Hunting Cartridge Reloading Technique: The Main Loading Operations.
The shells must be of the type suitable for the powder we want to use, especially in terms of trigger power and the shape of the internal bushing. They absolutely must not exceed the length of the cartridge chamber. The shells are placed in a palmella with 50 slots, after having observed that there are no foreign bodies inside them and that the firing holes of the primers are free. From the box, the powder is poured into the bowl, stirred with the spoon to ensure that it does not contain lumps and exposed to the air to normalize the humidity. If the powder is dense and poorly flowing, the dosage must be done by weight, using the precision scale, otherwise by volume using the measuring cup.
In the measuring cup the powder is poured with the spoon, holding the measuring cup over the bowl; after filling, the powder is shaved to the edge of the measuring cup. The weight of the powder contained in the measuring cup must be checked several times with the scale before starting the loading and at intervals after a certain number of charges, because its set screw can be loosened by losing the adjustment. The measuring cup must not be subjected to shaking, because the powder must find a natural settlement in it. The powder contained in the measuring cup can be poured into the scale and weighed for each cartridge, or directly into the case through the funnel, after which the funnel must be placed in the case that follows in the palmella, always proceeding in a row and in the same direction to avoid accidentally pouring two doses of powder into the same case. Once all the shells have been loaded, you can observe their interior from above to ensure that you have not incurred a double charge.
When loading with traditional wad, the cardboard is placed on the powder, introducing it inside the case and making sure that it does not remain by cut (perpendicular to the powder) but on the plane. Subsequently, the cardboard is settled with the calcone in contact with the powder, generally without exerting a strong compression, unless the type of powder requires it. When placing these cards on the powder, it is advisable to make a circular pencil mark on the calcone, at the edge of the case, both to ensure that the card is exactly placed in contact with the powder, and to check again that no case contains a double charge. , or is devoid of dust. If for a case the mark on the calcone indicates a too low or too high position of the cardboard, the case is extracted from the palmella and unloaded for an investigation. After having placed all the cards on the powder, the greased felt wads, possibly a few thicknesses of cork or cartalan, are introduced into the cases until the required height of the wad column is reached.
This height must be established first, by carrying out some tests on a case so that above the wad there remains precisely the space necessary for the lead, the closing cardboard and the rim, or for the lead and the star closure. To settle the elements that form the column of the wad in place, we use the usual calcone, making sure to exercise the right compression. It would be preferable to use a dynamometric calcone, to standardize the compressive force exerted on the wad column in all cartridges, because it derives the famous "loading density" which greatly affects the vivacity of combustion of the powder, the pressure in the barrel and the shot speed. This force can also be adjusted with a static weight from 2 to 5 kg, which is placed on the calcone, or calculated manually by the expert loader. When plastic wads are used, they must be placed directly on the powder, with the base cup in safe contact. When inserting the plastic wad into the case it is necessary to make sure that the base cup does not deform by forcing against the edge of the case. This edge can be slightly widened, with a conical wooden or iron mandrel.
It is not necessary to exert compression on the plastic container wad. The right compression is obtained later with the hemming, adjusting the height of the edge and therefore making the whole charge back slightly. Stopper cups and some rigidly constructed container wads do not require compression. On the other hand, other container wads require, to obtain the best performance, that the stem flexes, reducing its height by about 2 mm. The dose of the pellets can be controlled by measuring cup when their diameter is small, otherwise only by weighing. The large pellets vary too much their settlement within the measuring cup, furthermore the shaving of this contributes to introduce too consistent errors in the weight of the charge. With lead with a diameter greater than 7,11, use of the balance is de rigueur.
Above the pellets is placed a crumbly and light sealing card, perfectly flat, or a low thickness conglomerate cork disk, or a self-disintegrating plastic disk. Cardboards and hard and heavy discs, when they do not disintegrate, contribute to the dispersion of the shot patterns because they disturb the swarm of pellets in trajectory. The closure card is not necessary if the star closure is carried out on the case. Once completed, the cartridges are passed to the hemmer. The classic hem generally has a round or round-square "owl-beak" shape, depending on the type of coil mounted by the hemmer. The owl's beak hem has a slightly higher resistance to unwinding than that of the round hem, at the same height, therefore it seems preferable with difficult-to-ignite powders or with low lead charges.
The star closure is obtained through an engraver that practices 6 or 8 folds on the edge of the case, or pliche, which subsequently a reel folds towards the center, closing the apex of the cartridge and making an external circular edge, similar to a round rim. The star closure develops greater resistance to the advancement of the charge compared to the round, or round-square rim, therefore it allows to reduce the dose of the powder. The reel of the orator must push to the bottom, in order to obtain the correct folding of the case on the cardboard (common edge) or directly on the pellets (star closure), however without causing an excessive retraction of the lead and of the entire charge by compressing too much dust. Particular attention must be paid to using the electric hems because with them it is easy to tighten the hem too much, generating high firing pressures.