I have gotten the drift, from comments you have made, that you believe Weatherby cartridges are of superior design than many others. Please explain.

Robert S., California


Whether Roy Weatherby was an accidental genius, or had an instinctive idea of what his cartridge developments would produce, is left in part to speculation. However, his earlier writings, from the 1940s and 1950s, seem to indicate that he did have an understanding of fluid (and therefore, gaseous) mechanics and dynamics. Thus, the gorgeous double-radius shoulder design. I, for one, believe that a shoulder design can lead to changes in combustion characteristics that are either more or less favorable to accuracy. Let's look at an example:

One of my favorite cartridges is the 7mm Weatherby Magnum. Having chambered it

From time to time, we get a question regarding the proper bullet diameter for a certain cartridge. Many shooters new to reloading aren't yet familiar with bullet diameters as they relate to all of those confusing cartridge designations. My number one suggestion is for every serious hunter and shooter to purchase a reloading book. There are several good current publications, and used manuals can often be found at reduced prices on the internet.

Read it! Keep it right where it belongs, on the toilet tank lid, so it will be there waiting for you every day. You might find it so interesting that you actually leave that room with it and go settle into an easy chair in the living room.

Here's why it's so important... Recently a man who had

It's not a person; it's a condition. Our emotionally challenged friend and former African hunter from Virginia says it frequently: "Ed Zacherly". He does that to make a point of emphasis out of "exactly." So, when a person finally catches on to what he says, or is trying to say, he comes back with, "Ed Zacherly!" The rest of his behavior and conformance to reasonable conversation is no better than this example. The down side is, it's apparently catching.

No later than yesterday (it's mid-September 2016), I was visiting with a friend and fellow shooter as we were discussing the 6mm BR cartridge, along with the various popular chamber neck diameters of 0.266", 0.272", and so on. I pulled one from my safe that measures a generous 0.272", which allows Lapua and other properly dimensioned 6mm BR brass to be loaded and slip right into the chamber. I use it as a varmint rifle. In most instances, with lot after lot of good brass, I've found that the unmodified overall loaded neck diameter runs from about 0.267" to 0.270". Consequently. the brass for a rifle chambered with a 0.266" neck requires a slight bit of outside turning (not much more than a truing-up) before it will fit. This takes a bit of fussing that varies depending on the type of outside

It's August 20, 2016. At noon, while having a delicious hot beef sandwich at a friend's home, I was asked what I thought the final outcome would be regarding firearms if Hillary Clinton was elected President.

The effect won't be immediate. There isn't much of anything she would be able to do regarding the 2nd Amendment. Two-thirds of Congress is not about to vote to abolish or radically change the present wording, which was reviewed and approved not all that long ago by the Supreme Court. For now, the 2nd Amendment stands as is.

The problem will come in future years, as Mrs. Clinton gradually changes the mentality of the Supreme Court. Some of the present members will retire, and there will be repeated efforts to replace them with justices who have a more "liberal" or "progressive" viewpoint. As the court becomes weighted in that direction, the laws regarding firearms freedom in this country

I recently purchased a large grocery box full of miscellaneous old and empty IMR and other powder cans, ammunition boxes, and bullet boxes. One of the bullet boxes has me stumped, as it is a Herter's Wasp-Waist Sonic; 30-caliber,180 grains. There is no example of the bullet, so I do not know what is meant by the description. Does it possibly mean that a section of the bullet was of reduced diameter, so as to ride the lands rather than be engraved by the rifling?

Wes Ross, Texas


I grew up with the many products of Herter's, within easy driving reach of their Waseca, Minnesota, outlet. Many of the products were described as "Perfect" in the Herter's catalog, which gave the buyer either a load of confidence or skepticism. When the Wasp-Waist Sonic Bullets came out, my two shooting friends and I couldn't wait to try them. The results were quite acceptable, but not without loading problems. The 30-caliber 180-grain bullet you refer to was fine in the 30-06, and produced groups of near match quality (when compared to our regular load of the 180-grain Sierra MatchKing) in a Winchester Model 70 Target Rifle (the kind Carlos Hathcock used for most of his sniping work in Vietnam). However, the 180 was not useful in a 308 Winchester because the narrow waist did not allow proper seating in the short neck. For the 308, we found that the 150-grain bullet was excellent. A sporting rifle produced 3-shot groups of right around an inch with consistency. The