Mike’s Shootin’ Shack

Quite often, I’ve been asked, “What’s the best load for… insert cartridge name.” To be honest, I truly have no idea what powder, bullet, primer or case brand combination would be best. There are too many variables to consider. Such as, what would be the purpose – hunting or target shooting? What sort of rifle – bolt action, levergun or semiauto? Handguns can really be difficult, for they vary from revolvers to autoloaders. If it’s a cartridge I have considerable experience with, then I don’t mind giving my preferences. Other times, such as when a fellow asked me about .30-378 Weatherby Magnum, he only got a blank look.

For those with a single rifle or handgun for any particular cartridge, settling on one perfectly adequate load combination can be easy. For example, I’ll use my pre-’64 Winchester Model 70 Featherweight .308. It’s the only .308 Winchester with which I’ve hunted big game. The same week I purchased it in November 1980, a load consisting of 44 grains of IMR-3031 with Sierra 150-grain spitzers in Winchester brass consistently gave 1½ MOA groups. Velocity crowded 2,800 fps. Hunting in Montana, coyotes, pronghorns, mule deer and elk fell to it along with a couple of plains antelope in Africa. There has never been a reason for further experimentation. However, at times, Nosler’s 150-grain Partition bullets replaced the Sierras.

This is the flip side of that coin. Some truly enthusiastic shooters may have a dozen firearms for a single cartridge. I’m one of them. My assortment of rifles, carbines and revolvers chambering .38-40 currently numbers 12. Add one to that for .44-40s. By comparison, my military rifle collection has seven each of .30-06s and 8x57mms. Trying to find the “best load” for each of those would be an exercise in extreme futility. Thusly, I’ve come to embrace the concept of “standard loads” for rifles and handguns of which I have multiples.

This should be admitted first. Sometimes my standard load is not the best load I have tried and I realize it. There are other factors to consider. Let’s use the .38-40 as an example. In my racks, I have a Winchester Model 1873 rifle made in 1899 and a Colt SAA revolver made in 1904. Also in my racks, there are stronger Model 1892 Winchesters made in the twentieth-century and modern Colt SAA revolvers made in the twenty-first-century. After considerable paper target shooting, a load consisting of a 180-grain RN/FP (RCBS bullet No. 40-180-CM) over 7 grains of Unique could be considered best. In the ’73 and ’92 rifles, velocities nudged 1,200 fps, and from a 1996 vintage Colt SAA with 5½ inch barrel, velocity average was just shy of 900 fps. Such ballistics duplicate original black-powder factory loads.

That said, there are other matters to consider. The steel from which the Winchesters and early twentieth-century Colt SAAs were crafted has aged for more than a century. Factor in the collector’s value and 7 grains of Unique seems too much for a constant diet in elderly firearms. So, I adopted as my standard load, the gentler charge of 5.5 grains of Trail Boss. Rifle velocities then are about 1,000 fps and about 750 fps from handguns. Also, there must be some latitude in standard loads. Although the RCBS 180-grain RN/FP is favored, and they must be cast by me. When too pressed for time to cast, a great substitute is Oregon Trail’s 180 grain RN/FP.

Stepping up to military .30-06s, some other variables must be considered. The primary factor is that five are bolt actions and two are M1 Garands. Four bolt actions are permutations of the basic Model 1903 Springfield along with a Remington Model 1917. All are considered very strong actions. Until buying the Garands, I was perfectly satisfied with IMR-4350 or Hodgdon H-4350 for powder. In fact, I first used IMR-4350 in Winchester Models 54 and 70s as far back as 1974 with excellent results. As expected, it was a fine performer in the military bolt actions with all sorts of bullets.

There are a myriad of warnings about stressing a semiauto Garand’s operating rods by using slow-burning propellants or bullets heavier than about 168 grains. Also, it is common knowledge that IMR-4985 was developed especially for M1 Garands with bullets of 150 grains. Varget is very close to IMR-4895 in burn rate. With a large quantity of Varget on hand, it was substituted when developing .30-06 handloads to cover my entire spectrum of military rifles. A charge of 48 grains with Sierra 150-grain spitzers closely copies military ballistics. From the bolt actions, 2,700 fps is achieved and slightly under with the M1s. Here’s another factor to consider in this age of component shortages. For my .30-06 standard loads, I’ll use any make of 150-grain spitzers or 155-grain HPBTs and if no Varget is available, the same powder charge of 48 grains of IMR-4895 suffices.

There is one variable in all my handgun handloading that I stoutly resist changing. That is cast bullets for revolvers. I don’t care if the revolver is a Colt SAA .32-20 or a Ruger .44 Magnum, they all get cast bullets. Actually, most of my semiauto handguns also get cast bullets. In fact, the only jacketed handgun bullets I buy are .355-inch 115-grain FMJs for 9mm and 230-grain FMJs for .45 Auto. Those are mostly reserved for my World War II submachine guns. Naturally, I get asked, “Don’t you handload JHPs or JSPs for self-defense loads?” Nope. Although I have several guns for self-defense, they are loaded with good-quality factory ammunition.

About the only cartridge for which I have multiple firearms that has defeated my standard load concept is the one I’ve handloaded longest. That is the .38 Special, which I started with in 1966. As long as my only .38 Special revolver was a Smith & Wesson K38, things were simple. However, now I have .38 Specials revolvers ranging from tiny S&W five-shooters to medium frame S&W Model 10s to a 40 ounce-plus N-frame S&W Model 23 and a likewise large and strong Colt SAA. There has just been no way I can dream up a single handload that suits them all.

I need to say that I still like to experiment, but having a quantity of my standard loads assembled and stored in ammo cans means that when the urge arises to shoot many of my firearms, ammunition is already at hand.