Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Strange Situation - Need Help!

Last I knew US 20, 25 and 30mm ammo didn't have brass casings IIRC. It may be those calibers are not suitable for reloading many were electrically fired too not firing pin fired and that does make a difference in the priming compound.

If thew ammunition is of US or NATO mfg. there is a cage code on the can and it will tell you who manufactured the ammo. This might get you a lead or two on components. Though that over .50 cal stuff is really hard to get without the proper documentation.

Tell me about it. The stuff we fire above .50cal do not have brass casings as you mentioned so consideration will have to be made to the fact that they may not be reusable. The shells we use are pin fired and not electrically fired.

Right now, we have a whole load of .50cal primers. The problem is that the 14.5mm and 25mm shells use a primer that is slightly larger than the .50 call primers.

The reason we are considering reloading the used shells is two fold. First, they are very expensive and second, it can take up to a year to get the ammunition due to the amount of documentation and red tape that goes along with getting permission from the government to have possession of such ammunition as a civilian company.

I can put you in touch with a ballistician with experience in all types of ignition systems if you will contact me. mcknight77 at yahoo dot com.

mill out the brimer pocket and use a bushing that fits the 50 cal primers. If the primers are not hot enough to light the powder charge you may get a hang fire or eratic velocities.

A Larger diameter flash hole and/or shorter flash hole lenght will add more spark to the powder charge.

Have you considered turning your own cases from whatever material is appropriate? That would allow you to mill the primer pockets however you like.

Maybe that won't work for you, but I thought I would throw it out.

Greg

Thank you. Bushing the primer pockets is looking more and more like something that would be worth looking into. Good info on flash hole modifications as well. That might come in handy.

Livingston , if you read about the development of the 22-6mm PPC and the 6mm br bench rest cartridges , you learn about uniform ignition of primers , flash holes , and short powder columns. This leads to more uniform shot to shot velocity and thus greater accuracy. It is very pronounced in long range target shooting . Variation in velocity leads to vertical stringing of bullet impacts on the target.

You will find that when it comes to lighting a charge of gun powder , the Goldie Lock priciple (just right) works best. To little of a spark is bad and to powerful of a spark is bad. I is better to err on to much spark. Primers are amazing and often over looked. If I were you , I would do some reading and research. Priming compounds can be formulated to have differing properties. I depends on the type of smokless powder you are trying to ignite. Ball powder needs a hotter spark to ignite than a flake type powder.

You need to do much testing and experimenting. You may get lucky and improve the ammo your using. Build the armor and then build the only munitions that can defeat it.

Thanks for the tips on where to begin with this project. It is always easier to start something like this when you have a basic place to begin than to just blindly experiment with different things until you find something that works.

If your company is doing testing for the DoD, they will supply you with what you need. If it is private testing for armored cars and non military apps, you maybe on your own. There is an outfit in Camden, Arkansas that does a lot of testing for the DoD and all their larger shells come from the same suppliers that supply our Military.
Good shooting!
Marcus.