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Dunno if it's personal magnetism or my personal gravitational field, but I somehow keep winding up with more guns. I finally decided I oughta shoot some of the strays, but not as serious hunting critters. Plinkers. Reduced loads.
Looking through my reloading guides, there's little info on light loads. So, back to ancient history, and Phil Sharpe's "Complete Guide To Handloading".
.30-30; .30-40, and .38-55: Just as for my '06, 2400 is the answer. For 110-grain or lighter bullets in the .30s, 16 grains in the .30-30; 20 grains in the .30-40, and 22 grains in the '06 all make for a no-recoil load. For the .38-55, 15 grains of 2400 with a 250-grain bullet should work just fine.
The comment was made for the 1918-design .30 Newton (Max load with 180-grain bullet = 3,000 ft/sec) that the very-large capacity case does not do well with reduced loads. Sharpe did not specify if accuracy was the problem, or erratic ignition.
So, I thought about Hueco's load of 35 grains of 2400 in his .458, and Sharpe's 26.6 grains of 2400 in an '06 with a 180-grain bullet. I conclude that for somebody shooting something like a .300 Weatherby, following Hueco's advice about tilting the rifle upwards before shooting--or using some sort of wadding--that 25 to 30 grains of 2400 behind a 150-grain bullet would be a reasonable start.
For comparison, I have used 20 grains of 2400 in the '06 with a 169-grain lead gas-check. It's a very pleasant and quite accurate load.
Anybody else who's really checked out reduced loads, chime in!
Regards, Art
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