Things I've learned.
 

I've been loading for 20 plus years and at times ,wheather of shear boredom or some learning quest being distracted ,learned that we disagree a lot often. So in no doubt a rambling text I will share some of what I've learned and proved out for myself ,sometimes on paper sometimes in hand ,most certainly misattributed but accurate.

Longer bbls always make a cartridge faster. Well my 38s gain about 50fps from a victory model S&W 4" to a 6" Sec6 and 400 to an 18" Marlin carbine. The 45-70 w/a Remington deference loaded 350gn HP picks up over 300 in a switch from a guide gun w/its ported 20"bbl to a random reproduction trapdoor of 28",taking it from not quite making the legal big game tool to elk slayer. According to published testing using a surplused rebbl'd 1903 in 30-06' the cut at 24" was faster than at 25". The change from 22-24" ,less than 5fps. You know there's a catch ,22LR the 6" Ruger MKII clocked w/in 3fps of my 18" Winchester 190.

Sorry my server seems glitchy today.

Black powder cartridges are weak by todays standards. Ok ,my 49th Lyman book says the old 45-110-405 w/the same bullet is spliting hairs w/the 458WM. So what if it takes a 32"bbl to match the 458s 24" preformance.I told a fellow once I shot a 357 mag ,he sayswhat do ya need all that for a 45 Colts will do what I need ,more research. It will and then some in typical loads from 50-75ft lbs . Ok so maybe I ought to compare a 38 long to a38 Special. Really those aren't that far apart.

Nato's,here's a bondfire w/a fuel truck handy! 556-223 don't get that Nato stuff in your civi gun. Or something like that . GI/Nato ammo has thick necks and walls period. While shooting Kygicstan surplus in your match grade 40x would nodoubt be bad why the heck are you feeding a $1500 rifle surplus? Same thing w/762-308. Thank God Nato didn't get their grubby paws on the 7/8x57s or the 06' . 9mm , yep cip standards are set higher , do you think we don't export to Europe ? I'm working on a list (boredom) of pistols that don't scale up to 40s w/o more than springs and bbls. Its short they mostly hail from pre-1970 designs.

I have only 2 guns that shoot max loads well. Bothof them are 12ga. My rifles won't and my pistols don't do it well every time. Exceptions 38+p in the 357 and Colts in a RBH but somehow that's not really what I meant.

There are some 200 cartridges in production today and calibers from .17-78(10ga?) Readily available and bigger and smaller you have to dig for. Why is 30 cal and the 06' in particular so popular ? Because it get it done . I read a post here once berating the 06' in favor of a 300WM. Hummm same guns ,same bullets,more powder, maybe adding ,what 100 yds? I can't shoot a kilometer much less a 1000 yd and there are very few hunting senarios that much over 400is really useful. All hail the 06',w/its 40-225gn bullets and availiblity at every big box and road side bait and tackle.

Wildcats? The 06' is the most adapted,no its the 308..........nope its the 7.92x57 it been stretched to 2.5"and cut off at about .75 and necked down to 17 and up to 458. It is true that the 06' is the"basic" brass w/a .473 rim/base but the Mauser was 1st by 7years or so.