Back when I was a kid except for 22's guns were for hunting. In the early '80's I lived and worked with a couple of gun enthusiast's. They got me into shooting as a pastime and hobby. They were very knowledgeable. I learned a lot about guns, ballistics, shooting and reloading from them. They are still good friends but I don't see them much as they are not nearby. One of these fellows liked big bullets and it rubbed off. My 1st gun was a 44 magnum.
I don't have a lot of guns. But other than 22's (which I love) all my calibers begin with 4! 44, 45, 45/70. They are all straight wall cartridges. I have nothing against 20's and 30's. It's just not what gets my motor running. Necked cartridges same thing. I like the way a 44 mag cartridge feels in my hand when I put it in the chamber. It feels like a real bullet. The big torpedo of a 45/70 just makes me grin uncontrollably. I much prefer the low frequency thump of a slow big bore to the loud crack of a fast 20 or 30 cal rifle cartridge. I like what happens when the freight train of a big heavy bullet hits something down range. Water bottles and such just tend to vaporize with quite a show.
The downside is that big bores can kick Hard!
That's one of the reasons I now have reloading equipment. Saving money on ammo helps. But the big reason is I can build what I want. TX gunrunner said in another thread that he doesn't reload. He assembles custom cartridges. I couldn't agree more. Many reloader's often load copies of factory ammo with factory components. Petty much to save on ammo costs. I've only been doing this now for a short time. But everything I'm loading is something you won't find on the shelf. It has taken some searching for data. But thanks to the Cowboy Action Crowd the Data is out there to build moderate recoiling accurate ammo from somewhat cheaper components. I'm really enjoying the loading process. But the testing is even more fun!
Big and slow is great fun. Nothing like the whump when you pull the trigger followed by the dull thud of the bullet finding it's mark down range.
