Over the last few years there has been a number of products that I have used that I found to be very good and I thought I would pass them along.

When I first got the new Marlin 38-55, I went searching my molds and came up with exactly one....an NEI that casts not only a fine 378 bullet but has a second mold that will cast just the nose of the bullet. So you can cast the nose soft and then place them into the full mold and cast the body of the bullet from hard lead...and water temper. It’s a slow process but you only need a few for hunting. For me having only one cast bullet design was certainly not acceptable....I needed to test as many kinds and weights of cast bullets as possible from the new rifle.

MBC Inc. to the rescue....Magnus makes some of the finest bullet designs...and I got to test several of the 375/8 bullets. Pushing them to over 2000 fps without a shred of fouling. You need rifle bullets? You have never fired cast bullets from your favorite Remchester or Rugsmith? Shame....quick call Magnus....1-256-420-8359 ask them to send their catalog....I know you will find them excellent.

While we are on the subject...Cast Performance Bullet Co. out of Shoshoni WY makes premier handgun bullets....and I have been testing them. I have also been having long conversations with Kelly Brost from Performance, very nice man....1-307-856-9083....Cast Performance puts out an exceptionally fine product, all handgun designs. I tested their handgun bullets not only from my handguns but from my leveraction rifles.....For example....I pushed their 180 grain gas checked .357 out of my Winchester at near 2000 fps...not a wit of fouling and accuracy was outstanding. Penetration in soaked phone books was near 15 inches and retain 70% of the bullet. That’s jacketed bullet performance from a cast bullet....outstanding in my book. And they make some heavy weights in every caliber......give Kelly a call, it will be worth it. These are two of the best cast bullet companies I have worked with.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE CAST PERFORMANCE WEBSITE

Buffalo Bore Ammo makes a number of loaded ammo products....I tested some of their 45 Colt loads in a number of bullet weights. The boxes clearly state that this is ammo to be fired in Ruger...Colt Anaconda....T/C...or leveraction rifles only. It is powerful ammo for these guns and hunting. Bullet weights in the 45 Colt loadings run from 260 grain thru 325 grains. You need a box of hunting ammo for your favorite shootin’iron....Buffalo Bore makes it in a number of calibers...up thru 45-70.......

CLICK HERE TO VISIT BUFFALO BORE'S WEBSITE

Another ammo company I have had a relationship with is Garrett Cartridge....Randy Garrett like Kelly Brost is a fine man...that really knows his stuff when it comes to ammo. I have been testing his 45-70 loads. My Marlin has never had such a good time. If I were going to Africa and taking my Marlin 45-70 his 530 grain +P 45-70 ammo would be going with me....and I would use it to brain an elephant. I think that much of this ammo.

I had an experience with a cape buff back three decades ago...running directly for me, it hit me with it’s shoulder....it was trying to do better than that, but I got lucky...even with just a sideswipe, I was knocked into the following week....but I managed to send him to his reward...which I’m sure was very warm. You can’t have an experience like this without your respect and caution for the type of animal involved going up about 100 points. If I were to hunt these beasts again I would be absolutely sure I had a stopper of a caliber and load with me. And yes I would trust this 530 grain 45-70 Garret load to do the job and do it cleanly.

A Marlin Guide Gun....and this ammo in the wilds of the north would keep your hide safe from very large bears. Everyone that owns a 45-70 Marlin or a Winchester ‘86 in good condition should have at least one box of this ammo on hand. I haven’t tried it on wild boar yet....but the first chance I get I will...and personally I think it would turn a 300 to 400 lb. boar inside out. Out of my Marlin SS it clocked at near 1600 fps...that’s over a ton and a half of muzzle energy. With all of the elephant and other behemoths being taken with 454 and 475 handguns do you really think this 45-70 load would be light for Africa’s biggest?

I never recommend anything I haven’t tested. And when I test, I do it fully....not just a few rounds. For example with Cast Performance products....I have loaded and fired over 500 of their cast bullets in a number of calibers....and hundreds of Magnus bullets also.....Garrett and Buffalo bore...boxes and boxes of ammo tested. It’s the only way. You may not come to the same conclusions about something I’ve tested that I have...but at least you’ll know it’s my honest opinion.

There are two bullets I talk of all the time. Both 180 grain Jacketed Hollow Points....that is where the resemblance stops...weight and hollow pointed. They are the Remington 180/.357 scallop pointed HP and the Hornady Jacketed HP in 180 grains, marked 38 on the boxes. Both these beauties from my leveraction rifles at velocities to near 2000 fps still hold together, mushroom perfectly and penetrate exceptionally well in soaked phone books, and large pigs! The Remington is neat because it has so much exposed soft lead in the nose....we were able to get good expansion at 250 yards at near 1100 fps and around five hundred pounds of energy. Or what a hot 38 would give at the muzzle with this bullet. It is the perfect 180 grainer from the 38/357 handguns and leverguns, because it will function well from around 800 fps to over 2000 fps....and that is quiet a spread for any bullet.

The whole line of XTP caliber bullets from Hornady are truly fine. I like the 180 grain JHP in 38/357 from the leveractions at high velocities. It has performed handsomely from the 35 Rem chambering in the Marlin leveraction at 2500 fps....and makes a premier deer and black bear bullet. I shoot a whole lot more of the 180 Remington JHPs because I buy them in bulk from MidwayUSA, 1000 at a time. My leveraction 357 magnums are addicted to them.

I guess I have used peep sights on and off most of my shooting life. But I was never wedded to them, because I didn’t like the way they attached with side mounts to leveraction rifles. Ashley Emerson has cured all that with his Ghost Ring sights. Ashley Outdoors Inc is out of Ft. Worth Texas...1-888-744-4880....He has a front sighting system that allows you to cut a small clone sight until you get the right height and then Ashley sends the right front sight for the rifle. His back sights are of course adjustable for windage and elevation...the Company also makes sights for bolt action rifles and handguns....his Autoloader sights sure make a fine shooting machine out of your favorite shell shucker.....

CLICK HERE TO VISIT ASHLEY OUTDOORS ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB

And while on the subject...do you buy all those little cotton patches from the gun store at outrageous prices? Next time you are in the drug store of your choice...ask the clerk to show you the cotton pads women use to take off cosmetics....small cotton pads twice as thick and absorbent then those we buy for gun supplies, and you get five or six hundred for a few bucks.

Got heavy fouling in your rifle barrel from cast bullets...load a jacketed bullet backwards that has a flat base at pistol velocities and fire it thru the fouled bore....it will remove most of the fouling. Might take more than one shot but it will clean it out.

I used to manufacture a bore paste that I made up in a lube. You lube fifty or so cast bullets and fired them from the rifle you wanted to smooth the bore on....and it would polish the bore to a mirror finish....I had several grades....from bores that looked like stove pipes to those that just needed a good mirror shine for cast shooting.....fire lapping was what it got called back in my book in the 80s. And of course everyone claims it as his idea now...but that’s ok as long as it works for those that need it.

Like a number of Shootists and reloaders I collect old reloading books. I have a fairly large collection, even for such powders as Sharpshooter and Marksman...High Vel #s two and three...and many others. Every gun show I go to I always look for them, and of course the information isn’t just historic.   I get a number of questions about old loads and these books really help. I also stop by the old ammo sellers at gun shows. That’s how I obtained 1938 ammo in 357 earlier this year and was able to run velocity tests to determine if the original advertised velocities for the 357 by S&W were valid...or just advertising hype. And we proved it was valid. The old ammo gave velocities in the high 1500 fps levels from my 8 plus inch S&W N-Frame. I also keep a small collection of old ammo that interests me...it always comes in handy to answer questions.