Lore of the Handloader

**smitty56** · November 29th, 2009, 12:56 PM

PAFOA is a great website and an invaluable contribution to all things gun related. Thanks to all of you who contribute.
In another thread, Max384 stated a problem about loading the wrong primers. Flash wrote an excelent reply. I had read earlier an article Mark Trope wrote about his getting started in reloading and how he learned. After reading Flash's reply, I thought I would share this article. Again, not written by me and it came from: http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting...ader/index.asp
From all I have read by Flash, I would have no trouble shooting any of his reloads.
Smitty56

Lore Of The Handloader

(The Right Manuals, Right Tools, Right Friends)

Article Contributed by: Mark Trope

When I first began shooting I bought factory ammo. At the time I was the proud owner of a brand spanking new Ruger Security Six .357 acquired from the US Forces Rod & Gun Club. As a single GI living in the barracks in West Germany, I could get a box of 50 Norma .357’s for $7.00. I figured the price a bit steep (the current list price for Norma .357’s is over $30.00, if I only knew…). But, what the heck, I was having fun!

A lot of GI’s went to the local German range on the weekends and shot their guns. I noticed the fellow next to me at the range also had a .357 Magnum. He also had a box of Norma ammo. However, his rounds sure didn’t recoil like mine, and his had lead bullets instead of jacketed SP’s. His Norma box had a little sticker with some numbers and the word “Herco”.

I inquired about his ammo and he told me he loaded his own. Not only that, he also cast his own bullets from old wheel weights. Mmmmm… sounded interesting, however, I realized the Army would take a dim view of a fellow keeping items like powder and primers in the barracks. The fellow I was speaking to was married and lived off base. He had the space and privacy to set up his own private ammo works, I didn’t. He let me try a few of his rounds in my gun. Wow, they shot a lot easier then the factory ammo. Still, I knew my current situation wouldn’t allow me to do take up reloading.

When I rotated back to the States I was still shooting factory ammo. I got married and started a family. Even then, factory US made ammo, at $14.00 a box was out of reach. A local gun shop sold reloads for $8.00 + $2.00 deposit on the empties. I used to pay that for factory Norma, and I got to keep the brass! Yet, those gun shop reloads kept me shooting, and I could get the $8.00 passed in the family budget meeting.

Then it was back to Germany in 1982. I went to the Rod & Gun Club to get a box of ammo, expecting to get the good stuff for cheap again. Talk about sticker shock! $16.00 a box for factory Remington’s. I bought one box, and resolved that I was becoming a reloader. A promotion put some more cash in the family coffers. When asked what I wanted for Xmas, I handed over a short list. The items were reloading equipment available from the Rod & Gun Club. I had read every book I could lay my hands on and most current articles on the subject. I saw what the Rod & Gun Club had in stock, and carefully drew up my list based on a shoestring budget. I was in business! The most important item I acquired was a Speer Manual. Realizing this was a serious business; I must have read the manual 20 times before I started. I still recall pulling the press handle, completing my first reload. I know how the scientist who developed cloning must have felt. Factory bullets were cheap enough, and then I learned another thing. Those single GI’s living in the barracks would bequeath you their empty brass after they finished shooting. Talk about manna from heaven! I was acquiring boxes of empty .38 and .357 brass almost every weekend.

Then I met Rick. A fellow GI who lived in my building, not only did he reload, but cast bullets too. He also was a family man on a short budget. He taught me to cast, loaned me books to read about casting and fixed me up with a lot of mail-order catalogs. Next year my Xmas list was an order form to the States for casting and bullet sizing gear.

My first Mil-Surp, acquired while on that Germany tour, was a FN Mauser, Model 1950, caliber 30/06. After WWII Belgium acquired a great number of M1 rifles from the US. As a standard substitute, they adopted a version of the FN 24 Mauser, which FN was already set up to produce. The only difference between the Model 24 and the Model 1950 was a slightly longer magazine and a slight relief cut in the top of the front receiver ring for the longer 30/06 cartridge.

When Belgium declared these weapons surplus they were demilled, which consisted of cutting the bayonet lug off the nose cap with a hacksaw and buffing the large “B” (for King Baulden) and the year of manufacture off the front receiver ring with a belt sander. Once demilled, these rifles were sold on the European surplus market. US import laws forbade importing Mil-Surp arms at that time.

That FN Mauser, Model 1950 taught me about Mauser rifle design. I recall removing the action from the stock during inspection and first cleaning and looking at the trigger. I recall saying to Rick, “That’s it”?

He smiled and replied, “That’s it”.

Sure was different from the mass of levers and springs in a M16 trigger group. Then I realized the 1950’s trigger was simplicity itself, and the trigger pull was a lot better then a M16. I would later find out the 1950 was more accurate then the well-worn M16’s we had been issued.

That FN Mauser, Model 1950 taught me about rifle reloading also. A trip to US Forces Rod & Gun Club got me dies, shell holder, primers, a pound of IMR 4064 and a box of 150-grain Speer PSP bullets. Rick had told me using the same grain bullet and a powder of the same approximate quickness the military specified for the rifle usually brought early success. The Rod & Gun Club didn’t sell brass, and I didn’t have enough cash for a box of ammo. Rick kindly bequeathed me 20 once fired LC66 30/06’s (Lake City). They were still in the original brown GI cardboard box with cardboard dividers.

We retreated to the range on Sunday. Rick was right. The bottom load of IMR 4064 specified by the Speer manual was an immediate success! Firing prone at 50 yards I touched off the first shot. Rick was watching through binoculars, he said, “Shoot it again”.

4 more shots and he handed me the binoculars. Wow! 3 shots clustered together and another 2 holes touching right next to the group of 3. The FN 1950 was just as accurate with cast bullet rifle loads too.

One day I asked Rick what he thought of my loading skills, he replied, “I would fire any cartridge you loaded”.

That is the highest compliment one handloader can pay to another. Total confidence in another’s ability to produce safe, accurate ammo says it all.

While I made sure I understood the process before beginning, there is still a difference between reading the manual and really pulling a press handle. It was great to meet a knowledgeable loading buddy so soon after taking up my hobby. In those days there was no home computers or Internet, no ability to post a question on a site like Surplusrifle.com One either went it alone or got lucky and met a friend.

In those days, the monthly gun periodicals would answer questions of a general nature in print, however, there was no promise a question would be answered. A few of the periodicals would guarantee an answer, provided $2.00 and a stamped, self-addressed envelope was included. We have it much better these days!

Several years ago I was looking at an older, custom-built .22 rifle that had been languishing on a local gun shop’s shelf. The names of two builders were stamped on it. One had barreled it; the other sleeved the action and fitted a walnut custom stock. The trigger was also custom made. I went home and posted the description on a board where knowledgeable .22 shooters hang out. Within two hours I had a history on all 3 men involved with the building of this rifle. The man who barreled it was an extremely accomplished gunsmith and small bore shooter in the 70’s. The man who sleeved and stocked it used to build guns for the Olympics. The man who built the trigger is the best trigger man in the country, if not the world. Several posters gave me data, all of them ended their posts with something on the order of, “Hurry up and buy it! If your not buying it, pleeeeease tell me where it is.” I did buy it, and won a local .22 bench match that weekend.

You often hear, “Don’t believe everything you read on the ‘net.” True enough, however, that sentiment also extends to newspapers, books, billboards, magazines, 24-hour news channels, and water cooler conversations at the office.

I was in a gun shop once and the conversation turned to .44 magnum lead bullet loads. The fellow I was conversing with mentioned a load he and his friends were using. He stated a charge of “Bullseye” that would blow up the strongest gun! I knew he really meant “2400” powder. The charge weight he mentioned was a classic load, but not with Bullseye. I politely asked him if he meant to say 2400 powder. He stated he was sure it was Bullseye. I asked him to please check his load with at least 3 different manuals, (one cross check would have been enough).

When talking to a fellow at the range about handloading, look at his ammo. If he has constant misfires, his primers are flat, his brass having head separations or he can’t chamber his ammo, listen politely, smile and move on, fast!

Handloading is a great hobby! Hopefully there is a “Rick” in your shooting club or neighborhood. If not, we are all here for each other. Double and triple check what others tell you or what you read. Remember; each person is responsible for his or her own actions. Gain skill and confidence; strive to produce the best ammo you can. Be helpful to others.

One day you’ll hear those words from a shooting / loading buddy, “I would fire any cartridge you loaded”.