W Model 17 (.22lr 6-shot revolver), a Browning Buckmark, and a S&W 22 Victory.  Both of these semi-autos are NOT ammo sensitive, so their impact on the purely “ignition performance” test was not a disqualifying factor. The question, then, became; “How many GB’s can be fired consecutively without an ignition failure?”

Round 1: 76 rounds (77th round failed to ignite).
Round 2: 99 rounds (100th round failed to ignite).

A test protocol of “How many out of 100 will ignite?” would probably have been better but this is what we chose. Together with previous, less formal but still objective, experience shooting lots of GB (due to the massive inventory and Scrooge-like aversion to new purchases), we determined:

Conclusions:
GB will fail to ignite occasionally. Acceptable frequency is subjective.
GB is about as accurate as all but the much higher cost truly match grade ammo.
GB will fail to function some semi-autos but not much more so than its direct competition.
GB velocities (important for hunting) are very close to what’s advertised.
GB provides a decent value in today’s cost environment.
GB does not, in our humble opinion, deserve the “Golden Misfire” reputation.

Respectfully Submitted
The Bunker Bunch

June, 2016

The Monsignor MAX

Basic Sig Sauer 1911 MAX

Most shooters don't think immediately of Sig when the discussion turns to the 1911 platform.  Sig Sauer got into the 1911 game a bit late and had some false starts with its early version of the venerable John Moses Browning design but corrected their shortcomings rather quickly, and today's basic Sig 1911 is as good as any production offering; and better than most.

To take it's already good product and tweak it to the max (pun intended), Sig had the captain of it's competitive shooting team, Max Michel, collaborate on the design of a "purpose built" gun for the competitive shooter - IDPA, USPSA, IPSC, and the like - who prefers the 1911 platform.  It also happens to work well for those who don't compete but do appreciate ultra accuracy and maximum ergonomics for marksmanship/bullseye exercises.

See our earlier review of the Sig MAX here:

http://thebunkerbunchblog.blogspot.com/2014/10/sig-1911-max.html

And now we have the "Monsignor MAX"

After putting a few hundred rounds downrange with the pistol just as it was received from Sig, we (The Bunker Bunch) decided it was a real winner but reasoned it could use a bit of trigger tweaking to make it perfect for our purposes.  The unit was spirited off to the secret engineering and customization lair of Monsignor Maddox for a little of his exquisite magic.  When the gun resurfaced from the depths of the wizard's workshop all any of us could say was: "Nirvana!"

Already a familiar number in our range-day repertoire, the MM (Monsignor Max) emerged from its elegantly padded velvet bag at the range to heightened expectations, and we were neither surprised nor disappointed with the result. The Bunker Bunch can be said to be "a tough crowd" when it comes to evaluating handgun performance because we all have enough shooting experience with lots of makes and models to appreciate a gun at the top of its class in a given category. Because we had hyped ourselves with a bit of dry-firing, and all have some experience with the piece prior to its upgrade, a few rounds each enabled us to conclude the session with comments like: "Yep, that's the Ultimate Shooting Machine!  You did a great job with this one, Monsignor."

We didn't set this gun up to be a "service," "every day carry," or "personal defense" weapon.  It is strictly a range gun that we expect to produce a very small group of holes in a paper target, and trigger feel is an extremely important aspect for this type of firearm. The shooter must be able to impart his skills to the gun's mechanism seamlessly and effortlessly if the bullets are to go where they should, and any defect in the design or craftsmanship of the gun imparts some degree of barrier to the perfection of that man-machine interface.

Trigger pull weight was reduced from an already "good" level of something like 4 pounds to an impressive 2.375 pounds; and the trigger reset was reduced to a bare minimum consistent with range safety. Because the Sig MAX is already a very high quality competition piece, our gunsmith didn't have to deal with any of the other sloppy trigger imperfections that are found in most production guns.

Upon intense debriefing, the Monsignor revealed that, in the case of the MAX, Sig had installed some extremely high quality parts from outside sources (e.g. the EGW sear) in areas where they mattered; eliminating the necessity of upgrading certain components to achieve a truly exquisite custom build. A bit of polishing was all that was really necessary to bring out the trigger performance we sought.  Of course, the "bit of polishing" comment is in the context of being spoken by a gunsmith that REALLY knows what he's doing - not one of the 90% who are wannabe hacks and use that use the "gunsmith" moniker all to loosely. Also, that "bit of polishing" has to be applied to just the right spots on just the right parts or it is either unnecessary, counter-productive, or downright dangerous.

If you want the equivalent of a $3 - $4,000 (or more) "custom" 1911 with a truly "wish-off" trigger for a WHOLE LOT LESS, get yourself a Sig 1911 MAX ($1,500 - $1,600 estimated street price) and have the AR Bunker's resident "magician", Monsignor Maddox, upgrade your beauty to his Ultimate Shooting Machine standard.  The dollars you spend on this gun and the upgrade will be the best shooting dollars you've ever - or likely ever will - spend.

Respectfully Submitted;

The Bunker Bunch
May, 2016

S&W 627 V-Comp

Most premium firearms manufacturers have a “Custom Shop” or “Performance Center” in which their standard model guns are assembled with a higher degree of craftsmanship and accessorized with features that make them more desirable for specific facets of shooting sports or more discriminating buyers.  The Smith and Wesson Performance Center has a long and storied reputation for turning out some mighty fine pieces; highly prized by their owners.

The model 27 of today is a .357 Magnum revolver which evolved from its beginnings as the S&W “Registered Magnum” introduced in 1935.  Even though it was brought to market during the great depression and was extremely expensive, sales flourished and production was backlogged most of the time.  The model was popular with law enforcement agencies during its early years because of its durability and use of the powerful .357 Magnum cartridge. General George Patton carried a 27 along with his Colt Peacemaker and referred the S&W his “killing gun.”

Fitted with a stainless steel frame in 1986, the 27 became known as the 627. In 1996 the performance center began production of the 8-cylinder version, with variants available such as a compensator fitted to reduce muzzle flip, and various barrel lengths. We evaluated the 627 V-Comp variant (shown above) which is fitted with Hogue rubber finger-groove grips, adjustable target sights, and muzzle compensator. Its frame and barrel shroud is finished in a dull black color, with compensator, cylinder, trigger, and hammer sporting a natural satin stainless finish.

As with most other PC (S&W Performance Center) guns, the fit and finish of the 627 V-Comp is more than merely excellent – exquisite is an adjective that comes to mind – and this is not just in the exterior aesthetics but in the precise fitting on mating surfaces of interior parts and spring choices. Trigger operation in revolvers during double action mode moves not only the hammer but effectuates the revolving of the cylinder.  To make all these parts move smoothly requires more than just “production line” attention to detail and the PC pulls it off with superior aplomb.  The assembly technician who crafted the one we tested absolutely, positively knew what he/she was doing.

A light trigger weight is desirable for target shooters.  It allows an experienced target shooter to concentrate on factors other than trigger management when attempting very tight groups and allows for use of the desirable concept that hammer fall should be a surprise.  Very light rifle triggers are measured in ounces and a 4 lb. handgun trigger weight would be considered very light by combat or defense type handgun standards.  We use the term “wish off” (a mere wish of the shooter will cause the trigger to trip the sear) to describe an extremely light trigger pull weight – one in the 2 – 3 lb. range.  Weights in this range are considered too light by some very accomplished shooters, and 3 – 4 lbs. is probably the most common preferred weight among expert target marksmen.

A reputable manufacturer would not even put a “target” model gun on the market, much less a performance center or custom shop variant, if its trigger was not smooth and crisp, so the piece we tested was certainly no surprise.  We had absolutely no criticism of the trigger feel in this regard.
The 627 V-Comp we tested had a 4 lb. trigger pull weight in single action mode. While this is above “wish off” status, it most certainly is in the “very light” class and could be easily lightened further by a competent gunsmith if the owner wanted it so.  With the other excellent ergonomic features of this gun, a lighter trigger seems not be be necessary for an experienced shooter to achieve excellent results.

The .357 Magnum caliber can be a handful with a light gun; and downright brutal with a very light gun. Also, muzzle flip is accentuated with this powerful round, compared to 38 Special, 9 mm, and even most .45 ACP handguns.  The compensator fitted to the V-Comp directs some of the muzzle blast upward, directly offsetting the muzzle flip tendency and reducing the perceived recoil somewhat.  Recoil perception is further reduced by the Hogue rubber grip. Together, the blast management features of the V-Comp tame the beast to a manageable state and allow extended range sessions without hand/wrist/arm fatigue.  If loaded with some “low-recoil” .357 ammo, or .38 Special, the gun becomes a real pussycat – not much above .22lr in felt recoil.

We gave the V-Comp a work out as if it were a dedicated target gun.  It could, however, be a very suitable self-defense weapon under the right circumstances.  Its weight is less than many .357 Magnum revolvers and certainly no more than almost all but the sub-compact “pocket rockets” on the market today.  Accentuating its utility as a carry piece is its 8-shot capacity, which exceeds almost all other center fire revolvers (regardless of caliber). While its size is not, perhaps, well suited for concealed every day carry, the V-Comp would be an excellent choice as a sidearm for most outdoor recreational activities.

It almost goes without saying (but we will anyway) that the V-Comp is a very accurate handgun.  We tried a variety of factory and hand load ammo to test this aspect.  While some ammo did better than others in this evaluation, everything we put through it produced acceptably small groups and some were simply outstandingly small.  This gun is really very easy to shoot well.  This is one of those rare cases where a moderately skilled shooter can improve his scores by simply laying out some cash for a better tool.

Our overall impression of this example of S&W PC goodness is, simply, WOW!  Perhaps it’s not the best revolver ever but it’s (of the ones we’ve come across) easily the best “out of the box” handgun we’ve ever experienced.  Additionally, the gun is a very good, if not great, value.  If a consumer paid to add the features included with the V-Comp, and the fine-tuning of the operational parts, he/she would spend many more dollars than what is required to get the package from the get-go.

Any wheel gun aficionado would be very proud to own the V-Comp.  It is a real joy to shoot.

Respectfully,
The Bunker Bunch

Smith & Wesson K-Frame Revolvers

Long, long ago, right here in our very own galaxy, on our watery blue planet, meticulously quality-conscious partners Smith & Wesson designed and produced revolvers based on a medium-sized frame. The company’s variously sized frames were designated using alphabet letters, with the smaller “J-Frame” and mid-sized “K-Frame” models becoming the most popular. Even today, these models are commonly chosen by discriminating wheelie shooters and remain good sellers despite the increasingly popular pizazz of tacti-cool semi-autos.

Recently we came across two examples of S&W’s stellar quality from 45 years ago in the form of a Model 17-3 and a Model 19-3 – both with 6” barrels and accessorized as the “Target” variant (oversized grip panels, adjustable rear sight, etc.). They came out of the S&W factory in 1970 and were purchased in 1972. These one-owner guns were fired a very few times and then properly stored so that their condition today is no less than “mint.” Even the boxes and original paperwork show very little handling wear. They will not, however, become safe queens. While the fit ‘n finish of Smiths from this era is excellent, the real beauty of the K-frames is their operational beauty much more so than their aesthetic beauty. The triggers are crisp and smooth, and they print lead consistently right on point of aim.

S&W offered the various K-frame models in numerous configurations (more so then than now) to accommodate various shooting styles and purposes, such as competition, target, self-defense, concealed carry, etc.  With the growing popularity of semi-autos, revolvers are in less demand today for some of these activities.  In the ‘60’s and 70’s, though, a K-frame revolver with a 6” barrel was about as good as it gets for target and competition shooting.  There were some mighty fine Colt wheelies around in those days as well; before Colt started – a few years later – its downhill slide in quality.

And, as good as the Smiths of those days were, a few were produced with slightly “off-spec” chamber bores which caused accuracy problems with certain ammo.  Test-firing the wheelies is the best was to determine if a particular serial number is one of the “good ones” (likely), so our intention was to give the newly found treasures a good workout with various ammo of known quality. Knowing already that the aesthetics and trigger feel were superior, it remained only to be proven that bullets could be thrown from the beasts with equal excellence.

The 17 (22lr) and 19 (357mag) we found contentedly resting in storage were inspected, oiled up, and taken out for some exercise at our first opportunity. 2” and 3” paper targets and 5” and 8” steel swinging targets were set up on the backstop so that firing could be accomplished at 10 and 25 yard distances.  A Caldwell front rest was set up on the bench so that most of the “shooter-induced” variance could be eliminated from the some of the tests.

A course of fire was followed for each of the guns to gauge its inherent accuracy and the ergonomic qualities which lead to the shooter being able to utilize the gun’s quality without distraction.

A few rounds were fired from each to familiarize the shooter with the sight picture and trigger feel, and to allow for sight adjustment.  During these tests, which were not really intended to gauge the accuracy of the gun, it became apparent that they were “keepers.”  Only a minor adjustment in the sight was necessary to bring the bullet hole group to point of aim, and the size of the group was surprisingly small – although not the real goal of these first few shots. With a bit of trigger time and sight tweaking out of the way, we were ready to subject the Smiths to some more rigorous accuracy tests.

One of our Bunch is a former competition champion who can regularly print groups of the half-inch variety at 10 yards (standing; freehand) on a good day – given a decent gun and ammo.  Both the 17 and 19 easily produced this kind of result, and our shooter reported the clean, crisp triggers aided in the production of the excellent results.  A big smile was noted on the face of the shooter after each session.

Next we moved to the Caldwell rest to allow for some 25 yard shooting from a sitting position.  We loaded up some ammo from a questionable (not safety related, but accuracy challenged) and got disappointing results.  It seems the venerable S&W was not capable of straightening out ammo that lacked the design quality to fly on a consistent vector.  Changing to our benchmark 357 cartridges (ones that have been accurate in other guns) settled the situation down, giving a 1 5/8” group at very close to point of aim.  Experience tells us that the group would have been “one ragged hole” if shot from a Ransom Rest.

Pretty amazing accuracy for 25 yards.  Two of the 5 shots went through one hole and the entire group would fit into the trigger guard. Forget that the group is at the bottom of the circle - that's where the shooter was aiming.

All of the above shooting was done in single action mode, where the hammer is “thumb-cocked” instead of being drawn back by trigger movement, because maximum “target-shooting” accuracy is attainable from a double action revolver when fired in this manner. Evaluation of the guns utilizing double action trigger mode is less important when the gun’s intended use is target marksmanship than it would be in some competition regimes or self-defense training/practice, but evaluation of the gun for its overall quality in that mode is important nevertheless.

While these guns are intended for “target marksmanship” use, evaluation of the D/A (double action) operation was carried out to determine the overall build quality of the pieces.  Remembering that both of these guns are, for all intents and purposes, brand new (fewer than 100 rounds on the 17-3 and fewer than 40 rounds on the 19-3) some “stiffness” or “roughness” is to be expected in D/A operation. 

The 17-3, to our very pleasant surprise for a gun not yet broken-in, handled like butter throughout the D/A pull on all chambers.  The trigger movement was smooth and consistent all the way back to the “break” with no “stacking” (variation in trigger pull weight along the way) and this made for achievement of excellent D/A accuracy.

The 19-3 exhibited a mildly unpleasant feel during D/A trigger actuation.  The pull weight was about as heavy as we expected and the weight was consistent (no stacking) but there were a couple of spots on a couple of chambers where there was some extra drag or roughness, as if one piece of the mechanism was having to overcome a burr or rough spot on another piece.  This is not unusual in any new gun and is typical of S&W’s of the era.  The condition will most probably work its way out as a few hundred rounds are fired and, if not, a qualified gunsmith will be able to polish a part or two and render the operation flawless.  Aside from this “glitch” the D/A feel is good-to-excellent and will (one way or another) not degrade the quality rating of this piece.

In conclusion, K-Frame Smiths from the late 60’s and early 70’s are excellent guns.  The operational quality of the two we reviewed here is seriously above average for these models and a better shooting mid-sized revolver in 22lr or 357mag would be hard to find.

Respectfully Submitted

The Bunker Bunch

September, 2015