for the Rock Island .22 TCM1.droppdf.com/files/EzCyL/handloader-october-2015.pdfBrian Pearce 14 295 or 300 Rook C art i dgeBo - Gil Sengel 18 Accurate 2495 Propellant Profiles - R.H.VanDenburg,

Testing Powder Lot Variances

Ammunition Reloading Journal

®

October 2015 No. 298Rifle Magazine Presents - HANDLOADER

Display until 11/21/15 Printed in USA

New Bullets fromCuttingEdge!

Whisper toBlackout Rifle Loads

for theRockIsland.22TCM

TESTED: Rim RockCast Bullets

FEATURES

COLUMNS

Page 6 . . .

Page 46 . . .

4 Handloader 298

Publisher of Handloader® is not responsible formishaps of any nature that might occur from use ofpublished loading data or from recommendations byany member of The Staff. No part of this publicationmay be reproduced without written permission fromthe publisher. Publisher assumes all North AmericanRights upon acceptance and payment for all manu-scripts. Although all possible care is exercised, thepublisher cannot accept responsibility for lost or mu-tilated manuscripts.

ISSN 0017-7393 Volume 50 Number 5 Issue No. 298 October 2015

Ammunition Reloading Journal

®

Publisher/President – Don PolacekPublishing Consultant – Mark Harris

Editor in Chief – Lee J. HootsEditor Emeritus – Dave Scovill

Managing Editor – Roberta ScovillSenior Art Director – Gerald HudsonProduction Director – Becky Pinkley

Contributing EditorsJohn Barsness Gil SengelJohn Haviland Stan TrzoniecBrian Pearce R.H. VanDenburg, Jr.Charles E. Petty Mike VenturinoClair Rees Ken Waters Terry Wieland

AdvertisingAdvertising Director - Tammy Rossi

[email protected] Representative - Tom Bowman

[email protected] Representative - James Dietsch

[email protected] Information: 1-800-899-7810

CirculationCirculation Manager – Kendra Newell

[email protected] Information: 1-800-899-7810

www.riflemagazine.com

Handloader® (ISSN 0017-7393) is published bi-monthly by Polacek Publishing Corporation, dbaWolfe Publishing Company (Don Polacek, Pres -ident), 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, Prescott, Arizona86301 (also publisher of Rifle® magazine). Tele -phone: (928) 445-7810. Periodical Postage paid atPrescott, Arizona, and additional mailing offices.Subscription prices: U.S. possessions – single issue,$5.99; 6 issues, $22.97; 12 issues, $39.00. Foreign andCanada – single issue, $5.99; 6 issues $29.00; 12 is-sues, $51.00. Please allow 8-10 weeks for first issue.Advertising rates furnished on request. All rights re-served.Change of address: Please give six weeks notice.

Send both the old and new address, plus mailinglabel if possible, to Circulation Dept., Handloader®Magazine, 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, Prescott, Ari-zona 86301. POSTMASTER: Send address changesto Handloader®, 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, Prescott,Arizona 86301.Canadian returns: PM #40612608. Pitney Bowes,

P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2.

Wolfe Publishing Co.2180 Gulfstream, Ste. APrescott, AZ 86301Tel: (928) 445-7810 Fax: (928) 778-5124© Polacek Publishing Corporation

On the cover . . . A Rock IslandArmory .22 TCM with a 3-9x 40mmscope.

32 .22 TCM Handloads for a Rifle John Haviland

38 Cutting Edge Handgun Bullets Solid Copper Hollowpoints Brian Pearce

46 Webley’s Patented “Man-Stopper” Bullet Considerations for Carry Guns Terry Wieland

52 Different Batches, “Same” Powder Testing Lot-to-Lot Variances John Barsness

60 Whisper to Blackout .300 Blackout Loads for a Bolt Rifle Charles E. Petty

6 Skeeter and the .44 Smith & Wesson Special Reloader’s Press - Dave Scovill

10 6.5 Creedmoor Bullets & Brass - Brian Pearce

14 295 or 300 Rook Cartridge Board - Gil Sengel

18 Accurate 2495 Propellant Profiles - R.H.VanDenburg, Jr.

22 Rim Rock Cast Bullets From the Hip - Brian Pearce

26 Bottleneck Handgun Cartridges Mike’s Shootin’ Shack- Mike Venturino

28 From the Range Pistol Pointers - Charles E. Petty

70 When Simpler Is Far Better In Range - Terry Wieland

Handloader 2986 www.handloadermagazine.com

Roberta and I were walkingthrough an older section of

Philadelphia with Sally Jim Skel-ton, the wife of the late gun writerCharles “Skeeter” Skelton, admir-ing the wares in shops borderingthe cobblestone courtyard that resembled a botanical garden.Skeeter died on January 17, 1988,but Roberta and I had the pleasureof editing Sally Jim’s book I Re-member Skeeter, a compilation ofessays written by friends and asso-ciates and a selection of his de-lightful stories.

Somewhere along in the conver-sation, I remarked, “If it hadn’t beenfor Skeeter, I probably wouldn’t be in this business.” Sally Jim re-sponded, “If I had known that, I

was eventually converted to .45 Coltand a Navy Arms .44-caliber cap-and-ball black-powder sixgun. TheU.S. Navy had been kind enoughto loan me two of its Colt 1911 .45ACP handguns and all the ammu-nition I could shoot for a couple ofyears, but that was it in terms of

would have asked you to writesomething.” I assured her that therewere plenty of opportunities totell her that while we worked onher book, but it seemed inappro-priate at the time.

Charles “Skeeter” Skelton, a prod-uct of the Dust Bowl era, had beena U.S. Marine, lawman, politicianand part-time cattleman when heopted to venture into the gun writ-ing business in the late 1950s,where his feature stories and col-umn eventually came to the pagesof Shooting Times (ST). By anyreasonable measure, Skelton wasa instant success, sharing hisbackground and experiences withhandguns, along with stories ofreal and fictional characters.

In the early 1970s, having beenrecently released from active dutywith the U.S. Navy, I discoveredST on a newsstand. A column orfeature written by Skelton struckme as a few steps above the run-of-the-mill gun writer of the pe-riod; he was a master storytellerwith credibility that can only beacquired over a lifetime of experi-ence with handguns.

In those days I owned two hand-guns, a Colt SAA .38 Special (Ac-cording to the factory letter, it wasoriginally shipped to El Paso,Texas, as a .41 Colt in 1908.) that

SKEETER AND THE.44 SMITH & WESSON SPECIAL

RELOADER’S PRESS by Dave ScovillThe Smith & Wesson SecondModel .44 Targetwas the first mass-produced N-frame revolverwith a heat-treatedcylinder.

Three of the finest handguns ever madewere chambered for the .44 Special, including (top to bottom): the Colt Single Action Army, Colt New Serviceand Smith & Wesson New Century(Triple Lock).

October-November 2015 7www.handloadermagazine.com

hands-on experience with center-fire handguns. When Skelton wrotean essay about creating a .44 S&W

Special from a bored-out and re-barreled S&W Model 27, and later,a Ruger Old Model flattop .357 Mag-num that was also converted to .44Special, I was hooked and beganwhat turned out to be a lengthy,exasperating and ultimately quiteexpensive search for a .44 Special.

At the time, Smith & Wesson wasusing all of its big N-frames to pro-duce .357, .41 and .44 Magnums andan occasional run of .45 Colts and.45 ACPs, while Colt was busy sell-ing double actions, 1911s and occa-sional runs of SAAs, pitifully fewof which were .44 Specials. Rugersold all the Super Blackhawk .44Magnums it could make, and sincethose big SAs would also fire the.44 Special, there was no logic –according to Bill Ruger – in build-ing a downsized .44. So, in spite oflobbying efforts by Skelton andothers to the “Big Three,” chancesfor a regular lineup of .44 Specialswere slim to none.

Working for a West Coast retailoutfit, I was managing a store in

downtown Everett, Washington,in 1975. There was a pawn shoparound the corner from my storewhere I befriended the owner anddropped a few hints about thequest for a .44 Special. The pawnbroker eventually called to tell meabout a fine post-World War II ColtSAA .44 Special with a 7.5-inchbarrel. The asking price seemedreasonable, so we made a deal.Sometime later he called again,blurting out that a lady just walkedin and laid a Smith & Wesson .44Target Model on the counter, want-ing to sell it. He went on to say itwas her late husband’s, the sheriffof Snohomish County, Washing-ton. She didn’t like guns and wantedto get rid of it. Within minutes thecontents of the checking accountwas purged, again.

Stocking up on reloading suppliesfor the .44 Special put anotherdent in the finances, and alongwith the .45 Colt, those revolversbecame the basis for what would,unwittingly, become a lifetime of

Skeeter sharesa fan’s letterwith his horse.


research and load developmentwith cast bullets and hunting withhandguns.

Upon leaving the retail businessin 1984 and becoming a single par-ent with two children (Jason, age6 and Alicia, age 5), owing the un-timely passing of their mother, ourabbreviated family settled into aold house in Klamath Falls, Ore-gon, and I sat down with a type-writer and/or bullet casting equip-ment after walking the kids toschool. The kids went along on myshort excursions into forest landsto test handloads that were put up during the week, where theyplayed out imaginary adventuresand fashioned a teepee out oflimbs and pine needles.

In time, the collection of hand-load data for the .45 Colt, and .38and .44 Specials, became exten-sive enough that it might amountto sufficient material for one ormore feature stories. By then itwas pretty obvious that the indus-try didn’t need another writer whoparroted other folks, so I concen-trated on ideas that most writersshied away from, apparently dueto time and effort involved, andthe constant challenge of meetingdeadlines.

A .45 Colt story was ultimatelysent to Handloader magazine,where it languished in a file for acouple of years, fairly typical forfreelance material at the time, andI turned to pieces on mule deerand bighorn sheep managementusing information and researchdone by all the western states thathad mule deer and bighorn pop -ulations. Both sold almost imme-diately. Shortly thereafter, WolfePublishing forwarded a check forthe .45 Colt piece, which led to a couple of Rifle features, and indue course, at the behest of thethen-editor Al Miller, a staff job as handgun and cast bullet editorfor Handloader.

About the time I realized that itwould be easy to go broke whileattempting to become a freelancewriter, fate stepped in when AlMiller asked if I would considerthe editor position at Wolfe. The

October-November 2015

house was rented out to a localfriend, and we packed up the es-sentials, moving to Prescott, Ari-zona, in March 1989.

Nowadays, there is a representa-tive selection of Smith & Wesson,Ruger and Colt .44 S&W Specialson hand, including an Old ModelRuger .357 that was converted to.44 Special by Doug Turnbull andHamilton Bowen. The first SAA.45 Colt digested so many cast bul-let loads that the forcing cone re-

sembled burnt asphalt, and thefinish was worn to bare metal; thesecond barrel nearly suffered thesame fate.

Sometime in the mid-1970s, I senta photo of the S&W Second Model.44 Target to Skelton at ST with aquestion about production num-

bers. The letter and photo werepublished in ST a short time later,with an answer explaining thatneither Skelton nor Roy Jinx, theS&W historian, knew for sure, butoffered a guess of a dozen or two.Acknowledging the rarity and theall too real chance that I might

wear it out as well, it was sold to a collector. The Colt SAA .44Special was sold to an airline pilotin the early 1980s. Both .44s remindme of an article Skelton wrote

Left, this customOld Model Ruger Blackhawk wasconverted to .44Special by DougTurnbull andHamilton Bowen. (Continued on page 67)

9www.handloadermagazine.com

Right, lobbying by Skeeter Skelton and otherseventually resulted in special runs of .44 Specials,

like this New Frontier .44 WCF with an additional .44 Special cylinder.


Q: A couple of months ago,I purchased a Ruger M77

Hawkeye stainless 6.5 Creedmoor.It shoots extremely well with fac-tory loads (120- and 123-grain bul-lets), with five-shot groups almostalways measuring under .75 inchat 100 yards.

I would like to cut the barreldown from 26 to 23 inches tomake it handier in the field and inthe woods that I often hunt. Myfirst question is how much willthis drop the velocity? And do youthink this is a good idea?

I will use this rifle mostly forhunting whitetail deer and amlooking for load data, which leadsme to my next question. I will prob-ably use either Nosler 140-grainBallistic Tip or Hornady 140-grainSST bullets. What powders will givethe best combination of accuracyand velocity? With powders sohard to obtain, it would be great if you could offer loads with two

or three different powders as op-tional choices.

I always appreciate the great tech-nical information you provide, andthank you in advance for your in-sight.

– A.P., West Virginia

A: I have tested several rifle (andhandgun) cartridges with differ-ent barrel lengths, even cutting thesame barrel down one inch at a

time to accurately determine ve-locity changes per inch of barrel.What I have learned is that eachcartridge responds differently tobarrel length changes. To makematters more complex, differentloads and powder combinationswill produce different results. SinceI have not conducted specific testsfor the 6.5 Creedmoor, I can onlyoffer an educated guess to answeryour question. I would estimatea loss of 25 to 35 fps per inch ofbarrel cut off. Cutting the barrelback to 23 inches will certainlymake your rifle handier to carryin the field, reduce weight and inmy opinion is a practical idea.

There are many powders thatwill give excellent accuracy andtop velocities in the 6.5 Creed-moor. I might suggest 43.0 grainsof Hodgdon Hybrid 100V, 44.0grains of Superformance or 43.0grains of Winchester 760 with ei-ther of the 140-grain bullets youmention. Each load will exceed2,700 fps and should prove accu-rate. Please note that these aremaximum loads, so you shouldbegin with charges that are atleast 5 percent below maximum(40.0 to 41.0 grains) and use alarge rifle “standard” primer, suchas the Federal 210 or CCI 200.

Good luck on your deer hunts.

6.5 CREEDMOORBULLETS & BRASS by Brian Pearce

When handloading 140-grain bullets in the 6.5 Creedmoor, Hodgdon Superformance,Hybrid 100V and Winchester 760 are top-performing powders.


.375 H&H

Q: I am planning and preparing fora plains game hunt in Zimbabweand am trying to figure out whatguns and loads to take. I am con-sidering taking one rifle cham-bered in .375 H&H Magnum foreverything from impala to Capebuffalo (the largest animal that I

plan to hunt). I know there is con-siderable discussion as to “solid”versus “expanding” bullets on buf-falo in this caliber, but I would likeyour opinion on that subject be-fore making my choice.

My second question is tied to thefirst. If I take only the .375, I willneed an expanding bullet load for

the lighter game. Can you suggesta bullet and load that will shoot tothe same point of aim as the bulletthat you recommend for buffalo?

– T.R., Buda TX

A: You are correct; this is a verycontroversial and often debatedsubject, which probably mostlystarted a century ago when soft-point bullets gave less than perfectperformance on heavy game. Iknow professional hunters whostand firmly on each side of thisissue. In my opinion, however, either a solid or an expandingbullet will work, but they must beapplied correctly for satisfactoryresults. For example, a profes-sional hunter who had to followup a wounded buffalo would prob-ably be ahead to choose solids to achieve maximum penetrationfrom any angle, especially on awounded and angry buffalo com-ing straight on, although mostprofessionals opt for a larger caliber for a stopping cartridge.The .375 H&H is technically a

Solid versus expanding bullets for hunting Cape buffalo with a .375 H&H Magnum isa highly debated subject.

Handloader 298

medium-bore cartridge and solidswill not deliver the same amountof shock as many of the big-bore“stopping” cartridges.

Hunting buffalo is a completelydifferent matter, because thehunter has the option of waitinguntil circumstances are just rightto perfectly place the first bullet inthe vitals and at much better an-gles. In this circumstance an ex-panding bullet is preferred as itwill destroy more tissue, and thebest bullets can break bone andcontinue penetrating. Be certainto use a toughly constructed bulletthat is designed for deep penetra-tion, such as the Barnes Triple-Shock X-Bullet, Swift A-Frame or

similar bullets, with 300-grainversions generally preferred.

The .375 H&H Magnum is oneof the best cartridges for beingable to switch loads and still placebullets close to the point of aim,even loads containing differentweight bullets. Each rifle has itsown personality, however, andyou will need to compare thepoint of impact of your “lightergame” bullet choice with yourbuffalo load to check for possiblechanges. If you were to choose atough expanding bullet for buf-falo, you might be ahead to usethat same load on all game.

Good luck and I hope that youhave a great time.

When handloading the .280 Ackley Improved, IMR-4831, Alliant Reloder 22 and Accurate Magpro are top-notch powders.

.280 ACKLEY IMPROVED

Q: I just read your article on the.280 Ackley Improved in Riflemag-azine with great interest, as justdays previously I had purchased aKimber Model 84L but in the Mon-tana version. I agree with you thatthis is an outstanding cartridge.

I am still waiting on the scope toarrive and have been consideringwhat handloads to begin with. Iam primarily an elk hunter andwould like to try the Barnes 140-grain Tipped TSX or the provenNosler 160-grain Partition. Canyou suggest load data with thosetwo bullets to give me a place to begin? It would be great if youcould suggest one powder that

will work well with both bulletweights.

– D.S., Butte MT

A: You don’t specify any particu-lar powder, and knowing thatmany types are simply not avail-able, I will give you some options.I have had particularly good re-sults with Accurate Magpro. Usingthe Nosler 160-grain Partition, I suggest beginning with 59.0grains and working up to a max-imum charge that will probablybe around 63.0 grains, for around2,800 to 2,850 fps. If you preferan extruded powder, begin with51.0 grains of IMR-4831 and

(Continued on page 66)

12 www.handloadermagazine.com


The 300 Rook (we will get tothe 295 part later) is an early

black-powder British round. It wasfired in little single shots knownas rook and rabbit rifles, with arook being a bird related to ourcrow and a rabbit being, well, justa rabbit. In America we call themsmall-game rifles and cartridges.

Shooting rabbits is pretty straight-forward, but how does one go aboutshooting birds with a rifle? It isonly logical that the birds weren’tflying. Yet after one shot, theywould be flying, not to be seenagain. Well, not exactly.

Rooks nest in large concentra-tions. Like a crow, they will eatanything but seem to prefer grainand the eggs and young of birds,especially ground-nesting gamebirds. This was not appreciated bylandowners who destroyed rookswhenever possible. The birds evenhelped the process along.

In the spring before the fledgling

rooks could fly, they had a propen-sity to sit on limbs outside the nest and peer down at farmers.Recognizing an opportunity, and a chance to have some fun at the same time, farmers, landown-ers and their friends acquiredsmall-caliber muzzleloading riflesand picked the little vermin offtheir perches. With the advent of cartridge rifles, rook shootingoften became a social event. Men,

women and children took turnssniping the feathered pests, all thewhile considering it wonderful en-tertainment.

It has been written that youngrooks were fine table fare. I sus-pect, however, this story is similarto those I heard about cookingsnipe, coot and woodcock in myyouth. Basically, the bird is tackedto a clean pine board, herbs andspices added, then cooked untiltender. At this point the carcass isremoved from the lumber andburied in a deep hole. One theneats the board.

At any rate, the best grades ofEnglish black powder were thefinest in the world. Matching pow-der, grease wad and bullet weightin the early cartridge rifles allowedsome control over the amount offouling produced. Caliber could bedecreased while maintaining ade-quate accuracy. Rook cartridges,such as the 380 Long, 360 No. 5,320 Long and 300 Rook, becameavailable starting in the early 1870s.

The 300 Rook emerged as thesmallest cartridge that could main-tain its precision for the 30- to 50-yard shots required for rooks.Cartridges using lesser bullet di-ameters became available around1900 as smokeless powders were

295 OR 300 ROOKCARTRIDGE BOARD by Gil Sengel

Cartridge DimensionsA - Overall Length -------------1.38B - Case Length----------------1.17C - Rim Thickness-------------.052

D - Rim Diameter ----------------.369E - Head Diameter --------------.319F - Neck Diameter---------------.317

AB

C

E F

D

SHOOTING CHRONYThe

GreatestBang for

Your Buck!

• For Precise AmmoVelocity Measurement

• Choose from 10 Models• For Rifles, Handguns, Archery,Shotguns, Airguns & Paintballs

• MSRP: $107.95 to $220.95• We Accept Trade-ins

SHOOTING CHRONY, INC.3840 E. Robinson Rd. PMB #298

Amherst, NY 14228e-mail: [email protected]

1-800-385-3161WWW.SHOOTINGCHRONY.COM

If it doesn’t unfold ...it’s not a Chrony!


developed. It should also be men-tioned that British rounds havingthe same or similar bullet diame-ters but somewhat larger powdercharges existed at the same timeas the rook cartridges. Some werefor target use. Others were fired in what were termed miniaturerifles, the intended quarry beinggame the size of small deer, defi-nitely not rooks or rabbits.

How the 300 Rook came aboutbegins with a common percussionpistol caliber, the .32. Such gunshad bore diameters of more orless .320 inch. It was well knownthat the small guns had a deterrenteffect but weren’t very effective if it became necessary to pull thetrigger. In an effort to increase the penetration of the percussionhandgun, conical bullets replacedroundballs. When the first metalliccartridges appeared, it seemedlogical to simply reduce the diam-eter of the conical bullet slightly at the rear and poke it into thecase. Thus the case and much ofthe front of the slug were the samediameter. All early cartridges usedsuch a heeled bullet – think mod-ern .22 Long Rifle ammunition.

The earliest .32 was probably the.32 Short Centerfire (talking Brit -ish rounds here) that appearedabout 1869. Case length variedfrom about .600 to .700 inch. Atnearly the same time a roundcalled the .32 Long Centerfire ap-peared for Webley and Tranter re-volvers. Case length was .830 inch.Strangely, this round is later listedas 320 Long Centerfire (perhapsusing a lighter bullet) and then the 320 Rook. For comparison, itwas nearly identical to the .32 S&WLong, except the British round useda heeled bullet.

The heeled bullet was plagued byits externally applied lube crack-ing and falling off in cold weather,becoming sticky in warm condi-tions and simply wearing awayany time rounds were carried in apocket. About 1880, the 320 Rookbullet was reduced in diameter soit fit inside its case. This suppos-edly left its diameter at .300 inch,more or less. Case length was in-


creased some .350 inch to coverthe lubed portion of the slug andprovide space for a couple of grainsmore powder. This work is said tohave been done by (or for) Holland& Holland. In H&H advertising,the cartridge was called Hollands295 or the 295 Bore Rook.

Major ammunition maker Eleyfirst listed the new round in 1885.Kynoch followed in 1886 (H&Hwas selling rifles in 1882), but forsome reason known to neither mannor rook, both makers called it the295 or 300 Rook! Some insist the300 is bullet diameter. Others opinethe 295 indicates bore diameter. I can’t say for certain, having norecord of slugging a 300 Rook barrel, but I have measured a .300Sherwood (a slightly more power-ful smokeless powder contempo-rary), and its bore was .295 inch.Given a groove depth of .004 incha .300-inch diameter slug would betoo small. Perhaps the black-pow-der explosion expanded the bulletto fit. The rooks and rabbits didn’tseem concerned.

The standard black-powder loadfor the 300 Rook was 10 grains be-hind an 80-grain lead roundnose.That’s not quite equal to the .32S&W Long pistol round. Muzzlevelocity is given by Kynoch as1,100 fps from the rifle barrel.

Eley sometimes labeled its black-powder cartridge boxes .300-10-80with no other identification. Also,early Eley rounds are seen with anobviously heavier bullet, at least100 grains. These cases are head-stamped “ELEY 295.” This bulletwould require a long, freebored sec-tion in the chamber throat whilethe common 80-grain bullet wouldneed none. Just what was goingon here is impossible to say at thislate date. All references just referto the 295 or 300 Rook as one car-tridge only.

The round began to be loadedwith smokeless powder about1900. This gave the 80-grain bul-let (solid or hollowpoint lead) amuzzle speed of 1,150 fps. It alsomarked the beginning of the end,because smaller calibers couldnow equal the 300 Rook’s accu-racy at iron-sight ranges – and itdidn’t take much power to kill arook. Kynoch listed the round until1961, near the end of its sport-ing ammunition production. Eleystopped in 1919 when it wasmerged with other ammunitionand explosives companies. Todaythe round is for handloaders only.

The 295 or 300 or whatever Rookcartridge will never disappear en-tirely because of the beautiful sin-gle-shot rifles that chambered it.Some were plain types similar toour Stevens, but a large percent-age were side-lever, Martini andespecially break-open guns. Nicewood, good bluing and engravingwere common. Then there werethe Holland & Hollands, Jefferys,Westley Richards – all the bestmakers – who produced cased rookrifles that are simply exquisite.

Fortunately there is a renewedinterest in these rifles today. I amtold they are even being shot in in-formal competition in England,the U.S. and Australia. Wouldn’t itbe wonderful if someone sold smallfalling-block, Martini or break-open actions today, so such riflescould again be built? Perhaps wecould invent a lead bullet, black-powder silhouette game in whichthe cut-outs were – what else –rooks and rabbits.

Introducing theGRX Recoil Lug for

the Ruger 10/22™!

Little Crow Gunworks, LLC6593 113th Ave. NE, Suite C • Spicer, MN 56288

Tel: (320) 796-0530 • www.littlecrowgunworks.com

• Eliminates fliers and improves accuracy 15% to 20%• Simply installed by replacing the barrel retainer,fitting and bedding the lug into the stock (instructions included)

OOnnllyy

$$$$33339999....99995555

The GRX solves the chronic accuracy problemwith the 10/22 platform by focusing the recoilarea to a lug similar to a centerfire rifle.

ACTIONBULLETS & ALLOY, INC

P.O. Box 189 - Quinter, KS 67752Tel: 785-754-3609

E-Mail: [email protected]

PURE LEADWith 1% Tin, 40 lbs., $75.00 Delivered

Linotype, Pure Lead, WW alloy, Lyman #2,Tin 16/1-20/1-30/1, other alloys available.

Cowboy Action Shooting bullets.

•


ACCURATE 2495PROPELLANT PROFILES by R.H. VanDenburg, Jr.

Accurate Arms and Machinewas established as a custom

gun shop in 1946 in the Chicagoarea. Thirty years on, in 1976, thecompany expanded to include thesale of surplus powders purchasedfrom the U.S. government. Pack-aging and shipping took place inLake Villa, Illinois. In 1980, thecompany moved to a much largerfacility near McEwen, Tennessee.By 1983, the company had begun toimport newly manufactured pro-pellants. By 1990, Accurate, nowAccurate Arms Company, Inc., hada substantial line of smokelesscanister powders for reloading.The powders were manufacturedby Israel Military Industries (IMI)in Israel. That same year also saw

the introduction of a popular flakeshotshell powder, Nitro 100. Notlong after, a new extruded riflepowder was added to the line,2495 BR.

This powder, a very fine one andstill in the Accurate lineup, hashad a somewhat convoluted his-tory. Initially manufactured in Is-rael, as noted, an explosion at thefactory ultimately forced Accurateto switch its source to the CzechRepublic. Interestingly, some lotsof 2495 that reached Americanshores were manufactured by Som-chem, a division of Denel (PTY)Ltd. in South Africa. In 2005, therewas an additional change as West-ern Powders of Miles City, Mon-

tana, purchased the smokelesspowder division of Accurate Armsand all testing, packaging and dis-

October-November 2015

tribution were moved to Montana.In recent years, Western has consol-idated its powder sources closerto home. Extruded powders, in-cluding 2495, are now manufac-tured at the Ontario, Canada, plantwhere IMR powders are made.Most, if not all, of Accurate’s ballpowders are now made by St.Marks Powders in Florida. Bothfacilities are part of General Dy-namics.

In addition to its history of mul-tiple sources, the powder has gonethrough several iterations in itsname. It was originally introducedas 2495 BR. Accurate literature sug-gested it was the very best powderfor use with cast bullets in the .45-70 cartridge. After the intro-duction of 5744, Accurate droppedthis recommendation. The 1997Accurate catalog showed a changeto an XMR prefix for all of its ex-truded powders. By 2000, the pre-fix had been dropped, and theentire line of rifle powders simplyhad a four digit name, e.g., 2495.

Narrowing the focus, 2495 is a

single-base, extruded powder. Itsburning rate is similar to that ofIMR-4895. Prior to being manufac-tured in Canada, 2495’s specifica-tions were an average kernel lengthof .068 inch and an average diam-eter of .029 inch. Its bulk densityhas been variously reported as.880 gm/cc and .900 gm/cc. Neitheris a cause for alarm, as reporteddensity has always allowed for arange, and both would be withinspecifications. With the move toCanada, however, specificationschanged, giving the powder a short-cut geometry and thereby improv-ing its metering qualities. Currentdimensions, as close as I can meas -ure, suggest a diameter of .038 inchand a length of .047 inch. Burningrate, ostensibly, has not changed.

Accurate 2495 is still a very ver-satile powder, finding a home in a range of cartridges from the .17 Remington to the .45-70. BothAccurate and Hornady are goodsources for laboratory-tested, pub-lished loading data, although nei-ther lists the source of its specifictest lots of the powder. All my testswere conducted using a new lotmanufactured in Ontario, Can ada,and is of the new “short-cut” vari-ation.

Although sometimes listed withthe .223 and .22-250 Remingtoncartridges, 2495 did not seem tome to be the best fit, so I began myreview with the .243 Winchester.Here the powder is quite goodwith lighter-weight bullets, and Iselected a 58-grain Barnes. My re-sults were consistent with pub-lished Accurate data.

When I moved to the .257 Rob -erts, where 2495 also is best suitedto lighter-weight bullets, I restrictedmy review to the use of the Hor-nady 87-grain Spire Point (SP) bul-lets and promptly ran into my first problem. The Hornady Hand-book of Cartridge Reloading, 9thEdition clearly states its .257Roberts data was developed incases marked “+P” and its powdercharges designed to give “+P”pressures. Standard SAAMI .257Roberts maximum average pres-

Selected LoadsAccurate 2495

cartridge bullet charge velocity (grains) (grains) (fps)

.243 Winchester 58 40.0 3,447

.257 Roberts 87 37.5 2,888

.30-30 Winchester 170 32.0 2,094

.30-06 110 56.0 3,204 150 51.5 2,857.303 British 150 46.0 2,7108mm Mauser 150 50.0 2,831Notes: The .243 Winchester, .257 Roberts and8mm Mauser have 24-inch barrels. The .303British and .30-06 have 22-inch barrels, and the.30-30 Winchester has a 20-inch barrel. Federal210 standard primers were used throughout.Be Alert – Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errorsin published load data.


sure is 51,000 psi; the .257 Roberts’+P comparable limit is 54,000 psi.Hornady’s barrel length was 22inches. My custom Springfieldsports a 24-inch tube and is long-throated to accept the heavier bul-lets without taking up availablepowder space. In spite of the longerbarrel, I came no where near Hor-nady’s projected velocities. Is thisall the result of the long-throatchamber, or could different sourceshave contributed to the difference?From previous testing with thiscartridge, I suspect the throatingis the culprit but also the over-all cartridge length chosen. I’llneed more powder to approachHornady’s projected speeds evenwith my longer barrel. This wouldnot be an option with a standard-throated rifle.

Older Accurate load data for the.30-30 Winchester used a 20-inchtest barrel. The most recent datawas developed using a 24-inchpressure barrel, and allowablepowder charges have changed sig-nificantly. In both instances, aModel 94 Winchester producedspeeds with 170-grain bullets thatfell right in line with Accurate’sprojections, adjusting for differ-ences in barrel length where appli-cable, of course. Accuracy wasconsistently good. The most re-cent data was used throughout.

In the .30-06, 110-grain bulletscompared favorably to Hornady’s,given that my barrel is 22 inchesversus 233⁄4 inches. With 150-grainbullets, another problem came up.Accurate’s older published maxi-mum powder charge was 51.5grains with a 150-grain bullet; thelatest Accurate data does not list2495 with the cartridge with anybullet. Hornady’s maximum withits 150-grain SP is 47.9 grains. Ac-curate’s barrel was 24 inches. BothAccurate and Hornady projected a 2,900 fps velocity. It appears theolder Accurate data would have tobe followed to reach such speedsin my rifle. Here is an instancewhere beginning with the startingloads and carefully increasingcharge weights as conditions war-rant is imperative. Your rifle may

insist on adhering to Hornady’sdata; mine did not.

Next was the .303 British and asimilar discrepancy. Hornady’s datawas developed in a Lee EnfieldMark 4 No. 2 with a 251⁄4-inch bar-rel. Maximum powder charge with2495 under a 150-grain bullet wasgiven as 38.8 grains for a projected2,600 fps. Accurate also used theHornady 150-grain SP but devel-oped its data in a Douglas test bar-rel of 24 inches. Its maximum loadwas listed as 46.0 grains with aprojected velocity of 2,727 fps.Since I chose to use a Ruger No.1 with a 22-inch barrel, I felt com-fortable using Accurate’s heavierpowder charges. My velocities werejust a tad short of Accurate’s, evenwith the shorter barrel, and over-all performance was excellent.

The final cartridge tested wasthe 8mm Mauser. I was limited toHornady data but we both used24-inch barrels and, to make a longstory short, I was able to equalHornady’s projections of muzzlevelocity with a bit over a full grainof powder less than that listed asmaximum. Hornady’s 51.2 grainsof 2495 was to give 2,800 fps; myload of 50.0 grains clocked 2,831fps; a load of 51.0 grains gave animpressive 2,921 fps. Much likethe .303 British, overall perform-ance was outstanding.

This review of Accurate 2495 doespoint out several things of note.Powders with different sourcescertainly demand cautious hand-loading with a particular emphasison beginning with starting loads.Also, reloading source manuals candiffer greatly in their approach,the guns used and pressure levelsfound acceptable. One must readcarefully and begin low and workup carefully. All that said, I foundAccurate 2495 to be a very goodpowder, providing clean burning,extreme velocity spreads that wereon the small side and groups fromacceptable to very good. Not badfor a powder that has seen foursources, three names and two di-mensional standards.

QCQCuineticsORPORATIONuineticsORPORATION

Phone/Fax: 830-693-0237www.quineticscorp.com

Quinetics’ULTIMATE BULLETPULLER with “NEW TWIST”

Chuck Assembly!

Madein theU.S.A.

HOCH CUSTOM BULLET MOULDS

COLORADO SHOOTER’S SUPPLYShop 575-627-1933 • Home 575-627-6156910 N. Delaware • Roswell, NM 88201

[email protected]

www.hochmoulds.com

Tool room quality, nose-pour,most standard or custom designs

made to order. Cylindrical(straight) or tapered. Rifle &

pistol designs available.

•

NOT ALL BRASSMEASURES UP TO THENOSLER STANDARD. AND THAT’S OK. THE WORLD NEEDSDOORKNOBS, BELT BUCKLES,AND FRENCH HORNS.

Premium Nosler Brass: Fully Prepped, Ready To Load.Copper and zinc make it brass. Craftsmanship makes it Nosler Brass. We start with the highest quality material. We trim, chamfer and deburr it. We inspect it by hand. We weight sort it to within one-half grain. And only then do we put our name on it. What happens to the brass that doesn’t make the cut? We’re sure someone will fi nd a use for it.

Nosler.com/brass800.285.3701


Frank Brown began produc-ing Rim Rock bullets in 2005

and eventually moved productionto a facility in Polson, Montana.Over the years, with his wife, Susan,and son Frankie and around twodozen employees, he has expandedthe product line to include nearly200 different bullet designs in fourdistinct product lines known asCowboy, Standard Hard Cast, Pre-mium Hard Cast and Premium GasChecked. They are produced inpopular calibers ranging from .25through .50 for rifles and handgunsthat include modern and tradi-tional designs. They offer some-thing for practically every shooter.

One of the unique things aboutRim Rock is that it uses different

alloy blends for various applica-tions. For example, Cowboy andStandard Hard Cast bullets are cast

with an alloy consisting of 2 per-cent tin, 7 percent antimony and91 percent lead, which results in a Brinell hardness number (BHN)of around 15. Premium Hard Castand most of the Gas Checked bul-lets are cast with a blend of 4 percent tin, 10 percent antimonyand 86 percent lead for a BHN ofaround 22. There are also otherspecialized alloy formulas to en-hance performance of a given bul-let.

Rim Rock often produces oneparticular bullet for 10 days onfour machines, which results inaround 1 million bullets being pro-duced during that time. This helpseliminate variables in alloys, andalong with mixing alloys in largequantities, it helps to keep bulletsunusually consistent. Several am-munition companies are using RimRock bullets in rifle and handgunloads and praise the accuracy andconsistency obtained with them.

Although there are many out-standing bullets in Rim Rock’sproduct line, there are two .44-caliber bullets I have been ex-tremely impressed with and be-lieve that readers will likewise findthem interesting for use in .44 Spe-

FROM THE HIP by Brian Pearce

RIM ROCK CAST BULLETS

Two top-notch .44-caliber bullets from Rim Rock include the 240-grain SWC-HP andthe 255-grain SWC. Both feature gas checks and are excellent choices for assembling accurate handloads in either the .44 Special or .44 Magnum.

www. Rim Rock Bullets .netPremium Cast Lead Bullets

.25 85 GR. RNFP/500 $28.00

.32 78 GR. RNFP/500 $25.00

.38 120 GR. TC /500 $32.00

.38 125 GR. RNFP/500 $33.00

.38 130 GR. RNFP/500 $34.00

.38-40 180 GR. RNFP/500 $42.00

.44-40 180 GR. RNFP/500 $42.00

.45LC 160 GR. RNFP/500 $44.00

.45LC 200 GR. RNFP/500 $44.50

.458 350 GR. RNFP/100 $26.00

.32 Keith125 GR. SWC /500 $46.00

.380 95 GR. RN /500 $30.009mm 115 GR. RN /500 $31.509mm 125 GR. RN /500 $33.00.38 148 GR. DEWC/500 $34.50.38 158 GR. SWC /500 $36.00.40 180 GR. RNFP /500 $41.00.45ACP 200 GR. SWC /500 $42.50.45ACP 230 GR. RN /500 $46.00.45LC 255 GR. SWC /500 $55.00

.38 158 GR. SWC-HP/100 $21.50

.357 180 GR. LBT-WFN/100 $24.00

.41 230 GR. SWC /100 $26.00

.44 240 GR. SWC-HP /100 $32.00

.44 240 GR. SWC /100 $32.00

.44 305 GR. LBT-WFN/100 $39.00

.45LC 260 GR. SWC-HP/100 $37.00

.45LC 325 GR. LBT-LWN/100 $41.00

.458 430 GR. LBT-LWN/100 $49.00

.500 440 GR. LBT-WFN/100 $61.00

Cowboy Standard Gas-Check

Prices subject to change without notice.This is a good cross reference of the bullets we offer. We have about 144 sets of molds with new molds coming.Sixteen employees working 10 hr. a day shifts 4 days a week with 9 casters, 6 auto lubers and 12 star lubersgas checking every day.We have bullets made with five different alloys that we order 40,000 - 60,000 lbs at a time a mixed per ourset alloys.

Now in our new state-of-the-art 12,000 square foot facility!

Our Online Catalog Has Over 100 Different Bullets!Everything is in stockSpecialty Sizing AvailableBrinell Hardness from 4-22

Rim Rock Bullets35675 Minesinger Trail • Polson, MT 59860(406) 883-1899 • Mon-Thurs, 8:00-5:00 p.m. [email protected]


cial and .44 Magnum revolvers.These include the 240-grain HP-SWC and 255-grain SWC, both fit-ted with gas checks. Although RimRock made the final design speci-fications, with Steve Brooks cut-ting the moulds, Tim Sundles ofBuffalo Bore Ammunition sharedin their design features and em-ploys both bullets in his .44 Spe-cial and .44 Magnum factory loads.

Rim Rock offers several hollow-point cast bullets in .38/.357, .44

and .45 calibers. The .38/.357 158grain and .45 caliber in 225-grainweight are cast with an extremelysoft alloy containing 40 parts leadand one part tin (for around a 6BHN) that will reliably expand atvelocities below 800 fps (similarlyto a pure lead bullet), but with the gas check there are no barrelleading problems. The .44-caliber,240-grain SWC-HP (as well as the.45-caliber, 260-grain SWC-HP) iscast with a 12 BHN and features agenerously large and deep hollow-point that reliably allows expan-sion at velocities of 1,000 fps.

The .44-caliber, 240-grain SWC-HPfeatures a nose length around .375inch, while the meplat measures.325 inch wide. It also featuresthree driving bands with the for-ward and middle bands measuring.075 inch wide, while the lowerone is around .090 inch. The crimpgroove is unique, as it is square-bottomed and measures around.016 inch deep and .050 inch wide.This allows a heavy roll crimp inneck-down style or the more tra-ditional radius roll crimp. Properly

.44 Magnum Handload Data overall

loadedbullet powder charge length velocity

(grains) (grains) (inches) (fps)

240 Rim Rock SWC-HP w/gc A-7 15.0 1.663 1,234 15.5 1,270 16.0 1,313 CFE Pistol 10.5 1,157 11.0 1,198 11.5 1,241 12.0 1,279 2400 19.0 1,186 20.0 1,252 21.0 1,348 21.5 1,394255 Rim Rock SWC w/gc Longshot 10.5 1.663 1,118 11.0 1,165 11.5 1,218 12.0 1,266 A-7 15.0 1,218 15.5 1,265 16.0 1,321 2400 19.0 1,174 20.0 1,247 21.0 1,355 21.5 1,388Notes: A Smith & Wesson Model 629-1 with a 6-inch barrel was used to test-fire the above loads. Star-line cases and CCI 300 primers were used throughout. Bullet diameter: .430 inch; maximum case length:1.285 inches; trim-to length: 1.275 inches.

Be Alert – Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data.

Table I

The Rim Rock 240-grain SWC-HP (left)and 255-grain SWC (right) feature gaschecks, generous square bottom crimpgrooves, meplats that measure around.325 inch and nose lengths of around.375 inch.

TARGETS - SMALL GAME - BIRDS

Cartridge adapters for most rifle calibers!For wildcats, etc. You supply brass and loan FL dies. $45.00

plus postage. B. Hammond, Box 41061, Yellowbird P.O.Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6J6M7 • www.gamegetter.ca

PolishedPERFECTION

IOIOSSSSOO®

PRODUCTS

847.437.8400www.iosso.com

IOSSO Case Polish• Cleans and Polishes to a

High Luster.• Removes Powder Residue

Discoloration andOxidation.

• Drastically ReducesTumblingTime.

• ProtectsfromFutureTarnish.

• Availablein 8 oz.bottlesup to 55 gal. drums.

MADEIN THEU.S.A.

Bio-Based FormulaNo Petroleum DistillatesNo Shipping Restrictions

NEW!

WORLD’S FINEST PRODUCTIONRIFLE BARRELS

DOUGLASULTRARIFLED

BARRELS IN MOST SIZES,SHAPES AND CALIBERS.

• Stainless Steel or Chrome Moly •–AFFORDABLE QUALITY–

Write for free information to:

DOUGLAS BARRELS, INC.5504 Big Tyler Rd., HL10

Charleston, WV 25313304-776-1341 FAX 304-776-8560


crimped, bullet creep is minimal,and with any reasonable load bul-lets will not jump crimp. For ex-ample, when heavily crimped andsubjected to the repeated fast re-coil from full-house .44 RemingtonMagnum loads fired in a Smith &Wesson Model 329PD weighing26.5 ounces, bullets stayed inplace. The same cannot be said ofmany jacketed bullets in popularfactory loads.

From a production standpoint,the above hollowpoint is compar-

atively difficult to produce, as gaschecks must be installed by hand,and since the alloy is too soft to be processed through automatedsizing machines, which cause de-formation, the sizing/lubing oper-ation is likewise done by hand. Asa result, quality is high.

The .44-caliber, 255-grain SWC“solid” bullet shares the same noselength, crimp groove and profileas the above 240-grain hollowpointbullet, but being heavier and longer,it seats approximately .048 inch

.44 Special Handload DataHandloads marked with an asterisk (*) are generating +P pressures and exceedSAAMI guidelines for the .44 Special that are currently established at 15,500 psi.These loads should only be used in Smith & Wesson Model 1950 Target/Model24, Ruger New Model Blackhawk, Freedom Arms Model 97 and guns designed tohandle pressures up to 25,000 psi.

overall loaded

bullet powder charge length velocity(grains) (grains) (inches) (fps)

240 Rim Rock SWC-HP w/gc Power Pistol 8.0 1.540 1,045 8.6 1,108* VV-3N37 8.0 931 8.5 980 9.0 1,055* A-5 8.5 957 9.0 1,003 9.5 1,050 10.0 1,103* A-7 11.0 1,070 11.5 1,110 12.0 1,138* Longshot 9.0 1,129* 9.5 1,180* CFE Pistol 6.5 890 7.0 947 7.5 1,006* 2400 16.0 1,156* 16.5 1,192* 17.0 1,233*255 Rim Rock SWC w/gc Power Pistol 8.0 1.540 1,034 8.6 1,094* A-5 8.5 960 9.0 1,000 9.5 1,046* 10.0 1,091* A-7 10.5 1,016 11.0 1,042 11.5 1,082 12.0 1,123* Longshot 9.0 1,122* 9.5 1,164** see caveat aboveNotes: A Ruger Blackhawk, Clements Custom No. 5 with a 51⁄2-inch Douglas Premium barrel was usedto test-fire these loads. Starline cases and CCI 300 primers were used throughout. Bullet diameter: .430inch; maximum case length: 1.160 inches; trim-to length: 1.150 inches.


Table II

Easy to MakeContender &Encore Barrels

for Fun or Profit360-432-2339 • Mon-Sat 9:00-6:00 PTwww.eagleviewarms.com


bullets are excellent choices forgeneral-purpose use in .44 Specialand .44 Magnum sixguns. They arewell designed, accurate and per-form well on game and can be pur-chased factory direct at www.rimrockbullets.net.

sult it usually produces around 25 to 50 fps greater velocity thanmost “production” .44 Specials withthe same barrel length.

With select loads, several 25-yardgroups clustered into a ragged holeusing both the 240-grain SWC-HPand 255-grain SWC bullets. Se -lect examples using the 240-grainSWC-HP bullet include 8.6 grainsof Alliant Power Pistol (1,108 fps),10.0 grains of Accurate No. 5 (1,103fps), 9.5 grains of Hodgdon Long-shot (1,180 fps) and 17.0 grains of2400 (1,233 fps). Switching to the255-grain SWC bullet 12.0 grainsof Accurate No. 7 (1,123 fps), 9.5grains of Longshot (1,164 fps) and8.6 grains of Power Pistol (1,094fps) gave outstanding results.

Please note that many of theloads in Table II exceed current in-dustry pressure limits as estab-lished by SAAMI at 15,500 psi –and are marked with an asterisk(*). These loads should only beused in guns designed to handlethe increased pressures, such asthe Smith & Wesson Model 1950Target (aka Model 24), Ruger NewModel Blackhawk, Freedom ArmsModel 97 and revolvers with simi-lar strength.

For developing .44 Magnum data,a Smith & Wesson Model 629-1with 6-inch barrel was used. Withthe 240-grain SWC-HP, the bestgroups easily stayed within oneinch at 25 yards and were ob-tained with velocities that hoveredaround 1,300 fps. This seemed to be a “sweet spot,” if you will.Loads included 16.0 grains of Accurate No. 7 or 12.0 grains ofHodgdon CFE Pistol. Alliant 2400gave the highest velocity with 21.5grains reaching nearly 1,400 fpsand groups still hovered close toan inch. Switching to the 255-grainSWC bullet, loads in Table I pro-duced velocities ranging from 1,150to almost 1,400 fps. The accuracydifferences were minimal with mostloads grouping around one inch.The single tightest group was pro-duced using 15.5 grains of Accu-rate No. 7 for 1,265 fps.

The Rim Rock SWC gas check

deeper into the case and is castharder with a BHN of 22. Severalyears ago, when I first saw thisbullet, I was impressed with itsfeatures and design. I have tried itat velocities ranging from 850 to1,500 fps and at distances out to400 yards, and it has proven to bea stable design. It certainly hassimilarities to the classic Lyman/Thompson-designed bullet 429244but with a slightly larger meplatand a deeper and larger crimpgroove.

There has been much discussionand many debates on gas checkversus plain-base cast bullets insixguns. Both can work extremelywell; however, for guns that areprone to barrel leading due to arough bore, a tight fitting frame/barrel junction that can cause a bore constriction or incorrectthroat sizes, a gas check is a greatoption. Furthermore, a gas checkallows a comparatively soft alloyto be used, such as with the abovehollowpoint bullets, which helpsprevent leading while permittingrapid expansion.

Loads were developed for the .44Special using a custom built RugerBlackhawk converted to a KeithNumber 5 pattern (by ClementsCustom Guns) with a line-boredcylinder and 51⁄2-inch octagonalbarrel. This gun features minimumdimension chambers, .430-inchthroats, a tight barrel/cylinder gapand a match-grade barrel. As a re-

Brian found Rim Rock bullets to offerunusual accuracy, with many 25-yardgroups measuring under one inch inthe Smith & Wesson Model 629-1 .44Magnum and custom Ruger Keith Number 5 .44 Special.

•


Some of the early bottlenecked autoloading pistol cartridgesare (left to right): 7.63mm Mauser (.30 Mauser), 7.65mmParabellum (.30 Luger), Japanese 8mm Nambu and Soviet7.62x25mm Tokarov.

Two modern bottlenecked autoloading pistol cartridges are:(1) .357 SIG and its (2) .40 S&W parent round. At right arethe proprietary (3) .440 Cor-Bon and its (4) .45 ACP parentround.

1 2 3 4

MIKE’S SHOOTIN’ SHACK by Mike Venturino

BOTTLENECK HANDGUNCARTRIDGES

Bottlenecked handgun car-tridges are an interesting sub-

ject, at least those meant forrepeating handguns, not the singleshots that can accommodate aboutanything. My thoughts here are ofrounds such as .30 Mauser, .30Luger, 8mm Nambu, 7.62x25mmTokarov and the much later .357SIG.

Since 1893, the 7.63mm Mauser(aka, .30 Mauser) can be consideredthe beginning of bottlenecked auto-loading pistol cartridges. For per-spective, consider this: Colt did notwarranty the famous Single Ac-tion Army/Peacemaker for smoke-less powders until 1900. Somereaders might be thinking that the Broomhandle Mauser didn’tcome out until 1896, which is true,but the huge, toggle-link pistol de-signed by Hugo Borchardt wasearlier still. It chambered the .30Mauser.

In 1900 the semiautomatic pistolthat came to be ultrafamous as the “Luger,” (although none wereso stamped) was introduced. Itsinitial caliber was 7.65mm Para-bellum (.30 Luger), a bottlenecked

case of .85 inch takinga 93-grain metal-jack-eted bullet. A coupleof years later, some-one decided to blowthat case out straight,cut it back to .754inch, fit it with .355-inch bullets and call itthe 9mm Parabellum.

Let’s go farther backin history to 1873, whenWinchester Repeating Armsintroduced its first centerfirecartridge, the .44 WinchesterCenterfire (.44 WCF). Then in1879, the company squeezedit down to take .400-inchbullets and called it the .38WCF. Now, it is hard to claimthat the .44 WCF is truly abottlenecked case, althoughin strict parlance it is. However,the .38 WCF is most certainly bot-tlenecked.

A bottleneck case shape is sup-posed to be troublesome in re-volvers, because the cases areforced back in the chambers asthey expand, consequently tying upagainst the frames’ recoil shields.

The first truly successful auto -loading pistol – the Mauser Model 96 – used the bottle-

necked 7.63mm Mauser.

That may happen withmore recent high-perfor-

mance bottleneck cartridges,such as .256 Winchester or .22Jet, but the .38 WCF has never

been problematic in the dozens ofColt revolvers I’ve fired it through.Never, nary once, has a .38 WCFrevolver cylinder demonstratedthe slightest hesitation when Iasked it to turn.

Back to autoloaders: Cartridgedesigners for those earliest auto -loaders evidently figured a bottle-


necked case could headspace onthe case shoulder, as did early rifle rounds, such as 7mm Mauserand 7.9x57mm, which gained themisnomer “8mm Mauser” in thiscountry. This would allow casemouths to be crimped into bulletcannelures if the manufacturer so desired. The cases could berimless, which never hurts func-tioning in autoloading firearms.(Actually .30 Mauser and 7.65mmParabellum have a tiny bit of rimextending past the case body, butit’s a matter of a few thousandthsinch at most.)

As the Japanese were wont to do in the early decades of theirmodernization, they managed tocopy the western nations while retaining some national individu-ality. By that I mean that Japan’s8mm Nambu pistol cartridge, in-troduced circa 1904, leaned heav-ily on the contemporary 7.63mmMauser and 7.65mm Parabellumcase shapes but in no way sharedtheir dimensions. The two Euro-pean rounds have rim diametersof .393 inch according to Lyman’sReloading Handbook #49, but ac-cording to Cartridges of the World9th Edition, the 8mm Nambu’s rimdiameter is .413 inch. The Mauserand Parabellum rounds both used.308-inch bullets, but the Nambu’sis .320 inch.

The Russians also have neverbeen bashful about copying, so in1930 they took the 7.63mm Mauser

case and renamed it 7.62x25mmTokarov when it was put into thecountry’s TT30 and TT33 pistols.Indeed they did soup it up a bit, so despite the almost exactlyshared dimensions, the Russian-and later Soviet bloc-manufactured7.62x25mm Tokarov should neverbe fired in old Model 1896 Mauserpistols.

Now fast-forward a good six dec -ades, and we have firearms and/orammunition makers returning tobottlenecked cartridges for auto -loading pistols. Sig and Federalcollaborated on the .357 SIG for its 1994 introduction. In essence itis the .40 S&W case bottleneckeddown to take .355 inch (not .357-inch) bullets. It has been well re-ceived in law enforcement circles.Interestingly, however, those com-panies chose to design the .357 SIGto headspace on its case mouth, as do rounds like .45 ACP, 9mmLuger and .40 S&W, instead of onits case shoulder. Of course, thatprecludes a roll crimp and, to meat least, seems like an odd move.

There have been other bottle-necked autoloader cartridgesdreamed up by wildcatters overthe years. The .45 ACP neckeddown to .38 caliber is perhaps thebest known. I even found somecases so formed in my ammo/bullet/powder shed, although Ihave no memory of ever even see-ing a .38/.45 pistol.

In the arena of proprietary car-tridges, there have been some bottlenecked auto loader pistol de-velopments. About the same timethe .357 SIG was developed, am-munition maker Cor-Bon came outwith a .440 Cor-Bon. It’s the .45ACP necked down to .40 caliber. Ialso found some of that factoryammu nition in my shed and like-wise don’t remember ever viewinga pistol so chambered.

I have done extensive shootingwith the earlier bottlenecked auto -loader rounds: Mauser, Parabel-lum, Tokarov and Nambu and evena modicum of reloading with a.357 SIG. They have all workedwell.

NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADAMoose, Woodland Caribou & Black Bear HuntsBook now for 2015 & 2016 • Tel/Fax: (877) [email protected] www.biggamecanada.com

P.O. Box 159, York Harbour, NL, Canada A0L 1L0

Mike considers the .38 WCF (.38-40) asthe only truly successful bottleneckedcartridge used in revolvers. •


Ever since I donned Air Forceblue in my teens, my life has

revolved around some form ofshooting – mostly bullseye pistolor, later, IPSC and PPC but also a little high-power rifle and a goodbit of skeet. I’ve spent days andweeks at ranges all around thecountry and some of the world. Igot to breathe the rare air with the best of the best at the USAFMarksmanship School and learnfrom, and eventually compete with,them too. Of course, we had tocompete against men just as seri-ous, whose only flaw was thatthey joined another branch of theservice.

The experience of building andshooting serious target pistols

opened the door that I pass throughevery day and gained access topeople and places I would haveonly dreamt of. Most serious com-petitive shooters wouldn’t standout in a crowd, but a short con -versation will usually reveal thedifference between real and Mem-orex. There is a special commu-nity where the guy whose goal inlife is to beat you will lend you agun if yours goes down or offeradvice that might help you beathim.

Serious competitive shooting islargely a mental endeavor, becauseit is ever so easy to talk yourselfout of a good score. Many yearsago I stood beside the late Maj.Frank Green as we looked at posted

scores, and he talked openly aboutwhat he would have to shoot thenext day in the .45 match to winthe National Championship. Thescore he mentioned was, at leastin my world, stratospheric, but thenext day he beat it by a point ortwo and won Camp Perry.

The first major saying I remem-ber was uttered by my coach, thelate MSgt Fred McFarland. Hewould stand beside me lookingthrough the scope and say, “Callthat shot.” More than once I cried,“Come back!” when the front sighttook a nosedive as I jerked thetrigger.

There was a monthly 2,700-pointmatch at Lackland, and I shot

PISTOL POINTERS by Charles E. Petty

FROM THE RANGE


them all, and several times a yearwe’d get TDY to shoot somewhereelse. The guys on the big teamtraveled a lot more, starting inFlorida in February or March andending at Camp Perry in the sum-mer. There were also big matcheslike the All Air Force, usually heldat Lackland, and the Inter Service,which moved around. When I leftI was the proud owner of a Mastercard from the NRA, but a terror inthe Expert class becomes an also-ran master until the skills improve. . . a bunch.

The ability to call a shot is key toany degree of precision in launch-ing bullets. It is one of those thingsfar easier said than done and re-quires one to know the relation ofthe sight to the target at the mo-ment the shot breaks.

This also leads to the cardinal sinof shooting: jerking the trigger. Aswe learn to shoot, we know wherethe sight should be when the gunfires, so there is an incredible urgefrom the brain to tell the trigger

finger now. The result will almostalways be bad.

We often are told about the de -sirability of a “surprise break.” Theterm is a little misleading, becausesurprises often trigger the startlereflex, which we don’t want. Abetter way to think of it is that ifwe know the instant the gun willfire, we jerked the trigger. If weput enough pressure on the triggerand hold it, however, the recoilwill sort of sneak up on us with noharm.

The best saying on the subjectcame from the late Carlos Hath-cock: “Press the trigger, wait forthe recoil.” It applies equally to rifles or handguns and is the mostbasic of truths. A similar saying at-tributed to Jeff Cooper is, “Frontsight . . . press.”

The undying popularity of Mr.Browning’s 1911 and its .45 ACPcartridge makes it a huge seller inevery segment of the market. WhenRuger and Remington started of-fering 1911-style pistols, I saw that

as proof of a virtually bottomlessmarket, and then I see custom shopprices hover near $5,000 and shakemy head in wonder.

I have quite a few pistols built inthe 1970s to 1980s that would com-pete well with anything today interms of accuracy and function.Cosmetics have come a long waysince then, and lots of folks buythose. I’ve seen some custom pis-tols that were truly works of art,but there is also an element thatequates cost with quality. “Howmuch you paid for the gun hasnothing to do with whether or notyou can shoot.” I’ve always liked,“You can’t buy skill.”

I was participating in a class withnew shooters, almost all of whomwere women, and one of themasked the instructor about the .380.He began his answer with it wasn’tpowerful enough, and I still can’tbelieve I interrupted with “B...s...,the gun you have when you reallyneed one is the best gun in theworld.”


Sometimes good sayings emergeby accident. I’ve spoken of the 14-inch diameter steel gong that lives70 yards away at my range. Weshoot at it regularly. One day a newshooter wandered up just as afriend nailed the gong solidly. “Hehit it,” the guy exclaimed. The littledevil sitting on my shoulder said,“Heck . . . anyone can miss it.”

One of the highlights of my serv-ice was to get to know and huntwith the late Jim Clark. In my newcareer, he became a valuable re-source, and he always had an houror more for talks at the SHOTShow. One subject was whether ornot those newfangled weights andcomps really worked. “If you thinkit helps, it does,” he said.

That was in the early days ofIPSC, which were closely followedby the craze for magazine capac-ity. Even though the Browning P-35 with 13 rounds was knownand loved, it got no traction inIPSC, because it was a “minor”caliber.

The first thing we saw werelonger magazines that stuck outthe bottom of the pistol and thencame wide bodies of all sorts.Pretty soon consumers were ask-ing for the highest magazine ca-pacity as a buying guide. All of this prompted Safariland’s greatshooter Tommy Campbell to ask,“Are you planning on missing alot?”

One saying I just heard must re-main anonymous to avoid embar-rassment to the speaker, but it’stoo good to leave out. Not longago, a friend who is a very goodshot was shooting a custom 19119mm and was having numerousmalfunctions and poor accuracy.We cleaned and lubed the pistol,but the problem remained.

Some time later he walked by mybench and put down a box of am-munition. As I picked up the boxof .380, he said, “But you still haveto use the right stuff.”

Perhaps the ultimate indoor rangecommand that blasts out of the PAsystem is, “Lane five . . . go home!” •

• Custom, odd, obsolete and specialtycartridge cases

• Wildcat cartridge development• Manufacturing OVER 450 calibers

• Correct headstamped wildcat brass

www.qual-cart.comP.O. Box 445, Hollywood, MD 20636 (301) 373-3719

We supply all of CorBon’scast bullets!

• Gas Checked & Plain Base Match Grade Cast Bullets• Everything from 7mm to .500 S&W, 20-22 BHN• Real Keith Bullets - .357, .41, .44 & .45440, 465 & 500 Gr. in .500 S&W, .460 S&W - 395 Gr.

349 NW 100 St. • St. John, KS 67576Tel: 620-549-6475Website: www.proshootpro.com

Manufacturer of FreundPatent® Sharps Rifles &

J.P. Gemmer’s© Conversions

Single-Shot RiflesBuilt, Repaired & Restored.

1523 W. Hwy. 34 • Loveland, CO 80537Tel: 970-365-2409 (Mon-Fri)

.22TCM

Handloadsfor a Rifle

John Haviland

Armscor USA/Rock Island Ar-mory has enjoyed some suc-cess the last few years cham-bering its .22 TCM center-

fire cartridge in several versions of itsautoloading handguns. It’s only natu-ral then that Armscor would chamberthe .22 TCM in a rifle to take advan-tage of the cartridge’s full potential.According to Martin Tuason, pres -ident of Rock Island Armory and Armscor Precision International, the.22 TCM rifle “. . . is a must have forhunters looking for maximum veloc-ity and stopping power in a .22-caliberfirearm.” That might be stretching thecartridge’s performance more than abit, because it is essentially a short-ened .223 Remington.

Tuason and firearms engineer Fred Craig developedthe cartridge, and TCM stands for Tuason Craig Mag-num. The case is a .223 Remington shortened about.73 inch with a slightly deeper extractor groove .049inch in diameter and a thicker rim .050 inch in diame-ter. The neck wall thickness of TCM cases measured.015 inch. Ten .22 TCM cases weighed an average of72.1 grains, compared to 92.0 grains for Winchester.223 cases. Armscor puts the velocity of its 40-grainjacketed hollowpoint from its Precision .22 TCM fac-tory loads at 1,875 fps from a 5-inch pistol barrel and

“over 2,800” fps from a 22.75-inch rifle barrel. Factory loadpressure is about 40,000 psi.

The rifle is the first of a newline of centerfire rifles for RockIsland Armory. The model num-ber is 22 TCM BA, but it is notshown on the rifle. Stamped onthe left rear receiver wall is“APINTL-PAHRUMPNV,” whichstands for Armscor PrecisionInternational – Pahrump, Ne-


The Rock Island .22 TCM rifleworked well on ground squirrels.The cartridge generates next tono recoil from the 8-pound rifle.

vada. Below that is stamped “ACPPhilippines,” which stands for ArmsCorpo ration of the Philippines. Onthe right, the receiver is stamped“ROCK ISLAND Armory.”

The action is designed for low-pressure cartridges, because itssingle locking lug, located at therear of the bolt, latches into theside of the receiver wall. With the.22 TCM’s mild pressure, that isprobably enough of a fastener. Its

recessed bolt face has a Sako-styleextractor, and a case pulled fromthe chamber hits the head of a pin,positioned at the left rear of theejection port, to eject the case.

The stock is a Philippine hard-wood with a black forearm tip andpoint-pattern checkering panels on both sides of the grip and fore-arm. A Parkerized finish covers themetal, and the barrel is fairly heavyat .90 inch in diameter in front of

the receiver, tapering to .75 inch atthe muzzle. Trigger pull is fourpounds. A five-round detachablemagazine comes with the rifle, andthe .22 TCM 17-round pistol maga-zine also fits in the rifle.

The grooved top of the receiveraccepts clamp-on scope rings. Itried several high-magnificationscopes on the rifle, but their wideocular lens housing blocked move-ment of the bolt handle. A LeupoldM8 4x had a narrow enough hous-ing to clear the handle.

At the 2015 SHOT Show MediaDay, folks were shooting Rock Is-land TCM autoloading pistols cham-bered in .22 TCM. Empty casesflew through the air and landed atmy feet like a gift from the heav-ens, so I gathered up a pile of them.Armscor factory Precision .22TCM cartridges loaded with 40-grain bullets and brass are avail-able from www.ammosupplywarehouse.com.

At home I set about preparing the cases for reloading, but evenbasic reloading information wasunavailable for the cartridge. An-other writer has shot ArmscorUSA .22 TCM cartridges in a RockIsland autoloading pistol and es-tablished a 1.030-inch maximumlength for cases. Redding dies wereon hand for full-length sizing, andcases were trimmed to a length of1.020 inches.

No established powder weightdata is available for the .22 TCM.To develop information for suit-able powders and powder weights,I searched for an established caseof similar capacity. The total ca-pacity of the .22 TCM case is simi-lar to the .22 Hornet. In fact, TCMcases hold .4 grain more water thanPrvi Partizan .22 Hornet cases. Theshape of the two cases, however,is entirely different. The Hornetcase is long with a slender shoul-der and rim compared to the shortTCM rimless case with a sharpshoulder. Hornet starting loadslisted in various handloading man-

Above, the bolt face is recessed on the Rock Island Armory .22 TCM rifle.Right, the rifle has a single locking lug

located at the back of the bolt.


.22TCM


The .22 TCM cartridge must be kept to a length of 1.275 inches to fit in the mag-azine of the Rock Island Armory rifle.

Left, the .22 TCM (left) has about thesame total case capacity as the .22Hornet (center) and is essentially ashortened .223 Remington (right). TheTCM also has a deeper extractorgroove and thicker rim than the .223.Above, trim length is 1.020 inches for.22 TCM cases.

The .22 TCM’s short cartridge lengthlimits suitable bullets; these three bulletsfit (left to right): Nosler 40-grain HPVarmageddon, Hornady 45-grain HPBee and Speer 46-grain Bee FNSP.

uals looked like a prudent place tobegin loading the .22 TCM. Therewould be no hot-rodding the car-tridge because of the single lock-ing lug at the rear of the bolt.

The .22 TCM is limited in its use-fulness because the short cartridgelength can only be loaded withlightweight and blunt-nose bullets.The rifle’s magazine will acceptcartridges with a maximum length

of 1.275 inches, which is the sameas the .45 ACP. That short lengthruled out any bullet over 40 grainswith a pointed nose. Even thenose of the Berger 30-grain FlatBase Varmint bullet is too pointed,and the full diameter of the bulletsits below the bottom of the caseneck with a cartridge length of1.275 inches. Nosler 40-grain Var-mageddon hollowpoints fit, butbarely. Assembled cartridges lookedweird, because the bullets’ ogivessit below the case mouths. Theonly bullets that fit correctly aredesigned for the .218 Bee. Bulletson hand included the Hornady 45-grain Bee hollowpoint and Speer46-grain Bee FNSP.

The .22 TCM was loaded withpowders commonly used in the.22 Hornet, such as Accurate 1680,Ramshot Enforcer, Alliant PowerPro 300-MP and 2400 and HodgdonLil’Gun and H-4198. Winchester296 would also be an appropriatepowder, but it has been absentfrom sporting goods store shelvesfor more than a year.

The first batch of .22 TCM car-tridges were loaded with CCISmall Rifle BR4 primers. About athird of the primers failed to firedue to a light strike of the firingpin. Switching to Winchester Small

Pistol primers solved the problem,and all of them fired.

The .22 TCM delivered muchhigher speeds with Lil’Gun thanthose stated for the .22 Hornet invarious reloading manuals. For in-stance, Hornady 45-grain Bee hol-lowpoints turned in a velocity of2,670 fps with 10.0 grains of Lil’-Gun. The Hornady Handbook ofCartridge Reloading 9th Editionlists a velocity of 2,400 fps from10.2 grains of Lil’Gun for the Hor-net. Nosler 40-grain Varmageddonhollowpoints reached 2,780 fpsfrom the .22 TCM burning 10.0grains of Lil’Gun, but the Nosler

Redding makes reloading dies for the.22 TCM, and a .223 Remington shell-holder fits the case.


Reloading Guide 7 indicates 2,466fps for the same bullet loaded inthe Hornet with the same powdercharge. Of course, different cases,primers, bullets and rifles wereused for the .22 TCM and .22 Hor-net loads, but a 300 fps differencebetween cases with nearly thesame volume is significant. Thisshows one should proceed cau-tiously when developing loads bythe seat of one’s pants.

Other powders, like Accurate1680 and Ramshot Enforcer, firedfrom the .22 TCM, though, werefairly close to the speeds listed forthe .22 Hornet. Alliant 2400 pro-duced sluggish velocities.

Lil’Gun and Power Pro 300-MPare the powders for top speeds inthe .22 TCM. The loads listed forthose two powders in the accom-panying table should be consid-ered the absolute maximum forthe Rock Island Armory rifle.Bolt lift was very stiff after firingthese cartridges. Cases fired withLil’Gun and Power Pro 300-MPstretched quite a bit after one fir-

ing and being resized in the Red-ding full-length sizing die. Theygrew from 1.020 to 1.030 inchesand longer.

The Rock Island Armory rifleshot adequately at 50 and 100yards from a bench over five dif-ferent days. The rifle would shoot

.22 TCM Handloads for Rifles overall loaded

bullet powder charge length velocity group(grains) (grains) (inches) (fps) (inches)

40 Nosler HP Varmageddon 2400 8.8 1.275 2,215 1.03*A-1680 11.0 2,173 3.02, 1.42* 12.0 2,440 –Enforcer 8.5 2,280 .65*Lil’Gun 10.0 2,780 1.25, .65* 10.3 2,845 .34*

45 Hornady HP Bee Power Pro 300-MP 10.3 1.275 2,551 1.552400 8.0 1,956 3.08Lil’Gun 10.0 2,670 1.78H-4198 10.5 1,900 2.60

46 Speer Bee FNSP Power Pro 300-MP 10.3 1.275 2,496 2.682400 8.0 1,876 3.62Lil’Gun 10.0 2,644 1.83H-4198 10.3 1,749 1.95 10.5 1,815 2.33

* Groups shot at 50 yards. All others were shot at 100 yards.Notes: All loads were assembled with Armscor Precision cases and Winchester Small Pistol primers.Cases were trimmed to a length of 1.020 inches. Velocities were recorded 10 feet in front of the RockIsland rifle’s 22-inch barrel.


Above, the rifle printed this group at 50 yards shooting Nosler 40-grain HP Varmageddon bullets over 10.0 grainsof Hodgdon Lil’Gun powder. The groupbelow, shot at 100 yards, used Speer 46-grain Bee FNSP bullets and Lil’Gun.

NOE Bullet Moulds LLCUse Code HL315 for 10% Discount

801-377-7289www.noebulletmoulds.com

NOE Bullet Moulds is apremium manufacturer of bullet

moulds and casting tools.

CChheecckk UUss OOuutt,,YYoouu WWoonn’’tt BBee DDiissaappppooiinntteedd!!


Whispers® are developments of SSK Industries.Custom barrels for Contenders, Encores,bolt guns and semi-autos as well as com-plete guns and the cans to keep themquiet are available. SSK chambers over400 calibers. Wild wildcat ideas welcomed.

SSK Industries590 Woodvue Lane

Wintersville, OH 43953Tel: 740-264-0176

www.sskindustries.com

.302 .338 .375 .416

small cartridge like the .22 TCM.Nosler 40-grain Varmageddon bul-lets varied 65 fps between 10.0 and10.3 grains of Lil’Gun. Speer 46-grain bullets varied 66 fps between10.3 and 10.5 grains of H-4198.

Even though each powder chargewas weighed on a balance beamscale, velocity spread was quitehigh with some powders. Alliant2400 varied up to 119 fps; PowerPro 300-MP, up to 150 fps; Ac -curate 1680 and Lil’Gun ranged 78 fps.

This past spring my son and Ishot the rifle at ground squirrels.Cartridges loaded with Nosler 40-grain Varmageddon hollowpointscycled without a hitch from themagazine and into the chamber,even though the bullets’ ogives satbelow the case mouths. A gentlepull on the bolt usually left firedcases in the action. A hard pullthrew them clear of the rifle. Weshot out to 75 yards or so with therifle supported on shooting sticks;we missed a few and hit a few.There was no doubt of a hit, evenat the mild velocities producedwith the Varmageddon bulletsseated over Lil’Gun. Recoil fromthe load was next to nonexistentin the 8-pound rifle (with Leupoldscope). With no recoil to jar thesights off the target, it was fun tosee all the action.

If the rifle was mine, I wouldchop about 5 inches off the fore-arm and slim the grip to make therifle handier. The .22 TCM was funto shoot, and reloading cartridgeswas easy and straightforward. How-ever, acceptance of the .22 TCM asa rifle cartridge will depend onother rifle companies chamberingthe cartridge. Cartridges smallerthan the .223 Remington have notfared well. The .221 RemingtonFireball is a more useful cartridge,because it can be loaded withpointed bullets and heavier bulletsthan the .22 TCM. The Fireball alsoshoots a good 500 fps faster withonly a few grains more powder,but it is on its last legs. Perhapsthe .22 TCM’s brightest future re-mains as a handgun cartridge.

a nice round group one time, butbullets from the same load shot asecond time would spread up orsideways a good 3 inches. Therifle definitely preferred Lil’Gunwith all the bullets used andPower Pro 300-MP with Hornady45-grain Bee bullets. A scope higherthan 4x would have allowed a moreprecise aim and perhaps shrunkgroup sizes.

Even a few tenths of a grain dif-ference in powder can cause awide difference in velocity in a

•

9009 River Road, Chico, CA 95928Tel: 530-345-4012 Fax: 530-345-0990

[email protected]

Claro andEnglishWalnut

Gun StockBlanks

Highly Figuredand Plain Grain

Cultivating Nature’s Beauty!

Cutting EdgeHandgun Bul lets

Solid CopperHollowpoints

Brian Pearce

Aseries of excellent groups at25 yards using a Ruger NewModel Blackhawk .41 Mag-num (stainless steel Bisley)

and carefully assembled handloads in-cluded the tightest individual groupever achieved with this sixgun. This is significant, as the revolver has beenused to evaluate several prototypefactory loads and develop hundredsof different handloads with a large va-riety of cast and jacketed bullets withhundreds of powder combinations.The above handload consisted of Starline cases, 15.0grains of Accurate No. 7 powder and a bullet somehandloaders may have never heard of, the CuttingEdge 180-grain Handgun Raptor hollowpoint. Pushedto a muzzle velocity of just over 1,400 fps, all five shotswere touching in a ragged hole and measured .62 inchcenter to center. Moving out to 200 yards, this loadagain turned in top accuracy, proving proper stabiliza-tion. Next the bullets were checked for expansion, butI am getting ahead of myself.

Cutting Edge handgun bullets are machined fromsolid copper and have some important design fea-tures. They are available in hollowpoint versionsknown as the Handgun Raptor and Handgun Solid that are available in .380, 9mm, .357, .40, .41, .44, .45(for .45 ACP and .454 Casull), .475 and .500 S&W cal-ibers and in multiple bullet weights.

Cutting Edge states all Raptor bullets will reliably ex-pand at 900 fps, but in my testing, expansion was reli-able at velocities as low as 800 fps with select bullets,such as the 110-grain .357 and 150-grain .45 caliber(designed specifically for the .45 ACP). Each of the



sixguns and have a tremendous amount of respect forhow well solid bullets with large meplats perform.They help to create a large and long wound channel,deliver shock to the nervous system and generallyexit the offside of most animals, leaving aneasy blood trail. On heavy game they canbreak bone and still reach the vitals.

The meplat of the .357-caliber, 165-grain bullet measures around .275inch (difficult to measure ex-actly as the edges are slightly

rounded), the .41-caliber220 grain measures.320 inch, whilethe .44-caliber 240grain’s meplat is.290 inch. Inci-dentally, the.357- and

bullets’ four petals peel back and break off, leaving thesolid shank resembling a wadcutter profile to pushforward for deep penetration. Interestingly, bullets recovered from ballistic gelatin looked the same when recovered at 900 fps or 1,400 fps, and expansionstarted almost immediately upon impact. Cutting Edgehas designed these for personal protection and hunt-ing applications, where both expansion and penetra-tion are desired.

Cutting Edge Solids will find favor among those look-ing for a bullet to be used on big game and especiallyheavy game. I have taken much game with big-bore

Cutting Edge bullets proved accurate from a Ruger SR1911.Below, the .357-caliber, 105-grain Raptor bullet features anunusually deep hollowpoint that is precut for reliable andrapid expansion at velocities of 900 fps or more.



The guns used to develop handloads included (1) a Ruger GP100 .357 Magnum, (2) Ruger New Model Blackhawk (Bisley) .41 Magnum, (3) Ruger New ModelBlackhawk (Bisley) .44 Magnum, (4) Ruger SR1911 .45 ACP and (5) Freedom ArmsModel 83 .454 Casull.

The Raptor HP features four precut relief slots to allow expansion upon impact, which results in four petalsbreaking off with a solid shank (right)offering penetration.

is that they seat deeper into thecase (when maintaining industryoverall cartridge lengths), whichsignificantly reduces powder ca-pacity. This has a huge effect onsuitable loads and powder charges.As a result, load data developedwith cup-and-core bullets that are of the same weight cannot beused interchangeably with CuttingEdge bullets. In fact, in many in-stances, such loads using popu -lar ball (spherical) powders inmagnum revolver cartridges wereeither not possible or heavily com-pressed, which can produce er-ratic pressures and is generallynot advised.

Another unusual Cutting Edge

bullet feature that makes develop-ing handload data challenging isthe deep-cut Raptor hollowpointsthat result in very long for weightbullets. For example, when com-pared, the .44-caliber (.430 inch),200-grain Raptor and the .44-cal-iber, 240-grain Solid share thesame length of .837 inch and haveidentical bearing surfaces of .600inch. Switching to .357 caliber, the140-grain Raptor measures .839inch long, while the 165-grain Solidmeasures .788, with the heavierbullet having notably less bearingsurface. As a result, load data hadto be specifically developed witheach bullet used and was not pre-dictable based on weight.

The .357 Magnum data was de-veloped using Raptor 105- and140-grain bullets and the 165-grainSolid, with each featuring a smallfront driving band that measured.358 inch. Cases were roll crimped,using an RCBS die, to the bottomof the crimp groove that measuresaround .010 inch deep. All bulletswere seated with an overall car-tridge length of 1.570 inches.

There are published loads forCutting Edge bullets in the .357,but much of this was completelyunsuitable. In many instances thepowder charges using slow-burn-ing powders were too low, whichcaused squib loads and even stuckbullets in the bore. For these rea-

1

2

3

4

5

In spite of Cutting Edge bullets havingcircumferential rings to reduce borefriction and bearing surface, riflingcontacted most of the bullet’s shank, as seen on this .357 Magnum 165-grain Solid.

.41-caliber bullets feature roundedogives, while the .44 is a truncatedcone design.

Cutting Edge Raptor and Solidbullets are fully machined and dis-play outstanding precision anduniformity. Often I could weigh 10bullets that displayed virtually noweight variance. Being constructedof solid copper, they are long whencompared to a traditional cup-and-core jacketed bullet of the sameweight, which can pose challengesto handloaders. For example, theincreased bearing surface canmake it difficult for many handguncartridges, especially those withlower pressures or loads that con-tain limited powder charges, toreliably push the bullet out thebarrel. This long surface can alsoincrease pressure and almost al-ways reduces velocities. CuttingEdge has helped minimize thisproblem by placing circumferen-tial rings around the bullet’s shank(similar to Barnes TSX rifle bul-lets), which are usually cut around.005 to .007 inch deep, dependingon caliber.

Another feature of “long” bullets

It is important to not reduce suggested“start” loads or bullets can stick in thebore, which happened several timesthroughout testing, and is potentiallydangerous.


sons, loads for the .357 Magnum,as well as all cartridges includedhere, should not be reduced belowthe “start” loads.

I did manage to develop datausing traditional magnum revolverpowders, including Alliant 2400,Ramshot Enforcer and AccurateNo. 9, that was consistent, accu-rate and within industry pressurelimits at 35,000 psi. Nonetheless,select faster-burning powders pro-duced higher velocities and top-notch accuracy. For example, 9.5and 10.0 grains of Alliant PowerPistol reached 1,509 and 1,565 fps,respectively, using the 105-grainRaptor bullet, while 10.5 grains ofHodgdon Longshot reached 1,544fps and consistently kept fiveshots inside .75 to 1.0 inch at 25yards when fired from the RugerGP100 test gun.

Moving up to the 140-grain Rap-tor bullet, notable performancewas achieved using Accurate No.9 and Vihtavuori N105 powders,with both loads reaching over1,400 fps. The 165-grain Solid wastried with several powders, butthe best performers included Al-liant 2400, Hodgdon H-110 andLongshot.

Three bullets were tested in the.41 Magnum: the 135- and 180-grain Raptors and 220-grain Solid.Cases were roll crimped into thebottom of the .010 inch deep crimpgroove, which when combinedwith the strength of Starline cases,

gave plenty of bullet pull to achievereliable ignition and to preventbullets from jumping crimp.

I generally don’t favor light-for-caliber bullets in sixguns, but the135-grain Raptor was impressive,as it reached over 1,700 fps using

Power Pistol and Longshot pow-ders. Although it was not quite asaccurate as the 180-grain version,it still produced several groupsthat measured around one inch at25 yards.

As previously indicated, the 180-

.357 Magnum Handloads overall

loadedbullet powder charge length velocity comments


105 Cutting Edge Raptor HP Power Pistol 8.5 1.570 1,384 9.0 1,433 9.5 1,509 10.0 1,565 A-7 11.0 1,317 12.0 1,351 13.0 1,399 2400 13.2 1,078 13.7 1,147 14.2 1,202 15.0 1,317 15.5 1,388 16.0 1,485 Enforcer 14.5 1,099 15.0 1,184 15.5 1,264 16.0 1,307 16.5 1,362 A-9 13.5 1,218 14.0 1,259 14.5 1,310 15.0 1,399 15.5 1,465 Longshot 9.0 1,421 9.5 1,455 10.0 1,491 10.5 1,544 11.0 1,578140 Cutting Edge Raptor HP VV-N105 9.5 1.570 1,020 10.0 1,091 10.5 1,195 11.0 1,275 11.5 1,330 12.0 1,401 A-9 13.0 1,215 14.0 1,356 14.8 1,437 maximum A-7 11.7 1,338165 Cutting Edge Solid H-110 15.5 * 1.570 1,076 do not reduce 16.0 * 1,162 2400 12.5 1,022 do not reduce 13.0 1,070 13.5 1,113 14.0 1,171 Longshot 8.0 1,034 9.0 1,160* CCI 550 primers were used for these two loads only.Notes: A Ruger GP100 with a 6-inch barrel was used to test-fire the loads. Starline cases and CCI 500primers were used throughout, except where noted by an asterisk (*). Bullet diameter: .357 inch; max-imum case length: 1.290 inches; trim-to length: 1.280 inches.


Table I


Ed Stevenson1819 S. Henry Aaron Dr. • Wasilla, AK 99623

907-745-0479 • [email protected]

SHEEP RIVER HUNTING CAMPSTraditional Fair Chase Alaskan Game Hunts!

•Brown Bear•Black Bear

•Moose



loadedbullet powder charge length velocity comments


135 Cutting Edge Raptor HP Power Pistol 13.0 1.588 1,635 13.5 1,666 14.0 1,719 14.5 1,750 A-9 19.0 1,565 19.5 1,570 20.0 1,591 20.5 1,596 Longshot 13.5 1,702 14.0 1,721180 Cutting Edge Raptor HP A-7 13.0 1,232 13.5 1,271 14.0 1,321 14.5 1,381 15.0 1,424 2400 15.0 1,143 do not reduce 16.0 1,242 17.0 1,322 Enforcer 16.5 1,165 17.0 1,211 17.5 1,283 18.0 1,327 Longshot 11.0 1,352 11.5 1,371 12.0 1,381 12.5 1,403 Power Pistol 10.0 1,246 10.5 1,281 11.0 1,342 11.5 1,377220 Cutting Edge Solid H-110 18.0 * 1.588 1,063 19.0 * 1,151 20.0 * 1,246 2400 16.0 1,066 16.5 1,145 17.0 1,215 17.5 1,276 Power Pistol 9.5 1,047 10.0 1,079 10.5 1,156 11.1 1,201 A-7 13.0 1,083 13.5 1,121 14.0 1,202 14.5 1,248 Enforcer 16.0 1,104 do not reduce 16.5 1,121 17.0 1,162 17.5 1,180

* CCI 350 primers used for these three loads only.Notes: A Ruger New Model Blackhawk (stainless Bisley) with a 51⁄2-inch barrel was used to test-firethese loads. Starline cases were used throughout. CCI 300 primers were used in all loads except thoseindicated by an asterisk (*). Bullet diameter: .410 inch; maximum case length: 1.290 inches; trim-tolength: 1.280 inches..


Table II

The 220-grain Solid easily reached1,250 fps and is an outstandingchoice for hunting large, heavy

game where deep penetration isimportant. Accurate No. 7 and Al-liant 2400 gave the best accuracy.

grain Raptor gave outstanding ac-curacy with several powders, in-cluding Accurate No. 7, Alliant2400, Power Pistol and HodgdonLongshot. It was generally pushedto around 1,400 fps and shouldprove capable of most tasks fromdefense to hunting deer, making ita great all-purpose bullet. Inciden-tally, the recovered shank fromballistic gelatin, which was void of the four precut, hollowpoint’spetals, weighed 134 grains.


The 200-grain, .44-caliber Raptorcould be pushed 1,500 fps in the.44 Remington Magnum using 21.0grains of Accurate No. 9 in theRuger New Model Blackhawk Bis-ley with a 51⁄2-inch barrel. It ap-pears to be a credible load forhunting deer and similar game.When loaded down to around 1,250fps using 11.0 grains of Power Pis-tol or 11.5 grains of Longshot pow-

der, recoil was comparatively mildand allowed for fast double-actionwork from a Smith & WessonModel 629 Mountain Gun, whichopens up its use for personal de-fense possibilities. Virtually allloads listed were accurate, withmost groups hovering around oneinch at 25 yards. The solid shank,with the petals broken off fromexpansion, weighed 147 grains.

ZERO

Pistol Bulletsand

Ammunition

Pistol Bulletsand

Ammunition

Zero Bullet Company, Inc.P.O. Box 1188 • Cullman, AL 35056Tel: 256-739-1606 • Fax: 256-739-4683

Toll Free: 800-545-9376www.zerobullets.com




200 Cutting Edge Raptor HP Power Pistol 11.0 1.610 1,254 11.5 1,282 12.0 1,317 12.5 1,369 13.0 1,409 13.5 1,441 A-9 19.0 1,337 20.0 1,406 21.0 1,499 2400 19.0 1,368 20.0 1,409 21.0 1,479 Longshot 11.5 1,275 12.0 1,300 12.5 1,339 13.0 1,371 13.5 1,394240 Cutting Edge Solid A-9 17.0 1.610 1,131 17.5 1,166 18.0 1,222 18.5 1,269 19.0 1,305 H-110 21.0 * 1,195 22.0 * 1,240 23.0 * 1,310 2400 16.0 1,012 17.0 1,090 18.0 1,196 19.0 1,274 VV-N105 14.0 1,114 14.5 1,155 15.0 1,231 15.5 1,278 Longshot 12.0 1,202 12.5 1,203 13.0 1,237 13.5 1,255 Power Pistol 11.0 1,128 11.5 1,160 12.0 1,213 12.5 1,244

* CCI 350 pimers were used for these three loads only.Notes: A Ruger New Model Blackhawk (stainless Bisley) with a 51⁄2-inch barrel was used to test-firethese loads. Starline cases were used throughout. CCI 300 primers were used in all loads, except thoseindicated with an asterisk (*). Bullet diameter: .430 inch; maximum case length: 1.285 inches; trim-tolength: 1.275 inches.


Table III


Cutting Edge Handgun Bul letsOffering Button andCut-Rifled Barrels.

• Most calibers and twist rates• Some AR-15 barrels available

High PlainsReboring & Barrels, L.L.C.

Contact: Norman [email protected]

Phone: 701-448-9188243 14th Avenue NWTurtle Lake, ND 58575

eye powder, velocity was 1,014fps, which produced the singletightest group, but most loadsyielded similar accuracy. HodgdonLongshot, Alliant Power Pistoland Unique each reached over1,200 fps and are listed as +P loadswith pressures currently estab-lished at 23,000 psi.

The 150-grain Raptor expands atjust 800 fps, and with petals bro-ken off, the shank weighs around85 grains. When pushed just over900 fps, a Ruger SR1911 pistolfunctioned reliably, and recoil wascomparatively modest. Such loadsmay prove especially interestingfor the recoil sensitive wanting aneffective defense load.

The only bullet tried in the .454Casull was the 240-grain Raptor,but a 300-grain Solid is producedby Cutting Edge that should be of special interest to big-gamehunters. Unfortunately, I had no

The 240-grain Solid could bepushed around 1,300 fps withmost powders, but No. 9, 2400 andVV-N105 gave top accuracy. Thisbullet is certain to find favoramong Alaskan guides and hand-gun hunters looking for reliablepenetration on heavy game. The.44 Magnum cases were also rollcrimped to the bottom of the crimpgroove, which resulted in enoughbullet pull to prevent their jump-ing crimp and helped achieve uni-form powder ignition.

The .45-caliber, 150-grain Raptorwas designed specifically for the.45 ACP (aka, .45 Auto) cartridge.After seating bullets to an overallcartridge length of 1.215 inches, asa separate step, they were taper-crimped in place, with the casemouth measuring .470 inch forproper headspace control in gunswith correct chamber dimensions.

Using 6.0 grains of Alliant Bulls-

.45 ACP +P (23,000 psi) Handloads overall



150 Cutting Edge Raptor HP Power Pistol 7.5 1.215 983 8.0 1,044 8.5 1,129 9.0 1,190 9.2 1,203 Longshot 9.0 1,231 9.2 1,266 A-7 10.5 974 11.0 1,013 11.5 1,071 12.0 1,119 12.3 1,157 Unique 6.5 1,018 7.0 1,079 7.5 1,164 8.0 1,233 Bullseye 5.5 942 6.0 1,014 6.5 1,095 A-5 8.5 928 9.0 981 9.5 1,063 10.0 1,116Notes: A Ruger SR1911 with a 5-inch barrel was used to test-fire these loads. Starline cases and Rem-ington 21⁄2 Large Pistol primers were used throughout. Bullet diameter: .451/.452 inch; maximum caselength: .898 inch; trim-to length: .893 inch.


Table IV


samples. The 240-grain Raptor per-formed well and produced its bestaccuracy with highest velocityloads, such as 30.0 grains of Hodg-don H-110, 23.5 grains of AccurateNo. 7 or 26.0 grains of AccurateNo. 9, which were approaching1,700 fps from a Freedom ArmsModel 83 revolver with a 71⁄2-inchbarrel. When fired into ballisticgelatin at around 1,700 fps, the re-covered bullet shank weighed justover 182 grains.

The .454 Casull requires a heavycrimp to prevent bullets fromjumping crimp when subjected torecoil. An RCBS roll crimp die thatproduces the standard radius-stylecrimp worked fine. However, todevelop the accompanying hand-load data, an RCBS crimp die thatproduces a chamfer-style “neck-down” crimp was used.

Some of the “start” loads may

not be suitable for use in rifles,and it is strongly suggested to notreduce starting loads, or pressuresmay not be adequate to keep bul-lets from sticking in the bore.Overall I was impressed with Cut-ting Edge bullet designs, quality,performance and accuracy.

BRASSTECH RESIZER• True full-length resizing.• Removes “bulge” frompistol brass.• Cannot distortbase of riflebrass.• Superior leveragefor easier use.• Uses standardresizing dies.• For more info go to

http://youtu.be/Syvt6PHBV1gAASA, Inc.Tel: (256) 527-0872E-Mail: [email protected] Deford Mill Rd. • Hampton Cove, AL 35763

PatentPending

ROCKDock™Reloading Bench DockingMount System

™

Gas Check FormingDies

Patmarlins™

Patmarlins.com

.454 Casull Handloads overall



240 Cutting Edge Raptor HP 2400 23.0 1.748 1,390 24.0 1,430 25.0 1,501 H-110 26.0 1,258 27.0 1,344 28.0 1,474 29.0 1,582 30.0 1,671 A-9 23.0 1,448 24.0 1,502 25.0 1,582 26.0 1,637 A-7 21.5 1,568 22.0 1,577 22.5 1,618 23.0 1,653 23.5 1,675 Enforcer 25.0 1,478 26.0 1,511 27.0 1,566 28.0 1,614 Power Pistol 17.0 1,535 17.5 1,542 18.0 1,569 18.5 1,579 Longshot 18.0 1,538 19.0 1,553 20.0 1,588Notes: A Freedom Arms Model 83 with a 71⁄2-inch barrel was used to test-fire the above loads. Starlinecases and Remington 71⁄2 Small Rifle primers were used throughout. Bullet diameter: .452 inch; maxi-mum case length: 1.383 inches; trim-to length: 1.373 inches.


Table V

•

Webley’sPatented

“Man-Stopper”Bullet

Terry Wieland

While Rocky Marciano wasa heavyweight boxingchampion, there was alot of speculation about

exactly how powerful his punch was.Various researchers developed meth-ods of measuring punching power.They calculated that an uppercut thatwould lift a heavyweight off his feetrequired 700 foot-pounds (ft-lbs) ofenergy. In tests using a ballistic pen-dulum at a military facility, wearing a 12-ounce glove, Marciano’s right –the old Suzi-Q – was measured at 925ft-lbs.

Think about that. The standard .45 Auto militaryhardball load (230-grain FMJ, 855 fps) generates 405ft-lbs. You don’t get to 700 ft-lbs until the lower rungsof .44 Remington Magnum factory loads (210-grainJHP, 1,250 fps, 729 ft-lbs), and it takes a hot .44 to hit925 (200-grain JHP, 1,450 fps, 934 ft-lbs).

No one is suggesting that absorbing a solid right fromMarciano is the equal of getting hit in the chest by a.44 Magnum, but – and it is a very important but – interms of stopping power, they are very comparable.Take a right from The Rock anywhere in the body, andyou will stop whatever it was you were doing. Samewith the .44 Magnum.

The essential consideration here is not lethality butstopping power. When discussing handgun loads forself-defense, what counts is stopping power not killingpower.

Another important consideration is the fact that Mar-ciano’s fist hit his opponent and stopped, deliveringvirtually all its energy to his body. A small, nonexpand-ing bullet at high velocity, such as the 9mm Luger,


Considerationsfor Carry Guns

could hit in the middle of a body but zip through, de-livering neither great energy on impact nor immediateorgan damage. Your assailant might die eventually, butyou might well die first.

Serious study of stopping power and wound ballis-tics began in 1900, after American encounters withMoro tribesmen in the Philippines. The army sidearmwas the .38 Long Colt, and it displayed an alarminglack of stopping power. After considerable research,the army adopted the Colt 1911 .45 Auto. No one, tothis day and through a half-dozen wars, has ever com-plained about its stopping power.

All this would be of academic interest if we could allcarry .45 Autos or .44 Remington Magnums, but this israrely practical for concealed carry. Right here, itshould be pointed out that the purpose of a concealed-carry gun is to get you out of trouble. Sometimes justshowing the gun will cause a villain to back away;knowing you’re armed and serious, few thugs arelikely to follow you. There are exceptions, obviously.

The other major point is that, acting in self-defense,

the purpose is not to kill an assailant, it’s to stop himfrom doing whatever he’s doing. This is the oppositeof hunting. With dangerous game like Cape buffalo,the primary aim is to kill the animal. You may then findyourself having to stop a charge, but that’s anothermatter. You may think this is getting into legalities better argued in court and trot out the “judged by 12rather than carried by 6” argument. The point is thatthe best pistol/cartridge combination for killing an as-sailant may not be the best one for stopping him.

In his classic African Rifles and Cartridges, JohnTaylor praised the old, soft, pure-lead bullets fromlarge-caliber rifles as tremendous game-getters. Notonly did they expand readily, but pure lead is very elas-tic, not brittle like lead alloys. Pure lead forms beauti-ful mushrooms, and this wider surface area delivers aheck of a punch. It transfers all its energy to the target,not unlike a boxing glove on the hand of a heavy-weight.

Researchers into stopping power after 1900 came tothe same conclusion. Military ballisticians were inter-ested in effective differences between the new, small-bore bullets used in smokeless powder cartridges andbig, lead slugs from rifles like the Martini-Henry. Theyextended their research to handguns as well.

The British Army used the Webley revolver cham-

Left, getting a good self-defense load in a snub-nosed .38Special can be difficult. Bob Hayley’s 140-grain version ofthe Webley “Man-Stopper” delivers excellent expansion atvelocities attainable in a short barrel. Above (left to right):modern .45-caliber “Man-Stopper,” .455 Colt Mk. I, .455Colt Mk. II, early .45 Colt factory load and the .45 Coltloaded with the “Man-Stopper” bullet.


“Man-Stopper”Bullet


Left, Hayley’s 140-grain, .38-caliber bullet is patterned after a Webleybullet from 1898 and is designed to deliver optimum expansion, even atlower velocities. Below, .38-caliber bullets: (1) unfired, (2) shot at insuffi-cient velocity, (3) shot at borderline velocity and (4) at optimum velocity.

factory self-defense rounds werenot available. Delving into history,he commissioned a mould-makerto produce moulds for the oldBritish “Man-Stopper,” in the orig-inal .45 (but slightly heavier at 230grains) and also in .38 (140 grains).

The latter is particularly interest-ing because, while the .38 Specialis, in many ways, an ideal carry-gun cartridge, its performancevaries from gun to gun. Today, .38Special ammunition is available in both standard and +P loadswith excellent JHP bullets. Theproblem is that small, short-bar-reled revolvers like the Smith &Wesson J-frame may not generate

the velocity necessary for the bul-let to expand properly. Chrono-graph tests of factory ammunitionfrom these guns prove they oftenfall far short of the velocitieslisted. It is up to handloaders toload ammunition using suitablepowders to get something ap-proaching useful velocities. Eventhen, they may produce spotty ter-minal results with JHP bullets.The purpose here was to developa load for a snubby.

With such a short barrel, one of the best powders in the .38 isalso the oldest: Alliant Bullseye.The goal was to reach a velocitythat gave good expansion with the

Webley “Man-Stopper” Penetration Results extreme retained

cartridge powder charge velocity spread penetration expansion weight(grains) (grains) (fps) (fps) (inches) (grains)

140 .38 Special Bullseye 3.5 772 7 13.0 almost none 140 3.7 808 51 8.5 .595 115 3.9 822 27 8.5 .600 135230 .45 Colt Unique 6.0 590 72 10.5 negligible 230 6.5 656 74 7.5 .807 228 7.0 727 91 8.0 .800 227


Table I

Factory .38 Special loads fired from the 2-inch barreled S&W Model 60 fell farshort of published velocities, and four did not expand at all: (1) Hornady CriticalDefense Lite 90-grain FTX, (2) Hornady Critical Defense 110 FTX, (3) FederalHydra-Shok Personal Defense Low Recoil 110 JHP, (4) Winchester Train & Defend 130 JHP and (5) Magtech 158 SJHP.

bered in .455. The bullet was 265grains, pure lead, with a long, ta-pering roundnose. Muzzle velocitywas 600 fps, for 220 ft-lbs of en-ergy. Like the Americans in thePhilippines, they found it lackedeffectiveness against wild tribes-men. In 1898, T.W. Webley designedand patented a bullet for the .455Colt cartridge that came to beknown as the “Man-Stopper” in theBritish War Office. It was a 218-grain .45 loaded in Webley .455Mk. III ammunition. The Mk. IIIwas in use for only a couple ofyears. It was judged to be in con-travention of the Hague Conven-tion of 1899 prohibiting expandingbullets for military use and was re-moved from service in 1902.

Bullet companies have expendedhuge amounts of money and effortin recent years to develop seriousself-defense bullets, for both fac-tory ammunition and reloading.They are almost all jacketed hol-lowpoints. On ballistic gelatin, atrecommended velocities, they be-have admirably. There are, how-ever, a few problems. If the nec-essary velocity is not attained,some do not expand at all; othersmisbehave on impact with differ-ent fabrics, like leather or thickwool.

Bob Hayley, the Seymour, Texas,custom bullet-caster, in responseto requests from clients, set out tofind a cast bullet that would per-form in pistols for which suitable

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4


“Man-Stopper” but not exceed it.We were looking for a balance ofgenuine stopping power with man-ageable recoil for follow-up shots

and without reaching +P pressures.In the past, I have done that usingan inverted hollowbase wadcutter.This worked well enough, but thatbullet is, if anything, too soft, andits skirts are too thin. It reachedoptimal expansion well short ofmaximum velocity. A tougher bul-let at higher velocity but with thesame expansion is a better option.

At the same time, the .45-caliber,Webley-style bullet was tested in a conventional Colt New Frontierwith a 5.5-inch barrel. There areno particular problems associatedwith that combination, but it pro-vided another basis for compar -ison.

Table I shows the performanceof the different loads. Starting with

.38 Special Factory LoadPenetration Results

published measured extremebullet velocity velocity spread difference penetration expansion

(grains) (fps) (fps) (fps) (fps) (inches) (inch)

90 Hornady Critical Defense 1,200 960* 25 240 8.5 .524Lite FTX

110 Federal Low Recoil 980 869 23 111 16+ noneHydra-Shok

110 Hornady Critical 1,010 896 12 114 17+ noneDefense FTX

130 Winchester Train & 900 772 18 128 18+ noneDefend JHP

158 Magtech 38E SJHP 807 772* 31 35 16+ none* 4-inch barrelNotes: All published and measured velocities were fired from a 2-inch barrel, except where noted withan asterisk (*).

Table II

Fired into penetration boxes for controlpurposes, Federal 9mm 147-grain Hydra-Shok Tactical from a 4-inch barreled Walther P-38 penetrated 9inches and retained 146 grains of weight. Since this is typical performancefor this ammunition, it indicates the boxes and methods used are a valid test.

Handloader 298

3.5 grains of Bullseye, the 140-grain bullet achieved 772 fps butfailed to expand appreciably in thepenetration box. Upping the chargeto 3.7 grains gave an additional 35fps, and the bullet expanded intoa perfect mushroom. Recoil wasmoderate with both loads.

As can be seen, however, the dif-ference in average velocity be-tween no expansion and perfectexpansion was about the same asthe extreme spread of the morepowerful load. The powder chargewas increased to 3.9 grains, andthis delivered an average velocityof 822 fps, with an extreme spreadof only 27 fps – and a beautifulmushroom.

For comparison sake, I also tookfive factory self-defense rounds,chosen more or less at random,looking for a variety of loads thatmight logically be chosen for ashort-barreled J-frame. All but onefell far short of advertised veloci-ties, which were usually achievedwith a 4-inch barrel as opposed tothe J-frame’s 2-inch barrel. Whenfired into the penetration box, onlyone expanded at all. This was Hornady’s Critical Defense Lite, ahigh-velocity load with a 90-grainhollowpoint bullet. Although itsvelocity was 240 fps lower withthe short barrel, it still expandedbeautifully. Every one of the otherbullets could have been reloadedand shot again.

The 230-grain, .45-caliber “Man-Stopper” performed well consis-tently at velocities around 700 fps.My only complaint about the loadsused is the extreme spread. Thisreached 91 fps, which offends mysense of order. For future develop-ment, I would try different pow-ders, such as Titegroup or CFEPistol.

Although not included in the ta-bles, as a test of the penetra-tion boxes themselves (clay-targetboxes packed tightly with corru-gated cardboard dividers, satu-rated with water), I also fired twoshots from a Walther P-38. With a4-inch barrel, it delivers velocityas advertised with Federal 147-

We won’t say it’s thebest thing to happento reloading . . . butyou might!

Innovative ReloadingEquipment for theAccurate Rifleman

PMA Micro Die Adjuster

PMA Tool260.246.5860www.pmatool.com

Receiving New

Stock Daily!Call for availability

Buying & SellingPre-1980’s Gun PartsOver 20,000 in stock

Scancodefor

moreinfo.

We Carry All Your Reloading SuppliesFrom All The Companies You Trust!

Website: www.lohmanarms.com • Tel: (713) 937-3334Visit our retail store in Houston, TX


grain Hydra-Shok Tactical JHPammunition (990 fps). Both bul-lets penetrated 9 inches, ex-panded perfectly and weighed 146grains when recovered.

In the past, I have used soakednewsprint packed into 4-foot ply-wood boxes. In comparison testswith identical loads fired into thoseboxes, and into Cape buffalo, Iconcluded that soaked newsprintprovides a reasonable facsimilefor bullet-testing purposes. Com-paring bullets from those boxes,and from the saturated cardboardused in this test, I believe for com-parison purposes between bullets,they provide a valid result.

In the S&W Model 60 with a 2-inch barrel, it is easy to get con -sistent 800+ fps with the 140-grain“Man-Stopper,” with excellent ex-pansion and penetration and onlymoderate recoil. Of the factoryself-defense loads tested, the onlyone I would use in that gun is theHornady Critical Defense Lite. Hay-ley’s .45-caliber bullet performedbeautifully at 700 fps, and in a ColtNew Frontier with a 5.5-inch bar-rel, recoil was no problem.

The final test – admittedly not onethat can be scientifically measured– was on heavy steel “pop-up” tar-gets. Where factory jacketed bul-lets from the .38 failed to knockthem down, the 140-grain “Man-Stopper” knocked them down con-sistently. This may be attributableto its ready flattening qualities, allowing a longer “dwell” timeagainst the plate. Long-range, steel-plate shooters know how thisworks. For that matter, so didRocky Marciano.

IntroducingWolfe Publishing’s

Newest FirearmJournal!

The Black Powder Cartridge magazine has joinedthe Wolfe family of outstanding sportsmen’s

publications. It is written by shooters for shooters.Black-powder enthusiasts will value the in-depthfeatures and columns whether they are hunting,collecting or competing. Published quarterly, the

Black Powder Cartridge provides all the reliableinformation you need to enjoy these revered firearms.SUBSCRIBE TODAY! 1 year (4 issues)U.S.-$25.00 • Canada-$42.00 • International-$63.00

Wolfe Publishing Co.2180 Gulfstream, Suite A

Prescott, AZ 86301Toll Free: 800-899-7810 • Fax: 928-778-5124

www.riflemagazine.com

The two 230-grain, .45-caliber bulletsat right were fired at sufficient veloci-ties from a Colt New Frontier with a5.5-inch barrel. The bottom left bulletis a result of insufficient velocity.

•

Different Batches,

TestingLot-to-LotVariances

John Barsness

One spring in the early 1990s,a certain handloader’s sup-ply of a spherical powderstarted running low. At the

time this powder was so popular forthe .223 Remington – the most hand-loaded cartridge in America – thatwhen prairie dog hunters asked otherprairie dog hunters for their .223 rec -ipe, the answer was often “twenty-eight grains with a fifty,” because somany used this Magic Powder.


“Same” PowderOctober-November 2015 53www.handloadermagazine.com

to produce more. The new stuffturned out to be somewhat fasterburning. About the same time,DuPont IMR-4831 appeared, whichwas even faster burning than theH-4831 made in Scotland. Thepages of shooting magazines regu-larly ran articles warning hand-loaders about the “hotter” new4831s.

Even when powder is made in thesame plant, however, it’s appar-ently impossible to make smoke-less powder exactly the same frombatch to batch, due to variations in ambient humidity and the or-ganic compounds composing mostof the powder. Only rarely, how-ever, do powder companies releasemanufacturing lots differing sig-nificantly from past lots. If a new batch differs considerably, it’sblended with faster or slower pow-der from older lots to produce aconsistent “canister” powder forhandloaders.

Powders used by ammunitioncompanies, on the other hand, areusually – though not always – un-blended so can vary considerably.This powder normally comes inbarrels the size of oil drums withlabels most handloaders wouldn’trecognize. New batches are testedin the ammunition maker’s ballis-tics lab to determine what powdercharge produces the results de-sired in pressure, velocity and ac-curacy.

In early 2015, I was performing aperiodic inventory of my rifle pow-der supply, partly because TheGreat Obama Shortage of reload-ing components had caused somedifficulties. When gun writers getlow on powder and can’t find anylocally, they normally call the spe-cific powder company and have

ally mentioned a possible differ-ence of 2 to 3 percent from onebatch to another. The mystery was-n’t solved until a decade later, afterI started writing regularly for gunmagazines and mentioned the inci-dent with the Magic .223 Powder inone of my articles.

Soon the head ballistician at thepowder company called, sayingthe reason for the variation wasthe company finally running out ofa huge batch of military surpluspowder they’d been selling fordecades. The powder purchased atmy local store turned out to benewly manufactured powder thatsupposedly matched the old stuffin burn rate – but didn’t.

Most significant differences inlot-to-lot burn rate are due to sim-ilar switches by powder manufac-turers. When in the 1970s Hodgdonran out of the old military-surplusH-4831, produced by DuPont for20mm cannon ammunition duringWorld War II, it contracted with apowder manufacturer in Scotland

So the handloader went to his fa-vorite local store and bought a fewpounds of Magic Powder andloaded up a bunch of ammunitionwith 28.5 grains and Nosler 50-grain Ballistic Tips, the load he’dbeen using in his .223 Remingtonfor several years. When he went tothe range with some of the hand-loads to sight in for the upcomingprairie dog season, his chrono-graph showed over 3,700 fps, morelike the .22-250 Remington thanthe .223 Remington.

He thought this was a glitch inthe light screens, but another cou-ple of shots showed velocities inthe same range. He thought maybethe chronograph’s battery was lowuntil he noticed a black smudgearound one of the primers. Onlythen (duh!) did he realize the newbatch of powder was a lot hotter.

Back in the loading room, all thebullets were pulled from the re-maining handloads, and he didsome calculating, reloading themwith much lower charges. It turnedout 26.5 grains of powder matchedthe velocity and accuracy of hisloads with the previous batch ofpowder, a difference of 7.5 percentin the powder charge.

Of course, I knew powder couldvary from lot to lot but had neverexperienced anything like this be-fore. The few powder companiesadmitting their powder varied usu-

Alliant Power Pro 300 MP (Magnum Pistol)performed extremely well in a Ruger No. 1B.22 Hornet.

Different Batches,“Same” Powder


Left, two lots of IMR-4451performed a little differently,but IMR-7977 was very consistent. Right, a big canof IMR-4227 that has beenaround a while didn’t per-form very differently than a new pound purchased in 2015. The two lots ofIMR-4227 were made in the same Canadian factory, even though the IMR PowderCompany changed hands in between.

some more shipped, but evenmany powder companies simplydidn’t have any, because powdercompanies usually don’t actuallymake powder. Instead they buysurplus powder or contract withfactories to make it. Since somepowder companies had difficultyobtaining more powder from theirregular manufacturers (factoriescan only produce so much, so mainly make the most popularstuff), they contracted with otherpowder manufacturers, apparentlynot so busy, to make new powders.

As a result, my supply was re-newed in any way possible shortof theft. I stalked Internet sitesand local stores regularly, buyingpowder needed whenever it showedup but also acquired some throughtrades or at yard or estate sales.Toward the end of 2014, Hodgdon

sent some of the new IMR Enduronpowder to test, and it worked sowell I bought a bunch more beforeanybody else found out about itand bought up the supply.

Therefore, I’d ended up with dif ferent manufacturing lots ofseveral powders, including an un-opened can of the old military sur-plus H-4831. There’s a surprisingamount of this still around, partlybecause so much was made. Ap-parently, during the peak of WorldWar II, DuPont’s powder plant was producing up to a millionpounds of rifle powder a day,much of it the stuff Bruce Hodg-don started selling after the war as H-110, H-4895 and H-4831. (Yes,H-110 started out as a “rifle” pow-der for the .30 Carbine round, notas a handgun powder.) I also endedup with different lots of two of theEnduron powders, made at theGeneral Dynamics plant in Que-bec that also makes other IMR extruded powders. Some of theIMR powders on hand were old

enough to come in metal cans,rather than the plastic canistersthat have been used for severalyears now, indicating a consid -erable difference in age, eventhough all were labeled “Made inCanada.”

It finally occurred to me thisstash of varied powder might pro-duce some interesting ballistictests, not only of how much pow-der can vary from lot to lot but alsohow the original H-4831 compareswith today’s, an Australian-madeversion Hodgdon calls Extremedue to its temperature resistance.

In addition, rumors constantlyfloat around the handloading com-munity about how certain pow-ders from various companies areactually exactly the same powderunder different names. Hodgdonconfirmed some of this when it ac-quired the rights to the Winchesterpowders a few years ago. Whilemany handloading manuals listdifferent data for Hodgdon H-110and Winchester 296, Hodgdon nowlists exactly the same data for both powders, because they arethe same. The only reason data inother manuals varies a little is be-cause of, once again, differencesin manufacturing lots.

Similarly, the Hodgdon Extremepowders are sold in Australia undertheir original designations, mostlynumbers instead of catchy nameslike Varget and Retumbo. DownUnder, the powder Americans knowas Hodgdon H-4831SC is AR-2213SC.

One long-time rumor is that many

The appearance of powders was also compared. Alliant Reloder 22 (right) andNorma MRP (left) not only performed extremely similarly but also looked identical.


of the Alliant Reloder series of riflepowders and Norma rifle powdersare exactly the same, since theycome out of the same Bofors fac-tory in Sweden. One Internet siteeven included a list supposedly re-vealing exactly which Reloderpowders were which Norma pow-ders. Since I also happened tohave a bunch of new Norma pow-der on hand, along with the nor-mal selection of Reloder powders,some research and testing mightbe in order there as well.

Lot-to-Lot Powder Comparisons overall

loaded muzzle 100-yardbullet powder charge primer case length velocity group

(grains) (grains) (inches) (fps) (inches)

.17 Hornet, CZ Model 527, 22-inch barrel, 1-in-9-inch twist:

20 Nosler Varmint HP A-1680 lot 1 12.0 Remington 71⁄2 Hornady 1.629 3,628 .43 A-1680 lot 2 12.0 3,612 .62 A-1680 lot 3 12.0 3,621 .5525 Hornady V-MAX N-200 10.8 1.735 2,944 .51 RL-7 10.8 3,076 .59

.204 Ruger, Remington 700, 24-inch barrel, 1-in-12-inch twist:

32 Nosler Ballistic Tip TAC lot 1 29.0 CCI 450 Remington 2.242 3,959 .65 TAC lot 2 3,983 .7240 Hornady V-MAX H-4895 lot 1 27.5 2.259 3,827 .88 H-4895 lot 2 27.5 3,811 1.38 H-4895 lot 3 27.5 3,806 .76

.22 Hornet, Ruger No. 1B, 26-inch barrel, 1-in-14-inch twist:

40 Nosler Ballistic Tip 300-MP lot 1 11.7 CCI 450 Winchester 1.934 2,765 1.15 300 MP lot 2 11.7 2,743 1.12

.25-20 WCF Savage 23B, 24-inch barrel, 1-in-14-inch twist:

60 Hornady FN IMR-4227 lot 1 12.0 CCI 400 Winchester 1.569 2,079 2.69* IMR-4227 lot 2 12.0 2,025 2.69*

.257 Roberts Remington 722, 24-inch barrel, 1-in-10-inch twist:

100 Nosler Ballistic Tip IMR-4350 45.0 CCI 200 Winchester 2.832 3,083 1.35 A-4350 45.0 2,917 1.88 H-4350 45.0 2,980 1.12 IMR-4451 lot 1 46.0 3,052 1.49 IMR-4451 lot 2 46.0 3,104 1.03

.270 Winchester Model 70 Classic, 22-inch barrel, 1-in-10-inch twist:

130 Hornady Spire Point H-4831SC 61.0 WLR Winchester 3.345 3,029 1.26 H-4831 original 61.0 3,118 .97130 Nosler Ballistic Tip Magnum lot 1 65.0 3.342 3,015 .98 Magnum lot 2 65.0 3,042 .87150 Sierra GameKing MRP 57.5 3.376 2,926 1.02 RL-22 57.5 2,942 .99150 Hornady Spire Point IMR-7977 lot 1 60.0 3.345 2,816 1.65 IMR-7977 lot 2 60.0 2,813 1.00

.338 Winchester Magnum custom FN Mauser, 22-inch barrel, 1-in-10-inch twist:

200 Nosler Ballistic Tip RL-15 67.0 Federal 215 Winchester 3.316 2,933 .93 N-203B 67.0 2,911 .93* All 10 shots in 2.69 inches.Notes: Group size is the average of five shots.




in another round. All handloadingdata specifically applies to a cer-tain rifle on a certain day, not allother rifles and cartridges, the rea-son we use it as a guideline, not anabsolute.

Some other Alliant Reloder andNorma powders could have beentested, but simply comparing theloading data for each indicatedthey were not the same powder. A good example is Alliant Reloder

Some comments are in order onthe test results. A 3 percent dif -ference in burn rate amounts toabout a 90 fps difference in veloc-ity, with the same powder chargein rifle cartridges with about a3,000 fps muzzle velocity. Any-thing less than that amounts to“not much,” a technical term oftenused even by ballistic lab techni-cians. In fact, with the typicalchronographs used by most hand-loaders, with relatively short dis-tances between the sensors, we’lloften see the same load differ inaverage muzzle velocity as muchas 50 fps in two different stringsshot during the same range session.

Also, powders can act a little dif-ferently in different cartridges.Just because two batches of pow-der differ by 75 fps in one load inone cartridge doesn’t mean thedifference won’t be more or less

The unopened can of old H-4831 (right) performed very similarly to the powderJohn used in the 1970s, despite the warning (inset) on the cardboard canister.


19 and Norma 204, which accord-ing to the list published on the Internet are exactly the same pow-der. While data shot in differentlaboratories varies somewhat, Al-liant’s data for RL-19 and Normadata for 204 are so different I didn’teven bother to comparison-shootthose powders.

However, it looks like Alliant RL-15 and Norma 203B just might bethe same powder, or at least closecousins. I’ve been using the .338Winchester Magnum load listed inthe accompanying table for manyyears now, and when I substitutedNorma 203B, even the group sizewas identical! Reloder 22 andMRP also appear to be close to thesame stuff, but RL-7 and Norma200 aren’t – or at least my two lotsaren’t.

Along with chronograph tests,the physical appearance of thepowders was also compared. Myparticular lots of Alliant Reloder22 and Norma MRP looked ex-actly the same, but a friend hasbatches that look slightly differ-ent. This apparently isn’t uncom-mon. The two batches of IMR-4227were very similar in grain size, butthe new batch purchased early in2015 was definitely duller in finish.

Comparing the two lots of IMR-4451 proved interesting. The “testplatform” was the Remington 722.257 Roberts inherited from mygrandmother. One lot was defi-nitely a little warmer than theother, and accuracy was betterwith the warmer lot. This agreeswith my long experience with the.257 Roberts. In general, so-called+P data results in better accuracy.I suspect this is because “stan-dard” .257 Roberts data is sowimpy that modern powders don’treach the pressure level wherethey’re designed to burn most con-sistently. In loading for at least adozen .257s, usually +P loads – orloads even exceeding +P by agrain or so – usually shoot smallergroups. (Nobody really knowswhy the SAAMI pressure level forthe .257 Roberts is so low. Eventhe +P data is only limited to

OEHLER 35PIS BACK!Oehler is making a special,limited run of the Model 35Proof Chronograph.Call or go online formore information.Phone: 512-327-6900oehler-research.com

RESEARCH, INC.

P.O. Box 9135Austin, TX 78766

Reloading Equipment,Components, and Shooting

Accessories forDiscriminating Shooters

www.gunstop.com Check Our Web Site for Monthly Specials

Brass:Hornady, Lapua, Norma, Nosler, Remington, Starline,Weatherby, and Winchester

Bullets:Barnes, Berger, Hornady, Lapua, Nosler, Sierra, Speer,and Swift

Chronographs and Timers:Competitive Edge Dynamics, Competition Electronics,PACT, and Shooting Chrony

Maintenance Products:Ballistol, Barnes, Birchwood-Casey, Bore Tech., BreakFree, Dewey, Forster, Hoppe’s, Kano Labs, Kleenbore,Lyman, MTM, Possum Hollow, Pro Shot, Remington,Rig, Sharp SharpShoot-R™ Precision Products,Shooters Choice, Slip 2000, Sweets, Tipton, andWheeler Engineering.

Multimedia:Reloading DVD’s, Reloading Manuals, ReloadingSoftware, and Historical and Reference Books.

Reloading Accessories:CH Tool and Die, Dillon, Forster, Frankford Arsenal,Gracey, Hornady, K&M Precision Shooting Products,Lee, Lyman, MTM, PACT, Possum Hollow, RCBS,Redding, Satern Custom Machining, Sinclair, SmartReloader, and L.E. Wilson.

Reloading Dies and Presses:Dillon, Forster, Harrell’s Precision, Hornady, K&MPrecision Shooting Products, Lyman, Possum Hollow,RCBS, Redding, Sinclair, and L.E. Wilson.

Shooting Accessories:Caldwell, Dillon, Jewell, Leupold, MTM, Peltor,Possum Hollow, Pro Ears, Protektor Model, RifleBasix, and Smart Reloader.

Gunstop Reloading Supplies, Inc.14704 Excelsior Blvd. • Minnetonka, MN 55345

1-800-645-7644Mon.- Fri. 8am to 6pm, Sat. 8am to 4pm Central Time

For Our Current Catalog:Call: 1-800-645-7644 or Fax: 952-474-0211

Download a copy at www.gunstop.comE-mail: [email protected]

Rifle Tang Peep Sight• Adjustable for Windage and Elevation• Fits Most Lever-Action Rifles• Blued Steel Finish• Made in the U.S.A.

WWW.THEHAWKENSHOP.COM

Mike Bellm’s TCsEncore & Contender/G2Custom Parts, Tools & Advice Since 1979

Tel: 970-433-9525www.bellmtcs.com



Hayley’sCustom Ammunition

Specializing in the:

• Weird • Wacky &• Wonderful

P.O. Box 889211 North River

Seymour, TX 76380

Tel: 940-888-3352

which is reallywimpy. My guess isadding another grain or twowould result in better accuracy.

With one exception, the .25-20/IMR-4227 test, the groups are allfive shots, partly because five is a much better indication of po -tential accuracy than the typicalthree-shot groups fired these days,and partly because five shots alsoprovides a much better indicationof average velocity. (Usually three-shot groups end up about two-thirds the size of five-shot groups,and no, this is not normally causedby “fliers” due to the barrel heat-ing up but the laws of chance. Thefact is, three shots don’t provideany idea of the real accuracy po-tential of a load.) The brass was all either new or once-fired, andlike the primers all came from thesame lot.

The shooting took place duringtwo range sessions, the first undersome relatively windy conditionswith a gusty breeze varying from 3to 10 mph, more than I normallychoose to shoot in during accu-racy testing. But the primary focuswas velocity, not accuracy, and itwas springtime in Montana, whenwe can’t always pick ideal rangeconditions. Some of the groupswere no doubt affected by thebreeze, the .25-20 groups most ofall, with the 10 shots stringing outhorizontally but only spreadingabout 1.5 inches vertically. The .17 Hornet did extremely well inthe wind, which many shooterswouldn’t expect, but the ballistictruth is that ballistic coefficientand velocity are the only factors inwind drift, not bullet weight.

The most interesting result fromall the shooting to me was old H-4831 compared to new H-4831SC.This particular batch of the oldpowder was definitely warmer,contrary to the tribal knowledge(still passed down by older hand-loaders and even some youngerones) that “new” H-4831 is hotterthan the old military stuff. The old H-4831 may have dried out alittle over the years in its card-board canister but performed verymuch like the same powder I shot

58,000 psi, even lower than for the.30-06, a much older round.)

I also ended up with three 4350powders so decided to see howthey differed in the .257 Roberts.The 45.0-grain charge with 100-grain bullets is not +P, though itexceeds by half a grain the maxi-mum load listed for Accurate 4350,

good job of producing differentlots of powder that perform simi-larly to other lots. Since the Magic.223 Powder experience, I stilltest-shoot any new lot of powderto see how it compares to an olderlot but so far have never experi-enced any difference nearly asdramatic—and hope not to!


throughout the 1970s and even the1980s, thanks to an older hand-loader giving me a few poundswhen he quit hunting big game.

Some handloaders will take ex-ception to my exceeding the re -vered “Jack O’Connor maximum”of 60.0 grains of H-4831 with a 130-grain bullet in the .270 Winchester.However, O’Connor worked up to62.0 grains with no problems withthe military-surplus powder beforethere was pressure-tested data,

but he reduced the load to 60.0when writing about it. Hornady’spresent 9th edition Handbook ofCartridge Reloading lists 62.0grains of H-4831 as maximum withany of its 130-grain bullets.

The results indicate that today’spowder manufacturers do a very

Above left, using a CZ 527 .17 Hornet, three different lots of Accurate 1680 wereextremely close in performance, but contrary to rumor, Reloder 7 didn’t prove to be the same as Norma 200, with velocity differing around 4.5 percent. Right, resultswith the same load of Reloder 15 and Norma 203B were so close, groups wereeven exactly the same size.

•

.300 BlackoutLoads for aBolt Rifle

Whisper toBlackout

Charles E. Petty

Some years ago I spent sometime shooting with J.D. Jones’s.300 Whisper wildcat. He tooka small cartridge – the .221

Fireball – blew it out to .30 caliber and,using heavy bullets, turned it into anaccurate round that did some neatstuff.

The problem, of course, is that the Whisper cartridgesare wildcats, and while there’s absolutely nothingwrong with them, the average shooter wants a gun andcartridge that he can buy off the shelf without resort-ing to custom guns and handloaded ammunition. So,in 2011 the Whisper was reborn as Advanced Arma-ment Corporation’s .300 AAC Blackout and introducedas a SAAMI standard cartridge by Remington.

There often is neither rhyme nor reason for the nam-ing of cartridges, and more than a few have asked howit came to be called Blackout. The last time that wordwas a common part of the vocabulary was duringWorld War II when cities turned off the lights to foilenemy attack.

The .300 Whisper was originally found in single-shothandguns and AR-15 rifles, so it is not entirely surpris-ing that the Blackout appeared in a host of AR-15 typecarbines. The rifle’s semiautomatic action does placesome restrictions on what the cartridge has to do forthe rifle to function, so it was a very pleasant surpriseto learn that Remington was once using it in the Model700 LTR (Light Tactical Rifle), now discontinued.

Even though the rifle has a 16-inch barrel, the 0.85-inch diameter at the muzzle would qualify as “heavy”to most, and when topped with a Meopta ZD 4-16xTactical scope I had on loan, the rifle weighed an even

60 www.handloadermagazine.com

For comparison (left to right): .221Remington Fireball, .300 AAC Blackoutand .223 Remington.

10 pounds. I quickly came to viewthat as a blessing in disguise, be-cause the combination of a smallcartridge and moderate weight re-sults in minimal recoil even withtop loads and heavy bullets. Not tomention that the bolt action opensa whole new world of bullet choicesfor reloaders, because there is noworry about enough energy to workthe action.

The scope has adjustment clicks

graduated in the metric system of0.5 cm at 100 meters, which con-verts to 0.2 inch at 109 yards,which is between 1⁄4- and 1⁄8-minuteclick value. Practically speaking, it was not a problem, although itmight be a good idea to tape asmall conversion chart to the scopefor field use.

Trying to work with a specificcartridge during the current IceAge of ammunition and compo-

Wheat topped by a plug of toiletpaper.

Normally groups are shot firstwith factory loads as a basis forcomparison, but that wasn’t possi-ble. I was able to score one box ofRemington .300 Blackout ammuni-tion with a 220-grain bullet andhad some old Cor-Bon Whisper

The Remington .300 AAC Blackout was fitted with a Meopta 4x16 Tactical scope.The Remington’s muzzle is threaded to accept a suppressor.

61

nent availability would have beenimpossible had I not already beena fan of the Whisper and had every-thing needed to get started. My orig-inal Whisper ammunition was madefrom .221 Fireball brass, either byfireforming in the Whisper cham-ber or by using expanding dies. Fire-forming was done in a Contenderbarrel using a charge of 5.0 grainsof Bullseye and then filling thecase up to the neck with Cream of


Whisper to Blackout

ammunition with 125-, 150- and220-grain bullets, but they wereonly used for velocity reference.Factory loads then available fo-cused on either light or heavy bullets, leaving quite a bit of unex-plored territory to visit.

With the current shortage of com-ponents, Blackout shooters aremaking cases by cutting down5.56 or .223 Remington brass. Siz-ing can be done in standard diesand then the cases trimmed tolength and chamfered. A word ofwarning here: GI brass is almostalways heavier than the commer-cial stuff, and that means it has asmaller powder capacity. The oldadvice of reducing charges a bit isstill valid. My thought is that pub-lished starting loads will be fine,but work up slowly from there.

With the knowledge that the onlydifference between the Whisperand Blackout is the name, I wasable to round up quite a bit of load-ing data with Internet searches.Most of those were meant for AR-type rifles, and since I didn’t haveto worry about making the gunfunction, I was free to use any .30-caliber bullet and, since I had nodesire to set new speed records,was able to cautiously infer or de-duce loads for most of the weightsI wanted to try.

Load development for the bolt-action rifle included bullets from110 up to 220 grains and velocitiesfrom 2,400 fps down to less than900. The research was divided intosupersonic and subsonic loadswith the basic goal of finding thebest accuracy combinations foreach. Since some of my re-formed

.300 Blackout Supersonic Loads velocitybullet powder charge velocity spread accuracy

(grains) (grains) (fps) (fps) (inches)

125 Nosler Ballistic Tip H-110 18.0 2,156 65 1.01 Lil’Gun 16.0 1,846 46 0.74135 Sierra Match H-110 17.8 2,136 43 0.85 Lil’Gun 15.5 2,026 28 0.56150 Nosler Ballistic Tip H-110 17.0 2,015 42 1.25 Lil’Gun 15.0 1,955 32 0.91155 Sierra Match H-110 17.0 1,995 33 0.88 Lil’Gun 14.5 1,877 26 0.93168 Sierra Match H-110 15.0 1,788 56 0.59 Lil’Gun 14.0 1,810 12 0.49Notes: All loads were shot with a Remington LTR rifle. Velocity readings are five-shot strings at 12 feet.Accuracy results are five-shot groups at 100 yards.


Table I


Fireball brass was a bit long in the tooth, it was trimmed to 1.360inches with an RCBS Trim Propower case trimmer.

Because I simply couldn’t findenough factory ammunition to es-tablish any sort of baseline, thebest I could do was to look at cat-alog data and try to come closewith velocities. I also dug up datafrom a long-ago Whisper story andstarted there, and once I got go-

ing with some loads using lightbullets, I gradually expanded thesearch. Earlier work had used agood bit of H-110, and I found somemore recent data with Lil’Gun. Thatturned out to be a great choice.

Experience has taught me thatneck sizing is a good thing in boltguns, so I ordered a set of Reddingdies for both full-length and necksizing, and loading was done usingre-formed Fireball cases that werefired in the Remington and thenneck sized. Federal Match primerswere used.

The Remington’s muzzle wasthought fully threaded, and I hap-pened to have a surpressor. Whilefactory loads are limited to 110- to 115-grain or 204- to 220-grainbullets, I wanted to see how some of the other weights wouldwork, especially the common match

weights of 168 and 175 grains. Obviously the two classes of am-munition need vastly differentscope adjustments, so I began with

Left, old brass was trimmed on an RCBSTri-Pro trimmer using its clever three-way cutter that also chamfers and deburrs the case. Right, all loads wereassembled on a Redding turret press.


Whisper toBlackout

Gebhardt Machine Co.101 Allison St.

Lock Haven, PA 17745TEL (570) 748-6772Bill Gebhardt, Owner

(NRA Benefactor Member - IBS Life Member)

The NEWGebhardtMachine Co.

RimfireCartridge

Gage

“The GageThat Works!”

This is a gage to measure con-sistency of rim thickness on.22 rimfire ammunition (a .22rimfire rifle’s headspace is deter-mined by case rim thickness).The more consistent the rimthickness, the more consistentthe ignition of the primer and the powdercharge in the case. In other words, the fir-ing pin will fall the same distance everytime if the same rim thickness is used onevery case being fired for a particulargroup. By sorting the shells into variousgroups by rim thickness, a reduction ingroup size of up to 25% can be realizedin some IF NOT MOST rimfire rifles. Thisinformation about group reduction comesfrom the .22 rimfire benchrest partici-pants who compete in the extremely diffi-cult BR-50 matches. All of the topshooters sort their shells into groups bychecking rims and weighing the unfiredcartridges.

$15000 ULTIMATE CARTRIDGE CHECK SYSTEMPERFORMS 14 MEASURMENTS

NOW$79.95NOW$79.95

EnterpriseServices, LLCwww.uccsystem.com(479) 629-5566SatisfactionGuaranteed!

VICKERMANInline Window

Seating Die• For Extremely

Accurate Seating• 100% GuaranteeDayton Machine Shop, LLC

P.O. Box 25 • Dayton, WA 99328

509-382-4159vickermandies.com

RGB BULLET CO.Quality Hard-Cast Bullets

• BHN 5-22 •Large Selection of Pistol & Rifle BulletsPO Box 130 • Littlerock, CA 93543661-998-3164 • WWW.RGBBULLETS.COM the faster loads, and the work

progressed without event. Withsubsonic loads things got compli-cated. My normal practice is tochronograph a bunch of handloadsthen shoot groups with those thatshow promise, but when I movedto the 100-yard range, I simply ranout of elevation adjustment.

While I could easily get decenthits using the mil dots in theMeopta scope, that really isn’t pre-cise enough for shooting groups.So the next step was to order along-range base that gave an extra15 MOA elevation. To my surprise,that wasn’t quite enough either.

This is really one of those situa-tions that happens when one ven-tures outside the box. My range is limited to 300 yards, and thosepowder-puff Trail Boss loads I like so much have never chal-lenged a scope’s elevation range,but a ballistics program indicatedmy subsonic loads for the Black-out were blazing along at 800 to900 fps and would probably breaknew ground for parabolic trajecto-ries. The scope would have to beshimmed.

In the meantime, preliminary test-ing suggested that H-110 (or W-296)and Lil’Gun did well in the Black-out, so I embarked on load devel-opment for both supersonic andsubsonic velocities. Bullet choiceswere really dictated by the speedsI wanted, so the supersonic loadsused weights of 125 to 168 grains,and the subsonics used 168- to220-grain bullets.

That wasn’t an entirely arbitrarychoice, because the first few sub-sonic loads with lighter bulletswouldn’t hit the proverbial barn.After firing a few shots and findingno bullet holes on the paper, I fi-nally spotted a single oblong holeat the bottom of the target. Themeandering velocities simply werenot enough to stabilize the short,


light bullets, even with the rifle’sone-in-7-inch twist.

Even though I had a 100-yardzero, I didn’t solve the scope issue.To raise point of impact, shimswere added to the mount. Having

only done this once or twice in thedistant past, I decided to makeshims of 0.005, 0.010 and 0.015inch and started with the 0.010inch but took the others, pluseverything needed to make more,to the range.

The Meopta was left with the el-evation cranked all the way up, soI counted how many clicks it tookto reach the bottom – 266 – thenbrought it back up halfway for astarting point. With a 0.010-inchshim installed, I checked it withthe bore sighter and made a verysmall adjustment. At the range,the very first shot was a couple ofinches high of point of aim. Don’tyou just love it when somethingturns out the way you want? Whenthe scope was returned, it was re-placed with a Leupold 16x Mk IV.•

.300 Blackout Subsonic Loads velocitybullet powder charge velocity spread accuracy

(grains) (grains) (fps) (fps) (inches)

165 Cutting Edge H-110 9.0 1,066 34 1.36 Lil’Gun 8.0 1,044 40 0.90168 Sierra Match H-110 9.0 1,028 64 1.16 Lil’Gun 8.0 1,059 56 1.02175 Sierra Match H-110 9.0 1,034 100 1.03 Lil’Gun 8.0 1,070 52 1.02175 Berger OTM H-110 8.5 1,021 55 0.45 9.0 1,065 76 0.84 Lil’Gun 7.5 1,034 76 0.75190 Sierra Match H-110 8.5 1,049 58 0.83 Lil’Gun 7.5 1,018 31 1.62 8.0 1,131 44 1.09200 Sierra Match H-110 8.5 954 85 1.61 Lil’Gun 7.5 914 70 1.21Notes: All loads were shot with a Remington LTR rifle. Velocity readings are five-shot strings at 12 feet.Accuracy results are five-shot groups at 100 yards.


Table II

Redding AAC Blackout and RCBSWhisper dies were interchangeable.


work up to a maximum charge of54.5 to not over 55.0 grains for2,850 fps.

Regarding data with the Barnes140-grain TTSX bullet, start with54.0 grains of IMR-4831 andwork up to a maximum charge of58.0 grains, which should yieldover 3,000 fps. Another option isto start with 54.0 grains of Al-liant RL-22 and work up to amaximum charge of 59.5 grainsfor almost the same velocity.

I hope you have a successful elkseason.

.50 ACTION EXPRESS

Q: Ammunition for many of thecalibers that I shoot are not avail-able anywhere. For this reason, Itook up handloading about twoyears ago. I have been having somuch fun and have learned somuch that I wish I would havetaken it up 20 years ago. And I

look forward to each issue ofHandloader magazine and con-sider it the only magazine that pro-vides truly useful information forhandloaders.

I do have a question that I hopeyou can help me with. I have aDesert Eagle .50 Action Expressand have had a difficult time get-ting good data. I found some usingAlliant Unique, but most of therounds won’t cycle reliably. Theychamber correctly, but when firedthere doesn’t seem to be enoughrecoil to open the action and ejectthe empty case or feed a new one.Can you suggest a load for theSpeer 325-grain hollowpoint bul letthat will function correctly? Thanks.

– B.H., via e-mail

A: It sounds like your load is fail-ing to function due to a powderthat is burning too fast and is not producing enough gas energyto reliably cycle the action. To du-plicate the velocity and pressuresfrom Speer factory loads, I sug-gest using 32.0 to not over 33.0grains of Hodgdon H-110 powderwith the Speer 325-grain platedHP bullet and cap it with a CCI 350 Large Pistol Magnumprimer. This will reach around1,425 to 1,450 fps, should func-tion reliably in your pistol and iswithin industry pressure guide-lines that are currently estab-lished at 35,000 psi.

Hodgdon H-110 powder is a goodchoice for duplicating factory loads inthe .50 Action Express.

•

Bullets & Brass(Continued from page 12)

MeritIris Apertures

Merit CorporationP.O. Box 9044

Schenectady, NY 12309

“We recommend to all whoare havingtrouble withvision of thesights to trythe Merit IrisShutter Disk”- Elmer Keith, Sixguns by Keith

518-346-1420meritcorporation.com

Hand-Held Depriming Tool• Fits cartridges with normal flash holesfrom .20 cal. to .300 ultra mag, .460Weatherby Magnum and .45-100

• No dies or shell holders needed• Machined from aluminum • Black anodized finishNow sellinginternationally!Harvey Deprimer115 Airport RoadLebanon, OR 97355www.harveydeprimer.com


many years ago, “Guns I ShouldHave Kept.”

In retrospect, the S&W .44 Targetmay have been the most accuratehandgun I have ever used, althoughthe Patridge/Call Gold Bead frontsight was a bit too wide for my liking, or the rear notch was a bit to narrow, take your pick. For arget shooting it was fine whenthere was plenty of time to acquirea perfect sight picture, but forhunting, the sights were a bit tooconfined.

The Colt SAA .44 Special was usedfor handgun silhouette competitionfor a couple of years, where it wasopenly condemned by many as an obsolete cowboy gun by theboys with the big guns, mostlyDan Wessons, S&Ws and Rugers,that were so popular at the time.It seemed to take forever for the.44 Special slug to arc out over 200yards, but the distinct “clunk” whenthat cast bullet plunked steel wasworth more than words can ex-press in terms of “stuffing it” to theever-present critics. In mixed com-pany, accuracy with the Colt .44was explained simply as, “If youtoss enough lead in the air, sooneror later you will hit something.”

I’m somewhat humbled to havecrossed paths with Elmer Keith,who signed two of his books formy birthday in 1979, and Bill Jor-dan, who dazzled me with his quick-ness and accuracy on the TV show“You Asked for It” nearly 60 yearsago. Which is not to ignore all thefine writers who have contributedto the magazines over the years. I never met Skeeter, albeit I didmeet his friend Evan Quiros, theowner of the Shipp Ranch thatSkelton mentioned so often in hiswriting.

I was standing to the side of acrowded aisle at a trade showwhen I spotted Bart Skelton (Skeet -er’s son) and waited until he ap-proached to say hello. Another manwith Bart was wearing a name tag, Evan Quiros, who walked up,looked me straight in the eye andsaid, “I have a rifle with your name

Reloader’s Press(Continued from page 9)

•

BRASS MASTERULTRA VIBE CASE CLEANERS

Made of durable steel construc-tion - heavy polyethylene bowl -heavyduty, sealed ballbearingmotors - thermally protected - fast,quiet operation - 3⁄4 to 43⁄4 galloncapacity - industrial and rotarymodels available.Send for our free brochure!TRU-SQUARE METAL PRODUCTS, INC.P.O. Box 585, Auburn, Washington 98071

TEL (253) 833-2310 or Toll Free 1-(800) 225-1017 FAX (253) 833-2349“Manufacturers of quality case cleaners, deburring and tumbling equipment since 1959”

THUMLE

R’S

TUMBLE

R

on it.” In the noise of the crowdedaisle, I sort of mistook what he saidas that he had a bullet with myname on it, or some such, and wasa bit startled. I must have had apretty blank look on my face, ashe extended his right hand, re-peating “I have a rifle with yourname on it.” I quipped back, “It’s apleasure to meet you, what nameis that?” – not thinking about thewildcat(s) that Bob Fulton (HawkBullets) and I developed a numberof years ago. I managed to ask howhe came by it, which he explainedwas a gift from a friend. The crowdclosed in, and Evan and Bart de-parted as quickly as they had ar-rived, leaving me a bit stunned andthinking holy cow, Evan Quiros,who in some measure served as

Skeeter’s fictional friend DobeGrant in so many great stories, hasone of my wildcats on the ShippRanch. You can’t make this up.

Fortunately, PJS, then-publisherof ST, saw fit to reprint many, if not most, of Skelton’s work intwo books and one paperbackmagazine-sized publication, GoodFriends, Good Guns, Good Whiskey(1988); Hoglegs, Hipshots and Jala -peños (1991); and Skeeter Skeltonon Handguns (1980), respectively.Sally Jim’s book, I RememberSkeeter (1997), which representsan artful undertaking by a won-derful lady, was long ago sold out,but it and the others might befound on Amazon or whatever out-of-print book outlets.


vestment. You can tell almost at aglance if it has been abused, butsince each operation is done byhand, one stroke at a time, it takessome pretty serious maltreatmentto render such a machine unus-able. Buy it, fasten it to a sheet ofscrap plywood, and when the timecomes, simply clamp it to yourbench. When not in use, it can bestuck in a corner, out of the way.

Before the Lee Loader, the hand-tool universe was ruled by theLyman 310 “tong tool,” a devicethat resembled a hefty pliers witha die attached. The Lee, vastly sim-pler and cheaper, displaced theLyman.

Through the 1960s and 1970s, theLee Loader was regarded as thetool of the beginner or once-a-yeardeer hunter. Since it neck-sizedonly, it was pretty basic. Each implement could be turned on alathe, and it came with a smallpowder scoop. A chart was in-cluded showing the appropriatepowder for that scoop, using dif-ferent bullet weights. The shotshellkits were a little more elaborateand included shot scoops as well.

Lee Loaders got a boost from anunexpected quarter as benchrestshooting gained popularity. Themost serious target shooters real-ized they could get better accu-racy by neck-sizing only – and stillbetter using the same case and re-loading after each shot. You couldtake your Lee Loader to the rangeand do all the operations rightthere, throughout the match.

Lee responded with a more elab-orate target model, which includedan inside neck reaming tool, primerpocket reamer and a few othergoodies. These kits were abouttwice the price of the standard –$20 versus $10 – but they workedextremely well. More than onebenchrest match was won by ashooter using a Lee tool to pro-duce super-precise ammunition.

Through the same period, shot-shell reloading went a completely

• The Original WFT –Single caliber trimmer (3/8” shaft)available for .17 through .338calibers. $69.95

• The WFT2 –Interchangeable caliber trimmer(1/2” shaft) available for .17through .45 calibers.Housing Assembly - $69.95Chambers sold separately - $24.95

• The “Big Boy” WFT –50 BMG model also available

We currently manufacture morethan 150 different calibers

WFT provides accurateand consistent results,

GUARANTEED!

After a dozen cases youshould be an expert!

Visit our websitewww.littlecrowgunworks.comto order and view video demonstrations,

instructions and additional products.

Starting at$69.95

Get Trim . . .. . .with the

“World’s Finest Trimmer”The WFT is designed for

trimming bottle-neckcartridges powered byyour hand held drill.

6593 113th Ave. NE, Suite CSpicer, MN 56288Tel: (320) 796-0530

[email protected]

In Range(Continued from page 70)

There is another interesting as-pect to the American market,whether it is for guns, ammuni-tion, loading equipment, sights oranything else. Every time an aginggunshop closes up, all kinds of artifacts surface. This is why, peri-odically, we see stuff for sale billed“new in the box,” yet it has notbeen manufactured for 50 years.

There are myriad goodies tuckedaway on store-room shelves col-lecting dust, waiting to be clearedout. Whatever you’re looking for,if you’re patient, it’s almost certainto come along eventually.


different direction. With no shot-shell equivalent of benchrest, theLee Loader fell into disfavor as the emphasis was placed on speedand quantity. Where a benchrestshooter might fire 5 or 10 preciseshots, a trap shooter would burnthrough 500.

At one time, I owned three LeeLoaders (target model in .300Weatherby Magnum and .222 Rem-ington Magnum and standard in.30-06), and even went so far as tobuy the complete set of scoops toallow maximum flexibility in pow-der charges. They all disappearedsomewhere along the line, but sodid the rifles they were used for. Inever did own a shotshell kit.

A quick look on eBay, where you can buy practically anything,showed exactly one (1) shotshellkit for sale, in 20 gauge, and it soldfor $46.50 – almost five times itsoriginal price, and there were adozen guys bidding on it. Two dayslater, there were two dozen kitslisted, for various gauges and cal-ibers. When something obscuresells for good money, suddenly a bunch appear out of the wood-work.

For benchrest shooters, a selec-tion of specialized, portable toolsreplaced the Lee Loader. Shotshellloaders, however, were out of luckafter Lee ceased production of thehandy gadget around 1988. Sincethe low price of target shotshellsis having an impact even on high-capacity reloading, there is mini-mal demand for a hand tool. The

number of experimenters in shot-shell loads is limited.

Looking around, though, I founda couple of small manufacturerslisted online. One is Lane’s Reload-ing in Michigan (www.lanesreloading.com) and another is Paco Kellyin Arizona (www.pacotools.com).These are shotshell loaders only;Lane offers gauges from 10 to .410, while Kelly makes only 28gauge and .410. Both follow theLee approach, and both are vastlycheaper than buying a new Pons -ness-Warren every time you wantto try a different load. •

4D Reamer Rentals, Ltd. ................................23AASA, Inc. ......................................................45Action Bullets, Inc. .........................................16Ammo Up .......................................................58Berger Bullets .................................................12Berry’s Mfg.......................................................2Black Widow Shooters ...................................64Bullets.com ........................................23, 25, 27Colorado Shooter’s Supply .............................20Conetrol Scope Mounts ............................27, 36Cooper Firearms of Montana, Inc. ..................37Cutting Edge Bullets .......................................45Dale Fricke Holsters........................................54Dave Manson Precision Reamers ...................50Dillon Precision Products, Inc. .......................20Douglas Barrels, Inc. ......................................24Eagle View Arms.............................................25Enterprise Services, LLC ................................64Gebhardt Machine Company ..........................64Gemmell’s Machine Works .............................64Gradient Lens Corporation .....................7, 9, 11Graf & Sons, Inc.............................................42Gunstop Reloading Supplies, Inc. ..................57Hammond Game Getter ..................................23Harrells Precision .............................................6Harris Engineering..........................................62Harvey Deprimer ............................................66Hayley’s Custom Ammunition.........................58High Plains Reboring & Barrels, LLC..............44Hodgdon Powder Company..............................5Hornady Manufacturing Co.............................31Huntington Die Specialties .......................43, 45IMR Powder Company .....................................3IOSSO Products .............................................24Johnson Design Specialties..............................8King Shooters Supply, Inc. .............................44Lawrence Brand Hardcast Bullets ...................50Leadheads Bullets ..........................................30Little Crow Gunworks, LLC.......................16, 68Lohman Arms.................................................50Lyman Products Corporation..........................29Merit Corporation ...........................................66

Midsouth Shooters Supply Co........................10Mike Bellm’s TCs ............................................57MTM Molded Products Company...................35NOE Bullet Moulds, LLC .................................36Norma ............................................................19Nosler.............................................................21Oehler Research, Inc. .....................................57Oregon Trail Bullet Company ..........................63Pacific Tool & Gauge, Inc. ..............................66Patmarlins ......................................................45PMA Tool........................................................50Precision Reloading, LLC ...............................59Puff-Lon .........................................................36Quality Cartridge.............................................30Quinetics Corporation.....................................20Redding Reloading Equipment .......................30RGB Bullet Company ......................................64Rigel Products................................................36Rim Rock Bullets ............................................22Schuetzen Gun Company, LLC .......................30Sharp Shoot R Precision, Inc. ........................67Sheep River Hunting Camps...........................42Shooting Chrony, Inc......................................14Shotgun Sports ..............................................68Sierra Bullets ....................................................8Sinclair International, Inc................................28Sou’Wester Outfitting .....................................27SPG Lubricants ..............................................44SSK Industries................................................36Starline ...........................................................15Stocky’s, LLC..................................................70Swift Bullet Company .....................................17The Hawken Shop...........................................57Timney Triggers, LLC......................................16Tru-Square Metal Products.............................67UniqueTek, Inc................................................62Vais Arms, Inc. ...............................................69Vista Outdoor Sales, LLC..........................13, 72Western Powders .........................18, 49, 56, 65Wineland Walnut ............................................36Wolfe Publishing Co. ................................51, 71Zero Bullet Company, Inc. ..............................43

AD

IND

EX

Although Texan is long-since out ofbusiness, used machines can be foundon eBay, various loading websites orfor sale at gun clubs. They usually costonly a few bucks.


Afriend has solved the con-tinuing problem of reloading

shotshells in a variety of gaugesand charge weights: Every time hewants a new load, he buys anotherprogressive reloading machine (usu-ally a Ponsness-Warren or Hornady366) and sets it up, permanentlyadjusted to one load only.

Needless to say, he has a littlemore space than you or I. His re-loading room is the size of a smallhouse, and a dozen loading ma-chines occupy a bench stretchinginto the distance. Each machine isflanked by bins containing hullsand wads, and the shelves abovehold the other components.

This admittedly idiosyncratic be-havior might be explained by toomuch money or not enough pa-tience, but in reality it reflects ahealthy realization that shotshellreloading, using modern progres-sive presses, does not lend itself toeither experimentation or smallruns of specialty loads.

Anyone who has ever converteda big progressive from a load usingone hull and wad combination to another knows the difficultiesinvolved. In fact, many loadingmanuals, and even the machine’sinstructions, caution against at-

tempting to adjust certain settings.Since most machines come fromthe factory preset for WinchesterAA hulls and standard target loads,anyone wanting anything else iscondemned to venture into the arcane world of machine adjust-ments.

Like modern CNC machines, pro-

gressive tools are designed to pro-duce large quantities of one loadquickly. For a trap shooter whogoes through several hundredrounds in a day, and sticks withjust one load, this is great. For themultigun man, who hunts, shootstargets, occasionally spends timeat a patterning board and likes totinker with wad and shot combi-nations, it’s a recipe for madness.

Years ago, many shooters whoreloaded shotshells could datetheir education to an early expe -rience with the Lee Loader, a sys-tem so basic it almost defiesbelief. Every single operation isperformed by hand, using the sim-plest of tools. In fact, anyone withan eye to history can trace the an-cestry of the Lee Loader to thecapping and decapping tools, wadseaters and crimping tools used in the 1800s to load black-powdercartridges, one at a time. Eventhose were more complicated thanthe Lee Loader, the basic oper -ation of which is provided by a mallet.

Those of us who grew up withLee Loaders spent much of our tedious loading time wishing forsomething faster. I know I did.Only now, using a Hornady orPonsness-Warren, do I really ap-preciate the virtues of simplicitywhen it comes to producing smalllots of specialty cartridges.

Of course, you don’t have to re-sort to a Lee Loader to get simplic-ity, which is fortunate, becausethey are no longer made for shot-shells. In between lie the simplerMEC machines, and there are evenold ones like the Texan that can be put to use. These are found oneBay or on the “take it, cheap”counter in gun clubs. At $50 or$60, such a machine is a good in-

IN RANGE by Terry Wieland

WHEN SIMPLER IS FAR BETTER

(Continued on page 68)

Antique single-stage shotshell presses,like this Texan 20 gauge, are useful forexperimental loads and small runs ofspecialty loads.

Documents

for the Rock Island .22 TCM1.droppdf.com/files/EzCyL/handloader-october-2015.pdfBrian Pearce 14 295 or 300 Rook C art i dgeBo - Gil Sengel 18 Accurate 2495 Propellant Profiles - R.H.VanDenburg,