Any real hunter knows that the high performance of a shot and, therefore, success in hunting is not less than 50 percent dependent on the quality of the cartridges that he uses. It is impossible to count how many excellent hunts were spoiled, how many unfortunate mistakes were made and how many misfires happened due to poor-quality cartridges. However, every experienced hunter will have more than one such story in stock when he or his comrades were left without the desired trophy. Most often, such oversights occur among novice hunters who pay little attention to the quality of ammunition and shoot either with what they have (sometimes half a bag of cartridges gets from the previous owner along with a used gun), or with what is cheaper.
But with the advent of experience, the hunter begins to analyze and understand that in one case or another, failures in hunting(even if the shot occurred) he was let down by ammunition. As a result, the search for optimal cartridges for their weapons begins. As a rule, having tried all the available brands of ammunition, the hunter finds something more or less suitable and calms down for a while, but only for a while. This is because no single shotgun or rifle is exactly the same. Even weapons of the same model from item to item have unique features, as hunters say, “its own character”. Therefore, experiments with self-equipment of ammunition begin.
First experiments are made with old sets for loading cartridges, consisting at best of a fender, a calibration ring, a twist (asterisk) and weights. Although such kits are cheap, they have one, for many, a significant drawback, namely: it takes a significant amount of time to load cartridges. This makes it almost impossible to mass load cartridges (100 or more pieces at a time). In such cases, machines for equipping hunting cartridges come to the rescue. In modern hunting circles, the process of equipping ammunition is most often called the terms “loading” and “reloading” adopted from Western colleagues.
Starting loading
As the theater begins with a hanger, loading begins with the choice of a barre. To date, the mass of manufacturers offers a wide range of various devices. Machines for equipping 12 gauge cartridges, as the most common among hunters, are usedmost in demand, so let's start with them. Among their huge variety, one can single out MEC, an American manufacturer of hunting products, which has gained popularity not only abroad, but also in the CIS. The secret of their popularity is quite simple: the price of products corresponds to the declared quality. Their machines are not the most expensive, but they give high-quality and, most importantly, stable results during mass reloading.
Single ammo reloading machine MEC 600 jr. mark V
Let's consider the MEC products using the 600 jr machine as an example. mark V as it is the basic foundation upon which more advanced machines are built. Its all-metal parts give it strength and durability without compromising ammo quality.
Easy maintenance and high performance make it a good helper not only for hunters, but for professional athletes who shoot hundreds of rounds every day. A little practice, and on this machine it will be possible to load cartridges that will not differ in appearance from the factory ones. But they will correspond specifically to your weapon and the specific conditions in which you will shoot. It is clear that for this it will be necessary to pick up weights of gunpowder and shots, high-quality cartridge cases, wads-concentrators, and so on, and that's another story. But after all this, the gun will get a predictable heap and sharp fight.
With the help of this press, a number of operations are performed step by step.
1. Deprimerization (decapsulation)
This word in a foreign manner is now called the process of pressing out a punched igniter primer. Simultaneously with depriming, the sleeve skirt is compressed at any height (if the skirt is inflated). Decapsulation and crimping of the bottom of the sleeve occurs very conveniently with one press of the press handle, at the same time. After the press handle is returned to its original position, the finished sleeve is automatically squeezed out of the calibration ring. Punched capsules fall into a removable container, installed at the bottom of the press. It is very convenient that if there is no need to crimp the sleeves, then the calibration ring can be removed, since it is removable.
2. Primerization (encapsulation)
During the encapsulation operation, a new primer is inserted into the sleeve. The capsule becomes easy and without much effort. Machines for equipping MEC cartridges are good in that primers-igniters are fed into the sleeve automatically from a special clip. This has a positive effect on the speed of loading ammo.
3. Bookmark charge and projectile
This operation includes 4 stages at once: dosing and pouring powder, installing wads and gaskets, finishing gaskets and wads to powder, dosing and pouring shots. It is convenient that you can use all kinds of wads: wood-fiber, felt, polyethylene wads-containers or obturator wads. The press makes it possible to put wads into the sleeve without crushing them. At the same time, it is very convenient that it is not necessary to align the sleeve muzzle. Installation of wads takes a few seconds.
The ammo reloading press does this with the same force for each ammo. The standard set includes 3 bulk measures for dosing gunpowder. With their help, the charge of gunpowder for each cartridge will have a minimum error. Naturally, three measurements are not enough for different weights. But they can be bought separately or ordered by a familiar turner who can easily make them. As an inconvenience, it should be noted that all machines for loading 12-gauge cartridges from this company do not have interchangeable measures for shot in the kit. The basic charging plate assumes a shot weight of 32 grams. And of course, if you need a different shot shell, you will need to buy other charging plates. A good option is to adjust the depth of entry of the navoynik. This creates the necessary pressure on the wad, and in the entire batch of cartridges. And this will already affect the uniformity of gas pressure in the chamber and bore, and, accordingly, the parameters of the shot as a whole.
4. Sleeve Rolling
Machines for loading 12-gauge cartridges, and not only 12-gauge, roll the sleeve with a six- or eight-blade "asterisk". What is most pleasant, the asterisk turns out to be strong and beautiful, and not only on new ones, but also on spent paper and plastic sleeves. Moreover, the sleeve can be recharged without deterioration in quality up to its complete physical wear. High-quality rolling is also facilitated by the possibility of adjusting the depth of the "sprocket" drawdown. At the final stage, the “asterisk” is pressed through to the fraction, and at the same time, a conicalcase mouth shoulder.
When loading cartridges with a press with an asterisk-type rolling, you need to understand that in this case, the cartridge waking up is unnecessary, since the powder is pressed precisely at the moment the sleeve muzzle sinks. The manufacturer does not advise changing the recommended settings of the press, since in most cases they are enough for the eyes to load cartridges with different ballistic characteristics. To change the parameters of a shot, it is enough just to change the brand and / or weight of gunpowder, shot, type of wad or cartridge case. Cartridges with a conical sprocket are successfully used in any semi-automatic devices (they do not warp or bite). Gunpowder and shot enter the sleeve from the containers semi-automatically. Bunkers are simply dismantled. You can first pour gunpowder and shot into them, and then put them on the press, or vice versa.
Progressive 12 gauge loading machines
The main difference between progressive machines and single machines is that they allow you to work with six sleeves at the same time, and not with one. Otherwise, the quality of finished cartridges is no different.
LEE loading presses
Lovers of shooting and self-loading cartridges have broken a lot of spears on the basis of disputes “which machines are better?”. There is no answer to this day. As the saying goes: "There are no comrades for taste and color." A clear example of this is the manufacturer of equipment for hunters LEE. The machine for equipping cartridges of this manufacturer allows you to make cartridges with a quality notworse than the same MEC, but on a more modest scale than the progressive press.
In general, disputes in this direction will exist as long as there are hunters themselves and self-equipment of ammunition.
A little about homemade products
In addition, there is a category of especially inveterate reloaders who will prefer any industrial home-made machine for loading cartridges, both based on ready-made samples and their own designs. However, the manufacture of home-made machines goes far beyond the scope of this review article and requires from the person who decides to make such a device a lot of engineering knowledge, locksmith skills and a lot of high quality turning, milling and sometimes welding work.
Reloading rifled cartridges
Reloading cartridges for rifled weapons is also a large and separate topic, which increasingly occupies the minds of an ever-growing number of shooters in the CIS who use rifles, carbines and other rifled weapons.
The machine for loading rifled cartridges is quite different from the machine for smoothbore weapons due to the fact that rifled cartridges have many differences from smoothbore. However, some common operations are present in them, such as removing a pierced igniter primer, installing a new one, dosing a powder sample, andcrimping spent cartridges to the same size. But besides this, loading rifled cartridges requires straightening the barrels of the cartridge cases, removing external and internal burrs and compressing the bullets for their tight fit in the sleeve.
