reloading: more chrono, pulldown powder, and even some retail .22LR

The day was going to be cloudy, which means the solar will struggle but the cheap Amazon chrono will be happy.

I set up a folding table, chair, and the chrono (on tripod) with a 10ft berm backstop.

8x57mm Mauser

First up was retail PPU 198gr FMJ. Averaged 2,297fps out of the 29.5” barrel, for 2,319ft-lbs of energy. PPU is known for light loading so that tracks.

cartridges made from pulled-down components

Is this a Bad Idea for someone like me who is new to reloading? Probably. But I approached it methodically and I’m still alive to tell the tale.

I’d accidentally bought some 8x57mm JRS because I didn’t know Rimmed 8mm Mauser existed. I saw the dusty box of Sellier & Bellot 8x57mm on the shelf and snagged it like Gollum on the Precious. Durrrrrr….

I used a bullet puller to remove the 196gr SPCE projectiles and powder. I deprimed carefully with a universal deprimer.

Re-using pulled bullets is common practice but re-using primers and powder is not, especially when we don’t know what the powder is.

My thinking:

1. the JRS and JS case dimensions are extremely close once we disregard the rim. There is a ~2° difference in the shoulder angle but it’s imperceptible to the eye and I don’t think it could materially affect case volume.
2. There were 17 cartridges to be pulled down, so if I collect all of it and weight it the divide by 17 I should see the charge weight of the powder.
3. If I round down to the next whole number that should give me the max¹ charge, 48gr in this case.
4. 90% of the “max” will be serve as the starting load and 95% will be the middle load.
5. there is published loading data for the 196gr S&B SPCE projectiles

the results

The starting load averaged 2,297fps, for 2,296ft-lbs. The max load averaged 2,531fps, for 2,787ft-lbs. Every round went bang and every primer held together. A successful experiment, IMO.

retail .22LR

.22LR

No, I’m not reloading rimfire. But while I had the chrono out I might as well show that fantastic little cartridge² some love.

I shot both Remington High Velocity 40gr plated (what I think Remington now calls “Golden Bullet” and what appears to be Remington Thunderbolt 40gr lead RN.

high velocity / golden bullet

Out of the ~16” Henry AR-7 they averaged 1,248fps (138ft-lbs). Out of the 4.5” Stoeger Luger barrel they averaged 1,073fps (102ft-lbs).

Remington Thunderbolt

I had what appeared to be Thunderbolts (unplated lead RN) in the magazines and also loose in an unmarked container. These averaged 1,154fps (118ft-lbs) in the rifle and 1,022fps (93ft-lbs) in the pistol. The Stoegers are infamous for being finicky about ammo but no burps with either of these.

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Srsly: do not take my word (or anyone else’s) on matters of reloading. Get some manuals, start with light charges and work up, etc.

1. max for this purpose, not max for the powder + bullet because I don’t know what the powder is. It’s definitely ball powder though. ↩

2. if the SHTF and I could only have one retail caliber I think it would be .22LR. If reloading components were available I might take 9mm instead. ↩