Brian Pearce scores again!

[Bret4207]

Latest issue of Handloader has a coupe articles by Brian that give me hope. He discusses boolit hardness, as in "what does "hardcast" mean" and covers Keith famous 600 yard revolver shot. Plus our own Mike V does a good article on WW2 handguns. Not bad at all!

I may forgive Scoville yet if this keeps up!

[Rocky Raab]

Yup, that "hard bullet" article was super. And spot on, too.

When Skeeter and Elmer talked about "Hard" bullets, they meant bullets cast to about BHN 10, as compared to the BHN 8 or so of "regular" bullets.

Today, our Tim Allen-afflicted society doesn't consider anything under BHN 20 as hard!

[Patrick L]

I called Wolfe today. I usually have my issue in my mailbox the first week of the month. Apparently mine was late getting printed.


AAARGH!!!!!

[AZ-Stew]

Yeah, but they're still advertising a S&W 1911 (9mm?) and possibly another gun or two. It's supposed to be "Handloader" magazine. I'd prefer that they keep the promotional articles out of it and stick with the technical aspects of handloading. That said, it's still a good mag. I was hoping to meet Venturino at the NRA convention, but he wasn't there.

Regards,

Stew

[EMC45]

A pretty good one. The only "gun" magazine I buy anymore. Liked the Keith article.

[Dutch4122]

I hope they keep Brian Pierce on staff at Rifle/Handloader. He and Mike Venturino are the only reason I still subscribe.

[happy7]

I generally like Mike Venturino, but there have been some articles lately that I am dissapointed with.

For one thing, I do not like the fact that he pretends that Lee does not even exist. Like the article he did on speed casting saying he liked to use three and four cavity molds, as opposed to one and two cavity. Never even mentioned Lee six cavity, which, considering the whole point of the article is inexcusable.

And then there was the article where he expounded on his favorite molds for each caliber. Not one mold in the bunch that was not currently in production, so clearly an advertisement piece.

And then his current article about reloading for military rifle in large batches, but he doesn't use a progressive press! Only uses progressive for pistol. Ok, if he was talking hunting or match loads in small quatities, no problem, but thousands of rifle rounds for military rifles?

[oldhickory]

Boy do I ever miss Finn Agarad, he was a fine writer and always had interesting things to say.

[Rocky Raab]

Wait a second guys. What are you saying? You want magazines to cover only those things that are no longer made?

If they did, you'd say "What good is that article? The stuff is unobtainable or premium priced. Where's the stuff we can buy?"

How many threads have you seen asking "Anybody used the new Acme flegbister yet?" People WANT reviews of new stuff. Yet when we read one, some of you complain that it's an advertisement. You cannot have it both ways.

[416Rodney]

An important point missed so far in this discussion is the 600 yd. shot was made with a "Keith Style" boolit. Not a RN or a WFN. I have a feeling that Brian is trying to make this fact known to us is his vey suttle manner.

[Heavy lead]

I agree this issue is the best I'd read in awhile.

[Guesser]

I am of the opinion that "HANDLOADER" is the best magazine published in the industry. I have every copy ever published and even at that I don't agree with or read every article. I pick up a copy of "RIFLE" from time to time if it has an article that grabs me, but I don't subscribe to it. I've decided that my subscriptions to other shooting rags will not be renewed, as they are getting less and less relevent with the advent of the Interweb; just like the "nolongermainstreammedia".
I have a lot of respect for Wolfe Publishing and the products they bring to the market place.

[happy7]

Guesser, you nailed it.

[runfiverun]

y'all should like this months rifle then it's all about leverguns.
first time in a year[s] there wasn't an article about a 1911/ar-15 in a gun mag.
i miss finn too.

[Potsy]

Don't know why they can't re-run some of Finn's old articles in Rifle.
I skipped last months Rifle because I saw three of Spomer's op-ed peices in it. His hunting articles are pretty good and he's pretty interesting on the vs. channel (more interesting than most of the others anyway) but I never cared for his gun writing.
The much maligned Dave Scovill has done some really good articles on Winchester Leverguns and one of the best articles I ever read on cast bullets was written by him about 10 years ago.
Pearce and Mike V. are the best two they have, even though Mike V. and I have different interests.
I really miss John Barsness and Ross Seyfried, but, people part ways. That's how it goes.

[44man]

I have questioned Keith's shot since I first heard about it. I also have his book. True he was a great shot but all of his shots were paced off.
Keith was a short man, how long were his paces?
I am near 6 foot tall and when I pace distance it is an effort to step out for a 36" pace. Through years of practice and actual measurements I trained myself to be less then a foot off at 100 yards and I will tell you it is not easy.
Terrain makes it impossible to be precise and hunting in the hills with swales and up and down paces where all steps are different and distance changes because it is no longer a straight line. Pacing over uneven ground can add a whole lot to distance.
Just try stepping off 36" paces going up hill.
I hate to rain on your parade but I can challenge 99% of you to pace off actual distance and you will fail, even on flat ground.
I am more inclined to believe his shot was closer to 400 yards.
I am still impressed with his shot but what I am really not impressed with was the guy with the .300 mag.

[StarMetal]

I have questioned Keith's shot since I first heard about it. I also have his book. True he was a great shot but all of his shots were paced off.
Keith was a short man, how long were his paces?
I am near 6 foot tall and when I pace distance it is an effort to step out for a 36" pace. Through years of practice and actual measurements I trained myself to be less then a foot off at 100 yards and I will tell you it is not easy.
Terrain makes it impossible to be precise and hunting in the hills with swales and up and down paces where all steps are different and distance changes because it is no longer a straight line. Pacing over uneven ground can add a whole lot to distance.
Just try stepping off 36" paces going up hill.
I hate to rain on your parade but I can challenge 99% of you to pace off actual distance and you will fail, even on flat ground.
I am more inclined to believe his shot was closer to 400 yards.
I am still impressed with his shot but what I am really not impressed with was the guy with the .300 mag.

I can't see how he paced it off. Wasn't it over some really rugged terrain? Weren't they on horseback?

Joe

[870TC]

I like what Pierce and Venturino write most of the time. Guess I don't argee with anyone all the time I have had quite different results with ultra hard bullets they sometimes use, and all the 92/6/2 I have used has been as advertised at around 15-16 BHN not the 18-20 BHN mentioned in the last issue.

[waksupi]

Elmer was really stretching his barrel on that shot.
When we still had the Hooterville BPCR matches, we would shoot at the 900 yard target with revolvers during breaks. We could generally hit them enough to keep it interesting. We did have the advantage of mountains rising in the background, so could pick out a particular tree WAY up the mountain to aim at.

[Guesser]

Keith was a devout "big bore" fan. He clearly stated that you should use a bullet big enough to kick up mud, dust, snow, leaves, grass or anything else so you would have a correction point from which to base your next shot. Its not the same shooting at a paper target, at long distance you can't see if you are high, low, L or R or where ever. I strongly suggest that shooting across a canyon in the Salmon River country of Central Idaho is a whole new world compared to lower level hills, knobs, and prairie such as I hunt and shoot in now.
I have heard several of my grandfathers hunting companions tell of the Mountain Goat that he shot with a 30-40 Krag carbine using Remington-UMC 220 gr, ammunition in 1937 in that same Salmon River area using a ranging shot and then a one shot kill to the neck at a concensused 550-600 yds using the military sights.
He started hunting with that rifle in 1919 and used it on everything including moose, elk and Mountain goats and sheep.
It can be done if you know your gun and ammo!!!!