If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

By Gary Prisendorf

I took up the art of reloading in the early 1980’s, when there weren’t nearly as many choices of components or gun cleaning supplies.

That was before the internet, so everything I learned had to come from a reloading manual or from another reloader who was nice enough to share their knowledge from their own experience.

It wasn’t long till I discovered that IMR 4350 is a fine choice for a 30-06 and a .243 Winchester, or that IMR 4831 and a 130 grain Sierra Gameking is hard to beat in the .270 Winchester.

I can’t even begin to tell you how many 38 Special’s I have shot with a 148 gr. HBWC and 2.7 grains of Bullseye. Not to mention my old 1911, a 230 grain RN and either 5 grains of Bullseye or 6 grains of Unique.

When it came to cleaning a firearm, it was always Hoppes #9 and a bronze brush through the bore and Rem Oil for all the metal parts.

I bet you would be hard pressed to find someone shooting an M1 Garand who has never tried IMR 4895 or an old prairie dog hunter who hasn’t shot H380 through his 22-250.

In my opinion, if you own a .308 Winchester and it doesn’t shoot a 168 grain Matchking well, you had better trade it off because something is wrong with it.

Today there are literally tons of choices when it comes to reloading components and firearms cleaning supplies. Many do exactly what they are advertised to do, but others, not so much. There are a lot of gimmicks these days that make some pretty outrageous claims.

Sure it’s fine to give new things a try, and many will probably work very well for the intended purpose. But there are just some things that are tried and true.

Just like the old saying reads, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.