El Lobo Custom Rifle Giveaway! WIN THIS RIFLE! See Inside for Details Modern Powders in the .303 British! Kimber Cast Bullet Solo 9mm Designs Micro-Compact! August 2011 No. 273 Rifle Magazine Presents - HANDLOADER $5.99 Cool Colt: 08 Lightning .44 W.C.F. 7 25274 01240 4 Printed in USA $5.99 U.S./Canada August 2011 Volume 46, Number 4 ISSN 0017-7393 AMMUNITION RELOADING JOURNAL Issue No. 273 Page 42 . Page 50 . Page 60 . The .44 and .38 Choosing a Kimber Solo 8 WCFs Are Rifle 28 Bullet for 36 A New 9mm Cartridges Big Game Micro-Compact! Reloader’s Press - From the Hip - Charles E. Petty Dave Scovill Brian Pearce Cast Bullet Designs 42 Roundnose/Flatpoint .225 Winchester The Good Mike Venturino 14 Bullets & Brass - 32 Gun Folks Brian Pearce Mike’s Handloading with Shootin’ 50 Accurate Powders Shack - Frequently Wrong A Complete Yet 20 Mike Venturino but Never in Doubt Evolving Line Pistol Pointers - Brian Pearce Charles E. Petty 34 9.3x57mm Mauser 60 Not Just on Paper 24 Accurate No. 9 Cartridge How Federal keeps Propellant Profiles - Board - a tradition alive. R.H. VanDenburg, Jr. Gil Sengel Terry Wieland 4 Background Photo: © 2011 Vic Schendel Handloader 273 Page 74 On the cover . The compact Kimber Solo Carry is Page 42 chambered in 9mm. Photo by G. Hudson. Page 66 Issue No. 273 August 2011 AMMUNITION RELOADING JOURNAL Publisher/President – Don Polacek Publishing Consultant – Mark Harris Editor in Chief – Dave Scovill Associate Editor – Lee J. Hoots Managing Editor – Roberta Scovill Assisting Editor – Al Miller Senior Art Director – Gerald Hudson Production Director – Becky Pinkley Contributing Editors John Haviland Ron Spomer Brian Pearce Stan Trzoniec Charles E. Petty R.H. VanDenburg, Jr. Clair Rees Mike Venturino Gil Sengel Ken Waters Terry Wieland Advertising Advertising Director - Stefanie Ramsey [email protected] Advertising Representative - Tom Bowman [email protected] Page 74 . Advertising Information: 1-800-899-7810 Circulation Circulation Manager – Luree McCann [email protected] Subscription Information: 1-800-899-7810 www.riflemagazine.com Cool Colt What’s New in Handloader® (ISSN 0017-7393) is published bi- 66 84 monthly by Polacek Publishing Corporation, dba Wolfe Publishing Company (Don Polacek, Pres ident), A resurrected the Marketplace 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, Prescott, Arizona 86301 (also Lightning goes publisher of Rifle® magazine). Tele phone: (928) 445- Inside Product News - 7810. Periodical Postage paid at Prescott, Arizona, hunting. and additional mailing offices. Subscription prices: Clair Rees U.S. possessions – single issue, $5.99; 6 issues, $22.97; John Haviland 12 issues, $39.00. Foreign and Canada – single issue, $5.99; 6 issues $29.00; 12 issues, $51.00. Please allow 8-10 weeks for first issue. Advertising rates furnished Strange and on request. All rights reserved. .303 British 90 Change of address: Please give six weeks notice. 74 Wondrous Send both the old and new address, plus mailing Loading a Cordite label if possible, to Circulation Dept., Handloader® Projectiles Magazine, 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, Prescott, Ari- Cartridge with zona 86301. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Modern Powders In Range - Handloader®, 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, Prescott, Ari- zona 86301. John Barsness Terry Wieland Canadian returns: PM #40612608. Pitney Bowes, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Wolfe Publishing Co. Publisher of Handloader™ is not responsible for mishaps of any nature that might occur from use of published load- 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A ing data or from recommendations by any member of The Staff. No part of this publication may be reproduced without Prescott, AZ 86301 written permission from the publisher. Publisher assumes all North American Rights upon acceptance and payment Tel: (928) 445-7810 Fax: (928) 778-5124 for all manuscripts. Although all possible care is exercised, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for lost or mu- © Polacek Publishing Corporation tilated manuscripts. 6 Background Photo: © 2011 Vic Schendel Handloader 273 THE .44 AND .38 WCFS ARE RIFLE CARTRIDGES RELOADER’S PRESS by Dave Scovill • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ack in 1873 when Winches- Bter introduced the .44 WCF (Winchester Center Fire) in its Model 73 lever-action rifle, the car- tridge itself was somewhat revolu- tionary. First off, it replaced the .44 Henry rimfire that, although a bit underpowered by modern standards, also represented a mile- stone in the Henry repeating rifle during the 1860s – 16 shots as fast you could chuck them through the action, aim and pull the trigger. The .44 WCF was easily reloaded, assuming a supply of ball, powder and primers; and with a supply of The .38 WCF was quite popular in the Colt SAA. components and/or a few pounds chester Model 92, the .44 WCF of lead and a bullet mould, the continued its run into the smoke- wandering adventurer could turn less powder era, with a combined his horse into the setting sun and run for the Models 73 and 92 of keep riding. 1,165,176 rifles and carbines. If you toss in the .38 WCF, the num- The real advantage of the .44 bers hit 1.3 million from 1873 to WCF, however, was that it offered 1941 – unheard of at the time for real firepower – 16 shots with a non-military rifles and cartridges, 200-grain bullet at 1,300 fps in a and who knows how many were relatively lightweight repeating chambered in Marlins and Rem- rifle. Not a buffalo rifle, for sure, ingtons. but certainly capable of putting meat on the table and provid- With the onset of World War II, ing protection from a variety of the .44 and .38 WCFs were essen- threatening beasts and two-legged vermin. By 1878 Colt adapted the .44 WCF in its soon-to-be legendary Model P (aka Single Action Army), be- coming not only the first center- fire rifle cartridge to be adapted to a revolver, but also the only car- tridge ever to earn recognition with a phrase, “Frontier Six Shooter.” At the same time, the Model 73 was so readily identified that “Win- chester” was synonymous with Winchester shipped 1.3 million “.44” until the .38 WCF was intro- RCBS made this custom .38 WCF .44 and .38 WCF Model 73 and duced in 1879. full-length sizing die several years 92 rifles and carbines from 1873 ago. Nowadays it has a different to the early 1940s. With the introduction of the Win- part number and name. 8 www.handloadermagazine.com Handloader 273 tially forgotten, and nowadays are are designed for black-powder bullets from being pounded down largely thought of as “pistol” car- loads. in the case neck. tridges that happen to be cham- Back in 1873, cartridges were bered in a few rifles. If it weren’t The result was that few of the designed to use a caseful of black for the cowboy action crowd, it’s bullets in black-powder cartridges powder to the base of the bul- likely we wouldn’t even have lim- had a crimping groove, and re- let. With the bullet secured in the ited runs of lever actions from loading dies were designed to seat case by a crimp on the ogive and Winchester and Marlin, let alone the bullet on top of a caseful of a caseful of powder underneath, Italian and Brazilian copies. Colt black powder, topped off with a has even seen fit to chamber third the bullet was literally “locked mild to moderate crimp to keep generation Model Ps (and New down” fore and aft. In lever-action the bullet from wandering out the Frontiers) in .44 WCF while sin- rifles, where the combined forces case neck. gle-action copies continue to be of recoil and compression of the The original black powder rifle imported from Europe. magazine spring caused the car- tridges to be jostled back and forth, loads also worked fine in revolvers, The odd fact about the .44 and a caseful of powder prevented the since a caseful of black powder .38 WCFs is that they would prevent the bul - were never really admit- let, for whatever reasons, ted into the smokeless from being jammed down powder handloading era in the case neck, and the with much forethought. crimp on the ogive would Even now, nearly 160+ prevent it from moving years after they were in- forward during the recoil troduced with 200- and impulse in a revolver. 180-grain lead bullets, re- spectively, over 40 grains All these .40-caliber cast bullets are suitable for the With less than a caseful of black powder in a .38 WCF, but the base band and lubrication groove of smokeless powder, how- reloadable centerfire car- extend below the too-short case necks produced by ever, ammunition manu- tridge case, reloading dies standard full-length sizing dies. facturers began using a August-September 2011 www.handloadermagazine.com 9 cannelure at the base of the bullet 1234A .38 WCF hand- to keep it from being jammed down load (1) with a in the case neck while riding out short case neck is the rigors of recoil and magazine shown with the spring tension in lever actions. RCBS 40-185-SWC With a crimp on the bullet ogive, (3) in a partially sectioned case smokeless loads were fine in re- neck (2) to show volvers as well. how the lubrica- Unfortunately, reloading dies did tion groove and not keep pace with the times. With base band extend black powder, the length of the below the case case neck doesn’t matter; however, neck. A factory with smokeless loads it does, since load (4) is shown the cannelure on the case neck has for comparison. to be at the base of the bullet.