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Handloader
The Journal of
Ammunition Reloading
Number 143
Volume 25, Number 1
January-February 1990
ISSN 0017-7393
FEATURES
-~
~
Page 18.
18
22
The .50 Alaskan
24
Reloading Black Powder Rifle Cartridges (Pet Loads)
27
30
32
36
39
The .220 Weatherby Rocket
John Kronfeld
Another game-stopping wildcat for lever fans.
The Wadcutter
Gil Sengel
There’s more there than meets the eye.
Ken Waters
More of Ken’s favorite prescriptions for the old-timers.
Layne Simpson
Roy’s first cartridge.
The .30 Gibbs
Roger Stowers
Magnum performance from a non-belted case.
Duplex Shot Loads and Paper Turkeys
Wallace Labisky
Combining pellets of different sizes can improve a gun’s performance.
Another Look at the .280
Don Zutz
Trying slower-burning powders gives unexpected results.
The .300 Savage Contender
Jay Turner
A new career for an old standby.
DEPARTMENTS
6
Reloader’s Press
Swan Song.
Handguns
Heavy Bullets in the 9mm Luger.
8
Cartridge Board
.284 Winchester.
4
Page 2 7 . .
.
Dave Scovill
Gil Sengel
14
Aiming for Answers
.303 British, 7-30 Waters Brass, Overall Loaded Length, .416 Hoffman.
Capitol Watch
Neal Knox
Congress Finally Adjourns.
Benchtopics
Layne Simpson
Precision Handloading - Part Six.
16
Reader Bylines
Mrs. Malaprop Strikes Again; Tensile Strength; Technical Literacy; Thanks, Ken.
44
Reader Research
The Ideal Tru-Line, Determining Available Case Capacity.
54
ProducTests
Simmons Model 1115 12x50 Wide Angle Focus-Free Binoculars, Optikare Kit.
65
Book/Video Reviews
Handgun Safety; Cartridges of the World, Sixth Ed.; Trap and Skeet Shooting, 2nd Ed.
67
Product & Service News
Omark Industries, Magnum Research, Inc., Conetrol, Forster Products.
70
Propellant Profiles
Thunderbird Cartridge Company T-8208 Powder.
10
12
Page 3 9 . . .
A1 Miller
Gil Sengel
January-February 1990
3
HANDGUNS
Dave Scovill
Heavy Bullets in the 9mm Luger
I
in the .45 ACP and lOmm semiautos.
The FBI went one step further and
dropped the 9mm in favor of the 1Omm.
T SEEMS the 9mm Luger is in the
midst of unceasing controversy.
Some swear by it, others swear at it.
The fat was thrown in the fire when the
United States military adopted the
9mm in favor of the .45 ACF? A number
of state and local law enforcement
agencies have followed suit. The rationale, it seems, is that if it is good
enough for the armed forces, it must be
good enough for domestic law enforcement as well.
In lieu of the controversy over the effectiveness of the 9mm, experts who
participated in the 1987 FBI Wound
Ballistic Seminar recommended the
new 147-grain subsonic 9mm round for
further study. At that time, Winchester
had a monopoly on the market with a
factory load that featured a 147-grain
J H P at 985 fps. Shortly thereafter,
Speer began tests with a 147-grain
TMJ FN bullet in the 9mm Blazer and
Remington recently announced that a
similar load will be coming out of
Delaware in the near future. Remington and Winchester factory loads,
however, are earmarked for law enforcement only.
There may be a flaw in that kind of
logic, however. As a military weapon,
a handgun is the last option that is
brought to bear on the battlefield, after
air or offshore bombardment has
softened up the landing zone, mobile
weapons and heavy artillery have
moved in and finally, the infantry invades the front lines with automatic
rifles. If a handgun sees any action, it
is a last ditch measure - better than
your bare hands and a bit more effective than a bayonet. Against body armor, the 9mm may be useless.
Following the recent trend toward the
use of heavier bullets at subsonic
velocities in the 9mm, it was apparent
that if the bullets were made available
as reloading components, there was no
published reloading data available. I
was also curious about whether the
average 9mm pistol would handle the
heavier bullets with acceptable accuracy. As most handloaders are aware,
it is one thing to cut against the grain
with revolutionary bullet or ammunition designs. It is quite another to do
it successfully.
On the home front, a handgun can
represent the only line of defense often against semiautomatic rifles. The
Dade County, Florida, debacle only
fueled the controversy over the effectiveness of the 9mm and reports from
a t least one firearms manufacturer
suggest that there is a renewed interest
9mm Load Summary
Browning
Hi.Power
A
powder
Blue Dot
HP-38
W-231
Unique
Herco
AAC-5
ACC-7
5.7
6.5
4.0
3.8
4.5
4.6
4.9
6.9
Speer
Test
Barrel
Ruger
P85
B
A
B
A
989
1,060
975
968
NA
967
977
1,046
957
1,010
965
NA
967
950
979
NA
velocity
charge
(grains)
HS-6
VpS]
1,017
1,132
1,050
1,004
1,010
998
1,011
1,120
1,031
1,120
975
992
NA
972
998
1,106
1,032
1,115
1,010
962
995
976
987
1,098
NA - Not available
A
B
- Speer 147-grain TMJ
- Winchester 147-grain JHP
Be alert
6
- Publisher
I
cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data.
Going on the assumption that the
147-grain bullets would eventually be
made available as components, the
folks at Winchester offered to forward
a supply of the trend-setting 147-grain
JHPs, primed cases and a box of factory
loads for chronographing and accuracy
comparisons against handloads.
Speer’s Technical Services Manager
Allan Jones provided a box of the Speer
147-grain TMJ FN bullets.
Allan also provided load data for
their 147-grain TMJ FN in a four-inch
SAAMI test barrel, saving me a lot of
time and effort in developing loads
from scratch with a variety of powders
without the aid of a pressure barrel.
The table lists velocities for the Speer
and Winchester bullets with respective
powders in a Browning Hi-Power and
Ruger P85. The last column lists Speer
data with their TMJ FN bullet in the
SAAMI test barrel.
None of the Speer loads exceeds
33,000 CUP. From the table, the handguns generated 60 to 110 fps more
velocity than the SAAMI barrel using
Speer’s recommended maximum loads
with selected powders. The Winchester
factory load produced 988 fps from a
4%-inch Hi-Power barrel. Groups
ranged from 1.75 to 2.5 inches a t 25
yards.
As a rule, maximum loads did not
produce acceptable accuracy. At least
not from my point of view. The HiPower, for example, will put five shots
with 115-grain CCI Lawman loads into
.7 inch or less at 25 yards - consistently. Winchester 115-grain +P factory loads will print five shots inside
1.5 inches at the same range from the
Handloader 143
Hi-Rower and P85.The only maximum
load to approach that standard was 3.8
grains of W-231 with the S p r bullet.
A number of loads ranged from two to
2.5 inches from both guns. Some scattered over four inches or more.
Best accuracy with the heavier
bullets was coincident with loads that
ranged from 950 to nearly 1,000 fps
from both handguns. As velocities exceeded 1,OOO @a, groups swelled accordingly and beyond 1,100 fps, three to
four-inch clusters were common.
The implication at that point was
that the 10-inch twistin the Ruger and
Browning barrels would not stabilize
the heavier bullets above 1,000 fps or
sa Somewhat confounded, I called
Allan Jones once more and a brief investigation confirmed that the Speer
test barrel produced several groups
that measured less than one inch for
five shots at 50 yards. Velocity for a
number of those loads hovered around
950 fps from the four-inch test barrel.
Since accuracy with 147-grain 9mm
bullets in top loads was not particularly impressive, it occurred to me
that the 10-inchtwist in both handgun
barrels was too abrupt. By comparison,
an 18%-inchtwist is fairly standard for
the .38Special and .357 Magnum, both
of which shoot very well with 168-grain
bullets a t around 800 and 1,350 fps,
respectively.
The ultimate question is whether
147-grain 9mm bullets will do the job
as well, or better than the 115 to
124-grain loads have in the past. Only
time will tell. If nothing else, heavier
bullets give 9mm fans something new
to play with.
At this time, the Speer 147-grain
TMJ will be made available as components in flatnose and hollowpoint
versions. A similar bullet will be
loaded in the CCI Blazer line. Win-cheater and Remington factory loads
appear to be destined for military and
0
law enforcement contracts.
PRACTICE
DAMAOE CONTROL.
1
PERFORMANCE.
.
JACKET WALLS ARE
TAPERED TO CONTROL
WEIGHT RETENTION
A N D ASSURE MAXI.
MUM EXPANSION AND
ENERGY TRANSFER.
To test the notion that the relatively
quick twist was responsible for
sporadic accuracy with heavier 9mm
bullets I fired a few of the top loads in
a Smith & Wesson Model 39 with an
18%-inchtwist. It didn't prove a thing.
All but one of several pups fired from
the Browning Hi-Rower were significantly tighter than those fired firom the
Model 39 with the same loads. If the
powder charge was reduced .2 to .4
grain, to lower the velocity, accuracy
might improve The idea, however, was
to investigate the notion that a slower
twist might improve accuracy with
heavier bullets at higher velocities. It
didn't. At least not with that particular
Model 39.
In all, I fired nearly 700 rounds with
the 147-grain bullets from Speer and
Winchester. Most loads were fired from
a n Outers Pistol Perch over a halfdozen range sessions. Where the same
load was fired on two or three separate
occasions, results remained quite consistent. Two loads, 3.8 grains of HP-38
and W-231 with the Speer bullet, were
fired from four pistols. Groups ranged
from 1.5 to 6.5 inches a t 25 yards. Accuracy may vary accordingly in other
pistols as well.
January-February 1990
,357 CALIBER
150 ORAIN JHP.
7 5 % AVO. RET. WT.
AT 557 MAG VEL.
IMUZ. 123s FPS).
I
I
Consistent knockdown power. Without blowing
up. You can count o n it with Speer@JHP handgun
bullets. Jacket walls are tapered for
full, controlled
T H E CALIBER.
expansion and maximum energy transfer. In other words, they
do t h e job. Every time. You'll find Speer J H P s in 14 calibers
and 12 weights. Just load up a box or two
before you go out next time. And practice
damage control every time you pull t h e trigg
-
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CCI
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SPORTINO
SPEER
EOUIPYKNT DIVISION
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* OUTERS * WEAVER
OF OLOUNT. INS, P.O. BOX 6 5 6 , LCWISTON.
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#?80.1
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Travel with the author through Egypt, then across
the African plains into the elephant forest and
the wonderful secret upper country of the
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The story
ITfventures
Hardbound $25.00
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The .30 Gibbs
Roger Stowers
considering rechambering their 03-A3
Springfields.
T
Gibbs also sold barreled actions built
on numerous actions, mostly Mauser
98 types, using Douglas barrels exclusively. Gibbs recommended a 12inch twist for the .30 Gibbs but installed barrels with 10 or 14-inch
twists at customers’ requests.
HE .30 GIBBS was the second
cartridge developed by Rocky
Gibbs of Gibbs Rifle Products. His first
cartridge, the .270 Gibbs, was made up
from a .270 Winchester case. The .30
Gibbs, based on the .30-06 case, was the
most popular of all the Gibbs designs.
After 1954, all eight Gibbs cartridges
were based on the ’06 case.
Gibbs stated in his Front Ignition
Loading Technique manual, that he
chose the .30-06 case first of all,
“because of the ever plentiful supply of
.30-06 brass. Secondly, a case with standard head size delivers 40 percent less
thrust to the locking lugs than a case
with a large head such as a Weatherby
or a .300 H&H case.”
While marketing the .30 Gibbs,
Rocky advertised his conversion as the
“most economical .30-caliber rifle in
the world, with recoil and barrel life
comparable to the .30-06.” The largest
percentage of advertising was directed
at the rifle enthusiasts who might be
Cases for the .30 Gibbs are easily
formed by firing 50 grains of IMR-4895
behind 180-grain bullets. The bullets
should be seated out far enough to
engage the rifling so resistance is felt
when closing the bolt. Factory loads
can also be used. If .30-06 factory loads
are used, the bullets should be pulled
and seated out to engage the rifling.
When I was preparing to work up
loads for the .30 Gibbs, the Gibbs
Wildcat Case Forming Tool was used
to form about 100 cases hydraulically.
When hydraulically forming cases,
they should be about .010 inch too long.
After forming, the 35-degree shoulders
emerge slightly rounded but form a
crush fit in the chamber when the bolt
is closed. Upon firing, the shoulder fills
The .30 Cibbs (center) is formed from the ,3046
case (left)and is frequently compared to the .300
H&H Magnum (right).
out with sharp edges. (As long as the
cartridge case was held snugly in the
chamber, regular Gibbs starting loads
were used for the initial firing.)
The loads listed as maximum in my
rifle are not recommended for other
rifles. Start a t least four grains below
the loads listed and work up very
slowly. Other loads for the .30 Gibbs
were developed by Bob Hagel and appear in Handloader No. 73.
Maximum loads were developed using Winchester-Western cases from the
same lot. Hornady 150-grain bullets
and IMR-4320 powder along with CCI
250 primers made up the starting
loads. Powder charges were increased
one grain at a time. When excessive
pressures were indicated, the charge
was dropped one grain and five shots
were fired. The pressure ring on each
one of the five cartridges was measured
and the readings averaged. That reading was then considered the maximum
reading for all rounds fired. The test
rifle’s 26-inch barrel has a 10-inch
twist.
Case head separations can occur during fireforming or as the result of improper sizing. The wire
tool (fashioned from a paper clip) will detect incipient separations as it slides down the inside of
the case, near the head. Inset, expansion at the pressure ring determined maximum loads.
30
Excessive pressures usually show up
as ejector marks on the case head,
Handloader 143
.30Gibbs
cratered and/or severely flattened
primers. Sticky bolt lift is seldom a
noticeable problem. The Gibbs case
design has minimum body taper. The
amount of bolt thrust any Gibbs cartridge might produce is much lower
than any tapered case of similar size.
In any excessive pressure situation, a
tapered case frequently delivers
enough bolt thrust to make the bolt lift
sticky or stiff, not so with a Gibbs.
In May 1956, Jack O’Connor reported on the results of test firing three
Gibbs rifles at the Speer laboratory in
Outdoor Life magazine. O’Connor
wrote, “the primers were cratered, but
there were no primer leaks and Gibbs
claims case life is good. Astounding
thing is that in no instance was it hard
to extract a case. So help me, I could
literally open the bolt with one finger.”
In the literature that was sold with
his chambering jobs Gibbs wrote that,
“pressure indications may be as subtle as a cratered primer,” and “the
secret to safe handloads is good case
life and snug primer pockets.” That advice should be regarded as gospel and
maximum handloads approached with
caution.
When working with maximum handloads, the sizing die should be set so the
case fits the rifle chamber with absolute minimum clearance. If the sizing die is set properly, the case head
will not slam against the bolt face and
register erroneous pressure indications, nor will case head separations be
a problem. In addition, be absolutely
sure all sizing lubricant is removed
from the cartridge cases. Any oil or
residue on the case prevents the case
from gripping the chamber wall. A slippery condition within the chamber will
increase bolt thrust considerably. High
bolt thrust can be very dangerous, particularly when working with high
pressure loads.
Best accuracy in my .30 Gibbs in all
bullet weights is about two grains less
than maximum. Groups of 1.25 inches
January-February 1990
bullet
powder
150
IMR-4320
W-760
H-380
IMR-4064
H-414
H-4895
H-4350
IMR-3031
IMR-4350
EL-CQ)
W-748
H-414
IMR-4350
W-760
H-4350
H-380
IMR-4320
IMR-7828
a t 100 yards are attainable without a
lot of load adjustment.
When P.O. Ackley designed the .30
Ackley Improved he felt the 30 caliber
would be at its maximum performance
if the cartridge case was designed to
hold 65 grains of IMR-4350 to the base
of the bullet. Gibbs advertised his case
with a loading density of 67 grains of
IMR-4350 to the base of the neck,
slightly more t h a n t h e Ackley
Improved.
165
charge
(gains)
velocity
Ups)
59
64
59
65
57
66 *
56
65
56
55
3,261
3,247
3,246
3,225
3,219
3,219
3,144
3.137
3,096
3,083
3,050
63
65
63
66
63
57
67’
3,129
3,115
3,106
3,096
3,089
3,082
2,979
65
~~
The .30 Gibbs was touted by Rocky
as “the world’s most powerful .30-06.”
This statement may invite some controversy but without a doubt the .30
0
Gibbs is a good “thumper.”
180
IMR-4831
IMR-4350
H-4350
W-760
H-414
H-380
IMR-4320
H-4831
IMR-7828
66
64
65
62
62
62
55
66
66’
3,070
3,054
3,036
2,971
2,958
2,952
2,913
2,896
2,842
200
H-4831
IMR-4350
W-760
IMR-4831
IMR-7828
H-4350
H-414
64
61
60
62
64
61.5
60
2,871
2,871
2.855
2,852
2,840
2.831
2,815
220
H-4831
IMR-7828
IMR-4831
H-4350
IMR-4350
H-870
63
64
60
60
59
69‘
2,688
2,670
2,667
2,628
2,618
2,489
411 loads listed are maximum except where
ioted by an asterisk. * Denotes case full.
starting loads should be reduced at least 4
]rains. Rifle had a 26-inch barrel with onen-10-inch twist; all loads used CCI 250
)rimers, WW cases. Average weight 190.8
]rains primed. Velocities measuredon Oehler
33 chronograph at 15 feet, converted to
nuzzle velocity.
-
9e alert
Publisher cannot accept responslblllty
or errors in published load data.
The Gibbs case forming tool forms the .30 Gibbs
from .30-06 brass with hydraulic pressure.
31