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NORMA: THE SWEDISH BRASS EXPERTS

RIFLE’S

ANDLOADER
®

Ammunition Reloading Journal

THE INFAMOUS
.44 MAGNUM

10MM
AUTO
Loads for a New Colt
PERFECT Government Model
POWDERS
FOR THE
.22 HORNET

June 2018 No. 314

Missouri Bullet Company

Coated Cast Bullets Display until 7/16/18 Printed in USA
A recipe for self-defense...

.45 Cal. 230gr

Berry’s Hybrid Hollow Point
KNOCK OUT FOULING FOR 300 BLACKOUT.
Give your cleaning kit and hearing protection some
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for suppression and copper fouling elimination has arrived.

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 COLUMNS FEATURES

6 The Infamous
.44 Magnum
Reloader’s Press -
Dave Scovill

On the cover . . .
Colt Delta Elite Stainless 10mm
Auto with a 5-inch barrel.
Photo by Chris Downs. Page 56 . . .

38 Load
10mm Auto
Testing with a
Colt Delta Elite Stainless
Page 22 . . . Brian Pearce

10 Bullet Pullers:
Which to Use? 46 Norma Brass
Practical Handloading - Founded for Handloaders
Rick Jamison Terry Wieland

14 Power Pistol for

the .357 and
52 Missouri
Bullet Company
.44 Magnums Testing Coated Cast
Bullets & Brass - Handgun Bullets
Brian Pearce Page 62 . . . Mike Venturino

18 9.3x64mm 26 Cimarron
Firearms 56 MP Bullet Moulds
Brenneke Bad Boy A First Look at
Cartridge Board - .44 Magnum New Brass Moulds
Gil Sengel From the Hip - John Haviland
Brian Pearce

22 Ramshot
62 A Trio of Hornets
X-Terminator
Propellant Profiles -
30 Zeroing
Fixed-Sight Updated Loads for the
R.H. VanDenburg, Jr. Handguns .17, .22 and .22 K-Hornet
Mike’s Shootin’ Shack - John Barsness
Mike Venturino

34 6mm-06
Wildcat Cartridges -
Layne Simpson

70 The Backbone of
Handloading
Page 6 . . . In Range -
Terry Wieland Page 10 . . .

4 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 314

 The Infamous
®

.44 magnum
Ammunition Reloading Journal
ISSN 0017-7393
Volume 53 Number 3
Issue No. 314 June 2018
RELOADER’S PRESS by Dave Scovill
Publisher/President – Don Polacek

W hen .44 Magnum handguns

came up in a conversation
recently, it occurred to me that I
ries about those sixguns in vari-
ous gun publications.
Of course, all the stories were
Publishing Consultant – Mark Harris
Editor in Chief – Lee J. Hoots
Copy Editor – Andrew Buskey
had no idea where I was or what pretty much the same, reciting Production Director – Becky Pinkley
I was doing when it came out in how the .44 Magnum was the Graphic Designer – Kimberly Hernandez
1956. Apparently I was oblivious brainchild of Elmer Keith, who
to it, although I must have read along with the “.44 Associates,” Contributing Editors
something about it in a gun or had been loading the S&W .44 Dave Scovill
hunting-related publication by Special with heavy charges of Her- John Barsness Layne Simpson
the late 1960s, because it wasn’t cules 2400 under a Keith-type John Haviland Stan Trzoniec
a surprise to hear about it from Lyman No. 429421 250-grain cast Rick Jamison R.H. VanDenburg, Jr.
Brian Pearce Mike Venturino
Clarence Beeley, a gunsmith in Eu- semiwadcutter at upward of 1,200
Gil Sengel Terry Wieland
gene, Oregon, shortly before I went fps in those older S&W Triple
on active duty with the U.S. Navy Locks, every .44 Special N-frame Advertising
in late 1967. At that, I don’t remem- that followed it and pre-World War Advertising Director: Tammy Rossi
ber ever seeing a Smith & Wesson II Colt Single Actions. tammy@wolfepub.com
or Ruger Blackhawk .44 Magnum We were also advised how the Advertising Representative: Tom Bowman
bowman.t@sbcglobal.net
until I mustered out of the navy, al- S&W .44 Special evolved from the Advertising Representative: James Dietsch
though I would’ve had to be blind most accurate big-bore cartridge jamesdietsch@cox.net
not to notice all the glamorous sto- to come down the pike, the .44 Advertising Information: 1-800-899-7810
Russian that was .10 inch shorter Circulation
than the .44 Special case but used
Circulation Manager: Marie Wolf
the same 246-grain roundnose marie@wolfepub.com
lead bullet. That was followed by Subscription Information: 1-800-899-7810
some gobbledygook about how the www.handloadermagazine.com
.44 Special was originally loaded Handloader® (ISSN 0017-7393) is published bi-
with some new smokeless powder monthly by Polacek Publishing Corporation, dba
Wolfe Publishing Company (Don Polacek, Pres-
that bulked up so much it required ident), 2180 Gulf-stream, Ste. A, Prescott, Arizona
the use of a .10-inch longer case. 86301. Telephone: (928) 445-7810. Periodical Post-
age paid at Prescott, Arizona, and additional mail-
No one seemed to know the name ing offices. Subscription prices: U.S. possessions
of the new mystery powder, but it – single issue, $5.99; 6 issues, $22.97; 12 issues,
$39.00. Foreign and Canada – single issue, $5.99;
was, nonetheless, one of the stan- 6 issues $29.00; 12 issues, $51.00. Please allow 8-10
dard talking points in any discus- weeks for first issue. Advertising rates furnished
on request. All rights reserved.
sion about the history of the .44s. Change of address: Please give six weeks notice.
At any rate, sometime in the Send both the old and new address, plus mailing
label if possible, to Circulation Dept., Handloader®
early 1970s a Hawes Western Mar- Magazine, 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, Prescott, Ari-
shal .44 Magnum with a 6.5-inch zona 86301. POSTMASTER: Send address changes
to Handloader®, 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, Prescott,
barrel showed up on a table at a Arizona 86301.
local gun show, and I took the big Canadian returns: PM #40612608. Pitney Bowes,
P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2.
.44 home. While the frame of the
Wolfe Publishing Co.
Hawes was/is a bit larger than a 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A
Colt SAA, it handled well enough Prescott, AZ 86301
and seemed to shoot where the Tel: (928) 445-7810 Fax: (928) 778-5124
© Polacek Publishing Corporation
sights were pointed. I was shoot-
Publisher of Handloader® is not responsible for
ing a Smith & Wesson Second mishaps of any nature that might occur from use
Model Hand Ejector .44 Target at of published loading data or from recommenda-
tions by any member of The Staff. No part of this
the time, and the same .44 Special publication may be reproduced without written
loads used in the S&W, 13.5 grains permission from the publisher. Publisher assumes
all North American Rights upon acceptance and
of 2400 with the Markell cast bul- payment for all manuscripts. Although all possible
2020 W. Quail Avenue - Dept. HL let copy of the Lyman/Keith bullet, care is exercised, the publisher cannot accept re-
Phoenix, AZ 85027 were initially used in the Hawes. sponsibility for lost or mutilated manuscripts.

6 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 314

The Clint Eastwood film Dirty a load again. The problem was I illusive for quite some time. I did,
Harry came out in late 1971 and still didn’t have any .44 Magnum however, locate a few boxes of .44
was still burning in the minds of brass or factory loads. S&W Special factory loads and
some who lusted after the “most Perusing local sporting goods the occasional box of .44 Russian
powerful handgun in the world,” stores and gun shows from the Co- that apparently had become obso-
and you couldn’t find a box of .44 lumbia River to the north and the lete almost overnight, but which,
Magnum factory loads or a Smith Oregon/California border to the prior to the advent of the .44 Mag-
& Wesson Model 29 anywhere for south, Smith & Wesson .44 Mag- num, had been somewhat popular
sale in the country. Ditto for the nums and ammunition remained target and plinking loads in Smith
Ruger .44s. So the logical solution,
it seemed, was to work up to El-
mer Keith’s load using 16.5 to 17.5
grains of 2400 with the Markell
cast bullets in .44 Special cases for
the Hawes, and make sure none
of those bullets were fired in the
old, circa 1916, Second Model, al-
though some handgun experts of
the day seemed to think that prac-
tice was acceptable.
Well, the inevitable finally hap-
pened, and one of the Keith loads
found its way into the Second
Model. My first reaction to the shot
was to look at the gun, to see if all
The popularity of the Smith & Wesson Model 29 and 629 .44 Magnum has bene-
the parts were still attached. They fitted from a long list of factory loads, like the more recent Winchester Razor
were, and it immediately became Back and handloads with a variety of cast bullet designs, such as the Lyman/Keith
standard practice to never stuff semiwadcutter. After-market features include Pachmayr presentation stocks and
.44 S&W Special cases with such Mag-na-ported barrel to help control recoil with heavy loads.

June-July 2018 www.handloadermagazine.com 7

 This stainless steel Smith & Wesson Model 629-2 preceded
A five-shot Smith & Wesson Mountain Lite (Air Lite Ti) provides the Mountain Gun by a couple of years. Carried in a holster
security for Dave’s wife, Roberta, at home or on the road with or back pocket, it provides a fine everyday companion with
CCI Blazer 200-grain Gold Dot hollowpoint loads. a variety of factory loads or handloads.

& Wesson and Colt .44 Specials or originally loaded with 26 grains of cartridge and afterward in the
relatively rare .44 Russian revolv- black powder – no mention of any Model 1909 .45 Colt, in which it
ers. In the meantime, I wound up bulky smokeless powder. That left replaced Bullseye. While it would
shooting a lot of .44 Special loads Julian Hatcher as the only source appear that Hatcher was aware of
in the Hawes and found it to be ca- known to me at the time that cited the search to find a bulky smoke-
pable of excellent accuracy, easily the bulky smokeless load that less powder to replace Bullseye,
the equal of the Smith & Wesson made it necessary to lengthen the which was probably RSQ, he may
Second Model Target and later a .44 Russian case. not have been aware that it was
Colt SAA .44 Special. Ironically, while research on the not available to the civilian market
While I was basically stuck .44 Special failed to shed any light until 1909, five years after the .44
with the .44 Special and a cou- on the name of the bulky smoke- S&W Special went public, and was
ple of other sixguns chambered less powder Hatcher was referring discontinued in 1911.
for the .38 Special and .45 Colt, I to, it was information provided Eventually, I received a phone
was more interested in the Special by Phil Sharpe on page 172 of his call from a friend who worked in
than the Magnum and eventually Complete Guide to Handloading a local sporting goods store advis-
acquired a few Smith & Wesson (1937) regarding the development ing he had just received a couple
reference books, two of which of the 1909 .45 Colt military load boxes of Remington .44 Magnum
stated that the .44 Special was that finally shed some light on the loads. Within an hour of leaving
matter. the store with a 50-round box of
As it turned out, around 1906 factory loads, I was out on nearby
Rifledjag.com or shortly before, automatic load- BLM land and touched off the first
“The best barrel grooves ing machines at the government round in the Hawes.
cleaning tool” arsenal were dropping an occa- Compared to the .44 Special
“It gets the corners” sional double charge in .45 Colt loads I had been shooting for quite
Check out our website! loads (roughly 12 grains of Bulls- some time, the Remington factory
eye). The result was a wrecked re- loads were, well . . . shocking. My
volver. So the military was looking first thought was to wonder how
for a powder that would be bulky they could harness that kind of
John henriCh enough to prevent a double charge. power in a handgun. The fireball
Company, inC. The solution was based on Schultz that erupted from the muzzle
Custom Gunsmith, Fine Firearms & aCCoutrements shotgun powder dubbed RSQ that of the 6.5-inch Hawes barrel in
4 SCHOOL-TRAINED GUNSMITHS would overfill the case in the event the evening shade was almost
4 TRADITIONAL GUNSMITHING
of a double charge, but even if the blinding, and recoil . . . simply
bullet was seated, it wouldn’t blow awe inspiring. It was about like
4 DISABLED COMBAT VETERAN
OWNED BUSINESS
the gun up upon the first firing but touching off that one shot of 17.5
might crack it open with the sec- grains of 2400 with the 250-grain
“A FULL SERVICE SHOP FOR
ond shot in the same chamber. Keith-type cast semiwadcutter in
THE SPORTSMAN & WOMAN.”
Either way, the blowup was not the relatively lightweight Smith &
ADAM G. HENRICH
PRESIDENT, GUNSMITH nearly so violent as that caused by Wesson Second Model .44 Special
(716) 992-3985 a double charge of Bullseye. Target with factory stocks, nasty
www.JohnHenrich.com The first use of RSQ was in the but controllable.
Model 1906 .45 Colt experimental Shooting up 50 rounds of Rem-
8 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 314
ington .44 Magnum factory loads to hunt big game with handguns While it seemed every gun
taught me that if there are any in most states in those days, I ad- writer in the business was fawning
discrepancies in shooting tech- opted the Lyman No. 429421 cast over the .44 Magnum, it appeared
nique, they will show up almost bullet seated over 20 grains of that most folks who were lucky
immediately, especially in the 2400 at roughly 1,200 fps. This was enough to latch on to one decided,
plow-handled Hawes. So it took a about the same as Elmer Keith’s like I did, that all the power wasn’t
while to get used to handling the heavier load in a 4-inch barrel, really necessary for knocking
revolver consistently and prop- according to the Lyman manual around in the woods and decided
erly while shooting. Beyond that, on hand, and was nearly perfect to tame it down with handloads.
it soon became easy enough to for regular use when hunting var- That also produced a shortage of
handle, but since it wasn’t legal mints or small game. (Continued on page 67)

Left, the Smith & Wesson New Century (aka Triple Lock)
was introduced with the .44 S&W Special in 1906/07. Popular
factory loads included (left to right): the 246-grain lead
bullet, metal-capped lead bullet and wadcutter target loads.
Handloaders preferred the 245-grain Lyman/Keith case
semiwadcutter. Below, the Colt New Service .44 Russian
Target Model set several world target records in the early
1900s, none of which were surpassed by the .44 Special.

June-July 2018 www.handloadermagazine.com 9

 BulleT Pullers:
WhIch To use?
PRACTICAL HANDLOADING by Rick Jamison
A bullet puller comes in handy if you find a
better load and want to reload previously as-
sembled rounds, or to check whether you put powder
1 2 3 4

in a case simply to make sure; a bullet puller reveals

the answer. You might want to pull bullets and replace
them with another type. Whatever the reason, a bullet
puller is almost a necessity on every loading bench.
Depending on the situation, a specific type of bullet
puller might be more convenient, or even necessary,
over another type. There are basically three types of
pullers commonly in use: the inertia puller, the collet
puller and the plier-type puller.
The inertia puller uses the weight of a bullet in a
hammering motion to “pull itself.” This puller resem-
bles a hammer with a cartridge inserted inside a hol- A (1) new Hornady .224-inch V-MAX was used as a control
low, impact-resistant plastic head and is held fast by bullet to show the gripping damage caused by an (2) inertia
the cartridge’s rim, usually in a three-piece universal puller, a (3) collet puller and a (4) bullet pulled with pliers.
shellholder with the parts held together by an encir-
cling rubber O-ring or wire spring. A cap is screwed ing on a hard surface. An inertia puller is used com-
onto the hammer head to secure the shellholder and pletely separate from a loading press, so any loading
cartridge. With the cartridge inserted, sharp, ham- die or process does not have to be interrupted to pull
mering blows pull the bullet from the cartridge. An in- a bullet from a single round. In addition, an inertia
ertia puller can be convenient for pulling the bullet off puller does not deform a bullet’s sides like other types
a single round. It is a universal type of puller in that it of gripping pullers.
does not require a specific part for a given cartridge, Instead of using the case rim gripper supplied with
and it works well with heavy bullets. The heavier the an inertia puller, it can be replaced with a standard
bullet, the better it works. It can be difficult to remove shellholder, which does not come apart when the re-
a lightweight, .17-caliber bullet for example, because taining band becomes weak on the three-piece re-
the inertia is lacking. However, for a bullet that is tainer. However, if heavy pounding is required when
crimped on the ogive or close to the ogive, an inertia pulling a lightweight bullet, a case rim is more likely
puller may be the only way to remove it easily because to be damaged with a standard shellholder.
the bullet does not have to be gripped. The second type, a collet puller, is used in a load-
After a bullet is pulled, the powder and bullet are ing press. It has a die body with standard 7⁄8 x14 die
contained within the hollow plastic, so the cap must threads and is threaded into a loading press. A col-
be unscrewed and the powder and bullet separated. let or sleeve with slits allows the lower end of the
For this reason, the inertia puller is relatively slow to sleeve to be squeezed tighter by turning a lever on
use. Also, this type of puller is noisy due to hammer- top of the die. This forces the collet into a tapered

.223 Remington Bullet Puller Accuracy Test

group muzzle 100-yard ballistic
puller bullet powder charge size velocity velocity coefficient (G1)
(type) (grains) (grains) (inches) (fps) (fps)
Control bullet (factory new) 55 Hornady V-MAX TAC 26.0 1.5 3,192 2,830 .251
Inertia 1.4 3,206 2,841 .250
Collet 1.2 3,176 2,818 .253
Plier 8.9 3,197 2,766 .212
Notes: A Howa .223 Remington with a Wiseman 24-inch barrel and 1:8 rifling twist was used to test all loads. CCI 400 primers and R-P brass were used throughout.
Overall loaded length: 2.250 inches. This chart represents a 10-shot, 100-yard string from a machine rest. An Oehler Model 43 PBL with acoustic targets was used
to measure group size and ballistic coefficient based on measured muzzle velocity and time of flight.
For more data on this cartridge please visit LoadData.com.
Be Alert – Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data. Listed loads are only valid in the test firearms used. Reduce initial powder charge by 10 percent and work up while
watching for pressure signs.

10 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 314

housing, reducing the circumference at the lower end A collet puller does not work well when a bullet
and tightening around a bullet. A separate collet size is crimped on an ogive, or near it, as is the situation
is necessary for each bullet diameter. A cartridge is with many pistol cartridges. The reason is that the
placed in the press shellholder, the ram is raised to collet needs a straight section of bullet for gripping.
insert the loaded bullet into the collet, the collet is However, since this type of puller does not rely on in-
tightened, and then lowering the ram pulls the case ertia, it works well for lightweight bullets as well as
off the bullet. heavy ones. As long as the collet-tightening force is
A collet puller is great for pulling bullets from a lot of controlled, bullet deformation is minimal.
rounds. It is fast to use once set up. When adjusted, the The third bullet puller, the one I call the “plier
top lever needs to be moved only a partial turn to grip type,” somewhat resembles a pair of pliers. Rather
or release a bullet. When pulled, the bullet is separated than having the pivot point between the gripping han-
from the powder. The powder is contained within the dles and the jaws, however, this puller has the pivot
upright case for convenient dumping into a container. point at the extreme end away from the handles.

Once the collet is adjusted, a collet-type bullet puller requires

A plier-type bullet puller is used with a press. only a short movement of the collet lever.

June-July 2018 www.handloadermagazine.com 11

 Advantages
and Disadvantages
InertIa Puller
Use when a bullet needs to be pulled from
a single round and you prefer not to remove
the die. Use on a bullet that is seated with the
case mouth on or very near the ogive.
advantages
• Convenient and quick These case rims illustrate what can
• Does not require a press happen when a conventional shell- A conventional shellholder (left) is
holder is used in an inertia puller to shown with an inertia puller shell-
• Does not require dies to be removed
grip a case rim when lightwight bullets holder (right). Either can be used in an
from press
are being pulled. The rim is completely inertia bullet puller.
• Does not require a straight section of broken off on the left and partially
bullet to be exposed for pulling broken off on the right. the collet puller or the plier-type
• Minimal bullet deformation puller can deform a soft bullet,
• Not caliber-specific There are a series of cavities of such as a varmint bullet, when
dIsadvantages different circumferences with half pulling. So how much does this de-
• Does not work well with lightweight of each cavity in each side of the formation affect accuracy? Thin-
bullets plier handles. In use, a cartridge is jacket and soft lead-core varmint
• Noisy placed in a press shellholder, then bullets are the easiest and most
• Bullet and powder are mixed during the ram is raised until the bullet likely to be deformed, so I chose
pulling extends through the die recepta- those for a recent test. I loaded,
• Shellholder tends to come apart when cle in the press. The bullet is then pulled, and then fired Hornady
rubber or spring weakens gripped with the plier-like device 55-grain V-MAX bullets from .22-
• Slow process using the cavity size appropriate 250 Remington cartridges. When
Collet Puller for the diameter of the bullet be- these bullets are seated to SAAMI
Use when several bullets need to be pulled. ing pulled. The press ram is then overall length specifications, there
lowered to extract the projectile. is almost no straight section of the
advantages This type of puller needs a straight bullet remaining above the case
• Fast to use for a whole series of bullet section of bullet for gripping like mouth. This makes them very diffi-
pulling the collet puller. It cannot grip a cult to pull with a plier-type puller,
• Powder remains contained in case bullet on the ogive. Also, since it and the bullets were notably de-
• Reduced bullet deformation requires the gripping motion ap- formed when pulling with this de-
• Cartridge and bullet are held square for plied with a user’s hands, a bullet vice. I pulled 10 of them, and also
straight bullet pull
can be deformed with this type 10 each with a collet puller and an
dIsadvantages of puller. Its use requires enough inertia puller. The inertia puller
• Requires specific collet for each caliber gripping force to keep the bullet left almost no marks on bullets,
• Cannot pull a bullet that is crimped on or from slipping while being pulled, while the collet puller deformed
near the ogive but not too much grip force so as bullets slightly.
• Can deform a bullet if excessive force is to deform the bullet. With prac- The bullets were reloaded into
required tice, the correct pressure is usu- four batches of .223 Remington
• Must install puller in press and adjust ally determined. This puller does cartridges. There were 10 rounds
PlIer-tyPe Puller require a press, and a die cannot each for the collet, plier and iner-
Use when a bullet or two needs to be pulled
be installed in the press when the tia pullers, and another 10 rounds
and damaging bullets or case necks isn’t im- puller is used. as a control batch using facto-
portant. Bullets are expensive and once ry-new component bullets. The
pulled, a handloader may still Hornady 55-grain V-MAX load con-
advantages
want to shoot them. So how does tained 26.0 grains of TAC propel-
• Quick to use
bullet pulling affect accuracy? lant with an overall loaded length
• No special tooling or die installation
It depends. I once ran tests us- of 2.250 inches. I then fired a 10-
• One plier works for several calibers
ing tough bullets designed for big shot string of each batch at 100
dIsadvantages game with a lot of straight section yards to see how pulling devices
• Limited pulling cavities; multiple pliers extending from case mouths for affect accuracy. The results are
are required for all calibers gripping. The result was that bul- spelled out in the accompanying
• Can deform a bullet if excessive force is lets pulled with all three systems table. In summary, the plier-pulled
required
shot well. None of the bullets had bullets were the only ones affected
• Cannot pull a bullet that is crimped on or
been visually damaged to any ap- significantly. They were severely
near the ogive
• Pull is not precisely straight
preciable extent. deformed and the results are not
However, it is true that either surprising. •
12 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 314
 PUT DOWN
THE CLEANING ROD.
CRUSH
THE COMPETITION.

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 PoWer PIsTol for The
.357 anD .44 magnums
BULLETS & BRASS by Brian Pearce
Q : You often use (and speak
highly of) Alliant Power Pis-
tol powder in many of your re-
Loads for the .357 and .44 Magnum containing
Alliant Power Pistol require caution when
volver loads such as .38 Special, approaching maximum powder charges.
.44 Special and .45 Colt. I pur-
chased a quantity of powder and
have been very pleased with your
data for those cartridges. How-
ever, I have not seen you list many
loads in .357 Magnum and .44 Mag-
num using this powder. Can you
give me maximum powder charges
with the Speer 158-grain Gold Dot
HP and Nosler 240-grain JHP bul-
lets in those two cartridges?
- J.J., via e-mail
A: Alliant Power Pistol is a me-
dium burn-rate pistol powder. It
thrives when loaded with stan-
dard weight bullets (for caliber) GP100 with a 6-inch barrel. These a magnum primer or pressures
and at moderate pressures that loads were assembled in Starline will increase substantially.
typically fall within 12,000 to cases with CCI 500 primers. It is .308 marlIn exPress Deer loaDs
20,000 psi. When loaded to mag- very important to use a standard, Q: I am one of the lucky few that
num-pressure levels that typ- nonmagnum primer or pressures have a Marlin 308 MX levergun
ically reach 35,000 to 36,000 will increase substantially. chambered in the .308 Marlin Ex-
psi, pressure curves can become Using the 240-grain Nosler press. It has the 22-inch barrel
rather sharp, so maximum loads JHP bullet in the .44 Magnum, and with Hornady factory loads
should be approached with cau- start with 11.0 grains and work containing the 160-grain FTX bul-
tion. up to a maximum load of 12.5 let, actual velocity is just under
Using the Speer 158-grain Deep grains that produced 1,210 fps 2,600 fps. I have a 2.8-8x 32mm
Curl (formerly Gold Dot HP) .357 from a Ruger New Model Black- Leupold VX-3 scope on it and it
Magnum bullet, begin with 8.0 hawk Bisley with 5.5-inch barrel. will regularly stay inside 1-inch
grains and work up to a maxi- These loads were assembled in at 100-yards. I have taken several
mum charge of 9.0 grains, which Starline cases with CCI 300 Large Missouri whitetail deer with it,
produced 1,259 fps from a Ruger Pistol primers. Again, do not use each with a single shot.
I would like to duplicate the fac-
tory loads; however, the data that

Montana Bullet Works

• Large Selection of Handgun and Rifle Calibers
I obtained is falling considerably
short, as it is only pushing the Hor-
nady 160-grain FTX bullet to 2,300
for the Serious Handloader fps and is showing signs of near-
ing maximum pressure. Can you
• Various Alloy and Hardness Options make suggestions as to powder
• Premium Hand-Cast Bullets choice and charge weight?
Thanks in advance. I always
Montana Bullet Works learn from your articles and find
P.O. Box 1109 • Bonner, MT 59823 your data to perform exactly as
you state.
www.MontanaBulletWorks.com - V.H., Dallas, TX
Bruce@MontanaBulletWorks.com A: Using the Hornady 160-grain
FTX bullet, start with 41.0 grains

14 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 314

 Hodgdon LEVERevolution can be used to duplicate
factory load velocities in the .308 Marlin Express.

of Hodgdon LEVERevolution pow- will develop around 2,400 fps

der and work to no more than while the 43.5-grain load will
43.5 grains maximum. The above reach 2,600 fps.
loads were developed in Hornady Incidentally, I would suggest
cases with Winchester Large Rifle performing the seating and crimp-
primers. The 41.0-grain charge ing steps as separate operations.
.338 WInchesTer m agnum
Q: About 20 years ago I pur- der why they discontinued it, as
chased a large quantity of Fed- it worked flawlessly in my gun.
eral’s Premium High Energy .338 Do you have any thoughts on this
Winchester Magnum ammunition matter?
containing a Nosler 225-grain Par- In those days I did not hand-
tition bullet that was advertised to load, but today I do and very much
reach over 2,900 fps. In my Win- enjoy it. I would like to achieve
chester Model 70, that load would the same velocity with the Nos-
cut cloverleaf-size groups. I used ler 225-grain bullet with my hand-
it on many hunts, including Afri- loaded ammunition, but no one
can plains game, moose, bear and lists any data that approaches
other tough, thin-skinned game. those velocities. Can you offer a
It worked very well, but unfort- formula that will allow me to du-
unately that load is no longer plicate it? I have asked this same
available from Federal. I do won- question to two powder compa-

Alliant Reloder 19 powder is a top

choice for handloading the .338
Winchester Magnum stoked with
Nosler 225-grain Partition bullets.

June-July 2018 www.handloadermagazine.com 15

High Plains nies and they do not have any pow-
der or data that will allow me to
cases, as they have a larger capac-
ity and give less pressure. Begin
Reboring & Barrels, L.L.C. duplicate those loads. You are my with 74.0 grains of Alliant Re-
Offering Button and last hope. Any information that loder 19 powder, then work up to
Cut-Rifled Barrels. you can provide will be greatly 78.0 grains maximum, which will
produce 2,930 to 2,940 fps from
• Most calibers and twist rates appreciated.
• Some AR-15 barrels available - T.S., Anaconda, MT most 24-inch barrels. These loads
Contact: Norman Johnson A: I have asked Federal Cartridge were developed using Federal 215
nrjonsn@westriv.com why they have mostly discontin- Large Rifle Magnum primers.
Phone: 701-448-9188 ued their Premium High Energy .45 colT chamBer DImensIons
243 14th Avenue NW product line, but answers were Q: I recently purchased a new Ru-
Turtle Lake, ND 58575
vague. I can only speculate that ger New Model Blackhawk cham-
it was probably due to the in- bered in .45 Colt with an extra
creased pressures associated with cylinder in .45 ACP. I have been us-
Hand-Held high-performance loads. In short, ing cast bullets from RCBS mould
Depriming Tool most ammunition is well below 45-270-SAA in my Smith & Wes-
Deprime • Clean • Reload industry maximum average pres- son, USFA SAA and Ruger Bisley
• Fits cases with normal flash holes sure guidelines, usually at least with 5.5-inch barrel without prob-
from .20 caliber to .460 Weatherby lems, and always with your load
Magnum and .45-100 7 to 10 percent. The High Energy
loads reduced this margin enough data from Handloader magazine.
• No dies or shell holders needed
that some guns proved to be prob- The new gun will not chamber the
• Machined from aluminum
• Black anodized finish lematic (difficult case extraction, round. Basically the loaded car-
Now Selling hard bolt lift, etc.). tridges will not go deep enough
Internationally! The good news is that you can into the chamber. In speaking with
Harvey Deprimer Ruger about the problem, they
duplicate your desired .338 Win-
115 Airport Road will only test fire with Winchester
Lebanon, OR 97355 chester Magnum load with the
Super-X 250-grain RNFP bullets.
www.harveydeprimer.com Nosler 225-grain bullet. I would
Any help that you can offer is
suggest starting with Winchester
greatly appreciated. I very much
enjoy your writings and always
find your information useful.
- L.C., via e-mail
A: In your original letter, you
listed the model number, but I was
unable to verify the exact version
of Ruger New Model Blackhawk
that you have. I suspect that it
is built on the large frame, or
“.44 frame.” Many of these revolv-
ers, but not all, had very tight
chamber throats that measure
.448 to .450 inch, which was a
holdover measurement from the
black-powder-era chamber dimen-
sions of the Colt Single Action
Army revolvers that were inten-
tionally built with tight throats
to help build pressures. Those
dimensions were changed after
1900 during the smokeless-pow-
der era. Since Ruger first intro-
duced the Blackhawk .45 Colt
in 1970, throat sizes have been
all over the map. For example,
during the first three or four years
of production, most guns had
.448- to .450-inch throats, then
in the middle 1970s they were
changed to around .455 to .456
inch. Around 1997 Ruger went
16 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 314
 Ruger Blackhawk and New
Model Blackhawk .45 Colt
revolvers vary significantly in
throat size. To assure reliable
chambering of handloads, cast
bullets should be able to be
pushed through the throats.

fully. (Again, do not use a

loaded cartridge!) Using
a punch, preferably plas-
tic or brass, carefully tap
the dummy cartridge back
out of the chamber. Exam-
ine it carefully. If the tight
back to the smaller throat of .448 spot is the bullet’s front driving
to .450 inch for New Model Black- band, you will see correspond-
hawk, Bisley and Vaquero mod- ing marks on the band. If the
els. In 2005, with the introduction case is the problem, you will see
of the New Vaquero, Ruger finally scratches or a shiny spot when
did it exactly right, with most the cartridge is forced into the
measuring .452 inch, but the larg- chamber.
er-frame New Model Blackhawk It is possible your Ruger has a
retained the smaller throats for tighter chamber than your other
a period of time, while the New guns, and the roll crimp could be
Model Blackhawk .45 (also in excessive (in the form of a slight
Bisley variants) built on the 50th bulge), preventing proper cham-
Anniversary .357 frame size re- bering. If the cases have been fired
ceived .452-inch throats. in a levergun, sometimes there
If your revolver has the smaller can be a slight bulge just forward
throats, the full-caliber front driv- of the head, and some dies will
ing band of the RCBS 45-270-SAA not fully remove this bulge to al-
bullet will not allow your car- low reloaded cases to chamber in
tridges to chamber, assuming bul- guns with minimal dimension
lets are sized to .452 inch, the most chambers.
common size used by commercial If your revolver has undersized
and do-it-yourself casters. .448- to .450-inch throats, there
are a couple of solutions. Try siz-
Before concluding that the