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It's arrived! - the .41 Spl Colt
Axis Of Excellence
First Gen Smokeless Big Bottle Cartridges
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I'm not really much of a hunter or a shooter, certainly not by the standards
of this crowd, but I look at the first generation and second generation
smokeless big bottle cartridges, and I think "this is good."
Whether we're talking about the .303 British, the .30-40 Krag, or true "hot
rock" numbers like the .30-06 (and 8x57, or 7x57, or 6.5x55, or 6.5x54, or . . .
. ) I just purely think you can't hardly go wrong, particularly with today's
bullets. Throw a .30 caliber (or 7mm or 8mm or . . . ) bullet of 150
grains at 2800 fps at a critter and put it in the right spot and see what
happens. Throw a .45 caliber bullet of 230 grains at 850 fps and put it in the
right spot, and see what happens.
Heck, vis a vis your "warm loaded" .45-70 comment . . . well, if a .454 is a
pure dee death ray with a 300 at 1500, imagine what a "dinky, wimpy, sissy-like"
.45-70 load with a good 300 grain bullet at 1500 or 1800 fps will do (and out of
a rifle that's easier to aim and place with at that). Or if you want a real
crusher, exactly how wimpy IS a 400 grain .45 caliber bullet at 1200 fps?
Personally I get all charged up by the 6.5s, with a 140 at 2600 or so. But all
those big bottle smokeless cartridges were dang fine at killing men and game 100
years ago, and men and game haven't gotten all that dang much harder to kill in
the past century. I could just as easily, and with just as much justification,
get the quiveries over the 7x57 or the .30-06 or the 8x57.
They don't bark too much and they don't blast too much and they're profited from
a century of load development. And frankly I can shoot a .308 better than I can
shoot a .300 WinMag, and I can shoot a .45 ACP better than I can shoot a .454
Casull. With the caveat that Houston is mighty thin on Cape buffalo, elk and big
bruins, I'll stick with what works for me.
I remember an old article from Handloader (I think, or maybe it was G&A) called
"Old, Mild and Good" about the .300 Savage, the .250 Savage and the 7x57, and
think from time to time about something I wrote a few years back: "Out where the
ranges are long, you need to get closer."
I know what I like. I don't pretend that they are the only answer, but for me,
those first generation big bottle smokeless rifle cartridges, and the .45 ACP,
have proved themselves and reproved themselves, and they operate at nice low
pressures, and they don't require dancing at the funky edge of the spectrum in
terms of reloading.
What's not to like?
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