Old assumptions die hard

[Tom Flanigan]

Old opinions and experiences die hard although they are sometimes based on flawed assumptions that become ingrained but are nevertheless incorrect. My recent challenge to Paul and others with respect to pressure being a factor in recoil is a case in point.

I started reloading at 14 years old because the then new plastic wads and wraps were replacing the old fiber wads in factory shells. I could no longer buy the short range loads I believed I needed. I did a lot of patterning back in the day with the new loads and the fiber wad loads. The loading companies stated that the patterns with the new loads would not be smaller, just denser. But, at least in the guns I patterned, the patterns were definitely smaller at 20 and 40 yards, the ranges that I patterned my guns. The first year I used the old Lee hand loader which could be purchased for $9.98. It worked and I got my fiber wad loads but it was slow and sometimes the plastic shell crimps would open. I always had to empty my pockets of shot at the end of the day.

The second year I bought a MEC 600 Jr. and I was in heaven. I then purchased a loading manual and found and loaded low pressure loads. I equated low pressure with low recoil simply because my low-pressure loads kicked a lot softer than the factory stuff. I was certainly sensitive to recoil changes in different loads when shooting at paper. But my low-pressure loads were coincidently also low speed loads. I attributed the softer recoil to the pressures but in fact it was the speed of the load that was causing the decrease in recoil. For 54 years I believed low pressure equated to softer recoil and never realized the flaw in my assumption.

Then some of the boys on this site set me straight. At first, I was reluctant to believe them without proof from someone with a ballistics background, so ingrained was my long-term belief. But then I saw the light and mended my thinking. I was just reading one of my old books by Michael McIntosh and he pointed out that pressure has nothing to do with recoil. I felt a bit ashamed of myself for being so wrong for so long. So, I am coming clean and I am going to punish myself. I am sending myself to bed tonight without supper.