First Range Report .475 L

[salvo]

Shot my .475 L today for the first time, what a nice revolver! And no blood either
I loaded up 50 rounds using 25 LFNGC 420 gr. Montana Bullet Works and 25 of there WFNGC 420 gr. bullets. Same load for both bullets using H4227, large rifle primers at around 950 fps. I figured this would be a good starter load, I thought about an even lighter load but figured this would be about right to get to know the revolver. I set the targets at 25yds and shot five 5 shot groups of each bullet type, taking turns with each.
The sights needed adjusting, the gun was shooting about 8" High and 4" to the right. My first shot did not even hit paper but it was obvious from the size of the hole in the plywood were it hit so I just fine-tuned as I shot. I used a "4 bullseye target" on one piece of paper for the first 20 rounds of each type of bullet, which was not a great idea the sight picture was poor. I did get to familiarize myself with the revolver and load, finding the best grip and how firm to hold it, that by the time I was down to 10 more rounds I shot for group on the last two cylinder fulls.
The WFNGC bullets seemed to shoot better with this gun, I thought it would be just the opposite!

Here are the first 20 rounds for each bullet type.




And here are the last two five shot groups to see what I could do with this load




As you can see the WFN was more accurate and I feel this revolver has some great potential as I work up to more powerful loads and work with it more.

[Silvertp]

After looking at those targets I can almost see yer smile.  Good shooting for a first outing.  Those last two groups looks like you have it sighted and ready for fun.

Silvertp

[gulfdaddy]

Good lord Girtrude what a hole!!!   That's a bug chunk of lead you are letting loose there.  I cant wait until I get the cash together for mine.
some day soon I hope.  Thanks for the poop on yours and have fun.  What a hole!

[salvo]

I usually shoot 405 gr bullets in my 45-70's, these 420 grs really are a big chunk of lead, it's a handful even with these reduced loads. I'm sure I will find a load it really likes and once I put in the practice, I should be able to shrink those groups a bit.

I was just reading "Taffin Tests: The .475 Linebaugh" 
http://web.archive.org/web/20030625023857/www.sixguns.com/tests/tt475.htm
He tested 54 loads, 44 shot at 2" or less at 25 yds. 20 were at 1.5" or less and 5 loads were at 1" or less. So I figure I'm well on my way at least.
What kind of groups are you guys able to shoot?

[fowler]

I will tell you the FA guns are certainly capable of sub 1" groups with select loads all day long. Now finding a shooter capable of those groups is the real challenge! I know I can't do it with my gun consistently but I have managed a few decent groups on good days...

[salvo]

Now those are some nice groups! I really like that short octagon barrel, looks like the perfect packing pistol.

[salvo]

Update!
I shot the 50 rounds today that I loaded 1 gr. hotter than the last 50 I figure right about 1000 fps with a 420 gr WFNGC & LFNGC.
Instead of trying to shoot my best groups at the end of the session I would shoot two groups at the beginning, one group of each bullet style.
The LFNGC shot the best today, just under 1/2" at 25 yds. amazing! This gun is shooting right with my 8" Dan Wesson .357 SuperMag which has always been my most accurate revolver.
The remaining 40 rounds were shot standing and I had a blast, rocks, shot gun shells and plastic water bottles were not safe
Time to crank up the loads and see what this baby will do.

5 Round Clover


5 rounds look like 4

[Lloyd Smale]

I was going to tell you just what you found out on your own. Change the powder charge even by a grain or change a primer and your preference for the wfn would fade. In my opinion for what its worth when you get to a 475 sized bore a lfn has plenty of metplat for any use and the 475 is about the best pentrating handgun on earth and will blow away many african dangerous game guns in that respect and the lfn is the bullet that gives those results. To me the round is at its optimum with a 400-420 grain hardcast lfn at about 1300 fps. That load will kill ANYTHING!!

[salvo]

Thanks Lloyd Smale, I bought this revolver from RKrodle over on Leverguns, he said, just like you that the LFN would be more accurate, I was surprised with the accuracy of the WFN on that first load.
I had one of the LFN just barely jump crimp, I was just able to help rotate the cylinder just enough to get it lined up properly. Any tricks in using the LFN to insure that wont happen again? I was going to crimp a bit harder on the next batch, but it may come to trimming the brass for some extra insurance if crimping harder does not work.
What are you guys doing?

[Ken ONeill]

When I use cast bullets in my .475's I prefer the WFN, but that doesn't mean I'm right...it just means that life and shooting are interesting.
Lloyd,  I'm usually a 1300-ish fps kinda guy with most revolvers, too.