Gun Digest – August 2019

(^20) | GunDigest the magazine AUGUST 2019 gundigest.com
V
elocity, like all the pa-
rameters of reloading am-
munition, can be a mad-
dening thing. Those who
don’t reload won’t under-
stand the utter frustration
of following the reloading manual’s
“recipe” to the letter, heading to the
range and seeing more-than-accept-
able accuracy on the target ... only to
be confronted with those disappoint-
ing numbers on the chronograph.
Then, there are those who chase
maximum velocity as if it were a
lusty cheerleader on prom night. I’ve
seen folks who will happily accept
a screaming-hot load that prints 2
MOA, simply delighted with the ve-
locity fi gures. Me? I tend to prefer an
acceptable velocity, with the empha-
sis on accuracy—although I’m will-
ing to compromise.
Allow me to be completely honest
here: I am a hunter fi rst and foremost
and a target shooter second. Here, in
New York, we don’t have a whole lot of
places with the capability of 1,000-yard-
or-longer shots. Consequently, much of
my shooting/testing as a writer is done
inside of 300 yards, simply because I’m
confi ned by vegetation, terrain and
property size.
Finding a Balance
When I get the chance to stretch things
out, I do truly enjoy it. Target shooting
is fun, and a rifl e/scope/cartridge setup
for that purpose is certainly intriguing.
But, as a hunter, I keep my shots
at unwounded animals inside of 400
yards. This is a self-imposed limit, be-
cause I know myself, and I’ve spent
enough time shooting in various
hunting conditions to know my own
limitations. My trajectory is barely af-
fected by a 50- to 75-fps velocity drop
within 400 yards, so I’m not crushed
when I see a lower number on the
chronograph.
My handloads usually end up a bal-
ance of sensible velocity and shootability.
RELOADING BENCH // PHIL MASSARO
Some Like it Hot
The endless chase for higher velocity.
Or, perhaps I should say I’m more con-
cerned with the ability to put my bullet
where it needs to be than with squeezing
out the last bit of velocity or trying in
vain to match the velocities the test data
produced with a 30-inch barrel in my 24-
inch sporter.
Sometimes, I can match the adver-
tised factory velocities; other times,
I beat the factory fi gures. But more
often than not—probably due to the
fact that we are all using canister-grade
powders—my stuff ends up moving a
bit below the published velocities ...
and that’s okay with me.
The .308 Winchester
The fi rst cartridge I seriously reloaded
for was the .308 Winchester. Tradi-
tionally, it’s a forgiving cartridge, ca-
pable of fi ne accuracy. To this day, I
feel a reloader should start with a car-
tridge such as this, because it can bol-
ster confi dence and “set the hook” for
a lifetime of reloading.
This was not exactly the case with
The author’s Heym Express by Martini in .404 Jeffery gives excellent accuracy with hand-
loaded ammunition.
my own .308 Winchester, because my
Ruger 77 MKII proved to be a fi nicky
rifl e. I went a bit crazy trying to fi nd a
165-grain load with the Sierra Game-
King hollowpoint that would group
inside 1½ MOA but fi nally found it
right on the edge of pressure signs.
Pushing that bullet to slightly more
than 2,700 fps, it’s not quite as fast
as the Hornady Superformance and
similar enhanced loads, but it is just
on the cusp of diffi cult extraction and
fl attened primers in my rifl e. The stout
load of IMR4064 gives ¾-inch groups
at 100 yards, and that load has ac-
counted for quite a bit of New York
venison. I would have been just fi ne if
the velocity had been 2,600 fps or even
a little slower. But, alas, the hotter load
gave the accuracy.
The 7mm Remington Magnum
Loading for a 7mm Remington Mag-
num and using 175-grain Nosler
Partition bullets, I developed a load
that gave excellent accuracy: fi ve