We just got back from the NRA 138th Annual Meetings in Phoenix, Arizona and I wanted to drop everyone a note. My first thought is to say that the hospitality was exceptional in Phoenix. The people of Phoenix and the surrounding area are great folks. It was hot there, but as they say it’s a dry kind of heat. I think it was 107° F on Monday when I left.

The first day (Friday) was a very busy day with a lot of customers stopping by our booth to say hello. We also had the opportunity to visit with a lot of new shooters and those new to reloading. There was quite a bit of interest in .50 BMG shooting, F-Class Shooting, and a lot of questions about reloading. Of course, primer availability was a main concern of many of our visitors. We did talk to Wolf and they now expect their primers to begin arriving in the United States in July sometime. Another popular topic was the use of once fired military and law enforcement brass. Many visitors wanted to know about military crimp removal tools. I know the crowd was so concentrated on Friday that quite a few people were delayed getting into the show.

We couldn’t tell about Saturday but the crowd seemed just as big but more spread out. If you ever get a chance to visit the NRA Show I highly recommend it. For a supplier like us, it provides us a great opportunity to meet fellow shooters and customers and get ideas on what they need. For customers it gives them a chance to meet and talk to the people that make the stuff they use. More importantly, they get to pick up the guns and gear that they are considering buying and see what they look like versus just pictures in a catalog.

The Members Banquet on Saturday night was fantastic. There were reportedly over 6,000 guests and it was said to be the largest sit-down dinner ever in the state of Arizona. That’s a lot of chicken! John Stossel, co-anchor of ABC’s 20/20 show was an excellent speaker that really gave us some ideas to think about. Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North was the other keynote speaker and gave us an inspirational and touching speech. There was also quite a tribute to our veterans and our soldiers currently serving around the world.

Attendance on Sunday was a bit lighter than the other two days, as usual. Most of our staff was able to get a chance to go out and look at some of the other exhibits. We have Brownells, Buck Knives, Hornady, Dixie Gun Works, Sierra, Single Action Shooting Society, and Lapua as booth neighbors. The folks from Buck Knives were a great help during setup in loaning us some tools we needed.

Next year the NRA Annual Meetings will be held May 14-16, 2010 in Charlotte, NC – we are already looking forward to it.

Good Shooting,
Bill Gravatt

Weather is finally turning nice here at home in Indiana and I am chomping at the bit to get out and do some shooting. I have spent the last few weeks going through my gun stuff in my reloading and shooting room and it just adds to the anticipation about getting out to the range. I hope all of you are as excited as I am. I didn’t get to compete as much as I would have liked to last year, but I will this year.

Our re-designed website, sinclairinlt.com is up and running! We will be working constantly to add more products and information to enhance the site. Now you can visit and check inventory status, new product selections, and search for items in a much easier way. We have had a lot of positive feedback on the way we have organized products (from a shooter’s standpoint) and customers have reported the structure makes it much easier to find items. Thanks to all of you who have given us ideas and suggestions on how to improve the site.

We are seeing a tremendous increase in the number of new customers calling or ordering on the website, some who are just getting into reloading. A big thanks to all of our dedicated customers who have sent new reloaders and shooters our way!

We have had some serious overload in our customer service center and are moving as fast as we can to handle the increased call demand. I know a lot of customers are calling to find specific components, especially primers (see the short article below).

The NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibition in Phoenix, Arizona is this month (May 15-17). We will be in Booth #2003, right near the exhibit hall entrance along with our parent company, Brownells. Hope to see you there.

Good Shooting,

Bill Gravatt
President – Sinclair International, Inc.

The AR-15 is one of the most popular rifles used in service rifle competitions, 3-Gun competitions, tactical competitions, hunting, and just plain old plinking.

The AR-15 is a pleasure to clean compared to other semi-automatics since it can be cleaned from the breech end by unhinging the receiver and removing the bolt carrier assembly. A very useful accessory to have when cleaning an AR-15 is a product called the Sinclair AR-15 Cleaning Link that you can get through Sinclair International. This handy gadget holds the upper and lower receivers apart but fixed in position so you can clean the rifle easily from the breech without the upper and lower receivers flopping around. This allows you to use a breech style cleaning rod guide like the Sinclair Rod AR-15 Rod Guide. When the rifle is separated with a “Link” and sitting in a cradle, the muzzle is positioned downward so any excess solvent flows out the muzzle and not back into the action.

Cleaning the AR-15 barrel is no different than cleaning the barrel of a bolt gun. The only factor to remember is the gas port on the inside of the barrel. If you decide to use a paste cleaner on the bore, make sure you blow out any paste from the port opening by using one of the aerosol cleaners with an applicator tube/straw and spray some through the gas tube. Then run a few patches through the barrel to remove anything that was blown out.

The action of the AR-15 requires some special attention due to the amount of carbon that builds up due to the gas operating system. Since the bolt carrier has already been removed from the rifle to access the breech, the cleaning of the chamber and lug recess area is relatively simple. We use a Sinclair AR-15 Lug Recess Tool to clean the lug recess area, which is part of the barrel extension.

Use wet solvent on the cotton rolls installed on the lug recess tool to remove any accumulated debris and old grease. Then follow up with some dry cotton rolls to finish the job. When cleaning the chamber, use a cotton swab or patches wrapped around an old brush to remove any foreign debris from the chamber. You can also use a Sinclair AR-15 Chamber Cleaning Kit to clean this area thoroughly.

If you don’t know how to disassemble the AR-15 bolt carrier and bolt, we would highly recommend getting the “U.S. Marine Corps M16A2 Technical Manual” or “The AR-15 Complete Assembly Guide” by Walt Kuleck and Clint McKee (A Scott Duff Publication). They include complete instructions for the disassembly and reassembly of the M16/AR-15 rifle. They also have diagrams, instructions, and procedures for parts replacement. Another wonderful aspect of the AR-15 is that it is relatively easy to disassemble including removing the ejector and extractor. A good roll pin punch kit should be part of your maintenance/field kit for the AR-15 as well as a spare parts kit containing commonly replaced small parts (gas rings, ejector spring, ejector roll pin, firing pin retaining pins, extractor, extractor pin and spring assembly, and a firing pin). A Sinclair AR-15 Bolt Vise provides a third hand when removing bolt pins and gas rings.

When you have the bolt removed from the carrier assembly, spray down the bolt with a good degreaser. The bolt face needs to be wiped off, the back end of the bolt needs to be flushed out and brushed with a small brush (.17 caliber). Brush the locking lugs with a utility brush and degreaser.

Clean the bolt carrier with patches, swabs, and solvents. A large bottle brush with a half sheet of paper towel does a good job on cleaning the bulk of the interior. Clean out the carrier key with a small brush and use a Sinclair/Brown Carbon Scraper to clean built-up carbon out of the recess inside the front end of the bolt carrier. Inspect the three gas rings to make sure none of the gaps are aligned; gas rings should be replaced at least once a year if you are shooting any significant amount of rounds.

Re-grease the bolt and bolt carrier with a good quality grease of your choice. We use a good quality bolt grease on our personal AR’s and have never had a functioning problem due to improper lubrication There are “Mil-Spec” greases specifically made for the AR-15 available through us. Remember, whatever you use, grease is wonderful as a lubricant but unfortunately acts as a trap for foreign particles so the grease should be frequently cleaned off and reapplied.

We have had a lot of concerned customers calling to ask about primer availability. Actually, our lines have been flooded with calls regarding the availability of primers as well as the availability of other components. The easiest and quickest way to check on availability is through our new website, whether you plan on phoning an order in, ordering off the web, or using some other means. The following is our view on the current primer situation. Basically, there has been a two-pronged drain on primer supplies for the reloading market.

The first driving force has been the huge demand for loaded ammunition through 2008 and continuing into 2009. The large primer manufacturers like ATK (which would include Federal and CCI), Winchester, and Remington are directing the majority of their primers into loaded ammunition. Ammunition sales are going through the roof as individuals stock up because of political concerns. The huge consumer demand for ammo is in addition to the demand from law enforcement agencies and our military to re-supply their own inventories. I know that smaller ammunition manufacturers have been impacted drastically by the primer shortage since their demands are higher than normal for primers that they have to obtain through Federal, CCI, Winchester, Remington, etc. Many of these smaller manufacturers have had to go to other sources to get quality primers. Because of this situation, some of them cannot keep up with their own ammunition production. Unfortunately, these smaller ammo makers can’t control their own destiny since they don’t have the capacity or tooling to make primers.

I mentioned that there were two factors impacting primer availability; the first factor is creating the second one. Since ammo demand has consumed more of the primer supply than normal, the quantity of primers on the shelf has declined at the box stores, the reloading companies (like Sinclair), and the smaller gun shops. With the fast communication via the internet, the word spreads quickly and the result has been consumers stockpiling and hoarding primers. Individuals are buying and keeping more primers in their own personal inventories and this has prevented some reloaders from having any primers at all. We normally see people buying 1,000 or maybe 5,000 primers at a time, now we are seeing customers buying 25,000 at a time.

The manufacturers are trying to react as best as they can, but their primary driving force is to keep a steady supply of primers going to the ammunition plants because they generate more revenue through this output than they do through the reloading market. A guy from CCI called the other day to order some items from us for his own reloading, and he reported that CCI has been running 24/7 and is still falling behind. They are adding two machines to their line to increase production (I don’t know what percentage gain this will give them). Federal told us a couple of weeks ago to not be surprised if we don’t see many primers from them until the end of 2009.

This is what we know as of today. Our current situation at Sinclair is that we are out of primers but are expecting some Wolf primers of all types sometime in June. We get a few Winchester primers every once and awhile but it might only be 30K to 50K at a time.

Eventually everyone will have enough stockpiled, manufacturers should catch up with ammo runs, and the supply on the shelves will hopefully return. This happened in throughout 1994, just not to this scale.

Best Regards,
Bill

I thought it might be interesting for our readers to see what the favorite products are of some of staff. I know I found it enlightening and I hope it doesn’t bore you too much. I felt confident I might been able to predict the favorite of some of the staff from having shot with them for years, but some of the others I was pleasantly surprised by what they had to say.

Here were the background guidelines of the survey. I called them in one at a time over the course of an hour or so and asked them to keep the topic of our conversation confidential until I had talked to everyone. I asked them to give me the first item that popped into their head when I asked them about their favorite Sinclair product and non-Sinclair product. I know I made a few of them nervous when I called them to my office to have a talk, sorry about that guys! The intention was to get an immediate response. Of course, several of them wanted to list two in each group, but I finally got most of them corralled into one choice. It was interesting to see many of them mention the same item.

Pat (Manufacturing)

I was particularly interested in Pat’s choice of Sinclair tools as he sees most of the tools as they pass through our manufacturing area, either on a machine or during assembly. His clear favorite was the Sinclair Priming Tool. Pat said, “I use it more than any other reloading tool I own.”

Pat’s favorite non-Sinclair tool was the Redding Type “S” Full Length Sizing Die for his PPC and his 223 Remington. “I use it a lot,” remarked Pat, “and really like the way it works.”

Matt (Manufacturing)

Matt’s favorite Sinclair tool was the same as Pat’s. I know they didn’t collaborate on their answers but also clearly enjoys using the Sinclair Priming Tool. They are both very proud of the quality and functionality this tool represents.

Matt wouldn’t budge on his favorite non-Sinclair tool even when I pointed out it technically was a hybrid tool (a combination of both Sinclair and L.E. Wilson). He really likes the Sinclair/Wilson Ultimate Case Trimmer. Matt mentioned, “Our original Ultimate Trimmer is what I grew up using and I wouldn’t even consider something else!”

I started thinking about Matt’s choice after he left and wondered if my wife would notice if I added another Sinclair/Wilson Case Trimmer to my reloading room, even though I have three previous generation Sinclair/Wilson Case Trimmers in there already

Bob (Sales Technical Support)

Bob, who has been with us forever, (we call him Mr. Ackley among other things) really likes our Sinclair Seating Depth Tool. Bob’s commented, “It is easy to use, extremely accurate, and doesn’t flex.”

Bob thought about the non-Sinclair tool for a whole two seconds and stated, “I have to say the Dewey coated cleaning rods have always been a favorite of mine, they perform well and are extremely comfortable to use.” I agree with Bob, the Dewey Cleaning Rods are a great, reliable product.

Larry (Manufacturing)

Larry was also a quick responder and listed the Sinclair Generation II Windage Shooting Rest as his #1 Sinclair product. Larry said, “I have used many styles and types of rests in competitive bench rest shooting and this is the best rest anywhere near my budget – hands down!”

Note: Larry and Pat assemble each Sinclair rest personally and make sure the rests leave our facility in perfect condition.

Larry threw in his vote for Butch’s Bore Shine. “I really like it as a solvent and a one-step formula for the type of shooting I do,” said Larry. “This is a very efficient cleaner,” added Larry.

Note: Larry will be at the Benchrest Super Shoot at Kelbly’s in Ohio next week.

Ron (Sales Technical Support)

Ron loves the Sinclair Priming Tool. “I really like the way it works and is built, and I have four of them.”

Note: The Sinclair Priming Tool has been one of our signature tools over the year and I still regularly use previous generation models that are over 20 years old.

“Okay Ron,” I asked, “what is your favorite non-Sinclair product.” Ron thought about it and then thought some more about it. I could tell he was struggling with his call when he wanted to list two. “Nope,” I declared, “it wouldn’t fair to the others.” He finally decided and chose Krieger barrels in general as his favorite. “I have had such great success with them and never had difficulty getting one to shoot well,” remarked Ron, “and when I have a question over the phone for the guys at Krieger, they are a great bunch to talk to and are very straight forward.”

Note: Ron shoots a lot of stuff but his current focus is NRA High Power.

Phil (Sales Technical Support)

“Sinclair Primer Pocket Uniformers are my favorite,” comented Phil, “they just work!” I agree with Phil; they are great for uniforming as well as routine cleaning of the primer pocket.

Phil had an interesting choice for his favorite non-Sinclair product, the Mitutoyo Digital Caliper. “They work well all of the time and I use them on bullet seating measurements, with our bump gauges, checking case length, and a whole lot more.” I think this was a pretty interesting observation, as many of us forget the everyday tool that almost becomes a fixture on our workbench.

Phil does some 3-Gun and Practical Pistol shooting and regularly shoots in Long-Range matches including the NRA Nationals.

Steve (Sales Technical Support)

I swear these guys have my office bugged because Steve was the fourth person to identify the Sinclair Priming Tool as his favorite tool. Steve said, “Best feel of any tool out there! I like it because the case locks into place and it is easy to tune the priming position to your personal preference.”

Steve’s choice for a non-Sinclair tool was the Harrell Classic Measure. “Super high quality, great feel and throws better for me than any other measure. The guys I regularly shoot with love it.”

Note: Steve shoots in a lot of 100 and 200 yard benchrest competitions and has a high regard for quality tools.

Rod (Sales Technical Support)

Rod is a real practical guy and a great shooter. Warning, don’t bet against him with his 6mm BR. He didn’t choose a high tech tool but declared the Sinclair Cleaning Rod Cases as his top pick. “I have two of them with the brackets to protect my two rods. How else would I carry my rods to the range if I didn’t have them?” That’s Mr. Practical!

Now, I have to pick on Rod because he had the same hybrid choice that Matt chose, the Sinclair/Wilson Case Trimmer. Don’t you guys understand the rules – pick a non-Sinclair related product! Rod laughed and said, “I love the way it works and other trimmers just don’t compare.”

Okay, no one else gets two choices from here on out. I am going to cave in for Rod this one time because he was torn between the trimmer and a MTM Jag Box. The MTM box is a great product even though it is very simple and inexpensive, but what a great way to keep your brushes and jags organized.

Pete (Sales Technical Support)

Pete has been enjoying some F-Class shooting and it was easy to see what had influenced his opinion. He chose the new Sinclair Bi-Pod as his top choice. “It is a great, stable and wide shooting platform,” said Pete, “and it is fantastic to shoot off and handles recoil amazingly well.”

Note: Pete is scheduled to shoot at the U.S. F-Class Nationals this year at Camp Butner, NC. I shot at the 1st US F-Class Nationals there and the crew at North State Shooting Club and Camp Butner run a great match.

Here is another vote for the Redding Type “S” Full Length Bushing Sizing Die. “It is so easy to setup and my cases come out perfect,” said Pete. “What else do you need,” he added.

Chris (Warehouse/Retail area)

Chris didn’t even have to think about his favorite Sinclair product. He immediately declared the Sinclair AR-15 Cleaning Link as his definite favorite. Chris said, “As soon as I used it the first time I realized that my AR wasn’t going to flop around and I wasn’t going to bust my knuckles up while cleaning my rifle.”

Butch’s Bore Shine ranks right up there on Chris’s list of non-Sinclair favorites. In Chris’s words, “It’s a heck of a cleaner and it does exactly what it is supposed to.” This was a second vote for Butch’s Bore Shine.

Cory (Procurement)

I can’t believe these guys; this is product reinforcement. Cory’s two choices were exactly the same as Pete’s (see above). His favorite Sinclair product was the Sinclair Bi-pod. “It’s the most stable bi-pod available”, remarked Cory.

Cory added to Pete’s comments about the Redding Type “S” Full Length Die, “It is a great product and works extremely well.” This product had three votes for it.

Geoff (Marketing)

The new Sinclair Model 4000 Neck Turning Tool is Geoff’s favorite Sinclair tool. “This tool is so easy to adjust, it is incredibly comfortable in your hand, and extremely well made” commented Geoff. He added, “Pair this up with the Sinclair Carbide Turning mandrels and you have one fantastic tool.”

Geoff chose the Centra Rear Sights as his favorite product. This puzzled me because Geoff has shot a little with open sights but not regularly so I had to ask why. Geoff replied, “I am just so impressed with the mechanical capabilities of this sight, the craftsmanship, and how well all the small parts fit and function together.”

Bill Gravatt (President and Head Janitor)

The guys could have probably predicted this but my favorite Sinclair tool is our Sinclair Case Mouth Deburring Tool Holder. I install a Wilson Case Mouth Tool in it, chuck it up in our Sinclair Power Center or a cordless drill and chamfer the inside of 100 cases. Then I flip the tool around in the holder and debur the outside of the batch. I can really go through a lot of cases in a short time. I enjoy my time at the reloading bench but would rather be out shooting.

My favorite non-Sinclair tool is the Wilson Stainless Steel Bullet Seater. These are so well made, easy to adjust, and above all accurate. I have used Wilson Bullet Seaters so much in my own reloading and at trade shows that I could almost use them in my sleep. I would hate to have to give these up.

Conclusion

Hey folks, not a rocket science article but just some insight into how some of the folks feel about some of our products. We have thousands of other great products that weren’t mentioned, which is why it was so hard for these guys to choose just one. This was a lot of fun to find out how the staff really felt and I hope the information was interesting.

Good Shooting,

Bill Gravatt

If you haven’t tried flash hole deburring before as part of case preparation you may want to give it a try. During the manufacturing process, burrs are formed on the inside of the case when the flash hole is punched or drilled through. Sometimes the burrs will be quite pronounced and other times almost unnoticeable. Higher quality brass will not usually have large burrs because their flash holes are often drilled versus punched. Hold a case up to a light source and look at the inside of the flash hole through the case mouth. You can easily see the burrs or rough edges in most of your cartridges.

These burrs can significantly affect the ignition process and variations in powder ignition can create vertical dispersion of your groups. We believe the removal of flash hole burrs is one of the most important steps a handloader can perform during case preparation. Fortunately, flash hole deburring is a step that only needs to be performed once during the life of a case.

A properly made tool will remove all burrs and put a very light chamfer on the inside edge of the flash hole. This process will also insure that all flash holes are uniform in diameter and help provide consistent ignition of the powder charge. The process of flash hole deburring will also obviously let you know of any flash holes that were not punched or drilled. This is not a joke; we have run across cases that have not had a flash hole. Your initial visual inspection should find these but you never know!

DO NOT EVER DEBURR FLASH HOLES ON CASES WITH A PRIMER IN THEM, THEY CAN GO OFF!

A flash hole tool typically consists of a cutter and a depth stop. If you are using a flash hole tool that does not have a depth stop either at the case mouth or down inside the case at the web, be extremely careful when using it. The depth stop prevents the cutter from cutting too deep or enlarging the flash hole. The intent is to just touch the surface and knock off the burr. The Sinclair Generation II Flash Hole Tool has the cutter preset into the shaft so when the shaft contacts the web the cutter cannot cut any further. The Sinclair Piloted Flash Hole Tool utilizes pilots that index off of the case mouth preventing them from cutting too deep (if setup correctly).

To use a tool like the Generation II Sinclair flash hole tool, loosen the centering cone on the shaft and insert the shaft into the case mouth until the cutter just touches the flash hole. Once you have inserted the tool into the case, lock the centering cone into place so it centers the tool in the case mouth. Then turn the cutter in a clockwise fashion. It only takes a couple of turns to remove any burrs. Sometimes this step will take very little effort and other times you will have to turn the tool with a little more force to complete the cut. You can definitely feel the larger burrs and see them tumble out of the case. The centering cone is not intended to be used to control the cutting depth but simply to help you locate the flash hole quickly.

When you use the Sinclair piloted flash hole tool, all of your cases should be trimmed to the same length. This tool controls the depth of cut with a caliber specific stop collar that mounts on the cutter shaft. To set up the tool, insert the cutter into the case mouth until it comes in contact with the flash hole. Turn it gently to remove any burr and to lightly cut a chamfer on the flash hole. Leave the cutter shaft in position, push the stop collar into the case so that the collar contacts the case mouth and lock the stop collar in place. When using this type of tool you may want to think about deburring the flash holes after the first firing. Some new brass may have inconsistent length, which will affect the deburring operation.

If you are going to debur the flash holes on .17 caliber and .20 caliber cases, you will need a special deburring tool. If you are making a .17/.20 caliber wildcat from a larger caliber, you can debur the flash holes prior to sizing the neck down. If you are working with factory cases, you will need to get a Sinclair .17/.20 Flash Hole Deburring Tool.

For those of you that want to debur cases that have a small flash hole (.060”), you will need a special tool. We suggest using a Sinclair Flash Hole Reamer for these cases. This reamer is used to uniform the .060” flash holes from the outside. The tool has a centering device that inserts into primer pocket and then you advance the reamer while turning to cut the hole to exactly .0625”. This tool will remove burrs but will not chamfer the edge of the flash hole.

There is also a Sinclair .50 BMG Flash Hole Deburring Tool for those loading for the Big Fifty.

If you decide to debur flash holes under power, we recommend using a tool like the Sinclair piloted tool. You can mount the Sinclair piloted cutter in a drill or drill press for powered use (reduce the RPM’s down to a low setting (almost as slow as you can). Be aware of the cutter as you feed your cases, since the cutter is sharp and will tear your skin easily under power.

A secondary benefit of flash hole deburring is that it may help you recognize off-center flash holes, which you will see occasionally in various lots of brass. We have seen entire lots of brass with visibly off-centered flash holes. How these cases make it through quality control at a manufacturing facility is a wonder.

Consider giving flash hole deburring a try if it is not already part of your initial case prep procedure.