Now that I've been shooting awhile, I'm getting to find ammo to be nearly as interesting as guns themselves. However, I think I understand the issues poorly. I'm wondering if someone could either tell me, or direct me to a good website, some general principles about cartridge design. Needless to say, I'm not a reloader - lack of time, space, etc., at the moment, but it's by no means out of the question in the future.
1. Obviously there is more to cartridge performance than the raw volume of the case. Fast powders...slow powders...primers...etc. I could borrow someone's reloading kit, breeze through the manual, and crank out feeble and ineffective 9mm rounds that were nonertheless over-pressured and extremely dangerous chamber bombs. On the other hand, Double Tap, for example, produces safe and reliable 9x19 rounds that get into .357SIG and .40SW territory, performance-wise. Some magical mix of different powders, etc.? Is there a lot of complex but fascinating stuff about the processes that occur within a cartridge case when the firing pit hits the primer?
2. On a related note, there is the topic of the materials and shape of the case itself. Is .40SW more prone to pressure-related failures than other common defense calibers (whether in GLOCKs or any other kind of pistol)? If so, why is this? I've read some interesting stuff about the "case web" of .40SW, 10mm, .45ACP, and .45GAP ammunition, and it has made me wonder about case wall thicknesses, thicknesses in critical places, and the effect of the shape (straight-walled, tapered, necked-down, etc.) on how the powder burns.
Anyhow, I realize it's a broad subject and I expect people have better things to do than give me a detailed primer on the finer points of cartridge design and specification, but I'd be grateful for a link to a good source of information on this. Thanks!
1. Obviously there is more to cartridge performance than the raw volume of the case. Fast powders...slow powders...primers...etc. I could borrow someone's reloading kit, breeze through the manual, and crank out feeble and ineffective 9mm rounds that were nonertheless over-pressured and extremely dangerous chamber bombs. On the other hand, Double Tap, for example, produces safe and reliable 9x19 rounds that get into .357SIG and .40SW territory, performance-wise. Some magical mix of different powders, etc.? Is there a lot of complex but fascinating stuff about the processes that occur within a cartridge case when the firing pit hits the primer?
2. On a related note, there is the topic of the materials and shape of the case itself. Is .40SW more prone to pressure-related failures than other common defense calibers (whether in GLOCKs or any other kind of pistol)? If so, why is this? I've read some interesting stuff about the "case web" of .40SW, 10mm, .45ACP, and .45GAP ammunition, and it has made me wonder about case wall thicknesses, thicknesses in critical places, and the effect of the shape (straight-walled, tapered, necked-down, etc.) on how the powder burns.
Anyhow, I realize it's a broad subject and I expect people have better things to do than give me a detailed primer on the finer points of cartridge design and specification, but I'd be grateful for a link to a good source of information on this. Thanks!