Favorite/Least Favorite to Reload/Most Reloaded Cartridges

[JimT]

My favorite handgun cartridge to reload is the .44 Special. It beats the .45 Colt because it has a better rim.
My least favorite to reload is the .380 and the 9mm is close to it.

My favorite rifle cartridge to reload is the .30-30 Winchester.
My least favorite I don't reload anymore because I don't have the gun or the caliber .. it was the .32-20 .. simply because the brass was so weak and easily ruined. I liked using the caliber and loved how well it worked.

My most reloaded cartridge is the .38 Special. Used in handguns and rifles. I seem to shoot a lot of them.

[Scott Tschirhart]

My favorite cartridge to load is probably the .45 Colt followed closely by the .38 Special.

My least favorite cartridge to reload is the .357 Magnum because there is so much variation in case length.

I definitely shoot more.38 Special than any other handgun/carbine cartridge.

[GunnyMack]

17 Remington can be a headache for me, those tiny bullets can get fumbled and crush necks in an instant!
Then it would be 22 hornet, again the neck issue.
What really gets my goat is 410 3" , charge bars don't drop enough shot ( or too much)to fill the hull so I have to take the extra step of overshot card. And the cramps are often terrible!

Everything else is easy enough.

[Walt]

My favorite handgun rounds to load are .44 Spl and .45 Colt. I can't think of a single issue that the .45 Colt's relatively smaller rim causes. I really should shoot .38 Spl and .357 more often because they're more economical to shoot in terms of powder as well as lead. The vast majority of my shooting is done at steel gongs and I have to admit that the clang of a gong hit with a large caliber handgun is more satisfying than being hit with a .38 or .357.

I don't often shoot rifle rounds but my favorite calibers there are .30-30 and .375 Winchester. I cast for both so I can shoot them pretty economically. BTW, for you guys who like to load .30-30 with RE-7, I found 5 lb jugs at Midsouth Shooter Supply last week. My old standby, IMR 4198 is darn near impossible to find these days. I haven't tried the RE-7 yet since I still have about 3 lbs of 4198 remaining.

My favorite pistol caliber carbines are .357 and .45 Colt. I'm going to give my son one of my .357s this month when I see him. It's a Henry and it's a pretty nice gun but I really prefer Marlins.

Yep, I don't enjoy loading 9mms and I don't shoot them often because I hate picking up brass. There's always range brass lying around but I have a compulsion to pick up my own.

[JimT]

Over the years I have boogered up rims on the .45 Colt cases and had them difficult to get into the shell holder or out of it once you got them in. Some file work cleaning up the boogers fixes the problems but it can be a pain. I have several hundred with rims like that and have gone through a lot of them in 50 years of shooting and reloading them. I really like the .45 Colt. It was my ONLY caliber for many many years.

[ollogger]

Least favorite is the 32 H&R, two small for large older hands, never will hand load a 9 mm
other than them, my most loaded is 357, most favorite is any center fire cartridge i own


Brad

[AJMD429]

.
Favorite - 6 mm Remington - using an old Lee 'Target' version of their mallet-kit (micrometer seating, inside neck reamer). Cuz it was so easy, I didn't shoot high volume, so it was a relazed pace, and no matter how sloppy I was I could never get that gun (1975-mfg Ruger M77V) to shoot less than a half-MOA.

Least Favorite - 9 mm Luger - no matter what I use - I shoot LOTS so pressure is on to reload lots, and the setup and time isn't really worth it right now since factory loads are reasonably priced and better than I'd turn out myself. I think someday I should buy 10,000 cast or plated bullets and just reload a ton of it on my Dillon 550, but keep putting it off.

Most Reloaded - 44 Mag - for years it was my do-all cartridge - as a young'un, 22 LR, 6 mm Rem, and 44 Mag were the only things on the menu for a LONG time. Probably loaded 20,000 rounds or more between high school, 13 years of 'college', and a few years after. I did start fiddling with 32-20 after inheriting a Marlin 1889, but that was also on a (regular) Lee mallet kit, and low volume.

Probably now it is 357 Mag - since it is so light-shooting and great for the grandkids and other 'newbie' lessons, although I think I need to start sorting and loading all the 223 and 9mm brass I have accumulated.....that is IF I have the primers and powders and bullets needed - I need to dig into my piles of stuff and see. My luck, I won't have the proper powders or primers, and the way things are now, stuff may become hard to get again.

[LeverGunner]

I like reloading 44 Special, 44 Magnum, 38 Special, 357 Magnum, and 30-30. I like rimmed cartridges in general.

Cartridges that headspace on the case mouth or on the shoulder aren't as interesting to me, though I don't dislike them.

[44shooter]

So far I really like handloading 45 acp. 38 Special is pretty fun too

[Ysabel Kid]

I like loading straight-walled revolver cartridges. The best all start with a "4"; nice wide mouthed cases with nice large bullets that are easy to manipulate.

Loading the various .357-caliber rounds (.357 Magnum, .38 Special, .38 Long, .38 Short) are fun. Easy on powder usage and strong enough cases.

Loading .32-caliber cases can be a pain, either from the case-strength aspect Jim referred to, or just dealing with the itty-bitty bullets.

"4" is always best.

[6pt-sika]

It’s pretty cut and dry now that I’ve been reducing the accumulation . I load more shotgun than anything with emphasis on the 2 7/8” 10 gauge , 8 gauge and to a lesser degree 12 gauge . In rifles it’s 6.5x54 MS and 260 REm in the lead then 7x57 , 222 , 6.5-06 , 26 Nosler , 6.5 Sherman Short Mag , 243 , 270 , 308 , 06 , 338 Federal and 6mm-06 . I’ve not loaded a pistol round in several years and my only centerfire handgun now is a 45 ACP . None of the above do I find difficult , the toughest thing I get involved in is shimming slugs or roundballs enough to fit smoothbore barrels with a good amount of choke . I dunno how difficult it’ll be but I’d like the opportunity to mess with fully rifled or paradox 8 and 10 bore . And from what I’ve seen in recent auctions that could be a pricey undertaking just for the gun .

[BobM]

Favorite handgun cartridge to load is the 357, as it was the one I learned reloading on, with a Lee Loader back in the mid 80s. Least favorite, probably 9mm due to handling the small cases.
My favorite rifle round to load was the 221 Fireball. My grandpa had a small Sako action barreled to look like a Winchester Featherweight and he stocked it himself with a Bishop stock. Grandma gave it to me after he passed and I shot a lot of prairie dogs with it. I’ve also loaded 223, 308, and 45/70 and have no complaints about any of them.

[JimT]

I find the choices of favorite etc. really interesting. I love seeing the different choices, preferences and dislikes. It would be really boring if we all were stuck with the exact same thing. Thanks all!!

[J Miller]

Most favorite handgun: .45 Colt. Never had any problems with the little rims even when loading balloon head cases.
Least favorite handgun: It's a tie between the 38/357 and the 45 ACP.

Most favorite rifle: 30-30 Win. Lots of brass, got most of my stash off the AZ desert. Easy to load, inexpensive for the most part, and of course I'm partial to the 94 Winchester .

Least favorite rifle: Its a tie between the 308 and 30-06. I've got one of each but I can't seem to warm up to them.


Joe

[Steve in MO]

Favorite to reload is .44 Special. Most reloaded in .38 Special/.357 Magnum. We shoot a lot of that around here.

Least favorite to reload is any kind of belted magnum case.

[weiler]

Over the years I have boogered up rims on the .45 Colt cases and had them difficult to get into the shell holder or out of it once you got them in. Some file work cleaning up the boogers fixes the problems but it can be a pain. I have several hundred with rims like that and have gone through a lot of them in 50 years of shooting and reloading them. I really like the .45 Colt. It was my ONLY caliber for many many years.

I’ve only reloaded ~2,500 rounds of 45 colt in the past 4 years since I started with the cartridge, it’s a favorite. That’s all with Starline brass and some Winchester so all in all good stuff rim wise. Not enough to have to retire any brass which I’m ashamed of. I put it with the 44 magnum (8,000) and 44 special (2,000) on cartridges loaded for myself and enjoy the straight/rimmed cases.

Got a guess on how many 45 colt you’ve shot/reloaded Jim?

[Bill in Oregon]

I'm fond of the .44 Special, .44 Magnum and .45 Colt as well. But I have the most fun loading some of the oldies -- .45-70, .44 Russian, .56-50 Spencer, etc. -- and with drop-tubed and compressed black powder.

[COSteve]

I don't have a tiny or troublesome cartridge to load so I don't have a least favorite and truth be told, I enjoy all the cartridges and calibers. In pistol, I don't load anything smaller than .357 mag while my largest is .45 Colt so I enjoy all of them. In rife I don't load anything smaller than a .30 Carbine nor bigger than a 30-06 so I enjoy all of them as well. I look forward to every handloading session no matter the caliber I doing.

[JBowen]

My favorite cartridge(s) to load are the straight wall rimmed pistol cartridges like the 45 colt, 44 mag and the
38 spec. and 357 mag. I don’t mind any of the rifle from
25-35, 30-30 to 444, 308w & 30-06. Least favorite are the 32-20 & 218 Bee because they are small and fragile. The prep job I hate the most is case trimming and primer pocket swagging.

JBowen

[JimT]

Got a guess on how many 45 colt you’ve shot/reloaded Jim?

No sir. I have no clue.

Got my first .45 Colt in the middle of 1969 and have been casting bullets and handloading for it ever since ... with a little time off here and there.

At one point I remember ordering 30,000 primers and using them all. About half were Large Pistol. The rest was split between Small Pistol and Large Rifle.

Hunted with it and took all kinds of game.
Shot Combat Matches.
Shot Silhouette.
Shot Cowboy Action.

Still shoot it now and then.

[JimT]

I don't have a tiny or troublesome cartridge to load so I don't have a least favorite and truth be told, I enjoy all the cartridges and calibers. In pistol, I don't load anything smaller than .357 mag while my largest is .45 Colt so I enjoy all of them. In rife I don't load anything smaller than a .30 Carbine nor bigger than a 30-06 so I enjoy all of them as well. I look forward to every handloading session no matter the caliber I doing.

To keep everything on the "up and up" I will confess that I load quite a few .380's and 9mm's. The last run of 9mm's was over 2000 rounds. I have another 1500 that I just got ready to prime. I enjoy handloading but the little rimless cartridges are my least favorite as I said earlier. However, I still end up loading a LOT of them!

[tray]

About equal between the 44 magnum and 44 special. Would load more 44 Russian if I had the other cylinder done for my Colt SAA. Also use 44 magnum in rifles. For rifles I like the 444 Marlin. I have an 06 and 300 RM each in 700 Remington I enjoy loading for when I do that, but don't shoot them as much now days as I do the revolvers and lever actions.

[Keith D]

Favorite to reload - 44 Special and 44 Mag
Least favorite - All of them. It's work. I need a reloading slave or indentured servant.
Most reloaded - 44 Mag and 44 Special

Soon to be hated or liked, .35 Rem for Marlin levergun. Don't have the dies yet.

[GunnyMack]

[quote=JBowen post_id=1002989 time=1730745011 user_id=. The prep job I hate the most is case trimming and primer pocket swagging.

JBowen
[/quote]

Amen to that brother! I got 4000 pcs of 7.62x51 military brass that were at least .015 longer than spec, hand power- nope! That's when I found and ordered a LITTLE CROW trimmer. Into the drill press and lickety split perfect trimmed cases!

[JBowen]

[quote=JBowen post_id=1002989 time=1730745011 user_id=. The prep job I hate the most is case trimming and primer pocket swagging.

JBowen

Amen to that brother! I got 4000 pcs of 7.62x51 military brass that were at least .015 longer than spec, hand power- nope! That's when I found and ordered a LITTLE CROW trimmer. Into the drill press and lickety split perfect trimmed cases!
[/quote]

Gunny, I bought a Lee Deluxe Quick Trim which helped a lot. It trims and inside/outside chamfers at the same time. I use my cordless drill for power.

[Walt]

I got my first .45 Colt, a Ruger 4 5/8" Blackhawk in 1975. It was before I owned a .44 magnum and like a lot of youngsters in particular, I wanted it to perform like a .44. The Speer #9 manual listed some very hot loads with 296 powder and I loaded and shot a bunch of them. One day I looked closely at the gun and if I pointed it straight up and rotated the cylinder, I could see the cylinder bounce up and down, opening and closing the barrel/cylinder gap. It was a substantial gap so I sent the gun back to Ruger and they replaced the cylinder, thereby taking out the endshake.

I don't shoot really hot loads in any of my ,45 Colts any more. I have a number of .44 mags and a .454 Casull if I want to hotrod heavy bullet loads. Like Jim I also pulled rims off of .45 Colt brass while sizing them, mostly in standard steel sizing dies before the days of the carbide sizing dies. These days I use a Redding sizing die that contains two carbide rings that size the mouth and the base of the brass to two different diameters. It works great and my .45 Colt brass lasts a good long time.

[Griff]

My favorite cartridge to load is also the most loaded, the 45 Colt. Followed closely by the Cowboy 45 Special and the 45 Auto. My least favorite pistol cartridge to load is 38 S&W. My favorite rifle cartridge is the .30-30 & .32-40. I also enjoy loading the 7mmRemMag, 375 Win, & .45-70. The .223/5.56 is ok, but far more "fiddly". The most satisfying is the .40-90SBN for the Sharps. Sizing those big cases is more work than I like, but, seating & crimping the bullets in place is great.

But... more than loading ammo, UNLOADING it is far better. All of the above are fun to shoot, but the .40-90SBN is really special! I don't know if its simply their size, or how they topple the rams @ 500 meters... but they're just plain fun! And while 370 grain pills @ nearly 1700 fps can hurt after a while, that big cloud of BP smoke is impressive!

Then, of course, there is the .53 caliber Sante Fe Hawken!

[stretch]

I like loading straight-walled revolver cartridges. The best all start with a "4"; nice wide mouthed cases with nice large bullets that are easy to manipulate.

I've loaded a lot of 38 Special, but not as much as some of you other folks!
Impressive.

I like reloading 357 and 41 Magnum for the amount of money they save me!
Same with 10mm. Couldn't afford to shoot the last two if I didn't roll my own.

-Stretch

[COSteve]

I don't have a tiny or troublesome cartridge to load so I don't have a least favorite and truth be told, I enjoy all the cartridges and calibers. In pistol, I don't load anything smaller than .357 mag while my largest is .45 Colt so I enjoy all of them. In rife I don't load anything smaller than a .30 Carbine nor bigger than a 30-06 so I enjoy all of them as well. I look forward to every handloading session no matter the caliber I doing.

To keep everything on the "up and up" I will confess that I load quite a few .380's and 9mm's. The last run of 9mm's was over 2000 rounds. I have another 1500 that I just got ready to prime. I enjoy handloading but the little rimless cartridges are my least favorite as I said earlier. However, I still end up loading a LOT of them!

That's why I mentioned the calibers I handload. As I'm becoming more 'seasoned' I find small things don't play as well with my hands they same way they use to. That, and the reduction in the steadiness in my hands I once enjoyed can be frustrating at times when dealing with small objects.

That said, the .30 Carbine is the smallest I handload and surprisingly, they are not a problem as of yet, however, I loaded up a bunch of them a few years ago and haven't come close to exhausting my stock so it may be interesting when it's time to replenish.

[CowboyTutt]

Easiest and one I have probably done the most of is 454 Casull. Hardest is my 375 H&H AI seated extra long for my modified CZ rifle. The added 1/4 inch length, long bullets and longer COL with the 40 degree shoulder that occasionally collapses can be a problem. -Tutt

[KWK]

Having had rifles, revolvers, and a Contender chambered for it, the 357 is the cartridge I've loaded most. Forward, I'll guess there will be more 38 Spl loaded than any other.

[Grizz]

My favorite pistol cartridge and most loaded for is 44 mag for a sbh and a marlin carbine. I include 44 special as a subset, but i load down in mag cases. I also load for 357 mag and enjoy shooting it from a smith 66 and a winchester carbine. My deer load for the ten inch sbh was a cast plain base 320gr, or so, at an unknown velocity. A remarkable hammer of a meat maker. I also shoot and reload 45 ACP. I have a 45 Super project going that I will end up loading a 255Gr hard cast bullet from a 7 inch barrel to carry instead of the Redhawk with the 405Gr bullets. More rounds, more compact, less weight, etc.
.

Bench Rest.jpg

.
I have 4 45s, the guide gun is my favorite to shoot and carry.
.

My favorite rifle to load for and to shoot is the 45/70. The smallest rifle caliber i loaded was 7mm rem mag, which i hunted with and experimented with. I could put 4 different bullet weights in the magazine, 3 would go in the black, and 1 would shoot low. I hunted with and loaded for a 338 win mag for a while, until i learned that the bullets i was using were not ideal for close encounters of the bear kind. It had the energy of the 7mm at 300 yards, but a 100Gr heavier bullet. [if IRC, but i don't claim to] I used it from the boat for deer on the beach, and carried it above tree line for deer around the bear's lairs. Usually removed the scope but forgot once. Ooops.
.

I have 50 Beo uppers for pistol and rifle length barrels, and am geared up to reload, but haven't collect enough brass or found time to start loading for it. I really really like shooting the little 50.


grizz

[Bob Hatfield]

My least favorite to load is the 7.62 Nagant. It can be complicated at first, but you eventually get the hang of it. I use 30 carbine dies to size the case. I have to use a 223-seating die with the seating stem screwed way down to seat the bullet below the case mouth. It has been a few years since I loaded the Russian pistol round, but IIRC I unscrewed the 223-seating dye stem and used the shoulder to force a taper in the 7.62 Nagant case mouth to relieve the bell and allow the case mouth to enter the forcing cone of the revolver.

Several favorites. 38 Special of course for starters. 357 next along with both the 44 special/mag, 45 ACP and 45 Colt. The 45 Colt is a sigh of relief after loading so many 44-40 cases. At 69, a big part of me wants to standardize on what I load and shoot the rest of my life. I have had my fill of experimenting and wasting money with all the standard and oddball cartridges. As long as they are available, I will buy 9mm and .223 ammo. But I have enough brass if I were to need to reload them.

I like going deer hunting/camping, but over the last 10 years, I really don't need to kill one to have a successful hunt like when we were younger, and we gauged our success on the antler size. I used to obsess over making sure the rifle hit the point of aim perfectly out to 300 yards, despite where I hunt the brush and timber is so thick a 75-yard shot would be long range.

Now, it satisfies and thrills me to think about placing the bead of a 92 replica Winchester to send a 200 grain 44 caliber XTP loaded over a big dose of 2400 powder at 1850 fps into a nice 8-point buck's ribs right behind the shoulder at around 50 yards. The spikes and Fork horns can walk away. And if the big one does walk upon me that is alright. I have to get back to camp and peel potatoes anyway.

Bob

[6pt-sika]

I got to thinking about some of the stuff I’ve loaded but not anylonger . I used to cast bullets for the 218 Bee - 25-20 and 32-20 ; they were all a little tricky at first for me atleast because of the kinda flimsy cases . As time wore on the 32-20 became a breeze but the other two with the small cast bullets were shall we say tedious . I loaded a bit for the 17 Hornet which was a PITA because of the bullets being so small in my relatively large fingers and honestly the same could be said for the 204 Ruger when I messed with it . I loaded some European stuff that was a pain as well and that was just from getting cases that were workable , in most cases it involved trimming length , turning rim diameters and in one or two cases turning rim thickness from the upper side . All of this was kinda fun at the time figuring it out so they could shoot again . But as I’ve gotten older my intrest in that type of thing has lessened quite a bit . The extent of my imaginative loading has gone into deer loads for the 8 gauge and 10 gauge , and to be honest the way I’ve conquered that was relatively easy .

[marlinman93]

My favorite pistol cartridge to reload is tougher to choose. Either .45ACP, or .45 Colt. Both because they're so easy to reload for, and have a wide variety of bullet choices. I really am not a fan of the .44-40 for pistol or rifle as the cases have such thin necks and easy to crunch a neck if I am not really careful seating bullets.
For rifles I love the .40-70 Straight and also because it's so easy to load for, and I have a half dozen different molds to choose from.

[Jared]

My favorite is probably the 44 Special. I just loaded 400 round yesterday for it. That is subject to change though.

My favorite Rifle cartridge to load is either .308 or .45-70.

Least favorite is whichever one is currently giving me the most trouble. Honorable mention goes to casting, sizing, and loading .25 And .32 ACP. The 7.62 Nagant pistol cartridge can be a pain. 32-20 can be aggravating. Currently I am loading 9.5x60R for my 1887 Mauser and the very expensive Ch4D dies don’t really work for my rifle so I have had to make changes on how I load it. I need to make more brass for it but that is a labor of love. On common cartridges I don’t really like loading .223s.

My most loaded is probably .45 ACP but I would imagine .38 special, .32 Mag, 44 special and .45 Colt would all be close to make a 5 way tie.

[TraderVic]

Hmmm...I've been reloading 270 the longest and am quite fond of this caliber. 45/70 is another one, however my shoulder isn't up for that much recoil anymore, so my 30-30 CB Marlin gets a lot of time and use.
I'm just venturing into loading for my 357's, finally !

[Grizz]

Hmmm...I've been reloading 270 the longest and am quite fond of this caliber. 45/70 is another one, however my shoulder isn't up for that much recoil anymore, so my 30-30 CB Marlin gets a lot of time and use.
I'm just venturing into loading for my 357's, finally !

about recoil > i've down-loaded 45/70 so there's no serious recoil. something like 325 gr at slow bell. slow enough that the ignition is click-then-boom, and you can hear the lag in the report from a gong. less recoil than 30-30 and still fun to shoot. stay on gong all day long. great plinker for walking the beaches and shooting sea shells. i never got to try it in Blaine's BFR that we shot 525s from. i wanted to load up some collar buttons but haven't got around to it.

[COSteve]

I've been thinking about this thread and I must admit that there's something uniquely satisfying about loading up M2 Ball for my Garand and M80 Ball for my M1A. I don't know what it is about those calibers but the satisfaction and relaxation I get loading them is just above the rest. I guess it's the history of the M2 in WWII and the fact that the M14 was my military weapon.

[4t5]

Favorite in handgun…44 magnum loaded down of course.
Favorite in rifle …..375 winchester.

[TraderVic]

Years ago I shot Service Rifle competition with a local club.
The steel buttplate on the M1 gets ones attention a few rounds "down the pike." Lots of fun, but....

[RIDERED350r]

Least favorite handgun ammo to load:
-380 Auto

Favorite handgun ammo to load:
-Pretty much any revolver cartridge.

Least favorite rifle ammo to load:
-Tie between 5.56 and 338 WM

Favorite rifle ammo to load:
-My family of hyphenated 45s. 45-60, 45-70 and 45-90

[LeverGunner]

Lots of interesting choices here. 30-06 for some reason just never did it for me. I don't know why though, it has just as much, if not more history as anything else. The 30-30 I guess stirs me up more because of the history of it's use in the late west, in the hands of lawmen, ranchers, and hunters. It's taken much game larger than what it's considered not suitable for today, as well as protected many a homestead from man and beast. Something about it.

Oddly, the 44 Magnum has the same sort of appeal to me, because the history includes the Special, Keith, the Russian, Dan Wesson, and Bill Ruger. And not just the history, but what it began. We probably would still have the 454 Casull, the Linebaughs, the 480 Ruger, and the 460 and 500 S&W, but the 44 Magnum was there and was first, so it's sort of the granddaddy of the Magnum cartridges.

One of the things that makes a cartridge interesting to me is the bullets involved in using it. The Lyman 31141, the Ideal 309291(which was of the first designs for gas checks), Ranch Dog's bullets, Keith bullets, Thompson bullets, even Lee's designs. They are as interesting to me as the cartridges that fire them.

[Grizz]

Lots of interesting choices here. 30-06 for some reason just never did it for me. I don't know why though, it has just as much, if not more history as anything else. The 30-30 I guess stirs me up more because of the history of it's use in the late west, in the hands of lawmen, ranchers, and hunters. It's taken much game larger than what it's considered not suitable for today, as well as protected many a homestead from man and beast. Something about it.

Oddly, the 44 Magnum has the same sort of appeal to me, because the history includes the Special, Keith, the Russian, Dan Wesson, and Bill Ruger. And not just the history, but what it began. We probably would still have the 454 Casull, the Linebaughs, the 480 Ruger, and the 460 and 500 S&W, but the 44 Magnum was there and was first, so it's sort of the granddaddy of the Magnum cartridges.

One of the things that makes a cartridge interesting to me is the bullets involved in using it. The Lyman 31141, the Ideal 309291(which was of the first designs for gas checks), Ranch Dog's bullets, Keith bullets, Thompson bullets, even Lee's designs. They are as interesting to me as the cartridges that fire them.

I follow you on the 44s, but as to the 30s, 30-30, 308, 30-06, 300 win mag, etc. all use the same bullets . . . :)

[LeverGunner]

Lots of interesting choices here. 30-06 for some reason just never did it for me. I don't know why though, it has just as much, if not more history as anything else. The 30-30 I guess stirs me up more because of the history of it's use in the late west, in the hands of lawmen, ranchers, and hunters. It's taken much game larger than what it's considered not suitable for today, as well as protected many a homestead from man and beast. Something about it.

Oddly, the 44 Magnum has the same sort of appeal to me, because the history includes the Special, Keith, the Russian, Dan Wesson, and Bill Ruger. And not just the history, but what it began. We probably would still have the 454 Casull, the Linebaughs, the 480 Ruger, and the 460 and 500 S&W, but the 44 Magnum was there and was first, so it's sort of the granddaddy of the Magnum cartridges.

One of the things that makes a cartridge interesting to me is the bullets involved in using it. The Lyman 31141, the Ideal 309291(which was of the first designs for gas checks), Ranch Dog's bullets, Keith bullets, Thompson bullets, even Lee's designs. They are as interesting to me as the cartridges that fire them.

I follow you on the 44s, but as to the 30s, 30-30, 308, 30-06, 300 win mag, etc. all use the same bullets . . .

Very true. But for some reason, 308, 30-06, and 300 Winchester Magnum don't pique my interest like the 30-30 and 30-40 Krag.

I've never had a 300 WM though, so maybe I need to get one to try? I did have a 7mm Remington Magnum in a Remington 700 for a while, and a 270 Weatherby Magnum in a Weatherby Mark V Deluxe. I do kinda regret parting with that one.

[Grizz]

Lots of interesting choices here. 30-06 for some reason just never did it for me. I don't know why though, it has just as much, if not more history as anything else. The 30-30 I guess stirs me up more because of the history of it's use in the late west, in the hands of lawmen, ranchers, and hunters. It's taken much game larger than what it's considered not suitable for today, as well as protected many a homestead from man and beast. Something about it.

Oddly, the 44 Magnum has the same sort of appeal to me, because the history includes the Special, Keith, the Russian, Dan Wesson, and Bill Ruger. And not just the history, but what it began. We probably would still have the 454 Casull, the Linebaughs, the 480 Ruger, and the 460 and 500 S&W, but the 44 Magnum was there and was first, so it's sort of the granddaddy of the Magnum cartridges.

One of the things that makes a cartridge interesting to me is the bullets involved in using it. The Lyman 31141, the Ideal 309291(which was of the first designs for gas checks), Ranch Dog's bullets, Keith bullets, Thompson bullets, even Lee's designs. They are as interesting to me as the cartridges that fire them.

I follow you on the 44s, but as to the 30s, 30-30, 308, 30-06, 300 win mag, etc. all use the same bullets . . .

Very true. But for some reason, 308, 30-06, and 300 Winchester Magnum don't pique my interest like the 30-30 and 30-40 Krag.

I've never had a 300 WM though, so maybe I need to get one to try? I did have a 7mm Remington Magnum in a Remington 700 for a while, and a 270 Weatherby Magnum in a Weatherby Mark V Deluxe. I do kinda regret parting with that one.

I had a rem 700 too. ridiculously accurate, but underweight for my area. it would put 3 different bullet weights inside the black, they looked like they were a group.

somewhere I read that the 7s were like artillery shells, inherently accurate. But i have no idea if that's true of either one.

[Lastmohecken]

My most frustrating round to handload was the 450 Alaskan. I think I needed to thin the necks out, and I never took it that far. Still, I managed to load for it.
As far as rifle rounds go, I loved loading for the 375 HH Mag, and my 350 Remington Mag. The 30/30 was the first rifle round I loaded for, but I never loaded for that much because, for most of life the factory rounds were cheap and easy to get, same with the .308 win.

But my most loaded rounds have been pistol rounds, with the 45ACp being the most loaded for, because I shot competition for so many years. Possibly my favorite rounds to load for are the 38 Special and 44 Mag, with the 45 Colt bringing up the rear, in my favorite rounds to reload. I never messed with reloading 9mm because the brass is so hard to find after shooting it, for starters. And 45 ACP's are nearly as bad, being hard to recover my spent cases, a lot of the time. So, even though I loaded it the most, my favorite is hands down the revolver rounds, 38 and 44

[Bill in Oregon]

Jared, my hat is off to you:
"Currently I am loading 9.5x60R for my 1887 Mauser and the very expensive Ch4D dies don’t really work for my rifle so I have had to make changes on how I load it. I need to make more brass for it but that is a labor of love."
I never found a Mauser in this chambering that I could afford. It was said by some to be the most efficient black powder cartridge ever designed, but coming as it did at the dawn of the smokeless era it was virtually still-born.
My hat is off also to those with the patience to load for 9mm, .40 S&W, 10mm, .45 ACP, etc. I found it deeply depressing to spend the time to lovingly load these cartridges on my single-stage press only to go though a box of 50 in just a very few minutes. I never shot enough of them to justify a Dillon.

[JimT]

I am currently in the middle of casting bullets and loading 9mm. I have a thousand or so empties and am working up a load for them. I have the LEE 356-120 mold ... truncated cone flat point ... and am trying different powders and charges. I started light .. 3 grains of Bullseye and seating the bullet deep. They functioned fine but hit about 6 or 7 inches high and 3 inches to the right. I upped the powder charge to 3.4 grains of Bullseye and they hit closer to POA. I have some loaded with heavier load of Power Pistol and some with Unique and will see how they do. 9mm is one of my un-favorite cartridges to load but here I am ....

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First attempt on the right .. seated deep. Next was the one on the left.

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When I shoot the semi-autos at the range I spread out a big tarp and catch the empties on it. I roll it up, take it home and empty it out into a bucket and from there I clean them. The tarp saves me a lot of work.

[weiler]

That’s great shooting Jim, did you sort cases by make/length or use mixed cases?