So, just what IS your favorite to load for?

[Tom W.]

I like my 30-06 A.I. and now my 30/30 A.I. in rifle calibers. Then for handguns is 9mm and .44 mag. If I ever get another .45 Cal something I'm all set for it, whether .45 Colt or .45 acp.

Shooting "mouse fart" loads to fire form brass from the 30-06 A.I. is a hoot! People are sitting and watching and waiting for a huge BOOM and are very surprised. I probably have another 100 or so rounds to fire form and I'll be through.

The 30/30 a.i. is different. All of my loads are from when I lived in Eufaula and let my son shoot it until he got his own rifle, and my rifle had a standard chamber at the time. I also always had a box or two loaded up for my late hunting and fishing buddy, just because.

[toallmy]

I just started dabbling in the art of cast rifle shooting so far out of the 223 Remington , 7x57 mauser , 30-30 Winchester I have tried I must say the old 30-30 has been a lot of fun . I have shot my old Sears / Winchester top eject more with cast than I did in the past 30 years this summer . I am looking forward to spending some quality time with the 7x57 this winter hopping it is as much fun . I'm not shooting them fast , but I'm going to shoot them a lot .

[3leggedturtle]

30/30 since 1970. 12 others I like to load for and shoot with. 30/30 is it for me. Todd/3leg

[ShooterAZ]

For rifle it's the 30-30, for handguns it's the 38 Special. Both timeless classics.

[Walks]

I've been shooting cast in my old '93 carbine for 40yrs+, using the #287405. A Loverin design, I seat it just to where the bullets base stops at the bottom of the case neck. I cast of #2+, about BHN 18. Lube with 50/50 or lately WLL BAC, just to the grooves that are covered by the case neck. UNIQUE is my powder of choice.
I wish I could shoot as well as I used to. I once managed a five shot one hole group at 100yrds from the bench, using a Scout Scope setup.

I think it was just a FLUKE.

But I really like the old Classics, in this order;
.38SPL/.357MAG, .44WCF, .44SPL, .45COLT & .45ACP.

And then the RIFLE Catridges; .30-30, .270WIN, .25-06 and so many other's. Shotgun 12, 16, 20.

But I guess .38SPL, 7X57 & 16ga.

[John Boy]

So, just what IS your favorite to load for?
The one that provides the most accurate groups at the distance the caliber was designed for ...
* I'm primarily a lead bullet shooter - multiple calibers from 22LR black powder - 32 Long rimfires and on up to 50-70 for US calibers and 7.5x55 for the Schmidt Rubin K31
* So whether it's a smokeless or BP reload, I first go to Grant's handbook for the powder data and then go to my drawer of 207 molds (last count) ... of which I'm a fan of Ideals because the various Ideal handbooks have not only the bullet data but the associated powder charge for the caliber(s)
* Then it's to the range for grouping
So responding to the question of the post ... I have MANY calibers that are 'favorites'

[375supermag]

Hi...
I find that my favorite cartridge to load is the one I am loading at that particular point in time .
I will admit getting a bit frustrated with loading some cartridges when I am doing bulk loadings of one particular load for one particular cartridge, mainly because I usually load my target/plinking/general purpose rounds in batches of 500-1000 at a time.
That can get a bit tedious.
I usually do a bulk reloading session and then one or two or maybe several batches of smaller special purpose(test rounds or hunting loads) rounds in different calibers before I take on another bulk loading session.

[ABJ]

38 special hands down, so many molds and powders it could keep you busy for a long time. Second is the 30-30 from mild to wild, and also lots of molds to choose from on it also.
Tony

[Petrol & Powder]

That's a hard question. I enjoy reloading so they're all my favorite.

In terms of sheer numbers, 38 Special and 9mm are above all others.
In terms of most attention to detail, .308 Win is the winner.
In terms of smiles per round, 20 gauge target loads may be near the top.

I can't pick a favorite.....

[John Boy]

And the forgotten favorite - shot shells, 12 & 16ga. Smokeless are boring but 7/8 - 1oz and 1 1/4 black powder reloads with lead or bismuth (for duck hunting) with BP for hunting are my favorites in these calibers

[tazman]

38/357, 9mm, 45ACP.........Pick one.

[RJM52]

Revolver... .41 Magnum/Special

Semi-auto... .38 Super

Rifle...
Cast... .358 Winchester
Jacketed.... .308 Winchester

[Bazoo]

30-30. I cant imagine it getting any better loading a cast bullet in any caliber.

[GhostHawk]

My interests are wide, and widely varying.

Casting and reloading .32sw long are fun.
Casting and reloading .44mag or .45 colt are also fun.

Had the son in law to the range sat, he shot some 15 rounds of .44mag out of 2 different single shot rifles. Had a blast. So did I, watching him, offereing a few tips.

Shooting, casting, reloading anything is more fun than none.

[pworley1]

38 special

[Shuz]

.44 magnums with cast boolits from 190g to 310g with my favorite loads in the 800 to 1000 fps arena.

[Texas by God]

22-250 with 30-30 a very close second. Oh wait 44-40. And 38-55. Apparently it must be a dash cartridge for me[emoji848]

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[upnorthwis]

My present favorite is the .43 Mauser. Reforming .45-90 brass and lathe turning it just adds icing to the cake. Have been adjusting the alloy (softer), powder (less), sizing die (neck size only), and Dacron wad (stretched out like an accordion) to get it to reduce the number of fliers. Just shot a (pending official scoring) new record for 10 and 20 rd. targets in the CBA Military Big Bore Standing. Now I need a .41 Swiss.

[dverna]

Has to be the .38 spl. I have shot more .38's than any other caliber over the 50 years I have been at this. Both rifles and pistols. It is so easy to load, does not lead and is cheap.

Can't see the rationale in shooting mousephart loads in rifle cases as brass is expensive and you cannot get carbide sizing dies in anything other than .308 or .223. So much faster and easier to spray a bit of case lube on cases and dump them into the feeder and load a few hundred at a time. And I have never trimmed a .38 case. KISS...plus I am lazy.


I don't hunt with cast bullets, so for me, there is no need to go through the effort/expense of working up cast loads for hunting. The 500 GameKings I bought will last the rest of my life (Sucks to get old in every other respect...LOL) and will outperform any cast bullet I can ever make.

I see the "fun" in working up loads is you are a reloader Trying to get good accuracy at hunting velocities can be a rewarding challenge. I did that for many years when I was younger. But I am a shooter. I would never reload another round or cast another bullet if I could purchase them cheaply enough as it is not a "fun" process for me.

On my "to do" list is working up a load for a little bolt action .223 I bought a while back. Something around 1500-2000 fps to give me .22 Mag performance or better. Not sure I will use cast bullets for it but I did buy a mold for the project. Then I got 6000 Hornaday 55 gr SP's for about $425. BTW, I dislike casting even more than reloading. I see it as a necessary part of making affordable ammunition.


Those of you who enjoy casting and reloading have the best of both worlds. A fun hobby that saves you money...or at least allows you to shoot more!

[Tom W.]

Oh, but the mousefart loads are for fire forming. After that, they get cleaned and loaded with the load that works the best in that rifle.
And I use a RCBS single stage. I never liked a progressive.

[ole_270]

Kind of a toss up between my 110 year old Marlin M94 25-20 and a 1979 M336 bored out to 38-55. Both get used mostly for my backyard gong shooting, but they go hunting as well. Small game for the 25-20 and deer for the 38-55, both with home cast lead bullets.

[Dieselhorses]

I'd have to say 45 acp, 357/38 and oh yea the ole 500 S&W

[10x]

In handgun, 38 special in a K frame
For Rifle right now it is 285 gr NOE in front of IMR 4064 in a Husqvarna L46 in 9.3 x67
In summer it is a 22 hornet in heavy barrel single shot savage.
and a Remington M78 in 30/06 with what ever 0.310" bullets I have on hand

[mr surveyor]

favorite to load for? ....... any straight/parallel walled handgun cartridge

jd

[JoeJames]

Old school. And old school cartridges - nothing developed after 1920 in pistol rounds: 32 S&W Long, 38 Special, and 44 Special. I have gone modern in rifle - .308, but next rifle load is .303 British.

[bob208]

rifle .30-40 krag and .303 then ,45-70 and .40-65. pistol .38-357. .45 along with .44mag and spl. and .44-40.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I had a Remington Model 514 single shot .22LR all during my youth and I have fired thousands of round with it. I now have a CZ 452 Varmint bolt .22LR and I confess that I have not shot it in over 7 years as the cost of the ammo went insane. Instead I spent my money on components to make 9MM and .45ACP rounds. My favorite handgun is a Smith Model 57 with a 4" tube in blue. With hollowbased wadcutter rounds that I cast in a Mihec mold it will group at .5 to .75 inches at 25 yds and will decimate a target at 50 yds. Beyond 50 it tumbles and is pretty much useless with that boolit.

Loaded with 210 gr SWC cast it will group at about 1.25 " at 25 yds and is effective at 100 yds with a 4" grouping. My most accurate rifle is a custom Mauser 98/22 that was rebarelled into 6.5x55 Sweede which will shoot 1" at 100 yds and 4" at 300 yds with my cast 140 gr lead boolits. However it is too heavy to lug around hunting so my CZ 527FS in .223 Rem gets the nod for coyotes out to 125 yds. The actual killing range is usually less than 50 yds as I call them in. I also have a Marlin 336 Cowboy style in 38-55 Win that I really enjoy along with a 1929 Winchester 94 in 30-30. Both of these guns deserve more range time and I have really not worked up decent loadings in either gun. For just fun plinking at gongs I use my pair of Garands. I just love those warguns.

One day I was joined on the firing line by a fella with three pals. He unlimbered an almost new Garand and two ammo cans of ammo. These rounds were in clips inside cloth bandaliers. Apparently this guy had a business where he takes tourists (mostly from Japan) from their hotels on the strip here in Vegas to the range. They proceeded to go through all the ammo in about two hours and when done he packed up his rifle and target gong and left leaving all the brass, clips and ammo boxes behind. I grabbed it all. It was all that Greek HXP surplus and in outstanding condition. Some time later I found one of his ads and I called him and asked what I would get for my money. I learned that he charged $300 per head and that included transportation to and from the range, instruction at the firing line and a few photos of me firing the Garand.

This worked for a while until the range folks got wind of what he was doing. His membership was revoked and he no longer visits the range here as what he was doing was in violation of the rules that we all agreed to when joining. I just wish I knew where he is taking his clients now as some of the brass he provided is on it's 10th reloading and I need a fresh supply.

So as to what is my favorite: The 1943 Garand provides me the most fun for my buck spent than anything else. So it wins.....

[MT Gianni]

I like shooting my smaller calibers but have to work at it to load 32 long cases and drop 100 gr bullets in them. 22 Hornet is worse. For length of case, bullet size, ease of handling it's 38 special with DEWC. No worrying about which side is up, and I don't orient by sprues for these. Pistol over rifle because my Lyman DPS takes less time to drop and weigh the charge.