Latest Venturino Article in Handloader

[sharps4590]

I dropped my subscriptions to all but two of the gun/loading rags back in the 90's....and I took about all of them. As Alamo said, as my interests narrowed there was less and less....and finally NOTHING....in any of them that was of any real benefit. Once in a great while I'll find an article that is marginally of interest and I might buy a rag off the rack. All I get today is Double Gun Journal and the German Gun Collectors Assn. publications....well, I still get the American Rifleman because I'm a Benefactor member.

[smkummer]

One doesn’t need lynotype if you water quench your cast bullets as they drop out of the mold. In my 30-06s and 30-30 I can size and seat the gas check at .311 and the chamber fine. I have one post 64 Win. 94 that .311 is too fat so I will go to .309.

I started out with 5744 but soon found that 2400 (30-06 and 30-40)and unique (30-30)did everything I needed for much less cost.

[DeputyDuke]

I just said to my wife how much I was enjoying this latest edition of Handloader Magazine. We are still stuck in a long drawn out brutal Winter. My wife and I are sharing a miserable head cold. Ice fishing this Winter has been poor. I thought perhaps I was leaning toward going "shack whacky" and getting a little grumpy. However, after reading the negative posts from a bunch of you curmudgeons I'm feeling down right chipper. Thanks fellas!
Duke

[earlmck]

Handloader hasn't been as much fun since George Nonte died -- now there was a fellow who always had a different twist on things! But I still enjoy the magazine.

[popper]

IIRC, last gun rag I read (and I didn't purchase it) was one questioning the conversion of armalite 308W to 223 cal. 1957?

[Texas by God]

I guess I should slink away with my tail between my legs for bringing up Handloader.

Not at all! I'll buy one occasionally if something on the cover catches my eye. I agree that MV's articles seem repetitive but maybe that's because I've been reading him for 40 years..... I like Terry Wieland's work for the most part but Dave Scovill seems a little pompous. Brian Pierce must not sleep as stated- full time rancher and writer and he's got about 100 kids

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[dragon813gt]

That's a good rule not to use data without pressure reference. There is data with no pressure published in reloading manuals, some Lyman data and lots in the old Speer manuals. Do you follow your rule for this data also?

I don’t trust Speer data specifically for this reason. And while I own a lot of Lyman manuals I rarely open them. If there was a load w/ no pressure data I would run it in Quickload for my gun and brass. While Quickload is only an estimate I find it better than nothing. If all variables are entered correctly the predictions are very close to reality.

There’s no reason to not pressure test all loads in PSI. The old copper crush loads that haven’t been retested are a little concerning for me. There’s many reasons why old “pressure tested” data has been reduced over the years. A lot of them had nasty spikes in them. Seeing the pressure curve in real time is enlightening. If I had more free time I would buy pressure testing equipment like Larry Gibson has. Those type of tools will always garner my interest.

[Bazoo]

Thanks for sharing, it's definitely something I'll consider now.

[alamogunr]

Well! I guess I lied. I'm still here. One poster( sharps4590) mentioned still taking American Rifleman. If ever there was a magazine that was a disappointment, it is American Rifleman. When I was a high school kid, I saved up enough to join NRA and get the magazine. It may not have been any better than it is today but I was a kid and didn't know any better. That was almost 60 years ago and now I have a life membership. I fixed things a couple of years ago by getting American Rifleman on line. Magazines don't pile up on the table any more and I don't feel guilty throwing them in the trash.

This last Handloader had several articles that I enjoyed even though they might not each be worth the cost of a subscription. When I worked my way toward the back of the magazine, I found an article by John Barsness on brass manufacturers and improved quality. While I won't be ordering Lapua brass for all my rifles, I did find the article very interesting. There were a couple of manufacturers that I had never heard of, such as Jagemann and Peterson. For my good revolvers I try to stick to Starline brass. The article didn't discourage me from that source.

I will still look forward to Handloader and The Fouling Shot(Hopefully, that won't bring disparaging posts).

[TNsailorman]

Guys if you want to get rid of your gun magazine, the fellows overseas would appreciate getting them to read. I know the sailors on my ship back in the day(many moons ago as the old chief said) sure did like them when someone got a copy from home. Also, the vet homes could use them, they like to read also. james

[Texas by God]

Guys if you want to get rid of your gun magazine, the fellows overseas would appreciate getting them to read. I know the sailors on my ship back in the day(many moons ago as the old chief said) sure did like them when someone got a copy from home. Also, the vet homes could use them, they like to read also. james

Do you think the VA hospital will take them? They are gun free zones so maybe pictures of guns are ok? I'm curious if anyone knows?

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[Shawlerbrook]

Venturino is one of the few remaining gun writers I like to read. Love his leverguns of the old west book.

[sharps4590]

I have to agree alamo, American Rifleman is about a waste but it's free and at least it's better than American Hunter and no less worthless than all the others so far mentioned. Handloader might have one article every 3-5 years that is of interest to me and I usually buy that issue. The Rifleman's run on WWI over the last year has been pretty good. I wouldn't pay for either as a subscription or off the rack. I do have places to donate the magazines and they're glad to get them.

[alamogunr]

Guys if you want to get rid of your gun magazine, the fellows overseas would appreciate getting them to read. I know the sailors on my ship back in the day(many moons ago as the old chief said) sure did like them when someone got a copy from home. Also, the vet homes could use them, they like to read also. james

How do you know where to send the magazines?

[shtur]

Venturino can't walk the talk. He placed dead last at the National M1 Garand match at Camp Perry in the early 2010's. Reminds me of the old saying, those that can't - write about it, those that can - keep doing it.

[EDG]

MV used to write about BPCRs but that cannot last forever since there are only 3 or 4 main calibers used.

In the mean time Dave Scovill bad mouthed the internet ever chance he got. I have learned more from the net than I ever did from Handloaders especially from Scovill.
I got tired of his obsession with lever guns and the same 2 or 3 old bolt guns he has been writing about for decades.
I subbed to Handloader for 50 years and finally let it run out. When they get rid of Scovill I might go back.

[Buckshot]

...........I'd dropped my subscriptions to "Rifle" and "Handloader" a year or so after they admittedly 'Dumbed' them down for the Newstand Crowd. However I "re-upped" a few years later. Even dumbed down they were still interesting enough to get.

Yes, I thought Venturino's article could have been better. I know that SR 4759 is no more, but H/IMR 4198, 4227, Unique, Red Dot, 800X and 2400 are still out there. Maybe they're afraid the "Newstand" crown will blow their fingers off via not paying attention? Linotype? wonder how many CB shooters shoot only straight Lino? Sheesh!

.................Buckshot

[dale2242]

Wow. I`m disappointed that gun rag bashing is such a popular subject on this site.
If you don`t like them, don`t buy them.
There must be more important/interesting things to talk about...dale

[gnoahhh]

I quit buying the gun rags long ago when I found myself muttering that I could write better articles (maybe so maybe not). My point is I didn't feel like my horizons were being expanded anymore.

As for a writer getting himself stuck in a rut by writing about the same thing over and over again, ad nauseum, I suppose it's easy to do- especially if the editors insist on pandering to the lowest common denominators (or satisfying advertisers, take your pick).

He's focused on linotype and 5744? I'm glad I didn't pay money to learn that. Thanks for the head's up! I gave up on lino/mono/hard water quenched bullets long ago. "Normal" relatively soft alloys reflecting COWW sensibilities with any number of powders (look 'em up, you don't need me to tell you what works best in your gun) perform admirably at higher velocities than one might think as long as bullet design/size/lube/seating depth/etc. is minded. The devil's in the details, so to speak, and never more so than in this sport.

One last bit of advice: if you find a magic powder that shines in your gun(s) buy up and stockpile as much as you can for the long haul. Save your nickels if you have to in order to accomplish it, but do it. There's nothing worse than waking up one day to find your old favorite/standby is no more. My all time favorite for shooting cast in all my .30's is SR-4759 and from having the attitude of an accumulator, and from acting quickly upon hearing the discontinuation announcement, I figure I have enough to last me the next 20 years while shooting it at a fairly good clip. At age 66 it might well allow me to squeak through. Not bragging, just pointing out that a little forethought goes a long way.

[Larry Gibson]

I figured out a long time ago that gun magazines are written for the new or "average" shooter/reloader out there. Most with any experience casting, reloading and experimenting that are found on this forum are not those. Also consider those on this forum constitute a very small percentage of the gun magazine's potential market.

Few articles are written with us in mind.