Need for speed

[Samdweezel05]

First off, this is for a hand gun. You guy have some of the best load knowledge on the net and I figured I would ask this here first. My favorite hand gun currently is my .454 Casull Raging bull 6 3/8" barrel. It's not uncommon for me to go out with 70-80 loaded rounds and come home with nothing but 70-80 empty cases. Using the 250gr and 300gr Hornady XTP and 26gr-36gr of H-110 and 2400, that get a little expensive. My thought here is to be able to load up the less expensive (bulk) .451" diamater bullets from 185gr-230gr. The same bullets I use in the .45 ACP and the .45 Colt. I know I can shoot the .45 Colt from the .454 but it's a PITA if you want to go back to shooting the .454 in the same range sesion. So the question is......What powders should or could be used for this. Will any of the powders for the .45acp, .45 Colt or the .454 Casull work? I am not looking for reduced power loads, just reduce the bullet cost. Keep in mind that all bullets used will be jacketed. Also will be fun to see how fast I can get these little suckers to fly. My best so far with a 250gr XTP with out over pressure is 1960 FPS. Thoes stung the hand a bit.

[scope eye]

Why can't you go back and forth from one to they other? I do all the time,
and my staple powder is unique when I am not using h110 for the colt or casull rounds.

[Samdweezel05]

I can go back and forth. The .45 colt case is shorter and I have to clean the cylinder in order to get the .454 rounds to fit correctly with out having to use a hammer to get them in there. Joking about the hammer of coures. You use Unique with the Casull? I have never tried it. Any load info you might be able to pass out would be great. I understand if that's not your thing. I could sue you if it went wrong.

[scope eye]

If you go to alliant's web sight they have plenty of recipes for colt and casull all there powders in fact,
as for switching between colt and casull run a brush threw the cyl before it builds up it takes two seconds use one with the brass bristles.

[Samdweezel05]

They use Unique for what I would call a cowboy load with the .454. 270gr Hard cast bullet, 11gr of powder and 1100 fps. I am looking to push a 230gr FMJ 2,000+ FPS. I can't say I would want to try that with 36gr of Unique. I went to the Loading room and cooked up some 230gr FMJ over 34gr H-110, 230gr HP over 34gr H-110 as well as both of thoes bullets over 36gr of H-110 and 34gr of 2400. Nice thing about living where I can walk out the door and shoot it faster ballistic testing, ;D. It's windy, cold and cloudy so I didn't bother with the chronograph today. They all feal good and no signs of pressure. I did notice the 36gr of h-110 with either bullet left me some black speckels in the snow. I might be ab;e to go a tad over 34gr but losing powder out the end of the barrel is pointless.

[stimpylu32]

They use Unique for what I would call a cowboy load with the .454. 270gr Hard cast bullet, 11gr of powder and 1100 fps. I am looking to push a 230gr FMJ 2,000+ FPS. I can't say I would want to try that with 36gr of Unique. I went to the Loading room and cooked up some 230gr FMJ over 34gr H-110, 230gr HP over 34gr H-110 as well as both of thoes bullets over 36gr of H-110 and 34gr of 2400. Nice thing about living where I can walk out the door and shoot it faster ballistic testing, ;D. It's windy, cold and cloudy so I didn't bother with the chronograph today. They all feal good and no signs of pressure. I did notice the 36gr of h-110 with either bullet left me some black speckels in the snow. I might be ab;e to go a tad over 34gr but losing powder out the end of the barrel is pointless.


Phil , its not that your losing powder out the barrel , its that your not getting a complete burn on the powder you have , you may need to up the crimp you are using to allow the powder to fully burn , be warned that this WILL increase your pressures so you may want to back off a grain on the powder charge till you see how it reacts .

stimpy

[stimpylu32]

On another note , the bullets your using are probably not be designed to run at the speeds your looking for , so they may not shoot well ( May look like a shotgun pattern ) instead of a group :o

stimpy

[Samdweezel05]

Hey, thanks for the reply. After I posted that and went back to the gun room I thought about the crimp. Although the bullets I am using do no have a cannelure, I can still add crimp to them. I guess it's more like neck tension instead of a "crimp". I will back down to 34gr and start to add some tension to them and slowly go up from there.

[scope eye]

Does your set have a fourth die?

[Samdweezel05]

No, just 3 dies.

[RustyW]

You may want to measure your expander button. I've ran into issues with over and under sized expander's. You may not be getting the needed neck tension. Also I seat the bullet then crimp. Sometimes you can get too much crimp and buckle the case actually loosing the neck tension. I use the Lee factory crimp die with jacketed bullets, I'm told the Redding profile crimp die is a better way but haven't tried it. H110 & 296, (they are the same) are the speed kings in the big bore 6 guns. Hodgdon shows 2065fps with a 240jhp, but bbl length isn't listed.
http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

[GaCop]

If your bullet tension is too weak, polish the expander to tighten things up. Makes for smoother expansion too.

[stimpylu32]

Hey, thanks for the reply. After I posted that and went back to the gun room I thought about the crimp. Although the bullets I am using do no have a cannelure, I can still add crimp to them. I guess it's more like neck tension instead of a "crimp". I will back down to 34gr and start to add some tension to them and slowly go up from there.


You could always use a 45 Auto seater , that would give you a Tapper Crimp and less chance of cutting into the bullet jacket , like a Roll crimp might .

Just an Idea .

stimpy

[Eric in NC]

Neck that thing down to 357! Then you could go really fast!