Anyone still doing any handloading?

[JGalt]

I picked up some small pistol primers last weekend, so I cranked out a few .38 Special wadcutters this morning. The load was previously worked up to get ~800 fps out of a 2" barreled Colt Cobra, and they do ~900 fps out of a 6.5" barreled Ruger GP100 .357 magnum revolver.

The load was mixed cases, CCI #500 small pistol primers, a Red River 148 gr. cast 0.358" wadcutter in front of 4.0 grains of Winchester 231 powder, and an overall length of 1.232". The cases were crimped on the bullet's crimp ring.

Shooting from a sandbag rest at 25 yards, the fixed-sight Colt gave the following results:

# FPS FT-LBS PF
6 803 211.94 118.84
5 805 212.99 119.14
4 820 221.01 121.36
3 813 217.25 120.32
2 791 205.65 117.07
1 853 239.15 126.24
Average: 814.17
StdDev: 21.40
Min: 791
Max: 853
Spread: 62
True MV: 815.09

The Ruger GP100 was sighted in with some 140 gr .357 magnum loads, but hits high and to the right with the .38 Special loads.

# FPS FT-LBS PF
6 911 272.78 134.83
5 914 274.58 135.27
4 900 266.23 133.20
3 903 268.01 133.64
2 902 267.42 133.50
1 922 279.41 136.46
Average: 908.67
StdDev: 8.52
Min: 900
Max: 922
Spread: 22
True MV: 909.70

 

[deannalw]

James does. I myself am far too lazy. Plus, I have the patience of a gnat so...

 

[petro]

A friend who is a gunsmith helped me do loads for a Ruger .41 mag single action revolver. Hard to find in stores and cost an arm and leg.
Did a few hundred rounds of several varying grain weights.
From lighter for target practice to full out man killer.
Thing is a damn Dirty Harry hand cannon.

 

[JGalt]

A friend who is a gunsmith helped me do loads for a Ruger .41 mag single action revolver. Hard to find in stores and cost an arm and leg.
Did a few hundred rounds of several varying grain weights.
From lighter for target practice to full out man killer.
Thing is a damn Dirty Harry hand cannon.

I had a Ruger Blackhawk in 41 magnum back in the late 70's. It definitely was a hand cannon.

 

[petro]

I had a Ruger Blackhawk in 41 magnum back in the late 70's. It definitely was a hand cannon.

I actually have the Liberty Edition.
Has "Made in the 200th anniversary of America" engraved on the barrel.

My buddy tried one hand firing the first time he fired it and almost whacked himself in the face from the recoil.
Lol.

Took it to the indoor range once, and heads were peeking past the barriers because it was so much louder than all those 9mm.

 

[JGalt]

I actually have the Liberty Edition.
Has "Made in the 200th anniversary of America" engraved on the barrel.

My buddy tried one hand firing the first time he fired it and almost whacked himself in the face from the recoil.
Lol.

Took it to the indoor range once, and heads were peeking past the barriers because it was so much louder than all those 9mm.

Charter Arms makes a 2-1/2" barreled .41 magnum. The recoil on that thing is probably brutal.

Charter Arms Mag Pug .41 Magnum, a handful. -

 

[petro]

Charter Arms makes a 2-1/2" barreled .41 magnum. The recoil on that thing is probably brutal.

Charter Arms Mag Pug .41 Magnum, a handful. -

That buddy who helped me with the loads let me fire his .50 Desert Eagle.

Holy shit!!!!

Guy has a literal gun store in his home.
Got to try lots of toys at his rural home.
Especially was suprised how easy the AK was for handling and staying on target.
I can see why it's the preferred weapon of teenage terrorists.

 

[JGalt]

I got to shoot a 500 S&W Magnum at the gun range last year, talk about a hand cannon! The biggest banger I have right now is a 1970's Iver Johnson New Cattleman 7-inch barreled .44 Magnum, which was made by Uberti. I bought it at a garage sale 10 years ago for $30, and it was all in pieces in a box. The only part that was missing was the trigger spring, and a repro Colt 1873 trigger spring fit right in it.

I've shot a lot of low-velocity cast lead and coated bullets through it, but it really kicks with a 240 grain jacketed XTP doing around 1350 fps. Only problem with the heavy loads is I have to watch the cylinder pin to keep it from popping out and getting lost. Parts for those are hard to find these days.