My New 50 Cal Wildcat

[farmerben]

What bullets you guys using? Midway seems to only have cast lead bullets left which I assume we dont want to shoot through these? Do they have to be a certain style to handle the higher velocities?

[sixonetonoffun]

For target shooting the hornady 350's seem like the best priced. For serious rino loads barnes is about the best value. Swift are rated to 3,000+ fps but I've only found them in 325gr. Cutting Edge has a couple but they cost a bit more. The Punch Bullets (brass pin) look really cool but $3 a pop would be something for a specialized hunt.
I liked the 400gr seirra but wouldn't recommend launching it faster then 2150-2200fps they are hard hitting and extremely accurate at that velocity.

I think the 325 and 350gr hornady would be a good place to start load development.

[farmerben]

Will look at the LGS this weekend and aee what they got. Midway only has the hornady 300gr xtp's on stock.

[scope eye]

Will look at the LGS this weekend and aee what they got. Midway only has the hornady 300gr xtp's on stock.

I have used those XTPs, they have a thicker jacket and hold up better, like I always say they may have the BC of a brick, but it is also like being hit with a cinder block.LOL

Dean

[SUTTERERMAN85]

I shot some hornady FTX with the plastic tip, some XTPs and also some 335 copper plated lead from midway. All results were good. I was suprised about the plated bullets as they are not rated for over 1600 or so.

[farmerben]

I was curious about thr plated ones for plinking, but didn't know how they would hold up.

[Blitzfike]

I'll find out pretty quickly, I have a box of 250 left over from loading for the 50AE. I would think with the slow twist, they should be fine. Waiting on all my parts to get here. Jim

[SUTTERERMAN85]

Im pretty sure that those are the same ones I have. Or atleast that is what they were intended for. The used to carry some 300 gr ones but have only had the 335 gr instock for over a year.

[farmerben]

Got the barrel and brass on the way. Lgs has powder and primers. Not a lot of bullet choices though. Just cast lead and 350gr hornady hollow point xtp.

[Blitzfike]

I have a variety of milsurp powders on hand, and will see what they do. Got to dig the chrono out again...

[sixonetonoffun]

I tried I4350 pretty low velocity but fun easy recoil loads. Slower powders will leave a lot of un burnt powder in the barrel

I think to get over 2k fps something in the rl7-imr4064 burn rate range will be needed. I loaded some 350 XTP's with a healthy load of rl7 today. I will post the results tomorrow. Assuming the chronograph is up for it. Weathers sposed to be ideal woowhooo!

[sixonetonoffun]

Ok ran a 9 shot volley 325gr XTP's
RL7 84grs
High 2475
Low 2347
Avg 2406
ES 128
SD 46

Running Into stiff bolt again. Had no issues with it at 78grs so just have to find the sweet spot. ES ran high my bad for using filler without finding just the right amount. Some were more compressed then others.

If I can get a consistent 2300+- fps without the stiff bolt I will be satisfied.

[BTSniper]

Was it a stiff bolt "lift" or a tough bolt "retraction" while trying to pull bolt back?

I've had a couple instances of tough to retract the bolt but no problems lifting bolt. Looking at the brass with the couple marks I have on it I assume I got a small rough spot on the chamber I need to look at but I certainly haven't ran any high pressure loads yet. Got these challenges with low pressure Trail Boss loads.

BT

[sixonetonoffun]

Yeah retraction. Bolt lift wasn't bad except on one that pulled the crimp off. I need to inspect the chamber see if that scratched or scored anything. Looked quickly with the bolt out didn't see anything at a glance. But thats why I stopped with 9.

I need to trim some more new cases had one (with 10 firings on it) crack 25% of the way around the circumference. Might have been from the tough retraction. But anyway its time for some fresh ones.

Plan is to pull the barrel for closer inspection. Reset the headspace and load up a full round robin.from 78-82grains of rl7 find a final load with this combo.

[farmerben]

Got most of the parts for my build here. What you guys using for dies? Any brand or set better than another?

[farmerben]

Delete....

[scope eye]

I have some RCBS dies and they work great, Blitzfike told me he used a set of 50 Beowulf dies, and they work even better than they S&W 500 dies he tried, I definitely have to look into that.

Dean

[farmerben]

I see Lee has a 4 die set for that one.

[farmerben]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008B3...&robot_redir=1

[Blitzfike]

Dean, its the 50AE dies I used to get the neck tension down to what I want, I haven't done much with the 50 Beowolf dies yet. I'll be out of pocket for the next few days so my experimenting will be on hold until after that. Jim

[scope eye]

OPS sorry about that, I knew it was one of those 50s.

Dean

[farmerben]

Been doing some homework on this in the tractor today. If the 375 ruger case length is 2.58 and the 500 s&w case length is 1.65, how do you decap the spent brass? Or do it manually. Looking at case length between the 50 a&e, The 500 s&w, and the 50 beowulf, all about the same. Whats the difference in dies then if the all load .501" bullets?

[scope eye]

I have a decapping die that I use for everything, I have only used the S&W dies so I can't help you there, I think it come down to you get use to and are familiar with they equipment and tools and dies that you have.

Dean

[Blitzfike]

Decapping is easy, I just screwed the decapping stem down far enough to punch out the primer using the 500 SW sizing die. I have a couple of universal decapping dies, but didn't need them. The stem is actually below the top of the die, but for my initial purposes it worked OK. Also, the 500 SW die doesn't size the neck down enough for me, the neck tension with it is pretty loose. The 50AE sizing die reduces the neck enough to make a significant difference in bullet retention. With the 500 SW die, I can spin the bullet in the case after seating it, but crimping it did hold them in place, that makes for erratic ignition and more spread on the shot strings. I haven't tried the 50 Beowolf dies yet, but I suspect they will work as well as the 50AE, as I am using the same bullets in all three. I don't have a 500 SW currently, just the die set. Once I get a chance to set up the chronograph at the range, I'm going to do some serious load development. I have a wide variety of powders, including some surplus canister powder (not military surplus) and I'm going to be working up some load data for them as well. I have this mold - Lee 2-Cavity Bullet Mold C501-440-RF 500 S&W Magnum (501 Diameter) 440 Grain Flat Nose Gas Check - and a thousand Hornady gas checks, so I plan to do some serious work with the cast bullets as well. The chase for a good working load is what motivates me on these projects.. Dean sure got me in trouble with this one, I won't know when its done. I make bullet jackets from copper tube as well, so this is another machining project ahead of me. Thats for later after I get some load development done. Jim

[scope eye]

Thanks for clearing that up Jim, I am always up for learning something new, and increasing my options.

Dean