Popsbengo

Hornady 4DOF which is free and online. They even have some doppler decay curves for Lapua pills. https://www.hornady.com/team-hornady/ballistic-calculators/#!/4dof

I find that hard to believe Gluv. Must have been written by some pesky foreigner chappy. It's a major oversight if it is the case as it's reasonably easy to allow for the change in velocity. As it's a trivial adjustment I'll apply it for the rosey glow of satisfaction knowing that I can claim the benefit when I hit the mile target 😁🇪🇺 Could be why you don't know where your bullets are landing 😂

That's you're not your..😂 Can I claim the points please?

I'm sorry but I've got to call you out on that. A bunch of dumb examples and a total misunderstanding of the effect with respect to conservation of momentum. A bit 'flat earth' if I may be so bold. Coriolis is real, it's calculable and it's a measurable effect: The fact that it probably doesn't matter at sub mile distances is not relevant to that. I think I'd rather rely on science than anecdote. Brian Litz has useful things to say about the effect in his book. As far as "ballistic calculators over calculating" I'm not buying that - it's basic physics and maths, why would the software writers deliberately over compensate? Again, I agree the effect is small and down in the noise when other factors are in play but to say it's deliberately exaggerated is wrong - unless you know the app writers code is wrong?

Cheers, yes I'm genuinely interested - not being a dick. Every day's a school day!

Says who? I can't find any supporting evidence for your view, could you point me please as I'm quite interested?

Sighters will include all factors, and as mentioned earlier, wind will play the greatest role. My view is, as coriolis effects are deterministic and are easy to apply with a ballistic app, why not account for it as it's a fixed offset? It's small if your shooting at a mile in a roughly North East direction but calculable. .338LM 300gn 2900 f/s mv at 1760yds on a track of 340deg = left 0.2mil. Interestingly spin drift is greater. For the firing solution above add in spin drift (r.h) and it's left 0.7mil (0.5 spin + 0.2 cor.). If I add a 5mph westerly - it's 2.0 Mil. Wind rules OK 😁

Yes, that's pretty much what I will do. Alternatively I may design an electronic controller to do the whole thing and junk the internal 'stat. I will probably install an ultimate thermal cut-out too.

I'm thinking of making a PID controller but, as an ex-process and automation engineer, I'm concerned about running the Lyman heating element at 100% all the way up to temperature, I don't think the standard heater assemble is fit for that, it's designed around a simple ON-OFF thermostat. I'm likely to operate an ON-OFF cycle up to a near top temperature target before switching to full PID control. I think it safer to be slow and steady with super-hot oxidising salts😁 Possibly utilize the standard Lyman 'stat and then bypass with a PID controller.

Being an RCO is an onerous duty but someone's got to do it. We have to trust shooters but sometimes that's a real challenge! I can think of one gentleman who's rifle fell apart on the line due to incompetent assembly after cleaning 🤨 We have no practical way of proving if ammo or indeed a firearm is fit for use so we have to make a judgement. Home loaded ammunition is practically outside of our control; all I think we can do is ensure we make every effort to gain compliance from reloaders through training, education and peer-group pressure. Should we get a blow-up we must make every effort to secure evidence and submit to the appropriate authorities for testing as necessary. My concern is should there be a serious blow-up (is there such a thing as a not-serious blow-up??) resulting in loss of life or major injury and that's shown to be because of incompetent reloading, DIO may well feel they have no option but to ban reloads on Military ranges with all the attendant problems that will cause. It's essential we all educate our club members, friends and colleagues to only reload to authoritative data using sensible good practice. I will not hesitate to stop and remove if necessary any individual I suspect has unsafe ammo or firearm, whether I'm wrong or not - it's my signature on the 906 and my neck on the block. Having said all that, my experience is that >99% of target shooters are safe and sensible persons - long may that be so.

The clause regarding hand loading isn't new and it was raised on my RCO course two years ago. I think DaveT has it about right, arse covering and insurance. The rules are: if the RCO suspects the ammo is out of range limits he/she should ask/order the shooter to stop using it. The RCO's word is final on the range. It's about trusting the shooters to comply with Range Orders for MV and ME. For example a hot load .308 in a long barrel may well just stray into HME territory, the RCO can't "detect" that but if there's suspicion then the RCO just stops that shooter. If the shooter wants to make a complaint then they should be prepared to submit rounds for testing (and that's highly unlikely in my opinion). We had a chap shooting .243 which, with a light bullet, is over R.O. MV at Kingsbury (MV <1000m/s). I took his word for the fact that he had chrono'd his loads and they were just under 1000m/s - he was a known, trustworthy person. If he was an unknown I would have asked him to stop using the rifle. If he declined to agree I would have instructed him to stop. If he argued he would be sent off the range and reported. I guess if you had a chrono available on the range it could be set up and verified but what a faff.

Nice job😁

intriguing !

I went for a one hole plate as the immersion/heating time is only around 4sec and I'd only get in a mess trying to cope with multiple cases! Where does your thermocouple go?

I see you enjoy a good tinker in the shed! Would pop riveting do? I initially wanted to spot weld but found it much easier to source rivets

Good stuff Fizz! The Lyman pot does the same thing as the Lee, takes a while to settle the temperature. I may experiment with a proper PID electronic controller and use the built in 'stat as a safety. The other thing I've done is sat the whole rig in a stainless-steel deep tray (Ikea roasting tray) so should there be a leak or splash of hot salts, they don't land on a wooden bench top and ignite it (or me and a subsequent trip to the hospital). Having used a rotary gas burner and the hot salt method, I'm sold on molten-salt; cheap, simple, repeatable and precise.

especially if there better than your own 🤔😁

Best of luck, I think you'll be impressed by the results. I have found using hot water in the bucket for quenching it's better at dissolving any carry-over salts and leaving the cases a bit cleaner. Rate of cooling makes absolutely no difference to the annealing process. I change the water as it becomes contaminated (after a batch)

that's the pot I've used. Seems to hold temperature quite well. Takes a while to get to temp but then about "7 o'clock " on the dial maintains +500C +1 regarding fireworks !

Can you make a video of the first trial please ? Such fun!

Maybe, I just don't like the idea of a potential combustable coating mixed with a super hot oxidising salt - for "fun" just try a splinter of wood when the salt's hot !! 😮😱 SS is best for immersed parts for sure. I also like the fact that the SS is a relatively poor transmitter of heat and the top plate is farkin' hot but nowhere near the salt temperature.

Sure, it's simples if you have tools. I used a Lyman dipping pot which is 100mm I.D. and 70mm deep. No idea about the Lee pot dimensions but everything should scale. I used stainless steel throughout as I didn't want to be cleaning corrosion off the jig. The top plate is 3mm and the bottom plate is 1.5mm; if I was doing again I'd use 1.5mm throughout as it's plenty stiff enough. Size isn't critical (oo-err) so get what's cheap and handy. I would get the discs cut unless you have the tools. Actually the top plate can be square if it's easier. My top plate sits over the lip of the pot (everything hangs off that plate) so as long as it's bigger than the pot, size isn't critical. The inner disc is a good fit to the inside of the pot (1mm undersize on diameter) and is spaced 5mm below the top disc. I used 6mm stainless rod, drilled as spacers and tapped M3 for the legs. The 'legs' are not supporting anything they act to hold the jig secure in the pot, the last thing you want is the jig moving about with super hot salts ! The case 'holder' is 10thou stainless shim-stock, easy to cut with shears, drilled and s.s. pop-riveted onto the lower disc, the depth of the holder needs calculating dependant on depth of salt. I have approximately 500g of salt mix in the pot to provide decent heat soak and a good depth for flexibility in setting up. This is where I got the discs from: eBay: STAINLESS STEEL Blank Round DISCS 304 Grade Sheet Metal Precision Laser Cut sold by 'sgs132'. The shim-stock was from an engineers supplier, I don't recall who as I've had it years. 6mm rod is easy to get. Don't forget that drilling and cutting stainless requires sharp tools, correct speeds (Google it if you need to) constant pressure on feed and don't dwell as s.s. work hardens like a bitch. Tapping M3 can be expensive if you don't use good taps and technique 😄 If you know all this, apologies for teaching Granny to suck.. Drilling and tapping the rod is ok for those that can and have the kit, if not try model engineering or robotics supply websites. I already had the type K thermocouple and thermometer. You need a probe that's designed for over 500C - many on eBay are type K but are not suitable at +400C, the junction melts! Best of luck, if you need anything further please ask.

I think that Nightforce scope cheapens the whole look... Not enough picatinny rail for a Walt 😂

I use 50% potassium nitrate; 45% sodium nitrite; 5% sodium nitrate - by weight. At 500C there is no fuming I can detect. Be careful about going over 550C things start to get 'exciting'. I accept no liability for the correct mixture🤔

I find a total mix of 500g to be about right. I did buy extra because it was economic and useful to have top-up as some is lost due to carry-over. When you do your first melt the salts combine in a eutectic mixture and solidify in one hard 'puck'. I suggest not leaving the jig in the pot, remove while the salt is still hot. When everything is cold I take the pot out of the heating element and knock the 'puck' out into a plastic bag for storage as the salts are hydroscopic.