.

38 WCF: Old But Still Capable

HANDLOADER
®

Ammunition Reloading Journal

Loading the
Big .50

.38 Special

December 2022 No. 341

.350 Legend Display until 01/09/23 Printed in USA

 .38 WC F: Old

COLUMNS FEATURES
HANDLOADER
Bu t Still Capa
ble
®

Ammunition Reloa

4 Go-To 30 .350
ding Journal
Handloads: Loading the Legend
The Right Load Big .50
A Useful but
for a Good Time Mysterious Cartridge
Reloader’s Press John Barsness
Jeremiah Polacek
Page 30 . . .
.38 Special

.350 Legend December 2022

No. 341
Printed in USA

On the cover . . .
A .50 BMG Barret M107A1.
Photo by Patrick Meitin.

Page 38 . . .
Page 4 . . .
38 Loading the Big .50
A Powerful
8 Hodgdon H-110
– Winchester 296
Barret M107A1
Patrick Meitin
Propellant Profiles
Randy Bimson
44 Really
.38 WCF
Old, but
12 Heavyweight
Loads for the
Bullet
Page 44 . . .
Still Capable
Terry Wieland
.357 Magnum
Bullets & Brass
Brian Pearce 50 Standard
.38 Special
Pressure Handloads
16 .30 WCF Smokeless
or .30-30 Winchester
Brian Pearce

(Part I)
Cartridge Board
Gil Sengel

26 .22 TCM
Wildcat Cartridges
Layne Simpson
Page 50 . . .

66 InIn Range
Search of Precision
Terry Wieland
Page 20 . . .
Page 66 . . .
20 Smith & Wesson
Model 22-4
.45 ACP Sixgun
From the Hip
Brian Pearce
Page 58 . . .
24 More Favorite
Bullet Moulds
Mike’s Shootin’ Shack 58 Colt U.S. Model 1917
.45 Auto Rim
Mike Venturino Mike Venturino

December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 3

 Go-To Handloads:
The Right Load for a Good Time
Reloader’s Press Jeremiah Polacek

E very handloader should keep

good notes as it’s a hard and
fast rule that each of us should fol-
low. 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 con-
stantly 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 fos-
silize.” 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 circum- Of all the gear taken, the most appreciated and used items included a good holster, a speedloader pouch
stances. Always trying to improve our and HKS speedloaders for the Python.
handloading through learning, edu-
cation and good, old-fashioned tink- renowned gunfighting school and to tunity for me to bring my own guns
ering. continue to hone skills and educate and ammunition. Of course, being a
Recently, an invitation to attend a myself, I promptly accepted. I was in- handloader, it seemed like a perfect
media shoot at Gunsite Academy ap- structed to bring 250 rounds for each time to test a series of pet loads in
peared in my inbox. The event was gun if I wanted to shoot a lot, along various scenarios and circumstances.
sponsored by Simply Rugged Hol- with eye and ear protection. Since the Excited to attend, the next step was
sters, Skinner Sights and others. With Gunsite Academy is close to where I to select firearms for this shoot with
the opportunity to attend a world- live, this presented a unique oppor- the main focus being on revolvers
and leverguns. If time permitted, we
would also be doing some work with
scout rifles as well. A Colt Python
in .357 Magnum, a Cimmaron 1873
lever action in .45 Colt, a Marlin
1895 SBL in .45-70 and a Cimma-
ron Single Action Army in .45 Colt
were all selected. With the variety of
cartridges selected, the next step was
to get ammunition. From a hand-
loader’s perspective, this was a simple
task of consulting notes and data that
was recorded for each of these fire-
arms. Some of the data was even de-
veloped during filming for Hand-
loader TV. After much time at the
bench, the ammunition was care-
fully loaded to the exact specifica-
tions from the notes. All loading was
Keeping good records of previously developed loads allowed for easy duplication of those loads for done on an Area 419 ZERO Reload-
whenever the stockpile begins to run low. ing Press, the precision and repeat-
4 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
 ability of this press comes in handy
for such situations. You can see all the
loads that I used and how they were
developed in the accompanying table.
I decided to run the same .45 Colt
load in both the rifle and the sixgun
to simplify things. Now, it was time
to take all the ammunition that was

Clearing a house with a 24-inch barreled

lever action was a new experience and
offered some unique challenges.

The “Military Crest” exercise offered an

interesting opportunity to stretch out the
ranges and fire from modified shooting
positions. All eyes were on the shooter and
the target when it was their turn to shoot.

Jeremiah is shown with Rob Leahay,

owner of Simply Rugged Holsters, after
shooting some height over bore drills.

loaded and test it at Gunsite to see

how well it stacked up in real-world
situations. More importantly, with
the ammunition variable known, to
see how well the shooter would per-
form and highlight what techniques
and skills need more work.
The next three days were nearly a
blur, obscured by muzzle flashes and
gun smoke. The first day was dedi-
cated to handguns. First up was the
Colt Python, and the array of .357
Magnum handloads I had set aside
for it. Most of the work was done
from the holster and for that, I had a
Simply Rugged 240, the name of the
company defines the holster perfectly.
Being a connoisseur of fine leather
from my cowboying days, I can ap-
preciate the thickness of the leather
and the quality of the product. I
was especially grateful for it since
my leather-working expertise would
be more akin to crude and ugly. In
addition to the handloads, some
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 5
Table I Handgun Go-To Handloads ®

overall 5-shot
loaded 15-yard
bullet powder charge primer length velocity group Ammunition Reloading Journal
( grains ) ( grains ) ( inches ) ( fps ) ( inches )
Volume 57 Number 6
Colt Python, .357 Magnum, 6-inch barrel
Issue No. 341 December 2022
158 Hornady Frontier Titegroup 3.6 CCI 500 1.590 812 2.06
3.8 1.590 843 2.07 Publisher/President – Don Polacek
4.0 1.590 861 1.25 Associate Publisher – Jeremiah Polacek
4.2 1.590 887 3.12
4.4 1.590 870 1.61 Publishing Consultant – Mark Harris
180 Rim Rock LBT-WFN w/GC A-9 11.8 1.575 1,326 1.82 Executive Secretary – Melanie Jayne
12.0 1.575 1,339 .83
Copy Editor – David Roddy
12.2 1.575 1,341 .74
12.4 1.575 1,307 1.54 Art Director – Chris Downs
12.6* 1.575 1,301 1.29 Production Director – Becky Pinkley
Cimarron Single Action Army, .45 Colt, 5.5-inch barrel
Graphic Designers – Matthew West
260 RCBS 45-255 IMR-4227 15.5 Federal 150 1.600 740 1.34
16.0 1.600 760 .92 Contributing Editors
16.5 1.600 819 .65
John Barsness Gil Sengel
17.0 1.600 842 .34
Randy Bimson Layne Simpson
17.5 1.600 880 .71
Patrick Meitin Stan Trzoniec
250 Remington Cast RN Unique 7.0 1.670 764 1.49
7.5 1.670 819 1.12 Brian Pearce Mike Venturino
8.0 1.670 897 .90 Terry Wieland
* Maximum load Advertising
Notes: Due to the nature of the subject matter, start loads are given but many maximum loads are not listed. All
velocities were recorded on an Oehler model 35P Chronograph at 10 feet. Starline brass was used throughout. Advertising Director: Casey Clifford
For more data on these cartridges please visit LoadData.com. [email protected]
Be Alert – Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data. Listed loads are only valid in the test firearms
used. Starting loads should not be reduced. Advertising Representative: James Dietsch
[email protected]
Double Tap .38 Special ammunition in your shooting cadence and recoil Advertising Information: 1-800-899-7810
was provided and promptly used in management among other things.
the Python. After expending lots The second day of the three-day Circulation
of ammunition and reflecting upon event was reserved for leverguns. Circulation Manager: Lacey Roy
[email protected]
the shooting at the end of the day, Zeroes were established and the Mar-
Subscription Information: 1-800-899-7810
there were a few takeaways, including lin 1895 was unveiled from its case www.handloadermagazine.com
things I normally overlooked during to make its range run. The selected Dealer Sales: Howard Traver
load development. How bullet shape loads were not light, wanting to see [email protected]
can affect my speed reloads, the dif- how the recoil would affect shoot- Handloader® (ISSN 0017-7393) is published bi-
ferences in powder charges can make ing offhand and if a flinch would monthly by Polacek Publishing Corporation, dba
Wolfe Publishing Company, 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A,
Prescott, Arizona 86301. Telephone: (928) 445-7810.
Table II Rifle Go-To Handloads Periodical Postage paid at Prescott, Arizona, and
additional mailing offices. Subscription prices: U.S.
possessions – single issue, $8.99; 6 issues, $25.99;
overall 5-shot 12 issues, $43.00. Foreign and Canada – single
loaded 100-yard issue, $9.99; 6 issues $33.00; 12 issues, $55.00.
bullet powder charge length velocity group Please allow 8-10 weeks for first issue. Advertising
( grains ) ( grains ) ( inches ) ( fps ) ( inches ) rates furnished on request. All rights reserved.
Change of address: Please give six weeks notice.
Marlin 1895 SBL, .45-70 Govt., 19-inch barrel* Send both the old and new address, plus mailing
405 HSM Cast RNFP IMR-4198 27.0 2.527 1,254 2.78 label if possible, to Circulation Dept., Handloader®
Magazine, 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, Prescott, Ari-
29.0 1,379 2.16 zona 86301. POSTMASTER: Send address changes
30.0 1,595 .99 to Handloader®, 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, Prescott,
Arizona 86301.
465 Montana Bullet Works A-2230 39.5 2.700 2,895 1.46 Canadian returns: PM #40612608. Pitney Bowes,
LBT-LFN w/GC 34.5 2.400 1,314 .72 P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2.
35.5 1,359 1.58 Wolfe Publishing Company
36.5 1,408 1.49 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A
37.5 1,448 2.18 Prescott, AZ 86301
Tel: (928) 445-7810 Fax: (928) 778-5124
38.0** 1,465 2.60
* Loads are only safe in lever actions of similar strength. These loads are not suitable for Trapdoor rifles. © Polacek Publishing Corporation
Publisher of Handloader® is not responsible for
** Maximum load mishaps of any nature that might occur from use
Notes: Due to the nature of the subject matter, start loads are given but many maximum loads are not listed. of published loading data or from recommenda-
All velocities were recorded on an Oehler model 35P Chronograph at 10 feet. WLR primers and Starline cases tions by any member of The Staff. No part of this
were used throughout. publication may be reproduced without written
For more data on these cartridges please visit LoadData.com. permission from the publisher. Publisher assumes
Be Alert – Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data. Listed loads are only valid in the test firearms all North American Rights upon acceptance and
used. Starting loads should not be reduced. payment for all manuscripts. Job 19:25-27

6 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341

 oped proved to be accurate and reli-
able. It pays to have a load that works
well in my sixgun as well as my rifle.
At some point, I will have to gather
chronograph data for the rifle along
with exact group measurements for
this load.
The third and final day was spent
shooting scout rifles and running
through various other scenarios to-
gether as a group. Many lessons were
learned here. Shooting from various
positions while on the “military crest”
exercise was eye-opening on how im-
portant it is to build a solid shooting
position. My performance here by far
needed the most improvement.
Overall, the experience was worth
its weight in gold and I am looking
forward to returning sometime soon.
Had it not been for already having
The Keith-style bullet cast from RCBS Mould
45-255 SWC has long been a favorite in the good loads worked up I would not
.45 Colt and has the track record to prove it. have been able to shoot as much as I
did. This highlights the importance
develop. Admittedly by the end of of keeping good notes, so a hand-
Keeping good notes is vital in order to duplicate
the day, it was a struggle and much loader can duplicate their work on loads. Using high-quality tools will also aid in the
thought was required to squeeze or demand. After three days of shoot- consistency of the ammunition.
press the trigger to keep from jerking ing, the repeatability and reliability
the trigger and sending a round low of the loads is without question. It is work, but just like with handload-
on paper. It was also interesting to also interesting to test handloads in ing, the learning never stops. If you
see how the recoil made me modify different environments, away from would like more information on the
my stance slightly putting one foot the bench. Things that are often over- event, check out our online exclu-
further back than what was normal. looked such as the amount of flash or sives at HandloaderMagazine.com. If
With the modified stance and advice smoke for a given propellant or how you would like more information on
of the instructors, the follow-up shots the recoil impulse changes not only the load development for some of
could be placed surprisingly fast. with powder but also bullet weight. these rifles and cartridges, go to our
After spending some time on the As for the shooter, I still need some YouTube channel Handloader TV. •
flat range, we were informed it was
time to move to more dynamic sit-
uations. For this, I opted to get out
NEW ! Handloader is now on YouTube !
Go to YouTube.com and check out our new channel: H andloader TV.
the Cimmaron 1873 chambered in
Click on the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified each time a new video is uploaded.
.45 Colt. Hindsight being 20/20,
this may not have been the best
choice. The first event was a shoot
house, and if you have ever tried to
clear a house with a 24-inch barreled
lever action, it presents a few chal-
lenges. The next range we stopped at
was called the Donga, and for this,
the long-barreled levergun made lit-
tle difference. At the end of the sec-
ond-day, performance was once again
self-evaluated and notes were made
on what needed work or refinement.
The ammunition performed very
well and the loads that were devel-
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 7
 Hodgdon H-110 – Winchester 296
Propellant Profiles Randy Bimson

I n the world of hunting rifles and

cartridges, there has been little in
decades that has stirred up as much
shoot. The introduction of the .350
Legend by Winchester Ammunition
in 2019 was a game changer from
interest as the opening of many, the get-go. A cartridge designed
mostly Midwest states, to allow hunt- specifically to meet the needs
ers the option of using centerfire rifles of the deer hunter taking
chambered for straight-walled car- advantage of the new reg-
tridges for deer hunting in areas ulations allowing certain
where the use of centerfire rifles were straight-walled cartridges
previously prohibited and/or allow- in rifles. As of this writing,
ing these rifles and cartridges to be there are at the very least,
used in areas previously restricted to a dozen makes/models of
muzzleloading firearms or shotguns. rifles, including bolt-action,
During my years as the director of single-shot and self-load-
technical affairs at the Sporting Arms ing, being chambered for
and Ammunition Manufacturers’ In- the .350 Legend and more
stitute (SAAMI), I came to appreciate coming online all the time.
that whether a new cartridge design A recent survey of a Winchester 296
lived a long commercial life or was good number of states’
destined to die due to lack of con- game laws (check your state’s regu-
sumer interest was, well, a real crap- lations!) shows a multitude of car- Hodgdon H-110

Manufacturer’s Select Cartridge-Specific

Handloads
overall
loaded barrel
bullet charge primer case length velocity length
( grains ) ( grains ) ( inches ) ( fps ) ( inches )

.350 Legend .10-inch squares

147 Hornady XTP 27.0 Winchester WSR Winchester 2.000 2,368 16.0
.357 Magnum tridges being approved: .350 Legend,
158 Hornady XTP 15.0 Winchester WSPM Winchester 1.580 1,619 18.5
.357 Magnum, .357 Maximum, .375
.41 Remington Magnum*
Winchester, .38-55, .38 Super, .40
220 Speer JSP 18.0 Winchester WLP Remington 1.580 1,352 10.0
.44 Remington Magnum
S&W, .401 Powermag, 10mm Auto,
240 Nosler JHP 23.0 Remington 2½ LP Winchester 1.600 1,750 20.0 .41 Remington Magnum, .41 Action
.450 Bushmaster Express, .44 S&W Special, .44 Rem-
300 Swift A-Frame HP 26.4 Winchester WSR Starline 2.065 1,484 24.0 ington Magnum, .44 Automag, .444
.475 Linebaugh** Marlin, .445 Super Mag, .45 ACP, .45
400 Hornady XTP 22.8 CCI 350 LPM Starline 1.765 1,332 22.0 Colt, .45 Super Mag, .45 Winchester
.500 Smith and Wesson Magnum* Magnum, .45 Silhouette, .450 Bush-
400 Sierra JSP 34.0 Winchester LRM Starline 2.050 1,514 10.0 master, .451 Detonics, .454 Casull,
* Indicates cartridges that are known to be chambered in rifles, but test barrels available at the time were .45-70 Govt., .45-90, .45-110, .460
handgun-length.
** Indicates that the load data source is LoadData.com.
Rowland, .460 S&W Mag, .475 Wid-
Notes: Hodgdon H-110/Winchester 296 was used throughout. All powder charges shown are referenced as ley Magnum, .475 Linebaugh, .480
“starting” loads by the propellant manufacturer. Use extreme caution and test-fire a sample watching for Ruger, .50 Action Express, .50 Line-
signs of excessive pressure before increasing any powder charge.
baugh, .50 Beowulf, .500 S&W Mag,
For more data on these cartridges 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 .50-70, .50-90, .50-100 and .50-110.
used. Reduce initial powder charge by 10 percent and work up while watching for signs of excessive pressure.
With the exception of 11 cartridges
8 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
originally designed as rifle cartridges, to the handloading market as a can- ered by many handloaders (myself in-
the rest evolved as handgun cartridges ister powder branded H-110. When cluded) to be the powder of choice for
with a case length of 1.800 inches the surplus supplies of H-110 were ex- such applications.
or less. The length of 1.800 inches is hausted, Hodgdon turned to the orig- H-110/W-296 is by chemical
currently the longest case for a car- inal source for a continuing supply. makeup a double-base propellant
tridge designed specifically for hand- In 1973 Olin/Winchester replaced with nitrocellulose being the prin-
guns and affirmed by SAAMI. It most of its then existing lineup of cipal energetic base and 10 percent
also happens to be one of the criteria Ball powders with a completely new nitroglycerine content being the sec-
used by many of the states to define line of Ball powders (Ball being a reg- ondary energetic base. H-110/W-296
straight-wall pistol cartridges allow- istered trademark). One of the new is formed of extremely fine-grained
able for use in rifles for deer hunting. powders introduced was Winchester flattened spheres, ranging in diame-
This brings me to this edition’s 296, for all intents and purposes, the ter from near specks to a diameter of
topic, Hodgdon H-110 and its twin, twin of the H-110 powder being mar- a nominal .037 inch. H-110/W-296 is
Winchester 296, (referred to here as keted at the time by Hodgdon. a “sparkly” silver-gray in color. A very
H-110/W-296) are propellants that While originally intended for dense powder, where water is assigned
just happen to be very capable per- loading the .30 Carbine cartridge, a value of 1.000 g/cc (g donating the
formers in many of the deer-hunting it has proved to be an exceptional weight in grams), H-110/W-296’s
authorized straight-wall cartridges, powder for loading the .410 shot- bulk density is .950 g/cc. The very
like the .350 Legend, listed above. shells, but with that exception, most fine granulation of H-110/W-296
H-110/W-296 is by no means a new of the H-110/W-296 used by hand- make it prime candidate for use with
kid on the block when it comes to loaders is burned in the straight- a good quality powder measure where
propellants. It first came onto the wall, high-intensity cartridges in the it will meter extraordinarily uniform
market circa 1962 when Hodgdon list above. From the .357 Magnum charges. In the most recently pub-
offered a military-surplus powder, to the .500 S&W Magnum, usually lished Hodgdon Relative Burn Rate
originally formulated by then Olin when loaded with the heavier range chart H-110/W-296 sits right in be-
Corporation/Winchester Ammunition of bullet weights, and the more recent tween Hodgdon Lil’Gun, which is
for the .30 M1 Carbine cartridge, .350 Legend, H-110/W-296 is consid- faster burning, and the slower burn-

10 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341

ing IMR 4227. H-110/W-296 is so nition, particularly in cold weather.
chemically stable and so highly re- Looking at any more recent Hodgdon
sistant to moisture absorption that and other reloading data and you will
it has, as best we know, virtually an now find both “starting” and “maxi-
unlimited storage life. mum” loads, and load data that does
It has been well-known in the hand- not call out the use of magnum prim-
loading community for many years ers. Use common sense and test your
that Hodgdon purchased spherical loads to ensure proper function in
powders from Winchester and in the your rifle under field conditions.
early 2000s, Hodgdon acknowledged While H-110/W-296 has limited
that their HS-6 and HS-7 shotshell applications in traditional rifle cate-
powers were the same as Winchester gory cartridges beyond the .30 Car-
branded 540 and 571 and any noted bine, .22 Hornet, .218 Bee, and a few
difference in performance was at- dual-purpose cartridges like the .221
tributed to normal lot-to-lot varia- Fireball, .256 Winchester Magnum,
tions. Looking at any of the recent .25-20, it is an excellent .410 shot-
Hodgdon reloading data manuals shell powder and has few peers when
and clearly it is the case with several it comes to loading so many of the
other Winchester and Hodgdon- “straight-wall” designated deer-hunt-
branded powders that are listed hav- ing cartridges.
ing identical ballistics with identical Personally, H-110/W-296 is my
component combinations: W-231 go-to powder for a great number of
and HP-38, W-760 and H-414, and the cartridges in the “straight-wall
of course, W-296 and H-110. deer-hunting cartridge” list above,
Winchester Ball powders have for particularly my long-standing favor-
many years been produced in a fa- ite, the .44 Remington Magnum.
cility located in Florida known as My hunting handgun, a S&W Per-
St. Marks powder plant, now owned formance Center 629 Hunter re-
and operated by General Dynamics. volver fitted with a Leupold M8 2x
Hodgdon has a licensing agreement pistol scope, shot from a Ransom
with Winchester Ammunition to de- International Multi-Caliber Steady
velop and market Winchester Ball Rest, six rounds loaded with 24
powders alongside Hodgdon’s in- grains of H-110 behind the Hornady
house brands. It is interesting to note 240-grain XTP bullet will regularly
that while under Winchester Ammu- shoot sub-2-inch groups at 100 yards
nition, the Winchester loading data when I do my part. Who can argue
booklets listed a number of caveats with performance like that?
relative to handloading with 296: H-110 is available in 1- and 8-pound
use data exactly as shown in the Win- containers while Winchester 296 is
chester loading data, never reduce packaged in 1-, 4- and 8-pound con-
charges of 296 powder; use a “very tainers. •
heavy crimp;” use a (Winchester) mag-
num pistol primer. It is my contention
• Spitzer, Flat Nose, or High BC ultra-low
that the caveats Winchester attached drag long-range hollow point bullets
to 296 were during the early days
• Custom Made Bullets hand swaged
of 1970s and 1980s when loading for superior accuracy.
high-performance magnum loads
• Hard to find and discontinued weights
was becoming more of an everyday
handloading practice and it was Win- • Small lot manufacturing available.

chester’s effort to educate the hand- • Order the exact bullet weight and style.
loader on the need for: high bullet • Ammo for Hunting & Personal Defense
pull (very heavy crimp); choose a
propellant that uses a high percentage
of the cartridge case’s powder capac- Check website for available calibers.
ity (high-load density); use a magnum GoldCountryAmmo.com
pistol primer to ensure consistent ig- 530-626-6702

December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 11

 Heavyweight Bullet Loads
for the .357 Magnum
Bullets & Brass Brian Pearce

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 equip-
ment to advance my new hobby. One
of the forums was discussing some of
your handload recipes for .357 Mag-
num, .32 Magnum and .44 Special,
which in turn introduced me to Hand- Rim Rock Bullets offers a 180-grain LBT-WFN with a gas-check bullet for the .357 Magnum, while Hodgdon
loader magazine and your fine arti- Lil’Gun and Alliant 2400 are top powder choices.
cles. I anxiously await each new issue.
I have a ton of questions that I second (fps). Another worthy load in- spreads with 2400 powder, it is import-
would like to ask you, but I better cludes 12 grains of Alliant 2400, which ant to use a standard small pistol primer,
limit it to just two. Years ago, I pur- will reach around 1,200 fps and is espe- such as the CCI 500 or Federal 100.
chased a quantity of Buffalo Bore cially accurate. However, to keep pres- Thank you for the compliment and
.357 Magnum ammunition that con- sures within limits and lower extreme welcome to Handloader magazine!
tained a 180-grain cast bullet. That
load was powerful and shot extremely Loads for a r emington modeL 14
well in my Smith & Wesson Model Q: I have a very old Remington gunsmith tells me that the old pump-
27-2. I would like to duplicate that Model 14 that belonged to my grand- action rifle is not strong enough to
load through handloading. Can you father. It came with a quantity of handle smokeless powder loads. The
tell me about a source for that bullet vintage Remington/Peters ammuni- gun is in good condition and retains
and can you suggest a powder type tion that shows signs of corrosion. around 95 percent of its original
and charge weight? Thank you in ad- I would like to shoot it, but a local finish. The bore is perfect. Can you
vance for your advice and keep up the
great work. Handloader is truly a re-
markable magazine.
P.B., via Facebook
A: The bullet that you are referencing
is offered by Rim Rock Bullets (rimrock
bullets.com) and is listed in their Gas
Check product line as 180-grain LBT-
WFN. It is a great field bullet and has
proven accurate in my tests. Using 15
grains of Hodgdon Lil’Gun powder will
more or less duplicate the factory loads
that you reference. It is suggested to use
a small pistol magnum primer with this
powder, such as the CCI 550 or Federal
200. From a 6-inch barrel, muzzle The .35 Remington has always been a smokeless powder cartridge. As long as loads are within SAAMI
velocity will be around 1,300 feet per pressure limits, all rifle types will safely handle this cartridge.

12 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341

 The Hawes Western Marshall The Bushmaster XM15 chambered in 5.56
chambered in .45 Colt will NATO and .223 Remington will probably
easily handle ammunition function more reliably with tipped bullets
loaded to 23,000 psi pressure. such as the Nosler Ballistic Tip than with
wide, fluted hollowpoint bullets.

verify the strength of this gun? My important roles that SAAMI brings to strength or suitable loads. The gun is
second question is; can you suggest our industry is the standardization of accurate and locks up tight. Any in-
loads that are safe for this rifle? cartridge specifications and pressures. In formation that you can provide about
B.S., Meadville, PA other words, ammunition that is within this gun would be great. And to what
A: The .35 Remington was introduced specifications, either handloads or fac- pressure level would you suggest that
in 1906 and first chambered in the tory loads, will work perfectly in your I load it to?
Model 8 auto-loading rifle. It was rifle or any rifle so chambered. S.C., via Facebook
a smokeless-powder cartridge from You don’t offer any idea of what bul- A: The Hawes Western Marshall (along
the very beginning. By around 1912, let, or bullet weight that you want to with sub models such as the Silver City
Remington introduced the Model 14 use, or what powders you have on hand. Marshall, Federal Marshall, Deputy
chambered in .35 Remington and Hornady and Sierra both offer a .358- Marshall, Chief Marshall, Montana
others, which evolved into the Model inch, 200-grain roundnose bullet that Marshall, Texas Marshall, etc.) were
14A in 1919 and in 1935 became the is designed specifically for the .35 Rem- made in West Germany by the well-
Model 141 (along with a few changes). ington, which has been the traditional known firm J.P Sauer & Sohn and
There were never any issues with the weight and profile for this cartridge for imported by Hawes Firearms from
above slide-action rifles offering proper more than 100 years and are profiled the early 1960s through the 1970s. A
strength for the .35 Remington car- for period chambers. I would suggest us- couple of other companies imported
tridge, with the Sporting Arms and ing 36 grains of IMR-3031, 38 grains variants including Herters and Hy
Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute of IMR-4895, or 41.5 grains of Win- Hunter. These guns were not modestly
(SAAMI) currently listing with a max- chester W-748 powder. Use a standard priced and neither were they especially
imum average pressure of 33,500 psi, or large rifle primer and reduce the above handsome; rather, they were an option
formerly at 35,000 CUP. One of the charge weights of IMR-3031 and IMR- for those wanting a fixed-sight, single-
4895 powders by 5 to 7 percent for your action sixgun and was most popular
starting loads. After watching for signs in .357 and .44 Magnum. They were
Increase Accuracy of excess pressure, work up to the above offered before the popular Italian im-
Extended Cartridge Life listed charge weights. Loads containing ported Colt SAA clones that we enjoy
Consistent • Fast • Perfect Winchester W-748 powder should be today. While their back strap, trigger
Made in the USA used exactly as listed. guard and ejector-rod housing were
You have inherited a classic, well- constructed of sintered alloy, the cyl-
made rifle that I am certain you will inders and barrels were constructed
enjoy shooting. of a European chrome-moly steel
H awes western m arsHaLL that was comparable to USA 4140
Q: I am a fan of the .45 Colt car- chrome-moly series steel. Dimensionally,
tridge and have several revolvers, both their cylinders are very similar to the
double and single actions so cham- Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt (as built on
bered. I handload my ammunition the Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum
Anneal-Rite to different pressure levels to match frame).
cartridgeanneal.com ~ View Demo Video
[email protected] each gun. One of my guns is a Hawes However, I am unaware of any sci-
479-629-5566 Western Marshall that I have never entific tests that fully prove the strength
heard or read anything regarding its of the Hawes Western Marshall. For
14 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
these reasons, I am going to be conser- crimped in place using a Lee Factory Colt developed a 52-degree feed ramp
vative and suggest that you limit your Crimp die. Cartridges chamber nor- for its M4. After the patents expired
handloads to 23,000 psi, which is the mally when they are loaded directly during the Federal Assault Weapons
same pressure level that I recommend into the chamber, but they fail to feed Ban (1994-2004), other manufactur-
for the Ruger New Model Blackhawk about half of the time when loaded in ers began offering guns with the same
.45 built on the .357 50th Anniversary standard steel magazines. I purchased specification. The point is that the prob-
“medium” frame. some Winchester 40-grain hollow- lem is largely solved with most AR-
faiLure to feed point factory loads and they do ex- style rifles manufactured for the last
Q: More than 20 years ago, I pur- actly the same thing. Do you have 20 years.
chased a Bushmaster Model XM15 any suggestions to make my hand- A gunsmith that specializes in
chambered in .223 and 5.56 NATO loads work? AR-pattern rifles should be able to cor-
with 16-inch barrel and non-threaded J. H., Butte, MT rect this problem. If you do not want to
barrel. I have mainly fired it with A: It is hard to fully evaluate your have your rifle modified, or don’t have
55-grain FMJ profile bulk factory problem from your letter, but there are time before your next varmint shoot, I
loads from Federal Cartridge and multiple items that you might change. would suggest trying 40-grain tipped
Remington UMC and it has been I am guessing (based on the era of your bullets such as the Nosler Ballistic Tip
fairly reliable. However, I wanted rifle) that it features the 45-degree or Hornady V-MAX pushed with 27.5
to use it as a backup to my favorite feed ramp that is causing the hollow- grains of Ramshot Tac powder.
bolt-action rifle on two upcoming point bullets to hang up upon feed- One other item that you might
varmints shoots (more specifically ing. In short, AR-pattern rifles, such as change is your magazine. The MAGPUL
prairie dogs). I purchased a bulk yours, that feature the short M4-style Pmag features an anti-tilt follower
quantity of 40-grain fluted crimp- forearm results in much greater cycling that might completely solve your
style hollowpoint bullets and loaded speed or bolt velocity when compared to feeding problem. They are inexpensive
those using 27.5 grains of Ramshot AR rifles with the long or traditional and I would suggest trying one before
TAC powder in commercial cases. length forearm. This combination re- modifying your feed ramp or changing
Cases were full-length sized with a sults in some bullets hanging up dur- your load.
small base sizer die and bullets are ing feeding. To remedy this problem, Good luck on your varmint shoots. •

December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 15

 .30 WCF Smokeless or .30-30 Winchester
(Part I)
Cartridge Board Gil Sengel

M y tenure with this column is

now something over 30 years,
so regular readers will wonder why
F I G H

I haven’t already covered a popular E

round like the .30-30 Winchester? It
D
was listed before my time, but the col- C
B
umn was then shorter in length so in- A
formation had to be left out. This will
be included now, plus more that has Cartridge Dimensions E - Rim Diameter . . . . . . . 0.506
A - Overall Length . . . . . . . .2.550 F - Head Diameter . . . . . . 0.422
been learned about this fascinating
B - Case Length . . . . . . . . . 2.039 G - Shoulder Diameter . . . . . 0.401
old round. One solid fact is that the C - Length to Neck . . . . . . . 1.563 H - Neck Diameter . . . . . . . . . 0.330
.30-30 is far from dead or obsolete. D - Length to Shoulder . . . . 1.440 I - Shoulder Angle . . . . . . . . . 15º39'
It is perhaps more useful today than NOTE: Dimensions may vary among manufacturers.
during its first 20 years of existence!
The road to the .30-30 runs and carbines about 7.5 pounds, but Smokeless powder was still mys-
through Winchester’s levergun de- their black-powder cartridges only terious, so in order to get a lighter,
signs of the last half of the nine- generated 400-750 foot-pounds of handier arm, Winchester scaled down
teenth-century. The earliest rifles muzzle energy. That is less than most the Model 1866 to produce the lovely
(Model 1866 and Model 1873) used .44 Magnum handgun loads. Model 1892. Unfortunately, the only
what is often called a toggle or tog- John Browning saved Winchester cartridges it could chamber were the
gle-lock mechanism to resist the rear- with what became known as the same three used in the earlier Model
ward force on the breechblock when a Model 1886. Firing big cartridges 1873. All black powder of course.
cartridge was fired. Think of this as a of up to .50 caliber, the rifle kicked, One good thing was a decrease in
Luger pistol action, but upside down as the old-timers phrased it, “Like a gun weight. Rifles weighed about 7
and inside the receiver where it can’t Missouri mule!” This despite a gun pounds and carbines were around 6
be seen. Such a system is not very weight of 9 to 10 pounds. pounds.
strong and subject to wear that causes Despite the low-powered rounds of
headspace to increase. The guns were the Model 1892, the gun was com-
also heavy with rifles about 9 pounds monly used on whitetail deer and
black bear instead of larger, harder-
1 2 3 4
kicking cartridges. Many animals
were taken, but a lot had to have
escaped due to insufficient bullet
energy. As was said earlier, these
small rounds generated less energy
than most .44 Magnum handgun
loads today and tales of deer run-
ning off into the forest after be-
ing shot with it are not uncommon.
This was one of the reasons for the
creation of the .454 Casull, .480
Ruger, etc.
With the introduction of the
Winchester Model 1892, the com-
Left to right: an early .25-35 Smokeless with pany had nearly the entire field of
The (1) black powder .32-40 and (2) .38-55 were 117-grain full patch bullet, an WRA CO .30 WCF black-powder hunting cartridges cov-
the first rounds chambered in the Model 1894 Smokeless with its first bullet and a 160-grain
rifle, followed by the (3) .25-35 Smokeless and full patch roundnose. A flatpoint bullet was not ered by it and the Model 1886. Those
(4) .30 WCF Smokeless some 10 months later. seen until after World War II. that were simply too huge to fit in any
16 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
By 1890, Winchester wanted to replace the Model 1873 because the action
was considered weak, the gun heavy and its .32-20, .38-40 and .44-40 Winchester’s lovely Model 1892 was light and strong, but was too small for
cartridges no more than pistol rounds. anything but the Model 1873’s .32-20, .38-40 and .44-40 rounds.

repeater were available in the gone, but Winchester some-

Winchester Single Shot. how got involved in drawing
While it would appear cases and making .30-caliber
the situation could not have bullets. This seems to be the
been better for Winchester, first mention of a .30-cailber
there was one overwhelm- bullet in a smokeless powder
ing concern growing larger cartridge.
every day. That was the The result of this work
production of a smokeless was the adoption of the U.S.
powder by France in 1885. Army (.30-40 Krag) in June
Fielding of a new repeat- 1892. How much “develop-
ing rifle to fire a smokeless Browning’s Model 1886 gave Winchester a big, powerful levergun that was ment” went into this round
cartridge called the 8mm heavy and fired big, hard-kicking cartridges like the .45-70 shown here. is questionable as it is just
Lebel. France sealed the deal a .303 British of 1888 with
in 1888. Smokeless powder was avail- would add smokeless loads as fast as the case shortened .040 inch and the
able and everyone wanted their car- they could be developed. bullet is reduced .003 inch in diam-
tridges loaded with it. At first, all development went to- eter. There can be little doubt that
By the early 1890s, powder com- ward simply replacing black powder
panies had been formed and were with smokeless. Bullet weights and
selling smokeless compounds to muzzle velocities were not changed.
anyone who would buy them. Win- Then, at the same time, the U.S.
chester began experimenting with Army Ordnance Office wanted to
smokeless powders at this time, but adopt a small-caliber smokeless mili-
the many varieties available and poor tary round. No doubt the new French,
uniformity from batch-to-batch made German and British cartridges were
the work go slowly. Nevertheless, the the reason. Springfield Armory began
company promised its customers it this work, and these records are now

.30 WCF Handloads

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

156 Lyman 311440 w/GC SR-4759 18.5 2.550 1,910

H-335 25.0 1,980
RL-7 23.0 1,999
W-748 28.5 1,979
Notes: A Savage M1899 rifle with a 26-inch barrel was used to test all loads. There are no 160-grain full-
patch, roundnose bullets available with which to duplicate the original factory load. However, Lyman 311440
shown in the table above weighs about 160 grains from Gil’s mould. Remington cases and Winchester LR
primers were used throughout. Velocities were chronographed at 10 feet on an Oehler M35 chronograph.
For more data on this cartridge please visit LoadData.com. A page from the August 1895 Winchester catalog
Be Alert – Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data. Listed loads are only valid in the test firearms showing the first mention of .25-35 Smokeless
used. Reduce initial powder charge by 10 percent and work up while watching for signs of excessive pressure.
and .30 WCF Smokeless.

December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 17

 The Model 1899 Savage (top) was quickly chambered for .30 WCF Smokeless.
An early Model 1894 carbine (bottom) has had most all parts replaced except the
barreled receiver and lever. Still, it takes a deer from a tree stand every year.

Winchester’s work with the .30-cal- difficult to machine. Winchester’s taking deer and black bear. It was as
iber Springfield round, and its later William Mason solved that problem. simple as that.
adoption by the army, is the reason The alloy was employed until 1909 The November 1894 Winchester
that caliber was later picked for one of when .25-30 carbon and .5 manga- catalog announced the new Model
Winchester’s first two smokeless pow- nese were added, producing a steel 1894 rifle in only .32-40 and .38-55
der cartridges. used by Winchester for 35 years in (both black-powder rounds) with the
Even though Winchester quickly barrels marked “NICKEL STEEL.” lead sentence, “We believe that no
offered loaded ammunition for the Next is the idea that Winchester repeating rifle system ever made will
.30 U.S. and chambered the fa- needed a “smokeless powder action” appeal to the eye and understanding
mous Single Shot Model for it, Win- for its new cartridges. John Brown- of the rifleman as this will, and that
chester’s own cartridges would not be ing designed what became the Model use will continue to warrant first im-
ready for a while. There was a good 1894 action especially for smokeless pressions.” That was no exaggeration!
reason for this. The companies exper- powder. All this seems to be just so Rifles weighed 7.5 pounds and car-
ience with smokeless powders showed much storytelling! By the 1890s, bines were 5.75 pounds.
that its high-burning temperatures much progress had been made in Nine months later, Winchester
quickly eroded rifling. The U.S. Navy, the production of steels that were catalog No. 55 simply listed two new
however, had just begun using steel stronger than ever before. Hot forg- cartridges, .25-35 Smokeless and .30
alloyed with nickel for warship con- ing gun parts made them better yet. WCF Smokeless, as being available
struction because of its superior hard- The Model 1894 is smaller and thin- in the Model 1894 rifle only, not the
ness and toughness over unalloyed ner than the Model 1886. There was carbine. That was all! It’s almost as
plate. Winchester’s access to this steel nothing to make it inherently stron- if the company didn’t want anyone
was due to its work on the .236 Navy ger except the material it was made to know. It also makes me wonder
(6mm Lee-Navy) cartridge. It was from. I believe Winchester wanted a why authorities keep telling us that
found that an alloy containing 3.2 lighter action (and thus lighter rifle) the .30 WCF (.30-30 Winchester)
percent nickel, made a much more that would handle a new, smallbore was the first commercial smokeless
wear-resistant barrel steel, but was smokeless cartridge capable of cleanly powder sporting cartridge available.
I count two.
Only one cartridge was listed in
the catalog’s ammunition section
for the new .30 caliber; a 160-grain
roundnose bullet pushed by 30 grains
of smokeless powder to 1,970 feet per
second muzzle velocity and 1,400
foot-pounds of energy, from a 26-
inch barrel. This was enough to make
the bullet fly flatter to 300 yards than
any other loaded by Winchester at the
time, except the 135-grain from the
.236 Navy. I will have more on this
impressive pair, the Model 1894 and
.30 WCF Smokeless cartridge, in my
next “Cartridge Board” column. •
18 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
 Smith & Wesson Model 22-4 .45 ACP Sixgun
From the Hip Brian Pearce

B ig-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
Moon clips are popular with double-action revolvers chambered in .45 ACP,
for sixguns (rather than for auto-pistol cartridges). as they allow quick reloading and aid with the ejection of all six cartridges
The original .45 Caliber Model 1950 revolver was intro- with a single push of the ejector rod.
duced in 1951 and was an updated version of the Smith &
Wesson Model 1917, but with the prefix “S” serial number and the short, throw-hammer action. It became the Model
that indicated the addition of a slide-action hammer block 22 in 1957, but was discontinued around 1966. Produc-
tion numbers were not high and collectors have grabbed
up available guns.
With trends toward concealed carry or even open carry
in many states, shooters are rediscovering the virtues of a
big-bore sixgun with fixed sights that don’t snag or drag
and are ultra-reliable. Smith & Wesson responded to this
demand by reintroducing the .45 Caliber Model 1950,
or commonly known as Model 22-4, with updated fea-
tures and engineering. This gun was initially produced in
conjunction with Thunder Ranch with limited produc-
tion, but there have been additional production runs with
Brian used Jerry Miculek a nickel finish, etc. Demand continues to grow for this
grips on the Smith & Wesson model, and a contact at Smith & Wesson stated that the
22-4 revolver. gun will be back in production as soon as manufacturing
can make a run. In the meantime, the Model 625-8 is
readily available. It is constructed of stainless steel and fea-
tures adjustable sights. The quality and function of these
two guns is identical and today’s general comments apply
to both models.
The frame, along with other major parts, are fully
CNC machined with tolerances being held to minimum
specifications. The trigger and hammer are standard (i.e.
non-target profile) with the former being smooth. The
front sight features a rounded post (.125-inch wide), while
the rear sight is notched. Like most other Smith & Wes-
son revolvers produced the past two decades, there is a
key lock located just above the thumbpiece (aka the cylin-
der release latch). Another new feature included the frame
The Smith & Wesson Model 22-4 chambered in .45 ACP (top) features fixed
sights and blue finish, while the popular Model 625-8 (bottom) features mounted firing pin. While this feature can be controver-
adjustable sights and is constructed of stainless steel. sial, it is generally trouble free. However, for those that
20 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
Moon clips allow the rimless .45 ACP cartridges to be ejected.

have an action job performed, the mainspring strength

must remain strong enough to assure reliable primer igni- Alliant Power Pistol is an excellent choice for handloading revolvers chambered
tion. The rifling is created using the Electrical Discharge in .45 ACP and .45 Auto Rim.
Machining system. The stocks are Magna-style, while the
butt is square. at 3.75 pounds, the barrel cylinder gap measures .008 inch,
Beginning in 1988, and fully designed and imple- which is a bit more than I would like to see, but is certainly
mented on production guns by 1990, Smith & Wesson within industry specifications. The throats measure .452
developed the “radius stud package” that increased the inch, which is conducive to good accuracy and the total
frame stud strength and overall durability. Naturally, the weight (empty) is 38.1 ounces.
Model 22-4 is updated with this feature and should offer When Smith & Wesson originally produced U.S.
many years of trouble-free service, and in fact, it carries Model 1917 revolvers chambered in .45 ACP to meet war-
Smith & Wesson’s lifetime warranty. time demand, it was designed for moon clips that allowed
A few specifications that should interest shooters in- easy ejection of the rimless cases. But the moon clips were
clude that the single-action trigger pull that broke cleanly not required to make the gun operational. In other words,
Table I .45 ACP and .45 Auto Rim Handloads Smith & Wesson
overall 5-shot Model 22-4 .45 ACP
loaded 25-yard
bullet powder charge length velocity group Specifications
( grains ) ( grains ) ( inches ) ( fps ) ( inches )
Manufacturer: Smith & Wesson, USA
.45 ACP
Action: Single action and double action
200 Hornady FMJ-C/T Titegroup 5.5 1.244 921 2.10
Caliber: .45 ACP and .45 Auto Rim
230 Speer Gold Dot HP Power Pistol 8.0 1.215 1,018 2.20
230 Nosler Sporting Handgun JHP BE-86 7.5 1.210 956 1.65 Barrel: EDM rifled
230 Hornady FMJ-RN A-2 6.0 1.250 926 2.15 Barrel Length: 4 inches
.45 Auto Rim Loads Barrel Twist Rate: 1:15
250 Redding 45424 Cast RNFP Power Pistol 6.2 1.210 810 1.85 Finish: Blue
285 RCBS 45-270-SAA cast Power Pistol 6.5 1.275 865 2.15 Capacity: 6
Notes: A Smith & Wesson Model 22-4 chambered in .45 ACP with a 4-inch barrel was used to test all loads. Frame: N-frame, square butt
Starline cases were used for both the .45 ACP and .45 Auto Rim loads. Jacketed bullet diameter is .451 Stocks: Magna-style
inch, while cast bullets were sized to .452 inch. Federal 150 primers were used throughout. Maximum case Safety: Hammer block and keyed safety lock
length for the .45 ACP is .898 inch, while suggested trim-to length is .893 inch and SAAMI maximum overall Trigger: Smooth, rounded, color-case hardened
cartridge length is 1.275 inches. Maximum case length for the .45 Auto Rim is .898 inch and suggested
trim-to length is .888 inch. A taper crimp was applied to .45 ACP loads that measured .470 inch. The .45 SA Trigger Pull: 60 ounces
Auto Rim cartridges were roll-crimped. Hammer: Standard spur, color-case hardened
For more data on these cartridges please visit LoadData.com. Rear Sight: Fixed, notch
Be Alert – Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data. Listed loads are only valid in the test firearms used.
Front Sight: Fixed, post-style
Weight: 38.1 ounces
Table II .45 ACP Factory Loads MSRP: $1,047

stated
headspace on the case mouth. How-
actual
5-shot
25-yard
bullet velocity ever, in the post-World War II era, a
velocity group
( grains ) ( fps ) ( fps ) ( inches )
new generation of engineers at Smith
135 Black Hills Ammunition HoneyBadger 1,250 1,186 2.40 & Wesson eventually chose to change
205 Federal Syntech Defense SJHP 970 875 2.55 chambers, which compromised posi-
230 Hornady Custom XTP 950 908 1.80
230 Remington Black Belt Gold Saber BBJHP 875 802 2.10
tive headspace control. They believed
250 Buffalo Bore Ammunition Outdoorsman Cast FN 925 955 2.25 that shooters would always use moon
Notes: A Smith & Wesson Model 22-4 .45 ACP with a 4-inch barrel was used to test all loads. clips that provided positive headspace
control and that the original dimen-
sion (as specified by the military) was no longer necessary.
As a result, cartridges that were placed directly into the
chamber and without a moon clip were prone to occasional
misfiring, which is unacceptable! I worked on this issue
with Smith & Wesson extensively. While I have no idea if
I had any influence on engineers, but chambers were soon
changed to provide correct headspace control that results
in no misfires if cartridges are loaded without moon clips.
Many years ago, noted world record speed shooter Jerry
Miculek forwarded stocks for a Smith & Wesson N-frame
that he designed and sought my opinion. As expected,
they are well designed and are a top choice for double ac-
tion work when matched to Smith & Wesson revolvers.
For this reason, I elected to use a new and updated set of

The Smith & Wesson Model 22-4 (bottom) with fixed sights and the virtues of
a big bore, resembles the original 1908-era Smith & Wesson New Century 1st
Model Hand Ejector – better known as the Triple Lock (top).

cartridges could be chambered and fired without the moon

clips, but not ejected with the ejector system, rather, they
were pulled out with a finger nail or some other means.
The .45 ACP headspaces on the case mouth and revolvers
were chambered accordingly. Subsequent Smith & Wesson
guns produced prior to World War II (as well as guns pro- The Smith & Wesson Model 22-4 will readily accept either .45 ACP cartridges
duced by Colt) were likewise chambered to provide reliable (left) or .45 Auto Rim (right).

22 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341

Factory loads performed flawlessly in the Smith & Wesson Model 22-4 The Model 22-4 features snag-free fixed sights, a tapered 4-inch barrel, blue
chambered in .45 ACP. finish, square butt and it is chambered in .45 ACP.

Miculek stocks on the Smith & Wes- control and allow case ejection with- with 6.5 grains of Alliant Power Pis-
son Model 22-4, which has been out using moon clips, which can be tol powder, velocity was 865 fps and
further improved from the original a nuisance. It is a true revolver car- groups hovered just over 2 inches.
stocks forwarded to me many years tridge rather than an auto-loading Hopefully, by the time this article
ago. In addition to being constructed pistol cartridge. Furthermore, due to is in print, another run of Model 22’s
of attractive walnut, they are check- the positive headspace provided by its will be available. If not, you can con-
ered, trim and minimize slippage rim, traditional revolver bullets can tact Smith & Wesson and encourage
when firing fast in the double-ac- be roll-crimped in place. them to hurry production along. In
tion mode, which is a discipline that Two .45 Auto Rim handloads were the meantime, the adjustable sight
should be practiced with this sixgun tried that included the 250-grain Model 625-8 is readily available and
to take full advantage of its design. roundnose flatpoint bullet from Red- is an excellent option, as it allows pre-
Checking the Smith & Wesson ding mould 45424 with 6.2 grains cise sight-in with all loads and with
for accuracy with factory loads, along of Alliant Power Pistol powder for bullet weights that range from 185
with the help of a bench and sandbag 810 fps (which is not a maximum (and even lighter) to as heavy as 285
rests, 25-yard groups often placed five load). This load shot slightly high at grains. This feature probably makes
shots into 1.5 to 2 inches. For example, 25 yards, but was dead center, with this model better suited to hunters
using the Hornady Custom 230-grain groups averaging 1.85 inches. A great and target shooters. Function with
XTP load at 908 feet per second (fps), load for those who want a heavyweight factory loads and handloads was flaw-
three groups averaged 1.80 inches at bullet includes the 285-grain Keith- less, while overall accuracy was good.
25 yards. Incidentally, most 230-grain style bullet from RCBS moulds 45- After 115 years in continuous produc-
jacketed loads shot pretty close to the 270-SAA, which is a great choice for tion, Smith & Wesson’s N-frame has
point of aim at 25 yards. field use, including hunting. Pushed indeed earned classic status. •
Moving on to .45 ACP handloads,
it was easy to duplicate factory load
velocities and their accuracy. For
example, using 8 grains of Alliant
Power Pistol powder with the Speer
230-grain Gold Dot HP bullet
yielded 1,018 fps and groups consis-
tently hovered under 2 inches. How-
ever, a flier opened the three-group
average to 2.20 inches. Switching to
the Nosler Sporting Handgun jack-
eted hollowpoint 230-grain bullet,
7.5 grains of Alliant BE-86 powder
produced 956 fps and groups mea-
sured between 1.40 to 1.80 inches.
The .45 Auto Rim was first de-
veloped around 1921 by the Peters
Cartridge Company, which was es-
sentially a .45 ACP case with a spe-
cial rim to offer positive headspace Brian developed handloads that performed flawlessly in the Smith & Wesson Model 22-4.

December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 23

 More Favorite Bullet Moulds
Mike’s Shootin’ Shack Mike Venturino

L ee Hoots recently asked me if I’ve developed any

© Yvonne Venturino photos

new “favorites” in my bullet mould collection since
2016, when I did a column about my preferred ones. Ac-
tually, 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 compe-
tition. 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.
Consequently, much of my casting, handloading and
shooting interests have returned to my first love – single-ac-
These are Mike’s five new favorite bullet moulds: two by MP Molds and one
tion revolvers. I’ve reacquired Colt SAAs chambered for
each from Lyman, RCBS and Accurate Molds.
.32-20, .38 Colt, .38 Special, .41 Long Colt and .44 Spe-
cial and added more .38-40s, .44-40s and .45 Colts to the .32-20s and two Cimarron Arms Model 1873 .32-20s
mix. I’m having a blast and all of it using only lead-alloy to my collection. This time, I took advantage of MP
bullets of one sort or another. Mold’s system of one set of blocks able to cast both
With the several years hiatus I had from shooting sin- solid and hollowpoint bullets at the same time. Because
gle actions while working on my SHOOTING WORLD the Colt SAAs came first, I bought a set of brass, four-
WAR II SMALL ARMS book, some of my previously cavity blocks for 314-640HP-115. That mould drops
owned bullet moulds for pistol-size cartridges rather 115-grain hollowpoints or 120-grain solids.
mysteriously disappeared. Replacing them wasn’t just Those bullets shot just fine from the revolvers. It was
a matter of money. Some such as Lyman and Rapine .41 when they were tried in the lever actions that problems
Long Colt hollowbase moulds can only be found used. arose. Original Winchester and replica Models 1873 and
Others, such as currently cataloged RCBS and Lyman de- 1892 leverguns won’t function with cartridges having an
signs, were not readily available during the recent compo-
nents and equipment crunch.
One of my new favorites came all the way from the 1 2 3 4 5

small European country of Slovenia. That was MP Mold’s

41LCHB-200, for a 200-grain hollowbase FN nominally
of .386-inch diameter. While I’ve developed a preference
for iron moulds over the years, ones of brass or aluminum
will suffice as need demands. When visiting MP Mold’s
website, that .41 Long Colt mould was in stock in the form
of double cavity in brass blocks. I snapped it up instantly
figuring weeks would pass for it to arrive from Europe.
Not so. The mould was in my hands in seven days; drop-
ping fine looking, well filled out, hollowbase flatnoses with
just about every pouring. That’s not mentioning that a
double cavity hollowbase mould increases production sig-
nificantly over the traditional single-cavity moulds associ-
ated with hollowbase and hollowpoint cast bullet designs. These bullets include the (1) Lyman 429666 (200-grain roundnose flatpoint),
(2) RCBS 44-200-CM (200-grain roundnose flatpoint), (3) Accurate Molds
How it shoots will be reported in a future article.
40-175H (182-grain roundnose flatpoint), (4) MP Molds 41LCHB 200
That wasn’t my only purchase from MP Molds. Ac- (200-grain hollowbase) and (5) MP Molds 314-640-100 grain (100-grain
tually, I bought two more upon adding three Colt SAA hollowpoint & 105-grain roundnose flatpoint).

24 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341

 Select Handloads may be .402 to .403 inch. The rea-
overall 5-shot
son given for the .002 tolerance is be-
loaded extreme 25-yard cause bullet casters do not always use
bullet powder charge length velocity spread group
( grains ) ( grains ) ( inches ) ( fps ) ( fps ) ( inches ) the same alloy nor cast in the same
Cimarron Arms .32-20 Model 1873 Saddle Ring Carbine, 19-inch barrel manner.
100 MP Molds 314-640-100 HP Titegroup 3.5 1.570 1,277 24 1.13 Taking advantage of this toler-
105 MP Molds 314-640-100 RN/FP Titegroup 3.5 1.570 1,177 41 .50 ance option, I ordered my new iron,
Colt .32-20 Single Action Army (3rd Generation), 7.5-inch barrel three-cavity .38-40 mould as posi-
105 MP Molds 314-640-100 RN/FP Bullseye 3.0 1.570 834 45 1.50 tive. It drops roundnose flatpoint bul-
Winchester .38-40 Model 1892 Rifle (from 1914), 24-inch barrel
lets of 1:20 tin-to lead alloy at .401
182 Accurate Molds 40-175H RN/FP Titegroup 6.0 1.580 1,176 56 .88
Colt .38-40 Single Action Army (3rd Generation), 5.5-inch barrel inch/182 grains, but when cast of
182 Accurate Molds 40-175H RN/FP Trail boss 5.5 1.580 805 35 1.50 linotype, they measure .403 inch/175
Colt .41 Long Colt Single Action Army (1st Generation), 5.5-inch barrel grains. That was done because I have
195 MP Molds 41LCHB 200 HB Titegroup 4.2 1.460 745 69 2.50 one Winchester Model 1873 .38-40
Colt .44-40 Frontier Six Shooter (3rd Generation), 7.5-inch barrel rifle with a slightly oversize bore.
200 Lyman 427666 RN/FP Trail Boss 6.0 1.580 736 31 1.25
It shoots .403-inch bullets well but
200 RCBS 44-200-CM RN/FP Tin Star 7.5 1.590 805 64 1.63
Notes: Rifles were fired from a sandbag rest and revolvers were fired from a Ransom Pistol Machine Rest.
sprays .401 inch ones. However, other
Velocities were chronographed at approximately 6 feet. Starline brass was used throughout. All .38-40 and of my .38-40 leverguns and my re-
.44-40 primers were Winchester Large Pistol. All .32-20 and .41 Long Colt primers were Winchester Small volvers favor .401-inch bullets, so this
Pistol. All bullets cast by Mike used a 1:20 tin-to lead alloy. Bullet sizing diameter for the .32-20 were .313
inch, .38-40 were .401 inch, .41 Long Colt were.386 inch and .44-40 were .428 inch. All bullets were lubed one Accurate Mould covers several
with DGL. bases for me.
For more data on these cartridges 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
These last few years, in firing hun-
used. Reduce initial powder charge by 10 percent and work up while watching for signs of excessive pressure. dreds of rounds through my many
single actions using mostly new to
overall loaded cartridge length ex- with these RCBS and Lyman .44-40 me cast bullet designs, have been
ceeding 1.592 inches and my new cast bullets. educational, enjoyable and supplied
.32-20 bullets, when crimped prop- For a recent .38-40 handloading five new favorites. •
erly, measured 1.64 inches. So back project, on hand were only a couple
to MP Molds’ website I went and or- of different mould options. Perusing
dered another four hole/brass set of Accurate Molds website, I found its
blocks for 314-640HP-100. These 40-175H; a design for a nominal 175-
bullets are 100-grain hollowpoints grain roundnose flatpoint bullet. Ac-
and 105-grain solids. The overall curate Molds offers many options.
loaded cartridge length with them For instance; mould block mate-
was 1.575 inches. They not only rial can be aluminum, brass or iron
shoot well from the leverguns but and cavities can be from one to five.
also from the revolvers. So here, I’m However, there are size and weight
going to say the winner in my .32-20 parameters that must be considered.
mould affections is the second MP For instance, some bullets may be too
Molds version for 100-grain hollow- large for more than a single cavity.
points and 105-grain solids. Accurate Molds maximum number
Now, I must admit to a lengthy of cavities for iron blocks is three.
oversight on my part in regard to Four-cavity moulds can be brass or
.44-40 moulds. Since the late 1980s, aluminum and five-cavity blocks are
I have lauded RCBS 44-200FN for only that latter material.
all my .44-40s. That prejudice existed Also, Accurate Molds lists a toler-
although sitting unused on my mould ance range of .002 inch. For exam-
shelves were both Lyman 427666 and ple, centered tolerance means that if a
RCBS 44-220-CM moulds. In recent .401-inch bullet is ordered, the mould
work with Colt SAA revolvers with may deliver .400- or .402-inch bul-
7½-inch barrels, bullets from both lets. If negative tolerance is ordered,
shot excellently with tighter groups then the bullets may drop at .399 or
on the average than my old favorite. .400 inch, but the maximum will be
The .44-40 designs often gave sub- .401 inch. If positive tolerances are
1.50 inch, 25-yard five groups from specified, then at the minimum, .401-
both revolvers. I’ve got to call it a tie inch bullets will drop, but they also
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 25
 .22 TCM
Wildcat Cartridges Layne Simpson

T he .22 TCM was developed by Gunsmith Fred

Craig of Pahrump, Nevada, who originally called it
the .22 Micromag. When officially adopted by Armscor
.049
.376
23º
.370
.253

International in 2012, and offered in a high-capacity ver-

.22 TCM
sion of the 1911 pistol built by Rock Island Armory (RIA), .378

the name was changed to .22 TCM. It is basically a dras-

tically shortened .223 Remington case necked down for
.224-inch bullets and shoulder angles are the same. Un- .224
.720
primed cases at Graf & Sons are priced (at press time) at .846
1.025
$40 for 200, $114 for 600 and $180 for 1,000. I suppose
1.290
the case could be formed by shortening .223 Remington
cases, but all that squeezing, chopping, reaming and an- In 2015, RIA began offering the .22 TCM in an in-
nealing would be a rather laborious process. expensive, knockabout-grade, bolt-action rifle called the
The .22 TCM originally appeared in two versions, one M22 TCM. According to an Armscor official, it was orig-
with a 40-grain jacketed hollowpoint with a small me- inally called the Model 1500 and was in .22 Winchester
plat and the TCM9R on the same case but with a shorter, Magnum Rimfire (WMR). The firing pin was reposi-
roundnose bullet for more reliable feeding from the 9mm tioned for the centerfire cartridge while making the bolt
Luger magazines of some Glock pistols. Published maxi- and receiver of Type 4140 steel increased action strength.
mum overall lengths were 1.290 inches for the former and The advertised velocity of Armscor .22 TCM ammunition
1.150 inches for the latter. Velocity from a 5-inch barrel is from the rifle was 2,800 fps, indicating a velocity gain of
in the neighborhood of 2,000 feet per second (fps) and yes, approximately 46 fps per inch compared to the 5-inch
there is some muzzle flash. The maximum average pressure barrel of a pistol.
was set at 38,500 psi. This is quite close to the 37,500 psi The receiver of the M22 TCM rifle was modified for
of the 10mm Auto for which the 1911 also handles quite a five-round, double-stack magazine and it also accepts
well. Among various cartridges developed for autoloading the 17-round magazine of the RIA wide-body 1911 pistol.
pistols. The FN 5.7x28mm is a close competitor to the .22 There are no front-located locking lugs, so partial lockup
TCM and is capable of sending a 40-grain .224-inch bullet is handled by bearing of the root of the bolt handle against
from a 5-inch barrel at about the same velocity. its clearance notch in the receiver. An adjacent lug opposite

1 2 3 4 5

While the .22 TCM case could be formed by necking down and drastically The case capacity of the .22 TCM is close to that of the .22 Hornet and
shortening the .223 Remington case, it would be a laborious process. The its velocity with a 40-grain bullet is about the same as for the 5.7x28 FN:
practical thing to do is to purchase Armscor .22 TCM unprimed cases from (1) .22 TCM, (2) .22 Hornet, (3) 5.7x28 FN, (4) .221 Remington Fireball and
Graf & Sons. (5) .22 Remington Jet.

26 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341

 The Rock Island Armory M22 TCM rifle was originally in .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (WMR) and converted
to feed the centerfire .22 TCM cartridge. It weighs 7 pounds without a scope and has a medium-heavy, 221⁄4-inch
barrel with a 1:16 rifling twist rate. A two-digit serial number indicates this rifle was likely built in 2015.

the bolt handle engages a shoulder in handle required to break them loose. W-296/H-110 as a possible propellant
the floor of the receiver when the bolt The Armscor load contained 10 grains for .22 TCM handloads. In my rifle,
is rotated to its locked position. The of extremely dense, gray-colored maximum charges of W-296 and bul-
receiver has no recoil lug. Instead, spherical powder. Little did I know lets weighing 33, 35 and 40 grains
the rear end of its bottom metal rests that ballisticians at Western Pow- produced respective average velocities
against the interior of the inletting in ders had been tasked with selecting of 2,932 fps, 2,915 fps and 2,664 fps.
the stock. The trigger pull is without a propellant for the cartridge and it Accuracy for five, five-shot groups at
creep and while there is some over- would eventually be introduced to 100 yards was 5.19, 2.16 and 1.98
travel, it breaks at 5.5 pounds and is the canister trade as Accurate TCM. inches. Due to light firing pin strikes,
not bad for a rifle in its price range. Factory load accuracy for five, five- I experienced several misfires with
My rifle arrived during 2015 with shot groups at 100 yards from my the Federal 205 Small Rifle primer
a two-digit serial number indicating rifle ranged from 2.28 to 4.30 inches and since factory ammunition had
very early production. From bolt face for an average of 3.08 inches. Small Pistol primers, I switched to
to muzzle, the medium-heavy barrel Pressure-tested load data was un- the CCI 550. No more misfires, but
measured 221⁄4 inches. The average available, but a comparison of capac- velocity spread doubled, accuracy got
velocity of Armscor factory ammuni- ities revealed that the case held a bit worse and fired cases emerged from
tion loaded with a 40-grain jacketed more powder than the .22 Hornet the chamber with a thick coating of
hollowpoint was 2,777 fps. Fired case case and a bit less than the .218 Bee fouling. I cleaned the rifle and put it
extraction ranged from quite sticky case, both from Hornady. When this away for another day.
to a dozen or so light raps on the bolt was mentioned to Craig, he suggested That day came when the decision
was made to feature the .22 TCM in
this column. Unlike during my first
.22 TCM Handloads go-around with the cartridge, pres-
overall 5-shot
loaded 100-yard sure-tested load data with Accurate
bullet powder charge length velocity group TCM, Accurate 4100, Accurate 11 FS
( grains ) ( grains ) ( inches ) ( fps ) ( inches )
and Ramshot Enforcer had been pub-
33 Speer Hornet TNT No. 11FS 11.0 1.300 2,814 4.30
Enforcer 10.5 2,717 3.87
lished in 2017 in the Western Powders
A-4100 10.4 2,736 4.24 Handloading Guide. Since those com-
TCM 10.2 2,879 3.44 panies were later purchased by Hodg-
35 Hornady V-MAX No. 11FS 11.0 1.360 2,876 2.36 don, the same data appeared in that
Enforcer 10.5 2,911 2.54 company’s 2022 Annual Manual.
35 Nosler FB Tipped A-4100 10.4 1.360 2,687 2.46 Maximum pressures listed range
TCM 10.2 2,766 2.29
40 Speer Spire Point No. 11FS 10.8 1.355 2,682 2.10
from 37,137 psi to 38,473 psi. Re-
Enforcer 10.0 2,650 3.34 spective maximum velocities from a
A-4100 10.0 2,709 3.22 5-inch barrel with bullets weighing
TCM 9.6 2,717 2.46 35 and 40 grains are 2,095 fps and
Factory Loads 1,958 fps. Both are with TCM, al-
40 Armscor JHP* 1.250 2,777 3.08 though the other three powders were
40 Armscor JHP** 2,712 3.20
quite close behind in bullet speed
* 2015 Ammunition from Hodgdon’s pressure gun.
** More recent production
Notes: A Rock Island Armory M22 TCM rifle with a 221⁄4-inch barrel (1:16 twist) was used to test all loads.
Since the .22 TCM was originally
Armscor cases and Remington 6½ Small Rifle primers were used throughout. Velocities are averages of designed to feed in a 1911-style pis-
five rounds measured at 12 feet. Powder charges are maximum or close to it and should be reduced by 10 tol, maximum overall length was set
percent for starting loads in other rifles.
For more data on this cartridge please visit LoadData.com.
at 1.290 inches for magazine compat-
Be Alert – Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data. Listed loads are only valid in the test firearms ibility. The overall lengths of 10 car-
used. Reduce initial powder charge by 10 percent and work up while watching for signs of excessive pressure.
tridges selected from a box of Armscor
28 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
 With pointed bullets handloaded in the .22 TCM,
it is too long for the magazines of rifles built
by Rock Island Armory, but the chamber throat
length of the rifle allows single loading. From
left to right; (1) 40 JHP Armscor factory load,
(2) 40 Nosler Varmageddon handload, (3) 40
Armscor JHP, (4) 33 Speer Hornet HP, (5) 40
Hornady V-MAX, (6) 40 Nosler Varmageddon
and (7) 40 Speer SP.

During the development of the .22 TCM (originally called the .22 Micromag)
by Gunsmith Fred Craig, ballisticians at Western Powders were tasked with
choosing a propellant to be used in loading Armscor ammunition. The powder
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 chosen would soon be introduced to the canister trade as Accurate TCM.

ammunition loaded with the stubby Are the issues experienced with munition has to be loaded to lower
40-grain jacketed hollowpoint ranged my rifle typical? A shooting buddy pressures in order to consistently en-
from 1.243 to 1.251 inches. Due to bought a M22 TCM a couple of years joy smooth case extraction.
the short cartridge length along with after I got mine and after extensive It appears that Armscor officials
a case neck length of only .165 inch, load development, best-load average have gotten the message and re-
not a single bullet in my loading room accuracy for five, five-shot groups at sponded accordingly. Not long back,
could be loaded to a cartridge length 100 yards was 2.67 inches. Armscor I bought several boxes of .22 TCM
that was compatible with the magazine ammunition was too hot for his rifle ammunition at a gun show and com-
of the rifle. Due to an extremely short as well. Here is what I think is going pared its performance with the am-
ogive, the 40-grain bullet in Armscor on there. The .22 TCM was devel- munition shot back in 2015. Velocity
ammunition is only .469 inch long. oped specifically for the recoil-oper- from that same rifle was 65 fps slower
The Speer 40-grain Spire Point, ated 1911 pistol which, depending and that along with no sticky case
my long-time favorite for the .22 on the cartridge, has proven to han- extraction indicated a reduction in
Hornet, is .505 inch long. When dle pressures approaching 40,000 pressure.
it is seated for a cartridge length of psi. While I do not believe there is a Considering that the .22 TCM
1.290 inches, the mouth of the case safety hazard in firing the hot Arm- is a descendent of the .222 Reming-
is positioned over its ogive with vir- scor ammunition in the Rock Island ton, which once held all the accu-
tually no contact between its full- Armory rifle, momentary receiver racy records in registered benchrest
diameter shank and the inside of the stretch and bolt compression of its competition, it should be capable of
case neck. Cartridge length for it has rear-locking action is such that am- excellent accuracy. •
to be 1.355 inches. Moving to plas-
tic-tipped bullets, respective lengths
of the Hornady 35-grain V-MAX and
the Nosler FB Varmageddon of the
same weight are .514 inch and .513
inch. They require a cartridge length
of 1.360 inches.
When finding the Speer 33-grain
Hornet to be a bit shorter than the
Armscor bullet, I thought it would be
a magazine-friendly candidate for the
M22 TCM rifle. Visions of empty-
ing 17-round magazines while de-
fending my position from hoards of
angry chipmunks immediately leaped
to mind. It was not to be as the Speer
bullet requires a cartridge length of
1.300 inches. On a positive note, the
chamber throat length of the barrel
allows single feeding with the four
bullets seated to their required car-
tridge lengths.
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 29
 .350 Legend

1 2 3 4 5

The five bullets tested in the handloads were the: (1) Hornady 147-grain 9mm XTP, (2) Hornady 180-grain .357 XTP, (3) Hornady 170-grain 9mm Interlock Spire
Point, (4) Speer 180-grain .358 flatnose and (5) Hornady 200-grain .358 FTX. The .357 and .358 diameter bullets were sized down in a Lee die.

30 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341

 A Useful but Mysterious Cartridge
John Barsness

W
inchester developed the .350
Legend to meet specific require-
ments 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.

The .358-inch rifle bullets were easily squeezed down

in a Lee Precision Custom Classic Bullet Sizing Kit, using
Redding Imperial Sizing Die Wax.

December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 31

.350 Legend
victims of the Dunning-Kruger effect, a psychologically
documented bias where people with limited knowledge
greatly overestimate their own knowledge.
Even supposedly “wild Montana” contains several areas
where high-powered rifles aren’t legal, including six square
miles of public ground next to my small town, and for the
same reason: The area borders the “city limits,” along with
farms, ranches and subdivisions. Until recently, each of
CCI 450 primers were used throughout the tests, and produced essentially these rifle-free zones had different regulations, each being
identical results with both brands of brass. However, the primers in the
Hornady factory load were crimped in, which required removing the sharp set by the local game warden. In our particular area, he
edge of the crimp with a 45-degree wood screw chamfer tool before proclaimed all saboted shotgun slugs illegal due to their
pressing in 450s. higher muzzle velocity, when their low ballistic coefficient
(BC) makes them no more likely to hit a distant human –
or Hereford – than Foster slugs. (This responsibility was
removed from the local wardens a few years ago, and now
all such Montana areas have the same regulations.)
Perhaps the primary reason for the .350 Legend is Ohio,
about a third the size of Montana with a population of
almost 12 million people, including more than 300,000
deer hunters. Until a few years ago, Ohio did not allow any
rifles for big-game hunting, even though rifles were legal in
all its bordering states – Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania,
Virginia and West Virginia.
In 2014, Ohio finally allowed rifles chambered for
“pistol” cartridges. In the state Department of Natural
The jacketed .358-inch bullets ended up measuring a little over .356 after
being resized.
Resources regulations, these are defined as: “All straight-
walled cartridge calibers from a minimum of .357 to a
maximum of .50.” (One of the other oddities of the Ohio
regulations is that such rifles are limited to a total of three
rounds of ammunition in the chamber – though this does
not mean their magazines can only hold two rounds. In-
stead, hunters are supposed to only load three cartridges,
even if their rifle will hold far more.)
Some of the neighboring states also place restrictions on
what “rifle” cartridges can be used on public land. For ex-
ample, Indiana and Michigan have the same basic straight-
case regulation as Ohio, but limit case length to 1.8 inches.
Winchester decided to design a rifle cartridge that qual-
ified in all such states – and could be used in AR-15s. The
.350 Legend is basically a necked-up .223 Remington,
with the case shortened to 1.710 inches.
The .350 Legend was accepted as Ohio-legal, even
though its bullets are not quite .357 inch in diameter. In-
The .350 Legend (right) is a necked-up and slightly shortened .223 Remington stead, they measure .355, generally known among hand-
(left). It will feed from many AR-15 magazines – but not all, including the
magazine on the left, due to its narrow “slots” for .224-diameter bullets.
loaders as 9mm. When Brian Pearce wrote his “Mostly
Long Guns” column on the .350 Legend in Rifle No. 309
(March - April 2020), he asked Winchester about this,
This may seem puzzling to some of us, but almost since originally the bullet diameter was supposed to be
every hunter has firm convictions about appropriate cali- .357, “but no accurate responses were offered.”
bers, projectiles, etc. Game department bureaucrats are no I have my own notion on why this might have hap-
different, though sometimes less ballistically sophisticated pened, which will be mentioned later, but if you Google
than the average Handloader reader. Some may even be “SAAMI cartridge drawing .350 Legend” on the internet,
32 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
the official drawing from the Sport- .350 Legend Handloads
ing Arms and Ammunition Manu-
overall 3-shot
facturers Institute (SAAMI) appears, loaded group
bullet powder charge case primer length velocity group
which shows bullet diameter as .357 ( grains ) ( grains ) ( inches ) ( fps ) ( inches )
inch. Yet, the two brands of factory
147 Hornady XTP Lil’Gun 25.0 Hornady CCI 450 2.000 2,604 1.06
ammunition purchased with my test 170 Hornady Interlock Power Pro 300-MP 27.5 Hornady CCI 450 2.245 2,406 1.11
rifle featured .355-inch bullets – as do 27.5 Winchester CCI 450 2.245 2,395 1.15
the bullets listed in the small amount 180 Speer Hot-Cor* Lil’Gun 25.0 Hornady CCI 450 2.200 2,329 1.45
of pressure-tested .350 Legend load- 180 Hornady XTP* Lil’Gun 25.0 Hornady CCI 450 2.000 2,199 1.69
ing data. 200 Hornady FTX* Lil’Gun 23.5 Winchester CCI 450 2.250 2,124 1.51
Power Pro 300-MP 25.0 CCI 450 2.250 2,135 1.87
The rifle is a Savage Model 110
Factory Loads
Apex Hunter XP, which happened to stated actual extreme 3-shot
be sitting on the “new” rack at Capi- load velocity velocity spread group
( grains ) ( fp ) ( fps ) ( fps ) ( inches )
tal Sports in Helena, Montana. I am
always looking for new article ideas, 145 Winchester FMJ 2,350 2,427 34 1.99
so I phoned the Handloader editor 170 Hornady Interlock 2,200 2,323 60 1.59
* Resized to .356 inch
from the store, asking if he’d be in- Notes: A Savage Model 110 Apex Hunter XP with an 18-inch barrel (1:16 twist) was used to test all loads.
terested. (This is an old tradition. I Velocities were chronographed at 15 feet.
first phoned the editor from Capital For more data on these cartridges 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
in 2010, asking if he’d be interested used. Reduce initial powder charge by 10 percent and work up while watching for signs of excessive pressure.
in an article on the then pretty-new
6.5 Creedmoor, since the store had velocity cartridges, expanding and cases, then trying to chamber the
several Ruger Hawkeyes that were penetrating very well on deer, even dummy round in the Savage. As ex-
selling quickly.) when started at less than 2,000 feet pected, there wasn’t enough clearance
The editor said yes, so I bought per second (fps). at the front end of the chamber.
the Savage, and one box each of the I experimented by seating a Speer This resulted in another thought:
two brands of ammunition the store 180-grain bullet in one of the empty While handloaders often “downsize”
had in stock, a Winchester “Target
& Practice” load with 145-grain full-
metal jacketed, flatnose bullets, and
a Hornady American Whitetail hunt-
ing load with 170-grain Spire Point
Interlocks. This was at the height of
the most recent shortage of shooting
stuff, and Capital didn’t have any
dies or bullets, but after getting home
with my new rifle, some Googling
showed Midsouth Shooters Supply
had both in stock, so I ordered Lee
Precision dies and a box of 100 Hor-
nady 170-grain Spire Points.
Next, I broke down one round
of each factory load, confirming
both bullets were .355-inch in diam-
eter. Slugging the Savage’s bore with
a .357-inch cast bullet revealed the
grooves spanned .355 in diameter,
and the lands .348.
This choice of 9mm seemed very
odd, especially since so many .357-
inch handgun and .358-inch rifle
bullets already existed. For years,
one of my favorite .35-caliber hunt-
ing bullets has been Speer’s 180-grain
Speer Hot-Cor flatnose, which has
worked great in various moderate-
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 33
 .350 Legend
The most accurate
handload tested turned
out to be the Hornady
147-grain XTP 9mm
bullet, combined with
Hodgdon Lil’Gun.

The 200-grain FTX

.358 bullet was
originally designed
for the .35 Remington
(right), but due to
the higher average
pressure of the .350
Legend, it is capable
of just about the same
velocity from the
smaller case.

cast bullets slightly, many jacketed ular 3-9x is the TR20 Amber Trian- up the Lee bullet sizer in my stout-
bullets can also be similarly resized. gle Post, which works very well for est press, a Redding Big Boss, then
So I logged onto to the Lee Precision whitetail hunting, the primary pur- lightly applied Redding Imperial
website and ordered a Custom Clas- pose of the .350 Legend. Sizing Die Wax to the shanks of a
sic Bullet Sizing Kit, specifying Official SAAMI .350 Legend test- few 180-grain Speer Hot-Cors. They
.355 inch. barrels are 16 inches long, no doubt squeezed through the die with less
While waiting for the handloading due to AR-15s. The advertised ve- effort than full-length sizing .223
stuff, I mounted a 3-9x 40mm Triji- locity for the Winchester 145-grain Remington cases.
con AccuPoint scope on the Savage load is 2,350 fps, but from the “long” However, they did not measure
to range-test the factory ammuni- 18-inch barrel of the Savage, it aver- .355 inch, instead averaging .3564,
tion, which would also provide some aged 2,427 fps over a light-screen as measured with my pair of Starrett
empty cases to load. Over the years, chronograph at 15 feet, the standard micrometers, an old vernier-scale
I’ve taken quite a few big-game an- SAAMI distance. The Hornady 170- model and a more recent digital. I
imals with AccuPoints, including grain load is listed at 2,200 fps, thought this might be due to spring-
one of my biggest mule deer, some but also ran faster, averaging 2,323 back of the jacketed bullets, so I tried
African plains game, and an Alaskan fps. Three-shot groups at 100 yards sizing a 158-grain .357-diameter cast
grizzly, and I really like their bat- ranged around 1 to 1½ inches, more bullet, which measured .3561.
tery-free illuminated aiming points, than sufficient at typical Midwestern The .356 diameter of the Lee sizer
made of a combination of tritium and whitetail ranges. might be due to cast-bullet shoot-
fiber optics. The reticle in this partic- After the other stuff arrived, I set ers preferring bullets slightly larger
than bore diameter, but the resized
The .350 Legend was designed primarily for whitetails at moderate ranges. Speers were still small enough to al-
low loaded rounds to chamber easily,
my primary desire. (Anybody who’s
measured different brands of jack-
eted bullets for a specific caliber also
knows they can vary .001 – or even
more – in diameter.)
I soon discovered the Hornady
cases had crimped-in primers, so after
resizing/decapping I slightly cham-
fered the crimp edges with a 45-
degree wood screw chamfering tool.
In my experience, this is easier,
. quicker and more effective than a
primer pocket swager, but you do not
. want to remove any more brass than
.
34 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
necessary, or the top of the primer can
expand too much and possibly leak.
Both brands of brass weighed al-
most exactly the same, and produced
essentially the same velocity when I
tried one bullet/powder combination
in both brands. Since the .350 Leg-
end “headspaces” on the mouth of the
case like rimless pistol cartridges, I
trimmed them to the SAAMI 1.710-
inch length after every firing.
While .350 loading data is scarce,
there proved to be enough to indi-
cate that Hodgdon Lil’Gun is the
most popular choice, though slightly
slower-burning Alliant Power Pro
300-MP also works well. While some
sources, including Hodgdon, list
higher maximum charges than those
in the load table, I stopped adding
powder when muzzle velocities ap-
proximated the two factory loads.
Like the .223 Remington, the .350
Legend uses small rifle primers. I
used CCI 450 Magnums, partly be-
cause they have slightly thicker cups
than “standard” small rifle primers,
and partly due to very good results
in other rifle cartridges, ranging up to
the 6.5 Creedmoor with Lapua small
primer cases.
The SAAMI Maximum Average
Pressure (MAP) for the .350 Legend
is 55,000 psi, measured by piezoelec-
tric transducer. This is exactly the
same as the SAAMI MAP for the
.223 Remington and 6.8 Remington
SPC rounds, both designed specifi-
cally for AR-15s.
This is considerably higher than
the 40,000 psi MAP for the .357
Maximum handgun cartridge. Yet,
while surfing the internet for infor-
mation on the .350 Legend, I came
across a handloading forum where
one guy insisted the .350 Legend
was “nothing more than a rimless
.357 Maximum.” This is obviously
incorrect, due to both pressure and
powder capacity: The .350 Legend’s
case is more than .1 inch longer than
the .357 Maximum’s, and the Maxi-
mum’s SAAMI MAP is only 40,000
psi. (This is only one of many exam-
ples of nitwits posting on internet
handloading forums.)
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 35
 .350 Legend
•275 Rigby •348 Win. •25 Rem.
The resized Speer 180-grain shot and 1,500 feet above sea level. While
•7x61 S&H •284 Win. •30 Rem. almost as accurately as the Hornady the .350 Legend is definitely NOT a
•303 Savage •350 Rem. •32 Rem. 170-grain Spire Points. This success long-range round, the bullets listed
•8x68 S •455 Webley
•9.3x64 •6.5 Rem. Mag.
led me to experiment with the Hor- – including the flatnose Speer, essen-
•8mm Nambu nady 200-grain FTX bullet, which tially a flat-tipped spitzer – fly pretty
•32-40 Win. has worked well for me in the .358 well at typical whitetail ranges. When
•25-20 WCF
Winchester. Hornady’s most recent sighted-in 2 inches high at 100 yards,
Handbook of Cartridge Reloading 11th the calculator showed them landing
Edition lists this FTX as one of three 3-4 inches below point of aim at 200
200-grain bullets suitable for hand- yards, even the 200-grain FTX, be-
loading the .35 Remington, indicating cause it has a listed BC of .300. This
the FTX should expand well in the might not seem like much to a long-
.350 Legend. (This is not surprising, range hunter, but it definitely works
since the 200-grain FTX was primar- for the intended purposes of the .350.
ily designed for use in tube-magazine, The load table also contains
lever-action .35 Remingtons.) two loads for Hornady XTP hand-
While no published .350 data gun bullets, which shot pretty well
listed bullets weighing over 180 – and shot to about the same point
grains, I felt confident in starting of impact as the rifle bullets. My lo-
with powder charges a couple grains cal friend, Bob Jeffrey, reported that
lower than those listed for 180s. The the .357-diameter 180-grain XTP
charges in the table are just slightly worked well on deer in the previously
compressed by the relatively long mentioned no-rifle zone, when used
200-grain FTX, and none showed a in Bob’s .357 Maximum Thomp-
hint of excess pressure. son/Center Contender. The 9mm
It should also be noted that, like 147-grain XTP load would prob-
most other Hornady cup-and-core ably work well on coyotes – and
big-game bullets, the FTXs feature also happened to shoot the smallest
the Interlock ring on the inside of groups of any of the handloads.
the jacket, which helps hold the The downside of the pistol-bullet
core in place during bullet expan- loads is they would not feed from the
sion. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Savage’s three-round detachable mag-
.350 with 200-grain FTXs worked azine, though all the rifle bullets did,
pretty well on timber elk, partly due even the flatnose Speer. I also have
to once knowing an older Montana several brands of AR-15 magazines on
elk hunter who did fine with his .35 hand, and tried pushing the pistol-
Remington and 200-grain Core-Lokt bullet loads from them manually,
factory ammunition. which didn’t work. All the other loads
After working up the rifle bullet easily slipped out.
loads, I ran their numbers through After doing all the shooting, I
the Berger Bullets online ballistic started to suspect Winchester might
calculator, at 35 degrees Fahrenheit have gone to the 9mm/.355-inch bul-
let diameter to get just a little more
taper in the cases for surer magazine
feeding. While .002 inch more taper
isn’t much, in a 1.7 inch case, it might
make a difference, though this is obvi-
ously still a guess about Winchester’s
somewhat mysterious cartridge. What
is not a mystery is how well it works
for its intended purpose, since the .35
Remington has been doing basically
the same thing for well over a century
– even without spitzer bullets. •
36 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
 Loading
the
Big .50

Patrick Meitin feet per second (fps), delivering 10,000 to

T
he .50 BMG – or 12.7x99mm in 15,000 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. By
NATO terms – is our largest com- comparison, the .30-06 Springfield produces
mercially-available sporting car- 2,000 to 3,000 foot-pounds of muzzle energy.
tridge. Just to put things into A .50-caliber round, loaded with armor-pierc-
perspective, an entire loaded .223 Remington ing ammunition, will breech ¾-inch hardened
55-grain full metal jacket round would easily plate steel at nearly 550 yards or breech an en-
fit inside a hollowed .50-caliber, 750-grain bul- gine block at more than 1,000 yards. This puts
let. The .50 BMG (Browning Machine Gun) the .50 in a class of its own, making it a favor-
propels a 750-grain bullet with a ballistic co- ite amongst military snipers and civilians who
efficient (BC) of 1.050 at roughly 2,600 to 2,700 strive to hit targets at extreme ranges.
38 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
 Brass, bullets and ammunition used for testing included
the: (1) Hornady Match brass (used for handloads),
(2) Hornady’s 750-grain A-MAX, (3) Lapua’s 800-grain
Bullex-N and (4) Hornady 750-grain A-MAX ammunition.

1 2 3 4

A Powerful
Barret M107A1
A Barrett M107A1 was used to test the .50 BMG. This was an early
military-grade, all steel version of the company’s recoil-operated
semiautomatic rifle. Barrett was one of the very first to offer a
shoulder-fire .50 BMG rifle for civilian use.

The genius of John Browning brought the .50 BMG (1,760 yards), making it more difficult for enemies to pin-
into the world, building first the cartridge and then the ma- point shooters’ positions. The .50-caliber’s ultra-high BC is
chine gun to run it through. The idea was hatched during an extreme-range natural, resulting in high-energy/velocity
World War I as an anti-aircraft and armor-piercing round, retention and minimized wind drift at incredible ranges.
essentially modeled on a scaled-up .30-06 Springfield. The average .50 BMG case holds 290 grains of water,
The round was eventually adopted by the military as the case walls including a long taper to assure smooth feed-
M1921 Browning machinegun, which by World War II, ing and extraction in various automatic weapons. Rifling
had transformed into M2 Browning Machine Guns, its twist for this cartridge is typically 1:15 with eight lands
multi-generational upgrades are still in use today. and grooves. The .50 uses a specialized primer measuring
It took until the 1980s for the .50 BMG to make its way .317 inch across, in contrast to the .210 inch of a standard
into conventional shoulder-fired rifles, one of the first Bar- large rifle primer. Most U.S. and NATO brass is Boxer
rett’s M82. This allowed skilled military snipers to elim- primed, though keep in mind if using reclaimed military
inate targets (soldiers or equipment) at more than a mile brass, that other countries often employ Berdan primers.
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 39
Loading
the
Big .50
Average chamber pressure (accord-
ing to U.S. Army Ammunition Data
Sheets) is 54,923 psi, with proof/test
pressure listed as 65,000 psi.
An unfired .50 BMG bullet mea-
sures .510 inch in diameter, techni-
cally more than the .50 inch/12.7mm
maximum allowed for nonsport-
ing Title I firearms under the U.S.
National Firearms Act. The .50 The .50 BMG sends a 750-grain bullet at up to
2,750 fps, burning 200- to 260-grains of Shown here for comparison are three famous
BMG barrels measure only .50 inch
slow-burning powder to do so. The round is military cartridges (left to right): the 5.56x45mm
or 12.7mm across the lands, with quite expensive to shoot, as both rifles and NATO (.223 Remington), .30-06 Springfield and
slightly larger grooves. The oversized components are pricey. the .50 BMG (Browning Machine Gun).
bullets “swag” into the grooves upon
firing, forming a tight seal while en- destructive device under the National prietary .416 Barrett). A 1999 Office
gaging the rifling. Firearms Act, the .50 is a common sub- of Special Investigations briefing could
Being the most powerful commonly ject of political controversy (only one not identify a single instance in which
available cartridge not considered a of the reasons Barrett offers their pro- a .50 BMG rifle was used in a mur-
der, though ownership remains illegal
.50 BMG Handloads or highly restricted in Washington,
overall 3-shot D.C. (they won’t allow registration of
loaded 500-yard
bullet powder charge length velocity group
.50 BMG rifles, thus rendering civil-
( grains ) ( grains ) ( inches ) ( fps ) ( inches ) ian possession unlawful), California
750 Hornady A-MAX US-869 210.0 5.730 2,312 10.25 (.50 BMG rifles registered prior to en-
230.0 2,582 9.25 acted bans remain lawful), Connect-
H-50BMG 190.0 2,110 8.50 icut (Barrett M82A1 .50 BMG rifle
210.0 2,433 6.50 specifically), while Maryland imposes
RL-50 210.0 2,391 7.75
230.0 2,597 6.50
additional sale/transfer regulations.
SW-50BMG 200.0 2,501 9.75 Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-
215.0 2,647 6.25 TX) was recently pushing legislation
VV-24N41 200.5 2,418 8.50 that, among other things, would make
215.0 2,645 6.50 the .50 BMG illegal on a national
VV-20N29 225.5 2,486 11.00
level. In the current political climate,
240.0 2,689 7.00
800 Lapua Bullex-N US-869 210.0 5.730 2,371 12.00 there are likely more restrictions being
230.0 2,622 8.50 discussed. United Kingdom residents
H-50BMG 205.0 2,453 8.00 may own a .50 only after completing
225.0 2,603 7.75 standard centerfire rifle paperwork,
RL-50 210.0 2,369 9.00 and proving to the bureaucrats in-
225.0 2,478 9.50
SW-50BMG 185.0 2,343 7.25
volved they have a legitimate need for
195.0 2,407 7.00 one. Canadian residents are subject to
VV-24N41 200.5 2,387 10.25 a May 1, 2020, ban on various “mil-
210.5 2,499 9.00 itary-style” firearms, thanks to Prime
VV-20N29 230.5 2,568 9.00 Minister Justin Trudeau and com-
240.0 2,543 8.00 pany. These weapons, including any
Notes: A Barrett Model M107A1 with a 29-inch barrel (1:15 twist) paired with a Nightforce ATACR 7-35x
56mm F1 scope set in Trijicon 34mm Quick Release Flattop Mount base/rings was used to test all loads. New
.50 BMGs, were supposed to have been
Hornady Match Grade brass, CCI 35 primers and a Hornady Lock-N-Load 50 BMG loading kit were used to surrendered two years after the ban.
assemble all loads. Velocity was established with a LabRadar Doppler unit. The .50 BMG was used as a sniper
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 round as early as the Korean War.
used. Reduce initial powder charge by 10 percent and work up while watching for signs of excessive pressure. Legendary U.S. Marine sniper Carlos
40 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
 Task Force 2 sniper used a McMillan these are the most widespread and
Tac-50 to kill an Islamic State insur- popular. As a less than mainstream
gent in Iraq at 3,540 meters – today’s cartridge, .50 BMG components are
longest confirmed military sniper kill. generally manufactured in infrequent
As a highly specialized cartridge, and/or limited runs.
the .50 BMG also requires very spe- The .50 BMG requires a special-
cialized bullets, powders and tools. ized press, large enough to handle
Regarding bullets and powders, lim- the added leverage needed to resize
ited options are offered, particularly the huge and thick-skinned cases,
in these strange times and the hobby and accept 1¼-inch dies used for the
Hornady’s 50-caliber, 750-grain A-MAX (left) – hoarding that it has spawned. In bul- voluminous brass. For that task, I
with its 1.05 G1 ballistic coefficient – is a lot of lets, listed lightest to heaviest, options waited nearly a year to receive a Hor-
bullet. A fully-loaded 5.56mm/.223 Remington
cartridge (right) would neatly fit inside of a include Barnes’ 647-grain TAC-X nady Lock-N-Load 50 BMG Press
hollowed-out .50 BMG bullet. and TSX, military surplus 650-grain Kit, including the specialized press,
M-33, 655-grain ADI full metal primer seater and dies needed to as-
Hathcock’s former confirmed long- jacket, 750-grain Hornady A-MAX, semble all loads listed here. Charges
distance record kill (2,090 meters) Barnes Banded Solids and TAC-LR, of 195 to 265 grains of powder are
was made using a M2 Browning plus 800-grain Barnes Banded standard for fueling the .50 BMG,
Machine Gun equipped with a tele- Solid and the discontinued Lapua meaning I will get only 25 to 35
scopic sight in 1967. That record Bullex-N. A comprehensive list of .50 rounds out of every pound of pow-
stood until 2002, when Canadian BMG powders would include Hodg- der, a far cry from the 280 .223 Rem-
Army Corporal Rob Furlong of the don’s H-50BMG and US-869, Alli- ington rounds or 140 .30-06 rounds I
PPCLI zapped a Taliban combatant ant’s Reloder 50, Vihtavuori’s 24M41 would generally load from a pound of
in Afghanistan at 2,430 meters. In and 20N29 and Shooters World SW- powder. Bullets will run about $2 to
2017, an unnamed Canadian Joint 50BMG. There are a few others, but $2.50 per trigger pull. Owning and

December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 41

Loading that would come off a tank barrel.
This is a lot of rifle, measuring 57

the inches in length and weighing 32.7

pounds stripped. The detachable

Big .50 Of the two .50-caliber bullets tested,

box magazine holds 10 rounds and
the 23-inch Picatinny rail includes a
27-MOA pitch and flip-up iron sights
– though the rifle was tested with an
Laupa’s Bullex-N represented the 800-
grain weight class. It is a turned-brass optic. The rear includes a handgrip
solid with a ballistic coefficient of .98. that accepts an adjustable monopod
to steady the butt, an adjustable steel
800-grain Bullex-N (since dis- bipod located up front and quickly
continued), so loads would by detached via a spring-loaded/ball-lock
Due to current component shortages, Patrick necessity revolve around just steel pin. The rifle is assembled and
was only able to secure two .50 BMG bullets for held together by similar pins, a shorter
two bullets, each paired with only
testing. Hornady’s 750-grain A-MAX is one of
the best, including an astounding 1.05 ballistic two charge weights per powder. one going through a receiver and the
coefficient. Though, having six compatible pow- frame up front, a longer one behind
ders on hand produced a respectable the comb and in front of the buttpad.
shooting a .50 BMG is obviously a showing. Hornady supplied all the The rifle’s weight and recoil-operated
pricey proposition. match grade cases I needed, but it system makes the rifle quite man-
Securing fodder for this test re- took time. CCI’s plain-boxed No. 35 ageable, more of a slow but robust
quired some serious scrounging, primers were used in all loads. shove rather than a sharp punch. The
starting in the middle of an ammu- The OD green test rifle, on loan M107A1 was topped by a Nightforce
nition and component drought and from Jim O’Connell of GunPeck in ATACR 7-35x 56mm F1 scope set in
lasting nearly a year. Powder, quite Peck, Idaho, was a recoil operated Trijicon’s rugged 34mm Quick Re-
surprisingly, proved the easiest part semiautomatic Barrett M107A1, lease Flattop Mount base/rings.
of the equation. Hodgdon, Shooters an older military-grade model with Loads consisted of Hornady’s
World and Vihtavuori came through all-steel construction. Barrett, as 750-grain A-MAX and Lapua’s 800-
with their 50-caliber contributions, discussed, provided the first shoul- grain Bullex-N, as mentioned, each
Alliant’s Reloder 50 was found on der-fired semiautomatic .50BMG paired with Hodgdon US-869 (210-
a local store shelf. Bullets and brass rifles. The rifle included a 29-inch and 230-grain charges with Hornady
were more problematic. I was able to fluted barrel with 1:15 rifling twist bullets, 210- and 230-grain charges
secure a very limited supply of Hor- and holding a Model 82A1 Muzzle Lapua bullets) and H-50BMG (190
nady 750-grain A-MAX and Lapua Brake, which looks like something and 210-grain charges with the Hor-
nady bullets, 205- and 225-grain
charges with the Lapua bullet); Alli-
ant Reloder 50 (210- and 230-grain
charges with Hornady bullets, 210-
and 225-grain powder charges with
the Lapua bullet); Shooters World
SW-50BMG (200- and 215-grain
charges with Hornady bullets, 185
and 195 Lapua bullets); Vihtavuori
24N41 (200.5- and 215-grain charge
weights for the Hornady bullet,
These are fair 200.5- and 210.5-grains of powder
representatives of
the three-shot groups
with the Lapua bullet) and 20N29
produced by the (225- and 240-grain charge weights
Barrett M107A1 at with the Hornady bullet, 230- and
500 yards. The left
group measures
240-grain charge weights with the
around 6.25 inches – Lapua bullet). The wide disparity of
the best produced in published maximum loads using the
this test – using same bullets and powders prompted
Hornady’s A-MAX
and Shooters World me to keep things on the conserva-
SW-50BMG powder. tive side. Even the heavier listed loads
42 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
 in the interests of avoiding flinching All powders chosen had their
and opening groups. Shooting the .50 moments, so choosing a definitive
BMG well requires special training – winner would be impossible. One
or at least a lot of familiarization. thing that was apparent is this rifle
I’ll fully admit – and my lack of preferred velocity, every one of the
experience with the powerful rifle tightest groups assembled resulted
may very well have factored – I wasn’t from the heavier load of the ladder
overly impressed with the accuracy pair. The single exception might be
of the Barrett, or its rough trigger. I the Hornady 750-grain A-Tip using
don’t know what I expected, really, 210 grains of Hodgdon H-50BMG at
and all groups were shot at 500 yards, 2,433 fps, which produced a 6.5-inch
but… the best groups measured 6¼- group. Shooters World SW-50BMG
to 7-inches center-to-center, with the generally created the smallest groups,
worst – just a couple, really – mea- driving my velocity/accuracy theory
suring nearly a foot across. Also, even by also turning in some of the high-
with a generous 11.5-by-22.5-inch est velocities. Even though some
B-27 silhouette target (meant for pis- of the listed loads represented of-
tol shooting at 50 feet), groups often ficial start loads, all cycled without
wandered onto the neighboring tar- a hitch.
get face between various bullets and This project proved a unique and
Shooting the .50 BMG offers a couple of surprises. loads. A .50 BMG owner would re- enlightening experience, but it has
The first, recoil proved quite manageable through
ally need to find a compatible load, not inspired me to run out and seek
the rifle’s weight, large muzzle brake and recoil
operation. The second is the tremendous noise zero the rifle with it and stick with a .50 BMG of my own. Quite the op-
produced. it religiously (easier said than done posite, really. I am not man nor rich
when powder is so difficult to secure enough to own the big .50. I’ll just
are well below maximum. All listed and your rifle shoots a pound every stick to my mild-mannered varmint
loads were seated to an overall loaded 25 shots). rifles, thank you very much! •
length of 5.73 inches.

It’s About Time

I did not have as much fun shoot-
ing the .50 BMG as I had envisioned.
When shooting begins, it offers some
obvious thrills, like a rollercoaster,
but after the first 10 to 15 rounds
for Better Drop Predictions.
are fired, that thrill wears thin and
is quickly replaced by the drudgery
of shooting such a brutal rifle. Recoil
is quite manageable, as mentioned,
though its cumulative effects cer-
tainly begin to take their toll. The
larger challenge is dealing with the
.50’s considerable muzzle blast – the 1. Time-of-Flight determines bullet drop
kind of muzzle blast that creates
clouds of dust and spinning debris. 2. Muzzle velocity and ballistic coefficient
I wore expensive SureFire EP3 determine time-of-flight
Sonic Defenders gel plugs covered 3. Oehler’s BC ChronoTM System 89 measures
by bulky Venturegear VG80 Series muzzle velocity, time-of-flight
earmuffs during all testing. Still, af- and ballistic coefficient
ter 15 to 20 shots I would begin de- 4. This gives you accurate predictions
veloping a raging migraine. The test
rifle’s barrel also turned branding
hot after only three to six shots, and Phone: 512-327-6900
cooled quite slowly in the high-90- P.O. Box 9135
degree heat that dominated the test Austin, TX 78766
period. Testing, therefore, proceeded Check it out at
at glacial speed, conducted over a se- oehler-research.com ReseaRch, Inc.
ries of days during a two-week period
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 43
.38 WCF
Really Old, but Still Capable

A Winchester Model 1892, with rounds loaded

with 165-grain Blue Bullet and 180-grain
Northern Precision jacketed roundnose.

44 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341

 The .38-40 (left) Terry Wieland

W
and its older brother,
the .44-40 (right),
are ballistically
hen a cartridge approaches
almost identical. 150 years of age, it’s only
reasonable to expect some
problems. The .38-40 (orig-
inally known as the .38 WCF) was intro-
duced 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.
The guns may now be ghosts, but they are ghosts
that continue to haunt the .38-40, limiting its ballis-
tic performance in factory ammunition as well as the
allowable handloads I can find in published load data.
The problem is that when the industry establishes
standard maximums, it must always bear in mind
that modern ammunition could find its way into old
rifles that by design, metallurgy, or a century’s worth of
neglect, will no longer take the pressure.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is only one of at least
a dozen problems that continue to plague admirers of
the .38-40 in this year of our Lord, 2022.
Way back in 1975, when the .38-40 was a spry 96
years old, Ken Waters wrote a “Pet Loads” article in
these pages in which he went into detail about the
problems that then existed. Some of these have faded,
Factory loads versus handloads (left to right): a factory Winchester
but they’ve been replaced by new ones. Waters’ article
with a 180-grain jacketed hollowpoint, a handload with a 165-grain was reprinted in Wolfe Publishing’s massive compen-
Blue Bullet and a 180-grain Northern Precision. dium of his excellent work, Pet Loads, and I strongly
recommend it if you can’t dig up your copy of the
original Handloader No. 53 (January - February 1975).
The .38-40, aside from everything else, has been
widely misunderstood throughout its lifetime – usu-
ally compared to its stablemate, the .44-40, and found
wanting. In fact, both the .38-40 and the .44-40 are
misnamed, and ballistically there is so little to choose
between them that it’s pointless to try. The .38-40 is
not a .38, it’s a .40, while the .44-40 is actually a .43;
the former shoots a 180-grain bullet, the latter usually
a 200-grain bullet, and the velocity difference is about
30 feet per second (fps). Hit a deer in the same place
with either and I can promise the deer will never know
the difference.
Both cartridges, like many of that era, were in-
tended to be dual-purpose, chambered in both your
rifle and revolver, and simplifying the ammunition
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 45
.38 WCF

An astonishing 50-yard, three-shot group with A 2.23-inch group, from the 165-grain Blue Bullet
The 165-grain Blue Bullet (left) and the Northern open sights. It measured exactly .250 inches, and ahead of a charge of Herco. At 1,474 fps, this is
Precision 180-grain jacketed bullet (right) both was shot with the 180-grain Northern Precision probably the best hunting load with the Blue
delivered fine performance in the .38-40. bullet and Universal powder. Bullet, combining power and decent accuracy.

problems as hunters ventured into the vided his data into that suitable for a velocity of 1,330 fps for 705 foot-
great unknown. Obviously, a round his list of ‘weak’ and those suitable pounds of energy at the muzzle.
fired in the 26-inch barrel of a rifle for the ‘strong.’ I’m not going to do There was the usual bumpy transi-
is going to have greater velocity than that, since I don’t have adequate ac- tion to smokeless powder, and ammu-
one fired from a 71⁄2 -inch revolver. quaintance with all the rifles in ques- nition makers went to great lengths to
However, factory ammunition must tion. Instead, we’ll stick to Sporting offer hunting loads with expanding
be safe to fire in either one. Arms and Ammunition Manufac- bullets at higher velocities, and hand-
Aside from the Winchester ’73 turers’ Institute (SAAMI) limits as loaders attempted to do likewise on
and black-powder Colt SAA’s, the shown in current load data, and trust their own.
round was chambered in a few sin- readers to make their own judgments The earliest data I can find is in
gle-shot rifles, like the Stevens on as to the strength of their firearms. the Ideal handbooks (later Lyman)
its weaker No. 44 action. Later, it Let’s deal with the thorny question and some of their recommendations
was chambered in the excellent, and of data right off the bat. The origi- are hairy, to say the least. Ken Waters
much stronger, Winchester Model nal factory load was a 180-grain cast tried some of them, notably some re-
92. My test rifle is a 92. Waters di- bullet ahead of 40 grains of FFg, at ally stiff loads with Alliant 2400 and
IMR-4227 and experienced case sep-
.38-40 (.38 WCF) Handloads arations. He recommended flatly that
overall 5-shot this data never be used, regardless of
loaded extreme 50-yard
bullet powder charge length velocity spread group
what rifle a shooter has.
( grains ) ( grains ) ( inches ) ( fps ) ( fps ) ( inches ) Suggested maximum loads have
165 Blue Bullet Cast FN Unique 9.0 1.600 1,399 76 3.025 been toned down considerably in re-
Herco 10.0 1,474 69 2.230 cent years, but many will be thrown
Clays 5.5 1,091 38 2.240 back on old data simply because
Universal 7.5 1,199 83 2.000
Titegroup 6.4 1,231 22 2.720
there is no new data. Handloaders
Trail Boss 5.5 967 12 1.300* are unlikely to find formula using
180 Northern Precision JRN Unique 10.0 1.600 1,398 14 1.250 new hotshot powders because pow-
Red Dot 5.2 901 35 .870 der manufacturers are not likely to do
2400 19.0 1,690 64 1.670 the necessary testing for a cartridge
Clays 5.5 966 77 1.200
Universal 7.5 1,020 22 .250*
of such limited demand. Hodgdon
Titegroup 6.4 1,068 45 .960* is a partial exception, offering data
* Three-shot groups for such powders as Clays, Universal,
Notes: A Winchester Model 1892, manufactured in 1912, with a 24-inch barrel (1:24 twist) was used to test Titegroup and Trail Boss.
all loads. Federal GM210M primers and Winchester-Western cases were used throughout. At any rate, approach any data
For more data on these cartridges 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 from before 1975 with extreme cau-
used. Reduce initial powder charge by 10 percent and work up while watching for signs of excessive pressure.
tion. Early data also included pow-
46 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
 Black-powder devotees already
know this, but it bears saying again:
There are grains measured by weight,
and grains measured by bulk, and
although they can be very close, the
relationship is not exact. For example,
40 grains of GOEX FFg (by weight)
is about 38 grains bulk – in my tools
Hunting accuracy at, least. Switch to a finer-grained
par excellence powder (another confusing use of
at 50 yards with
open sights:
grains) and the difference can be
1.20 inches for much greater. Twenty grains bulk of
five shots with Swiss FFFFg is about 23 grains by
the Northern weight.
Precision bullet
and Hodgdon There were vagaries with cham-
Clays. ber dimensions from manufacturer
to manufacturer and .38-40s are
ders that are no longer with us, such ets, which is more of an annoyance notorious for having imaginative
as SR-4759. This is another limit- than anything. However, if you try to chambers. My rifle is no exception:
ing factor. load modern, thicker brass with the The brass that goes in looks quite dif-
There used to be a general problem original 40 grains of FFg, you’ll find ferent from the brass that comes out,
with brass, since handloaders might it doesn’t fit. My Winchester-Western with the shoulder much more pro-
come across both ancient folded- cases accept only 39 grains, and that nounced. Redding dies do not resize
head and balloon-head brass, both is to the mouth of the case, leaving it to original dimensions, however, so
of which should be avoided. As no room for a bullet. To the base of maybe the chamber of my 92 is more
well, some manufacturers fitted a typical bullet, it is 26 grains, which or less standard.
.38-40 brass with small primer pock- is a far cry from 40. Now for bullets. The traditional

December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 47

.38 WCF Most authorities insist the .38-40
must be crimped solidly, but this is
mainly because, in the lengthy tubu-
lar magazine of the 92, which holds
about 15 rounds, during the course
of a shooting session, they can get
pounded, seating bullets deeper into
their cases and potentially affecting
feeding. There is the opposite con-
cern with revolvers, where bullets
can creep forward under recoil and
prevent the cylinder turning. Ob-
viously, neither is a problem with a
single shot.
Years ago, I bought a cannelure
tool to impress a cannelure on the
180-grain swaged bullets I obtained,
and that worked well enough, though
it was tedious. Related to this, the
cannelure has to be in the right place;
cartridges that are too long or too
short do not work well in the Win-
chester and Marlin rifles with tubular
Blue Bullets are polymer-coated and intended for
the 10mm cartridges (hence no cannelure) but magazines. The cannelure on a bullet
Bill Noody’s Northern Precision bullets. performed well in the .38-40. for the .38-40 can’t be thrown on just
anywhere: It has to be exact.
bullet is cast, with Lyman 40143 own. Twenty years ago, when I began This requirement also places lim-
producing a flatnosed bullet weigh- loading the .38-40, there was little itations on bullet weight. Practically
ing about 172 grains, depending on around in the way of commercial bul- speaking, the .38-40 is at its best
the alloy. These are supposed to be lets in the .401 range; today there are with bullets ranging between 160
sized to .401 to .403 inches, some- many more, both cast and jacketed, and 200 grains, with 180 – the orig-
times depending on your bore diam- but most are intended for the 10mm inal – offering the fewest problems.
eter. There seem to be lots of moulds semiauto and lack one critical feature: While we’re speaking of tubular
floating about, if you want to cast your a cannelure or crimping groove. magazines, they demand bullets with
either round or flatnoses. No spitzers,
to ensure no unscheduled firing of
the primer in front under recoil.
The two bullets I tested for this ar-
ticle came my way largely by chance.
The first is a 165-grain from The Blue
Bullet Company. It’s a semi-wadcut-
ter, mainly intended for the 10mm. It
is polymer coated, and measures ex-
actly .400 inch, but I wanted to see
if it could work in the .38-40. It has
no cannelure. The company offers a
similar bullet in 180 grains, but it was
out of stock. For that matter, I was
only able to obtain 50 of the 165s,
which limited testing rather severely.
The second is a jacketed round-
nose from Bill Noody’s Northern Pre-
cision Bullets in upstate New York. It
weighs 180 grains, and is also without
a cannelure. It measures exactly .400
as well. Since Bill does put cannelures
48 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
Of the powders tested, there were some excellent ones, and no really bad ones.

on some of his bullets, it should be I also wanted to try some of Ken

possible to get these cannelured if you Waters’ loads from 1975, for compar-
so desire. Given their performance ison, as well as to see what Unique
(see accompanying table) it would be and 2400 could still do.
well worthwhile. The main conclusion I came to
Neither variety of bullet was held is that Unique and 2400 are still ev-
very snugly in the case, so after seat- ery bit as good in this cartridge as
ing them to the correct depth, I ran they ever were. With the Northern
the cartridge back into the sizing die Precision jacketed bullet, 2400 deliv-
(with the decapping rod removed, of ered excellent hunting velocity, with
course) and it tightened the mouth Unique not too far behind, and accu-
of the case just enough to hold the racy was good in both.
bullet in place. Of course, this is a The Northern Precision bullet
stop-gap measure, and I was not ahead of Hodgdon’s Universal Clays
trying to develop loads just for the delivered a group that was nothing
92. Rather than take a chance, I fed short of astonishing, but I’ve had
the cartridges into the chamber one groups like that before that have
at a time. turned out to be flukes. Still, it’s not
Suitable powders for the .38-40 every day I see performance like that
range from the oldest (and still a fa- with an iron-sighted .38-40.
vorite) Unique (Alliant), to the new- As expected, IMR’s Trail Boss
est, IMR Trail Boss from Hodgdon. proved to be an excellent choice for
Handloaders can still find data for Cowboy Action with the 165-grain
Alliant’s Herco, 2400, Bullseye, and Blue Bullet. Otherwise, all the pow-
Red Dot as well as SR-4759 (if you ders tested, old and newer, were good
have some hidden away). There is with that bullet. There simply wasn’t
also data for 4227; older manuals will much to choose among them.
not differentiate between IMR-4227 All in all, today’s .38-40 shooter
and Hodgdon, but they mean IMR, has more to choose from than even
since Hodgdon’s version did not 20 years ago. Put a cannelure on the
yet exist. Northern Precision 180-grain jack-
For the Blue Bullet, I stuck to eted bullet, load it ahead of a charge
guidelines I would use for cast bul- of Alliant’s 2400, and the iron-
lets; that is, I did not want velocity to sighted 92 becomes as good a brush
exceed 1,400 fps. With the jacketed rifle as one can find. Not bad for a
bullet, I was looking for velocities up rifle-cartridge combination that is
to, possibly, 1,750 fps. 130 years old. •
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 49
 .38 Special

Original .38 Smith & Wesson Special factory loads contained black powder, however,
that was soon changed to smokeless powders and standard pressure loads.

Standard Pressure
Handloads

1 4

Brian used a Smith & Wesson Military & Police Model of 1905 Target Model
2 5 .38 Special with a 6-inch barrel to develop standard pressure data.

3
6
Both plain base and gas check cast
The .38 S&W Special is the most popular centerfire revolver cartridge and has bullets can be used with excellent results
been chambered in a huge variety of guns, many of which are only suitable Starline cases were used to in standard pressure .38 Special data.
for standard pressure loads: (1) Colt Single Action Army rare pre-war/ develop “Pet Loads” data. Cases Examples shown include the (left to
post-war variant, (2) Smith & Wesson Chiefs Special, (3) Smith & Wesson marked as +P are identical right): 155-grain plain base from RCBS
K-38 Combat Masterpiece, (4) Colt Cobra, (5) Colt Officers Model (second to standard headstamps, but mould 38-150-SWC, 160-grain gas check
issue) and (6) Smith & Wesson Military & Police Model of 1905 Target serve only to identify higher from RCBS mould 38-158-SWC and
Model .38 (today’s test gun). pressure loads. 173-grain Lyman Keith mould 358429.

50 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341

Brian Pearce

T
Wadcutter bullet designs are very popular with .38 S&W Special
standard pressure data. Examples include (left to right): Rim Rock
he .38 Smith & Wesson Special, or cast 148-grain DEWC cast, Hornady swaged lead 148-grain HBWC
and Speer swaged lead hollowbase WC.
more commonly known as .38 Spe-
cial (not to be confused with the .38
Smith & Wesson), dates back to 1898
or 1899 (depending on source). In addition to
having an unusually colorful history, it boasts
of being our most popular centerfire revolver
cartridge for the past 100 years. It has served
in many military applications, is widely pop- barrel length, etc.), which was a similar velocity to the
ular within law enforcement circles and has original black powder load that contained the 21 to 21.5
grains. In spite of the stated velocity, their actual velocity
proven to be a top-notch target and field car- was usually under 800 fps. Unfortunately, this load would
tridge. While it was originally introduced in become known as the “widow-maker” as it produced lit-
the Smith & Wesson K-frame revolver, known tle shock and in general, lacked stopping power. Around
as .38 Military & Police (1st Model or Model 1920, at the request of law enforcement for a more effective
of 1899 Army-Navy Revolver), it has been of- load, the Western Cartridge Company developed a load
containing a 200-grain lead roundnose bullet at around
fered in a variety of double- and single-action 671 to 730 fps and was known as .38 Super Police, while
revolvers, autoloading target pistols, rifles, Remington-Peters soon offered a similar round. Reports
derringers and single-shot pistols. Today, it suggest that the long bullet tumbled on impact that re-
remains widely popular in personal defense re- sulted in much greater shock. In 1930, Smith & Wes-
son introduced the fixed sight 38/44 Heavy Duty revolver
volvers; however, recreation shooters, cowboy- and soon thereafter, the 38/44 Outdoorsman featuring ad-
action competitors and others still find it justable sights. As the name indicated, they were built on
highly desirable. the “44” or N-frame, and were capable of handling much
The .38 Special was developed due to requests from heavier (greater pressure) loads than lighter frame sixguns.
the U.S. Government. At that time, the .38 Long Colt Soon various “.38 Special Hi-Speed” loads appeared that
(with 150-grain bullet at around 730 feet per second) was featured either metal piercing metal tip bullets that could
the official U.S. military sidearm cartridge. But many ex- penetrate car doors, radiators and the like, or lead bullets
perienced combat soldiers knew that it was rather weak
and wanted greater power. But this issue was fully rec- Many handloads produced excellent accuracy in the Smith & Wesson Military
& Police Model of 1905 Target Model.
ognized during the Spanish-American War and the Phil-
ippine-American War wherein it proved unreliable in
stopping the insurgent Philippine warriors and neither
would it penetrate their shields. As a short-term solution,
the proven Colt Single Action Army chambered in .45
Colt was pulled from government arsenals and issued to
troops, which once again proved highly reliable in battle,
but I digress. Government officials had already approached
Smith & Wesson to develop a new revolver round that
would be based on the .38 Long Colt, but with greater
power. The .38 Special was the result, which featured a
longer case at 1.155 inches (as opposed to the .38 Long
Colt case at 1.025 inches) and held an additional 3 to 3.5
grains of black powder. It also featured a 158-grain bullet
and produced around 100 to 150 fps greater velocity.
Space will not allow a complete discussion of the ballis-
tics of the dozens of factory loads and U.S. military loads
that have been, or are still being offered. A few noteworthy
loads include early smokeless ammunition that featured a
158-grain lead roundnose bullet listed with a muzzle veloc-
ity of around 845 to 870 fps (depending on manufacturer,
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 51
.38 Special with a special copper-wash coating to
control leading, all of which were de-
signed with law enforcement in mind.
However, these loads likewise gained
acceptance with civilians wanting
greater power from the .38 Special.
At least three bullet weights were
listed that included 110-, 150- and
Cast bullets were 158-grain weights. These guns and
sized to .358 inch. loads became the basis for further Both jacketed and cast-bullet loads can perform
well with standard pressure .38 S&W Special
ballistic improvement that resulted
data. However, jacketed bullets will shorten
in the .357 Magnum being developed barrel life and are not recommended for many
in 1934 (a joint development between pre-World War II revolvers.
S&W and Winchester) and formally
offered to the public in 1935. Before proceeding, it is import-
Back to standard pressure .38 ant to establish the differences be-
Special loads. Ammunition com- tween .38 Special and .38 Special
panies have been very responsive to +P loads. Referring back to the .38
offer trending ammunition. For ex- Special Hi-Speed factory loads for
ample, many years ago when slow- the Smith & Wesson 38/44 Heavy
fire bullseye-style target shooting Duty and 38/44 Outdoorsman re-
was widely popular, wadcutter loads volvers, industry pressure guidelines,
known as Match, Match Wadcut- as well as suitable guns for these loads
ter, Police Match and such were de- was sometimes rather vague and less
veloped that typically contained a than perfectly clear to the average
148-grain swaged-lead wadcutter handgunner. For example, loads for
bullet, usually with a hollow base, at the 38/44 sixguns were not always
Cases loaded in conjunction with soft, swaged
between 690 to 770 fps. Even today, headstamped for proper identifica-
lead bullets can recognize accuracy benefits with
a larger expander ball that measures .356 inch. these loads remain popular offerings. tion and resulted in their being fired
When loading hard-cast bullets or jacketed In an effort to improve terminal per- in inappropriate guns. As a result, in
bullets, the expander ball should measure .003 formance, many companies began of- 1974, the Sporting Arms and Am-
to .004 inch smaller than bullet diameter.
fering 158-grain “standard pressure” munition Manufacturers’ Institute
lead SWC-style bullets at 830 to 855 established the .38 Special +P desig-
fps, which is a notable improvement nation (indicating plus pressure), so
over the traditional roundnose loads. that headstamps could be marked
Another popular approach to improve to better establish the two pressure
terminal performance is to offer light- levels associated with this cartridge.
weight jacketed expanding bullets Industry +P pressure is currently es-
The overall cartridge
that typically include 90-, 110-, 125- tablished at 20,000 psi, which is not
lengths should be observed and 135-grain bullets, but at least one suitable for all .38 Special revolvers.
and used as listed. company offers a 158-grain jacketed Standard pressure .38 Special loads
bullet. As cowboy-action competition are currently established at 17,000
became popular, many began offer- psi. All accompanying data is within
ing light recoiling cast or swaged that pressure limit, making it suitable
lead bullets weighing 125-, 140- and for any gun in good, working con-
158-grains. The accompanying data dition. The list of guns that should
will offer duplication loads for all of only be fired with standard pressure
the above (except the 158-grain jack- loads is very lengthy, so it is suggested
Maximum case length for eted bullet), but will also include data readers contact the manufacturer to
the .38 S&W Special is to improve overall performance while determine suitability.
1.155 inches.
staying within pressure guidelines. For today’s purposes, a Smith &
52 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
Wesson pre-World War II Military & .38 Special Standard Pressure Handloads
Police Model of 1905 Target Model
with a 6-inch barrel was used to de-
(17,000 psi)
overall 5-shot
velop standard pressure data. For .38 loaded 25-yard
Special +P data, please refer to “Pet bullet powder charge length velocity group
( grains ) ( grains ) ( inches ) ( fps ) ( inches )
Loads” in Handloader No. 304 (Oc-
110 Speer JHP A-2 4.80 1.425 847
tober - November 2016). Few guns 5.00 877
can match the extreme quality of this 5.20 923
sixgun that features a velvety-smooth, 5.40 954
pre-war long action, crisp, single-ac- Bullseye 4.20 860
tion trigger pull, a good sight picture 4.50 907
4.80 969
and a mirror-shinny bore that is ex-
5.10* 1,018 2.85
cellent for use with cast bullet loads. 5.40 1,072
This sixgun has proven accurate and Nitro 100NF 3.40 841
is an appropriate, period-test vehicle. 3.60 889
I first began handloading the .38 3.80 908
Special in 1974, which at that time, 110 Speer Gold Dot HP Titegroup 4.20 1.460 840
4.40 871
included developing loads for a Smith 4.60 926
& Wesson Chief Special, a K-38 Mas- 4.80 967
terpiece and a Colt Single Action 5.00* 998 2.40
Army. I learned much about the car- Silhouette** 6.30 903
tridge and how to make my sixguns 6.60 905
6.90 966
turn in top-notch target accuracy,
7.10 1,080
along with useful field performance Power Pistol 6.20 963
(mostly on small game and pests). 6.40 990
Later, I used the great .38 in vari- 6.60 1,039
ous revolver speed-shooting compe- 6.80 1,074
titions. Even though big-bore sixguns 7.00 1,102
110 Hornady XTP BE-86 5.00 1.445 840
are generally favored by this writer for
5.20 858
daily use, the Special is certainly wor- 5.40 890
thy of the unique title of being our 5.60 917
most popular revolver cartridge. 5.80 931
Starline cases were used exclusively Unique 5.20 855
to develop the accompanying data. 5.40 881
5.60 925
Incidentally, there are no other differ- 5.80 959
ences between Starline cases marked 6.00 986
“.38 SPL” and “.38 SPL +P.” Rather W-572 6.00 989
the headstamp differences are only 6.20 1,010
intended for load identification. It is 6.40* 1,044 2.50
6.60 1,070
noteworthy that there are great vari-
6.70 1,087
ances in case construction, materi- 125 Speer Gold Dot HP Power Pistol 6.00 1.440 937
als, heat-treating methods, etc., even 6.25 950
from the same manufacturer, but it 6.50* 971 2.10
is most prevalent in older cases. Gen- A-5 6.50 888
erally, cases that are void of a can- 6.90 917
7.20 966
nelure(s) will offer longer case life,
Clays 5.20 871
and tend to stretch less. Cases that 5.50 951
can be full-length sized with very lit- 125 Hornady XTP-HP Unique 5.60 1.450 965
tle effort, or seem very soft, are most 5.80* 987 1.90
prone to be the cause of poor ignition VV-3N37 6.20 876
and can contribute to squib loads. 6.40 901
6.60 944
These cases are best when used with 6.80 971
deep-seating wadcutter-style bullets SW Clean Shot 4.00 730
(as they limit powder space and aid 4.25 772
with proper powder ignition) and 4.50 814
that are usually loaded in conjunc- 125 Sierra JHC 800-X 6.00 1.450 886 (Continued)

December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 53

 .38 Special Standard Pressure Handloads
(17,000 psi) (Continued)
overall 5-shot
loaded 25-yard
bullet powder charge length velocity group
( grains ) ( grains ) ( inches ) ( fps ) ( inches )
125 Sierra JHC 800-X 6.40 1.450 947
6.80 989
VV-N320 5.20 944
5.40 970
BE-86 5.20 863
5.50 924
CFE Pistol 5.70 919
6.00 969
6.30* 1,002 2.00 When using jacketed bullets in conjunction with
135 Speer Gold Dot HP Unique 5.00 1.450 823 standard pressure .38 S&W Special data, Brian
5.30 870 prefers lightweight versions that weigh between
A-5 6.40 869 110 and 135 grains to prevent too low of velocity
6.70 901 and help avoid the possibility of sticking a bullet
Power Pistol 6.00 920 in the bore. Examples include the Hornady
110-grain XTP and Speer 135-grain Gold Dot HP.
6.20* 944 2.05
125 Oregon Trail FP Cast W-244 4.70 1.445 922
5.00 997 tion with small charges of fast burn-
5.30 1,047 ing powders.
IMR-Target 3.50 803 All cases were full-length sized
4.00 885
using a Lyman carbide die. At this
4.50 958
BE-86 4.60 775 point, two sizes of expander balls
5.00 861 were used to prepare cases for vari-
5.40 934 ous loads. For loads containing com-
Power Pistol 5.50 925 paratively soft, swaged lead bullets
5.80 971 from Hornady and Speer, as well as
6.20 1,008
Bullseye 3.50 806
Rim Rock Bullets soft-cast 158-grain
4.00* 896 2.35 SWC-HP with gas check, all sized at
4.50 974 .358 inch, an expander ball measur-
Red Dot 3.50 831 ing .356 inch was used. This helps
4.00 926 prevent bullet deformation or their
4.50 1,009 being swaged down as they are seated
140 Hornady Lead Cowboy FP Nitro 100NF 3.50 1.455 821
4.00 909
into the case, which generally im-
4.50 977 proves accuracy. For hard-cast bullets
Titegroup 3.50 778 and jacketed bullet loads, a .354-inch
4.00* 876 2.10 expander ball was used to obtain
4.50 962 greater case-to-bullet tension and in-
A-2 4.00 773
crease bullet pull. This likewise serves
4.25 824
4.50 861 to improve powder ignition and help
Unique 4.00 731 prevent squib loads. Cases were ex-
4.50 822 panded with just enough mouth flare
5.00 924 to prevent bullets from being shaved
Trail Boss 3.50 736 or damaged while they are seated.
3.90 788
148 Speer Hollowbase Wadcutter Bullseye 2.50 1.180 700
Naturally, all bullets received a roll
2.75 755 crimp after being seated to the correct
3.00* 812 1.70 overall cartridge length. For swaged
Nitro 100NF 2.50 705 lead bullets without a crimp groove
2.75 766 or cannelure, a taper crimp die or
3.00 824 Lee Factory Crimp die are excellent
Clays 3.25 744
3.50 785
options.
148 Hornady Lead HBWC American Select 2.75 1.180 731 CCI 500 Small Pistol standard
3.00 779 primers were used throughout, with
3.25 841 the exception of loads containing
Titegroup 2.50 716 (Continued)
Ramshot Silhouette powder (which
54 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
is a St. Marks product formerly mar-
keted as Winchester WAP or in
OEM form is WPR289). I was expe-
riencing some ignition problems with
high extreme spreads using the light-
weight Speer 110-grain Gold Dot HP
bullets, and switching to a CCI 550
Small Pistol Magnum primer cor-
rected this issue. Primers should be
seated .003 to not more than .005
inch below flush, with the anvil in
positive contact with the bottom of
the primer pocket to assure reliable
ignition.
With the above thought in mind,
let’s discuss two very misunderstood
aspects of handloading standard pres-
sure .38 Special ammunition, which
is important to understand before sit-
ting down at the bench. Like many
cartridges that started life as a black-
powder number, operating pressures
are relatively low. As such, there is
just not enough pressure or powder
energy to reliably push certain bul-
lets down the bore. For example, a
typical cup-and-core 158-grain jack-
eted bullet offers a long bearing sur-
face and considerable resistance going
down the bore. Very few powders
have enough sustained energy to reli-
ably push them down the barrel, even
when loaded to maximum pressure.
This can be accomplished with select
powders in a non-ventilated pressure
barrel that is used in select reloading
manuals. However, when the same
load is fired in a revolver, peak pres-
sures occur before the bullet exits
the case, but pressures will drop very
quickly as soon as the bullet passes
through the barrel cylinder gap. The
larger the barrel cylinder gap, the
greater the pressure drop becomes. If
pressures are too low, or if there is just
not enough powder energy, the bullet
will stick in the bore. Besides being
an annoyance, if it is not removed be-
fore the next shot is fired, at the very
least, the barrel will be bulged and
the gun damaged.
In a typical revolver with a 4- to
6-inch barrel, very few loads will re-
liably push 158-grain jacketed bul-
lets to much above 700 fps and many
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 55
 .38 Special Standard Pressure Handloads
(17,000 psi) (Continued)
overall 5-shot
loaded 25-yard
bullet powder charge length velocity group
( grains ) ( grains ) ( inches ) ( fps ) ( inches )
148 Hornady Lead HBWC Titegroup 2.75* 1.180 765 1.60
3.00 829
W-231 3.00 725
3.25 776
3.50 837
148 Rim Rock DEWC Unique 3.20 1.250 716
3.50 799
3.80 856
4.00 922
Power Pistol 3.20 705
Virtually all ammunition companies still offer 3.50 760
standard pressure .38 Special loads for vintage 3.80 843
guns and target work such as Remington and 4.10 907
Black Hills Ammunition (left), but due to their 4.50 960
higher pressure, +P loads (right) are not suitable A-2 3.20 766
for all guns.
3.40 800
3.60* 823 1.95
powders will not even reach that 150 Lyman Cast 358091 WC Bullseye 3.00 1.315 820
much velocity. If a chosen powder is 3.25 855
position sensitive, the likelihood of Titegroup 3.00 837
3.50* 870 1.30
sticking a bullet is further increased.
155 RCBS Cast 38-150-SWC (PB) Nitro 100NF 2.80 1.480 703
With this bullet’s great resistance 3.00 751
in the bore, combined with its low CFE Pistol 5.00 902
velocity, it is always on the verge of 5.20* 949 1.30
sticking in the bore. Furthermore, at 5.40 985
such low velocities, these bullets will Longshot 5.10 905
5.30 940
not expand, so there is no logical rea- 158 Hornady Lead SWC-HP A-2 3.80 1.455 767
son to use them. For these reasons 4.00* 805 2.00
data with 158-grain jacketed bullets 4.20 845
is omitted. Power Pistol 4.10 775 (Continued)

On the other hand, cast and lead-

based bullets offer considerably less the cast or lead bullets will offer a ve- tains 158-grain SWC-HP lead-based
resistance going down the bore and locity gain of at least 50 fps and as bullets are pushed to notably higher
are always excellent choices for this much as 150 fps depending on vari- velocities, offer greater power and re-
fine, old cartridge. For example, us- ables such as alloy, bullet design and liable expansion.
ing an identical powder charge with lube. This explains why the so-called For the above reasons, data con-
158-grain jacketed and cast bullets, FBI .38 Special +P load that con- taining jacketed cup-and-core-style

A Smith & Wesson Military & Police Model of 1905 Target Model .38 Special was Brian used both traditional and modern powders to update standard pressure
used to develop “Pet Loads” data. handloads for the .38 S&W Special.

56 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341

 not generally a problem in the .38
.38 Special Standard Pressure Handloads
Special. However, gas check bullets
(17,000 psi) (Continued) can be very accurate and if leading
overall 5-shot
loaded 25-yard
is an issue, will generally solve that
bullet powder charge length velocity group problem. Especially good results
( grains ) ( grains ) ( inches ) ( fps ) ( inches )
have been obtained with bullets cast
158 Hornady Lead SWC-HP Power Pistol 4.40 1.455 819
4.70 890
from the old-style RCBS mould 38-
A-5 5.30 820 158-SWC. Loads containing swaged
5.60 844 lead bullets from Hornady and Speer
5.80 864 are generally held to moderate ve-
158 Rim Rock SWC-HP w/GC CFE Pistol 5.00 1.455 882 locities to help avoid barrel leading.
5.30 933
Loads containing swaged lead wad-
Power Pistol 5.00* 928 2.65
5.25 969 cutter bullets were generally pushed
5.50 1,000 to similar velocities as factory loaded
A-5 5.30 827 “Match” loads. However, wadcutter
5.80 899 bullets that are cast with a harder al-
160 RCBS Cast 38-158-SWC w/GC True Blue 5.00 1.480 779 loy can be pushed to greater veloc-
5.20 832
ities, with examples including the
Longshot 5.10 912
5.30 936 Rim Rock Bullets 148-grain DEWC
CFE Pistol 5.00 874 and my hand-cast 150-grain bullets
5.40 945 from Lyman mould 358091.
Power Pistol 5.00 938 With millions of classic .38 Special
5.50* 1,012 .95 guns still in service, along with many
173 Lyman Keith Cast 358429 (PB) Titegroup 3.50* 1.532 844 1.55
A-5 5.00 859
new guns produced annually that are
VV-N350 5.50 878 still in high demand, it appears that
Unique 4.40 847 this fine cartridge is going to be with
* Potentially most accurate load with that particular bullet us for a very long time. •
** Use CCI 550 primer with this powder
Notes: A pre-World War II Smith & Wesson Military & Police Target Model .38 Special with a 6-inch barrel
was used to test all loads. Starline cases were used exclusively. Jacketed bullet diameter is .357 inch, while
cast bullets were sized to .358 inch. CCI 500 primers were used, except as noted. Maximum case length is
1.155 inches, while suggested trim-to length is 1.145 inches. SAAMI maximum overall cartridge length is
1.550 inches. A roll crimp was applied to all loads. Suggested start loads should not be reduced.
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.

bullets was limited to weights of 110-, loads work properly (i.e. correct pres-
125- and 135-grains. In addition to sure for reliable ignition, avoid squib
reaching higher velocities, which loads), while staying under the max-
greatly reduces the chance of stick- imum average pressure limits. For
ing a bullet in the bore, they have these reasons, starting loads should
much shorter bearing surfaces that not be reduced and neither should
allows them to be pushed down the maximum loads be increased.
bore with greater reliability. Further- Traditional powders such as Alli-
more, the Hornady XTP and Speer ant Bullseye, Red Dot and Unique
Gold Dot hollowpoint bullets in the are still top choices for handloading
above weights will offer reliable ex- the .38 Special, as they offer low ex-
pansion at .38 Special standard pres- treme spreads, are easy to ignite at
sure velocities. low pressures and burn reasonably
Jacketed bullet diameter is gen- clean. However, many newer pow-
erally .357 inch, while cast and ders also offer notable performance
swaged lead bullets are sized to .358 such as Hodgdon Titegroup, CFE
inch. Listed overall cartridge lengths Pistol, Accurate No. 2, Alliant BE-
should be observed, as changes in 86, Power Pistol, Vihtavuori N350,
bullet seating depth will change how N320, 3N37, Winchester W-244 and
a particular load performs. W-572.
The .38 Special has a rather small At normal velocities, barrel lead-
pressure and velocity window where ing with plain base-cast bullets is
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 57
 For World War I, the U.S. Government had both Colt and
Smith & Wesson produce hundreds of thousands of the
large-frame revolvers for .45 Auto using three-round,
half-moon clips. A Smith & Wesson Model 1917 (left)
and a Colt Model 1917 (right) are shown.

Colt
U.S. Model 1917

© Yvonne Venturino photos

A Colt U.S. Model 1917 .45 Auto. Dies used were regular .45 Auto by Redding.
The only change was the RCBS No. 8 shellholder seen atop the box. Notice The government inspector marking is found on the frame just in front of the
the vintage Lyman box labeled “.45 Auto Rim.” hammer and the “Rampant Colt” is behind the cylinder release button.

.45 Auto Rim

S
Mike Venturino oped a mechanical problem so it was dropped
ome general or another once said from test shooting. For decades, both types
something like, “No battle plan sur- of Model 1917 revolvers sat on bottom shelves
vives intact after the first shot is of used gun cases in stores across the nation.
fired.” As conceived, my original idea Now, they are now esteemed military collect-
for this article involved handloading .45 Auto ibles and as such, they have gained phenome-
Rim for U.S. Model 1917 revolvers made by nally in value. For instance, my current S&W
both Smith & Wesson (S&W) and Colt. At Model 1917 cost about 20 times what was paid
first, shooting the S&W Model 1917, it devel- for my first one in June 1968.
58 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
 Instead of shooting jacketed bullet to the U.S. Government with blued
loads in 100-plus year-old revolvers, finish. However, if pulled from
my opinion is that mild cast- stocks for World War II and
bullet loads would be kinder needing refurbishing, they
to century-old steel. There- were given a Parkerized fin-
fore, for this project, a small ish. My S&W Model 1917
array of lead-alloy bullets is still blued, but my Colt
were loaded over charges Model 1917 is Parkerized.
of powders intending to de- The Model 1917 saga
liver about 750 to 850 feet per didn’t end with cancelled
second (fps) velocity from the government contracts in 1919.
5½-inch barrels of the Model 1917. Both S&W and Colt management
A logical question here is: Why not realized the idea of revolvers firing .45
use rimless .45 Auto cases in half- or full- The bottom of both the Auto was a good thing. Smith & Wesson
S&W and Colt Model
moon clips? Indeed, Model 1917s were intended continued selling Model 1917s to civilians until
1917 grip frames were
for rimless .45 Autos pressed into “half-moon” stamped. about 1949 but then reintroduced the same basic
clips. As the photo shows, original military loads revolver as the Model 1950 Army (Later Model
were issued pre-boxed in those clips. My reason for not 22) until 1966. Colt kept .45 Auto as a caliber option with
using clips is that senior citizen hands and fingers are its New Service until 1944 when that version of revolver
pained when inserting and removing .45 Auto cases from was discontinued altogether. Early in this century, S&W
the clips a single round at a time. reintroduced Model 22s in several versions. Smith & Wes-
However, before proceeding, let’s do the obligatory his- son also offered target-sighted .45 Auto revolvers as Models
torical background of Model 1917 revolvers and the .45 25 and 26. However, it must be stressed that only Model
Auto Rim. Model 1917 Colt and Smith & Wesson revolv- 1917 revolvers marked U.S. on grip frame bottoms were
ers were a stopgap measure in the World War I emergency. made in the original 1917-1919 production period.
As usual, this nation entered a war unprepared. Simply Colt and S&W Model 1917s are the same, but differ-
stated, there were not enough Model 1911 .45 Auto pis- ent. Both are large frame, swing cylinder, six-shot, double-
tols available despite that at the height of wartime produc- action revolvers with 5½-inch barrels, smooth walnut grips
tion, the Colt factory was producing about 2,000 Model and lanyard rings. Sights for both are fixed blade fronts
1911s per day! The government prevailed on the two with grooves down frame top-straps for rear sights. They
above mentioned revolver manufacturers to develop a are in no way readily adjustable. Their differences are that
method for their respective large-frame sixguns to use except for the lanyard rings, no two parts of either compa-
rimless .45 Auto ammunition. It has been reported that ny’s Model 1917s are interchangeable. For instance, S&W
someone at the S&W facility came up with the idea for cylinders rotate counterclockwise and Colt’s rotate clock-
spring steel, three round, half-moon clips to secure .45 wise. S&W stuck with their usual high-polish blue finish
Auto cartridges in chambers and give revolver extractors but Colt put a duller blue on its version.
a surface to push against. As mentioned above, the idea of revolvers firing .45
It was a great war-emergency idea. Between 1917 and Auto clicked with the post-World War I gun-buying
1919 collectively, the two manufacturers produced more public. There was just one complaint; getting .45 Auto
than 300,000 .45 Auto revolvers. Not only did they serve cartridges into the clips and out again. Doing so without
in Europe during the war, but some were even issued to specialized tools is time consuming and hard on fingers.
U.S. Post Offices during the inter-war years. Then, at the That annoying problem was the basis for a brand new
beginning of World War cartridge named .45 Auto
For this project, Mike used these four lead-alloy bullets: (1) Oregon Trail
II, many thousand Model 227-grain roundnose, (2) RCBS 40-180-CM 230-grain roundnose-flatpoint, Rim introduced by Peters
1917s were withdrawn from (3) AA Limited 231-grain roundnose-flatpoint and (4) Redding/SAECO Cartridge Company in 1920.
stocks for reissue. (My own No. 453 234-grain wadcutter with a (5) Remington 230-grain lead-round- This new round was simply
uncle related to me that nose for comparison. the .45 Auto case redesigned
he carried one in 1944 to have a rather thick rim.
on the island of Guam as For example I just picked
a member of the USMC up a stray .357 Magnum case
3rd Division. He had long off my bench. Its rim thick-
ago forgotten if his was a ness is .051 inch. A .45 Auto
Smith & Wesson or Colt.) Rim there has a .091 inch
Here is an interesting fact. thick rim. Both cases were
World War I manufacturers headstamped R-P for Rem-
1 2 3 4 5
shipped their Model 1917s ington-Peters. CARTRIDGES
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 59
 Colt U.S. Model 1917
OF THE WORLD 9th EDITION
lists .055 inch and .085 inch for rim
thicknesses of the two rounds. Go
figure.
According to the book U.S. CAR-
TRIDGES AND THEIR HAND-
GUNS by Charles R. Suydam, besides
Peters, .45 Auto Rim factory loads
have also been produced by U.S. Car-
tridge Company, Remington-Union
Metallic Cartridge Company and
Winchester Repeating Arms. Obvi-
ously, Remington and Peters united
This is the best group fired from 25 yards with
along the way. When my .45 Auto the Colt Model 1917. Note the flyer, which
Rim shooting career started in 1968, seemed common when shooting these groups.
only R-P factory loads were to be
found and even those have also been
discontinued for some years. My last
box of factory Remington-Peters
.45 Auto Rim contains a mere four
rounds. Some Black Hills and Cor-
Bon factory loads have been pro-
duced in this century, but my feeling
is those should be saved for the newer
.45 Auto Rim revolvers.
Early .45 Auto Rim factory loads
used the same 230-grain full metal
jacket bullets as .45 Auto but along The second best group fired at 25 yards with the
the way, 230-grain lead roundnose Colt Model 1917.
bullets were introduced. My old chro-
nograph notes show velocity for them
was around 750 fps. In the past, I’ve
read that rifling for Colt and S&W
Model 1917s was shallower than for
its other .45-caliber revolvers. How-
ever, I have a Colt factory specifica-
tion sheet dated 1922, that lists all
.45-caliber barrel groove diameters
as .451 inch minimum and .452 inch
maximum. It also specifies that all
rifling groove depth for calibers from
.22 to .45 was .0035 inch. For reason(s) unknown, the Oregon Trail 227-
A conundrum I’ve found is as fol- grain roundnose bullets often tipped like this.
lows. Colt and S&W revolvers were
designed for .45 Auto and I’ve never However, the same manual lists
read any caveat saying to beware of .45 Auto Rim maximum pressures
using .45 Auto factory loads in re- as slightly less than 14,000 cup for
volvers so chambered. However, the the same bullet. Comparing maxi-
Lyman 50th Edition Reloading Hand- mum charges for just one very pop-
book lists loads for its cast bullet ular propellant – Unique – showed
452374 (225 grains) giving slightly 7.3 grains for .45 Auto, but only 6.6
more than 17,000 cup pressures. grains for .45 Auto Rim. Again, with
60 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
 .45 Auto Rim Handloads
overall extreme
loaded velocity
bullet powder charge case length velocity spread
( grains ) ( grains ) ( inches ) ( fps ) ( fps )

227 Oregon Trail Bullet Co. RN Bullseye 4.5 Remington-Peters 1.230 858 13
Titegroup 4.5 852 20
W-231 5.2 824 31
Unique 5.5 888 33
230 RCBS 45-230-FN RN/FP Bullseye 4.5 Remington-Peters 1.200 779 12
Titegroup 4.5 733 38
W-231 5.2 685 33
Unique 5.5 816 49
231 AA-Limited RN/FP Bullseye 4.5 Starline 1.250 813 28
Titegroup 4.5 838 37
W-231 5.2 794 75
Unique 5.5 859 51 and Reloading Dies
234 Redding SAECO 453 WC Bullseye 4.5 Starline .980 828 44 Current, Discontinued and
Titegroup 4.5 858 12 Hard to Find Items
W-231 5.2 790 66
Unique 5.5 888 33
Trade-Ins Welcomed
Notes: A Colt U.S. Model 1917 with a 5½-inch barrel was used to test all loads. Winchester Large Pistol
primers were used throughout. All chronograph figures are for five rounds fired with start screen at approx-
imately 6 feet. All bullets cast by Mike used 1:20 tin-to lead alloy and were lubed with DGL. Commercially
cast bullets by Oregon Trail and AA Limited used their own blends of hard lead alloy and hard lubricants. All
bullets in the handloads were sized at .452 inch.
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 signs of excessive pressure.

both rounds loaded with cast bullet when a Colt Model 1917 came my 303-204-8058
452374. I’m not disputing Lyman’s way. By this time, there was a .45 duckcreeksportinggoods.com
manual. In fact, it is my most refer- Auto taper crimp die on my reload-
enced reloading manual. This is just
being mentioned as something of
which handloaders should be aware.
In times long past, reloading tool
companies actually sold die sets
marked specifically for .45 Auto Rim.
However, any set of .45 Auto dies will
suffice when used with the proper
shellholder. In college, in 1968,
I could not afford a .45 Auto Rim
shellholder and my much younger
fingers were more capable of load-
ing/unloading half-moon clips. This
is also when I learned of a problem
when handloading for 1917 revolv-
ers. The only .45 bullet mould owned
at that time was Lyman’s 452374, a
See Website for Offer!
225-grain roundnose meant primarily
for .45 Auto. It has no crimp groove.
My .45 Auto dies only roll crimped.
The first time those handloads were
fired in the S&W 1917, the third
or fourth round’s bullet protruded
from the chamber’s front! No mat-
ter how hard I tried to roll crimp on
those smooth-side .45 Auto bullets,
they always moved forward in cases
during recoil.
Now, fast forward many years
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 61
Colt U.S. Model 1917 Remington .45 Auto Rim factory ammunition
was discontinued several decades ago. This
is all Mike has left from his last box.

Military ammunition for

U.S. Model 1917 .45 Auto
revolvers was issued
prepackaged in the
half-moon clips.

ing bench along with .45 Auto Rim Factory Crimp die. Same results, so cially cast and two were home cast.
brass and shellholder. I thought, “I’ll with those experiences behind me I’ve The latter came from Redding/
show those smooth-side bullets from only loaded .45 Auto Rim with bul- SAECO mould 453 for a nominal
Lyman mould 452374 who’s boss.” lets that can be solidly crimped. 230-grain full wadcutter and RCBS
Again, bullets always moved forward That brings us to the bullets used mould 45-230CM for a nomi-
during recoil. Next tried was a Lee for this project. Two were commer- nal 230-grain roundnose-flatpoint.
They were cast of 1:20 tin-to lead
alloy, sized to .452 inch and lubed

Accuracy In A Jar!
with DGL. They weighed 234 and
230 grains in the same order. For
commercially cast bullets, Oregon
Pro-Bed 2000 Trail’s 230-grain roundnose was one
pick. I know right here someone is
The Ultimate Stock Bedding Epoxy thinking, “Mike, you’re contradicting
G U N S M I T H I N G
yourself. That Oregon Trail bullet
Toll Free: 800-326-5632 • www.probed2000.com
has no crimping groove.” True, but
I thought its front driving band per-
fectly placed over which to roll crimp.
Also in my storage shed, I found a
bag of 230-grain roundnose-flatpoint
bullets intended for .45 S&W “Scho-
field” produced by the now defunct
AA Limited Company. The com-
mercial bullets were both cast of very
hard alloy, lubed with very hard blue
lubricant and sized .452 inch.
With those four bullets four pow-
ders were mated. Fast-burning pow-
ders are needed for a case with such
small powder capacity. In the past,
Red Dot has given excellent results
in my now gone S&W Models 22,
25 and 26. However, it was ignored
for this project because the most re-
cent component shortage caught me
with only a partial can. However, in
plentiful supply were Bullseye, Tite-
group, W-231 and Unique. All loads
62 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
 Rifledjag.com Randy Duckett
Duckett Publishing Co.
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“Gets the corners and copper” 1000s of Gun, Knife & Sword Books
“Caliber Specific”
$9.95 RDGunBooks.com
For Supreme Accuracy! [email protected]
See our website!
Brass
Patented 719-510-8919

These were the four powders Mike used in this

project.

were stoutly roll crimped. Four bul-

lets with four powders equaled a total
of 16 combinations. Now Making
Usually, averaging all groups and
even individual averages per powder
UNI-CHUCK “SHIM FIT” COMBO 10mm, 6.5, .348,
.400, 38-40 and .412
• Upgrade your current Kinetic Bullet Puller (any make)
and bullet gives interesting informa-
• Increases pulling power
tion. Not this time: all four groups
• Restore / replace the worn interface • Custom Made Weights and Styles
with Unique were wild as in 6 inches
or more. The best groups came with
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group of all came with the AA Lim-
ited 230-grain “Schofield” bullet and
Simply “FIT IT” and “HIT IT” Custom Swaged Bullets
830-693-0237 l www.quineticscorp.com 329 South James Street • Carthage NY 13619
W-231. Next best was the Redding (315) 955-8679 • www.npcustombullets.com
SAECO 234-grain wadcutter, also
with W-231. Most other Colt Model

Rim Rock Bullets .net

1917 groups were in the 2- to 3-inch www.
range, except with the Oregon Trail
227-grain roundnose. Many of those Top Shelf Cast Lead Bullets
bullets showed signs of tipping on
the paper targets. Perhaps that idea
of crimping on the front driving band
wasn’t so brilliant after all. With the Cowboy Standard Gas-Check

New Lo
.25 85 GR. RNFP / 500 .32 Keith 125 GR. SWC / 500 .38 158 GR. SWC-HP / 100
other bullets, often a flyer ruined .32 78 GR. RNFP / 500 .380 95 GR. RN / 500 .38 180 GR. LBT-WFN / 100
an otherwise tight four-shot group. .38 120 GR. TC / 500 9mm 115 GR. RN / 500 .41 230 GR. SWC / 100

wer Pri
.38 125 GR. RNFP / 500 9mm 125 GR. RN / 500 .44 240 GR. SWC-HP / 100
The Colt Model 1917’s chamber .38 130 GR. RNFP / 500 .38 148 GR. DEWC / 600 .44 240 GR. SWC / 100

ces
.38 158 GR. SWC / 600
mouths were measured with plug .38-40 180 GR. RNFP / 500
.40 180 GR. RNFP / 500
.44 305 GR. LBT-WFN / 100
.44-40 180 GR. RNFP / 500 .45LC 260 GR. SWC-HP / 100
gauges. Five were uniformly .455 .45LC 160 GR. RNFP / 900
.45ACP 200 GR. SWC / 500
.45LC 325 GR. LBT-LWN / 100
.45ACP 230 GR. RN / 500
inch. The sixth was just shy of .457 .45LC 200 GR. RNFP / 500 .45LC 255 GR. SWC / 500 .45-70 430 GR. LBT-LWN / 40
.458 350 GR. RNFP / 100 .38 148 GR. WC / 500 .500 440 GR. LBT-WFN / 100
inch. I say “shy of ” because a .457-
Prices subject to change without notice.
inch plug gauge would start into but
This is a good cross reference of the bullets we offer. We have about 220 sets of molds with new molds coming.
not freely enter that chamber mouth. Sixteen employees working 10 hr. a day shifts 4 days a week with 25 casters, 14 auto lubers and 12 star lubers
I’m surprised this Colt shot as good gas 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 our
as it sometimes did with such large set alloys.
chamber mouths. Now in our new state-of-the-art 12,000 square foot facility!
A great article idea just struck me. Our Online Catalog Has Over 100 Different Bullets!
Everything is in stock
A great follow-up to a project like this Specialty Sizing Available See our Website
would be using rimless .45 Auto cases Brinell Hardness from 4-22 for Free Shipping
Offer!
in half- and full-moon clips. I will Rim Rock Bullets
begin looking for those gadgets that 35675 Minesinger Trail • Polson, MT 59860
help fill and empty clips and perhaps (406) 883-1899 • Mon-Thurs, 8:00-5:00 p.m. MST
my S&W Model 1917 will be back in [email protected]
service by that time. •
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 63
 In Range gle, connecting the base and the top
(Continued from page 66) plate. The central block of the press
it and then made a crimping die. Be- slides up and down inside the trian-
cause of the size of the case, the die gle, carrying the cartridge case, while
is 1.5 inches in diameter, which calls the die is fixed in the top plate.
for an oversized press. Down in one More famous, however, is the Holly-
of his rattlesnake infested out-build- wood Senior. This has a base and
ings, we found a Hollywood Junior top plate with one massive shaft 2.5
that accepted such dies. I crossed his inches in diameter. The shellholder
palm with silver, cleaned it up, and it is fixed in a steel collar that rides up
now stands ready at any moment to and down on this shaft, while the die
replenish my stock of 20-gauge pirate is positioned in the stationary upper
repellant and that’s all it does. housing.
I mention all this as an introduc- This was not a new concept; other
tion to the old Hollywood line of re- manufacturers of loading equip-
loading tools. Hard to believe as it ment, notably Potter and Universal,
may be, in the 1950s there were many had used similar systems, but Hol-
ground-breaking manufacturers of lywood’s was massive. In its steel-
reloading tools based in California, shaft configuration, it weighed 40
and the Hollywood Gun Shop was pounds. The 1963 Gun Digest review
one of them. It was situated on Hol- of new loading equipment described
NOE Bullet Moulds is a premium manufacturer
of bullet moulds and casting tools. lywood Boulevard, in Hollywood, it as “precision made in every respect,
California. Believe it or not. beautifully machined in virtually ev-
Bushing The Hollywood Junior has three ery part…” The combination of mass,
Push Through round steel bars arranged in a trian- precision, and finely machined sur-
Size Die
faces made for a tool that was a plea-
sure to use.
English shotgun writer G.T. Gar-
wood coined the word “eumatic” to
describe this quality, and it applies
not just to shotguns and other fire-
Check Us Out,You Won’t Be Disappointed!
arms, but to any mechanical device,
NOE Bullet Moulds LLC including any and all reloading tools.
801-377-7289 About the same time Hollywood
www.noebulletmoulds.com was in business, up the road in Oro-
ville, California, Fred Huntington
Sr. founded the company that be-
Get Trim with the came known as RCBS (for Rock
Chuck Bullet Swage). He expanded
6593 113th Ave. NE, Suite C
“World’s Finest Trimmer” from bullet swages into loading dies,
Spicer, MN 56288 The WFT is designed for trimming bottle-neck presses and every other conceivable
Tel: (320) 796-0530
[email protected] cartridges powered by your hand held drill. loading tool. Eventually, he sold the
• The Original WFT – company, although his two sons, Fred
Single caliber trimmer (3/8” shaft)
available for .17 through .338 and Buzz, retained the retail outlet,
calibers. $72.95 now known as Huntington Die Spe-
• The WFT2 –
Interchangeable caliber trimmer
cialties. For years, Huntington’s had
(1/2” shaft) available for .17 a special relationship with RCBS,
through .45 calibers.
Housing Assembly - $72.95 and if you had an ‘in’ with Fred, you
Chambers sold separately - $25.95 could get custom dies more quickly.
• The “Big Boy” WFT –
50 BMG model also available
RCBS is now part of Vista Out-
We currently manufacture more Starting at
doors, the large conglomerate an-
than 150 different calibers
$72.95 chored by Federal Ammunition.
WFT provides accurate RCBS has pioneered many different
and consistent results, Visit our website
GUARANTEED! www.littlecrowgunworks.com types of loading tools; some worked
After a dozen cases you to order and view video demonstrations, out, some didn’t, some evolved, some
should be an expert! instructions and additional products.
were abandoned. Its Rockchucker
64 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341
loading press has been a mainstay, Partly, this was due to the fact that I’ve permanently attached to one of my
and RCBS dies are among the best a wanted a Hollywood Senior ever since bench inserts, so it will fit seamlessly
handloader can get. I saw a picture of one in an early Gun into my loading operations.
Broadly speaking, through the Digest, and the last one I saw for sale, This will combine “eumatic” eu-
1950s and into the 1960s, manufac- the guy wanted to start the bidding phoria with practical application and
turers emphasized quality and du- at $600. I don’t want one that much. if any modern loading press is go-
rability, assuming their tools should But the Summit Press will fasten to ing to become a collector’s item, it’s
last a lifetime. From the 1970s on- my RCBS base plate, which is already this one. •
ward, price became the major con-
sideration, and many tools became,
for lack of a better term, disposable.
This trend was true of many things.
Go back and pick up a Schoffstall
Universal Priming Tool from the old
days, and you’ll see what I mean. It’s
a solid, precision instrument, and
a joy to use, unlike the majority of
priming tools one finds today.
In recent years, however, the inter-
est in ultra-long-range shooting has
created a demand for precision load-
ing tools, including highly specialized
dies for creating the most uniform
and consistent handloaded cartridges.
In its newest loading press, the
Summit, RCBS cast back to the
1950s, adopting the venerable design
of the Hollywood Senior, and build-
ing a precision unit around a central
pillar. In the Summit Press, the car-
tridge case is stationary in the base,
while the collar that moves up and
down carries the loading die.
In July, a group of us were invited
to Wyoming to attend a seminar
sponsored by RCBS and its Vista sis-
ter company, Bushnell Optics. RCBS
set up four complete loading stations 4D Reamer Rentals, Ltd. .....................................63 Northern Precision ..............................................63
where we could create our own preci- ADCO Arms Co. ..................................................29 Oehler Research, Inc. .........................................43
Anneal-Rite.........................................................14 Oregon Trail Bullets Company .............................61
sion, long-range 6.5 Creedmoor am- Berry’s Mfg. ..........................................................2 Quality Cartridge ................................................55
munition, then shoot it to see how it Berger Bullets .....................................................68 Quinetics Corporation .........................................63
Buffalo Arms Company .......................................36 Redding Reloading Equipment ............................55
stacked up against factory match stuff. Corbin Mfg. & Supply ..........................................36 RCBS ....................................................................9
This was the first chance I had Dale Fricke Holsters............................................66 RD Gunbooks ......................................................63
to try the Summit Press, as well as Dillon Precision Products, Inc. ............................21 RGB Bullet Company ........................................... 11
AD INDEX

Duck Creek Sporting Goods ................................61 Rifled Jag ...........................................................63

some other new RCBS products, like Gentry Custom....................................................64 Rigel Products ....................................................61
the Matchmaster powder measure/ Graf & Sons, Inc............................................ 11, 41 Rim Rock Bullets ................................................63
High Plains Reboring & Barrels, LLC ...................64 Score High Gunsmithing .....................................62
scale, and the case-conditioning unit. Hodgdon Powder Company.................................27 Sharp Shoot R Precision, Inc...............................62
(For the record, I found the Match- Hornady Manfuacturing Co. ................................13 Shooters World, LLC ...........................................37
Huntington Die Specialties ..................................36 Shotgun Sports ...................................................65
master a tad temperamental for my Jackson’s Gold Country Ammo ........................... 11 Starline ...............................................................35
taste, and the conditioning unit in- Little Crow Gunworks, LLC .................................64 Stocky’s, LLC......................................................18
Lou’s Gun Work ..................................................63 The Blue Bullets..................................................47
explicably omitted a tool for uni- Lyman Products Corporation ........................15, 49 UniqueTek, Inc. ...................................................57
forming flash holes, which I consider Midsouth Shooters Supply Co. ............................48 Vickerman Die ....................................................55
essential no matter how good you Missouri Bullet Company ....................................10 Winchester Powder Company .............................19
MTM Molded Products Company ........................33 Wolfe Publishing Company .............. 55, 60, 65, 67
think your brass is. But I digress.) NOE Bullet Moulds, LLC. .....................................64 Zero Bullet Company, Inc. ...................................25
The Summit Press left me with the
feeling that, well, I had to have one.
December-January 2022 www.handloadermagazine.com 65
 In Search of Precision
In Range Terry Wieland

T o the best of my knowledge,

antique reloading equipment is
not exactly a hot area in the collect-
ing world. In fact, the only reload-
ing 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.
This type includes fitted turn-
screws, bullet moulds, nipple wrenches
and so on. Find some with the name
Purdey or Boss engraved on the shaft
and they’ll go for big bucks.
In America, pretty much anything
with Harry Pope’s name on it, usu-
ally bullet moulds, but other tools as
well, will command a hefty premium. Handloader’s Jeremiah Polacek at one of the RCBS loading stations at an event in Wyoming. The unalloyed
About 20 years ago, as the renewed Summit Press is a pleasure to use.
interest in Schützen competition was
just taking off, a Pope bullet mould the estates of deceased handloaders many of them duplicates, for about
for his special .33-caliber brought or, less commonly, from handloaders 90 different calibers. I also have four
about $650 on eBay, when a com- who have upgraded their equipment. shotshell presses with fittings for ev-
parable Ideal mould for a .32 would I say “less commonly” because most ery gauge. As for metallic-cartridge
have sold for $75. of us who have been in the game for a presses, at last count, there were four.
At various times, I’ve seen loading while fall into a habit of never throw- One of these takes first prize in the
presses offered for sale on the “make ing anything away even if it’s old, ob- “specialized use” category. It’s an an-
an offer” table at gun clubs, usually solete, or for a caliber we no longer cient Hollywood Junior press set up
with an assortment of dies, odd ac- own and expect never to own again. to do exactly one thing – impress a
coutrements and batches of random We just never know. Which is why, pie-crust crimp on 20-gauge brass
components. These either come from last time I counted, I had die sets, and shotshells loaded with ball for my
one and only E.M. Reilly 20-gauge
hammer double, originally intended
for the express purpose of repelling
boarders on the China Sea. At least,
that’s my theory. This gun, affection-
ately known as the “little thug,” be-
gan life as a .577 Snider double rifle,
with 24-inch barrels. At some point,
for whatever reason, the barrels were
bored out to 20 gauge, but it still feels
and handles like a rifle, so I treat it
as such.
My late friend, Bob Hayley, cast
some round ball and pointed slugs for
(Continued on page 64)

66 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 341