steel shot: speed is the solution!

STEEL SHOT: Speed Is the Solution!

NEW!S&W

Pro Series1911

$5.99 U.S./Canada

October 2009 No. 262Rifle Magazine Presents - HANDLOADER

Printed in USA7 25274 01240 4

1 0

$5.99

.44 Magnum at600 Yards?

Elmer Keith’sLegendary Shot

The Incredible

Shrinking

Gun!

4 Handloader 262

October 2009Volume 44, Number 5

ISSN 0017-7393 Issue No. 262

Background Photo: © 2009 Royal Tine Images

26 Defining theHard-Cast BulletFrom the Hip -Brian Pearce

30 .380 RevolverCartridge Board -Gil Sengel

34 If It Ain’t Broke. . .Pistol Pointers -Charles E. Petty

38 Pro Series 1911Smith & WessonProduction CustomStan Trzoniec

46 Loading forWorld War IIHandgunsIn the TrenchesMike Venturino

66 A Second Roundof Reloading SteelSpeed is the solutionfor steel shot!John Haviland

74 .44 Magnumat 600 YardsKeith’s LegendaryShotBrian Pearce

8 .450 ColtReloader’s Press -Dave Scovill

14 Cast BulletAccuracyBullets & Brass -Brian Pearce

18 Loading LargeBatchesMike’s Shootin’ Shack -Mike Venturino

22 Accurate 1680Propellant Profiles -R.H. VanDenburg, Jr.

Page 46 . . .

Page 66 . . .

Page 74 . . .

84 Savage Model 14American ClassicsSteve Gash

94 The Effect ofShrinking GunsMidsize to Mini 1911sCharles E. Petty

01 Where To GoSpecial AdvertisingSection -Clair Rees

02 BrownellsThree-GunCompetition CaseInside Product News -Clair Rees

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

Issue No. 262 October 2009

AMMUNAMMUNITITIONON REL RELOADING NG JOJOURURNAL AL Publisher/President – Don Polacek

Associate Publisher – Mark Harris

Editor in Chief – Dave Scovill

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Contributing EditorsAssociate Editor – Al Miller

John Haviland Ron SpomerBrian Pearce Stan TrzoniecCharles E. Petty R.H. VanDenburg, Jr.Clair Rees Mike VenturinoGil Sengel Ken Waters

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Handloader® (ISSN 0017-7393) is published bi-monthly by Polacek Publishing Corporation, dbaWolfe Publishing Company (Don Polacek, Pres -ident), 2625 Stearman Rd., Ste. A, Prescott, Arizona86301 (also publisher of Rifle® magazine). Tele -phone: (928) 445-7810. Periodical Postage paid atPrescott, Arizona, and additional mailing offices.Subscription prices: U.S. possessions – single issue,$5.99; 6 issues, $22.97; 12 issues, $39.00. Foreignand Canada – single issue, $5.99; 6 issues $29.00; 12issues, $51.00. Please allow 8-10 weeks for firstissue. Advertising rates furnished on request. Allrights reserved.Change of address: Please give six weeks notice.

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Page 66Page 94Page 74

Background Photo: © 2009 Royal Tine Images6 Handloader 262

On the cover . . .The stainless Smith & Wesson 1911Pro Series 9mm features a lightweighttarget-type trigger, Novak sights and10+1 magazine capacity. Photo byStan Trzoniec

101

102

Page 94 . . .

14 Handloader 262

Q: My friends and I have

been having an informalshooting contest using mostly .38Special and .357 target revolversin offhand positions. We are scor-ing at 25 and 50 yards using any“freestyle” (no rest) method. I nor -mally use a common two-handhold. The stakes are getting high,as last time I had to pick up thetab at the pizza parlor!

Recently I purchased a MarlinModel 1894 .357 Magnum withthe hope that my daughters (ages4 and 8) will be able to shootdeer and javelina in a year or two.I purchased a bunch of Reming-ton 180-grain jacketed hollow-point bullets, thinking theywould be better for larger gamethan the 158-grain Hornady XTPsthat I shoot most often.

Here is my problem. When Iloaded the 180-grain bullets andcrimped them in their cannelures,they were too long to functionthrough the Marlin but work finein the revolvers. My question is,can I load this bullet in .38 Spe-cial +P cases? I created a dummyround and it functions fine. Bythe way I loaded the 180-grainbullet over 8.0 grains of AlliantPower Pistol capped with a Win-chester Magnum primer in .357cases. Is the .38 Special +P anydifferent than standard .38 Spe-cial cases? Your advice will begreatly appreciated.

– T.R.H., Willcox AZ

A: I would like to know more de-

tails of why the 180-grain bullet

is too long to function in the

Marlin levergun. Perhaps your

cases need trimming to the .357

Magnum minimum length of

1.280 inches, or possibly the

crimp should be placed on the

upper side of the bullet can-

nelure. Regardless, the overall

from a local supplier that areroundnose and 158 grains, butI’m still not satisfied. Any sugges-tions on how to improve accu-racy would help.

– J.S., Tacoma WA

A: I would suggest trying Hor-

nady 148-grain lead hollowbase

wadcutter bullets behind 3.0

grains of Alliant Bullseye or 3.3

grains of Winchester 231 and

capped with a Federal 100 or

CCI 500 Small Pistol primer. I

seat the bullet out for an overall

cartridge length of 1.3 inches,

which is greater than Hornady

suggests at 1.180 inches, but

this places the bullet into the

throat, which results in better

alignment in the bore. Apply a

medium crimp and use cases

from one manufacturer and of

the same lot number. Either load

will give just under 800 fps and

should prove accurate. Perhaps

your friends will be purchasing

the pizza next time!

MARLIN .357 MAGNUM

Q: Let me begin by saying that Ireally appreciate your articles. Ifarm and ranch here in south-eastern Arizona at about 4,500feet elevation. I carry Ruger re-volvers in my pickup everyday,mainly a Single-Six, as the good,old .22 Long Rifle takes care of90 percent of my needs. I alsocarry Blackhawks in .357 and .44Magnum and lately .44 Special.

Normally I do pretty well withmy Smith & Wesson Model 14with a 6-inch barrel but think myhandloads might be improved.When I first started, I was usingcommercial cast 158-grain SWCbullets with bevel base chargedwith 4.0 grains of IMR-700-X.Next I switched to 125-grain Hornady XTP-HP bullets, butthey were a bit costly for paperpunching, and I haven’t been ableto purchase them locally. One ofmy friends gave me some home-cast 150-grain bullets from Ly-man mould 357446. They shotjust okay. As of late, I have beenusing commercial cast bullets

www.handloadermagazine.com

BULLETS & BRASS by Brian Pearce • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

CAST BULLET ACCURACY

Hornady swaged lead 148-grainhollowbase wadcutter bullets aredesigned for target work.

Not all .38 Special +P cases are equal in strength but are often strongerthan standard non +P .38 Special cases.

A: I do not use a machine rest

but usually a sandbag rest. The

revolver’s frame and sometimes

the rear half of the barrel is usu-

ally rested over sandbags (pushed

forward) with a leather covering

to prevent gases from the bar-

rel/cylinder gap from cutting the

bags. My forearms are likewise

supported with sandbags, with

bags under the elbows to help

steady but also pad, which is

Handloader 262

Hodgdon H-110. Cases were

Winchester capped with a Fed-

eral 155 Large Pistol Magnum

primer. This load is generating

less than 25,000 psi and should

only be used in strong .44 Spe-

cials designed to handle that

level of pressure.

Welcome to Handloader.

RUGER .44 SPECIAL

BLACKHAWK ACCURACY

Q: In your recent article on theRuger New Model Blackhawk .44Special, you talked about groupsof less than 11⁄2 inches. Are youusing a Ransom Rest? If notwould you explain more abouthow you are getting thesegroups? Are you holding the gunand shooting over sandbags?

On a separate note, we were inyour part of the country in No-vember; it sure is beautiful!

– L.B., Slidell LA

will require a reduction in the

powder charge.

Just for information, your

.357 Magnum load containing

8.0 grains of Alliant Power Pis-

tol behind the 180-grain JHP

bullet is probably exceeding in-

dustry pressure limits of 35,000

psi. And Alliant does not recom-

mend using a magnum primer

with any of its powders de-

signed for pistols and revolvers,

as it does increase pressures.

I wish your daughters the best

on their future javelina and

deer hunts!

THE 300-GRAIN

.44 SPECIAL LOAD

Q: I was thrilled with your articleon the New Ruger Blackhawk .44Special, as well as all the data. Ihave been looking for any infor-mation on loading a 300-grainlead flatnose bullet in the Ruger.44 Special. Any information youcould provide will help. By theway, I have finally subscribed toyour magazine, so will not missanother issue.

– Steve, Flagstaff AZ

A: Thank you for the compli-

ment. I did not try 300+ grain

bullets in the Ruger New Model

Blackhawk .44 Special, but it

would certainly handle them

safely. Going back through my

.44 Special notes, a 307-grain

Keith-style cast bullet went

1,059 fps (from a Smith & Wes-

son Model 24-3 with a 61⁄2-inch

barrel) using 15.5 grains of

cartridge length should be kept

to 1.590 inches. I would rather

see you utilize the .357 case if

possible.

Yes, you can load the 180-grain

bullet in .38 Special cases, but

generally their construction is

not as strong as .357 Magnum

cases, which varies considerably

from one manufacturer to the

next. That fact, combined with

the Special’s smaller capacity,

16 www.handloadermagazine.com

Brian uses several shooting meth-ods to check guns for accuracy.When firing from a sandbag rest,the arms and elbows should beresting on sandbags, with theframe of the gun pushed forwardon the sandbags. Never touchthe butt of the gun on a rest.

The .44 Special can be handloadedwith 300-grain cast bullets.

October-November 2009

cartridges are fired in

the field, cases can be

difficult to remove from

the clips unless a tool is

readily at hand. And I

don’t carry a Leather-

man on my belt or any

of the other tools that

have been developed

specifically for that pur-

pose. Even if I did carry

the tools, it is a ridicu-

lously slow method to

empty the gun, use a

tool to remove a couple

of cases from the clip,

then insert new cases

into the clip and then

reload the revolver. By

comparison I can simply pull

the one or two fired .45 Auto

Rim cases directly from the

chamber, then reload those cham-

bers only, which can be accom-

plished in a fraction of the time

and without tools. And this can

be done with one hand if neces-

sary, such as riding a horse

while holding the reins and dur-

ing extremely cold weather. It

really boils down to how the gun

is going to be used, with both the

.45 Auto Rim and .45 ACP car-

tridges housed in full moon

clips having their virtues. And

having those options is what

makes .45 ACP revolvers so

unique and versatile.

Regarding the .444 Marlin, the

heaviest cast bullets I have tried

(likewise in an early Model 444

with a 24-inch barrel) were 335

grains with a muzzle velocity of

nearly 2,100 fps, which grouped

into less than 2 inches at 100

yards. In my experience using

the same bullets in a Marlin

Model 1894 .44 Magnum with

the same one-in-38-inch twist

Micro-Groove barrel as the .444,

they did not perform especially

well at the lower velocities that

you mention, probably due to a

lack of stabilization. The point

being, you may get dismal re-

sults at the 1,400 fps velocity

you mention. The bullet I refer-

enced was an LBT design with a

gas check with 47.5 grains of (a

compressed charge) Hodgdon H-

322 capped with a Federal 210

primer for 2,085 fps.

appreciated when firing six-

guns with heavier recoil. The

shooting hand is always care-

fully placed as much behind the

gun as possible with the forearm

being in line with the barrel as

much as is feasible and comfort-

able. And just like any other

type of shooting, using exactly

the same grip, arm and head po-

sition and sight picture for each

shot will help shrink groups.

.45 AUTO RIM CLIPS

Q: I wanted to comment on yourreporting on handloading the .45Auto Rim cartridge in Handloder

No. 257. I have used both .45 ARand .45 ACP ammunition in myrevolvers – 1917 Colt, S&WModel 1989 and Model 625. Ihaven’t found it to be a big prob-lem unloading the moon clips –simply pulling the cases out ofthe clip with the pliers on mypocket Leatherman tool. Themoon clips are certainly handynot only for a fast reload but alsoas an excellent compact mannerto carry spare ammunition. Twofull-moon clips in a standard re-volver speed loader pouch on abelt is about as handy as it gets.

Also, I would like to ask if youhave any experience or data onloading heavy (350+ grains) castbullets in the .444 Marlin? Essen-tially I would like to duplicateballistics of the .43 Spanish or.44-77. My rifle is a late 1960’sMarlin with a 24-inch Micro-Groove barrel, so velocities prob-ably need to be around 1,400 fps.Any information you can furnishon this would be appreciated.Thank you for an excellent publi-cation.

– J.M.J., Hannibal MO

A: Perhaps I have been misun-

derstood. I have a love/hate rela-

tionship with full-moon clips in

.45 ACP revolvers. On the “love”

side there is no faster method to

reload a sixgun than with full-

moon clips, even faster than any

“speed loader,” making them a

top choice for combat situations.

On the “hate” side, if one or two

17www.handloadermagazine.com

Previously loaded full-moon clipsare a fast method to reload theSmith & Wesson Model 625 .45ACP, but the clips are slow andcumbersome to reload in thefield without tools.

•

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Targets

It is no secret that Mr. Browning’s 1911 has beenmy handgun of choice for a long time, and it alsooffers a wide variety of barrel lengths and weightswithin the same basic design, so we can somewhatstick to comparing apples and apples. Both steeland aluminum frames are common, and barrellengths from the standard 5 inches down to Kimber’s Ultra models with 3.17-inch barrels. For these comparisons I chose to use Kimber’s Custom 5-inch full size, Pro 4-inch and Ultra modelswith both steel and alloy frames.

In the past I have attempted to evaluate recoil byasking shooters to report their perception as theyfired a series of unknown loads. Those effortsfailed because even skilled shooters feel recoil dif-ferently and more than once a relatively newshooter reported a load known to have the most recoil as having the least. So this time free recoilenergy was calculated using the formula found inthe NRA Firearms Fact Book that requires only ascale and a chronograph. So while we can’t meas-ure how recoil will feel to anyone, we can see howweight and velocity differences are reflected andhave an objective basis for comparison.

The Effect of

ShrinkingGuns

94 Handloader 262www.handloadermagazine.com

Charles E. PettyPhotos by Bob Maddox

Handgun purchasers, espe-cially those who wish tocarry concealed, oftenwant the smallest, lightest

gun they can find. That choice issure to have a price that might notalways be in the buyer’s favor. Asweight goes down, recoil alwaysgoes up, and “shootability” in humanterms almost always decreases.When we shrink a gun, the barrellength and grip are reduced, andconventional wisdom equates re-duction in accuracy with shorterbarrels.

We always hear people announce their favoriteblaster as the best carry gun, and that is fine, butthose choices have little basis in any objective setof values. Our idea was to look at factors we couldmeasure and really see the effect of barrel length,size and weight.

H

Midsizeto Mini1911s

October-November 2009 95www.handloadermagazine.com

One interesting question to an-swer is whether or not the reduc-tion in velocity that comes withmaking barrels shorter is offsetin any way by reductions inweight due to a smaller frame orthe use of a lighter alloy. Onething that has always puzzled me is why shooters make such abig deal over a relatively small reduction in weight that ends upincreasing recoil by a larger per-centage. With the growing rightto carry a concealed weapon wesee shooters new and old buy the

smallest, lightest gun they canwith little regard to the practical-ities of that choice. Surely someof that must come from the factthat we have been told over andover that longer barrels are harderto conceal and that the butt of thegun must be shrunk so it won’t“print” under our clothing.

Both of those are pretty bogusreasons if we make good choiceson how we carry the gun. Since

The other place for shrinkage isbarrel length, and here we havemore room but really only for-ward of the magazine well. Thesize of the cartridge and Brown-ing’s fire control mechanism havefairly well fixed the space to therear. But the tilting barrel designalso imposes some limits, be-cause the barrel has to go up anddown, and the bushing can be alimiting factor. The bushing forthe Colt Commander is abouthalf as long as the 5-inch gun’s,but the 41⁄4-inch Commander lengthbarrel is about as short as youcan go and keep a bushing. Forthat reason many of the compactdesigns today have gone to a bullbarrel configuration that doesaway with the bushing and usessome variation of a captive recoilspring and guide.

96 www.handloadermagazine.com

ShrinkingGuns

The other placefor shrinkage isbarrel length.

Three different barrels are representative of differentsize pistols.

Charlie tested a variety of 1911 guns.

A full-size CustomTarget is shownwith an EclipseUltra compact.

we’re using the 1911 platform asan example, we can easily meas-ure length, height and thickness.Actually that one doesn’t matter,since they’re all the same, but we do have some control overthe others. The controllable vari-able in height really boils downto magazine capacity and havingsomething to hang onto. Themarketplace seems to have de-creed that a sacrifice of one roundis acceptable, so the standard

magazine capacity goes fromseven to six or, thanks to betterfollowers, eight to seven. At that,most of us can get three fingerson the grip, but if it were anyshorter, it would become a two-finger deal and, considering therecoil of the .45 ACP, perhaps notenough of a handle.

3.17-inch Kimbers used here hadany problem, and each gun expe-rienced one stoppage in over 250total rounds of shooting. Therewere no malfunctions at all in alike amount of shooting with the4- and 5-inch guns.

While the results of the recoilcalculations (shown in Table I)were reasonable, the 4-inch gunthrew a curve ball into the math.As with any energy calculation,velocity plays a major part in the

result, so the 40 fps loss of veloc-ity between the 5- and 4-inchguns actually resulted in a freerecoil energy result that wasslightly lower than the full-sizepistol. As a practical matter theywere the same. Actually the same effect was seenbetween the 4- and3.17-inch pistols, andmuch to my surprise,the differences inweight and velocityeffectively canceledout. But when shoot-ing the guns, thecharacter of the felt

recoil was noticeablydifferent – with the3-inch guns having a

snappier feel and with the 4-inchgun somewhere in between.None were unpleasant to shoot,although I think a long sessionwith the little gun might stopbeing fun after awhile.

To test reliability, 200 roundswere fired through each of thepistols, 100 each of Black Hills230-grain full metal jackets (FMJ)and 230-grain jacketed hollow-points (JHP). While I retain mydislike for “ultra” compact setups

in 1911 pistols, I found my atti-tude softening a bit. The shorterframe simply doesn’t feel right tome, but I shot it pretty well.Maybe I have become geneticallyadapted to Mr. Browning’s origi-nal and want no other.

There have been more than afew attempts to micro-size the1911 with varying degrees of suc-cess, and I have tested severalexamples. The early efforts hadsome feed/function issues thatwere largely magazine related.Since the slide travel is reducedconsiderably, the magazine hasto get the fresh round in placevery smartly or the slide will notstrip the cartridge. You can easilysee what I’m talking about bylocking the slide back and ob-serving the distance from thebreech face to the back of themagazine well. In a full-size gun,you can clearly see the wholedisconnector, and there is about0.3-inch clearance. With the 3-inch barreled gun, this distanceis mere thousandths of an inch,and no part of the disconnectoris visible. Kimber is using aramped barrel to improve feed-ing on the Ultra models that isnot used on the others. For the 4-inch barrel, the slide stops justover the disconnector. Only the

97www.handloadermagazine.com

There have been more than a few attemptsto micro-size the 1911.

The test setup included a RansomRest, a PACT chronograph andthe target system.

Grips are removed to mount the guns in the Ransom Pistol Rest.

Kimber Recoil Comparisonfree

gun recoilhandgun weight energy

(pounds) (ft-lbs)

Classic Target 5-inch steel 2.24 6.66Custom CDP II 5-inch alloy 1.93 7.80Pro TLE II 4-inch steel 2.25 6.11Pro CDP II 4-inch alloy 1.79 7.70Eclipse Ultra II 3.17-inch steel 1.94 6.28Ultra CDP II 3.17-inch steel 1.59 7.59

Table I

Handloader 26298 www.handloadermagazine.com

I do feel strongly that the reduc-tions in size offer little or no ben-efit when it comes to concealingthe pistol. For quite awhile nowmy standard carry piece hasbeen a Commander-size gun ina Mitch Rosen IWB holster(mitchrosen.com). I changedfrom a lightweight to a steel-frame pistol some years ago andreally see no difference.

Conventional wisdom tells usthat alloy frames are not as dur-

able as steel. That may well betrue, but very few real-worldguns get shot enough to chal-lenge them. It is true that slidescannot be fitted as tightly onalloy frames, but since they areunlikely to be fully accurized thatdoesn’t make much difference.The rigidity of alloys is also ques-tioned, and here we are able to

make a direct comparison. Bearin mind that we cannot judge all

guns based on the result of a sin-gle specimen, but my tests did notreveal any meaningful differencein accuracy between like gunswith steel versus alloy frames.

We have to be careful and avoidjumping to conclusions not sup-ported by data. Guns are individ-

The Pro series Kimber is an example of how the4-inch barrel is turned to eliminate the bushing.

The Kimber Ultra series shows the difference in the3.17-inch barrel.

ShrinkingGuns

Conventional wisdom tells us that alloy framesare not as durable as steel.

Accuracy Resultsstandard extreme groups

bullet velocity deviation spread 1 2 3 average(grains) (fps) (fps) (inches) (inches)

Custom Target II, 5-inch barrel:

230 Black Hills FMJ 815 20 59 2.73 2.72 3.25 2.90230 Black Hills JHP 857 11 42 1.44 2.06 1.87 1.79

Custom CDP II 5-inch barrel:


Pro TLE II 4-inch barrel:


Pro CDP II 4-inch barrel:


Eclipse Ultra II 3.17-inch barrel:


Ultra CDP II 3.17-inch barrel:

230 Black Hills FMJ 737 13 41 4.09 3.94 3.04 3.69230 Black Hills JHP 767 10 40 2.66 2.49 2.93 2.69Notes: Accuracy results are 10-shot groups at 25 yards from a Ransom Rest. Velocity is the instrumental average of 30 shots at 12 feet measured with aPACT Professional chronograph.

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

Table II

more significant loss, around 20percent, for the 3.17-inch barrel.However, we are not talkingabout target pistols here, and allare totally capable of dealingwith a normal defensive en-counter.

This experience has softenedmy prejudice against the smallestguns a little, but honestly the

only reason they exist is becausethe public demanded them. Hadwe not been told we needed thesmallest/lightest gun they couldfind, we’d be happy as clamswith Colt’s Commander or, betterstill, Mr. Browning’s original.Some years ago S&W’s chief engi-neer was explaining how theyhad done an ergonomics study tolook at grip angles. “We spentover $100,000 to learn what JohnBrowning knew intuitively.” Ge-nius trumps money all the time.

uals, even those bearing the samemake and model name, and soare barrels. One thing I can prom-ise is that if you duplicate thesetests, you will get different re-sults. We might reach the sameconclusions, but then again wemight not. This data suggests thatthere is a small accuracy lossgoing from 5 inches to 4, and a

These three photos were taken with the recoil spring removed and theslide positioned manually for illustration – left to right: 5-, 4- and 3.17-inch barrels.

•

October-November 2009 99www.handloadermagazine.com

steel shot: speed is the solution!

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