06/11/2014 | Hints from the experts

Dear reloaders,

My name is Urs von Mühlenen and I'm the small-calibre product manager at Nitrochemie Wimmis AG. I'd like to take this opportunity to explain a little bit about how our quality assurance system works. We manufacture all our Reload Swiss RS powders according to the same general process. This means that we write a production specification, which is generally used to manufacture the first half of the required lot. This batch is then evaluated in the lab and in our Ballistics department. The shooting is carried out in comparison to a reference in a defined calibre, with defined components and a fixed load. The test lot may vary no more than ±12m/s and ±250bar from the reference. And of course, we aim to match the reference even more closely. Depending on how the first partial lot is assessed (too slow, just right, too fast), the second half of the lot to be manufactured is corrected accordingly. This is adjusted by treating the surface of the powder grains, a process which is a matter of tenths. After production, the second partial lot is also tested analytically and ballistically. Once this testing is complete, the mixing specification for the composition of the lot is defined. As the finishing touch, the powder lot is adjusted to the right humidity. The lot is then rigorously tested once more in firing trials, and finally approved for packaging in containers that bear the Reload Swiss brand. How do you as our customer benefit from this process? Thanks to this process, you can reproduce your winning cartridges with each new powder lot - with no adjustments and no unpleasant surprises. That is our promise to you, and this is just a part of what we do to keep that promise.

Good shooting and good hunting!
Urs von Mühlenen