An Outdoor Life Book THE COMPLETE Ma aL Com tim arid Se RY ied Ty Dorel fl$29.95 In Canada $36.50 ‘THE COMPLETE HANDLOADER By John Wootters Here one of the deans of gun writers provides the revised, retitled, and greatly expanded edition of his highly acclaimed Complete Book of Prac- tical Handloading. This distinguished work in- cludes fundamentals as well as advanced tech- niques on handloading for rifles, handguns, and shotguns. Basic enough for beginners, this book is also a complete reference for veteran hand- loaders of all types of firearms. Why handload? The over three million US, handloaders offer varied prime reasons. Some advocates point to the dollar savings of about 60 percent. Yet although handloaders could pocket those savings, most instead let handloading help them financially justify much more shooting. Of course, added shooting practice pays off in better skills and fosters an appreciation for the true ea- pabilities of firearms with varied loads. Hunters often take up handloading to ensure efficient kills for themselves, but also out of re- spect for their quarry. Here the right combination of expansion and penetration is vital. In fact, the author once conducted a survey of dozens of world-famous hunters. They turned out to be handloaders or used only rounds that were spe- cially loaded for the intended game. In addition, by varying the powder charges and. bullets for, say, your favorite deer rifle, you ean improve your handling of that rifle by hunting with it year-round. That is, you can use your deer rifle, with lighter loads, for small game and var- ‘ints too. For shotgunners, the loading goal is a uniform shot pattem. Handloading allows you to exper- iment with shotshell components to obtain op- ‘imum patterns. In fact, with some practice, you can create shotshells that pattem anywhere from Full-choke to Cylinder without need to alter the gun's choke. As to the lead-shot vs. steel-shot question, the author provides the latest on load- ing both—as well as special tips on care of gun bores. For handgunners, whose shooting mastery re- ‘quires lots of practice, home-brewed rounds for revolvers and automatics make the sport afford- able. And since the new breed of single-shot handguns offer firepower that qualifies them as stockless rifles, handloads can reduce recoil ‘without compromising accuracy. Handloading also lets you reduce loads for short-range and indoor target shooting for all ‘ypes of firearms and thereby lighten recoil. And these low-recoil loads are a smart means of in- troducing youngsters and spouses to shooting. Of course, near all benchrest and competition shooters are handloaders because they can fine- tune rounds to the temperaments of their fire- arms. Surprising to some, it's not usually the hottest load that is the most accurate. As the (Continued on back fap)THE COMPLETE HANDLOADER by John Wootters Photos by the author unless oth Drawings by Lloyd P. Birmingha erwise indicated n ‘OutdoorCopyright © 1988 by John Wootters Published by Outdoor Life Books Grolier Book Clubs Inc. Sherman Turnpike Danbury, CT 06816 Distributed to the trade by Stackpole Books Cameron and Kelker Streets Harrisburg, PA 17105 Brief quotations may be used in critical articles and reviews. For any other reproduction of the book, however, including electronic, mechanical, photo- ‘copying, recording, or other means, written permis- sion must be obtained from the publisher. Produced by Soderstrom Publishing Group Inc. Designed by Jeff Fitschen Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wootters, John. [Complete book of practical handloading] ‘The complete handloader’by John Wootters; drawings by Lloyd P. Birmingham; photos by the author. Pp. cm. Previously published as: The complete book of practical hhandloading. c1976. Includes index. ISBN 1-556-54036—1 1. Handloading of ammunition. 1. Title. "TS538.3.1V66 1988 683.4°06— 88-12455 det) cP ‘Manufactured in the United States of America‘This book is lovingly dedicated to (SEANNIE without whom it would never have been.il 13 4 16 wv 19 21 Load Development and Testing Perfecting the Handload Adjusting Loading Dies The Handloader’s Chronograph Home Computer Ballistics Loading for Accuracy Loading for the Hunting Field Special Purpose Loads: Rifle and Pistol Wildcat Cartridges Cast Bullets Loading Cast Bullets Loading for Black-Powder Guns Loading for Handguns Tools for Reloading Metallics Organizing the Loading Bench 7 75 82 99 105 110 118 125 137 143 150 159 17125 Reloading Record Keeping 26 Loading for the Shotgun 27 Shotshell Components 28 Assembling Shotshells 29 Shotshell Loading Tools 30 A Roundup of Reloading Safety Appendix: Sources of Supplies Index 175 179 186 195 210andloading ammunition is as distinctively ‘American as baseball. Although common in this nation since the invention of self-contained cartridges, handloading has only recently begun to ‘be an important pastime for shooters elsewhere, Even now, only a tiny minority of gunners reload their own ammunition in Canada, Australia, South Africa, Great Britain, and a few of the western European nations. One reason that handloading didn’t catch on else- where is that relatively few governments are com- fortable with the knowledge that their citizens have free access to gunpowder, primers, and bullets and the tools and technology with which to assemble them into functional ammunition. Such freedom is ‘of course unthinkable for the majority of the world’s people, who may not even possess firearms. Against that background, I'm proud that we Amer. icans have the Bill of Rights Second Amendment, ‘which guarantees our right to keep and bear firearms, and I'm proud of the shooting heritage that resulted. Since handloading is an integral part of that heritage, itcan be regarded as one symbol of American liberty, and that is one of the reasons I've created this book ‘As L write this, the forces that would deprive us of our right to own and lawfully use guns are gathering strength for a fresh assault upon that right, via the public media, in the schools, and on Capitol Hill, Pechaps this book is a gesture of defiance to that ‘movement. But I'd prefer to believe that itis an af- firmation of my faith that the anti-gun movement will fail once more, and that Americans will forever enjoy the shooting sports, including handloading, as they have in the past. T\e been reloading my ammo for all purposes for 0 long that it’s dificult to remember all those who helped me get started, and thus helped me write this book. Two of them were my mother and father, who encouraged my interests in shooting, firearms, and almost from birth. Others, whom never had the pleasure of knowing personally, were Col. Town- send Whelen, Phil Sharpe, and Earl Narramore, all authors who pioneered handloading literature and whose works are classics in the field today. A very important guy is Warrant Officer Frank W. Washam, USMC, with whom I jointly owned my frst set of reloading tools, and who patiently endured my ear- liest efforts at writing about guns. Editor Neal Knox and publisher Dave Wolfe of Handloader magazine deserve special gratitude, as do the editors Alex Bar- timo of Shooting Times and George Martin then of Guns and Ammo. These and many others helped to \rite this book without knowing it. Most of all, my wife Jeannie must bear a part of the credit (or blame, as the case may be); she really wanted me to write the book. and cheerfully made sacrifices over the course of my career that made this book possible. In the final analysis, the publication of a book is an event of much greater importance to the author and those who suflered through its ere- ation with him than to any reader. These acknowl edgments are, therefore, superfluous to all whose names do not appear in them, and 1 know it well Still every author has emotional debts, and I'm re- lieved to get them off my chest. For the rest of the shooting world, I can only contribute what follows in the hope that it may prove useful John Wootters Houston, Texasandloading is the fastest-growing aspect of the shooting sports today. There was a time, not too many years ago, when a reloader was; regarded as a practitioner of the occult, a dabbler in dangerous mysteries, and perhaps a bit of a nut, but the shooting public's attitude has changed. To- day, to be a handloader is the “in” thing. A hand- loader should be respected as a knowledgeable shooter with something of an edge over his non-re- loading brethren. Perhaps a faint aura of mystery still, clings to the handloading hobby (which this book ‘may help dispel), but shooters are joining up literally by the millions. Estimates place the number of active reloaders to- day at more than three million, with an annual growth rate of about 10 percent, These people as- semble and presumably fire more than one billion rounds of ammunition each year and spend about '$50 million per year on their hobby. Handloading has ‘come out of the dark ages! ECONOMY ‘There must be reasons for this wholesale enlistment into the ranks of reloading, and there are—about as ‘many different reasons as there are shooters. The one most commonly cited is economy, especially in this day of ever-increasing costs of everything, including ammunition. There's no doubt the reloader shoots ‘more cheaply than his buddy who limits himself to factory-loaded ammo; a rifleman can assemble full- [power hunting or target loads for about one-third the price of factory cartridges, and a gunner can save about two-thirds on shotshells as well. Pistoleros do even better; by purchasing components in volume and casting their own bullets, they can fire their Propellant powder Primer ‘This cutaway view shows the four standard com- ponents of a metallic cartridge—casing, primer, propellant powder, and bullet. Of the four, only the casing is not expended or consumed. Reuse of this expensive brass is the foundation handloading, big-bore revolvers and autoloaders for about the same cost as shooting factory loads in a 22 rimfire handgun. Depending on the price of their reloading setup and the quantity of ammunition they shoot, reloaders can figure on amortizing the investment in tooling in anywhere from a few months to a year or two. This process can be hastened by joint ownership of the tools between two or more shooters. Several years ago, I helped five friends of mine set up a shotshell2 @ cHarrend ipped reloading bench is a small amy any kind, caliber, or gauge of firearm. be handloaded. Rimtir, ading dies are readi‘The essential components for metallic ammmu include bullets, cases, primers, powder and—per- haps most important—knowledge, as represented the reloading manual at left reloading press. They agreed on a single loading that ‘would serve for informal clay-bird busting and upland bird hunting, and purchased shot by the hundreds of pounds, plastic wads by the thousands, and pow- et 8 pounds at a whack. The press was mounted on a plywood base so that it could be moved from house to house and C-clamped to a kitchen table for use. The ammunition worked well, and these fellows ground out 20-gauge cartridges by the tens of thou: sands at a cost of about a dollar per box, plus an evening's time every few wooks. I should add, however, that most shooters really don't save much money by reloading, for the simple reason that they shoot up their savings. People who Acquisition and retention of competitive skill with the handgun requires so much practice that even a wealthy shooter usually finds the economy of han- dloads quite attractive. WHY HANDLOAD? @ 3 handload shoot more, and thus it's probably more realistic to say that a novice handloader will get to shoot perhaps three times as much for the same cost, rather than to say he'll save two-thirds on costs for factory-loaded cartridges. REDUCED LOADS: FOR PRACTICE AND SMAI There are other reasons for entering the reloading game. One of the best is that a loading tool can be Used like the accelerator pedal on a car, to speed up lat least to some degree) or slow down the machine wrding to the need of the moment. At one time, fa shooter could purchase reduced-power loads in some calibers in factory ammo, but those days are gone forever. Nowadays, the shooter who confines himself to com ‘ammunition has no choice but to nun flat out, full throttle. Only by reloading can he adjust downward the power of his firearms. So who wants to do a thing like that? Well, a man who has a young son or daughter coming along is wise to introduce the youngster to centerfire rifles or shotguns via light-kicking, quiet, reduced loads. They're more fun and less intimidating to shoot. The youngster is more likely to hit something (and thus. ‘enjoy himself earlier and more! and less likely to de- velop the dreaded flinch. For that matter, there's no particular reason why a veteran shooter should have to use a full-powe! ammunition for paper-punching, plinking, and off- ‘season practice. Such shooting is hardly ever at long, range of at living targets that require a great deal of killing power. Why use more power than needed, es- pecially when to do so is so much more expensive? fertain kinds of wild game, in fact, are best shot with reduced loadings. In my home state of Texas, GAME Serious clay-target shooters usually reload for econ- ‘omy. Another reason is the ability make up light kicking loads with which to introduce women or youngsters to shooting,4 © current whitetail deer and wild turkey seasons run concur- rently, and it's common to encounter turkeys while carrying a powerful centerfire rifle. With normal big- game loads, the hunter has his choice of passing up a turkey dinner or trying for a neck shot. Not even an expert can consistently bring off the neck shot on a gobbler at anything more than point-blank range, and if the bullet strays into the body the result is most depressing: the turkey looks as if it had been assaulted with a hand grenade The obvious and easy alternative for a reloader is a pocketful of specially prepared turkey loads with nonexpanding bullets moving at very modest ities. These loads can be made up for any deer rifle and can usually be adjusted to conform with the same sight setting used for the full-power load. Such special loads in my shirt pocket have produced tasty turkey dinners for me innumerable times. The reloader cai is process even further by loading down a deer-powered rifle for squirrel st bullets destroy no more meat than a 22 rimfire. A chapter in this book is dé voted to such loads. That same deer rifle can, by handloading, be made ‘even more versatile. A Joad adjustment may not make the rifle an ideal long-range varminter for shooting such pests as jackrabbits and woodchucks, but it may ‘make it a surprisingly good one. And the souped up ammo ets you dust off the deer rifle between season A set of reloading tools is a lot cheaper than a second, special-purpose rifle, too, although I'd never deny a shooter his excuse to buy a new gun. Handloading Fresh factory ammuniton is not available for many obsolete calibers such as this Winchester 1886 chambered to 40/65 WC And old live ammo some- times sells at collectors’ prices. Here reloading is the answer. can thus extend the versatility of a single rifle so that a hunter can enjoy it year-round. And this can im- prove instinctive handling skills when that big white tail begins busting brush in November. There is sim- ply no substitute for shooting as a means of developing and maintaining shooting skills. Reloading makes it easy, fun, and cheap. HARD-TO-GET AND WILDCAT CALIBERS Some people get into reloading because Uncle Bill willed them a rifle for which commercial ammunition is not available, or perhaps because the gun is cham- bered to some foreign, rare, or obsolete caliber. Handloading is the only way to provide safe, efficient mmo for such a rifle, and almost any cartridge that ever achieved any degree of popularity anywhere in the world ean be made up by a skilled reloader. Dies, for making the cases and assembling the ammo are available, and suitable components can be bought or nade. In many cases, if one wants to shoot a war trophy rifle or an old buffalo gun, he must handload, The same is true of what are called “wildcat” car tridges for rifles or handguns. These are nonstandard be purchased in commercial ourself project for hand: loaders who have a ballistic itch they cannot scratch with anything offered by the major ammunition ‘manufacturers. I'll have a lot more to say about wild- cats in later chapters, but for now they must be added to the list of reasons for handloading,