It has been about two years since we posted our video on the FN 509 Tactical on our YouTube Channel, Handloader TV. It was thought that it would be a very popular video, especially considering that 9mm die sales are among the some of the most sold dies for handgun cartridges. However, that was not the case, and to this day it has not been a very popular video for us. Which is rather sad considering the performance of the handgun. Since that video and the introduction of the firearm, there have been a lot of things that have happened. More time has been spent behind the gun, it has visited the Gunsite Academy on numerous occasions and seen many thousands more rounds. At the time of this writing, the rough round count is at about 4,000 rounds between several shooters. ...Read More >

When I sit down to begin to write about the powder, the first place I look, long before any company advertising, is at its place relative to other powders on a burn rate chart. Burn rate charts are offered in two basic styles. One uses a linear progression, listing the fastest to slowest powders in a numerical progression; the powder in the first slot is faster than the powder in the second and so on. The other style offers powders in a table format that still lists the fastest powders at the top working down to the slowest powders at the bottom. What sets the table format apart is that it also offers powders with very similar burn rates on the same horizontal line. ...Read More >

In Handloader No. 345 (August – September 2023), in my “Bullets & Brass” Column, I indicated that 45 Auto +P brass and standard 45 Auto brass from Starline are the same other than the headstamp that is for load identification purposes. This statement was based on information provided by Starline many years ago to this writer, but was also confirmed by weighing cases, etc. However, after that issue of Handloader was received by Hunter Pilant, process manager and chief ballistician at Starline, he contacted me with this response. “While our 9mm Luger and 38 Special are no different than other +P variants, the 45 Auto and 38 Super do differ from the +P variants. Both the 45 Auto +P and 38 Super +P are made out of heavier cups so that we can hit the head harder in the heading process to get a stronger case head. The 45 Auto +P also has a little thicker sidewall at the base than our standard 45 Auto.” ...Read More >

Every year when Dad and his hunting buddies would check the zero of their rifles, someone would invariably ask when he was going to get a modern deer rifle? Dad had several rifles, but his deer rifle was a plain vanilla pre-‘64 Model 70 Winchester chambered in 270 Winchester with a 4x scope. One of his friends called it “that old Jack O’Conner rifle.” ...Read More >