Russian legislation divides civilian weapons into several categories, including long-barreled smooth-bore (shotguns) and long-barreled rifled (rifles/carbines). And if citizens are allowed to load cartridges into a smoothbore, then with everything else the situation is murky.
On the pages of specialized forums, shooters with varying degrees of legal training defend the position “what is not prohibited is permitted” to the point of hoarseness and massacres, but when caught by police officers, they quickly lose their fighting spirit.
The question arises: why make your own cartridges at all? Why not buy it in a store?
Money loves the bill
There are several reasons, the first is economic. The store may not have the ammunition you need for sale. Since the early 2000s, our arms market has presented a quite encouraging picture: almost everything from legal long-barreled weapons could be purchased. European and American manufacturers have become a strong presence in hunting stores, displacing domestic shotguns and rifles. This was especially felt in the segment of hunting rifled weapons with manual reloading: at that time, Russian factories offered only Los, Bars carbines and the Old Testament Mosin rifles. At the same time, Remington and Mossberg products, already equipped with optical sights, were cheaper than the stock “Moose”.
Back in 2013, an American Mossberg 100ATR with a Bushnell sight already installed cost 25-29,000 rubles in a store. Domestic “Moose” is 4-5 thousand more expensive.
Along with imported rifles, new cartridges also came to the Russian Federation. Greater power, accuracy, flatness and workmanship distinguished them favorably from the usual line of ammunition. But since September 2014, the same United States has not issued or renewed a single license for “arms” trade with Russia. As a result, the people, who were cheerfully buying weapons of exotic calibers, began to think: what to do with this property now?
An example from life: at one time I came across an American Marlin carbine inexpensively. I have long wanted something powerful enough for driven hunts for elk and wild boar, and the lever action manual reloading played its role (like in a movie about cowboys!) - in general, I took it.
.444 Marlin Carbine
Now imagine: there is only one option on the market for the required caliber cartridge - .444 Marlin, and it costs 350 rubles apiece (and don’t forget about the shipping costs and waiting time).
.444 Marlin cartridge
To shoot a gun well, you need to do it a lot and often. During Saiga training, I burn one and a half hundred rounds of 5.56x45 mm cartridges, which cost 9.5 rubles. The same amount of .444 ammunition will cost 52,500 rubles. On the economic side, everything is clear.
The second reason is the opportunity to make “your own cartridge”, ideal for your weapon and conditions. The rifling pitch of the barrel, the degree of wear, the weight and shape of the bullet are many factors that ensure an accurate shot. A well-assembled cartridge, weighed on all sides and measured, will give better results than a gross, factory-made one.
DIY vacuum chuck for wood
If your lathe's headstock spindle has a through hole for knocking out the gear center, you can add a homemade vacuum chuck to your arsenal. For this you will need:
- Powerful vacuum cleaner
- Closed bearing, approximately equal in outer diameter to a vacuum cleaner hose
- A piece of thick rubber hose for connecting the vacuum cleaner and the bearing
- Clamp
- Standard faceplate with hole in the center
- A small piece of MDF or thick plywood
- Textolite for adapter
A bushing is machined from the textolite, one side of which should be equal in diameter to the internal size of the bearing, the other - to the spindle. This homemade adapter is pressed into the bearing using glue; it will be held in the machine due to the tightness of the fit. The resulting structure is connected with a piece of hose to the vacuum cleaner and secured with a clamp.
A disk is cut out of MDF or plywood, attached to a faceplate and ground. It is better to make the surface slightly concave. To ensure a tight fit, linoleum or thin rubber is glued on top. The disk is drilled through the center to remove air. A similar self-made chuck provides a pressing force of 40 - 50 kg, sufficient to hold medium-sized parts during finishing.
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Why not?
Year after year, amendments to the Weapons Law (Law on Weapons) met with opposition from deputies. They explained their reaction by the fight against terrorism, support of Russian ammunition factories, concern for the health of Russians, etc.
They tried to explain to legislators that terrorists do without official purchases, that cartridge factories live and prosper by supplying their products for export, and not to the neutered Russian market, that defects also happen with gross cartridges, that citizens of the Russian Federation have long and successfully “rolled themselves” as rifled and smooth-bore ammunition - to no avail. “The Russians are not ready!”
True, the Russians did not know about their unpreparedness and therefore long ago mastered the reload process. Moreover, the accessories for it were bought quite legally. Gunpowder, primers - specifically for rifled weapons - dies and machines for equipment, as well as much more, have been on the shelves for a long time.
A typical page of an online weapons store with accessories for equipping ammunition
And this is gunpowder for rifled weapons, which is still sold in the same stores.
Everything is. But gun owners (from the point of view of our police) are criminals: from hunters to sports shooters, including high-precision snipers. Have you heard about the recent domestic long-range shooting record? The shooter hit a target with a rifle that was more than 4 kilometers away. Ammunition - .408 CheyTac. Is it possible to assume that the cartridge was not assembled by hand, but simply bought in a store?
.408 CheyTac Ammo
Domestic ammunition manufacturers will not make exotic ammunition - it is unprofitable. And there is nowhere to legally buy cartridges.
In this case, the situation reaches the point of idiocy. Let's say I buy factory ammunition at a store. I know that the weight of the bullet and powder charge is “walking”, I want to carry out control measurements at home. To do this I need to disassemble the cartridge.
Do I have the right to buy a cartridge? Yes. Do I have the right to buy equipment for this operation? Yes. Do I have the right to disassemble the cartridge, measure the bullet, weigh it - and the gunpowder? Yes. Do I have the right to remove or add extra gunpowder and put the cartridge back together? No.
Here's another good joke. A new cartridge, .366TKM, is being actively promoted on the Russian market. Smoothbore weapons chambered for this cartridge are very specific - re-barrel SKS carbines and a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Let's look carefully at the pictures.
These are not SKS and AKM, these are VPO-208 and VPO-209, smoothbore guns.
But these are 7.62x39 mm cartridges for rifled weapons (those that are taller) and .366TKM for VPO208/209 shotguns. Moreover, the source material for the .366 is machine gun casings; they simply widen the barrel.
But this is a very common and inexpensive American machine for loading Lee Challenger ammunition, on which you can rivet cartridges of both named calibers.
And even the matrices (special mandrels for cartridges) of these two cartridges are outwardly identical.
But. You can load .366 cartridges, but not 7.62x39.
What about abroad?
Abroad, cartridges are loaded independently. In Germany, a shooter has the right to buy factory-made ammunition for weapons. If he wants to do reloading, then at the nearest shooting center he needs to take special courses that will teach him about the intricacies of loading ammunition both for modern weapons and for muzzle-loading “replicas” for black powder. After this, the applicant receives a certificate of trustworthiness (not free, of course). Then he acquires a license. And this document already gives the right to purchase gunpowder in stores. The Germans do not regulate the purchase of all other equipment (presses, matrices, etc.) in any way - buy what you want. There is, however, a limit on the amount of gunpowder purchased. But you can equip cartridges of any conceivable caliber and in any quantity, without restrictions.
Anton Zheleznyak Technical and engineering expert
But in Latvia there are no problems with reloading - it is allowed for hunters and athletes. Rewrite at least one barrel “for sport” and even start a factory in the basement, the main thing is for yourself. If homemade cartridges are handed over to someone else, both will have problems.
How to choose a part
The optimal chuck model for the machine is selected based on a comprehensive methodology. First of all, the technical data of the machine and the operations performed are taken into account. Based on this, the following parameters are analyzed.
Design - the method of securing the workpiece, the location and number of cams are important.
Parameters of the workpiece - you need to know the maximum and minimum diameter of the shaft and hole of the future workpiece, weight, length, configuration. These factors influence the method of fastening - direct or reverse cams.
The size of the hole in the hollow spindle for installing a rod workpiece. As well as the rotation speed range.
The operating conditions of the lathe chuck require placement in a closed room, where the negative impact of natural factors and aggressive environments that can cause corrosion is excluded.
The lathe chuck is an integral part of the lathe and without it machining is impossible.
So what now?
Let's return to our native aspens. Today, none other than Vladislav Reznik, an authoritative man, a passionate hunter - and, for a moment, a multimillionaire - has taken on the task of pushing through amendments to Russian legislation. This time, a positive response to the initiative was received from the government of the Russian Federation, signed by the deputy chairman of this body, S. Prikhodko, albeit with a reservation:
“The provided opportunity to independently equip cartridges for sporting firearms with a smoothbore gun and firearms with a rifled barrel affects tens of thousands of commercial hunters, athletes, and residents of indigenous peoples who extract biological resources for food.”
“The implementation of the bill will significantly solve problems, including those related to the implementation of professional activities, and will reduce the financial costs of these categories of citizens.”
“In order to ensure control over the quality of self-loading of cartridges for rifled weapons, the bill should include rules aimed at the need to educate citizens on the rules for safely loading cartridges for firearms with a rifled barrel.”
The gentlemen of the deputies attacked the sick - the fate of the indigenous small peoples. Where to go?
And... accepted on November 15, 2022.
Charging using the UPS5 press
This universal device is essentially a cunning press that allows you to crimp cartridges with a “star”, it can also remove primers and insert new ones in their place, and press wads (Figure 3).
In addition to this, the equipment set for 12 gauge cartridges includes:
- Support cone, cone, also known as pestle and funnel.
- Sleeve and die for star-shaped packaging.
- Needles for removing spent igniters.
- Cup for inserting new capsules.
The kit also includes attachments for 12-gauge cartridges: a standard star-type crimp, a crimp ring for the bottom of the clip, for final pressing of the ammunition.
