Rainy and cold outside. Wind blowing. Time to start a good heated discussion.
When in the Army, weigh-in time was dreaded. I was always too short for my weight and it plagued me all of my career. Never could grow up much, just bigger around.
The same goes for cast bullets except they’re too small around for their weight.
I’m a firm believer after 60 years of bullet casting and loading that there is an optimum weight for each caliber. I can hear the roars of protest now.
Cartridge manufacturers over the years have spent a lot of good money to research this and publish the results and in addition put their money where their mouth is to produce guns and ammunition to these specifications for sale to you the user.
.32s should cap at 100 grains
9mms at 125 grains
.38 Super at 130 grains
.38 Special at 158 grains
.357 Mag at 158 grains
.44 Magnum at 240 grains
.45 Colt at 250 grains
After these I dropped out of the race as things got too heavy and wild.
Basically, these are the weights manufacturing has decided over the years that are optimum for the caliber.
Then us bullet casters got into the act. Not satisfied with being able to change the shape of our bullets, we decided to change weight as well. Here, we got into trouble.
For years we went along happy turning out accurate, hand made economical ammunition. My first .38 Specials were Lyman 358495 wadcutters. That’s the only mould my local gun shop had in stock. I used it for years and was happy. Later on I saw a SWC mould and had to have one. Still good.
Then some Idaho cowboy with a big hat decided we needed a big 173 grain Lyman 358429 so we could shoot long range. I got that and it was good. About this time, the police departments decided that bigger was always better so they brought out the 200 grain RN Police load. That’s when things started to go bad. While good for a manstopper when you had to, it left a lot to be desired as to velocity and trajectory. I went back and followed the cowboy.
Them the cowboy said, you need a .44 and since .44 Specials were scarce, it was a magnum. Of course, the cowboy’s favorite bullet was the 429421. Again, it was very good. Then an outfit called SSK started making 300+ grain bullets and it was so good that I dropped out and went back to the cowboy. In the meantime, the cowboy said, anything SSK can do I can do so he sent designs to Hensly and Gibbs and in my mould drawer sit a #326 and a #328 H&G mould. 275 and 320 grains respectively. This was so good that I couldn’t stand it but keep a box of each loaded in case the bears decide to raid my garbage can. Every couple of years I’ll find an old refrigerator in a gravel pit and shoot them up and reload waiting for the bear that hasn’t showed up for 17 years.
My point to all this gibberish is that each caliber and firearm are basically designed for one weight bullet at an optimum safe velocity. We get tempted and want to improve on something that works at a loss of efficiency and in some cases safety and may produce a trajectory that our sights may not compensate for.
Fine if you want a heavy load for defense or a specific purpose but otherwise, you’re safer to stick within the design parameters for the caliber./beagle
When in the Army, weigh-in time was dreaded. I was always too short for my weight and it plagued me all of my career. Never could grow up much, just bigger around.
The same goes for cast bullets except they’re too small around for their weight.
I’m a firm believer after 60 years of bullet casting and loading that there is an optimum weight for each caliber. I can hear the roars of protest now.
Cartridge manufacturers over the years have spent a lot of good money to research this and publish the results and in addition put their money where their mouth is to produce guns and ammunition to these specifications for sale to you the user.
.32s should cap at 100 grains
9mms at 125 grains
.38 Super at 130 grains
.38 Special at 158 grains
.357 Mag at 158 grains
.44 Magnum at 240 grains
.45 Colt at 250 grains
After these I dropped out of the race as things got too heavy and wild.
Basically, these are the weights manufacturing has decided over the years that are optimum for the caliber.
Then us bullet casters got into the act. Not satisfied with being able to change the shape of our bullets, we decided to change weight as well. Here, we got into trouble.
For years we went along happy turning out accurate, hand made economical ammunition. My first .38 Specials were Lyman 358495 wadcutters. That’s the only mould my local gun shop had in stock. I used it for years and was happy. Later on I saw a SWC mould and had to have one. Still good.
Then some Idaho cowboy with a big hat decided we needed a big 173 grain Lyman 358429 so we could shoot long range. I got that and it was good. About this time, the police departments decided that bigger was always better so they brought out the 200 grain RN Police load. That’s when things started to go bad. While good for a manstopper when you had to, it left a lot to be desired as to velocity and trajectory. I went back and followed the cowboy.
Them the cowboy said, you need a .44 and since .44 Specials were scarce, it was a magnum. Of course, the cowboy’s favorite bullet was the 429421. Again, it was very good. Then an outfit called SSK started making 300+ grain bullets and it was so good that I dropped out and went back to the cowboy. In the meantime, the cowboy said, anything SSK can do I can do so he sent designs to Hensly and Gibbs and in my mould drawer sit a #326 and a #328 H&G mould. 275 and 320 grains respectively. This was so good that I couldn’t stand it but keep a box of each loaded in case the bears decide to raid my garbage can. Every couple of years I’ll find an old refrigerator in a gravel pit and shoot them up and reload waiting for the bear that hasn’t showed up for 17 years.
My point to all this gibberish is that each caliber and firearm are basically designed for one weight bullet at an optimum safe velocity. We get tempted and want to improve on something that works at a loss of efficiency and in some cases safety and may produce a trajectory that our sights may not compensate for.
Fine if you want a heavy load for defense or a specific purpose but otherwise, you’re safer to stick within the design parameters for the caliber./beagle
