Newest issue of Handloader

[Love Life]

I, for one, have disagreed with Mr. Venturino on a number of occasions. He's a paid gun writer. I don't hold him in any special esteem. Frankly, I don't care much for a number of the recent breed of "gun writers." Venturino may seem "special" to some, but I beg to differ.

Scott

But you sure do post a bunch of gun writer's articles in the hand cannon section...

[alamogunr]

He's a paid gun writer. I don't hold him in any special esteem.

Scott

You say that as if it is something to be ashamed of. What are you paid to do?

[nanuk]

I have enjoyed years of reading articles from Handloader, and Rifleshooter, et al

my problem now, is the rehash of the same old stuff...

really, how many articles can Mr. B. write about the 30-06 and its greatness, or how it is eclipsed by the newest and greatest rounds that beat it by 150-200fps...

Mike V. got me interested in Cast Bullets, and that is how I ended up here, but back then, each article was new and exciting, and I learned a bit more each time. I'm past that now, as it appears to be more of the same....

but really, how can someone who writes about one subject matter (and I do consider him pretty much an general expert) make it interesting each time, when there is not much more to be said.... so he has to find a way to say it again, but different. More so when his subject is about the rifle, and NOT the bullet.

Now, I mostly read Scovill, for the gruff, to the point discussions based on his experiences, and Barness, because he is still on the trail of "Old Wives Tails" and writes stuff that contradicts others, and with that, we learn.

as for the nickname "Duke"? I never once thought he was being compared to J.W. and for the record, I think John Wayne was one of the most terrible actors in the business. I haven't been able to watch one of his movies to the finish yet!

Mike has earned his Props in the Gun Rags, but now, I find a lot of articles, not just some of MV's to be like a harlequin romance.... cookie cutter, nothing new.... Nothing to do with the writing style, but the subject matter.

I'd like to see every third article from him to be about some fine point of experimentation on alloy, or size, or something... you know, different!

[uscra112]

I haven't even seen an issue of handloader for 2-3 years. I have a 2010 issue with Venturino article. Have they republished the same one? Sounds like it. The mag was interesting 10-15 years ago, bought one issue in three five years ago, don't miss it at all now. Like The Rifleman, it has become just an advertising machine, with just enough editorial content to keep the novices interested. Like travel magazines, home decorating magazines, fashion magazines, etc. Print is dying.

[Newtire]

Hi Rocky, maybe would be nice if you made your site so that us common Plebes could see what was on there? What with IE and Firefox and Google Chrome and others, some of that stuff interacts strangely with the other systems and we end up wasting alot of time correcting all the glitches.

Until then, or not...

[Newtire]

If we all agreed on everything we read, we would have some darn short topics on this board.

Yup! nuff said then.

[bbqncigars]

I still like Handloader, and Mike's articles. They rarely teach me anything these days, but they're still entertaining. I sorely miss the days of Cooper, Keith, Jordan, and Skelton. At least I have their books to remind me of past times.

[crash87]

[QUOTE

I wrote about what interested me, to answer a question that bugged me, or just to explore some small aspect of reloading. I had something like a hundred articles published. That's no great shakes compared to a full-time writer like Venturino or Barsness or Seyfried [/QUOTE]

Wow giving Ross 3rd billing, was this on purpose?, surly wasn't alphabetic, and no I'm not calling you Shirley.
IMHO which has nothing to do with this thread, although I agree 110% with DeanWinchesters comments of his 1st post.
But, as far as I'm concerned Mike and Johnny are not even close, to being in the same league as Ross.

"45 2.1
That is why people have such a hard time getting results, from old wives tails and poor information getting repeated time after time".

Truer words have never, ever, been posted on the internet. Would this be the same issue where Pearce continues to rant about the shoulder cutting the path through the bruin from his Keith, excuse me "Scovill bullet" from a 45 colt? Seems he must be getting some mail on his refusal to admit it may not be as it seems, I figure that's why he continually has to reference it. Fortunatley we experienced cast bullet shooters, you know, the ones who can take cast to it's true potential, can distinguish their facts as fiction.
Come on guys you need to give Mike a break. After a while we all tend to get stagnant to some degree. If you your a fan of Unique, 5744 or Goex black powder, BPS silhouette competition, old war rifles, or Winchester levers with everyday common handloads we've already memorized. Handloader magazine and Mike's articles ain't so bad after all. I'd put the yanking chain deal on here but most of you wouldn't get it anyway. So its just a
CRASH87

[dverna]

Like some here, I have stopped all my subscriptions expect the NRA Rifleman - which I get for being a member. But I find very little of interest in it. Same old - same old.....

I have some of MV's books. He is no dummy.

He had an article about SASS a few years back lamenting the direction the sport had gone with light loads to be competitive and it was no longer a "real" shooting sport. He alienated a lot of shooters - me included. He may have believed he was right, or maybe he was just stirring the pot due to boredom and trying to find something "interesting" to write about. Anyway, it ticked a lot of SASS shooters off. I wrote the magazine (Shooting Times I think) and canceled my subscription. Anyone who hurts the game should pay the price. There is a way to deal with those we disagree with. Don't buy their stuff....

But Mike has done a lot. The man can shoot and he can write. That does not make him God but it makes him talanted.

I recall pictures of him back a few years ago in the shooting mags with a WWII helmet on and looking a bit ... let's say...."strange". I never could figure out what the heck that was about but it was not very professional. Just my $.02 - YMMV

I think it would be a blast to have dinner and drinks with him.

[Rocky Raab]

My apologies, newtire and others. My website was designed with a Microsoft program - so naturally, the Microsoft browser screws it up. Most people have no trouble viewing it with Firefox or Chrome.

Fixing it would require a 100% re-write and I'm just not motivated to do that. In fact, I'm letting it go extinct when my current hosting contract expires later this summer. If there's something there you want to remember, better save it.

[detox]

I just received Lyman's 4th edition Cast Bullet Handbook and is a verygood read. Mike wrote most all of the book (15 chapters). It is a BIG improvement over the 3rd edition and with lots of updated loading data including 5744 powder.

[oldtoolsniper]

I'll stick my paddle on the other side of the canoe. I am an avid wood worker and have been for 30 years. Those publications do the same thing, how many ways can you cut a dovetail? How many ways can you sand a board? How many variations of smearing glue on a board, tightening a clamp, drawing a strait line or even sharpening a pencil to do it can there be? It comes round and round. Wood working has been around since there were trees and shooting came after the invention of gun powder around 850 A.D., although I doubt they called it gun powder back then. Some things are bound to be old hat when you are an old dude!

Oh yeah you have to be able to articulate your points in writing as well.

[swheeler]

As far as painting with very broad brush.... that is called white washing.... and is not aiming his writings at the denizens of this board.... but has done that in past articles.

That is why people have such a hard time getting results, from old wives tails and poor



information getting repeated time after time.

If my wife grows a tail I'm cutting it off

[oldtoolsniper]

If my wife grows a tail I'm cutting it off

Don't get divorced because it and the horns will pop right out!

[Recluse]

*shrug* Maybe I'm just different, or was just brought up or grew up different.

I'll never forget my first judo instructor, when I was eight years old, telling me that no matter how long I studied judo or jiu jitsu or karate or whatever, I would always be a student. And even as I grew and learned more and more, as a student, I would then have to learn how to disseminate what I already knew against what I didn't already know.

Seemed confusing to an eight-year-old little boy, but for some reason, I never forgot it. And throughout all the years and all the dojos, I've remained a student because I've mastered nothing, perfected nothing and am continuously learning.

Even more to the point is with pilots. Good pilots know that they are forever a student pilot and that the best flights are the ones in which we learn something new. I try to make it a point to learn something new each and every single time the landing gear leaves the runway. I've often noted these "lessons" in my logbooks. Many of these lessons learned have proven to be very beneficial in future flights. Some of the lessons, two in particular, directly saved my life when conditions went south on me.

I started reloading by my daddy's side in 1969. At first it was the cleaning of the brass and the sorting of the calibers. Then came the awesome responsibility of de-priming. Then lubing on the old RCBS lube pads and then, holy cow, re-sizing those .38 Special shells. . . and then lubing and re-sizing them all by myself SOLO!

Using the powder measure and trickler was done for years under the strictest of supervision from my daddy.

It was almost a full ten years before my daddy turned me loose on the Rockchucker and accessories to load up my own .38 Special and .45 ACP rounds. Along the way, he literally force fed me every reloading article, magazine and book he had or that he could borrow or get his hands on. His friends reloaded and I spent time with them learning their magic and techniques. We had an American Legion shooting range and those old goats all reloaded and did it right because they only shot one hole in their targets with their old rattletrap government series 1911s. . . . and they only shot using one hand.

Now, all these years later and I'm still learning. I will continue to subscribe to the Handloader magazine because there is always something in there to learn or be reminded of. The handloaders, casters and shooters I respect the most here at Cast Boolits are those who have no shame in admitting that they are still learning, and sometimes at an even enhanced pace regardless of how many years they've been doing this.

It's also funny how the pilots on this forum (Taz, MtGun44, Boz and some others) have the same philosophy about casting, handloading and shooting as they do flying--always something new to learn if you're willing to look for it.

In every issue of Handloader, I learn something new about powders I've never used or considered using. I learn about new products that have come out. I might never buy them, but I now have knowledge about them. I learn what some boolits look like that I've only read about or heard about but never really explored or researched.

Those all might be little things, but they're new knowledge.

When you think you've got it all figured out, it only means your brain is in atrophy mode and your personality is soon to follow.

[whisler]

A friend who taught me to ride a motorcycle told me " never get the idea that you are a really good rider or the bike will teach you otherwise". From painful experience, he was right. I think the same goes for many, many other things.

[HARRYMPOPE]

i shoot Linotype (because i have so much) in all of my 30 cal milsurps and dont slug bores.I generally shoot as well as others do at the matches.I didn't find Mikes articles to be too far off.I know guys that dont fire as shot before they slug bores and cast chambers etc.That's fine as it is what they choose to do in their hobby.

George

[dromia]

I have the electronic subscription to Handloader/Rifle/Hunter magazines, most of what I read has no interest or contains no new knowledge for me, however occasionally it throws up a new perspective on something, something I've forgotten, something totally new or something that wasn't relevant to me 20 years ago but is now. For that it is worth the twelve quid a year even if the journalism is drifting more to the tabloid rather than the broadsheet.

Anyway whether you agree with Mr V's article or not, it certainly has stimulated some debate on here, so that in itself surely means the article has some merit.

[10x]

My apologies, newtire and others. My website was designed with a Microsoft program - so naturally, the Microsoft browser screws it up. Most people have no trouble viewing it with Firefox or Chrome.

Fixing it would require a 100% re-write and I'm just not motivated to do that. In fact, I'm letting it go extinct when my current hosting contract expires later this summer. If there's something there you want to remember, better save it.

A link to your website would be appreciated....

[10x]

snipped
.... whether you agree with Mr V's article or not, it certainly has stimulated some debate on here, so that in itself surely means the article has some merit.

Indeed, the article does have merit. M.V. wrote about what works for him and what he is willing to accept in order to shoot more guns more often. This article gives us a window on who Mike is and what he likes. I feel like I know a bit more about him personally, and that he has the same point of view as I do on some things. The world would be a boring place if every one agreed about cast bullets.

Right now, M.V. "lives the life" many of us can only dream of - to earn a living doing what we love the most, then telling folks about it in a magazine. His excuse to his wife when he decides to buy a gun or bit of gear is " I have to do research..." in order to earn a living. Of that I am envious.