Will reloading be outdated and impossible?

Ben Jefferson

Ben Jefferson

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What will the future of re-loading be when polymer cases are the norm for the military which provides a large part of our inventory?

Will brass cases be the .22 rounds of the past?

Have loading gear I've never used, maybe I should be component hoarding.

What say the smarter than I?
 
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Not a derail at all.

I have not really considered it until now and was unsure if its been considered and if some enterprising member has discovered a work around.
 
I have enough components to last me for years. As long as they don't change the chamber dimensions where you no longer can purchase a firearm (barrel) that shoots "antiquated" ammo.
But it is the future no way around it. I can imagine the angst that guys had when their favorite cap and ball muskets where replaced with metallic cartridges. Sure, you can still find the components to shoot them but they are insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
I don't see a lot of the younger generation reloading anyway. Ammo is still pretty cheap (cheaper than playing golf anyway). I have friends that buy $40-$75 worth of pistol ammo a month and go out and just have fun. I handload for precision and accuracy (meets my expectations) and I can take half a day at the range and shoot no more than 20 or 30 rounds. I go through about a 1,000 rounds of rifle ammo a year spread across several rifles and chamberings. I'm good for a long time.
 
Stock up on components and don't worry about the polymer stuff. If you have enough ingredients you can always sell them to the folks that did not, but still want to reload.
 
McDirkale said:
They will not be happy when the polymer (plastic) is sticking to the inside of chambers and barrels.....I wouldn't worry.
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That's an interesting point. You don't think a high temp polymer can be made?

Better yet, an explosive polymer that might serve as partial propellant.
 
In times of combat, the amount of fire is REALLY gonna heat those chambers if a lot of fire is induced. I'm just thinking out loud, I am sure they can produce a high temp resistant, but c'mon, we are talking the gubment....lowest bidder fo sho.
 
McDirkale said:
In times of combat, the amount of fire is REALLY gonna heat those chambers if a lot of fire is induced. I'm just thinking out loud, I am sure they can produce a high temp resistant, but c'mon, we are talking the gubment....lowest bidder fo sho.
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I understand that lowest bid thing very well, but; having been involved in the aircraft world of the gubment, and in acquisitions for a # of years, when they they want X, they will get X. No matter what the cost, or what sphincter is running the program!

Many times it's justified by the fact of how much has already been invested!
 
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BASIL said:
From a machinist point of view, not at all. Like all new tech, it's getting better with time.
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Yessir, but your line of work just might promote an extremist view on the required accuracy. Do we need more than 0.001 @BASIL ?

I am not being a smart ass sirjust ignorant!
 
Why would you want to print them, are you assuming that nobody will sell them outside of military channels? IMO these will be lighter but far more expensive than brass, so no reason that companies wouldn’t keep loading brass for those of us unwilling to pay the premium for reduced weight.

That neckless 30cal round is interesting, I wonder what problem it solves.
 
With millions of guns out there that use brass cased ammo, it's not going anywhere.

However polymer cased ammo is the future. Two of the three Next Gen Squad Weapon finalists use polymer cased ammo.

The military has done extreme testing on the True Velocity ammo and it works.


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3D for hunting?
one and done if i'm lucky.
the internals could be allowed
to cool off while zeroing a scope.
 
There are hundreds of millions of guns in the US designed for shooting regular brass cased ammo. There's going to be a market for brass ammo for a long time. I could see polymer ammo being rolled out as a cheaper alternative, like steel is today, but I think ammo companies are going to keep making brass cased for decades to come.

Besides, the military has never used 30-30, 357 mag, or 44 mag to my knowledge. I can't see companies making that changing over to plastic just because uncle Sam wants plastic 5.56.
 
by the way, powder isn't impossible to make DIY.....just don't let it dry out before you get it into the jug!

 
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The goal is to have 24-7 lights out production lines. I believe Timney Triggers uses this method.
Nice to see the 80/20 system used for their work stations.


 
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You could reload your own plastic cases...just buy them new from the manufacturer and set your own primer, powder, and bullet sort of like buying an unfired case or plastic shotgun hull. It May be more practical just to buy new ones than try to resize the old ones if it’s even necessary

You’d probably need some sort of heat and pressure crimp versus pressure alone with pistol cases

I’d like to see if a runaway gun is possible after sustained fire and also what happens after an IED event (or house fire) if the ammo cooks off like traditional metallic ammo

I see the reduced weight being a huge benefit for the military. Not only can individual riflemen, sorry, Rifle-persons, carry more ammo but think of one transport load of ammo that’s half the normal weight? That’s twice the ammo delivered in one go. The fuel savings alone will be big

are plastic cases the answer? I don’t know. But it’s an interesting alternative and until they prove it to be superior or inferior to current methods I’ll reserve judgement
 
JimB said:
Why would you want to print them, are you assuming that nobody will sell them outside of military channels? IMO these will be lighter but far more expensive than brass, so no reason that companies wouldn’t keep loading brass for those of us unwilling to pay the premium for reduced weight.

That neckless 30cal round is interesting, I wonder what problem it solves.
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Might be time to rethink that expensive part :eek:
 
I’m actually surprised that the military is still looking at replacing the 5.56, pretty much every report I’ve seen of the M855A1 resolved the deficiencies and complaints about the M855 and 5.56 in general.

I’m in the camp that believes the military complex should just field the 6.8 SPC II and call it a day, the polymer cased ammo is a great idea when you know you’re saving 30% in weight for logistical reasons, but in the field it is saving what, a few ounces of a soldier’s load out?
 
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