meles meles

Hmm, .22x45 Spitfire it is then...

Sort of something like a .223" case with the rim stuffed full of priming compound? We could call it .223"RF. A whole raft of bangsticks out there already that can fire it with a small tweak to the bolt and firing pin...

Just to clarify, the first load we gave was for 6.5 Creedmoor in a TikTak, the second for 6.5 Norsqueagian in a CG63. Neither load is hot, but check the data against a book and start low and work up to keep the elves safe...

We have had good success with S&B's no 2905 Strela 140 grain FMJ-BT 6.5mm bullets. We used Hornady cases, CCI primers and 44.1 grains of RS 62 powder. In a Tikka Tactical with a 24" barrel that load consistently gave 0.5 MoA groups at 200 mards with no fliers. LabRadar gave a mean velocity of 2,720 fps. There were no signs of pressure on the cases / primers but we didn't feel the need to try and push the bullets any faster given the accuracy level attained. The same bullet in a Carl Gustav 63 target rifle (6.5x55) does very well out to 1,000 mards using 44.7 grains of RS 60

We've shot both TRGs and AIs in 6.5 Creedmoor, and ended up with something else instead, in our case a DTA chassis that was barrelled in 6.5 x 55 Swedish by Mik at Dolphin Guns. The ergonomics suited us better, and allowed a very long barrel in a reasonable length rifle. The 6.5 x 55 Swedish cartridge allows us to use all the bullets available to the Creedmoor, but to propel them with slower burning powders to enhance barrel life.

"Zulus, Sah, fousands of 'em"

We have a few ginger cousins... Google "erythristic badger"

Still leaves 9 rounds AWOL.

Hmmm, should be an absolute doddle for 'im to mek* us a modern day DeLisle based around a 1 in 8 twist barrel chambered for .458 SOCOM on a Howa or Remington action, with an MDT LSS gen 1 chassis and a telescoping stock. Budget? Under £1,000. Like so, but better, 'cos Dave made it. *Mek, verb, old Yorks. To finely craft.

For the benefit of us smaller brained kreechers, could you tell us how the dies *should* be set ? We just screw them in to the press as per the instructions provided by Mr Lee and haven't had a problem... yet. If there's a better way we'd like to learn.

Might us take the liberty of recommending bullets from either Berger or MME ? http://mmeriflebullets.co.uk We use 7mm Mistral-T bullets for long range (1 mile) and Reload Swiss powders, usually RS 70, though in a 28" barrel.

If it's any consolation, we commented to the consultation first, whinged to our MP second then came here to start preaching to the choir last of all...

Pops, back in those days when it was possible to lay hands on firearms more easily, was there a huge problem with their use in crime? The statistics don't seem to show that. What crime there was using firearms still seemed to be limited, then as now, to a small section of the community that chose to disregard the laws and norms of civilised behaviour, and the occasional, for want of a better description, 'mad man'. We now have far tighter controls on the legitimate ownership of firearms and their impedimenta (even pea shooters !), but has the use of firearms in crime diminished? There seems no statistical evidence of that, perhaps the reverse. So, if restricting the tools hasn't worked, maybe we need to address the underlying causes? Societal attitudes and behaviour ? The proposed legislative changes currently being consulted upon won't do that. They are at best window dressing to allow politicians to appease the opinion formers in the media, at worst they are further step, intentional or otherwise, to restrict the abilities of the law abiding to go about their life and enjoyment thereof. If anyone wants enlightenment, pop down to the Public Records Office at Kew (or possibly access them online) and read the minutes of the meetings that led to the first serious firearms restriction in the UK . In the period immediately after WW1, with hundreds of thousands of troops returning home to an economically devastated society with little chance of employment and great political disillusion rife, our elders and betters looked across to the continent , saw revolution in Russia and Germany, similar turmoil in the collapsing Austo Hungarian Empire, strife in France and Benelux and asked themselves if it was really wise to have an armed population if the threat to the status quo was now internal rather than external. Move forward to WW2 and Churchill's post Dunkirk reluctance to open the arms stores and issue every man in the UK with a Lee Enfield from the ample stocks that existed. There was a definite feeling that Halifax and his camp might prevail and make peace with Hitler. It was deemed better to arm the man in the street and Home Guard with little more than a sharp stick until the returning army could be steadied and stiffened, able to address the perceived internal dissent as well as external threats. *Wraps tinfoil more tightly around head, scurries underground to avoid the incoming flak*

We agree, it looks very good. A question though, if you don't mind us showing our ignorance... On your reamer list, some are listed as 'no turn'. What is meant by that?

It's worth bearing in mind that half the population has an IQ below average...

*chucks qualifications in bin, pops on the Dunce's cap, sits attentively at the front of the classroom* "Educate us, edi."

Attached is an electron micrograph of the throat of a carbon steel gun barrel. To our small, simple and clearly inferior mind, the cracking does indeed seem to follow the grain boundaries rather than being transgranular and forming along those atomic planes which would represent the low resistance paths to simple thermally induced stresses. Equally, we interpreted the back scattered electrons fluorescing at the grain boundaries as being indicative of the presence of sulphides, particularly as they generated the same emissions spectra as suphur. Maybe we got that wrong too. As for the brief duration of the pressure, we foolishly assumed that the Arrhenius reaction rate applied. Aren't we silly ? For those of you who know better than us, feel free to correct us. We're open minded and eager to benefit from your wisdom. Perhaps you could explain to us why, given that the temperature duration is so small, the surface layer of the steel undergoes a transformation from ferrite to austentite and then cools to form martensite ? Maybe collar us at the 32nd International Ballistics Symposium on May 8 - 9th, next year ? Something to bear in mind is that though we hobbyist shooters refer to the crazing in the throat as 'firecracking', maybe we shouldn't consider it to be the same 'firecracking' as seen in boilers, furnaces and bread ovens. The service conditions are different, thus the causal mechanics may be different too. Just a thought. Feel free to ignore it.

Interesting non sequitur there, ooman, but we aren't selling anything and you can believe the earth is flat if you wish. For the others, yes, extreme temperature alone can cause thermal cracking, but does anyone seriously believe that a supersonic flow of erosive and corrosive gas at over 55,000 psi and 2,500 C isn't going to melt the intergranular compounds preferentially and make matters worse? Oh, and these days, the thermodynamic calculations don't take long, a relatively proficient student can churn them out in minutes on a decent cluster.

"...it will still do 1/2 moa on a good day." We think that answers your question, ooman. In our opinion, people get far too worked up over barrel wear and, a related issue, cleaning barrels. Allow us to make a few observations. Imagine a perfect bar of steel, the initial ingot made to the correct compositional specification, cooled properly and then forged into a concentric round. It now has a fine, uniform, equiaxed grain structure throughout. A hole is then gun drilled right down the middle of it to create the bore. At the face of the bore, all the grain boundaries have now been exposed. Those boundaries are where many of the alloying elements have settled. The sulphur compounds, for instance, used to make the steel free cutting. Let us assume, first, that the bore is now going to be cut rifled. A cutter is passed through the bore, say 5 times, to cut the rifling. More grain boundaries have now been exposed. When the barrel is used, the bullet passes down the barrel, accelerating as it does so. Behind the bullet comes a supersonic flamefront, at around 2,500 C and pushed along by a pressure of, let's say, 55,000 psi. That hot, expanding gas is looking for the path of least resistance. There's a bullet acting like a stopper ahead of it, and the brass cartridge case has expanded behind it to obturate the breech. The gas, if the proof test was successful, isn't easily going to break through the perfect steel we've made our barrel from. So, where can it go ? Remember those grain boundaries? The weak paths between the steel grains, full of potentially soft, low melting point compounds? That's where the gas is initially going to find a low resistance path, scouring and melting its way into the grain boundaries. 'Firecracking' we call it. As the bullet moves forward the pressure is relieved a little and the temperature also drops as heat is absorbed by the barrel's mass. A few inches forward of the chamber the 'firecracking' is far less severe. The bullet is travelling maybe 20" inches or more through this relatively good barrel, picking up spin. Unless the throat is horrendously eroded to the extent that the starting pressure as the bullet sets into the rifling is significantly reduced, it's going to be accurate and not suffer much in the way of velocity loss. Think about it. A Paradox gun only had 2" to 3" of rifling and they were pretty accurate. So, don't worry too much about a little throat erosion. If the last few inches of rifling and the crown are good that is far more important than the throat unless the throat wear will almost allow the cartridge case to drop into the bore. Cleaning ? Why scrape out the copper that is coating those weak grain boundaries and protecting them ? Why pour solvents in that will eat away at the steel ? Cut rifling ? Why expose the grain boundaries more than you need to ? Why not hammer forge or button rifle, or better still, swage or flow-form ? Seal those boundaries and impose a compressive residual stress on them to keep them shut. Yes, we know. We're a heretic.

How do you clean your barrel and, more importantly, why? If you do clean, what's your regimen ? For example, do you clean with a solvent, a brush, both, or neither ? Do you finish off with an oiled patch, or not ? If you clean, why do you do it ? If you don't clean, why not ?

You may have tried to airbrush us out of your 'istory, oomans, but the Badger Expeditionary Airforce saved your bacon at D Day. Badgers are excellent dogfighters and if you look at pictures of D day air ops you'll see lots of aircraft with black and white insignia painted on the wings and fuselage. That was us keeping the Nazis at bay for you. We still watch your backs.

Might we suggest you take a peek at Mistral -T bullets from http://mmeriflebullets.co.uk ? We use them in several calibres, the Wimbledon Match bullets too, and have been very impressed by them. Peter, the maker, is also very open to tweaking them to suit your own particular needs.

Hmmm, we'd like to see him build a Junkers 87... 😁

Morse no longer a requirement these days for licensing.