Old West Pistol Performance! - Rifle Magazine

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December 2006 No. 244Rifle Magazine Presents - HANDLOADER

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Old WestPistol

Performance!

Old WestPistol

Performance!

In Search of:The Perfect

Velocity

In Search of:The Perfect

Velocity

Exclusive Data!Barnes XPB

Loads

Exclusive Data!Barnes XPB

Loads

Ruger“Flattop”

.44 Magnum

Ruger“Flattop”

.44 Magnum

4 Handloader 244

AMMUNAMMUNITITIONON REL RELOADING NG JOJOURURNALAL

December-January 2007Volume 41, Number 6

ISSN 0017-7393Issue No. 244

8 NumbersReloader’s Press -Dave Scovill

12 9.3x62mmCartridge Board -Gil Sengel

16 Vihtavuori N3SHPropellant Profiles -R.H. VanDenburg, Jr.

20 The One-LoadConceptMike’s Shootin’ Shack -Mike Venturino

24 The Most AccurateRevolver Cartridge?From the Hip -Brian Pearce

30 Old West PistolPerformanceThe Legend and MythMikeVenturino

40 The PerfectVelocity“2,700 fps or Bust”John Barsness

48 HandloadingBarnes X-PistolBulletsExclusive Data forthe XPB!Brian Pearce

Page 66. . .

58 .300 WinchesterMagnumRe-UpdateJohn Haviland

66 WeatherbyVarmintMaster.224 MagnumThe SmallestWeatherbySteve Gash

74 Lyman ClassicHollowpointMouldsKeith’s Standard .38-and .44-Caliber CastBullet DesignsMike Thomas

82 Handloadingthe Flattop.44 MagnumRuger BlackhawkRe-engineered 50thAnniversarySingle ActionBrian PearcePage 30. . .

Background Photo: © 2006 L. Voorhis/Royal Tine Images

Page 82. . .

Page 58. . .

On the cover . . .The Ruger 50th AnniversaryBlackhawk .44 Magnum isshown with a U.S. Fire ArmsCuster Battlefield Single Action.45 Colt. Photo by YvonneVenturino. Coyote photoby Michael H. Francis.

88 Lyman’s 1500XPElectronic ScaleProduct Tests -Al Miller

94 RemingtonModel Seven7mm-08Bullets & Brass -

00 What’s New inthe MarketplaceInside Product News -Clair Rees

Publisher of Handloader™ is not responsible for mishaps of any nature that might occur from use of publishedloading data or from recommendations by any member of The Staff. No part of this publication may be reproducedwithout written permission from the publisher. Publisher assumes all North American Rights upon acceptance andpayment for all manuscripts. Although all possible care is exercised, the publisher cannot accept responsibility forlost or mutilated manuscripts.

Issue No. 244 December-January 2007

AMMUNAMMUNITITIONON REL RELOADING NG JOJOURURNALAL

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Handloader® (ISSN 0017-7393) is published bi-monthly by Mark Harris Publishing Associates, Inc.,dba Wolfe Publishing Company (Mark Harris, Presi-dent), 2625 Stearman Rd., Ste. A, Prescott, Arizona86301. (Also publisher of Rifle® magazine.) Telephone(928) 445-7810. Periodical Postage paid at Prescott,Arizona, and additional mailing offices. Subscriptionprices: U.S. possessions – single issue, $4.99; 6 issues,$19.97; 12 issues, $36.00; 18 issues, $48.00. Foreignand Canada – single issue, $5.99; 6 issues $26.00; 12 is-sues, $48.00; 18 issues, $69.00. Please allow 6-8 weeksfor first issue. Advertising rates furnished on request.All rights reserved.

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Wolfe PublishingCompany

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Prescott, AZ 86301Tel: (928) 445-7810 Fax: (928) 778-5124Copyright © Mark Harris Publishing Associates, Inc.

John Barsness

Brian Pearce

Clair Rees

Gil Sengel

Ron Spomer

Stan Trzoniec

Mike Venturino

Ken Waters

Page 66Page 480

Page 88. . .

100

6 Handloader 244Background Photo: © 2006 L. Voorhis/Royal Tine Images

06 TheBlack-Powder.32 SpecialHuntingHandloads -John Barsness

Page 106. . . 106

16 Handloader 244www.handloadermagazine.com

ported into the U.S. For the mostpart these U.S.-imported pow-ders are in three groups: theN100 series of single-base riflepowders, the N500 series of dou-ble-base rifle powders and theN300 series of single-base hand-gun powders. All are extruded.

Reloading data has been pro-vided over the years, in English,in a series of pamphlets andhardcover manuals. Kaltron-Pet-tibone began importing Vih-tavuori powders in 1990; in 1991we saw the first reloading pam-phlet, Vihtavuori Reloading

Guide, 1st edition. Thesecontinued annually through

the 6th edition in 1996.In 1997, the pamphlet

was retitled Vih-

tavuori Reloading

Guide for Center-

fire Cartridges witha month-and-yeardate. The most re-cent is dated Janu-ary 2004. A hard-cover Vihtavuori

Reloading Manual

is in its third edition,released in 2000.

As our conversa-tion continued, I was somewhatsurprised to find it turning toshotshell powders. Vihtavuorimakes them and those first sixeditions of the reloading guidecarried a limited amount of shot-shell reloading data, employ-ing American components, forthree Vihtavuori shotshell pow-ders: N3SL, N3SM and N3SH. Iwas even more surprised when asked if I would put the powdersthrough their paces and also de-velop some metallic load data forthem. I was flattered and gratefulfor any new column material. Italso occurred to me that we writ-ers are supposed to take advan-

tage of the manufacturers, notthe other way around. Oh well,hoping I wasn’t starting a trend, Ireadily agreed.

It wasn’t long before a packagearrived with several 250-gram(about 1⁄2 pound) canisters ofN3SH. This is the slowest-burn-

VIHTAVUORI N3SHVIHTAVUORI N3SHP

RO

PELLA

NT P

RO

FIL

ES

PR

OP

ELLA

NT P

RO

FIL

ES R.H. VanDenburg, Jr.

Each year as I prowl the

aisles of the annual SHOTShow, I make it a point to stop ata growing number of booths. Atmany of them, I’ve gotten toknow the folks fairly well, havingused and often tested their prod-ucts and published my findings inHandloader and elsewhere.

At the 2006 show, as I ap-proached the Vihtavuori/Lapuabooth, I was again met with fa-miliar faces. Kaltron-Pettiboneof Bensenville, Illinois, is theimporter for both lines, andI’ve worked with them for a num-ber of years. After theusual exchange of pleas-antries and my demandfor a newer reload-ing pamphlet andmanual (soon, I’mpromised), we gotdown to business.

As most readersknow by now, Vih-tavuori smokelesspowders are man-ufactured in cen-tral Finland. Be-gun in 1928, Vih-tavuori produceswell over 100 dif-ferent powders for military andcivilian use. Many are canisterpowders for the reloading tradeand, of them, a number are im-

This is unfortunate; in its placeit is a fine powder more than ableto hold its own with its stable-

I n 1935 the DuPont PowderCompany decided to improve

its IMR (Improved Military Rifle)line of smokeless powders. De-velopment had taken awhile, butby 1936 rifle handloaders had awhole series of new powders:IMR-4227, 4198, 3031, 4064 and4320. Given the list of availablecartridges, it was almost all weneeded. After World War II, theline expanded with the additionof IMR-4895, 4350, 4831 and,much later, 7828. Few of us todaywho load rifle cartridges haveany real need for anything else,save for those loading the newerhigh-velocity magnums for whicheven IMR-7828 is considered fastburning. Of this famous lineup,perhaps the least understood,and certainly the least heraldedin print, is IMR-4320.

IMR-4320IMR-4320

December-January 2007 17www.handloadermagazine.com

ing of the three and, in thoseearly reloading guide editions,was shown only in the 20 and 28gauges except for a single steelshot, 12-gauge target load. Look-ing closely at the powder’s burn-ing rate – similar to Hi-Skor 800-X– it’s clear the powder has muchbroader potential in huntingloads and in the 12 and 16 gaugesas well. N3SH differs from theVihtavuori powders we’re famil-iar with in that, instead of beingextruded, it is sheet cut. That is,in manufacture, the wet powderis poured on a flat surface, al-

also perform well with bullets of100 grains or so.

Most .30-caliber cartridges ben-efit from IMR-4320 from the.30-30 through the .30-06. Earlymilitary .308 ammunition, I’veread, was loaded with non-canis-ter 4320. Match shooters of .308sat long ranges frequently preferIMR-4320 for its inherent accu-racy. In the .30-06, Lyman foundIMR-4320 to be its most accuratepowder with 125- and 190-grainbullets.

In the .338-06, Nosler, in its re-loading guide, fifth edition, ratedIMR-4320 “most accurate powdertested” with 225-grain Partitions.The powder seems to come intoits own again in .35-caliber car-tridges. From the .35 Remingtonto the .358 Norma Magnum, IMR-4320 is among the best. In thevenerable .35 Whelen, Lymangives it top marks with 180-grainbullets and Nosler with 250s.Nosler again chose IMR-4320 inthe .350 Remington Magnum with225-grain bullets.

As diameters grow and expan-sion ratios climb, IMR-4320keeps plugging along. In the.458 Winchester and .458 Lott, inthe .495 A-Square and .500 Jef-fery, in the .45-70 in heavy bulletsand beyond, IMR-4320 just doesits job, without fanfare, oneround at a time. Kind of the wayI like it.

In most 6mm cartridges, IMR-4320 is at its best with lighter bul-lets, but its flexibility allows it to

full cases but with-out compressedcharges. As wecontinue throughthe .22-caliber car-tridges with in-creasingly largercase capacity, wefind IMR-4320 isalways in the run-ning but not nec-essarily producingthe highest veloc-ity. In the now-defunct .225 Win-chester, the latestLyman 48th Re-

loading Handbook rated IMR-4320 “most accurate powder” inbullet weights of 45, 50, 52 and 63grains.

mates. In the Du-Pont (which soldits powder inter-ests to the IMRCompany which,in turn, was pur-chased by theHodgdon PowderCompany) schemeof things whereIMR-4350 is as-signed a “Quick-ness Value” of 100,IMR-4320 is faster-burning at 110.(IMR-4895 is ratedat 115 and 4064 at120.) All the IMR powders arequite similar in makeup beingsingle base, extruded with a sin-gle perforation. IMR-4320 kernelsare the shortest and thickest –perhaps our first “short cut” pow-der? – with a length of .042 inchand a diameter of .034 inch. Itmeters very well. It also has ahigher bulk density at .930 gm/ccand lower flame temperature of2,845°K than any of the otherIMR powders.

As we browse through modernreloading manuals, we find abroad range of cartridges forwhich IMR-4320 is suitable. Webegin with the .222 Remington. Init and the slightly larger .223Remington, IMR-4320 is quiteuseful, but in most cases toploads are compressed. In the.222 Remington Magnum, we get •

Selected Loads – Vihtavuori N3SHbullet charge velocity notes

(grains) (grains) (fps)

.38 Special 125 7.0 1,275 maximum140 6.2 1,071 maximum

.357 Magnum 140 9.0 1,301 maximum158 8.5 1,257 maximum

.41 Magnum 210 10.5 1,206

.44 Special 240 7.5 1,017 cast

.44 Magnum 240 6.5 856 cast240 12.0 1,206 field

.45 Colt 250 10.0 907 cast

.45 ACP 200 6.3 879 cast230 6.5 905

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

Selected LoadsIMR-4320

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

.223 Remington 69 26.0 2,903

.243 Winchester 80 40.5 3,239

.30-30 Winchester 150 31.5 2,112

.30-06 190 42.8 2,450

.35 Whelen 250 52.0 2,456

.45-70* 405 53.0 1,760* 26-inch barrelBe Alert – Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errorsin published load data.

lowed to dry and cut into littleparallelograms. Each resultingflake measures about .060 by .060inch with a thickness of about.012 inch. Although my load datawas developed with weighed

charges, the powder meters well.N3SH is also single base, mean-ing no nitroglycerin is added tothe mixture. It is available in 250-gram canisters and 4-pound jugs.

A couple of sample shotshellloads, taken from the publisheddata, are these:

20-gauge, 23⁄4-inch

Remington Premier hullRemington 209P primerRemington SP20 wadone-ounce lead shot17.0 grains N3SHVelocity: 1,165 fpsPressure: 11,700 psi

28-gauge, 23⁄4-inch

Remington plastic-disk base hullCCI 209 primerRemington SP28 wad3⁄4-ounce lead shot14.0 grains N3SHVelocity: 1,204 fpsPressure: 8,900 psi

As I bent to the task of develop-ing metallic load data, I did havesome help. First, the early reload-ing guides had burning ratecharts that included N3SH, andVihtavuori staffers assured methe N3SH burning rate was be-tween N340 and N350. This gaveme parameters. Next, by firingmaximum loads of N340 andN350 with the same bullet I in-tended to use with N3SH andmeasuring and comparing caseexpansion in front of the rim, Icould establish a quantifiablestopping point. Primer appear-ance and ease of extraction werealso considered, but each can beless reliable than expansionmeasurements. For the mostpart, I only worked with car-tridges with published data forboth N340 and N350.

I began with the .38 Special,pairing it with 125- and 140-grainbullets. Seven grains with Win-chester 125-grain bullets and 6.2grains with the 140-grain Speermust be considered maximum.

In the .357 Magnum, with thesame 140-grain Speer bullet, 9.0grains was tops. I included the

Handloader 24418 www.handloadermagazine.com

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December-January 2007

standard 158-grain Speer with 8.5grains. Accuracy was quite goodin both of these small capacitycases, but I found the pressurecurve to be rather steep. Smallincreases of N3SH can have sur-prising results.

One cartridge I would haveliked to try with N3SH but didn’twas the .40 S&W, especially with155- and 170-grain bullets. I sus-pect it is a great match. I did trythe .41 Magnum with 210-grainSierras. I was able to work up to11.0 grains in complete safety, butI think 10.5 grains at about 1,200fps is a better all-around load.

I reached nirvana with 240-graincast bullets in the .44 Special. Irecorded my smallest groups andextreme spreads of all the testswith 8.0 grains. This was in aRuger Super Blackhawk with a71⁄2-inch barrel. For lighter gunsI’d prefer 7.5 grains, still a veryfine load.

In earlier reloading guides, ina section devoted to cowboyaction shooting, Vihtavuori in-cluded N3SH in several car-tridges, although the powdersometimes appeared as 3NSH.It’s the same propellant. I first ex-plored the concept in the .44Magnum, eventually developingboth a cowboy load and a fieldload. The cowboy load used acast 240-grain bullet and the fieldload a 240-grain Sierra.

In the .45 Colt I found a range ofpowder charges that performedwell. For a Colt-like velocity levelof 850 to 900 fps with 250-graincast bullets, 10.0 grains of N3SHwas very effective. For Rugersand other stronger-framed guns,this can be increased to 11.0grains.

I did work with one autoloader,a .45 ACP Colt Governmentmodel. A 230-grain Sierra pushedby 6.5 grains of N3SH performed

very well. With a 200-grain castbullet, I found 6.3 grains prom-ising.

Throughout all the testing, Iwas very pleased with N3SH. Itmust be understood, however,that for any bullet/cartridge com-bination, there is always going tobe a slower powder that willproduce higher velocities at safepressures. N3SH should be con-sidered a middle-of-the-roadpowder in metallic cartridges,but that is what most of us strivefor anyway. Any attempt to dupli-cate my efforts must begin bycutting the powder charge by 10percent. Guns differ, as do bul-lets, cases, primers and powderlots. Only standard force primerswere used.

With mail-order firms now of-fering N3SH in 4-pound canistersat very attractive prices, it’sanother viable choice in our re-loading.

19www.handloadermagazine.com

•

40 Handloader 244

John Barsness

For a great many handload-ers, only one perfect muz-zle velocity exists: thefastest possible. This does

not necessarily mean the safest,fastest velocity.

A few years ago, an acquaintance had a customrifle built chambered for a wildcat variation on the.338-06 (a cartridge we often forget is no longerwild, but the .338-06 A-Square, chambered both bythat company and Weatherby). One evening in asaloon in central Wyoming, my acquaintancestarted bragging on the muzzle velocity he was get-ting with a 225-grain bullet.

I have been handloading both the .338-06 and itsbig brother, the .338 Winchester Magnum, for someyears. The speed he quoted was about 10 percenthigher than normally listed for the .338-06, more inthe range of the .338 Winchester, so I asked the bar-rel length of his rifle, since he could have had a30-inch barrel fitted. Nope, it was something stan-dard, a 22 or 24.

I told him his pressures were over the top. He saidhe had encountered no stiff bolt lifts. I sighed andtried to explain that doesn’t mean much withtoday’s custom rifles, featuring ultra-square sur-faces on the bolt lugs and recesses, and verysmooth chambers. This did not convince him.

After he’d had a couple more drinks, however, heasked a question: Why did a primer occasionally fallout of a case when he opened the bolt after firing ashot? I told him this was a classic symptom of way

www.handloadermagazine.com

ThePerfect Perfect

“2,700 fpsor Bust”

“2,700 fpsor Bust”

too much pressure. His brow furrowed, and then heweaved off to bed. The next time I ran into him, ayear or so later, I asked what load he’d settled on,and he said the same one, because it would be toomuch trouble to pull the bullets on the 100 roundshe’d loaded. He’s a lucky man, because his rifle’s ac-tion is among the strongest ever made. However,even very strong bolt actions have life-limits whenstressed by loads well above normal pressures.

If we shoot and handload much, we commonlyrun into such handloaders. They often believe theyhave magic rifles, with barrels that are somehow“faster” than the average. They also tend to believethey are incredibly skilled handloaders, able to per-form ballistic miracles far beyond those of the aver-age mortal. The real deal is that any handloader canmake any case exceed its standard velocity limits.All that’s needed is more powder and fewer brains.

Handloaders with brains approach the same prob-lem in another way. A handloader with brainswould instead buy a .338 Winchester Magnum andload it within normal limits, thereby ensuring thathis brains remain inside his skull.

The other side of the “absolute highest velocity”school of handloading is that the (maybe) 150 fpsdifference between standard and red-line loadsdoesn’t much matter. This is a strange concept formany handloaders. In fact, after making that state-ment during a ballistic discussion (known to manyshooters as a “bull session”), I have received angryresponses from people who firmly believe that 150fps does matter.

Well, it does in some ways. Obviously, if your egois shored up by another 150 fps written on a box ofyour handloads, why, go for it. But it would be eas-ier and safer just to write it down without actuallytrying to achieve it. A little, white 150-fps lie is a loteasier on your rifle than an actual red-line 150 fps.

As an example of what I’m talking about, let’s usethe .338-06 A-Square and .338 Winchester Magnum.Loading manuals list maximum muzzle velocitiesfor 225-grain bullets at around 2,600 to 2,700 fps inthe .338-06, and around 2,800 to 2,900 fps in the .338Winchester. (The variations between manuals aremostly due to differences in bullets and barrels.)

From this we can conclude that the .338 Winches-


VelocityVelocity

Two ancient combinations that developedtheir great reputations because of a muzzlevelocity of around 2,700 fps are the 180-grain .30-06 and 100-grain .250 Savage.

raised 1.2 inches, making theactual difference in trajectory2.6 inches. At 400 yards thedifference would increase to 5.6inches.

Big whoop. In reality I doubtwhether most hunters can tell iftheir rifle is sighted in 1.7 or 2.1inches high at 100. And since thisfigure often varies with shootingposition, light conditions andtemperature, we’re talking in

Handloader 244

ter Magnum has about a 200 fpsedge over the .338-06. This fallsin line with calculations madewith the 1/4 ratio I’ve writtenabout before: The .338 Winches-ter has about 24 percent morepowder capacity than the .338-06,so can achieve a little over 6 per-cent more velocity, about 170 to180 fps with most bullet weights.

Now, let’s look up the ballisticfigures for a typical .338 bullet ina loading manual, in this caseHornady’s data for its 225-grainHornady InterLock Spire Point(see the table).

In reality these figures give the.338 Winchester more of an ad-vantage over the .338-06 than canbe found in “real life,” since theHornady manual only lists loadsup to 2,800 fps for its 225-grainbullet. But we’ll go along withthis exaggeration, because ithelps make my point.

Notice that out at 300 yards (along shot for most hunters), the.338 Winchester shoots 1.4 inches

flatter than the .338-06. That issmaller than the left ventricle ofa mule deer’s heart. In the fieldyou’d never notice it. Even at 400yards the difference in trajectoryis only 4.0 inches, about thewidth of the entire heart.

Now a purist could point outhere that if we changed the zeroof the .338 Winchester at 100yards to 2.1 inches (the height ofthe zero of the .338-06), then the.338’s impact at 300 would be

42 www.handloadermagazine.com

ThePerfect VelocityPerfect Velocity

These “old” cartridge/bullet weight combinations are still favored bymany shooters. What they all have in common is a muzzle velocity be-tween about 2,000 and 2,400 fps (left to right): 6.5x55, 160; 7x57, 175(in this case the military “hardball” favored by W.D.M. Bell for elephanthunting); .30-30, 170; .30-06, 220; .303 British, 180; .35 Remington,200; 9.3x62, 286; .35 Whelen, 250; .416 Rigby, 400 and .458 Win-chester, 500.

Extremely high velocity is veryuseful in varmint shooting andsome big game hunting, mostlydue to extremely flat trajectory.

The .204 Ruger and.220 Swift feature

loads starting atover 4,000 fps,while the .257

Weatherby, 7mmSTW and .300

Remington UltraMag all reach orapproach 3,500

fps with somebullets.

Why did a primeroccasionally fall out

of a case when heopened the bolt after

firing a shot?

December-January 2007

right on at 200, down about 8inches at 300 and down justabout 2 feet at 400. This is not ahard trajectory to memorize oruse in the field, one reason Iload most of my big game car-tridges to that approximate speed,whether the 7x57mm Mauser,.30-06 or .375 H&H.

Four hundred yards is also aheck of a long way for most of usto shoot. While I have killedvarmints out to twice that range,

called “ordinary” bullets. Theyalso don’t chew up nearly asmuch good-tasting meat as bul-lets started at “modern” veloci-ties of 3,000+ fps.

Even though considered “slow“these days, any load using aspitzer of moderate sectionaldensity at 2,700 fps shoots plentyflat for most hunting. Sight in 2inches high (or 1.7 or 2.1 inches)at 100 yards and bullets land

units much larger than .1 inchanyway.

The same nit-picker might alsopoint out that the .338-06’s veloc-ity at 400 yards of 1,872 fps mightnow allow the bullet to expand.That might be right. In the ex-pansion/penetration test GarySciuchetti published in Hand-

loader No. 193, around 1,900 fpswas the bottom line for expan-sion with most lead-core huntingbullets (in the test’s case 180-grain .30s). But I have shot sev-eral big game animals at around400 yards with spitzer bulletsstarted around 2,700 fps, and allthe bullets expanded nicely.

In fact, the original title for thisessay was going to be “2,700,” be-cause over the years I’ve becomeconvinced that boring speed(typified by the most boring fac-tory load for the most boringcartridge in existence, the 180-grain .30-06) is perhaps the idealall-around muzzle velocity forshooting most big game. Why?Well, most spitzer bullets startedat 2,700 fps hold up pretty wellwhen striking game, even so-

43www.handloadermagazine.com

Ballistic Figures for .338 Bulletsmuzzle 100 200 300 400

(yards)

.338-06 velocity (fps) 2,700 2,477 2,265 2,063 1,872

.338-06 trajectory (inches) -1.5 +2.1 -0- -8.9 -26.0

.338 WM velocity (fps) 2,900 2,667 2,445 2,235 2,034

.338 WM trajectory (inches) -1.5 +1.7 -0- -7.5 -22.0

These cartridges are all world-wide standards. They got thatway because of muzzle velocitiesof around 3,000 fps with theirmost useful bullet weights, al-lowing hunters to aim “right on”at normal ranges (left to right):.243 WCF, .25-06 Remington,.270 WCF, 7mm RemingtonMagnum and .300 WinchesterMagnum.

With modern powders and longbullets, many rifles produce theirbest accuracy with “maximum”loads. This 7x57 load was devel-oped in a Serengeti Walkaboutand shows a rather typical pro-gression from merely okay to veryfine accuracy with each increasein powder charge.

The original titlefor this essay was going

to be “2,700.”

Handloader 244

But there are other perfect ve-locities out there. The same argu-ment could be made for 3,200fps. Why? Well, a spitzer startedat 3,200, sighted-in 2 inches high

at 100 yards, lands about 3 incheslow at 300 yards. No time needbe wasted guessing or measuringthe range, out to where at least95 percent of all big game iskilled.

I do load some rounds up to3,200 or even a little more when

in my entire life only about 5 per-cent of the unwounded big gameanimals taken have been shotpast 300 yards, and only about 1percent at 400 or more. (And yes,I killed all the animals at 400+,though I’ve missed a few ataround 300, mostly by holdingtoo high, something a 200-yardzero tends to fix.)

Now we can go back and com-pare the .338-06 and .338 Win-chester Magnum again, and findthat it’s possible to load the mag-num to 2,700 fps with a 250-grainbullet. If we do, its trajectoryvaries a little from the faster 225-grain load – by about 3 wholeinches at 400 yards. (This is thebullet weight that has alwaysmade the most sense to me in the.338 Winchester Magnum. Useanything lighter and you might aswell shoot a .300 magnum ofsome sort.)



The .375 H&H has survived challenges from dozensof newer and supposedly “better” cartridges for al-most a century, because its muzzle velocities witheither 270- or 300-grain bullets are just about perfectfor most hunting. The 270-grain bullet at 2,700 fpsor so works out to 400 yards, while the slower 300grainer does wonders at “thornbush” ranges, such asthe 100-yard shot that took this Botswana kudu.

John took this Wyoming pronghorn in 2005 with aSako .308 Winchester and Federal factory loads fea-turing 150-grain Nosler Ballistic Tips. Muzzle veloc-ity from the 20-inch barrel was just over 2,700 fpsand the range about 250 yards. The “perfect” muzzlevelocity of 2,700 fps works just fine at any normalhunting range.

This feral boar was taken with a shot through the shoulders and spinewith a Serengeti Walkabout 7x57mm Mauser using a 160-grain NorthFork bullet started at just about 2,700 fps. After decades of using the7x57, John has decided that a bullet of about 160 grains at 2,700 fpsworks fine as an all-around load, at any sane range.

hunting where a fast shot mighthave to be made at some dis-tance. This normally occurs onsome sort of trophy hunt, such asthe mule deer hunt made inSonora last winter. There youmight only get a brief glimpseof a big buck, with an evenbriefer chance to even guess therange, let alone apply a laserrangefinder.

But I also expect to lose quite abit of edible meat when usingsuch a load, even with the tough-est bullets made. My Sonoranbuck was taken with a 168-grainBarnes Triple-Shock on a se-verely angling shot at around200 yards. Even at that distancethe bullet chewed up at least10 pounds of fine meat from thefront edge of the rump and theloin.

Once upon a time, I also shot amule deer doe with a MarkBansner .270 Weatherby Mag-num, using the 130-grain SwiftScirocco started at over 3,300fps. This is not anything likemy normal doe rifle, but I wasprimarily hunting a big buck andhappened upon the doe. She

quartered toward me slightly ataround 125 yards, so I very care-fully placed the bullet behind theshoulder. At the shot she leapt inthe air, then came down running,

piling up after about 75 yards.The inside of the chest was bloodsoup, and altogether about onefront quarter of the meat wasturned into inedible shreds. This


One reason the .250 Savage has such a sterling repu-tation as a deer killer is that its standard 100-grainload develops 2,700 to 2,800 fps at the muzzle. Thisallows even “standard” bullets to work just fine,even on frontal shots like the one that took thisMontana mule deer doe at 150 yards. (The rifle is aWinchester Model 70 Carbine, the load a 100-grainSpeer Hot-Cor at just about 2,750 fps.)

This scimitar-horned oryx was taken in South Texasbrush with John’s custom Sisk rifle chambered for the9.3 B-S, using a 286-grain Nosler Partition started atabout 2,400 fps. This is plenty of velocity for any“woods” ranges and in fact works out to 200+ yardsjust fine.

Handloader 244

grains below maximum. This wasoften true, and for a good reason:Many of the common powdersback then were designed tooperate most consistently atabout 50,000 psi, well below the60,000+ psi generated by manymodern rifle cartridges. A goodexample is IMR-4895, still one ofthe best-selling powders on themarket, and for good reason,since it often produces fine accu-racy and burns pretty cleanly.

But IMR-4895 was created forthe Garand rifle and the 172-grain.30-06 service load, which pro-duces less pressure than your av-erage bolt-action big game round,especially those designed sinceWorld War II. Most slower-burn-ing powders are designed to burnbest at around 60,000 psi. Theynormally won’t produce theirmost consistent muzzle velocitiesuntil the powder charge pro-duces somewhere around thatpressure.

Also, many modern hunting bul-lets are longer for their weightthan when rifling twists wereoriginally designed. Place a tradi-tional lead-core spitzer like aSpeer Hot-Cor next to a BarnesTriple-Shock, Nosler AccuBondor Swift Scirocco of the sameweight and observe the differ-ence in length. A new-generationbullet will be a lot longer. Thusthe “perfect” twist worked outwhen all bullets were of simplecup-and-core design might be atrifle too slow for perfect stabi-lization at moderate muzzle ve-locities. This new bullet mightalso be “harder.” The jacket willbe thicker at the base or, in thecase of the Barnes, non-existent.

Cup-and-core bullets will often“slug up” to groove diameterwhen bumped in the base by acharge of relatively fast-burningpowder such as IMR-4895, andthus will often shoot well even atmoderate pressures and muzzlevelocities. But a hard-butted bul-let sometimes needs to be kickedalong more convincingly to shootwell, especially in a factory bar-

is why my normal meat-huntingloads start no faster than 2,700fps.

This experience also brings upthe velocity theory of “killingpower.” According to commonwisdom (a contradiction interms: In my experience wisdomis not common.) a fast-expandingbullet started at warp speed sup-posedly drops game upon im-pact, but I have not found this tobe necessarily so. In fact I havefound that 2,700 fps does justabout as well, perhaps becausemore of the bullet’s expansiontakes place inside the animal,instead of near the entrancewound.

Another magic muzzle velocityrange would be 2,000 to 2,400fps. This works about perfectlyfor either solid bullets or blunt-nosed softpoints, the sort tradi-tionally chosen for hunting at“woods” or “timber” ranges (alsoknown in Africa as “thornbush”or “bushveld” ranges). Startsolids much faster and theystand a good chance of veeringor tumbling after impact; startthem much slower and penetra-tion suffers, not a good thingwhen hunting solid-bullet game,whether Cape buffalo or ele-phants.

Start cup-and-core, blunt-nosedsoftpoints much faster and theycan come apart on impact orpenetrate insufficiently. The widelead nose promotes rapid expan-sion, the reason many woodshunters feel roundnose bulletswhop game more noticeably thanpointed bullets do. But too highan impact velocity can turn thesame bullet inside-out.

Another aspect of the perfectvelocity is accuracy. In ancienttimes (such as the 1960s, when Iwas learning to handload), manyclaimed that the best-shootingloads often were found a few



and there’s a noticeable variationin magnums as well. Particularlywith Ramshot’s modern-age Ballpowders, I’ve found a magnumprimer can shrink groups even instandard cartridges.

All this does not mean, ofcourse, adding powder to thepoint where primers fall out offired cases. But then you knewthat. Didn’t you?


rel that might be .001 inch or soover ideal bore diameter.

Put modern powders togetherwith longer and harder bullets,and the old advice about find-ing the most accurate load afew grains under maximumoften does not work. I’ve lostcount over the past few years ofthe times I’ve started working upa load with one of the new superpowders, such as Alliant Reloder22, Hodgdon H-4831SC Extremeor Ramshot Hunter, and foundthe starting load grouping intoclose to 2 inches. Now, that issufficient accuracy for most biggame hunting, but pretty pitifulfor a modern bolt action with ascope turned up to 9x or more,and a twenty-first-century Won-der Bullet.

Then I’ve shot the next load upand seen the groups shrink to,say, an inch or maybe 1.5 inches.And the next load up, nearingmaximum, groups under an inch.The final load, that dreaded Max-imum avoided by many cautioushandloaders, often zips them allinto a cluster more like a three-leaf clover.

I have seen this pattern so manytimes that it’s convinced me thatthe reason some handloadershaven’t found fine accuracy inloads using Triple-Shocks, Ac-cuBonds or Sciroccos is a simplelack of pressure and velocity.When handloaders contact meabout why their rifle won’t shootbugholes with any of these newsuper-bullets, I ask about muzzlevelocities. More often than not, Iend up suggesting the addition ofanother grain or two of powder –and all of a sudden the expensivebullet they “wasted” extra moneyon is their best friend.

This is also partly why a changein powder and primer also canmake a big difference in accu-racy. Even if the powder suppos-

edly has a similar burn rate to theone that’s not producing fineaccuracy, it might bump the bul-let in question a little differently.The same often happens whenswitching primers. Some stan-dard rifle primers are just aboutas hot as magnums nowadays,

Four hundred yards is also a heck of a long wayfor most of us to shoot.

•


numerals that ap-pear there are al-most as tall andhighly visible.

The panel isflanked by twoorange-coloredcontrol buttonson each end. Theupper left buttonis marked ZERO

and is used dur-ing the calibra-tion process. Be-low it is anotherbearing the leg-end MODE. Thatpermits the oper-ator to let thescale display itsweights in grains or grams. Theupper right button is marked with the self-explanatory ON/OFF.The button beneath it, markedCAL, also plays a role when thescale is being calibrated. Thosefour buttons are all it takes tooperate and control the scale.

Calibration is simple, involvingsix steps. There’s no point ingoing over them here but the en-

tire operation is pretty straight-forward and takes very littletime. To find out exactly howmuch, my trusty stopwatch wasbrought out and the entireprocess timed – twice. I didn’thurry but moved at a normalpace. The first run-through took54 seconds. The second was 53seconds. Calibrating a 1500 isstrictly uncomplicated.

Versatile, simple to set up

and use, Lyman’s new elec-tronic scale gives almost instan-taneous readings and lends newmeaning to the adjective compact.

Formed from a gray plastic, theunit’s body is only 71⁄4 inches long,5 inches wide and 31⁄8 inches tallat its highest point when itstransparent dust cover is closed.

A storage tray is hidden insidethe 1500’s body. To gain access toit, an operator merely needs topush the back of the tray in, andit will rebound, protruding farenough to be grasped with thefingers and pulled free. In addi-tion to a brass-colored powderpan, the tray holds a powdertrickler reservoir, its tubular-shaped base and a powder feedtube, each of which sits or isclamped in a separate assignedspace, especially shaped to con-tain it. Last but not least, there’sa small brush, 3 inches long, en-sconced (there’s a word youdon’t see very often these days)in a dedicated groove located infront of the loading tray on top ofthe scale’s body.

The Lyman scale can be pow-ered by household electricity viaan AC adapter (included) or byfour AA batteries that can be in-stalled in a small compartmenthidden behind a sliding coverfound on the unit’s underside. Ifbatteries are used, an automaticshut-off will be activated when-ever the scale is left unused for15 minutes. When the batteriesbegin to lose their power, animage of a battery will flash onthe display panel to warn the op-erator of the impending problem.

Speaking of the display panel,it’s positioned on the front of the1500’s body. It’s 2 inches wideand 7⁄8 inch high. The easy-to-read

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Once calibrated, the scale’s dis-play panel shows a double zerowith the loading platform stillempty. The final step is to placethe empty powder pan on theplatform, then press the ZERO

button. That compensates for thepan’s weight and resets the scaleto zero.

Since electronic scales probablysee more use establishing andverifying charges thrown by pow-der measures than anything else,that seemed a logical place tostart testing the scale. Besides, Ineeded to assemble a couple ofadditional experimental loads fora project that’s been in the worksfor some time. So the powderwas selected, the RCBS Competi-tion measure filled, the chargeweight chosen, the MicrometerAdjustment Screw set on themeasure and, after calibratingthe 1500XP again (just to be sureI had the drill down pat), the firstcharge was weighed.

Under .7 grain. Another chargewas thrown and weighed afterturning the Micrometer screw ina couple of turns. Still .4 grainstoo low. A twitch of the screwand another charge – .2 grain tooheavy. Another nudge of thescrew, another charge thrown –right on! Two more charges – justto be sure – both were spot-on.The measure was set.

When 20 cases were charged, adifferent caliber was tackled.That called for a new powderand a different charge but thesame approach. After the usualtrial settings, an acceptablecharge was set on the measure.

In each instance, it’s my habit tothrow a check-charge after every10th case is filled to ensure thatall settings remain unchanged.You never know . . .

The 1500XP worked flawlessly.Thanks to its help, 40 rounds,representing two different car-tridges are ready for the nextrange session.

Putting the powder trickler to-gether was easy enough, but for

some strange reason, the instruc-tions made a point of stating:“Insert the powder feed tubethrough the reservoir. Be sure theopen end is angled downwards.”

Downwards? Why? Out of cu-riosity, the tube was shovedthrough the holes in the side ofthe reservoir with its open endpointing up. Absolutely nothinguntoward happened. Wonderwhat the instruction’s author hadin mind there?

Those same instructions directthe handloader to rotate the feed-ing tube in a clockwise directionwhen trickling powder into thepan below but don’t bother to ex-


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Handloader 244

not identified), and in addition,their lubricant and gas checkswere responsible for a few ad-ditional grains. On the Lymanscale, their weights only variedfrom 188.6 to 189.7 grains – notbad.

They were followed by 22 Ore-gon Trail .44-caliber semiwad-cutters. Lubricated with onewide ringful, their advertisedweights were listed as 240 grains.Their weights ran from a low of237.7 grains to top out at 239.3grains. These bullets have deliv-ered excellent accuracy fromthree different .44 Special re-volvers and two .44 Magnums.

Next were some of the samefirm’s .458-caliber rifle bullets.Twenty-one were weighed. Aplain-based design with onelube ring and a flat nose, thesehard-cast slugs have deliveredfirst-class accuracy from four dif-ferent .45-70s. Weights variedfrom 343.0 to 345.8 grains.

The last cast bullet weighed hasbeen an excellent performer in aMannlicher carbine. Its mould isno longer listed in Lyman’s cata-log, so there’s no point in repeat-ing it here. It’s a slender missile,13⁄16 inches long, sporting threelube rings and a slightly flatnose. Driven from 1,500 to 1,600fps, they turn the carbine into adeadly small-game rig. Twenty-five of them, as-cast, wereweighed. They tipped the scalefrom 154.3 to 160.4 grains. That’stoo much of a spread. They’llhave to be divided into two lots:those weighing from 154 to 157grains and those from 157.1 to160.4. They’ll be loaded andzeroed separately, of course.

While I was at it, it seemed likea good idea to see how some com-mercial, jacketed bullet weightsstacked up. Twenty-one, 160-grainHornady 6.5mm roundnoses wereplaced on the scale. Readingsonly wobbled from 159.7 to 160.1grains – and six of the 21 regis-tered an exact 160.0 grains.

Twenty Sierra 7mm, 140-grain

plain why. The reason is probablybecause the tube’s interior isthreaded with a right-handedtwist. Turning the tube clockwisewill encourage the powder grainsto follow the threads toward theopen end of the tube wherethey’ll drop into the pan sittingon the loading platform below.

Two powder trickling experi-ments were also conducted: onewith H-4227, a fine-grained pro-pellant, and another with IMR-7828, a coarse, stick-grainedtype. Both fed uniformly throughthe trickler, and once I developeda feel for the dispenser tube, con-trolling the powder flow becamenext to second nature.

As a cast-bullet aficionado from’way back, weighing as-cast slugshas become SOP before attempt-ing to size or lube them. Thatbeing so, it seemed a bonny ideato see how the 1500 would han-dle that chore.

First up were some sized, lubedand gas-checked custom-mouldedhandgun bullets cast from RCBSmould 357-180-SIL. Eighteenwere weighed. Catalog weights,as indicated, were 180 grains, butthese had been cast hard (alloy


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Handloader 244

So much for the weighing tests.Admittedly, there are many moreexciting, certainly more interest-ing ways to spend time at a load-ing bench, but as any cast-bulletfan will testify, few more prof-itable. Weighing alloy slugs is thequickest, surest way to detecthidden flaws and prevent whatotherwise could be a few inexpli-cable flyers.

Lyman’s 1500XP made bulletweighing much faster than anyelectronic scale I’ve tried previ-ously. When a bullet was placedon the scale, its weight wasflashed on the display panelwithin two seconds – and part ofthose two seconds was con-sumed by my inability to hit thestopwatch buttons fast enough. Itwould be more accurate to statethat it “took less than two sec-onds for the weight of an objectto be flashed on the 1500’s dis-play panel.” That might not soundlike a big deal, but to somebodyin the process of weighingscores, perhaps hundreds, of castbullets or powder charges, any-thing that can speed things up isworth a cheer or two.

As you might suspect, there’s aflip side to all this speed and ac-curacy: The accompanying in-structions make it clear that theLyman scale won’t tolerate anyrough treatment. They emphasizethe fact that the 1500XP is a deli-cate instrument and must be han-dled accordingly. For example,they advise against mounting thescale on the same bench or tablewhere a loading tool is secured.Vibration emanating from the lat-ter’s operations could disturb thescale’s innards and affect itsreadings.

The 1500XP enjoys a one-yearwarranty, which states that a de-fective scale will be repaired orreplaced free of charge “providedthat the returned product has notbeen subjected to abuse, unrea-sonable use, tampering, neglector excessive wear.”

Suggested retail price of a1500XP is $169.99. – Al Miller

spitzers followed. According tothe display panel, their heft wasfairly uniform, only wavering be-tween 139.6 and 140.0 grains.Nine of the twenty weighed 139.9grains.

The last batch consisted of 10Barnes flatbased X-Bullets in6.5mm. According to their box,they weighed 130 grains. Theywere all that were left aftertesting loads in a couple of6.5mm rifles. The lightest ofthem weighed 129.6 grains; theheaviest, 130.6 grains. In a Rem-ington 700 6.5x55, those bulletswere driven from 2,800 to 2,900fps and grouped into an inchor slightly less at 100 yards,benchrest.


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The .38 TJ is the mostrecent addition to Star-line’s extensive list ofmore than 70 standardand custom cartridgecases. MSRP is $144 fora box of 1,000 and $68for a box of 500. Star-line cases are offeredfactory direct. For more

information, or to place an orderfor brass cases, call toll-free: 1-800-280-6660, or visit the Starlinewebsite: www.starlinebrass.com.Cartridge cases are usually ship-ped on the same day, or the dayafter, the order is received.

and special design enable thiscase to withstand the elevatedpressures of major loads, Starlinesays. When loading the .38 TJ,9mm or .233, shellholders arerecommended for most reloadingequipment.

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announced teamingup with Todd Jarrett tobuild a new case namedthe “.38 TJ.” “It’s greatwhen a shooter of Todd’scaliber comes to Star-line, because he knowswe provide the highestquality brass at a fairprice,” said StarlineVice President RobertHayden.

The .38 TJ is a heavy-duty, rimless version ofStarline’s .38 Super case.This design allows re-loaders to resize thecase all the way down to the ex-tractor groove, virtually eliminat-ing any bulge at the base. Therimless feature is designed to as-sure more reliable feeding withhigh-capacity magazines. Heaviermaterial, precise manufacturing

Ballistic coefficient rat-ings (BC) for this bulletare .601 for 2,600 fps orhigher velocities, .575 forvelocities between 2,300and 2,599 fps, .523 be-tween 2,050 and 2,299fps and .450 for veloci-ties from 1,800 to 2,049or slower.

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Old West Pistol Performance! - Rifle Magazine

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