Recent content by Dave Lively

Looking at the article linked below Super Vel used a combination of light bullets and above SAAMI spec pressure to get reliable expansion at a time when expanding bullets from a 38 rarely expanded. Out of 4 inch model 19 the 110 grain 38+P load produced 293 ft-lbs of energy which is pretty good...

That is often the result of the priming compound not being spread completely around the rim. Most of the time if you rotate a dud 22 it will fire in the same gun. Light primer strikes happen but I don't think that is the cause of all the .22 duds you are finding.

Before affordable chronographs became widely available and people started sharing measured velocities out of real guns ammo makers were often very optimistic with velocity ratings. Ballistic pendulum chronographs were not something the shooting public was going to mess with. And until the...

The worst leading I ever saw was with Remington Thunderbolt but that was more due to low quality in general than the lead bullet. CCI standard velocity and even the lower cost Blazer has lead bullets and I have not had leading problems with either. Bullets need lube of some sort and I think...

I no longer own a 380 but if I did it would be loaded with a FMJ flat nose since I prefer to err on the side of having enough penetration and flat nose bullets are a bit more likely to go in a straight line. With 380 you have to choose between a bullet that expands well and a load that...

Threads like this remind me how big a favor my parents did for my brother, sister and myself by having a clearly defined will or trust made while they were of sound mind and body. All of us being raised to be financially self sufficient helped a lot too. None of use were relying on an...

Why would a good quality 22 revolver be any cheaper than a centerfire revolver of comparable quality? Unlike semiautos where 22s can be blowback instead of using a locked breech about the only manufacturing differences between a 22 and 357 revolver is the number of chambers that have to be...

I would probably buy a 22 that was smaller than a J frame but strictly as a novelty and range gun. Bigger than the NAA mini revolvers but with a swing out cylinder and a grip big enough to get at least 2 fingers on. Plus, I want even my range guns to be drop safe, very small guns would be...

Another factor is we often tend to look at the past through rose colored glasses, remembering the good and forgetting the bad. The good old days usually are not as good as we remember. A few years ago I would have told that that while my S&W 41 is extremely picky about ammo it never had a...

So would I. But I don't enjoy either task.

When I reloaded I used a lot of Unique. It was a great powder for "10 mm Special" loads I used in my 610 that had about the same power as a 40 S&W but in a 10mm case. It was dirty, produced a lot of smoke, had a unique smell but those loads shot very well. I once had a shooter on the bench...

For me cleaning guns is like scrubbing a toilet. It has to be done but if there was a way to avoid it or do it less frequently I would.

Thanks! I ordered a set in both 400 and 800 grit.

I don't like cleaning guns but its a part of the price I pay to go shooting. What makes 22s different is that they are the only guns I own that I have had to quit shooting in the middle of a range session because they are too dirty. When fed particularly dirty ammo I have had semiauto 22s...

It looks to me like the bullet missed a step or two in the forming process. Or the bullet somehow got flipped 180 degrees during that process. If it was me I would buy a bullet puller just to see what the other side of the bullet looks like. Wouldn't fix anything but I would be able to more...