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Just getting started? Interested in learning how to reload your own ammunition? This area is designed to help you get the most out of your first reloading experience.
Before You Begin Powder
Warnings How
Ammo Works Parts
of Cased Ammunition
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Bullet: The
projectile portion of ammunition that is propelled from a rifle or
handgun bore towards a target. Bullets are measured in calibers according
to the size of the rifle bore. Bullets are typically made of lead or
lead alloy and can be jacketed, semi-jacketed or non-jacketed. Jacketed
bullets are covered entirely with copper or copper alloy. Semi-jacketed
bullets are partially covered with copper or copper alloy. Bullets
also come in a variety of shapes and weights that affect the aerodynamics
of the projectile as well as the desired reaction when striking a target.
There are four major bullet shapes: round-nose, spitzer, hollowpoint,
wadcutter and pre-fragmented.
Case: The
metal cylinder (open at the mouth and closed at the base) that holds
the bullet, powder and primer. Most cases are made of brass and are
crimped onto the bullet during the last stages of reloading. Cases
come in two broad category types, centerfire and rimfire. The differences
between the two case types is dependent upon the location of the primer.
Also, cases, like bullets, come in two basic shapes — straight-walled
and bottleneck. Straight-walled cases have almost the same diameter
as the bullet and have little or no taper from base to mouth. Bottleneck
cases taper inward as you approach the case mouth to accommodate smaller
bullet sizes and large powder charges. Cases have different rim designs
with a diameter that is slightly larger than the case diameter to prevent
the case from entering the rifle bore. Cases can be rimmed, semi-rimmed,
rimless, rebated and belted.
Smokeless
Powder: Combustible propellant that sits between the bullet and
the primer in the case. On detonation, the ignited powder rapidly
decomposes into a hot, forceful gas that instantaneously expands
and propels the bullet out of the gun bore. The chief ingredient
of single-base powder is nitrocellulose. Double-base formulas use
nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose. Modern powders are a derivative
of guncotton (nitrocellulose), which was developed and used in the
1800s in lieu of black powder because it produced less smoke and
flash on ignition. To achive certain burn rates, powder grains come
in different shapes and sizes. They can also have different surface
coatings. Alliant Powder grains are made using an extrusion process
and come in cylinder or disc shapes.
Primer: A
small, self-contained metalic ignition cap at the center of the base
of the ammunition case. When struck by the firing pin, the primer combusts,
sending sparks through the flashhole of the case, and ignites the powder
charge. In centerfire cartridges, primers are cylinder-shaped components
composed of ignition chemicals, a cup and an anvil. Some manufacturers
color code their primers, too, to assist in use and packaging. When
reloading, spent primers are removed from the primer pocket and replaced
with a whole new primer. Primers for rimfire ammunition, like some
factory loads for .22 rounds, are contained in the hollow rim of the
case. It is not recommended that you attempt to reload rimfired cases.
Case: A
plastic cylinder with a metal base that contains the shot, wad, powder
and primer. Shotgun shooters also refer to a shothshell case as a hull.
Hulls have two major parts, the head and the tube. The head is typically
made of brass and houses the primer and, sometimes, a base wad. Tubes
come in various designs, sizes and lengths and are crimped at the mouth
in either 6 or 8 point folds. Hull sizes correspond with shotgun bore
sizes, which are based on the gauge unit of measure. The gauge of a
shotgun is equal to the number of lead balls (sized the same diameter
as the shotgun bore) it would take to weigh one pound. So it would
take 20 lead balls the size of a 20 gauge shotgun bore to weigh one
pound. (The .410 is the only exception, which is measured in inches.)
Shotguns come in the following bore sizes: 10 gauge, 12 gauge, 16 gauge,
20 gauge, 28 gauge and .410.
Shot: Several
lead pellet projectiles that are propelled from the front end of the
shell towards a target. Shot is usually made of lead, but can also
be made of steel or be plated with hard metal. Shot comes in varying
shapes, sizes and degrees of hardness. Typically, shot will be used
according to the ammunition purpose, bore size and desired shot pattern.
Lead shot comes in soft, hard and x-hard grades. Fewer, larger-sized
pellets, called buckshot, are designed for use with large fur-bearing
game, large waterfowl and turkey hunting. Buckshot loads typically
have a smaller payload of shot (6 to 10 pellets). Smaller-sized "birdshot" pellets,
including #4, #5 and higher, are tiny pellets used for hunting small
game and fowl. Birdshot payloads can have dozens of pellets. Reloaders
typically use #7-1/2s or bigger for trapshooting and #9s for skeet.
Shot can also be a single rifled or sabot "slugs." Slugs
and buckshot require unqiue reloading procedures and crimping. Be sure
to follow buckshot and slug data exactly as listed in the data tables.
Wad: A
plastic or fiber support component placed between the powder and the
shot to protect the shot at ignition and propel it uniformly down the
barrel. Wads are one-piece columns with a shot cup, collapsible mid-section
and an "over-powder" or "obturating" cup. The wad
also: 1) helps contain the shot; 2) seals off the shot payload from
the ignition gases to prevent deformation and 3) protects the barrel
from lead build-up. There are countless designs for wads, most designed
to accommodate desired payload and case characteristics.
Smokeless
Powder: Combustible propellant that sits between the wad and
the primer in the case. On detonation, the ignited powder rapidly
decomposes into a hot, forceful gas that instantaneously expands
and propels the wad and wad payload out of the gun bore. The chief
ingredient of single-base powder is nitrocellulose. Double-base formulas
use nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose. Modern powders are a derivative
of guncotton (nitrocellulose), which was developed and used in the
1800s in lieu of black powder because it produced less smoke and
flash on ignition. To achive certain burn rates, powder grains come
in different shapes and sizes. They can also have different surface
coatings. Alliant Powder grains are made using an extrusion process
and come in cylinder or disc shapes.
Primer: A
small, self-contained metalic ignition cap at the center of the base
of the ammunition case. When struck by the firing pin, the primer combusts,
sending sparks through the flashhole of the case, and ignites the powder
charge. In shotshells, primers are cylinder-shaped components composed
of ignition chemicals, a cup and an anvil. When reloading, spent primers
are removed from the primer pocket and replaced with a whole new primer.