Hummm, all I have seen here are rifle load stories. Although I have a few pistol stories I would like to share...especially today's,,, I'll leave it for another time and tell you my favorite rifle load story.
Several years ago when I first started reloading, I was like a sponge. Books and fellow shooters were the only sources of information and I pressed both to the highest limits I could. I shot a older Model 70 Winchester that would only group 2 to 3 inch groups at 100 yards with factory ammo. And 1 to 2 inch with the best combinations I could come up with. After 3 years of tweeking my loads of many, many types of bullets, powders, primers and cases. The best I could do was 1" on a good day. I figured well... that's good enough to kill a deer, and settled on a load. As I recall it was 48.5 grs of IMR4064 behind a Hornady 150 gr SP Interlock which had a MV of 2700 to 2800 FPS.
I loaded and shot almost every day for a very long time. Then right before deer season I did the unthinkable.... I didn't check my component stock well before I ran out of loaded rounds and only 2 days left before opening day, I noticed that I was completely out of powder and primers, and none to be had anywhere in town.
I was desperate, called everyone I knew who might have some...none to be had.
Then I remembered that I had bought a thousand rounds of WWIi surplus 30-06 ammo during a civilian marksmanship program I had attended to be able to buy a M-1 Grande for $165. (At a whopping $.03 per round). $300 WAS alot of money back in the mid 70s and I elected to buy the ammo rather than the gun. After all, I already had a 06. Anyway I had only shot a few of them as I found I didn't like cleaning the asphalt like tar out of my barrel that the 162gr bullets were sealed with. I dug out a few of the 8 round clips and started to work. I pulled the bullet from one and dumped the powder into a empty case and set it aside, discarded the FMJ projectile cleaned the case of the tar, added the powder back in and seated one of my 150 gr SPs and repeated the process 20 times.
The next afternoon after work I went to the range expecting them to be all over the paper. But to my suprise....not only did I get smaller groups ... each hole was touching each other in each of the four 5 round groups save for 2 flyers that were shooter error. You can guess what the load for that old 06 was from then on. I still have a few of those old rounds in the ammo box. Too bad the old gun was stolen many years ago... bet it would still out shoot anything I have had since