Guns Illustrated 2011. Dan ShidelerЧитать онлайн книгу.
no target gun. Its barrel is rifl ed for the standard 36- or 40-grain .22 Long Rifl e load, and indeed some 552s are capable of 1.5-inch 50-yard groups with such ammunition. But load up a tubeful of Shorts and the situation changes. The Short's 29-grain bullet is way overstabilized by the 552's rifl ing, and 50-yard groups open up considerably. For serious target shooters this is a real deal-killer, but for guys like me it's copasetic. If the Lord had wanted us to risk everything on one shot, He wouldn't have given us 20-round tubular magazines.
In 1957, the Model 552 Speedmaster had a suggested retail price of $52.25. That made the 552 a fairly expensive .22. The comparable Savage Model 6 retailed for $42.75; the Stevens Model 87 for $37.95; the Mossberg 98 for $43.95. But the Browning .22 Autoloading Rifl e carried a sticker price of $69.50, and Winchester's legendary Model 63 sold for a whopping $79.45. (Who thought up those prices, anyway? Seventy-nine dollars and forty-fi ve cents?!)
Today a new Model 552 will set you back around $400, defi nitely on the salty side. But if $200 of that is for the basic gun, the other $200 has got to be for style. In my opinion, the 552 Speedmaster looks every bit as good today as it did back in 1957. As I've suggested, I may be the only person left on the planet who shoots .22 Shorts anymore, and when I want to plink tin cans by the caseload, there's nothing like a Model 552 and a few boxes of Shorts to land me smack-dab on Cloud 9.
According to Remington, the Model 552 was made in two grades: the 552A Standard and the 552BDL. The BDL had fancier wood, nicer checkering, and a somewhat fi ner finish. Three variations were cataloged: the .22 Short-only 552GS Gallery Special; the 552C Carbine; and the 552 150th Anniversary Edition. All are considered collectible, at least as far as Model 552s go. Me, I’d love to have one of each.
If you run across a Model 552 at a good price, my advice is to buy it. You probably won’t regret it, and you might just rediscover how much fun the .22 Short can be.
HAND LOADING BY LARRY STERETT
With the increased prices of factory loaded ammunition, interest in handloading should also increase – and apparently it has, judging from the recent backorder situations at many manufacturers of reloading tools and components. The major cost of a loaded cartridge is the brass case, and if the case can be reloaded fi ve to ten times, or more, the cost per round decreases, after the cost of the reloading equipment is recouped. Plus, you can tailor your loads for varmint hunting, big game hunting, target shooting, tactical shooting or whatever the need. (Trapshooters often reload several thousand rounds of their favorite load each year in order to reduce the cost of shells needed for practice.) The equipment covered in this update doesn’t cover everything available, but it should provide an idea as to what is currently available and what’s new.
DATA
Reloaders need reliable reloading data. Thankfully, such data for factory, obsolete, and even wildcat cartridges is all over the place.
The hardbound volumes of data, such as those by Barnes, Hornady, Lee, Nosler, Speer, and others, or the large, softbound volumes of Lyman, Accurate Arms, etc., are enormously valuable. Their only downside is the lapse time between new editions. A recent trend is toward a smaller paperbound manual or magazine-size volume of data issued yearly, often by powder manufacturers or distributors. One of the most informative, the Hodgdon Annual, is issued by the Hodg-don Powder Company and published by Shooting Times.
The latest Hodgdon Annual features one less than a dozen excellent articles on reloading by well-known writers, plus the latest loading data for 135 rifle cartridges, from the .17 Ackley Hornet to the .50 BMG, and 72 handgun cartridges from the .22 Remington Jet to the .500 S&W Magnum. In addition there are a few other valuable features, including a table of Relative Burn Rates for powders, rated from the fastest (Norma R1) to the slowest (Vihtavouri 20N29); a table of Powder Usage for various pistol, rifle and shotgun powders; a description of many of the powders currently on the market; and a legend of the abbreviations used in the manual. (Data is provided for ten different 6.5mm cartridges, including two of the newest, the 6.5 Grendel and the 6.5 Creedmoor, but not for the older 6.5mm Remington Magnum.
The Hornady Auto Charge is a sophisticated digital powder measure. Note the drain plug on the right side.
The GSI Rotary Bullet Feed for Dillon XL650 and Super 1050 reloading machines.
No loading data for shotshells is provided in this manual, but for each of the rifle or handgun cartridges, load data is provided as follows, for specifi ed bullets (the bullet being listed by weight, brand name, bullet type, diameter and overall loaded cartridge length): powder, grains, velocity (instrumental) and pressure (CUP) for both starting loads and maximum loads. Other data provided for the loads for a specific cartridge include the case used (Federal, Hornady, Rem-ington, Sierra, Winchester, etc.), trim length, primer brand (type and size), barrel length and rate of twist. It doesn’t get much better or more complete than this.
Lyman Products will have a new Cast Bullet Handbook available by the time you read this. This is the fourth edition and the first new one in thirty years. The entire Lyman line of pistol and rifle bullet moulds will be chronicled, along with data for some moulds by other manufacturers whose bullet designs will be of interest to reloaders of cast bullets. A number of new cartridges since the third edition will be featured, such as the .327 Federal, along with some new black powder loads for a number of the popular older cartridges, especially those regaining status among Cowboy Action. A number of authoritative “how to” articles are also featured.
LYMAN PRODUCTS
Other new Lyman products for hand-loaders include a Big Dipper Casting Furnace, Big Dipper Casting Kit, Cast Iron Lead Pot, Magnum Inertia Bullet Puller, and a Universal Case Prep Accessory Kit. The Big Dipper Furnace has a 10-lb. capacity, features heavy-duty aluminum construction with a stable non-tipping design, and operates on 115 volts. Heat-up time is rapid, with control to +/- 10 degrees. (The Casting Kit contains the BD furnace, a casting dipper, ingot mould, Super Moly Bullet Lube and the Lyman Reloading and Cast Bullet Guide – everything needed to get started in casting bullets, except for a bullet mould of the required size.) The Cast Iron Lead Pot has a 10-lb. lead capacity and is fl at-bottomed to reduce tipping. A heat source, such as an electric hotplate, is needed to melt the lead and keep it hot. (With the older iron pot I used to use a tripod, similar to what plumbers used at one time, over a single gas fl ame; it worked.)
To salvage the components when you make a reloading flub, the new Magnum Inertia Bullet Puller will be handy. With a full size handle for comfort, the Puller features a head design capable of handling case sizes from the FN 5.7x28mm to the largest magnum. Insert cartridge, secure cap, strike puller on a solid surface. (A 6x6-inch square, inch-thick plate of cold-rolled steel works very well as a surface on which to strike the Puller.) Then unscrew the cap and remove the bullet, powder and case. Depending on the cartridge, bullet seating depth, and crimp tightness, two or more strikes may be necessary, but it will eventully remove the bullet.
SOME OF THE QUALITY CARTRIDGE UNPRIMED CASES FOR THE J. D. JONES LINE OF WILDCAT CARTRIDGES.
QUALITY CARTRIDGE UNPRIMED CASES FOR THE COMPLETE GIBBS SHARP SHOULDER, SHORT NECK, LINE OF CARTRIDGES.
ACKLEY CARTRIDGES, REGULAR AND IMPROVED, RANGED FROM .17 CALIBER TO .475 AND POSSIBLY HIGHER. THESE ARE A FEW OF THE UNPRIMED ACKLEY CASES AVAILABLE FROM QUALITY CARTRIDGE.
OBSOLETE CARTRIDGES COME IN ALL SIZES. THESE UNPRIMED