John Haviland

1 month ago | americanrifleman.org | John Haviland

The .270 Winchester isn’t a military cartridge, and nobody ever claimed it was a target cartridge; it is a straightforward hunting cartridge. During the past 50 years, I’ve hunted quite a bit carrying a .270 Win. rifle, and, to tell the truth, no cartridges have come along that significantly better it for hunting. Since it’s such a popular hunting cartridge, every brand and style of bullet is available for handloading the .270 Win.

1 month ago | americanrifleman.org | John Haviland

Bullets in flight are subject to nature’s forces. Through the decades, manufacturers have developed bullets to somewhat counteract the effects of wind, gravity and atmospheric drag with a streamlined shape incorporating a boattail and long ogive terminating in a sharp point. As bullets fly through the air, though, their drag coefficients can vary substantially, to the extent that their trajectories are significantly altered at long distance.

Feb 25, 2025 | americanrifleman.org | John Haviland

My elk-hunting reasoning figured that the .338 Win. Mag. is a good elk cartridge, so the .375 Ruger’s heavier bullet weight and increased velocity should be even better at knocking down a big bull. So, I set to work handloading .375 rounds and shooting them through a Mossberg Patriot rifle to find out if the .375 Ruger cartridge would live up to my expectations. The first step was to select a bullet. The .375 is all about bullet weight.

Nov 26, 2024 | americanrifleman.org | John Haviland

In his Handbook For Shooters And Reloaders (Volume 1), P.O. Ackley wrote of the .257 Ackley Improved that, “It is a relatively efficient cartridge, flexible and comes close to the mythical ‘all around cartridge.’”To make .257 Ack. Imp. cases requires fire-forming .257 Roberts cases in an Ackley Improved chamber; cases come out of the Improved chamber with a reduced body taper and increased shoulder angle.

Aug 16, 2024 | americanrifleman.org | John Haviland

As the name “buckshot” implies, it was used in bygone days to shoot deer at close range. About its only current use, however, is short-range defense against those dangers that lurk in the shadows. I keep my 12-ga. Mossberg 500 Tactical close at hand during those nights camped in a tent. The Mossberg pump’s magazine is stuffed with 2¾" shells loaded with nine lead 00 buckshot pellets that immediately begin to spread when fired through the cylinder bore of the Mossberg’s barrel.