Heavy Handloads Helping Heavy Hearts

Handloading is a versatile skill that’s very handy. Add the ability of casting your own bullets and you’re well on your way to almost complete independence. Besides providing you the ability of producing custom grade ammunition, handloading has always been a type of therapy — for me. During stressful times, handloading produces a productive outlet for what ails a hurting heart.

As I write this, in the past few days, the murder of two completely innocent victims took place and was broadcast worldwide. This was roughly two months ago now. The first victim was brutally stabbed in an unprovoked assault by a madman having 14 prior arrests and was enjoying the freedoms of “no cash bail,” a liberal policy with negative repercussions across the United States. It goes like this. Criminals are arrested and released during arraignments in the fallacy of fairness. Fairness to who, is the questions I ask these liberal policy makers? Surely not to those who’ve fallen victim to this misguided non-sense, and there’s several documented cases of it happening.

The following day, a well-known conservative speaker was shot and killed during a public event. His only crime? He debated people having different opinions, usually swaying young people, or enlightening them of different views, on college campuses with witty logic and his warm personality. He was very good and successful at it.

It’s easy to progress from being heavy hearted to boiling rage, but that’s counterproductive. Better to battle with a clear head than angry heart, with better decision-making skills, than uncontrolled rage.

Productive Reasoning

I know it’s hard, and that’s why I do something productive, like handloading. By anticipating potential threats and scenarios, I try coming up with perfect loads for these occasions. If the monsters ever do come bearing torches and pitchforks, I want to have the perfect load, and plenty of them, should the need arise to protect my family from such evil near-do-wells.

The Load

Handloaders seem to load in cycles. At least I do. We go from loading light, efficient, pleasant loads for endless days at the range or plinking in the outdoors. Sometimes we mimick our favorite factory defense load for practice or hunting loads. Sometimes we load simply for the sake of experimentation.

I’d recently been doing some rereading of John Linebaugh and was motivated to load some “Linebaugh” type ammunition. This got me thinking about John’s loads and after much constructive cogitation had me deciding on making his heavy .45 Colt loads. They’d be wonderful for a brain searching zombie apocalypse, should it ever happen, especially if the zombies were stacked 3 or 4 deep, as these loads are known for penetration.

Besides, if the zombies never vacate their graves, these loads will make dandy hunting handloads, as John intended.

Sentimental Favorites

When firing up my much-used 30+ year old RCBS casting pot, nothing stirs my heart more than casting “Keith” style bullets. It just seems right casting a SWC bullet of Elmer’s design, connecting us to the past the way factory ammunition could never accomplish.

Sure, I have several period correct molds designed by Elmer by Lyman, Saeco, and even MP Molds persuasion, in just about every caliber, be it .38, .41, .44, or .45 caliber, but sometimes something a little different is called for to “make better” while still scratching that nostalgic itch.

In this case, it’s an NEI 330- grain semi-wadcutter (SWC). Now Elmer didn’t design this slug, but it fits his criteria. It has three full diameter driving bands of equal width, complete with square grease groove. This is a blunt bullet, having a wide meplat, or nose. It almost looks like a pure wadcutter, but has minimal reductions in all the right places to be considered a SWC, making it more aerodynamic.

For alloy, I use an alchemist’s mixture of lead shot, roof sheathing, clip on wheel-weights, and a pinch of tin for my bullet brew, which duplicates Lyman #2 alloy in hardness, which is 15-16 BHN. After casting, I powder coat my bullets with a polymer base powder, bake them in an oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then size them .452″ using LEE sizing dies in a LEE APP press.

With the bullets ready for loading, I use my LEE Classic Turret press and LEE dies to load my ammunition. Many people ask why I use LEE equipment. For one, it works. It’s also affordable and I want to show you don’t need the best equipment to handload. Sure, I have other presses in blue, red, and orange, but for loading a lot of different calibers, the LEE Classic Turret Press is the fastest for changing out dies for different cartridges, or primer size.

For a powder charge, I use the LEE Auto Disc Dispenser. It drops the powder while flaring the brass cartridge. I add 24.0 grains of H110, or Winchester 296 (they’re the same powder) sparked with a CCI 350 large magnum pistol primer. The bullet is seated and then crimped with a LEE factory crimp die in separate stages, as the Classic turret press has a 4- hole die plate for 4 functions.

Shooting

I get just under 1,300 FPS from most 5.5″ barreled guns. Longer barrels of 7.5″ usually break 1,300+ FPS, and shorter barrels, obviously less. Accuracy is everything you could hope for. Using my scoped Bisley hunter, groups of 1 inch or less at 25- yards are normal, and 50- yard groups under 2 inches are common. This same load feeds well through my Marlin 1894 and I pick up over 300 FPS free velocity from the 16- inch barrel.

After loading a few 50 round boxes of this load, my mind and heart settle down. I’ve accomplished something productive, had fun doing it, and have some top-notch ammo to boot should the need arise to conquer any monsters, dinosaurs, or boogeymen. If you don’t handload, start. If you already handload, start casting your own bullets. You’ll never be sorry for learning this survivalist skill and you’ll have a blast doing it.

You won’t save any money — you’ll just be able to shoot more within your designated budget. Keep your lead and molds hot, powder dry, and buy all the primers you can. Save your brass and pick up the free brass you see on the ground at your range. You’ll be glad you did. By shooting more and having the ability to load your own ammo, you’ll keep the monsters at bay.

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