What did you do in the reloading room recently?

[whacko]

Loaded up 100 each 45acp 200 cast lswc with 4.6 bullseye.

Also loaded up 100 each 45acp with 185 grain cast lswc with 4.6 bullseye.

I've never used 185s but I got ahold of 1000 of them so will give them a shot tomorrow at the club plate shoot. I did some research and Max for this load is listed at 5.5 or 6.1 bullseye depending on the source with min anywhere from 3.1 to 4. So.....I'm in the range between min and max using the same 4.6 drop that I've been using with 200 grain cast lswc......difference of only 15 grains I'm thinking is just going to give me a little more velocity. I'll see how they feel tomorrow morning.

 

[xtry51]

Looks like with rain all day tomorrow, I may get to bang out more of the 124gr 9mm. After that I'm either going to prep .308 brass or .223 brass I think.

I really should pull my bin of misfit rounds and break them down but I keep putting it off...

 

[meh]

Not being awed by my prior "short" 44 magnum results using WST, I decided to stop fighting it and just work up WST loads in 44 magnum proper. I mean, I'm still aiming for something in the 15-19K psi range, not a true "magnum" pressure, but let's just see what the powder does with the extra airspace Maybe it will be fun to shoot out of my Henry 44 and accurate enough if I keep the velocity down. I just took an educated guess at the charge levels, using experience with WST and using Bullseye instead in software. There's such a huge margin for error here that I can't imagine I'll have any serious problems.

Also decided to load up some more of the 45 ACP versions. A couple of my earlier loads wouldn't chamber in the Blackhawk, apparently because of some variation in the bullet diameter, and all the ones I shot showed the characteristic sooting that goes with a low-pressure cartridge, more like a standard 45C pressure than the circa 19K I was expecting from these 45 ACP loads. For some reason it finally occurred to me why the loads I'd done seemed so light even though they had reached the Hodgdon published maximum. That's because I was going by the 45 ACP 200 grain SWC published loads, and a 200 grain SWC is a lot longer than a 200gr RNFP. I mean, I knew it was longer, but I just hadn't worked out how much longer. It's a lot. I should have been seating them over the top of the crimp groove, and instead I was seating them to the bottom. I calculated the equivalent COAL for the same seating depth as an SWC, but that just looked ridiculous. Anyway, I seated a new batch a bit deeper, well over the crimp groove, anyway. Using Bullseye as a guide, QuikLOAD and Gordan's assure me that the increase in pressure will be significant.

 

[mac1911]

Not being awed by my prior "short" 44 magnum results using WST, I decided to stop fighting it and just work up WST loads in 44 magnum proper. I mean, I'm still aiming for something in the 15-19K psi range, not a true "magnum" pressure, but let's just see what the powder does with the extra airspace Maybe it will be fun to shoot out of my Henry 44 and accurate enough if I keep the velocity down. I just took an educated guess at the charge levels, using experience with WST and using Bullseye instead in software. There's such a huge margin for error here that I can't imagine I'll have any serious problems.

Also decided to load up some more of the 45 ACP versions. A couple of my earlier loads wouldn't chamber in the Blackhawk, apparently because of some variation in the bullet diameter, and all the ones I shot showed the characteristic sooting that goes with a low-pressure cartridge, more like a standard 45C pressure than the circa 19K I was expecting from these 45 ACP loads. For some reason it finally occurred to me why the loads I'd done seemed so light even though they had reached the Hodgdon published maximum. That's because I was going by the 45 ACP 200 grain SWC published loads, and a 200 grain SWC is a lot longer than a 200gr RNFP. I mean, I knew it was longer, but I just hadn't worked out how much longer. It's a lot. I should have been seating them over the top of the crimp groove, and instead I was seating them to the bottom. I calculated the equivalent COAL for the same seating depth as an SWC, but that just looked ridiculous. Anyway, I seated a new batch a bit deeper, well over the crimp groove, anyway. Using Bullseye as a guide, QuikLOAD and Gordan's assure me that the increase in pressure will be significant.

Im so opposite, i would probably load 44 mag that would feel like 32sw
My 45acp loads cause slow motion slide action

 

[meh]

Im so opposite, i would probably load 44 mag that would feel like 32sw
My 45acp loads cause slow motion slide action

You're more extreme, I'd have to concede in that case, but I don't know about opposite. We're talking about light-recoiling loads in all cases and possibilities I've considered with WST. It's just a question of how light I want to go. It's also a matter of feeling out the limits here. I might go back to a lighter charge with the shorter COAL, and it might even burn cleaner for me than the loads I've shot to date.

 

[Jim Poulette]

My 45acp loads cause slow motion slide action

....those pesty "slides".............. get rid of them !

 

[steven grammont]

Made up 79 rounds of .38spl swc this morning , that's all I had left for clean brass or I would've kept going.

 

[steven grammont]

Cool. I've never tried 700-x or BE-86 before. Only Titegroup and 231 which both shoot and meter great. I might have to try some of X-treme's 124s as all I have now is 115s.

I've loaded probably 1500 using Xtreme 124gr flat nose ,W231 , , #500 CCI primers , and I like them.

 

[DW357]

Tested what I thought were the okay Acme loads in the new Shield Plus today but nope they’re f***ed. Leaded after just a few rounds. I still have like 400ish rounds left and I have 0 interest in pulling them. I’m tempted to buy a new Shield barrel for $120 just to blast these off but seems like a waste of money.

Well I ended up buying a spare barrel on eBay. It’s actually really nicely made. I just got back from the range to test the accuracy and it shot just as good as the factory barrel if not better.
No idea who makes it. 10 yards at a decent pace

This was the ebay description:


Anyway, the $120 was worth it to me so I don’t have to kill myself pulling 400+ rounds.

 

[EddieZoom]

Got bored cranking out 9's, swapped the press over to fo-tay and did a test batch using Berry's 165gr FP's and Power Pistol. Six grains gets me an average of 927.8fps out of my Sig 229. Power pistol produces sound and fury but these are pretty light. Might go lighter...might see what it takes to make major (165PF) with this combo.

 

[Jim Poulette]

More "stop on my way to work" chrono recording (.44 mag):

LOAD 12- 240gn XTP/JHP (Hornady), 15.3 gn Alliant 2400, 44 MAG New Rem Brass

LOAD 10- 240gn SWC (T&B), 7.3 gn Alliant SP, 44 MAG New Rem Brass

LOAD 8 - 240gn FP (HS), 6.6 gn Alliant SP, 44 MAG 1U Rem Brass

Data is here for those interested.

 

[meh]

Shot my light 44 magnum test loads, 200 grain coated RNFP's over 7.5gr, 8.0gr, and 8.5gr of WST. Shot them out of my Henry 44 carbine at 25 yards from a rest. Meh. I got pretty much the same group from all three loads. I don't know what the deal is with the one flyer in each group. All other things being more or less equal, I guess I'll just go with the lightest load.

 

[Tinkermatic]

I’ve been sloowwlllyy processing brass with my Lee hand press and finally got around to loading my first rifle rounds.

Started safe with 20 whole rounds of .308 (it’s a hand press, cut me some slack)
168gr Sierra Matchking HPBTs over 42.5 grains Varget finished to 2.775” OAL, just like the book told me to. I don’t have a chronograph, so we’ll just see how they group at some point.

I’ve got some N540 and 125gr Barnes TnT bullets to play with as well. One thing at a time though.
Baby steps.

 

[DW357]

I’ve been sloowwlllyy processing brass with my Lee hand press and finally got around to loading my first rifle rounds.

Started safe with 20 whole rounds of .308 (it’s a hand press, cut me some slack)
168gr Sierra Matchking HPBTs over 42.5 grains Varget finished to 2.775” OAL, just like the book told me to. I don’t have a chronograph, so we’ll just see how they group at some point.

I’ve got some N540 and 125gr Barnes TnT bullets to play with as well. One thing at a time though.
Baby steps.

View attachment 503845

Not too shabby! Glad to hear you’re still plugging away with reloading.

 

[DW357]

I loaded up 300 rounds of 9mm with the 147 gr round nose blue bullets over N320. There was a flat point bullet that got mixed in. Luckily I caught after seating the bullet. The OAL was like 1.058” (compared to ~1.10” with the RN) which was probably still safe to shoot but would have been warm I’m sure. I decided to pull it as a precaution.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

Prepped up about a gallon of 30-30 brass and a handful of 45 Colt I had sitting around.

I think tomorrow I’ll cast up some 311291s for the 30-30s

 

[pastera]

Primed about 600 233 brass
Crunched a few primers - every one of them hurt .
Need to finish priming tomorrow, pull the primer feed and set up to load.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

I recently picked up an Ideal 311291 mould from the estate of Duke in Florida.
I was happy to have a mould from my first casting mentor after he passed away.

So after prepping up the tons of 30-30 brass and finding an old box of ideal gas checks I decided I should cast some of those and some of the Lee 30 cal 155 grain RNFP.

I have to say that even though the 311291 was a single cavity it made bullets fast. I ladle cast them and I could pour just about as fat as I wanted to and that small mould kept cool and produced great bullets. (Alloy was about 650 degrees)

The Lee mould made some good bullets also but the gas check shank is a little large.

The Ideal bullets dropped at about .314” and the Lee at almost .310”

You can see from the pics after sizing with a .310” die the Lee barely sized down with some swipes here and there on the driving bands. The Ideal sized down beautifully and looks to be very concentric.

Now I need to figure out if I’m going to run these as air cooled or if I’m going to size/check them with a push through sizer, bake them to harden and then lube them in the sizer.
It’s kind of screwy because I didn’t think of water dropping them at the time so now I have to fudge it a bit.
I guess I can run these air cooled and see how they shoot. My guess is they would work well at those pressures and that hardening or water dropping might be too hard for the pressures that 30-30 operates at.

 

[gerrycaruso]

What powder and how much? In .30/30, I use a Lyman31141 which looks similar to that Lee. I use 15 grains of SR4759 which I have but I know it's no longer available. I'm guessing AA5744 would be very close.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

What powder and how much? In .30/30, I use a Lyman31141 which looks similar to that Lee. I use 15 grains of SR4759 which I have but I know it's no longer available. I'm guessing AA5744 would be very close.

The Lee is basically the 31141 with the base driving band chopped off. I have the Lee copy of the 31141 but with a plain base. I’ll have to get a pic of them side by side.

I’m thinking 3031 just because I have a ton of it.
I’m looking for hunting accuracy really. I’m not an accuracy junky and I like to hear steel ring. I’m not looking for too velocities so that should help out.

I have some 5744 but not much. It also super spend to replace but you’re right about it probably being a good fit. I’ll have to try some of that too.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

Ok I was wrong. The extra weight is all in the nose on the 311041 copy
Also it doesn’t have a driving band forward of the crimp groove.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

Looks like the 311291 will not chamber in my Marlin unless I load it crimped over the front driving band.
Back to the drawing board.

I have to make a dummy from the Lee 150 grain RNFP later and see if that will work.

I’ve been doing a little reading in the 311291 and hear it’s good as a target bullet in the 30-40 Krag so I might try to load a few for that.

 

[gerrycaruso]

I believe the 311291 is designed for the .30/06. I suppose it will work in the .30/40 but the .30/40 is supposed to use a 200 grain round nose. The Krag seems to feed better with a long round nose bullet.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

I believe the 311291 is designed for the .30/06. I suppose it will work in the .30/40 but the .30/40 is supposed to use a 200 grain round nose. The Krag seems to feed better with a long round nose bullet.

Good point. I prefer heavy for caliber if I can. It gives me the most bang when I try to keep the velocity at a respectable cast bullet speed.

 

[Jim Poulette]

@Michael J. Spangler So I've read in several places that the recommended max velocity (handgun or rifle, in .44 mag anyway) for cast bullets if <1000 fps. Is this typical?

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

@Michael J. Spangler So I've read in several places that the recommended max velocity (handgun or rifle, in .44 mag anyway) for cast bullets if <1000 fps. Is this typical?

Nahh. You can go faster than that.
It’s all about the 3 most important things with cast.
Bullet fit
Bullet fit
Bullet fit
If you get those right you can do much more. Top end loads for 357 or 44 can gain over 400 FPS when fired from a rifle. They seem to shoot just as well with zero leading in my experience.

The threshold is more about RPM than it is about speed.
A 357 with a 1:16 twist at 1800 is a completely different animal than a .308 with a 1:10 or twist at 1800.

 

[Jim Poulette]

If you get those right you can do much more. Top end loads for 357 or 44 can gain over 400 FPS when fired from a rifle. They seem to shoot just as well with zero leading in my experience.

Got it......partially anyway. I'm looking at one of these in 44 - so I am interested in observing this first hand (22" w/ 1:20 w/BS receiver).

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

Got it......partially anyway. I'm looking at one of these in 44 - so I am interested in observing this first hand (22" w/ 1:20 w/BS receiver).

Load them hot. You will be fine if bullet fit is right.
Slug the bore with a soft lead ball. Measure the groove to groove diameter and rider bullets .001”-.002” over size from that.

I use a relatively soft alloy in my 357s. Probably 10 brinell or so. I can load a 170 lubed with carnauba red over 13.5 grains of 2400 and push them out of the rifle with no leading at all.

I believe the SAAMI rifle twist is much slower than the pistol twist for 44 mag.

Larger diameter bullets and slower twist should make for an even more cast friendly gun.

I don’t have a 44 mag rifle but I have a 44 special rifle and I push a 260ish with 7.5 grains of unique. My guess is that is clocking over 1000.

A quick look shows about 1150 or so from a 20” barrel.

So I can say that I shoot a bunch of that load out of my Marlin with no issues at all.

 

[gerrycaruso]

I have a .30/40 Krag carbine and use the Lyman 311284. It's a 210 grain round nose gascheck and is pretty close to the original in size and shape.

 

[meh]

I believe the SAAMI rifle twist is much slower than the pistol twist for 44 mag.

Rifle: 1:38, and the bore is .424" lands, .431" grooves.
Handgun: 1:20, and the bore is .417" lands, .429" grooves.

Henry used to follow the rifle spec (mine is 1:38), but they changed to 1:20 twist a couple years ago, I think. The slow 1:38 twist is problematic with 300 grain bullets, and even 240 grainers need to be run pretty hard, in my experience. My Ruger 44 carbines are 1:38, but the newer Ruger 77/44's are 1:20. I think my CVA single shot also has a 1:20. Winchester (Miroku) only speeds it up to 1:26. Not sure what Marlins have been recently. Of course for a time they were microgroove.