Reloading Journal October 2011 Issue Number 274 - Handloader Ammunition

He looked at the box on his bench. .45-70 Government. Three hundred grain hollow points. He had inherited the rifle—an 1886 Winchester—from his own father in 1997. But the load data his dad had scribbled on a stained index card (58 grains of H4895, CCI 200) now grouped like a shotgun pattern.

Frank smiled, raised his coffee mug to the empty garage, and whispered: “To the next two hundred seventy-four.”

He looked at the cover one more time. “Issue Number 274.” He wondered if the man from Idaho ever found his answer. Probably not. Probably he just started a new notebook, too. He looked at the box on his bench

“Dear Editor,” it read. “For twenty years, I used my father’s data for the .44 Mag. 240-grain Sierra over 21.5 grains of 2400. Last month, that load keyholed at 25 yards. My new chronograph shows pressure signs he never had. Is the powder different? Or have I just forgotten how to listen to the brass?”

He pulled out his notebook—the green one with the spiral binding, coffee-stained and dog-eared. He turned past ten years of loads, past the deer he never shot, past the prairie dogs he never missed. On a fresh page, he wrote: He had inherited the rifle—an 1886 Winchester—from his

He turned to page 47. “Understanding Lot-to-Lot Powder Variation,” by J. R. Walmsley.

He set the die in the press. The first case slid in with a soft squeak . The primer seated with a satisfying crush . The powder measure dropped its charge like dark, fine sand. “Issue Number 274

Outside, October wind rattled the garage door. The 2011 date on the cover felt both ancient and urgent. It was the year Frank’s son left for college. The year his wife said, “Do you really need another chronograph?” The year he started answering letters in his head.

“October 2011. Issue #274. Reduce 58.0 to 55.5 grains. Work up in 0.5 increments. Reason: Dad’s powder lot was 1992. New H4895 is faster. Also: I’m not him. That’s fine.”

It was signed: “Uneasy in Idaho.”