Time to set up the press for the 460

[h20hunter]

Tonight I take the plunge into big bore (revolver ) reloading. I'v shot the beast out to 220 yards with a fixed 4 power Leupold scope and been reasonably able to ring the steel. My goal is to develop a load that is accurate enough to hunt and consider taking shots past 100 if conditions are favorable. Not a ton of load data out there but enough. I'll be starting with 40 gr H110 ( min to max is 38 to 42 per Hodgon ) , using mag rifle primers, and a 325 gr hp from Swift. They advertise that the bullet can expand at less than 1000 and witstand velocity up to 300 fps.

So any thoughts? Any first hand experience loading for a beast such as this?

[jamesfromseattle]

No helpful input from me, but reading this post makes my shoulder hurt.

[h20hunter]

Shoulders are fine....for me its the elbows! I actually had about a 10 min chat with Swift about these rounds. Great chat, good tips, and the guy did kind of chuckle at the end saying load em up, hammer back,  and hang on!

[Stein]

Yeah, I use a very similar recipe - for my 30-06.

[h20hunter]

For example..  .factory load Hornady 200 gr 2200 fps next to a .308 win.....

[yorketransport]

I'm anxious to see how the Seifts work for you. My 460 always shot best at max charges with the 395gr hardcast loads.

Dumping 40+ grains of H110 into any case takes some getting used to. It just seems like so much! it's one of the reasons I replaced my 460 with a 45-70 BFR, so  that I had more powder options to get the same performance.

[h20hunter]

I actually talked to a guy from Swift for about 15 min yesterday. I fired off a question via email thinking maybe I would get a reply, maybe not. 20 min later my phone rings. One suggestion he had was consider the 265 gr bullet simply because it gives a tiny amount of extra room for that bulky powder. Also talked about dies and what to watch for. Apparently that much seating pressure can deform the cavity of the bullet. Talked a bit about bullet creep and how i should execute the crimp. Great info and very impressive that they reached out like that.

[birddogdad]

have you considered casting your own alloy bullets for this hand cannon?

[h20hunter]

Nope. That is beyond my abilities at this time.

[h20hunter]

45 grains of H110, a 240gr hp...big kaboom. 5 loaded,  safely test fired.

[Yondering]

I'm anxious to see how the Seifts work for you. My 460 always shot best at max charges with the 395gr hardcast loads.

Dumping 40+ grains of H110 into any case takes some getting used to. It just seems like so much! it's one of the reasons I replaced my 460 with a 45-70 BFR, so  that I had more powder options to get the same performance.

IIRC the 200gr Hornady factory load pictured above uses 51 (or was it 52?) grains of some sort of ball powder; I'd guess something similar to H110 but don't want to assume. Basically 308-sized powder charges in a revolver. 
I had to pull one of those rounds apart to measure out of curiosity; it was impressive to see all that powder pour out of the case.

[b23]

45 grains of H110, a 240gr hp...big kaboom. 5 loaded,  safely test fired.

Ya just gotta love these hand cannons and it makes me chuckle when I see how much powder these things eat.  As a comparison of just how much these things eat, a max load in a 44mag with a 240gr bullet is only 25gr of H110.  In my little 17 Hornet, a top load is 11gr H110.  When I think of it like that it makes LOL. 

[Skillet]

These pack more punch than that full-tilt factory did you had?  Still have a bunch of that 45 LC  left over...

[h20hunter]

These were minimum load and yes, more punch. After 5 I had a bit of sting in the hands. Lots of fun. Ill load another 5 and shoot at 50 yards for group this weekend.

[h20hunter]

Well,  this load rocks. 1 inch group at 50. Two hits in 4 shots on steel at 220.....bullet drop is about 12 to 14 inches.  Big boom, big clang.