The shell is next inserted in the loading die, the primer entered into the )ocket, and the safety socket placed over it, large end down; the primer nay then be driven home with the primer-punch and mallet. Considerable oss of primers by premature explosion in this operation has occurred, and a ool is supplied for setting primers by pressure, which is used as follows: The shell is placed in the tool for inserting primers—the primer having been previously just entered in the pocket—and the primer pressed home by means of the lever and screw. The end of the screw is so formed as to insure the primer being, below the surface of the head at least o".00.5. It should be slighty lubricated to avoid wear of the projection on the end and abrasion of the primer. The Bridgeport tool may also be used to set the primers of all shells but the "Lowell,- \\inch has, intentionally, a primer to fit the pocket tightly, and requires considerable force for its proper insertion. The screw tool will set the "Frankford Arsenal," "Berdan," -Lowell," and "Winchester" primers equally well. The shell is now ready for reloading. It is inserted in the loaded (lie, the latter into the safety-socket, and the powder-funnel into the mouth of the die. A level rneasureful of powder is then poured into the shell through the funnel, after which the bullet, or shot, is inserted and driven home with the punch and mallet until the shoulder of the punch touches the end of the (lie. This insures proper and uniform length of cartridge.
The reloading die may be used as a gauge for determining whether car tridges are of the proper dimensions for entering, the chambers of gtms. As , a rule, any cartridge that will enter the reloading die will enter the chamber of the gun freely. It is, in fact, a combined reloading die and g,auge for car tridges. To use it as a gauge insert the punch in the small end and the car tridge in the opposite end. If the cartridge enters fully -without moving the punch, it is of proper leng,th and diameter.
\\Then shells are reloaded for immediate use they may be fired after the foregoing operation. But if loaded for storage for any leni.,rth of time, the crimping die should be used to secure the bullet in position. To perform this operation, insert the loaded cartridge into the die, then set the head in the recess of the safety-socket, the latter resting on a bench or table. and drive the cartrid,ge in with the blows of the mallet on top of the die. The safety-socket has a central hole concentric with the counter-bore. In extract ing- the primers it supports the head of the case and forms a receptacle for ex ploded primers. It also supports the 11:ad of the shell on opposite ends in the operation of loading. and crimping, and the central hole protects the primer from severe shocks in driving, home the bullet, and it also guides the punch in setting- the primers. Particular care should be taken to free the exterior of the shell from grit or dirt before resizing, to protect the die and shell from scratches: also that neither water nor oil gets into the case or primer, as either will injure or destroy the powder or fulminate. No excess of oil should he left in the chamber of the gun or on the cartridge, as it would tend to rup ture the ease in firing and also ternpoliarily disable the g,tin. :\ slight amount
of lubricant on the cartridge or chamber throughout their length seems to prolong the life of reloaded shells. The tendency of the shells to tear apart appears to be due to their unequal expansion in the chamber; the front end being thin is more quickly expanded, and in the absence of the lubricant is held by pressure and friction against the walls of the chamber, while the thick rear end of the shell is forced backward by the pressure of the gases. As a rule, sufficient lubricant from the bullet finds its way into the chamber to an swer all purposes. These tools are made as simple and strong as possible. Some of them, particularly the dies and punches, require to be used with great care, so as not to injure their surfaces or alter their dimensions, where such would affect the cartridge. They are cheap, durable, and quite rapid in operation if the work be divided among several operators or be done by one person performing each operation separately on a number of shells.
All our prominent gun manufacturers realize the fact that two guns made practically alike, so much so that the closest measurements with most deli cate instruments fail to disclose the slightest difference between the two, do not give like results with identical loads when tested. One of these guns may show superior results with No. 8 shot, another with No. 7, and still another with No. 9. As with the shot so with the powders used. A charge of three drams may prove the best with one arm, while it takes the fraction of a dram more to ensure like results in the other. Hence it is exceedingly important that gun and load harmonize, in order that the best shooting of each particu lar gun may be brought out. In the old days, when this matter was even thought of by the general sportsman, guns were condemned as being useless as shooting weapons, when, had the knowledge of such things been as good as it is to-day, a change of ammunition in its quantity might have made the shooting of such supposed worthless arm satisfactory in all respects.
The secret of loading to get good shooting from a shot-cartridge, is a system of uniform measurement of the charges of powder and shot; the even distribution of these charges level in the shell, so that the wads may lie hori zontally on both powder and shot, and in placing them with uniform pressure each time, so that all shells will be loaded precisely alike. These results are only obtainable by the use of proper charging and loading, tools, being grad uated by actual weight of whatever powder the sportsman desires to use. The system of measuring with brass plates as used in the combination chargers is positive, each one being stamped for the charge for which it is to be used. There is not the slightest danger of mistake as these plates are specially flat tened and rolled to a uniform thickness, not varying one-thousandth of an inch, so that all the plates and holes are exactly alike. With these outfits 25, so or too shells can be loaded at one time, and will not show any variation one from another.