Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles What handloads will you be working on for 2024?

6.5 Creedmoor 127 LRX, 7x57 with 160 Speer Hot Cor, and 350 Legend with 170 grain TSX.

Ron

I picked up some 130 gr. TGK in .264 so I'm gonna give them a go in my Barrett 6.5X55. I've been using 130 Accubonds, but I hear good things about these bullets so I'm gonna them a go.

Speer hot core 145’s in my 7mm-08.

Sierra 110 hp for practice and a 150 or 165 Speer hot core for the new .308.

Hopefully I can just tweak my original 6.5 PRC load of 139 scenars with RL26 for my new Seekins .

I’m going to work with my Sakos. I developed ‘good to go’ 225 NP load for my AV .338 carbine. Took my moose with it. But i have a pile of old 275 gr speers to try, plus other pills. My son’s AV could use a good ekeing out too. I vave 2 AI 6PPC repeaters that i need to develop and a Single shot Sako AI in 22 ppc that I need to play with. I just bought a bunch of brass and dies from 10gauge. That should spur me along.

I’m working on the 338 with 275 Speers myself.

Starting soon:
.375 Wby
.375 Wh AI
.275 Rigby
.416 Rem

Good luck with those. I still have a box or two. When they were available, I wacked a couple of blacktail bucks with those, and that certainly was a bang/flop scenario. I'm certain they'd put the hurt on a big black bear, and probably even a griz.

I've had friends in those days use them on moose and Elk, over in Montana, out of 338/06s and 338 Win Mags.
They are like an easy button. The 250 grain Hornady RN/SPs were also a good bullet for big stuff...especially out of a 338/06. Any bigger 338 is just more horsepower to give even more of a "good thing" result with them.

Funny, but until I saw the thread, I hadn't given it a thought. I had to seriously think.

My reloading went into overdrive last year. Chemo had kept me from reloading for the better part of 2022. I had a backlog of projects. Furthermore, reloading was part of my "therapy" for recovery. I was still a mess a year ago December and I went for OT and PT. As soon as I could climb the stairs and as soon as I could pick up nickels, I went downstairs and started reloading. My first project was rebuilding my Hornady LNL Progressive, and then using it to load 500 rounds of 223 Rem.

I suppose the first project is to develop a working 180-grain load for my 35 Whelen. That was the one failure last year, and it came late in the summer, and I didn't have time to pursue it. My goal is to take the "Whelenizer", my Rem 7600, and bring it back online as a whitetail deer rifle after a decade out of the rotation. I had reasonably good luck with 200 grain RNs over H4895 back in the day, but it was just so much muss and fuss and the Whelenizer didn't do any better job than my 30-06. The 180 grain load I'm working on was not to my expectations of accuracy at 100 yards, so I shelved the project to spring.

I am in an ongoing search for best accuracy from my .223 Rem RAR predator. Last summer I began working with Hornady 75 grain HPBTs, and got some good results. I'm going to pick up where I left off.

Then there is 'Bess. 'Bess is a .75 cal black hole. I had no idea what I was taking on. Large caliber flintlocks are a real mad scientist gig. There are just so many dials and switches. I've added to the mess by actually making my own black powder. My first attempt was fairly energetic stuff. My next batch will be a test for using toilet paper as a charcoal source. In the meanwhile, I'm still refining a turkey load and deer load.

Continuing the changeover from Alliant to VV powders in everything that still uses Alliant. RL 26 is a tough one, N565 doesn't do it. As $$ permits, will get some N560 & some N170. Have to get to the range to try some N165 loads. Also testing with different primers to conserve my WLR, WLRM, & Fed 215 supply.

Got a pile of TTSX on sale last month to try in 25, 7mm, 338, & 358. Haven't tried anything all copper since those miserable fouling original X bullets came out. The 257/100s are lookin' good in a Robts. Imp.

Those 275 Speers were the only thing that shot under an inch in a 338 WinMag that used to live here. They were long OOP when I got them from an old geezer at a gun show. Thinking there are still a few boxes in the collection of stuff still packed away. What fun.

I’m taking my Ruger No. 1 in 30-06 to Africa this summer and need to work up a load for the Barnes 180 gr. TTSX. I’ve seen a number of good reports for Ramshot Hunter for that bullet but can’t find that powder anywhere.

I'm going to try the 100gr Barnes TTSX in my 257 R and 25-06, also NAB 110's in the 25-06. I have some 87gr Sierria's to try in a 243 and 6MM Rem. First up however is to load buckets full of 16,20,28 & 12's all 2 1/2 inch for the sporting clays season.

Well all of these projects have also rekindled my never started Swaging endeavor. 5 years ago I bought the components from a deceased BR’er daughter and widow ( my wife’s ex sister in law) 17k 6mm jackets- Sierra and Gardner? 175# of .22 cal lead wire, core cutter, B&A dies and an A2 RCBS press.

Ugh, sounds like a lot of work..still.

212 ELDX in a 300 win mag, H4831, IMR-7828, RL-23, RL-26, Magnum, H1000

270 TSX in a 375HH, IMR-4064, Varget, RL-15; maybe AR-comp and H4350 if I don't have a headache yet

and to give my shoulder a rest, I will enjoy shooting tinny groups with my 7mm08

I am working towards having a single load for each rifle. I have enough different chambering that I want to get to one load for each rifle, then just change rifles as the situation dictates.

I had excellent results with Ramshot Hunter with the 180 grain TTSX in 2 different .30-06 that I worked up loads for this year for an elk hunt.

Oh, I hear ya. My problem is there's always something interesting just beyond the tip of my nose in powder and bullet offerings that I just have to try and explore in my existing cartridges.

I *think* I've been able to finally squash the new firearm / new cartridge impulse. Except perhaps for that little gremlin whispering 6.5 PRC...

6.5 Grendel with AA 2520, a new powder to me, and 125 Partitions in a CVA Scout pistol.
375 JDJ in a 26" Encore barrel, just because I got one cheap, have plenty of the parent cases, and 2520 is also supposed to work with it. Hawk 235 RT bullets showed promise last season.
444 Marlin in a rebarreled No. 1, focusing on Benchmark and jacketed bullets. Initial results last season suggest that powder and the Nosler 240 JSP are a good match.
348 Winchester in a rebarreled No. 1 with Hawk 230 spitzers. Had good initial results with that bullet and 4350 last season.

Like duckster, I'm looking for a single good hunting load for each chambering that I load for.

With sub-zero weather ahead, not much will get tested for a while.

I'm pretty sure I have the loads worked out, but might tinker a bit, fine tuning the loads I'll use in my .450-400 3" Nitro Express. Hunting Cape buffalo in Mozambique in July. Most likely will use Hornady DGX Bonded bullets, but may try a Swift A frame and see if they regulate in my Merkel double. I'll use North Fork Cup point solids for the left barrel. They regulate well and hit hard.
For plains game I'll be shooting my Verney-Carron bolt action in 9.3x62. It would be easy to just use my standard 285 grain Norma Oryx / RL 15 load at 2400 fps again. Perfect load. But I may try the Swift Aframes in it as well. Wish I could buy Ramshot powders here, I'd use some of Mule Deers data.

I have three fast twist barrels coming. 26 inch varmint weight for a Savage 12.

1 22-250 Imp, actually the Creed variety of imp. Have to get dies and brass.
2 6mm-284 I have dies and loaded rounds waiting
3 6.5-284 Another one I will have to buy dies and brass for.