Issue Number 274 — Handloader Ammunition Reloading Journal October 2011

It was signed: “Uneasy in Idaho.”

He set the die in the press. The first case slid in with a soft squeak . The primer seated with a satisfying crush . The powder measure dropped its charge like dark, fine sand. It was signed: “Uneasy in Idaho

He looked at the cover one more time. “Issue Number 274.” He wondered if the man from Idaho ever found his answer. Probably not. Probably he just started a new notebook, too. The powder measure dropped its charge like dark, fine sand

Frank smiled, raised his coffee mug to the empty garage, and whispered: “To the next two hundred seventy-four.” Probably not

The workbench light hummed a low, yellow frequency, casting long shadows across the spent brass casings lined up like tiny, exhausted soldiers. Frank turned the page of Handloader Issue #274, the October 2011 journal crinkling with age even though he’d just pulled it from the mailbox.

“Dear Editor,” it read. “For twenty years, I used my father’s data for the .44 Mag. 240-grain Sierra over 21.5 grains of 2400. Last month, that load keyholed at 25 yards. My new chronograph shows pressure signs he never had. Is the powder different? Or have I just forgotten how to listen to the brass?”

“October 2011. Issue #274. Reduce 58.0 to 55.5 grains. Work up in 0.5 increments. Reason: Dad’s powder lot was 1992. New H4895 is faster. Also: I’m not him. That’s fine.”