Loads of New Hornady Stuff

The guys at Hornady (www.hornady.com) have been busy up-grading and innovating, with a slew of new stuff - none of which I've seen, yet - a hand-held priming tool, redesigned dies, new loads in their shotgun, rifle, and handgun ammo, and other goodies.

Possibly most interesting to most big-game hunters (many of whom don't load their own ammo) is the new Hornady line of factory loads for lever-action rifles, which they label as "LEVERevolution" (a clever logo that telescopes the words lever and revolution into what linguists call a "portmanteau word," which the Hornady guys obviously haven't spotted - they call their new bullets "Evolution," not "Revolution").  The new ammo is Hornady's way of giving lever-action rifles - usually considered "under-loaded," relative to comparable cartridges in bolt-action rifles - as much clout as possible out there where the new bullets' elastomer tips meet the hair, meat, and bone of big game.  Hornady has designed these new bullets to be safe in the usually tubular magazines of lever-action rifles and yet to have ballistic coefficients that are high enough to retain velocity (and therefore energy) and to "flatten" trajectories farther down-range than the flat-nose and round-nose bullets that have long been traditional in ammo for lever-action rifles.  LEVERevolution ammo is available for the .30-30 Winchester (160-grain, 2,400 ft/sec at the muzzle of a 24-inch barrel), the .35 Remington (200-grain, 2,225 ft/sec), the .444 Marlin (265-grain, 2,325), the .45-70 Springfield (325-grain, 2,050 ft/sec), and the .450 Marlin (325-grain, 2,225 ft/sec).  Hornady says that they're loading new propellants in their new ammo to get these improvements in exterior ballistics at peak chamber pressures that don't threaten to take lever-action rifles apart along new seams.

Shotgunners who love the 20-gauge and want a good slug for it will want to take a look at Hornady's new 250-grain SST 20-gauge shotgun slug with a polymer tip, at a nominal muzzle velocity of 2,050 feet per second (ft/sec), designed for accurate shooting and a flat trajectory out to two hundred yards.  Hornady says that it can give you groups - not patterns - less than two inches across at a hundred yards.  For handgunners, the new Hornady line now includes the 300-grain "Evolution" bullet in the .500 Smith & Wesson, at a nominal muzzle velocity of 2050 ft/sec.  Riflemen who don't load their own will now be able to shoot new Hornady factory loads in .338 Lapua (250-grain) and .416 Rigby (choice of two 400-grain bullets).

The new Hornady hand-held priming tool has a one-piece primer tray with a new retaining lid that has integral molded primer bushings for better functioning that's supposed to be smoother and more precise than ever.  These integral bushings also eliminate the need for a separate bushing for each shell-holder.  Hornady includes an additional tray for RCBS-style shell-holders with each new hand-held priming tool.  The primer-seater punch and spring, held captive in the body of the tool, don't have to be removed to change shell-holders or primer trays.  The body of the tool has also been modified to position the shell-holder more securely.  This feature, combined with the new captive spring and punch that hold everything in place, makes the removal of the shell-holder fast and easy.

Hornady also offers the handloader several other new goodies - a universal shell-holder for single-stage presses, redesigned "Custom Grade" dies, blank dies, and a neat little jewel that I begged Steve Hornady to introduce many years ago.  The new universal shell-holder has a wider mouth, with a curve to make inserting a case easier.  Hornady has also improved the shell plates for their progressive loader with this modification.

The much-needed improvement in the "Custom Grade" dies is a new way of locking the decapping spindle in place.  I find this improvement especially appealing - I hate the old arrangement in my set of Hornady dies for my .220 Howell, so I use a set of Redding dies.  I submitted a redesign of the Hornady spindle-locking collet several years ago, but Steve turned it down - he wanted instead a retrofit design that could up-grade existing die sets with the old style of locking collet (a laudable desire).  My redesigned collet wouldn't work as a retrofit for the older dies.

Steve Hornady and I were both a lot younger when I begged him to equip the middle die in a three-die set with a case-mouth-expander that was threaded at the top for a powder measure and bored-through so that it was also a powder-drop tube, to allow dropping a powder charge into the case while it was high in the middle die of a three-die set (getting its mouth expanded) in a single-stage press.  Steve made me one as a personal favor, which I cherish, but Hornady Manufacturing is now making it for regular retail sale to handloaders who load ammo on their progressive loader.  This "powder through expander" accessory, part of the new Hornady "quick-change powder die," is a hand-in-glove partner with the new Hornady case-activated powder drop, which now has a new quickly detachable linkage to make it easier to swap things around while it functions more smoothly.  I see no reason to limit its use to the Hornady progressive press - it strikes me as equally useful on single-stage presses, especially with the quick-change coupling that Hornady has just announced.  I look forward to an opportunity to look it over at the SHOT Show.

When I first saw the Hornady new-product release that announced their new blank dies, I thought that it meant die blanks - loading-die bodies that were not yet reamed for a specific cartridge.  Nope.  They're dies for loading blank cartridges in any of the popular cowboy-action guns, from the .32-20 to the .45-70 Springfield.  As you'd expect, of course they're threaded for use in any 7/8-14-thread loading press.

Ruger 22/45 Mark III "Hunter" Pistol

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc, recently introduced their 22/45 Mark III "Hunter" pistol, chambered for the .22 Long Rifle, with a fluted 6-7/8-inch target-crowned, stainless-steel bull barrel with a fiber-optic front sight and adjustable V-notch rear sight.  This new Ruger handgun is also, like all the other Mark III pistols with adjustable sights, drilled and tapped for a Weaver-style scope adapter, which is included at no extra charge.

In 2004, Ruger introduced the totally redesigned 22/45 Mark III pistol, which retains the grip angle and feel of the classic Colt Model 1911 pistol and virtually identical locations for the magazine release, the manual safety, and the bolt stop.  The new "Hunter" model includes all the now-standard features of the other Mark III .22 Long Rifle pistols.

The "Hunter" model's polymer grip frame has checkered grip panels, a serrated front strap, and a checkered back strap.  Ruger also engineered the first visible loaded-chamber-indicator for a .22 rimfire pistol, as well as an unobtrusive internal lock and a magazine disconnector.  The ejection port on all Mark III pistols has been recontoured, and the bolt ears are tapered to improve both their function and their appearance.  The 34-ounce "Hunter" comes in a green case with a Weaver-style scope-mount base, six interchangeable "LitePipes" for the fiber-optic front sight, and a gun lock.

Another New Nosler Rifle

Nosler (www.noslercustom.com) now has a second "custom" bolt-action rifle - this one in .280 Ackley Improved, to be limited to an issue of only five hundred rifles. Nosler guarantees their accuracy - half an inch or better (three-shot groups) at a hundred yards with Nosler's hunting loads using 140-grain AccuBonds. The rifle is built on a double-square-bridge proprietary action with integral scope-mount bases that accept Leupold's quick-release (QR) scope rings. Nosler has integrated into the action a three-position safety and Timney adjustable trigger (set to a three-pound let-off). A Blackburn-style one-piece bottom metal and trigger guard enhance rifle's classic lines. The barrel is hand-lapped, 24 inches of match-grade stainless-steel. All metal surfaces have an all-weather ceramic coating.`The fancy walnut stock with ebony forearm tip and grip cap are hand-bedded to the barreled action and checkered 22 lines per inch in a point pattern. The stock has a shadow-line cheekpiece and a Pachmayr "Decelerator" recoil pad.

The rifle comes as a package with a Leupold VX-III scope (your choice of a 2.5-8x36, a 3.5-10x40mm, or a 4.5-14x40) with a specially designed reticle calibrated to provide 200-yard to 500-yard zeroes with Nosler's 140-grain AccuBond ammunition. The scope, in Leupold QR rings, bears the same serial number as the rifle. The whole works comes in a Kalispell aluminum case with the same number, with the scope mounted and zeroed for a 'dead-on' hold out to five hundred yards. Two twenty-round boxes of Nosler custom ammunition and a letter of authenticity offering a money-back guarantee of half-inch, three-shot groups accompany each rifle. The owners of last year's rifles automatically have first right of refusal on the '06 and subsequent rifles of the same serial number (from 001 to 500).

Nikon's New Binoculars and Camera

In the Spring this year, Nikon dealers will have two new center-focus Nikon binoculars to show you - the 8x36 and 10x36 Monarch ATBs, both lighter (less than twenty ounces) and smaller (just over five inches long) than the heavier, larger 8x42 and 10x42 models.  Fields of view are about the same as in the earlier models - 367 feet in the 8x36 and 314 feet in the 10x36.  Both of these new Monarch ATBs have rubber armor, rubber eye cups, long eye relief (17mm in the 8x, 15mm in the 10x), and multicoated lenses.  Nikon is also offering a new digital camera for wildlife photographers - the Coolpix P1 - with eight-megapixel resolution, a 4x optical zoom lens, and the ability for wireless transfer of its images to a computer or a printer.  (www.nikonsportoptics.com).

Weatherby Vanguard Sub-MOA Varmint

Weatherby's New Vanguard Sub-MOA Varmint guarantees .99 MOA or better accuracy.  The Weatherby folks tell me that Vanguard barreled actions are shot at the factory, and those exhibiting exceptional sub-MOA accuracy are segregated to be included in the Sub-MOA lineup.  A new stock design from Bell & Carlson with lateral vents is claimed to aid in heat dissipation.  A nicely engraved floorplate adds a distinct look.

Black Hills Ammunition with Barnes Triple Shock Bullets

My friend Jeff Hoffman tells me that his Black Hills Ammunition (www.black-hills.com) is now loading Barnes Triple Shock bullets in the .25-06 Remington (100-grain), the .270 Winchester (130-grain), the 7mm Remington Magnum (140-grain), the .308 Winchester (168-grain), the .30-06 Springfield (180-grain), and the .300 Winchester Magnum (180-grain).  These bullets are replacing the Barnes XLC bullets.  Jeff says that he has personally tested these loads, and he says that accuracy improved in every instance.  Jeff also says that Black Hills Ammunition is updating the Black Hills Gold ammo, adding these new loads in 2006: