Any real hunter knows that the high efficiency of the shot and, consequently, the success of the hunt no less than 50 percent depends on the quality of the cartridges that he uses. It is impossible to count how many wonderful hunts were ruined, how many annoying mistakes were made, and how many misfires happened due to poor-quality cartridges. However, every seasoned hunter has more than one similar story in store 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 the ammunition and shoot either with what they have (sometimes a half-bag of cartridges are taken from the previous owner with a used gun), or that is cheaper.
But with the advent of experience, the hunter begins to analyze and understand that in one case or another, failures in the hunt (even if a shot occurred), ammunition failed him. As a result, the search begins for the best ammunition for your weapon. As a rule, after trying ammunition of all available brands, the hunter finds something more or less suitable and calms down for a while, but only for a while. This is because there is not a single absolutely identical gun or rifle. Even weapons of the same model, from product to product, have features inherent only to him, as the hunters say, “their own character”. Therefore, experiments begin with self-equipment of ammunition.
The first experiments take place with old kits for loading cartridges, consisting at best of a ram, a calibration ring, a twist (sprocket) and weights. Such kits, although cheap, have one, for many, significant drawback, namely: loading a round of cartridges takes a considerable amount of time. This makes it almost impossible to mass charge 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.
How does lading begin?
As the theater begins with a hanger, so does the loading of a machine. Today, a lot of manufacturers offer a wide selection of various devices. Machines for equipping cartridges of 12 caliber, as the most common among hunters, are in the greatest demand, so we will start with them. Among their huge diversity, one can distinguish the company MEC, an American manufacturer of goods for hunting, which 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 of the highest cost, but they give a high-quality and, most importantly, stable result with mass reloading.
Single machine for the equipment of cartridges MEC 600 jr. mark V
Consider the products of the company MES on the example of a machine 600 jr. mark V, because this is the basic foundation on which more advanced machines are created. Its all-metal parts provide it with strength and durability in operation without loss of quality of ammunition.
Ease of maintenance and high performance make it a good helper not only for hunters, but also for professional athletes who shoot hundreds of rounds daily. A little practice, and on this machine it will be possible to charge cartridges, which in appearance will not differ from the factory ones. But they will correspond exactly to your weapons and to those specific conditions in which you will shoot. It is clear that for this it will be necessary to pick up samples of gunpowder and shots, high-quality cartridges, wads, hubs and more, and this is another story. But after all this, the gun will receive a predictable heap and sharp battle.
With the help of this press, a series of operations is carried out in stages.
1. Deprimerization (decapsulation)
This word in a foreign manner is now called the process of extruding a punctured igniter capsule. Simultaneously with deprimerization, the sleeve skirt is crimped at any height (if the skirt is inflated). Decapsulation and compression of the bottom of the sleeve is very convenient for one press of the press handle, at the same time. After the press handle returns to its original position, the finished sleeve is automatically extruded from the calibration ring. Punched capsules fall into a removable container, mounted below 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. Priming (encapsulation)
During the encapsulation operation, a new capsule is inserted into the sleeve. The capsule becomes easy and without significant effort. Machines for equipping MEC cartridges are good in that the igniter caps are fed into the sleeve automatically from a special holder. This has a positive effect on the speed of ammunition cartridges.
3. Bookmark charge and projectile
This operation includes 4 stages at once: dosing and pouring of gunpowder, installation of wad and waddings, finishing of gaskets and wad of gunpowder, dosing and pouring of a fraction. Conveniently, you can use all kinds of wads: wood-fiber, felt, plastic wads-containers or wads-shutters. The press makes it possible to put wads in the sleeve without remembering them. It is very convenient that you do not need to align the sleeve of the sleeve. Installation of wad occurs in a few seconds.
An ammunition press machine does this with the same effort for every munition. The standard kit has 3 bulk measures for the dosage of gunpowder. With their help, the charge of gunpowder for each cartridge will have a minimum error. Naturally, three measures are not enough for different attachments. But you can buy them separately or order a friend turner who can easily make them. As an inconvenience, it should be noted that all machines for equipping cartridges of 12 caliber from this company do not have interchangeable measures for shots in the set. The base charging plate assumes a weight fraction of 32 grams. And of course, if you need another shot of the shotgun, you will need to buy other charging plates. A good option is to adjust the depth of entry of the headband. 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 the bore, and, accordingly, on the parameters of the shot as a whole.
4. Rolling the liner
Machines for equipping cartridges of 12 gauges, and not just 12, roll a sleeve with a six- or eight-petal “asterisk”. What is most pleasant, the star turns out to be strong and beautiful, and not only on new, but also on used paper and plastic sleeves. Moreover, the sleeve can be recharged without deterioration up to its complete physical deterioration. High-quality rolling is also facilitated by the ability to control the depth of drawdown "stars". At the final stage, the “asterisk” is pressed into a fraction, and with this a conical flange of the barrel barrel is formed.
When equipping cartridges with an asterisk-type rolling press, it must be understood that in this case, the chewing of the cartridge is unnecessary, since the gunpowder is pressed precisely at the time of the cartridge’s barrel sagging. The manufacturer does not recommend changing the recommended press settings, since in most cases they are enough for the eyes to load cartridges with different ballistic characteristics. To change the parameters of the shot, just change the brand and / or weight of gunpowder, shot, wad type or cartridge case. Cartridges with a cone asterisk are successfully used in any semiautomatic devices (they do not warp and do not bite). Gunpowder and shot come into the sleeve from the tanks 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-round ammunition equipment
The main difference between progressive 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 the finished cartridges is not at all different.
LEE Cartridge Presses
Fans of shooting and self-loading ammunition have a lot of copies broken on the basis of disputes "which machines are better?". There is no answer to this day. As the saying goes: "To taste and color - no comrades." A clear example of this is the manufacturer of equipment for hunters LEE. The machine for the equipment of cartridges of this manufacturer allows you to make cartridges with quality no worse than the same MEC, but on a more modest scale than progressive presses.
In general, disputes in this direction will exist as long as the hunters themselves and independent ammunition equipment exist.
A bit about homemade
In addition, there is a category of especially inveterate reloaders who will prefer any home-made industrial machine for the equipment of cartridges, both on the basis of 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 a person who decides to make such a device, a lot of engineering knowledge, metalwork skills and a large number of high-quality turning, milling and sometimes welding works.
