Belted Magnums (and why I welcome their eventual demise)

Time for an opinionated rant...

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Check out what showed up today

Time to paraphrase something I read once: "How to convince someone to try something:  if he's American, tell him it's new."  I don't recall exactly where I saw that, but it generally rings true with me.  I convinced myself that I needed to try these powders because they're new and they seemed interesting, even though there's not a whole lot of data out there for them yet.

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.357 Magnum Handloading (158 grain plated HP + Lil' Gun) Part 1

***DISCLAIMER***

This post contains handloading data.  It was created for my firearms and may not be safe for general use.  I cannot be held responsible for misuse of this data or for typographical errors.  Use at your own risk!


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Smith & Wesson Model 66-2 .357 Magnum

This is my Smith & Wesson model 66-2 in .357 magnum with a 6" barrel that I bought used almost 2 years ago along with the original box, but not the original grips.  After doing some serial number research, I found that it was likely manufactured in 1983.  This gun will be my main test platform for my .357 magnum loads, and had been my hunting handgun last year, though I never got a shot at any game.  It's certainly not a new gun, but I do like it a lot.

.45 Colt Handloading (250 grain LRNFP + Trail Boss) Part 1

***DISCLAIMER***

This post contains handloading data.  It was created for my firearms and may not be safe for general use.  I cannot be held responsible for misuse of this data or for typographical errors.  Use at your own risk!


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Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt (and .45 ACP)

So I walked into a local gun store and ordered a blued Ruger Blackhawk with a 5.5" barrel in .45 Colt.  In a few weeks I received a blued Ruger Blackhawk with a 5.5" barrel in .45 Colt....and .45 ACP!  They apparently ordered the model with the conversion cylinder.  I have no complaints, having more cartridge options is a good thing.

This will be my test vehicle for all of my .45 Colt handloads and some of my .45 ACP loads, I'm sure.  Depending on how well I can shoot with it, it might also become my primary hunting handgun.

(Re-)Re-introduction to reloading

A little background:

My first introduction to reloading was my father's progressive shotshell press he kept in an outbuilding on our farm.  My dad is a pretty damn good trap shooter and the press was setup accordingly for 12 gauge shells, #8 shot, and some modest load of IMR PB, if I remember correctly.  At some point in my teenage years, a couple of friends and I decided to see if we could figure out how it all worked.  After a few failures, we got the system down and were soon loading shells for target and small game shooting.

Fast forward to my early twenties and I started getting more interested in handguns and rifles.  This naturally (at least to me) led to handloading of those cartridges.  I started off with the .243 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, and .303 British primarily with IMR 4064 powder.  This was kind of a casual and experimental hobby, especially since the equipment was housed at my parent's farm and I was now several hours away.

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Here's what this is going to be about...

This blog is intended to be something of a journal for one of my favorite hobbies: guns. It will include information and my personal opinion about various firearms that are in my possession. It will also detail my re-introduction to handloading and my experimentation in that arena.

If you find any of these topics interesting, feel free to follow along!