Every gun enthusiast out there is familiar with the 1911 and most likely owns a 1911 or maybe even more. The 1911 is an extremely popular, well-known and well-respected firearm with good reason. Nearly every major firearms manufacturer has made their own version of the 1911. During times of war, some non-firearms companies even made 1911 handguns. One of the more notable companies that comes to mind is Singer, the sewing machine company. If you are like me, it was a handgun you admired from a young age. I can still remember bantering back and forth with my friend over the merits of the 1911 versus the Glock 17 for self-defense. At the ripe age of 10 years old, I am not sure how I could make much of an argument for either, but it was all good fun. ...Read More >

Here is the load data for the Hornady 140-grain SST bullet that I tested in the 6.5 PRC using US 869. It’s pretty simple. Fill the cartridge to the top of the case mouth and then crunch the bullet down to a loaded length of 2.813 inches. That’s the wonder of very slow powders, they can do a lot of work, not always at top velocities and certainly not with great efficiency, but they can make a broad variety of cartridges work well enough to remain in the field when powders with more ideal burn rates are unavailable. In today’s market, that can be a Godsend. ...Read More >

Q: I greatly appreciate Handloader magazine, as there is nothing else that offers high-level information for such a variety of cartridges. I acquired a Howa 1500 chambered in 6.5 PRC, then I ordered new Hornady dies and a Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading Tenth Edition. However, upon receiving my new manual, there was no 6.5 PRC data. So, I swung by my local gun store and perused through other reloading manuals from Speer, Barnes, Ramshot and Lyman and still found no data. This leads to my question – can you give me data for the 127-grain Barnes LRX bullet and the 129-grain Hornady SST? ...Read More >

American’s attraction to lever-action rifles goes back to the first such successful design, the Henry, quickly followed by the Model 1866 and Model 1873 Winchesters. These models were not, however, intended to be hunting rifles. Self-defense against humans, singularly or especially in groups, was the purpose. A pocketful of cartridges to thumb into the side loading gate of a Model 66 or Model 73 gave its owner a chance to survive. A muzzleloading rifle or percussion revolver just postponed the inevitable. ...Read More >