What did you do in the reloading room recently?

You shooting armor plated whitetail?

Get yourself some ballistic gel and see what a solid 250 grain bullet does. 32” of gel no issue. Then the deer is leaking out of 2 holes. They don’t last long like that.

Those will definitely do the trick but I bet your JHP bullets slowed down enough to hold together will drop a whitetail like a sack of potatoes.
🤣 I’ll admit the marketing from Federal got to me since I have a Henry and this was a joint collaboration with Federal and Henry.
And I’m always interested in trying different ammo. I’ve yet to get a deer but I agree any decent JSP/JHP should be more than adequate for a deer.

I’ve also got some Buffalo Barnes 225 gr solid copper HPs but the HP is so massive I suspect the expansion will destroy a shit ton of meat. No idea though since I’ve yet to shoot a deer 🦌
 
🤣 I’ll admit the marketing from Federal got to me since I have a Henry and this was a joint collaboration with Federal and Henry.
And I’m always interested in trying different ammo. I’ve yet to get a deer but I agree any decent JSP/JHP should be more than adequate for a deer.

I’ve also got some Buffalo Barnes 225 gr solid copper HPs but the HP is so massive I suspect the expansion will destroy a shit ton of meat. No idea though since I’ve yet to shoot a deer 🦌
Lures are made to catch fishermen not fish or something like that right?

Any 44 you hit them with in the right spot will knock them down.
 
Busted out the Henry all weather 44 mag rifle today to do some practice for deer hunting in Maine. I shot some 240 gr loads with H110 and 180 gr loads with H110. Neither were as stout as the new 270 gr Hammerdown ammo from Federal. It will definitely be more than adequate to put down a deer I think. Super expensive ammo. View attachment 531411
Excellent choice, 44 mag in a lever. I have been using that for about 7 years now. Performs very well in New England.
 
Finally got my Dillon set up. Pumped out 1,000 rounds of 9mm 124 gr Summit City poly-coated round nose over 4.2 gr Winchester 244. Been doing precision .308 handloads on a turret press, so in comparison, this Dillon is amazing in terms of raw productivity!! [banana]

View attachment 532420
Great feeling isn’t it? No need to worry about finding 9mm in stock online now. Not to mention it’s significantly cheaper.
 
Great feeling isn’t it? No need to worry about finding 9mm in stock online now. Not to mention it’s significantly cheaper.
Yup! ~16cpr for the 9mm. Now on to 45acp and .223 Rem.

By the way, you KNOW this is all your fault Andrew, don't you? First you started helping me find ammo, then it was primers. What next??? [smile]
 
I sense there is a backstory here... [popcorn]
If interested lol



Some of the pics might be missing at this point. I may be forgetting some other guns 🤣 @dhuze was keeping track I think
 
Just let Andrew borrow it. He breaks every gun he owns.
Can you make a sticky thread for things Andrew breaks? [laugh]
What’s the over/ under on how long before Andrew breaks it??
Why? Afraid it'll break your guns? Oh, wait...
tuxedo_winnie_the_pooh-400x400.jpg
 
Andrew jokes aside:

- .38 S&W test loads ran fine. The recoil is like a glorified 22lr; I used the 150gr, will probably try the 200gr next
- 38spl CFE Pistol loads ran well, they seemed quite accurate at 75 feet, and maybe a tad cleaner than my old stand by Win231
- 45 ACP test loads using coated 230gr functioned, but seemed inaccurate. It could also be that I switched to 45 after shooting the mousefart .38 S&W so it might have been an issue of higher perceived recoil. Next time, I'll go in reverse order.

I've prepped a whole ton of 30-06 brass, so I'll probably tackle that next.

I also want to do up some 9x19 and see how the Trijicon on my VP9 does zero-wise with reloads vs. factory (esp. defensive rounds).
 
If interested lol



Some of the pics might be missing at this point. I may be forgetting some other guns 🤣 @dhuze was keeping track I think
I have a hard time remembering when there are too many numbers.
 
If interested lol



Some of the pics might be missing at this point. I may be forgetting some other guns 🤣 @dhuze was keeping track I think
this is what happens when you actually shoot your guns!
 
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So I finally took the plunge and got a .50. I am still waiting on the Leader A1, and I wanted to learn on a bolt gun anyway, so I got an AR-50. Put together a ladder of loads using Hornady 750 grain AMAX bullets because load data is better and I don't yet have a ruling from my shooting club on API. I was NERVOUS about the recoil and the sheer size of the rounds, but it was quite pleasant. The muzzle blast through the AR50 muzzle brakes is insane, but shooting that rifle right beside my 6.5 Creedmoor (which has a good brake), the recoil from the .50 was more pleasant. The gun weighs 37 lbs, so it pushes rather than kicks you. I got a little primer flattening at 230 grains and a sticky bolt at 235, both well under the published max of 250 grains of US869. Now I need to figure out how to pull the bullets from the other 7 bullets in the ladder series....they are STUCK.

I am very excited to start loading AP and API as they're 1) way cheaper and 2) what's the point of having a .50 if you can't kill an old engine block?
 
Here's a good one.......

Super Redhawk 44Mag. - 240gn LSWC-FP over 7.5gn HP38 (1080FPS)

Each horizontal row is one full load of the cylinder.

Notice that on every cylinder load, there is 1 cart that has a significantly deeper primer impression.
(the position on the left side is not relevant, they were all put on the left for photo clarity).

Since it's only one per cylinder, I can only assume that one of the cylinder faces is off by a bit.

Other thoughts?

IMG_9017 2.jpg
 
Here's a good one.......

Super Redhawk 44Mag. - 240gn LSWC-FP over 7.5gn HP38 (1080FPS)

Each horizontal row is one full load of the cylinder.

Notice that on every cylinder load, there is 1 cart that has a significantly deeper primer impression.
(the position on the left side is not relevant, they were all put on the left for photo clarity).

Since it's only one per cylinder, I can only assume that one of the cylinder faces is off by a bit.

Other thoughts?
Perhaps it is a limitation of the photograph, but I'm not really seeing the one per cylinder pattern very clearly, though a couple look quite deep. My guess is that I'm looking at a low pressure load with non-uniform primer seating depths. Primers seated more proud when struck would show deeper impressions than those seated deeper. But if you really suspect the gun, load some up some more with close attention to the primers being seated all the way in and looking about the same. Then number the cartridges 1-6 and load from a marked charge hole. Ruger usually has some kind of marking on the cylinder face that you can use to identify charge hole #1.
 
So I finally took the plunge and got a .50. I am still waiting on the Leader A1, and I wanted to learn on a bolt gun anyway, so I got an AR-50. Put together a ladder of loads using Hornady 750 grain AMAX bullets because load data is better and I don't yet have a ruling from my shooting club on API. I was NERVOUS about the recoil and the sheer size of the rounds, but it was quite pleasant. The muzzle blast through the AR50 muzzle brakes is insane, but shooting that rifle right beside my 6.5 Creedmoor (which has a good brake), the recoil from the .50 was more pleasant. The gun weighs 37 lbs, so it pushes rather than kicks you. I got a little primer flattening at 230 grains and a sticky bolt at 235, both well under the published max of 250 grains of US869. Now I need to figure out how to pull the bullets from the other 7 bullets in the ladder series....they are STUCK.

I am very excited to start loading AP and API as they're 1) way cheaper and 2) what's the point of having a .50 if you can't kill an old engine block?
Use a tubing flaring tool to pull the bullets. There's youtubes on how to do it.
You only use the clamp part of the tool and It will leave some marks but I liken it to a scratch on the side of a tractor trailer.image.jpeg That is what I've used and it works very well.


Also, for future reference, be careful with AP, API and tracers..they are both a fire hazard and extreme ricochet hazard.

The tracer elements can dislodge on impact and fly a very long distance and ignite grass and brush.
The AP cores can bounce back a long way off a steel target with extreme force. Check out the youtube where the guy's ear muffs get torn off his head from an AP ricochet .......his target was at or over 100yds away. Very lucky to be alive.

I've owned a .50bmg rifle for 24 years and have only fired 2 tracers......both of the tracer elements dislodged and bounced up and behind the berm and started a small fire which had to be chased down range and stomped out.
I have plenty of tracers for a "rainy day" .....figuratively and literally but I only shoot ball at the range.
 
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