Heavy Hitting with the 45 Colt Part II Two Small Guns and Some Really Big Bullets
I’m sure lots of people outside of the cowboy action shooting community, particularly non-handloaders, can’t understand why the 45 Colt has survived. It’s old and slow…sort of like me, yet there are lots of guns chambered for the cartridge, lots of factory loads and lots of handload components. The 45 […] [Read More]
Heavy Hitting with the 45 Colt Part I
There is an increasing trend for handloaders to work to a firearm’s limit rather than a cartridge specification. The idea is that a cartridge pressure spec is scaled to the original firearm it was assigned, so when that cartridge is moved to a stronger action, it should be able to […] [Read More]
Looking for the "Grand" in Grand Canyon
I’d been to the Grand Canyon as a young child. Three summers in a row, my dad loaded the six or seven of us into whatever car we owned, or could borrow, and drove us all over the United States, Canada and parts of Mexico. I have to give him […] [Read More]
Hornady LeverEvolution Ammunition A New Trick for an Old Dog ?
Hornady does a lot for gun owners by introducing new, interesting and smartly engineered products. They push the envelope when it comes to Light and Heavy Magnum cartridge performance and they make excellent bullets and lots of supporting equipment and handloading manuals for handloaders. So when they announced the new […] [Read More]
Real Guns - An Update
No, I haven’t left town; promise. It’s been a very hectic few months so I have had my attention diverted elsewhere. I also needed to back away from grinding out material and take some time to personally enjoy firearms, which has always been the foundation for the Real Guns site. […] [Read More]
The Lee Lead Hardness Testing Kit and Other Bullet Biting Alternatives
In the old days, if you wanted to know the hardness of lead, or the legitimacy of gold currency, you bit the object. Then you’d take stock of how much your jaw hurt, the depth of your teeth marks in the object, and arrived at a conclusion – probably that […] [Read More]
Summertime, Summertime, Sum, Sum, Summertime
You’ll rarely see my picture in the pages of real guns. I always think it is kind of silly when I see articles with images of the author prominently plastered throughout. Sometimes I include a photo on RG when I say something critical and I don’t want people to think […] [Read More]
45-70 Gov't - Cast Bullet Handloads Ruger No. 1 and Marlin 1895 Guide Gun
If there was anything notable about the day, I would have to say that would be the fog. First it rolled in, closing all the shooting positions, then it rolled out, and all positions were open. Then it rolled in again during a break for target check and, while it […] [Read More]
What I Really Meant to Say Was...
Bang !…Err, Bang! Bang! Nope, just not the same without the rest of the parts. Pictured, left, are the remains of my Taurus 44 Mag. No, the rest didn’t blow up or fall off, the frame was sitting at Hogue having a set of Pau Ferro grips fit to the […] [Read More]
Everything I know About Shotguns... Part 4 Baseline range day or...where did my shoulder go?
With a handload plan in place, it was time to collect some baseline data from the Mossberg so I would know if my handloads would actually offer improved performance, or if I would have to lie. So we packed up the gear and headed up to Los Altos Rod and […] [Read More]