American Handgunner Jul/Aug 1981 - Jeffersonian

HANDLOADING
(Continued from page 59)
brought the fragmented remnants of a
brass case to me in a plastic bottle. He reported
that he had merely picked up the
2.7 load for the purpose of transferring it
from his loading bench to an ammo box
when it exploded.
That was almost 20 years ago. The
event, although dramatic, was ultimately
diminished by the passing of time and by
the knowledge that literally millions of
Bullseye handloads were being used without
mishap.
My abstention from the continued use
of Bullseye didn't come about until 1 happened
to read Cooper's "Blowing Up With
Two Point Seven" in the November/
December, 1977, AMERICAN HAND­
GUNNER.
Discontinuing the use of Bullseye is a
matter of personal choice. My report on
the "cartridge incident" was not intended
as a horror story; and neither should it be
taken as a mandate against the use of this
propellant by anyone who continues to
find it satisfactory and safe.
Personal choice prevailing, 1have found
Hodgdon's HP38, an even-metering spherical,
to be an excellent propellant for
everything from the .38 Special to the .45
ACP-and with a broad range of bullet
weights and types.
HEAVY STOPPING POWER
Ken Pantling, of Leicester, England,
agrees with my contention that heavy bullets
pack the greatest potential for handgun
stopping power. He says he's a keen
practical pistol shooter, and goes on to report,
"1 have been searching for a load that
would be easily controllable, but would
also show major calibre against a ballistic
pendulum. Many shooters have followed
the light-bullet/high-velocity path, but 1
have found that they pay a penalty in
terms ofhigh recoil and disturbing blast. 1
thus started looking at the possibilities of
heavy bullets in the .45 ACP.
"What 1 have been looking for is a .455
Webley-type load in the Colt auto pistol.
Jeff Cooper has described the .455 Webley
as 'a model ofeasily controlled stopping
power.' 1hope to combine this with the tactical
superiority of the auto pistol.
"The bullets 1 have been using are:
RCBS 45-250 FN, Lyman 454424, and Lee
454-255-RF. All ofwhich weigh about 255
grains in hard alloy.
"The most successful powders are Nobel
82 and Herco. However, Red Dot and
Herco are the only available powders over
here so 1will list the Herco loads. The best
loads 1have used are: 5.0 grains to give 690
fps. This just makes major calibre and is
very easy to shoot. It probably makes major
so easily because of the bullet's sectional
density and dwell time against the
(Continued on page 70)
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