Handloader December/January 2022

Every handloader should keep good notes as it’s a hard and fast rule that each of us should follow. Once we find a load that we like, whether for velocity, accuracy, or combination of attributes desired, it must be recorded. While my library is not as large as some, when it comes to “pet loads,” it is something to constantly improve upon. This is a good attitude to have with life in general as there is always more to learn and to quote Jerry Miculek, “You can’t fossilize.” We truly never stop learning. As handloaders, we are constantly trying to find the best possible load for a given rifle or even set of circumstances. Always trying to improve our handloading through learning, education and good, old-fashioned tinkering. ...Read More >

In the world of hunting rifles and cartridges, there has been little in decades that has stirred up as much interest as the opening of many, mostly Midwest states, to allow hunters the option of using centerfire rifles chambered for straight-walled cartridges for deer hunting in areas where the use of centerfire rifles were previously prohibited and/or allowing these rifles and cartridges to be used in areas previously restricted to muzzleloading firearms or shotguns. ...Read More >

Q: With ammunition shortages over the past couple of years, within the last year I have taken up an addictive habit…handloading! I have been shooting and collecting guns for more than 30 years, but this new venture has taught me so much more about my guns and especially ammunition. I am invigorated and am greatly enjoying it. I have been steadily adding dies and new equipment to advance my new hobby. One of the forums was discussing some of your handload recipes for .357 Magnum, .32 Magnum and .44 Special, which in turn introduced me to Handloader magazine and your fine articles. I anxiously await each new issue. ...Read More >

My tenure with this column is now something over 30 years, so regular readers will wonder why I haven’t already covered a popular round like the .30-30 Winchester? It was listed before my time, but the column was then shorter in length so information had to be left out. This will be included now, plus more that has been learned about this fascinating old round. One solid fact is that the .30-30 is far from dead or obsolete. It is perhaps more useful today than during its first 20 years of existence! ...Read More >

Big-bore, double-action sixguns are worthy choices for personal defense and many other purposes. One notable example includes the Smith & Wesson’s Model 22-4 chambered in .45 ACP, which is also known as .45 Caliber Model 1950. It boasts of being built on the N-frame, with fixed sights, tapered barrel and a square butt grip frame. It is chambered for the fine, old .45 ACP that is a proven and versatile cartridge that offers comparatively modest recoil, which allows for fast follow-up shots. It also readily accepts .45 Auto Rim cartridges, eliminating the need for half- or full-moon clips for ejection, but it also permits a roll crimp when handloading bullets designed for sixguns (rather than for auto-pistol cartridges). ...Read More >

Lee Hoots recently asked me if I’ve developed any new “favorites” in my bullet mould collection since 2016, when I did a column about my preferred ones. Actually, I have five new favorites. Without a copy of that particular column in front of me, my memory said much of it concerned the fine custom moulds I’ve had made for the BPCR Silhouette game. For various reasons, I’m now not as active in that wonderfully challenging competition. Furthermore, after many thousands of rounds fired in group testing with BPCRs for over 30 years, I think I’ve taken things as far as my shooting ability allows. In other words, if I miss a silhouette target now, I’m pretty sure it was my fault; not the rifle or handload. ...Read More >

The .22 TCM was developed by Gunsmith Fred Craig of Pahrump, Nevada, who originally called it the .22 Micromag. When officially adopted by Armscor International in 2012, and offered in a high-capacity version of the 1911 pistol built by Rock Island Armory (RIA), the name was changed to .22 TCM. It is basically a drastically shortened .223 Remington case necked down for .224-inch bullets and shoulder angles are the same. Unprimed cases at Graf & Sons are priced (at press time) at $40 for 200, $114 for 600 and $180 for 1,000. I suppose the case could be formed by shortening .223 Remington cases, but all that squeezing, chopping, reaming and annealing would be a rather laborious process. ...Read More >

To the best of my knowledge, antique reloading equipment is not exactly a hot area in the collecting world. In fact, the only reloading tools that seem to be in consistent demand are those from more than a century ago, that began life in a fitted case, custom-made for a particular gun, and marked with an illustrious name. ...Read More >

Winchester developed the .350 Legend to meet specific requirements for hunting big game in some relatively crowded states, where a bullet from a “high-powered rifle” that missed a deer could conceivably continue on and hit a human. “High-powered” basically meant any centerfire deer cartridge, even the .30-30 Winchester. Consequently, several states have regulations that ban such rifles, at least in certain areas. ...Read More >

The .50 BMG – or 12.7x99mm in NATO terms – is our largest commercially-available sporting cartridge. Just to put things into perspective, an entire loaded .223 Remington 55-grain full metal jacket round would easily fit inside a hollowed .50-caliber, 750-grain bullet. The .50 BMG (Browning Machine Gun) propels a 750-grain bullet with a ballistic co- efficient (BC) of 1.050 at roughly 2,600 to 2,700 feet per second (fps), delivering 10,000 to 15,000 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. ...Read More >

When a cartridge approaches 150 years of age, it’s only reasonable to expect some problems. The .38-40 (originally known as the .38 WCF) was introduced around 1880, in the Winchester Model 1873, and soon after was chambered in the Colt Single Action Army. Since then, it has been chambered in a wide variety of both rifles and handguns, most of them long obsolete and many readers probably never heard of, much less seen them. ...Read More >

Original .38 Smith & Wesson Special factory loads contained black powder, however, that was soon changed to smokeless powders and standard pressure loads.The .38 Smith & Wesson Special, or more commonly known as .38 Special (not to be co... ...Read More >

Some general or another once said something like, “No battle plan sur- vives intact after the first shot is fired.” As conceived, my original idea for this article involved handloading .45 Auto Rim for U.S. Model 1917 revolvers made by both Smith & Wesson (S&W) and Colt. At first, shooting the S&W Model 1917, it developed a mechanical problem so it was dropped from test shooting. For decades, both types of Model 1917 revolvers sat on bottom shelves of used gun cases in stores across the nation. Now, they are now esteemed military collectibles and as such, they have gained phenomenally in value. For instance, my current S&W Model 1917 cost about 20 times what was paid for my first one in June 1968. ...Read More >