Heavy 5 Shot Ruger 45 Colt Data

[shorty500]

the load groups great in my FAs and the load actually came from Seyfried in a round about way!i first saw the load in a Guns&Ammo article, July 1987. written up by Geoffrey Steer with ammo loaded by Jan Librourel. they were testing the "QUESTIONABILITY" of various "RUMORS" of people loading the then NEW Freedom Arms .44Magnum & .45Colt chambered model 83's to unheard of levels! the .44Magnum loads tried came from Mickey Fowler and the .45s from Seyfried. Jan actually crimped the big slug ( theIr slugs were 343g so probably were Linotype) over the front driving band and they got a velocity of 1375fps from the 4-3/4" tube they had on loan from FA. They also tested Ross Seyfried's other reccommended load of 25g of W296 under NEI #.454-325PB for 1422fps and 27g W296 under a FA 300g JSP for 1346fps. i personally WOULD NOT SEAT IT DEEP LIKE THAT!!!! no telling what the chamber pressure was!they did it suppossedly to prevent chambering problems and protusion of the bullet nose past the cylinder face. i only have .010 to .015 clearance when crimped in the groove myself. that works out OK with my heavy crimp and tight bullet pull. properly sized slugs prevent chambering troubles in the tight chambered FA guns. THIS IS DEFINITELY A LARGE FRAME FREEDOM ARMS .45 OR 5SHOT RUGER CONVERSION LOAD (ONLY WITH THE MAKERS BLESSING THOUGH!!!) EVEN THEN IT SHOULD BE APPROACHED WITH CAUTION!! PLEASE PLEASE DON'T ATTEMPT THIS IN A STOCK RUGER, NOT EVEN A REDHAWK. SUPER REDHAWK IN .454 WOULD BE OK. THESE ARE THE TYPE LOADS THAT IN LATER YEARS WERE REFERED TO BY ROSS SEYFRIED AS DEVELOPING MORE PRESSURE THAN THE .300 MAGNUM RIFLES.

[bloodhound]

AND THAT'S THE REASON IT IS SO HARD TO FIND HEAVY LOAD DATA....NO ROOM FOR ERROR...AND ONE IS FLIRTING WITH A MAJOR MISHAP....WITH JUST THE SLIGHTEST OF ERROR...

[boxhead]

shorty500,

Thanks for your post as it was a reminder as I have the 1987 magazine you mention. Just need to dig throuh the pile to find it.

[shorty500]

Jun 25, 2009 19:44:44 GMT -5 bloodhound said:

AND THAT'S THE REASON IT IS SO HARD TO FIND HEAVY LOAD DATA....NO ROOM FOR ERROR...AND ONE IS FLIRTING WITH A MAJOR MISHAP....WITH JUST THE SLIGHTEST OF ERROR...

TRUE, but even more true is that everyone with any common sense knows that if the data gets published that in spite of any warnings such as the one i left earlier THAT SOMEONE WILL JUST HAVE TO TRY IT OUT IN A STOCK RUGER!! although Ross Seyfried published data for the .475 & .500 Linebaughs in his earlist writings of them i have never seen him publish loads for the 5shot .45Colt, once it goes beyond factory Ruger levels he only quotes velocity levels for a given bullet weight. Brian Pearce and JT have published a few 5shot loads in the past. but data is very scarce! an experienced loader and you should be if dealing with the 5shot can use the case capacity judgement using W296/H110 powders only!!!!! carefully determine how much powder it takes to touch the baseof bullet, reduce 5% and work up to a known reccommended velocity level.

[shorty500]

in referencing Seyfried's original article on his original Linebaugh/Seville gun his "BUFFALO LOAD" used the NEI #325.454 Keith type slug he designed generated 1490fps from his 5-1/2 barrel. i dont know the powder charge and dont want to know it!! most makers of 5shot conversions reference around 1400fps with 350-360g slugs in say 7-1/2" tubes. refering to Hodgdons .454 casull data shows 24g of W296/H110 developing 1447fps from the 9.375" pressure barrel with a CBP LFN GC slug and 43,400CUP. this is loaded at 1.760 COAL. the Seyfried design i use seats at 1.770 COAL and as i said earlier gives very little clearance in my FA. but it also due to the design seats deeper into case because of the pointy nose and probably generates a bit more pressure. with the increasing number of small compact frame 5hole revolvers meant for SAAMI loads only i doubt any lab will ever publish pressure data now. as another poster said- Seyfried referred to these loads as operating at .454 casull levels as to velocity/pressure. they do exactly that. keep in mind that J.Linebaughs proof load for the 5shot guns generates 59K and that the 6hole FACTORY RUGER blows around 60K. and that the .454Casull is SAAMI speced @65000psi. the wrong load in the wrong gun equals a very very big and bad KABOOM!