USFA at the Range

[jd45]

Hello to all! My brother bought me a PROCHRONO for my b'day, so I thought I'd test some loads to see what I could expect from my 7-1/2" BBL; .45 Colt SA. I took a load from my Vihtivuori 3rd Edition Reload manual using N350 powder. They used a Hornady 250gr XTP, .452". I used it, as well as a Sierra 240gr JHP, .4515", & a 250gr Meister hardcast RNFP, also in .452". Charge was upper limit of 10.9grs; starline cases; & WLP primers for all loads. I thought you guys might be interested in my results. The book load used a 6" BBL; & they obtained 1022fps @ 14,000psi. Temp was around 50 degrees.
250XTP...1-928fps; 2-929fps; 3-902fps; 4-889fps; 5-899fps...ES-40fps
240Sierra...1-965fps; 2-1023fps; 3-1024fps; 4-1047fps; 5-988fps...ES-82fps
250 RNFP...1-1044fps; 2-1036fps; 3-1036fps; 4-1028fps; 5-1042fps...ES-16fps
Disappointed in the 250XTP real-world vs Book results, BUT the RNFP REALLY SHINES! Could be a good hunting load after testing for accuracy. The smaller diameter Sierra shows promise, but I also have some .451 Speer 260gr JHPs that may shoot well, too. Will try 10.5grs 350 under them next Sunday to see. Your comments are invited, jd45

[44 Man]

It sounds like you have some good loads there!  You may want to get a copy of Dave Scoville's 'Loading the Peacemaker Colt'.  He has several loads listed that will do 1000fps safely in the Colt style guns.  I think I would see where that cast load shoots and take her to the woods!  44 Man

[jd45]

Good advice 44man! I'm gonna check it out this Sunday, but I'm just a wee bit curious about that .451" Speer JHP. Results to follow. jd45

[Glanceblamm]

Your results were quite interesting as I hope to own a chrony one day. One word of caution among the owners (or non-owners) is that their are the people who HAVE shot their chrony and the people who WILL shoot them.

The ES between your Jacketed and the cast were also interesting. I believe that I would try a little more crimp on the jacketed loads to see if you could tighten this up some. The cast Meister along with a lot of others has that long, tapered groove that makes it easy to get a good looking uniform crimp. The jacketed just gives you the shallow, squared off cannolure groove. It can be hard to tell just how hard to go on the jacketed. what I like to do is to crimp all of my jacketed just to the point of moving the bullet farther down into the case...Say .0005 to .001 below the specified OAL of the cartridge. I have (inadvertently) pushed the bullet as far as .007 below the oal with the crimp die alone but Take Care to avoid this as it is on the threshold of where case wrinkling can begin as well as being an inconsitency with the oal.

Note: The Above Really Needs To Be Addressed by Lloyd or others as you may be doing just fine and are dealing with the consistency's or inconsistency's of the powder's burn rate, primer selection, etc. I tend to get fanatical as I trim all the cases and uniform the primer pocket and flash hole. I also seat & crimp as a two step operation. This might be redundant because in reality, accuracy gains are probably going to be slight (say a tenth of an inch) out of a non-FA revolver. What I am really after is consistency.

The RNFP...I have shot a bunch of these but they were made by a local company called Neoga. I have seen the Meister bullets sitting right next to them and the quality of these bargain brands seem to be the same upon casual inspection. The Neoga's shoot Much, Much, better than I ever thought they would with my basis for comparisons being the XTP bullets. Question is, Do We Want To Take These Hunting? accuracy is good as said, Does not seem to be any excessive fragmentation when shot into heavier media, But The Meplat is kind of small. Any Advice on the RNFP for hunting would be welcome.

[kennisondan]

that question on the rnfp would make a good topic on its own..
dk

[jd45]

I've read on one of these forums on the net, can't say whether it was GB or another, that a RNFP, as a hunting projectile, is better than a "just" roundnose, like the factory bullets in .45 Colt loads, basically because of the larger meplat. I think it was introduced originally, not as a hunting bullet, but a safe component for tube mag rifles. If it works as an effective hunting bullet, so much the better. I think a JHP would be superior, if you can safely drive it fast enough to enable it to do what it was designed to do...expand.
glanceblamm, I suspect the disparity between MY XTP load velocities & the book's, (at LEAST 100FPS) might be at least PARTLY due to the fact that they didn't use a vented barrel to simulate the barrel-cylinder gap on a revolver, where you lose pressure that'd kick the bullet out harder. IF that's true, & I am gonna e-mail them about it, I think it's a gross mis-representation of what one should be able to expect with their products in real-world situations. With the Sierra bullet, I got some good stuff with 3 shots & a 965 & a 988 with the other two. I can't figure that out, but I think the .0005" smaller diameter may have contributed.....that's why I want to try the .451" 260gr Speer JHP. BTW, I seat & crimp in separte steps, as you do, & I believe I crimped both JHPs with the same "technique", at least as is humanly possible, so I'm leaning toward the .0005" diff between them AND the possibility that Vihtavuori didn't use a vented barrel, as my gun has. I'm anxious to see what the .451s will do. I'll let you know. Thanx,  jd45

[Lloyd Smale]

two identical guns can vary a 100 fps with the same load. Some guns are just faster then others. cyl gap quality of rifleing ect make a diffence. As to cast vs jacketed thats a whole other argument. I will stand firm that ive never seen any advantage to a jacketed bullet over a properly designed cast and i can tell you advantages to the cast. A good cast rf, swc or lfn or even a wfn at 1000fps will do alot of killing. Round nosed bullets are good for small game or plinking but shouldnt be used for big game hunting. In my opinion using a jacketed bullet down around a 1000 fps is kind of dicey. I doubt if your going to get reliable expansion anyway and a cast bullet with a good metplat will probably have more frontal area then an xtp that might have slightly expanded anyway.

[jd45]

Lloyd, thanx.......I appreciate your opinion. Regarding the diff in velocity between theirs & mine, they use a test barrell, mfg'd to meet CIP minimum dimensions, whatever that means. I'm using a real world firearm. I e-mailed them....we'll see what they say. As far as a well-designed cast bullet being as good or even superior to a JHP @ .45 Colt velocities, I see your point, & I stand corrected. Thanx again for your input . jd45

[jd45]

I got a reply from Lapua.com, (Vihtavuori), in which the rep admitted they didn't have a vent in their test barrel to simulate the b-c gap in a real-world handgun. And he said the b-c gap was mostly responsible for the disparity between my velocities & theirs. What do you know!!!.....I was right!!! jd45