David Bradshaw Photos - Vol. XL

[Markbo]

bradshaw I am guessing you cast those bullets. Are you aware of a mold for a LFN GC like that closer to 300gr and a 250-255gr version?

[bradshaw]

Marko.... bullets in report privately cast, not by self. Seems the Long Flat Nose has it all over a Wide Flat Nose for accuracy. Lee Martin suggests that a wide meplat bullet requires a long wheelbase (more weight rearward) to avoid balance equilibrium of wadcutter-type projectiles.
David Bradshaw

[bradshaw]

Colt45r.... another view of 335 LFN GC deep seated. Compare this Vol. XL (40) with Vol. LII (52). Note that two more grains H110----22/H110 with CONVENTIONAL SEATING doesn’t quite equal velocity of deep seating over 20/H110. Negligible velocity difference between Ruger 03 5-1/2-inch and Freedom Arms M83 4-3/4-inch with .45 Colt cylinder.
David Bradshaw

[Colt45r]

Thanks for the information Mr. Bradshaw. This is very interesting. Sorry I am so late getting back to this and noticing your last comment. I keep coming back to this post. I am using a similar .452 LBT LFN GC bullet from Montana Bullets seated at their only crimp groove with very good grouping behind 24 grains of H110. I would like to find a similar bullet profile that takes up more room in the casing, so that I could utilize less casing for a lighter load of H110 with less velocity. I may have to do the same and try deep seating these. Like the idea. I have tried the Beartooth LFN GC bullet at 340 grains and it takes up more casing, but does not group as well. Best grouping was with 23 grains of H110. I enjoy messing around with all this anyway. You all are very helpful. Thanks for all the good info.

[bradshaw]

Colt45r.... accuracy cannot happen without the bullet. A good bullet generally forgives small variations in powder charge. Compared to a high strung boattail rifle bullet with long boattail and stretched ogive to boost Ballistic coefficient, the revolver bullet is a brick. Much less particular about twist and load. Loading up and down with Winchester 296/H110 produces consistency and accuracy in the presence of enough bullet weight, which translates into HOLD BACK favoring a smooth pressure curve. Lighter charges of 296/H110 are fine when the bullet is DEEP SEATED to eliminate air space. That’s what happens with the loads in this thread.

I tend to fine tune a load for a very specific performance, knowing full well that a little more or a little less powder produces the same accuracy, or close to it.

Test Each Bullet
Two bullets which look alike may not share accuracy. Comes down to the dynamic balance of the individual bullet. A great gun cannot save a poor bullet. Each bullet must prove itself at the target.
David Bradshaw

[Colt45r]

Those are very good points. A lot of this info just confirms the things that I have seen throughout the years. I have a hard time believing myself sometimes. This reinforces the constants that factor in a good load. I am in Love with the bullets that I get from Bruce and Montana Bullets. They have some good moldings. Very happy with their low to mid range 300+ grain loads. Seems that every time that I start grouping with that H110, there is a different feel to the recoil. It snaps different and I also start seeing a cleaner gun, which makes me think I have a good load that I can stick with and write down in the books. The specifics that you mentioned is why I Love to shoot my 480 Bisley five shot so much with my favorite load being 20 grains of H110, behind Montana's and Bryan Reese's 420 grain LFN GC. They shoot great. Didn't know if I could ever get a bullet to shoot that good. Don't want a 475, because I Love what I get from the 480, same as with the 45 Colt vs. 454. Thanks again for your input. I value it!

[bradshaw]

Colt45r.... a case with the fuel volume of the .44 Remington Magnum or .45 Colt doesn’t require dividing 296/H110 into fractions of grains for top accuracy. When I sugar off a .44 load, say 23 or 24 grains of Win 296 or Hodgdon 110 to several-tenths grain, or 1/10 grain, it is to center a sweet spot in performance which simultaneously prolongs case life. A “working load” is a cruising load below the firewall. Generally it means the revolver works the range of temperatures we live at. In my life the job of the revolver is to do for its breed exemplary things and to perform under adversity.

Thus, my .44 Mag load of the Sierra over 23.4/H110 or 296 specifies accuracy with case life. Is it better than 24/296 or H110? No. Is 24/296 or H110 better than 23.4 grains? No. Is 24/296 better than 23/296? Possibly, but it will take a sharpshooter to prove it, or try in vain to prove it.

The .45 Colt is the ORIGINAL MAGNUM revolver cartridge. It just happened to come along in 1873, loaded with black powder.

Clean vs dirty
As to whether a “cleaner gun... makes me think I have a good load...” Please know the target doesn’t care whether an consistent accurate load dirties your gun. If your clean load shoots better than a dirtier load, so much the better.
David Bradshaw

[Colt45r]

That makes a great deal of since. 

[bradshaw]

mnimrod45.... to illustrate Bill Fowler’s observation:to DEEP SEAT a cast .45 in the Colt case----such as a 335 grain Long Flat Nose Gas Check (LFNGC)----takes less powder for equal mid-range performance. A modest recoil and blast reduction accompanies deep seating. Within the 1,000-1,100 fps velocity range with this bullet, HS-6 and Win 296/H110 produce equal accuracy, or incredibly close.

I have been deep seating swaged half-jacket and cast buillets since I was 18, which is a long time ago. This experiment (with Freedom Arms M-83 and the Ruger 03) was to see whether deep seating the 335 LFNGC had merit across the chronograph and down range. COL (Cartridge Overall Length) was not a factor with the M-83 and Ruger 03.

Deep seating has merit. Were I to load cast for the M-97, I would start with deep seating for SWC, LFN, or WFN. Make up a couple of dummy rounds----no primer, no powder----to square away chambering before loading live ammo.
David Bradshaw

[jfs]

4th photo from top shows a terrific 100 yard group......after two broken firing pins I made the same type of spanner bit for driver and anytime I hunt I have an extra pin and spring for emergency.....

[bradshaw]

Stump Buster.... not quite your 345 WLNGC, but close. A couple of loading ideas for the 1,000 fps zone. Both HS-6 and H110 produce accuracy----seated to crimp in crimp groove, and DEEP SEATED. These loads perform similarly in Ruger 03 .45 Colt with 5-1/2” barrel, and Freedom Arms M83 with .45 Colt cylinder and 4-3/4” barrel.
David Bradshaw

[Stump Buster]

Thank You Sir!!!

[bradshaw]

Ramar.... a few results with with DEEP SEATING of .45 cast 335 grain Long Flat Nose Gas Check. Powders include Hodgdon 110 (Win 296), Hodgdon HS-6, and Winchester 680. (Accurate is the same as Win 680 or nearly identical.)

Favorite among these loads
* DEEP SEAT---- roll crimp on ogive:
335 LFN GC deep seat
20/H110
Federal .45 Colt brass
WLP primer
Cartridge Overall Length 1.555"
Velocity average 5-shots=1109 fps
Extreme Spread 20 fps.

* DEEP SEAT
19/H110 is close behind at 1040 fps, ES 28 fps. Winchester 45C brass, which may mean nothing. HS-6 produces accuracy @ 100 as well.


* CONVENTIONAL SEAT----roll crimp in crimp groove
22/H110 averages
Cartridge Overall Length 1.696”
Velocity average 5-shots=1065 fps for 5-shots. Two grains more powder, 44 fps slower, with twice the ES.
ES 37 fps.

200 yards
Cone of Dispersion broadens @ 200 yards. Just as the tight accuracy @ 100 yards repeats, so a falloff in accuracy repeats @ 200 yards. With Leupold 4x28mm Long Eye Relief scope zeroed @ 100 yards, 335 LFN GC @ 1109 fps drops 28-inches @ 200 yards.

Bullet profile is the major factor in long range accuracy. This is not about shape or cute design. The subject is balance, DYNAMIC BALANCE. Take a symmetrical cylinder for example----a wadcutter. It flies straight, very straight, for a while, before entering a Cone of Dispersion. The Center of Form (COF) is right in the middle of the bullet. And the Center of Gravity (COG) is right in the middle of the bullet. This bullet cannot maintain gyroscopic stability is moved away from the COF. Preferably to the era, as in a SWC. To hollow out one end of a wadcutter shifts COG towards to heavy end. This should explain why, from equally true molds, a Long Flat Nose (LFN) should be more accurate than a Wide Flat Nose (WFN). The blunt, wide me plat WFN puts COG and COF closer together.

Back to deep seating. It occupies powder space, thus will not win a full house velocity race. In the mean time, the deep seat will do plenty of work, with a little less powder.
David Bradshaw

[bradshaw]

tj3006.... examples of deep seating....
David Bradshaw

[bradshaw]

Boost for jessejjaymes....
David Bradshaw