Reduced Loads Without Reloading

Reduced Loads Without Reloading
By Jim Berndt, ©2006
I love shooting my surplus rifles. The abundance of inexpensive ammunition for many
former military rifles is one of the really great advantages of
collecting and shooting the old warhorses. Although I reload for
many of my sporting rifles, I do not bother for some of my
surplus rifles – ammunition is inexpensive and if I need a few
hunting rounds I can buy a single box of commercial
ammunition.
However, there are some occasions where it would be nice to
have some reduced loads of cartridges that I don’t normally hand
load. I like to do some close range plinking just to practice sight
acquisition and trigger pull; I also am trying to transition my son
from his first .22 to shooting some centerfire rifles. Both of
these tasks are well-suited to reduced rifle loads. With reduced
rifle loads I even will dispatch the occasional pest or take a
squirrel or two. But, if you are not a reloader or if you choose
not to reload for a particular cartridge, where do you find
reduced loads?
A solution I have found for this
problem is the Hammond Game
Getter. This device is
manufactured by Brian Hammond
of Alberta, Canada and is available
from him (B. Hammond, Box 41061, Petrolia PO,
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6J 6M7;
www.gamegetter.ca). I was intrigued when I first saw the
Game Getter, so I contacted Brian and ordered one in 8x57
for my Yugo M48 Mauser.
My Game Getter arrived in a handy little plastic box about
the size of a cigarette pack. The box contained a modified
8x57 case, a small sizing die for sizing round balls or
buck shot to the
appropriate diameter, a few lead balls of the
appropriate size and an empty compartment for
power loads (more on these later). The whole
package is very compact and easily slips in your
pocket.
The actual Game Getter device is a modified
cartridge case. The brass head of the case has been
My M48 Yugoslavian Mauser
chambered in 8x57
The Game Getter with accessories in its
case
Remington power loads for power-actuated tools
replaced by (what appears to be) a stainless steel insert. The power for the Game Getter
“cartridge” comes from a blank .22 cartridge – the type commonly marketed by
Remington for power actuated tools (called a “power load”) not the type of blanks used
in starter pistols. The power loads come in a variety of strengths, indicated by their color
with the mildest charges colored grey, the next strongest brown, then green, and finally
yellow, the most powerful.
To load the Game Getter, a power load is placed in the stainless steel base, which holds
the power load off-center so that the centerfire rifle firing pin will strike the rim of the
power load and set off the charge. The projectile is a suitably size round ball (a little
larger than the bore diameter) which has been pushed through the tapered swage provided
with the Game Getter. This sized round ball is pressed into the mouth of the modified
cartridge case by finger pressure; and the Game Getter is ready to fire.
Since I am using my Game Getter in an 8x57 rifle (0.323” bore diameter), 00 Buck Shot
(0.33” diameter) is an appropriate projectile to size for my rifle. Although the
manufacturer did not suggest it, I lightly lubricated the buck shot with a dab of Lee
Resizing Lubricant before pushing the buck shot pellets
through the die. After sizing, the diameter of ten randomly
selected pellets averaged 0.3227” with a standard deviation
of only 0.0002”. Although not really necessary for the bullet
velocity of my planned tests, I also lightly lubricated the
sized pellets with Lee Liquid Alox to minimize the chance of
leading the barrel.
The modified cartridge case I received was a bit large for the
chamber of my M48. I was able to close the bolt with some
difficulty and after getting the bolt closed I was concerned
about getting the cartridge out. However, after several
firings the cartridge chambered noticeably easier and I had
no further chambering problems. The manufacturer suggests
that the lower power loads are the most accurate. After
The base of the Game Getter modified cartridge showing how the power load is inserted, and struck by the
rifle firing pin.
Sized buck shot pressed into the
mouth of the Game Getter modified
cartridge.
looking at the velocity data for the Game Getter in several chamberings on the
manufacturer’s website, I figured that either the brown or the green power loads would
give me the 700 to 900 feet per second (fps) velocity that I wanted.
Accuracy testing of the Game Getter in my M48 took place on a warm (for Northern
Wisconsin) November afternoon. The Game Getter is intended, according to the
manufacturer, for ranges of 25 yards or less. I chose two distances for accuracy testing,
one at 85 feet, a bit longer than the maximum range, and one at 45 feet, a typical squirrel
shooting distance. In my testing, I was trying to evaluate the practical accuracy of the
Game Getter rather than the full potential
accuracy. As a result, I only used a forearm
rest when shooting, rather than a bench rest
and sandbags. I wanted to know if I would be
able to shoot the Game Getter accurately
enough in the field to reliably pot small game.
One of the possible uses of the Game Getter
(where allowed by law) is the ability to swap
the Game Getter for a full-power hunting load
if small game presents itself while big game
hunting. With this idea in mind, the sights of
my M48, which are set for my hunting ammunition, were not adjusted for my tests of the
Game Getter. I wanted to see how far below the point of aim the shots from the Game
Getter would hit at my test distances.
Both the green power loads and the brown power loads were tested at 85 feet. Both
power levels of power loads produced reasonably good groups on the “long-range”
targets. The lower velocity brown power loads produced noticeably tighter groups,
averaging a little over an inch for five shots. I noticed an occasional flyer at 85 feet,
usually associated with a power load that sounded
quieter than most. Groups powered by the green power
loads clustered about 4.1 inches below the point of aim
while groups from the brown power loads were about
4.4 inches below the
point of aim. The
difference in velocity
between the two
different powered
power loads, as shown
by the amount of
relative bullet drop,
does not appear to be significant at this distance
When the range was decreased to 45 feet the brown
loads showed that they were indeed the power source of
choice for my 8x57. At this closer distance the groups
"Field rest" used in testing.
Group shot at 85 feet with brown
power loads
Group shot at 45 feet with brown power
loads
began to resemble a ragged hole. Typical group size at this range with the brown power
loads was about one inch or less and the groups were about 2.5 inches below the point of
aim. I am confident that in a rifle with more accuracy potential than my M48 and with a
good bench rest, the Game Getter could produce tighter groups than shown by my testing.
However, a one-inch group at 45 feet makes me confident that I could reliably head-shoot
squirrels within that range. In some informal practice after testing I tried holding over the
target bulls eye about 2.5 inches (about one and a half squirrel heads) and was able to
consistently place shots in the center ring of the target.
Bullet velocity 3 feet from the muzzle was tested for bullets powered by both the green
power loads and the brown power loads. Ten shots with the green power loads produced
an average velocity of 974 fps with a standard deviation of 21 fps. Another ten shots
with the brown power loads gave an average velocity of 792 fps with a standard deviation
of 39 fps. The lead Buck Shot I was using for bullets in these test had an average weight
of 52.5 grains.
While the 00 buckshot pellets fired in the M48 have been very slightly elongated during
sizing, some simple ballistic calculations can be made using the G2 ballistic coefficient
for 00 buckshot of 0.032. At 974 fps at the muzzle the green power loads produce a little
more than 103 foot/pounds of energy at the muzzle with the green power loads and 72
foot/pounds with the brown power loads. As a standard of comparison, Federal’s
American Eagle .22 ammunition leaves the barrel at a stated 1,260 fps with a muzzle
energy of 141 ft/lbs
Velocity (fps) Energy (ft/lbs) Bullet Drop
Load (in)
Muzzle 25 Yds. Muzzle 25 Yds. 25 Yds.
Game Getter - Green Load 947 857 103 84 1.3
Game Getter - Brown Load 792 729 72 61 2.3
Federal American Eagle .22 LR 1,260 1,193 140 126 0.7
Bullet Drop
8x57 Hammond Game Getter vs Federal .22 LR
-2.5
-2.0
-1.5
-1.0
-0.5
0.0
0 25 50 75
Range (feet)
Drop From Muzzle (inches)
Federal American Eagle .22 LR
Brown Load
Green Load
My limited tests have convinced me that the
Hammond Game Getter is all it is billed to be: an
easy to use, accurate, field-assembled cartridge
suitable for reduced velocity plinking, the taking
of close range small game with a big game rifle.
The workmanship of the modified casing is
excellent and looks like it will last longer than me.
This little device has earned a place in my range
box and I intend to keep it handy when hunting
with my M48.
While my testing was conducted with the 8x57 Hammond Game Getter, the
manufacturer’s website lists 91 other standard chamberings with a note that wildcat
chamberings can be provided upon request. I think my next trials will include my
7mm-08 and .223...or perhaps my .45-70…
Copyright ©2006 by Jim Berndt, all rights reserved