Clipping Articles and the Rediscovered Treasures

I have a system by which I keep no more than 4 years of most issues of magazines to which I subscribe. However, I no longer simply pass the magazines on or throw them out. As I get each new issue I pull the issue for that month from 4 years ago (I keep them in magazine binders such as the one pictured), review (i.e. re-read), and clip the interesting or useful articles. It is amazing how little is worth the effort in some magazines.

This month is a goody. I get the February 2007 issue of "Handloader" with articles on the .32 Winchester Special and .32-40, then, I get to pull the February 2003 issue with many other interesting articles.

The first of these articles is "Real Cowboy Loads for the .45 Colt" by Brian Pearce. While Mr. Pearce talks about Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS) it is to put the original loading of the .45 Colt and smokeless replacements in the proper context. He has actually chronographed the original loading of 40 gr. blackpowder (BP) for the 255 gr. lead bullet at 1000 fps. This shows that the original load was indeed more powerful than the smokeless powder replacement which pushed the same bullet at 850-870 fps.

I thought this article would be of interest to levergun shooters of the cartridge. My experience is that the modern load equals the old BP load but only when fired from a carbine.

The next article is by one of my favorite authors, Ross Seyfried. "Holland & Holland Paradox, a Reloading Miracle" is a wonderful tale of Mr. Seyfried's work with a Paradox gun. Oh what a wonderful gun and Mr. Seyfried has been persistent in learning to load for this gun.

I've always wanted one, and not insensitive to the cost of such a glorious gun, I clipped this article "just in case". I haven't gone much into detail on this one. My attempt would be a poor imitation indeed of Mr. Seyfried's writing. You can still get this issue and article for yourself.

The last article I thought clip-worthy was "Loading to the Aiming Point" by John Barsness. In this article Barsness addresses a personal interest of mine, loading reduced loads for rifles. In this article he illustrates the method through loading for the 9.3x74R, 6.5x54mm Mauser, .257 Ackley Improved, and .416 Rigby with others mentioned. he also mentions Townsend Whelen and his use and loading of reduced loads. I liked this article enough to consider it clip-worthy despite lack of loading data on cartridges I am loading.

Of course you could buy the back issues of "Handloader". They now have three ways to do so. The entire boxed set (#1 through #238) for $120 or one year for $19.95 or a single issue on DVD for $5.95. Digital form should provide quick searches and printing of only the pertinent information.