Quick Tips / Tricks of the Trade

Handloading Risk and Safety

Improperly loaded ammunition can cause serious injury and damaged equipment. Handloading should only be conducted by competent adults after proper instruction. The use of safety glasses is recommended when hand loading. Since Outer Edge Projectiles has no control over other manufacturer’s product or individual hand loading practices, we disclaim all liability for any damage which may result in the use of this product. Use at your own risk. If these terms are unacceptable to the consumer, return the unopened pack to your original point of purchase for a full refund, within 30 days of the date of purchase.

The Order of Things …

Match your Bullet to your Barrel
The first issue in any handloading is to match your bullet to your barrel’s twist rate. This recommendation is specified in the product section of this website and on the product packaging.
It is important to note that copper bullets do not work well in commercially uncommon polygonal (canted) land barrels. Like spark plugs in a diesel, they don’t go together.

Jump to the lands

The next step is to set your jump to the lands. Copper bullets perform differently to conventional projectiles. One very important difference is that copper bullets should never be seated into the lands – ever! For both safety and best accuracy, a minimum jump of 0.9 mm (35 thou) jump is required, and 1.3 mm (0.050″) to 1.5 mm (60 thou) is often preferred. More than this is quite acceptable. If you are not comfortable in measuring your jump to the lands, the starting reference point for factory rifles is to add the ogive length to your case length; to calculate your Cartridge Overall Length. This ogive length data is provided in the product section of this website.

Case Capacity

It is vitally important that you know your actual case capacity. All load suggestions are based on the specified case capacities, and are measured in grains Av of distilled water. Case capacities can vary greatly from different manufacturers, and even from batch to batch from the same manufacturer. Measure your cases! If your case capacity varies from the nominated standard, your load will have to be adjusted accordingly.

Load Development

Load development (by varying powder charges) can now be undertaken as the next phase of proceedings. With all the other parameters in place, you can now develop your load by adjusting your powder charge, thus changing only one variable at a time.

Coating

Outer Edge Projectiles are proprietary coated copper projectiles. No Molybdenum Disulphide (Moly – ms2) is used in any way. This coating is a sacrificial coating, and safe to use in modern barrels. It is not toxic. This coating should not be removed for any reason. The projectiles are not designed to be used uncoated, if so, dangerous pressures may result. Some loss of coating on the ogive of the bullet, once the cartridge has been loaded is of little concern however, largely as the ogive does not contact the case or the barrel, but the important coating between the bullet and case will remain intact once the bullet is seated.

Components

Any variation from the components and settings nominated in this data will affect load pressures. If you by necessity must use differing components; it is imperative that your load development start from the beginning, each and every time. This is especially important for variations in case capacity, or when switching from standard to magnum primers. 

Always start low
Always start at the lowest load and build up. Never exceed the maximum load!

Entry to the load section is entirely dependent on acknowledgement of the information provided, and agreement to these terms and instructions.