Post by Snyd on Mar 28, 2012 23:40:07 GMT -5
So the goal is to be able to work up a load using these 355gr hammers for the 454 Redhawk and 454 Puma Levergun. No prob with OAL in the Redhawk but they need to cycle with 100% reliability in the Levergun.
Loaded in full length 454 brass they won't cycle with this big metplat. In 45 Colt brass no prob. But, I'd like to be able to push these at 454 levels in the Puma. My 45 Colt load is 21.5gr H110 and is a max load and is accurate and about 1200fps in my SBH Hunter. I could stuff more powder in the case but don't feel comfortable doing that and the SBH doesn't need it. I also don't want to take the chance of mixing up ammo and shooting an over max/high pressure load in my SBH Hunter. So, I decided I'd trim 454 brass down, seat and crimp some dummy rounds to where they'd cycle in the levergun and see if I could have more case capacity than the 45 Colt brass. I ended up at 1.330. Half way between 45colt and 454. They cycle reliably 100% of the time, fast or slow. Plus, since it's headstamped 454 that should help keep from accidentally stuffing them into my 45 Colt SBH.
Thus the "454 Snyd" is born... 454 brass trimmed to 1.330 using a 355wfn from a custom LBT mould. Calling it the 454 Snyd helps me keep track of it in my notes, brass, load data, etc. Besides... it kinda has a nice ring to it
I had in the past loaded the 360gr Cast Performance boolit in 454 brass trimmed to 1.365 to cycle in the levergun. That bullet seats deeper in the case than the 355gr Hammer. The 355gr WFN in the 1.330 454 Snyd case has the same case capacity (or more) than the 360gr CP boolit in 1.365 454 brass.
I used published load data for the 360 CP for working up loads. I had decent results with H110 when I first started this little experiment but want to go with a powder not as sensitive to cold so I tried some 4227 and LilGun. Here's the H110 results.
1685 fps avg 6 rnds. 25 yds resting the forestock on a bag.
Here's the same load in the 454 Redhawk. 1275fps, 47 yds.
Over the past couple weekends, in both guns, I chronied 6 different loads with 4227 and 5 different loads with Lil'Gun using F205 primers (they always go bang shooting DA in the Redhawk). Here are the loads from both powders that gave the highest velocities and best accuracy. There was one 4227 load that shot as good as the LilGun load but at 300fps less than the LilGun load.
This max LilGun load brass falls out of the RH cylinder, I think I could go higher but don't really see a point. This load in either gun should punch a 3-4ft hole. A penetration test is the next thing. It'll be interesting to see what difference 400fps makes with this fat boolit. I wonder what the max velocity would be before it cuts down penetration.
10 in the tube of the levergun and six in the cylinder of the wheelgun should be enough!
1655 and 1215 4rnd avg fps.
4227 loads
Loaded in full length 454 brass they won't cycle with this big metplat. In 45 Colt brass no prob. But, I'd like to be able to push these at 454 levels in the Puma. My 45 Colt load is 21.5gr H110 and is a max load and is accurate and about 1200fps in my SBH Hunter. I could stuff more powder in the case but don't feel comfortable doing that and the SBH doesn't need it. I also don't want to take the chance of mixing up ammo and shooting an over max/high pressure load in my SBH Hunter. So, I decided I'd trim 454 brass down, seat and crimp some dummy rounds to where they'd cycle in the levergun and see if I could have more case capacity than the 45 Colt brass. I ended up at 1.330. Half way between 45colt and 454. They cycle reliably 100% of the time, fast or slow. Plus, since it's headstamped 454 that should help keep from accidentally stuffing them into my 45 Colt SBH.
Thus the "454 Snyd" is born... 454 brass trimmed to 1.330 using a 355wfn from a custom LBT mould. Calling it the 454 Snyd helps me keep track of it in my notes, brass, load data, etc. Besides... it kinda has a nice ring to it
I had in the past loaded the 360gr Cast Performance boolit in 454 brass trimmed to 1.365 to cycle in the levergun. That bullet seats deeper in the case than the 355gr Hammer. The 355gr WFN in the 1.330 454 Snyd case has the same case capacity (or more) than the 360gr CP boolit in 1.365 454 brass.
I used published load data for the 360 CP for working up loads. I had decent results with H110 when I first started this little experiment but want to go with a powder not as sensitive to cold so I tried some 4227 and LilGun. Here's the H110 results.
1685 fps avg 6 rnds. 25 yds resting the forestock on a bag.
Here's the same load in the 454 Redhawk. 1275fps, 47 yds.
Over the past couple weekends, in both guns, I chronied 6 different loads with 4227 and 5 different loads with Lil'Gun using F205 primers (they always go bang shooting DA in the Redhawk). Here are the loads from both powders that gave the highest velocities and best accuracy. There was one 4227 load that shot as good as the LilGun load but at 300fps less than the LilGun load.
This max LilGun load brass falls out of the RH cylinder, I think I could go higher but don't really see a point. This load in either gun should punch a 3-4ft hole. A penetration test is the next thing. It'll be interesting to see what difference 400fps makes with this fat boolit. I wonder what the max velocity would be before it cuts down penetration.
10 in the tube of the levergun and six in the cylinder of the wheelgun should be enough!
1655 and 1215 4rnd avg fps.
4227 loads
