What Actually Happens Inside a Cartridge Case in the Milliseconds After You Pull the Trigger (w/ Jeff Siewert)

In this episode of the Taking Aim podcast, host Rich Nance sits down with Jeff Siewert, a recently retired ballistics engineer with 40 years of experience and the author of Ammunition Demystified, for one of the most genuinely educational conversations the show has produced. Jeff stumbled into his career completely by accident after returning from 18 months in Saudi Arabia training the Saudi National Guard and landing in a job at an ammunition group in Burlington Vermont that he never left — and the depth of knowledge he brings to the conversation makes it immediately clear why. Rich frames the entire discussion from the perspective of an experienced cop and gun writer who knows what he does not know, which creates the perfect dynamic for Jeff to break down concepts that most shooters think they understand but really do not. They cover the four types of ballistics — internal external intermediate and terminal — with Jeff offering remarkably clear explanations of everything from what happens inside a cartridge case in the milliseconds after the firing pin strikes the primer to the little understood phenomenon of in bore balloting and how the dynamic interaction between a vibrating barrel and a projectile in flight is responsible for far more dispersion than most shooters ever realize. The conversation moves into cartridge case materials explaining why brass remains the gold standard and what steel and polymer cases actually do to your firearm over time before getting into barrel twist rate the gyroscopic stability factor and why most handgun barrels are spinning bullets far faster than they need to be. Jeff shares some of the most fascinating projects of his career including dispersion reduction work on the M855A1 and M80A1 for the military a bizarre 22 rimfire nontoxic bullet that produced two inch groups at 50 yards and two and a half foot groups at 100 yards due to a fundamental aerodynamics problem he identified and solved through computer modeling and his classified but clearly significant work on the 6.8mm Next Generation Weapon System. The episode closes with Jeff discussing his book his ballistics classes at a local Scheels location and the Chin Award he received in 2024 for a lifetime of contributions to the advancement of small caliber weapons and ammunition — and if you have any interest in what is actually happening between the primer and the target this is the episode to save and come back to.Visit Jeff’s website at: https://bulletology.com/Follow Rich Nance on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nance_training_consulting/ and https://www.instagram.com/rnancewartac/Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@AimpointUSAVisit: https://aimpoint.us/ to learn morePRODUCED BY IRONCLAD