What's the easiest cartridge you've developed a load for?

[Bill in Oregon]

This is the opposite side of geobru's coin. It's pretty hard to make a mistake with a .38 Special, but my vote goes to the .44 Russian. It's simple to load for and the cartridges I have made up -- with Starline brass and the Lee 242-240-2R that copies the classic old Lyman 429-383 -- have been an utter pleasure to shoot, and accurate to boot, whether using smokeless or black. The proportions are incredibly pleasing -- as are so many of the Victorian era cartridges. Of course you can shoot these in any .44 Special or .44 Magnum. I had a ball shooting them out of the Charter Bulldog. The challenge for me has always been to commit to a revolver just chambered in .44 Russian. I did so once with one of the Italian Colt Open Top models that I bought from Buffalo Arms many years ago. It was so accurate to shoot that it made a feller want to put on a fancy hat and shoot with his left hand in his pocket if you know the feeling. The fool never learns, and I sold it long ago.

[4t5]

44 magnum , don’t own a special , so I load this down .
200 gr lead over 6.8 gr of Win 244 , don’t own a chrono , but I’m guessing less than 1000 fps.

[JimT]

Several ...
.38 Special
.41 Magnum
.44 Special
.45 Colt
.45 ACP
454 Casull
.475 Linebaugh

[jeepnik]

.45 acp. Right out f the manual. I have two loads, one for FMJ and the other for cast. Use the same load regardless of handgun. Reliable and accurate in all. Been a long time, but I think I hit on it after only for or five tries.

[samsi]

I've had pretty good luck with most cartridges but the "bestest the easiest" was the 30'06. John Barsness once wrote an article with the premise of one rifle and load to hunt the world (excluding dangerous game), and it was the '06 with various 165 gr bullets over the same charge of 4350.

I put up a batch of 165 Interlocks with the recommended charge and they shot sub MOA all day long from an old push-feed Model 70 right from the start, didn't have to change a thing with the rifle or load.

[piller]

30-06 has been accurate with every load I have made for it. 150 theough 180 grains.

[mickbr]

44 special.

[wvfarrier]

308 Win

[Scott Tschirhart]

.44 Special. You just can’t do better than a 250 gr Keith over 7.5 gr of Unique.

[Drawdown]

30-06, Speer 150gr HC & A4064 & H4350 with 165gr Speer or Hornady IL

[Rockrat]

6.5BR Tried one starting powder charge/bullet combo--So-so. Raised the powder charge, same bullet. Three shots under 1/10th. of an inch @100yds

[geobru]

I've had pretty good luck with most cartridges but the "bestest the easiest" was the 30'06. John Barsness once wrote an article with the premise of one rifle and load to hunt the world (excluding dangerous game), and it was the '06 with various 165 gr bullets over the same charge of 4350.

I put up a batch of 165 Interlocks with the recommended charge and they shot sub MOA all day long from an old push-feed Model 70 right from the start, didn't have to change a thing with the rifle or load.

That is very easy, especially for a rifle! It isn't surprising that most of the "Easiest to reload" are pistol rounds because we don't expect to get sub MOA groups at 100+ yards with a pistol. I am the first to admit that I am NOT a great shot with a pistol, which means that I'm pretty satisfied if I can hit a beer can at 25 yards most of the time....

I have sub MOA loads for the rifles that are capable to achieve that level of accuracy, but I didn't have recommended starting loads for them like Samsi, so I had to start with a range of test loads and shoot them to find the sweet spot for each specific powder. I expect to go through that testing process to find the perfect load for each gun.

That being said, due to my own minimal expectations for the accuracies of the pistols that I shoot, any of the pistol rounds that go bang are the easiest.
38 Spcl. 357, 44 Spcl, 44 Mag
For you pistoleros with true skill with a pistol probably notice the difference between loads. Accuracy between loads is something that I can't discern due to my skill level. YMMV

[GunnyMack]

Id have to say 450 Bushmaster has been the easiest. Seems like no matter the powder/bullet combo is my (ugh) AR shoots quite well. ( I hate chasing brass!)

[marlinman93]

I'd lump all the straight walled pistol cartridges as equally easy to make up good loads. Never had an issue with any standard loads.
I did work quite a bit with trying to develop very light .45 ACP loads for my S&W 745 IPSC pistol when I shot it competitively. I wanted the lightest safe load possible to function flawlessly, and be accurate. I ended up at a 185 Gr. SWC and got 4 lighter recoil springs from S&W for free to see what functioned, and how light I could go and still seal the chamber. It was 675 fps. that worked. 650 fps also worked, but cases showed burnt powder around the outside, so went a bit faster.

[Ray Newman]

7mm-08 for a Browning BBR, heavy barrel.

Browning-Miroku M1885 Traditional Hunter, 30 WCF.

Both rifles and loads consistently shot 7/8"- 1 1/8" 5 or 10 shot groups at 100 yds. The 7mm-08 really shined at 200 yards. The .223 hotshots had an attitude change about the 30 WCF after shooting it and seeing the target results. The 30 WCF Browning was my favorite of the two. Very little load development needed for both and both sported 6.5-20X Leopold scopes. I jut hope their new owners appreciate and enjoy them.

[Ysabel Kid]

Any of the straight-walled pistol-caliber rounds above a .38 Special. Easy to handle, easy to load, and a lot of fun.

[piller]

Any of the straight-walled pistol-caliber rounds above a .38 Special. Easy to handle, easy to load, and a lot of fun.

.429, .452, and .475 diameters are all pretty easy to find an accurate load for, at least as long as the throat is sized right. The .452 diameter seems to be a bit troublesome if the throat or forcing cone are wrong.

[Griff]

the 1st cartridge I loaded for: .30-30. 31 grains of IMR 4320 behind the Sierra 150 grain SPFN in my 26" mdl 64A just seem to gravitate to the center of the 100 yard target. Any changes I've made in the intervening 50-something years has been for easier metering. In the late '80s I found a Saeco #316 mold for a 150 grain GCFN that I was able to match velocities to the Sierra bullet, along with like weight Remington & Federal factory ammunition. My current load of 27 grains of Reloader 7 behind those same Sierra and cast bullets performs just as well in a number of .30-30 Winchester 94s.

[Wolfshead]

Mine was my 30-30, model 94.
36 grains Leverevolution powder, in a Starline brass case, 200 CCI large rifle primers, with a 160 grain Hornady FTX bullet.

[Bill in Oregon]

The good old .30 WCF keeps coming up. It was the first cartridge I handloaded, when a junior in high school, 1970. Bought a new RCBS Junior press, RCBS dies, an RCBS powder scale (I'd been to their factory in Oroville and was a big fan) and the brand-new Speer Manual #8. Like Griff, I loaded the Sierra 150-grain flat-nose, but over something like 28 grains of IMR-3031, which was a very useful powder in that cartridge. This was for my new Marlin .30-30. I crumpled the neck seating the very first bullet and still have that cartridge somewhere, just for smiles.