Just ordered a reloader!!

[Gdbyrd]

So I ordered a reloader today.  After about 2 years of putting it off and making other purchases to avoid it, I took the dive. I'm very excited about it.

I plan on reloading for 460 S&W mag, 44 mag, and 25/06.  I'm looking to find a good reloading book.  I have a Lyman that's about 2 years old, but I don't think it had information on the 460.  Any recommendations for a new reloading manual?

Any favorite powders for the above rounds?  I already ordered bullets for everything.  117gr sierra gamekings for the 25/06, 240gr xtp for the 44, and 200gr hornady leverlution for the 460; along with all the necessary brass.

I don't plan on doing anything large volume.  Everything will be for hunting whitetail and small pigs, the 44 will be plinking a little.

[OR-E-Gun Bill]

Lyman 49th has data for the 460 S&W Magnum in both the pistol and T/C Encore areas, but nothing in the 200 gr. range.


Bill

Edit: This link from Hornady's website might be helpful for the 460 S&W Magnum in the Hornady 200 gr. FTX



http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/ftx_load_data/460_sw_magnum_ftx.pdf

[benny123]

Looking at 460 data in the latest Hornady manual.  Shows loads for 240 & 300 XTP Mag only. I'll see if I have VV data around
  
 

[1sourdough]

 Congrats on the jump. Reloading manuals make great general reading, beyond looking over recipes. I'd pick up a few fairly current ones in your travels. I use a bunch and my favorites are Sierra,Lee,Lyman,Hodgdon annual & Speer. I pick up the free bees when I see them, Ramshot,Alliant & Hodgdon at times.  For some of those larger bore handguns it really pays to reload. I'd hate to have to shoot full power factory ammo all the time.

[Lloyd Smale]

for odd ball pistol rounds like the 460 500 and the linebaughs the hornday and hodgdon manuals are best.

[buck460XVR]

for odd ball pistol rounds like the 460 500 and the linebaughs the hornday and hodgdon manuals are best.

I agree, altho the Lyman has good info also. Since Hornady is about the only manufacturer of legitimate, accurate and affordable jacketed bullets for .460 velocities, I find I use their manual the most. Other than for paper or varmints, I see no real use for bullets less than 240 grs. Most .45 caliber jacketed bullets are not made for .460 velocities and the few that are, are pricey. The exceptions are the 240 and 300 gr XTP-MAGS and Speers 300 gr Gold-Dots for the .454. All three of these bullets fly well outta my .460.

[Catfish]

You can down load the Accurate powders manual ant the Hodgen manual for free. www.accuratepowder.com and www.hodgdon.com.

[Dill45]

For the 44/460 I use a lot of Lil'Gun H110/W296 and IMR 4227.  All of those powders performing really well out of my guns.  I've started using 2400 lately, but haven't shot it enough to know it well.

For the 460, you might want to check out Gas Checked lead bullets.  I've had good success with http://www.lsstuff.com/ranger-rick/ bullets in my 500 and have heard great things about his 460 bullets.  Along with that I've had some pretty decent success with http://www.westernbullet.com/ly4gr16.html some loads work really well with it, others don't.  They are pretty damn hard bullets, and are pretty uniform.

I've found that lead bullets tend to be a lot cheaper than jacked bullets, so if you're trying to get the most bang for your buck, that would be the way to go.

[shot1]

Depends on your rifle in 25-06, work up to these loads, the standard loads that usually shoot very well in almost any rifle are these. 117 gr Sierra, H-4831 or H-4831SC 52 grs, CCI BR-2 Primer, Remington case and they mostly shoot somewhere around 10 thousands off the lands. Average 3000 fps depends on the barrel. This is the max load that used to be right on the H-4831 powder can for the 25-96 with 117gr bullets.

This is the second load and it the one that I have used for years. It is the accuracy load that is listed in the Sierra 4th edition manual for 117 gr bullets in the 25-06 as far as the powder load goes. I got best accuracy using CCI 250 primers though. I use the 117 sierra Pro Hunter because my rifle does not like BT bullets like the Game King. It will put 5 shots under 1" at 300 yards with this load.
117 Sierra, 49 grs IMR or AA 4350 these shoot the same in this load for me, CCI 250 primer, Rem case, Average 3000 fps.

The 117 Sierra is a great deer bullet

[Savage]

It will put 5 shots under 1" at 300 yards with this load.

Don't change a thing. You have truly been blessed!

Savage

[Gdbyrd]

Thank you guys for the links.  Hehe, I was like a kid today.  Heard the UPS truck driving up and was out the door before he could even get out of his truck.  I realized a little late that I hadn't ordered a tumbler.  With deer season starting up soon, hopefully I'll be able to hit a gunshow soon to find one...hate ordering that stuff.  Meanwhile do I just clean the brass a little by hand?  All the 44 brass was shot in a revolver, then taken out and put in a box.  It never touched a pocket or the ground.  The other brass is all brand new.

The 460 bullets I ordered are the Hornady FTX rounds.  I think they're the same weight of bullet used in their storebought ammunition.  Did I make a mistake buying a smaller weight?  I am kinda hoping for longer range, and the animals down here aren't that big.  I'll go with suggestions though.  Thank you Bill for the info on that weight.  Can't wait to give that a try, just waiting on my brass now!

To clarify..H110 is the same as Winchester 296 right?  Can I use the reloading information interchangably? 

The 25/06 and the 460 are both encores, with the 460 being a pistol.

I never mentioned what I bought.  I ordered a Lee breech lock challenger set.  It came with more than I expected and it seems good enough for what I plan do to with it.

[tacklebury]

Sure can clean by hand.  I did that the first 6 months or more that I reloaded.  Just don't expect really pretty brass.  I deprime brass with my lee classic loader rod, or you can get a universal decapper from lee which doesn't touch the case.  Then I take a milk jug with a screw cap and clean it out really good, then put a hole in the lid, so it doesn't blow the top off from pressure.  Then just put brass in jug with a couple drops of dawn dish detergent (or whatever you use, but dawn cuts greases good) and then get the tap water on your sink really flowing hot.  Fill the jug about 3/4 or until all brass is covered with water.  Then shake the daylights out of it in a circular motion.  I don't get to large in movements, so the brass doesn't dent each others case mouths.  Then I let it sit 10 minutes or so and then run cold water in until it runs without foam out the top of the jug.  Then I repeat this.  When cleaning really dirty brass, like Blackpowder loaded cases, I have done it as many as 4 times.  Sometimes they sit longer than 10 minutes or even overnight and I never had any issues from this either.  Once it's cleaned up, I use a plastic colander and dump the rounds in it in the sink, so they don't get into my drain/disposal (one or two did the first time and they make a big racket in the disposal.  I thought my wife was gonna kill me. ).  I then stand them all up on some paper towel and let em dry at least overnight.  When I need them quicker I put em on a baking sheet and into the oven on the lowest setting possible with the door cracked some.  This reduces drying time significantly, or you can use a hairdryer or industrial heat gun, just don't get them really hot as you might have issues with hardness.  It's kind of a pain, but I'd usually do 50-100 at a time, so only had to do it a couple times a week.    Good luck to you.

Yes on the H110 also.

[Dill45]

Thank you guys for the links.  Hehe, I was like a kid today.  Heard the UPS truck driving up and was out the door before he could even get out of his truck.  I realized a little late that I hadn't ordered a tumbler.  With deer season starting up soon, hopefully I'll be able to hit a gunshow soon to find one...hate ordering that stuff.  Meanwhile do I just clean the brass a little by hand?  All the 44 brass was shot in a revolver, then taken out and put in a box.  It never touched a pocket or the ground.  The other brass is all brand new.

The 460 bullets I ordered are the Hornady FTX rounds.  I think they're the same weight of bullet used in their storebought ammunition.  Did I make a mistake buying a smaller weight?  I am kinda hoping for longer range, and the animals down here aren't that big.  I'll go with suggestions though.  Thank you Bill for the info on that weight.  Can't wait to give that a try, just waiting on my brass now!

To clarify..H110 is the same as Winchester 296 right?  Can I use the reloading information interchangably? 

The 25/06 and the 460 are both encores, with the 460 being a pistol.

I never mentioned what I bought.  I ordered a Lee breech lock challenger set.  It came with more than I expected and it seems good enough for what I plan do to with it.

The FTX are the same bullet that is used in the Hornady Factory stuff.  It will do fine on small game, just remember if you load it hot, which isn't hard to do, it will do a lot of damage to the game at close range.  If you're going to load it hot make sure what you're shooting at more than 25 yards.  (And I mean at the very least)   Those bullets are designed to take game at over 100 yards, shooting them at 25 can cause the bullet to fail on hard bone.

And yes, H110/W296 are the same powder, just different label.  They can be interchanged, but are more than likely from different lots, so be weary because lots can vary from lot to lot.

[Gdbyrd]

Thank you for the advice.  I don't think I've ever made a shot on a deer under 75 yards, so I should be OK.  Going from the link provided in this thread, should I then go more for 1900 fps or 2100(will 200 fps matter)?  Or should I just stick to whatever is most accurate?

What do you mean by fail?  Not expand I'm assuming :*(  I was very excited at the prospects of shooting a pig 20 or so yards out with this thing, lol.  If I chose to reload with a heavier bullet, what weight would you suggest I start at?

[tacklebury]

I'd worry more about accuracy.  If you are over 1200fps, shouldn't be an issue on deer for sure.  I think what he meant by fail is over-expansion and becoming explosive in its fragmentation.  I haven't seen any reviews stating that they had these issues on any of the sites I frequent, but that doesn't mean it hasn't.  I have heard that catching the shoulder can make for a good sized exit, albeit not as bad as ballistic tips. 

[Dill45]

Thank you for the advice.  I don't think I've ever made a shot on a deer under 75 yards, so I should be OK.  Going from the link provided in this thread, should I then go more for 1900 fps or 2100(will 200 fps matter)?  Or should I just stick to whatever is most accurate?

I'd worry more about the accuracy unless your making really extreme shots were the extra velocity will be needed, otherwise 1900 FPS is more than enough to put down any deer.  Except those armor plated ones.

Pesky deer they are.

What do you mean by fail?  Not expand I'm assuming :*(  I was very excited at the prospects of shooting a pig 20 or so yards out with this thing, lol.  If I chose to reload with a heavier bullet, what weight would you suggest I start at?

Actually I mean over expanding, to the point to were the bullet more or less explodes and fragments when it hits hard bone in the shoulder.  I've read a couple reviews on the FTX bullet where people have shot White Tails at around 20 or so yards with the FTX and it blew up on impact with the shoulder causing excessive meat damage.

Now I personally haven't ever experienced this, and I haven't personally talked to any one who has experienced this, its just a theme I see popping up here and there.

If you want to go a little heavier I'd start at around 300-350grs.  Recoil will be quite a bit more stout, but with a case as big as the 460's you got a lot of room to play around with when it comes to bullets.  Largest I've seen is a 535gr cast bullet.