Reilly 20-Bore. Serious Stopper! Rifle Case Design. Remington Magnum - The Old Is New. Hammer Gun. TESTED: Redding s Dual Ring Carbide Die

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1 TESTED: Redding s Dual Ring Carbide Die.41 Remington Magnum - The Old Is New.505 Gibbs: Serious Stopper! Reilly 20-Bore Hammer Gun Rifle Case Design April 2012 No. 277 Rifle Magazine Presents - HANDLOADER $ Display until 05/12/2012 Printed in USA $5.99 U.S./Canada Loads for the.44 Smith & Wesson Russian!

2 AMMUNITION RELOADING JOURNAL April 2012 Volume 47, Number 2 ISSN Issue No Colt Issues Reloader s Press - Dave Scovill Alliant Power Pro 300-MP Loads Bullets & Brass - Brian Pearce The S&W M&P22 Pistol Pointers - Charles E. Petty 20 Alliant s Black MZ Propellant Profiles - R.H. VanDenburg, Jr. 24 Improving Sixguns with Brownells Pro-Springs From the Hip - Brian Pearce 28 Colt s Pocket Pistols Mike s Shootin Shack - Mike Venturino 32 Investigating Reilly A Bit of History, a Lot of Mystery Terry Wieland Smith & Wesson Russian Black-Powder and Smokeless Loads Mike Venturino Smokeless Rifle Case Design From Long and Thick to Short and Fat John Barsness 50 Remington Enhanced Model 1911 R1 Handloads for a Modern.45 ACP Brian Pearce Page The Old Is New Handloads for a.41 Remington Magnum John Haviland Redding Dual Ring Carbide Dies The Price We Pay for Carbide Charles E. Petty Page Gibbs Cartridge Board - Gil Sengel Page Background Photo: 2012 Vic Schendel

3 On the cover... This E.M. Reilly 20 bore started life as a.577 Snider double rifle but now shoots 350-grain ball. Photo by Terry Wieland. Inset pistol photo by Yvonne Venturino. Page 64 Page 30 Page Handloaders Weights and Measures Why the Metric System Complicates Things Gil Sengel Page Meister s X-Ring Rubber Bullets Product Tests - R.H. VanDenburg, Jr. Shots and Shells In Range - Terry Wieland Page Issue No. 277 April 2012 AMMUNITION RELOADING JOURNAL Publisher/President Don Polacek Publishing Consultant Mark Harris Editor in Chief Dave Scovill Associate Editor Lee J. Hoots Managing Editor Roberta Scovill Assisting Editor Al Miller Senior Art Director Gerald Hudson Production Director Becky Pinkley Contributing Editors John Haviland Ron Spomer Brian Pearce Stan Trzoniec Charles E. Petty R.H. VanDenburg, Jr. Clair Rees Mike Venturino Gil Sengel Ken Waters Terry Wieland Advertising Advertising Director - Stefanie Ramsey stefanie@riflemag.com Advertising Representative - Tom Bowman bowman.t@sbcglobal.net Advertising Information: Circulation Circulation Manager Luree McCann circ@riflemag.com Subscription Information: Publisher of Handloader is not responsible for mishaps of any nature that might occur from use of published loading data or from recommendations by any member of The Staff. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Publisher assumes all North American Rights upon acceptance and payment for all manuscripts. Although all possible care is exercised, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for lost or mutilated manuscripts. Handloader (ISSN ) is published bimonthly by Polacek Publishing Corporation, dba Wolfe Publishing Company (Don Polacek, Pres ident), 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, Prescott, Arizona (also publisher of Rifle magazine). Tele phone: (928) Periodical Postage paid at Prescott, Arizona, and additional mailing offices. Subscription prices: U.S. possessions single issue, $5.99; 6 issues, $22.97; 12 issues, $ Foreign and Canada single issue, $5.99; 6 issues $29.00; 12 issues, $ Please allow 8-10 weeks for first issue. Advertising rates furnished on request. All rights reserved. Change of address: Please give six weeks notice. Send both the old and new address, plus mailing label if possible, to Circulation Dept., Handloader Magazine, 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, Prescott, Arizona POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Handloader, 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, Prescott, Arizona Canadian returns: PM # Pitney Bowes, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Wolfe Publishing Co Gulfstream, Ste. A Prescott, AZ Tel: (928) Fax: (928) Polacek Publishing Corporation 6 Background Photo: 2012 Vic Schendel

4 PROPELLANT PROFILES The black-powder enthusiasts among our readers may have heard that Alliant Powder was entering the black-powder substitute market. The plan was to offer the powder already on the market and known as Black Mag Xp as Alliant s own. The powder was to be named Black Dot, a takeoff on Alliant s famous smokeless powder Dot series: Red Dot, Green Dot and Blue Dot. Rumor has it that a smaller-grained version currently known under the Black Mag label as Flash would also be available from Alliant as a priming powder for flintlocks. The plan, unfor tu - nately, went up in smoke, liter - ally, with an explosion at the Black Mag manufacturing facility in Alliant, forced to start all over, turned to the American Pioneer powder company located in western Colorado. American Pioneer has been manufacturing black-powder substitute powders for quite a few years. Beset by financial problems at times, it always bounced back. Over the years the company has manufactured Black Canyon powder, American Pioneer powder and Clear Shot, both under the American Pioneer label, and Shockey 20 ALLIANT S BLACK MZ by R.H. VanDenburg, Jr. Gold powder for GOEX, among others. (I have a nagging feeling I m omitting something.) The new Alliant blackpowder substitute is now known as Black MZ. It is a different formulation, I m told, than any of the current powders manufactured by American Pioneer. Black MZ is a volumefor-volume replacement for FFg black powder. Its granules appear to be slightly larger than typical for black powder. (Throughout, all comparisons were made with GOEX FFg black powder.) According to Alliant, Black MZ s notable characteristics are easy ignition and a lack of sensitivity to moisture. Also noted were a particularly modest amount of residue left after each shot and a definite need to compress the powder. On each container label is an admonition to use no bullet/ bore lubes. When querying Alliant for clarification, I was informed it meant to be certain the barrel was dry before dispensing Author s Selected Loads Alliant Black MZ bullet charge velocity (grains) (grains) (fps).50 caliber pistol 490 RB , caliber rifle 490 RB , Maxi , Colt , ,453 Notes: Powder charges represent 90 to 91 percent by weight of standard FFg black powder charges used by the author on a regular basis. Charges were rounded to whole grains. Velocities were measured at 10 feet from the muzzle. MZ pistol barrel length, 10 inches; MZ rifle, 26 inches;.45 Colt, 4¾ inches;.45-70, 26 inches. Be Alert Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data. the powder charge. This applies to muzzleloading arms. When my sample of Black MZ arrived, I began my review by getting a sense of its weight relative to black powder. I got out a volumetric black-powder measure and set it for 90 grains. Next I weighed 10 charges of GOEX FFg powder using as consistent a technique as I could. After filling the measure to overflowing, I tapped the measure five times with my finger then swung the funnel top over the body of the measure to level it off and weighed the charge. I repeated the entire process with Black MZ. Averaging the 10 charges of each, I found that Black MZ weighs 90.4 percent of an equal volume of GOEX FFg. If I eliminated the charge of each that was farthest from the average something we could not do in the field the percentage rose to Either is close enough, especially if we choose to weigh our powder charges and round to the nearest whole grain. In each of the tests, I weighed each charge of black and Black MZ and gave the actual weight in the accompanying table, but the simple volume-for-volume technique with a black-powder meas-

5 Ramshot Big Game Back Game powder. The entire Ram - shot line of powders is the in 2001 on these pages, we reviewed Ramshot Big property of Western Powders of Miles City, Montana. In addition to Ramshot, Western also offers the Accurate line of powders, an impressive line of gun care products and the black-powder substitute, Blackhorn 209. In the prior look at Big Game, there was data for only four cartridges: the Remington,.270 Winchester, and.300 Winchester Magnum. All but the were included in the tests and reported on. A more recent review of various reloading manuals revealed more than 25 cartridges for which Big Game is suitable. An interesting sidenote is that in the previous review, I praised the use of Big Game in the.270 Winchester and.300 Winchester Magnum, while expressing mild disappointment in the velocities attainable in the.30-06, especially with bullets weighing more than 150 grains. In the latest Ramshot Load guide, Edition 4.4, there is no data for Big Game in the.270 or.300, but there is for the The reasoning is actually simple: the subsequent introduction of Hunter to the Ramshot lineup and the discovery that the slowerburning Ramshot Magnum is even better in the two former cartridges. Actually, where Big Game has settled in as a superior propellant is in the newer, and some old, short, fat cartridges. Regardless, there is clearly reason for an updated review. Big Game is a very dense, double-base, spherical powder manufactured in Belgium. It is imported here by Western, and all testing and packaging are done at the Miles City facility. Bulk density is considered to be.950 g/cc. Although many new powders have been introduced in the same burning range since our 2001 review, Big Game is still a medium-burning rifle powder, a bit faster than IMR-4350 and perhaps slower than H-414/W-760. This can vary from cartridge to cartridge, but it seems to be a fairly accurate placement. Primer selection seems to follow a recurring pattern. Standard strength primers are recommended in smaller cases up to the and magnum strength primers in most magnum cartridges. In the relatively small capacity.223 WSSM, for example, standard primers are called for. Still, experience tells me that when using spher ical powders in cold weather, a magnum spark plug will produce better results. Just work up using each primer. Do not switch primers in midstream. In addition to load data in the Ram - shot publication, you ll find quite a bit in the Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading, 8th Edition. Here, especially, the powder is used in a host of short, fat cartridges. Tests began this time with the Remington and stairstepped up through the.243 Winchester and.257 Roberts. In each, performance was excellent, velocity was satisfactory and groups were small. Next came the Winchester,.308 Winchester, and.300 WSM. Only the produced results I felt could be materially improved upon with another powder choice. Even here, however, accuracy was up to par, and any reasonable target would have succumbed quickly with a proper hit. In the.300 WSM, I used magnum primers, as noted, and accuracy was excellent. I ve been shooting the 8mm Mauser a bit in recent years and have taken several pronghorn and mule deer with 150-grain bullets. Big Game did not disappoint here either, producing ade- Author s Selected Loads Ramshot Big Game bullet charge velocity (grains) (grains) (fps) Remington , Winchester , Roberts , Winchester , Winchester , , WSM ,995 8mm Mauser ,774 Be Alert Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data. quate, if not spectacular, velocity and small groups. The maximum powder charge appearing in the Ramshot Load Guide, Edition 4.4 of 56.0 grains with a 150-grain bullet was cut back to 55.5 grains to reduce what would have been significant powder compression. Some loss of velocity incurred as a result. All in all, revisiting Ramshot Big Game was instructive. Metering was flawless through powder measures, residue was minimal and accuracy generally all I could ask for. If you have any of the newer short, fat cartridges, or most of those listed, you might want to give it a try. 22

6 ure would be the more logical approach when using a muzzleloader in the field or at the range and would produce the same results. I tested Black MZ in several guns: a black-powder muzzleloading pistol and rifle, both in.50 caliber, and two cartridge guns, a Colt SAA.45 Colt and a Marlin 1895 Cowboy In the latter I used two bullet weights: a 300 and a 400 grain, both cast. All loads were chronographed, first covering the screens with a clear plastic wrap, as recommended by Dr. Ken Oehler. Each was a comparative test, shooting the same powder volume load with GOEX FFg and with Black MZ. The most obvious difference was that Black MZ produces significantly higher velocity than GOEX FFg. Most other black powders and substitutes do not do this, but Black MZ certainly did. This can be a blessing or a challenge. For guns with fixed sights regulated with a specific black-powder charge, a reduction in the Black MZ charge may be necessary to maintain the integrity of the sights. If the gun is a muzzleloader, this presents no problem as the charge can simply be reduced and the bullet or ball still firmly seated on the powder. In cartridge guns with fixed sights, however, a reduction in powder charge will reduce the amount of powder compression that may need to be taken up through the use of overpowder wads. If the higher velocity of Black MZ is otherwise acceptable, guns with adjustable sights simply need to be sighted in. If it is not, we revert to the fixed sight scenario and react accordingly. The next most obvious difference was the lack of residue left by Black MZ. In any instance where wiping after each shot is not desirable or practical, this is a godsend. In my muzzleloaders, loading subsequent shots was greatly eased by the reduced residue, which helped speed up reloading. This was equally true in the Marlin cartridge rifle. In fact, in one test, three successive shot were fired with black-powder loads. The first shell in a clean barrel loaded effortlessly, of course. The second, a bit harder and the third, harder still. Without cleaning, a fourth round with Black MZ chambered with some difficulty. After firing, rounds five and six also with Black MZ simply fell into the chamber. Round four not only left little residue but cleaned out that left by the three black-powder rounds. No wads or grease cookies or any other attempt to soften residue were included, as I wanted a worstcase scenario. I got it, I think, and Alliant s claim of less residue certainly proved valid. Alliant s claim of ease of igni - tion also seems valid, as standard strength primers gave the best results in the cartridge guns, and standard percussion caps performed admirably in the muzzleloading pistol and rifle. A friend at Alliant also confirmed that with a standard FFFFg black powder priming charge, Black MZ is right at home in flintlocks as well. All is not peaches and cream, however, as no matter what I did, Black MZ always produced larger extreme spreads than GOEX FFg. This can be minimized by heavily compressing the powder charge but not eliminated. It may not matter though. In shooting situations where cleaning after each shot is the norm, the more consistent black powder may get the nod. On the other hand, where it is not, Black MZ s ease of reloading may carry more weight. Odor and smoke are either the charm or bane of black-powder shooting, depending on one s point of view. There was more smoke than smell, but neither was present to any degree with Black MZ. Cleanup, though, is much the same as with black powder. Hot water or any of the chemical cleaners marketed for black-powder cleaning will do the trick. Cartridges also need the cleanup treatment. I typically soak them in hot, soapy water followed by a chem ical brass cleaner treatment. A light buffing with fine steel wool or an S.O.S pad, and cases are shiny bright once again. The question of accuracy is certainly a valid concern, and in my tests it seemed to be a wash. I don t want to make too much of it, however, as no attempt was made to load to a given velocity, and without that such comparisons are compromised. There is certainly more to do here in terms of testing. I can see much to favor Black MZ in shotshells, although I didn t get to that this time. My gut feeling is that hunters are going to like this Black MZ. High Plains Reboring & Barrels, L.L.C. Offering Button and Cut-Rifled Barrels. Most calibers and twist rates. Contact: Norman Johnson Phone: nrjonsn@westriv.com th Avenue NW - Turtle Lake, ND Pistol Bullets and Ammunition ZERO Zero Bullet Company, Inc. P.O. Box 1188 Cullman, AL Tel: Fax: Toll Free: April-May

7 Mike Venturino Photos by Yvonne Venturino Virtually V every gun magazine reader knows the.45 Colt and Single Action Army story from inception late in 1873 until today. Few realize that Smith & Wesson s.44 Russian predated it by a year, and it s a safe bet to say that more Smith & Wesson.44 Russian revolvers were made between 1872 and 1912 than the nearly 160,000 Colt SAA.45s made between 1873 and As the name implies, a very large portion of them were shipped to Russia. S&W No Russians were made in 1st, 2nd and 3rd Model variations during the 1870s. Because the Russian government was paying Smith & Wesson in gold, whatever changes it desired were incorporated. For that reason, by the 3rd Model they got to looking downright odd with a mysterious spur on the trigger guard and saw handle-shaped grip. By 1878, Smith & Wesson remodeled the No. 3 into the New Model by doing away with the trigger guard spur and smoothing out the strongly defined knuckle at the top of the grip frame. The same grip shape was retained in the early 1880s when the company developed a double action on the No. 3 frame. A majority of New Model No. 3s and Model 1881DAs were chambered as.44 Russian. In 1871 the U.S. Army bought 1,000 of S&W s brand-new No. 3 revolvers chambered for a round that was first called the.44/100. It used a heel-base type bullet that had a reduced diameter shank to fit inside the cartridge case. The full diameter of the bullet was the same as the outside diameter of the cartridge case. (Envision a.22 Long Rifle round.) This was less unusual than one might think. At this dawn of metallic revolver cartridges most, if not all, American designs were based on the heel-base bullet concept. Russia s military attaché to its U.S. embassy, General Gorloff, encountered the new S&W revolvers and was impressed. He was much less impressed with the American system of loading revolver cartridges. The Russian government offered Smith & Wesson an order for 20,000 revolvers, but only if they were chambered 38 Black-Powder and Smokeless Loads The Navy Arms/Uberti 3rd Model.44 Russian is a modern reproduction. for a.44-caliber cartridge of its own design. The Russians wanted the full diameter of the bullet to fit inside the cartridge case. Naturally, Smith & Wesson agreed. This is not to say that American ammunition designers dropped the heel-base bullet concept like a hot horseshoe. Many more American revolver cartridges were introduced using heel-base bullets long after the advent of the.44 S&W Russian. Examples that come to mind are.41 and.38 Colts. After the new Russian.44 gained notice, the earlier.44/100 Smith & Wesson became known by the likewise odd moniker of.44 S&W American. Ammunition makers initially retained the habit of putting the lead

8 Smith & Wesson Russian bullet s grease grooves outside the cartridge case as was necessary with heel-base bullets. According to U.S. Cartridges and Their Handguns by Charles R. Suydam, early.44 Russian factory loads used 275- grain outside-lubed bullets over 23 grains of black powder. That book goes on to state that by about 1888 most factory ammunition had become loaded with inside-lubricated bullets of 246 grains over the same powder charge. However, Wolfe Publishing s reprint of an 1899 Winchester catalog shows its.44 Russian loads with smokeless propellant under 255-grain, inside-lubed bullets. One detail in that catalog that handloaders should find interesting is that Winchester used an alloy of 1-40 (tin to lead) for.44 Russian bullets, but for.45 Colt it used 1-20 alloy, and for.44 WCF (.44-40) pure lead was used. Smith & Wesson sold all three of its.44 Russian variations domestically. About the only change made to them was that the inscriptions atop the barrels were in English. Those sent to Russia naturally had inscriptions in that language. In the 1990s I became smitten with Smith & Wesson Model No. 3 revolvers in all versions and eventually amassed an assortment containing 1st, 2nd and 3rd Model Russians, a New Model.44 Russian and a Model 1881DA.44 Russian. All were shot to one degree or another, but while doing so there was always a dark cloud of apprehension hanging over me. All those.44 Russian handguns were very valuable and very old. According to Smith & Wesson historian Roy Jinks, all No. 3 Smith & Wesson frames were built prior to 1898 even though the company still cataloged New Model No. 3s until Smith & Wesson Model No. 3s were not the most robust of handguns when new and were never designed with smokeless powders in mind. Former Wolfe Publishing staff artist, the late Dave LeGate, collected Smith & Wesson Model No. 3s and told me once about splitting a New Model.44 Russian s cylinder with a black-powder handload. Therefore, I only shot my original and very valuable.44 Russian April-May

9 .44 S&W Russian revolvers enough to gain a little bit of familiarity with them while gathering chronograph and accuracy information. Then a breeze came to blow away my cloud of apprehension. In the late 1990s Navy Arms Company prevailed on Uberti of Italy to recreate the 3rd Model.44 Russian. Being made of modern steels, these handguns are perfectly suitable for shooting with smokeless powder loads. A majority of New Model No. 3s and Model 1881DAs were chambered as.44 Russian. Navy Arms/Uberti didn t get a perfect copy of the 3rd Model.44 Russian, but it s darn close. For instance, Smith & Wesson 3rd Model Russians had 6½-inch barrels with a forged, integral front sight. My Navy Arms/Uberti version has a 7- inch barrel with a front sight pinned on. Uberti s 3rd Model.44 Russian replica is actually very close to some S&W transition models assembled as S&W graduated from 2nd to 3rd Model variations. In 2008 I sold off many firearms By 1878 Smith & Wesson returned to more graceful lines for the New Model No. 3 revolvers. The most common caliber, by far, was the.44 Russian Two original Smith & Wesson revolvers from the 1870s: S&W Model No Schofield (top) and an S&W Model No. 3, 3rd Model.44 Russian (center). At bottom is the Navy Arms/Uberti 3rd Model.44 Russian. in my collection, including all the original S&W.44 Russians. The Uberti 3rd Model.44 Russian rep - lica stuck. Why? It s simply a joy to shoot. Recoil and muzzle report are very mild, and while I ve not gotten the phenomenal accuracy from my specimen as reported with Smith & Wesson s No. 3s in the late 1800s, I can smack dueling tree paddles and falling plates with it to satisfaction. Five-shot, 25- yard groups mostly run from a bit under 2 inches to a bit under 3 inches. I don t consider that too bad considering a rear sight that is almost a joke. Theories exist as to the reason for the odd spur on the trigger guard of 2nd and 3rd Model.44 Russian revolvers. I really don t care why it was developed, but it sure makes a good spot to anchor one s off-hand index finger when shooting two-handed. Shooting two-handed is nearly a must with this revolver, because it is nigh on impossible to reach the hammer with the thumb of one s shooting hand. That odd hump atop the grip is right in the way. Like all early Smith & Wesson chamberings, its case length is rather short. Nominal case length is.97 inch, compared to.91 inch for.44 S&W American and 1.10 inches for the later.45 S&W Scho -

10 Left, Mike considers the rear sight of the Navy Arms/Uberti copy of Smith & Wesson s Model No. 3, 3rd Model.44 Russian more a formality than an actual sight. field. Rim diameter is a prominent.515 inch, as was necessary for functioning in Smith & Wesson s star-type extractors. Modern.45 Colt cases have rim diameters of only about.512 inch. The accepted.44 Russian bullet diameter is.429 inch. Of course, the.44 Special s case is merely the.44 Russian lengthened to 1.16 inches. During most appeared. The.44 Remington Magnum has the same exterior case head dimensions but a length of 1.29 inches. Handloading the.44 Russian is a joy. Starline produces ready-to-load brass, and of course, any.429/.430- inch lead bullet between about 180 to 250 grains is usable. Reloading dies are available from most manufacturers. Mine currently are the RCBS cowboy style with carbide sizing die and a case mouth belling die with a plug diameter of.426 inch. My assortment of old Lyman reloading manuals skips from No. 42 The inscription on the Navy Arms/Uberti replica translates as, The Third Russian Gun-Making Factory. of the two S&W.44 s concurrent periods of factory load production, they carried the exact same 246-grain, lead roundnose bullet. Furthermore, for at least some of that time, nominal muzzle velocities were the same, variously reported at about 755 to 775 fps. According to Suydam,.44 Russian factory load production was discontinued about Coincidentally, that is about the time another cartridge based on the.44 Russian dated 1960 to No. 45, which is undated, but I must have picked it up around The former book has.44 Russian information, but the latter one doesn t mention it. The only powders listed in No. 42 and still available today are Bullseye and Unique. We ll use the former as an example. That No. 42 manual goes up to 5.0 grains of Bullseye with both 205- and 250-grain bullets. Lyman s new No. 49 manual has.44 Russian data but stops at 3.6 grains of Bullseye with 245- grain bullets and 3.8 grains with 200-grain bullets. One reason Smith & Wesson Model No. 3 revolvers gained popularity in the 1870s was that the top-break design offered simultaneous ejection of all cases. 41

11 Handloads for.44 Russian have centered around these two roundnose bullets: a 200-grain design from a custom Hoch mould (left) and a 250 grainer from Lyman mould These five fast-burning pistol powders were used in the.44 Russian handloads. Using modern data, it is difficult to achieve the old stated velocities of about 750 fps with 246-grain bullets, and for what reason someone might be stuck on doing that I cannot envision. Obviously this cartridge today is merely shot for fun. Hunting or self-defense with such an old-timer just does not seem logical. That said, I m happy if loads with 250-grain bullets approach 700 fps and 200-grain bullets a bit over that mark. Mention of 200-grain bullets has been made several times. Although such a bullet weight was not loaded in old.44 Russian factory ammunition, I ve come to rely on it almost exclusively in my Navy Arms/ Uberti revolver. The reason is that with 240- to 250-grain bullets its sights are regulated so that point of impact is about 5 to 6 inches above point of aim at 25 yards. Conversely, 200-grain bullets land at point of aim or just slightly.44 Russian Handloads bullet powder charge velocity variation comments (grains) (grains) (fps) (fps) 200 roundnose Hoch custom mould Bullseye good load Trail Boss too mild Titegroup best load so far Red Dot very mild W good load Swiss FFFg fun! 250 roundnose Lyman Bullseye accurate Trail Boss too mild Titegroup closest to factory Red Dot too mild W accurate Swiss FFFg lots of smoke! 210 flatnose Black Hills Cowboy hits to sights 246 roundnose Remington factory load very late production 246 roundnose Winchester factory load from very old box Notes: All loads fired from a Navy Arms/Uberti 3rd Model.44 Russian with a 7-inch barrel. All chrono graph figures are for five shots with start screen at approximately 6 feet. All handloads used Starline brass with Winchester Large Pistol primers. Bullets cast by Mike of 1-20 (tin-to-lead) alloy, sized.430 inch and lubed with SPG. Be Alert Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data. Groups like this at 25 yards with a 6-o clock hold are typical with the Navy Arms/Uberti 3rd Model.44 Russian..44 S&W Russian 42 above, depending on exact powder charge. A few years back, I had Dave Farmer of Colorado Shooters Supply ( make a four-cavity, iron mould for a copy of Lyman s old a 200-grain roundnose. Cast of 1-20 (tin-lead) alloy, it is my dedicated.44 Russian bullet. To approximate factory 246-grain bullets, one can use Lyman (used here) or

12 These three.44-caliber cartridges differ only in case length. From left,.44 S&W Russian at.97 inch,.44 S&W Special at 1.16 inches and.44 Remington Magnum at 1.29 inches. Redding/SAECO 442. From 1-20 alloy, bullets from both moulds weigh 250 grains. My sizing diameter for all.44 Russian bullets is.430 inch. Incidentally, the Navy Arms/Uberti revolver s barrel slugs.429 inch, and its cylinder s chamber mouths are.430 inch. Barrel/ cylinder gap is a rather large.008 inch, which may be why some handloads clocked a bit slower than expected. The fastest-burning handgun propellants are most suited for reloading.44 Russian. For the purpose of this article, I loaded 200- and 250- grain bullets over Bullseye, Titegroup, Trail Boss, Red Dot and W-231. Charge weights were all in the 3.3- to 4.0-grain range. Both Trail Boss and Red Dot gave velocities lower than I could accept. This small assortment of.44 Russian cartridge boxes all contained loads with 246-grain roundnose lead bullets. The other three propellants were all in my self-appointed suitable velocity range. Black-powder loads were also chronographed with the same 200- and 250-grain bullets. I was surprised that this revolver handled up to 50 rounds without binding from fouling and gave quite good accuracy with some combinations. In my stash of old stuff were boxes of Remington and Winchester.44 Russian factory loads with 246-grain lead bullets. For curiosity s sake, I robbed each box of five rounds for chronographing. The table shows they gave no surprises. The only current.44 Russian factory load on hand is Black Hills Cowboy. It carries the same 210-grain flatnose used in the company s.44 Special Cowboy load. My standard.44 Russian smokeless powder handload prior to the shooting done for this article was Mike, shooting the Navy Arms/Uberti 3rd Model.44 Russian, shows how he uses the supporting hand s index finger to hold the revolver s odd trigger guard spur. the 200-grain roundnose over 3.7 grains of Titegroup. I have discovered no reason to change. However, if need be I could substitute 3.7 grains of Bullseye without giving up anything in the way of performance. VICKERMAN Inline Seating Die GMW, Inc. Tel: The NEW BALD EAGLE Rimfire Cartridge Gage $85 00 The Gage That Works! This is a gage to measure consistency of rim thickness on.22 rimfire ammunition (a.22 rimfire rifle s headspace is determined by case rim thickness). The more consistent the rim thickness, the more consistent the ignition of the primer and the powder charge in the case. In other words, the firing pin will fall the same distance every time if the same rim thickness is used on every case being fired for a particular group. By sorting the shells into various groups by rim thickness, a reduction in group size of up to 25% can be realized in some IF NOT MOST rimfire rifles. This information about group reduction comes from the.22 rimfire benchrest participants who compete in the extremely difficult BR-50 matches. All of the top shooters sort their shells into groups by checking rims and weighing the unfired cartridges. BALD EAGLE Precision Machine Company 101-E Allison St. Lock Haven, PA TEL (570) FAX (570) Bill Gebhardt, Owner (NRA Benefactor Member - IBS Life Member) 43