Reloaders/hand loaders... Who's doing it?

[plastikosmd]

Vihtavouri, one of my go to powders for bmg.
Interestingly, the particular bmg powder is more consistent at higher temps. It is not atypical to heat up the rounds before shooting, to approx 100 deg.
U sure get strange looks at the range pulling your ammo out of a toaster oven or insulated bag wearing gloves and shooting

[Thorpe]

Managed to score a lb of power pistol today, and a pound (actually 14 oz) of PB... $49 for the pair! Not bad I figured with the current powder drought. Got my first 100 rounds of 357 built, 10.1 grains of #9 and 158gr Berrys RN... Sized, de-primed and tumbled 550 .38 special cases yesterday, and sized 350 .223 shells... My arm is tired! Enjoying this hobby already, and haven't even fired a single round yet!

Tech question... What do you do when you read contrasting info in two publications, for the same round? Specifically, Hornady #9 says for 357, COL at 1.590", and Speer says 1.580"... I know it's minimal, and I am on the light end of the powder load, so I am not worried about excessive pressure... I split the difference, and set my COL to 1.585", just curious to know what you guys think is the "right way" to read between the lines? I think the berrys load info even said COL at 1.575"...?

[plastikosmd]

for a revolver, I have not really noted much of a difference in length for standard loads, accuracy wise. Length starts to matter for me when I run bigger custom slugs. at times the length is quite long, slug is flush with the end of the cylinder, not blocking rotation. the col, It starts to matter more when I am using a round that must chamber in autoloader/single/bolt gun etc. For those, I start with recommended oal and then start adjusting based on groups/load/projectile etc. This is where reloading becomes fun.

[RIDE-RED 250r]

So, if I understand you correctly, you have conflicting C.O.L. specs for the same projectile?

If so, I would play it exactly as you did and split the difference.

[Thorpe]

Red-- that 500 deal was too good to be true... But there is a NIB 460v that might find its way to my home! Then tonight I was over chatting with the neighbor, and he gives me a loading tray, 150 hollow point 45 cal bullets, 150 pieces of 357 mag brass, 100 pieces of 454 casull brass and a set of rcbs 454 dies! It must be a sign!

[RIDE-RED 250r]

I absolutely love my 460v!

Tip: when pushing bullets to 460 velocity or even 454 Casull velocity make sure the bullets are made to withstand it. It is pretty common knowledge among reloading enthusiasts that pushing a standard jacketed hollow point made for "normal" handgun pressures and speeds to 454 and 460 levels the jacket can and often does separate from the core. This is mainly an issue because the 45 Colt is the parent case of both the 454 and 460. So any standard .451 bullet made for 45 Colt pressures may give you issues pushing them to 460 and 454 pressures. There are several manufacturers who make sturdy bullets for this. Hornady's XTP MAG, and Barnes' XPB are probably going to be the most common you will find. There are a few handgun cartridges that don't play by conventional handgun rules...

If the 45 cal bullets he gave you are XTP MAG's or Barnes XPB's that is definitely a sign!

PS: 454 Casull rounds feel like a cream-puff out of a 460.

[jays375]

Definately want the XTP Mags out of the 460.Those bullets were purposely made for it.Don't use the lighter 45 caliber bullets in it.Won't work well on animals.Plus excessive speed can do damage.Lil Gun shouldn't be used in the 460 either.Another thing with magnum handguns is a really good crimp is required.I crimp as separate procedure.Not when seating the bullets.Mainly because the 460 is such a animal.I put a really heavy crimp on it.H 110 and IMR 4227 in mine.

[jays375]

Mosh.The Hornady XTP will work well for you.

[Thorpe]

Red- I just can't make up my mind... For about half the cost of the 460v, I can get into a Raging Bull 454... Too many big bores, too much time on my hands!

[plastikosmd]

Had a rb 454
It was a great shooter and very soft to shoot the heavy 454 loads. I load the 454 down now as I shoot it out of a freedom arms and that is a bit less comfortable with single action type grips.

[jays375]

If you buy the 460 it is like buying 3 guns at once.You have the 460,454,45 lc.

[Thorpe]

Yep... This is getting expensive... I have about 16 lbs of powder now (8 lbs of varget, and 5 of power pistol, few others too) over 500 pieces of 45 auto brass, 600+ 38 special, 500+ 357, 600+ of 9mm, and well over 1k of 223... And that's all on my "build" to do list... Not to mention my factory loaded hoard. Now I want an ultra sonic cleaner, and a case prep station! You guys were right, it's addicting, and an expensive way to "save" money! Ooh... Want a case trimmer too!

[RIDE-RED 250r]

I must have missed your post about the Taurus while on vacation last week.

Yes, Taurus makes a more affordable handgun than Smith. I have only fired a couple, but never owned one so I cannot offer any advice either way on one and be fair about it. I did fire a Taurus Raging Bull 454 mack in the mid 90's when they first came out. I was only 17 years old or so and didn't know much about handguns then. It seemed accurate and did not malfunction in any way.

I can say that I seldom hear complaints from Taurus owners about theirs. They look VERY much like a S&W and I hear their QC has made alot of improvement over the years.

I would suggest you try and find some folks who have the experience with a Raging Bull that can only be had by owning one and see what they say. Myself, I am a Smith fan to my core. I see a similar wheelgun for a couple hundred less and I don't think about buying it...I say to myself just a bit more will bring that Smith next to it home and it goes from there..

But I CAN tell you because I own one that if you like powerful handguns, you will like a 460v. Just use double hearing protection when firing indoors and be ready for the percussion, you will feel it in your sinuses. This is due to the full compensator on the 460. My brother has a top ported 500 and the percussion to the shooter is really no more noticeable than a stout 44mag. BUT, the 500 is considerably harder on the hand and wrist than the 460. I feel this is mostly due to the fact that generally (with very few exceptions outside of handloading) the 500 fires a significantly heavier projectile downrange than the 460. But also, the full compensator does a bit more to soften rearward recoil energy along with muzzle flip where the top porting alone mainly tames muzzle flip. 500's are offered in both configs where all but one or two models of 460 are full comp only.

I would still recommend the 460 over the Raging Bull 454 any day, all day.

And I can assure you, once you do get all of your final tooling and gadgetry, and get to the point where you just need to keep basic supplies on hand, reloading DOES end up saving you money. I have not run the numbers yet for my 460, but I did some nice reloads for 44 mag and did some math. I loaded 200gr XTP's loaded to near max listed pressures. I have paid over $1 per round for very comparable factory rounds. I figured I loaded those rounds for about $0.38 each. Now I did not calculate brass because I already had it on hand. I wanted to see how much it cost to reload brass I had on hand compared to going to the store and buying the same thing off the shelf.....

[Thorpe]

I gave up on the "saving money" notion for the time being, and I am ok with it! New tires on the truck halted the big bore for a little while. But I agree with you Red, I am a Smith guy. Not even thinking about the Tortoise anymore, it was an impulse thought at best! And yep... A ultrasonic cleaner followed me home today... Think I might disassemble the atc70 carb tomorrow and throw it in the bath, seeming how it does such an incredible job on cases!

[Thorpe]

Any of you guys buy lead from xtremebullets.com?