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Well that was a first. I was at the range today with my Kimber 1911 (45 ACP), doing a load work up. After round #4 during a 10 round string, the gun failed to go into battery. Lo an behold, a primer was wedged between the barrel breech edge and the slide's breech face. The primer was intact...

About three or four years ago, I resolved to pair down the number of different pistol propellants I hold from twelve or thirteen, to just four or five. I'm finding this difficult to do :p. A few have departed my inventory (Bullseye, TiteGroup, and HS-6, with Unique getting low); but I have...

Going back to when I first started loading (1984) I have used Unique now and then. But I'm not a fan of the stuff. I'll start there. However, during the shortage, I grabbed a couple pounds out of desperation - I had no intermediate speed propellant at the time, and that's all that was...

The weather is getting warmer (here, at least) and so for the first time this year, I did some chronographing. The data yielded some interesting-to-me things worthy of several posts. This is the first one. . . I post my fair share here on TFL; and often, I mention what I term as "balanced...

I'll spare a long story. I've been shooting and loading ammo for revolvers for decades. I have a Smith 67 whose charge holes seem to need reaming (I'm guessing about .0015-ish) so I can shoot .358" lead slugs without leading up the throats something fierce. Does anybody know who does this...

Spent some time at the ammo loading bench today and finished off my last # of TiteGroup. And I won't be getting any more. No, this is not a "bag on TG" thread. On the contrary. Let's start at the beginning . . . A few years back, during the big shortage, I bought six #'s of TiteGroup...

Last week, I poked my head into my LGS to look for some #41 primers (per the current post running about AR slam fires). They had no #41's, but I did run into four 100ct bags of new Winchester 223 brass. I bought three - leaving one behind for someone else - a habit left over from the last...

CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond or not covered by currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The Firing Line, nor the staff of TFL assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information. Hi...

About a year n a half ago, I decided to move toward reducing the number of total pistol powders I kept in my inventory from thirteen to just four. The original thirteen: Nitro 100; N-310; Bullseye; W231/HP-38; AA#2; TiteGroup; AA#5; Unique; Power Pistol; HS-6; AA#7; 2400; & W296. I have since...

For a couple months now, I've been tossing around the idea of doing a load work up for 357 Magnum, using Speer's 125gn JHP (UCHP techinically; #4013), and AA#7 propellant. I like heavy bullets; so I haven't done a lot of work-ups with 125's. 158's are king in my 357 world. I have chonographed...

Hi, I've been loading for handgun for over three decades; but just started loading for rifle (AR15 .223 only) a couple months ago. A minor issue I've been running into is when I seat the bullet, sometimes - maybe one in 15 or so - the shoulder will slightly buckle (hardly noticeable), making...

I recently started loading for 223 Rem for my AR-15's. The two bullets I'm focused on right now are the Winchester 64gn PP - a Flat Based bullet; and the Sierra 65gn SBT - a Boat Tail. My question is: What's the difference? I mean, visually, it's obvious. And from what I understand, the...

There's a guy I met a few years back out at my range. I've seen him quite a few times and we chat a bit. Nice guy. A few times, he gave me his brass that he shot that day. He always shoots 38 Special and occasionally 38 Long Colt. It's almost always Geco brand - I don't know what that is...

So now that my learning process for loading 223 Rem is under way and I'm thinking ahead, my question is . . . If I want to load ammunition for the application of taking down critters in - say - the 200 Lb range, at 50 to 100 yards, what bullet weight, style, profile, brand should I use? I...

Yep, I finally pushed aside the procrastination and loaded up some 223. I had brass that had been corn cob tumbled, but that's as far as I had gone with them. I used Hornaday's One Shot spray lube. I've heard that it can be problematic with rifle cases (works great with pistol). So I...

I bought some S&S Hardcast coated 148 DEWC's (.358") for 38 Special back in Dec '13. I loaded 50 of them (on 12/25/13 - you'd think I'd have better things to do on Christmas day :p), and when I shot them, I noticed a horrific smell of burning electrical insulation (PVC?). Anyway, the smell was...

I know the great powder shortage of 2013 has been over in the eyes of most for some time. But it has been stubborn here in northern California for sure. For the first time since early 2013, I walked into my LGS today and they had a better selection of pistol powders than I personally own. To...

Hi, last weekend I loaded up some 45 ACP (100 rounds) using data based off my chronograph work up. I was using X-treme's 230gn (plated) HP. A few weeks back, I did a load work up using Hodgdon's load data and TiteGroup. Hodgdon's load data peaks at 4.8gn; so I tested them at 4.4 and 4.6 (OAL...

Hi Folks, Took a trip to the range today and tested some 44 Magnum, Speer 240g JSP bullets, with Alliant 2400 under. For some background: For decades, I used W296 for my Wide-Open-Throttle 240 grain rounds. I was shooting them through my "Dirty Harry" 629 with an 8-3/8" bbl. Put in a lot...

For decades, I've loaded 200gn LSWC's for my 1911 ("'s," plural, these days). My all-time pet load of 5.0 grains of W231 (45 ACP, of course). Chrono's at 840 f/s. So I got into plated bullets the last few years and decided I wanted to make a basic range shooter with the same weight, with...