shooting soft lead fast

[justinhip]

I am currently pushing gas checked bullets to between 1400 and 1500 fps using a bhn of 8 with no leading after 150 rounds. Is there any reason to not continue with the 8bhn?

[cbrick]

Nope.

If it ain't broke why fix it?

Rick

[geargnasher]

Are you happy with the load? If so then what Rick said.

Gear

[44man]

If you have accuracy I have to agree with the others. But we would like to know more, gun, caliber, load, etc.
Can you show how they shoot?

[justinhip]

The load is 44 mag 240g swgc (lee mold) 24 grains of 296 mag primer in 9.5 super redhawk. Getting 1" groups at 25yds. Someone else could prob do better as i have troble shooting this gun as well as others. Easily hit 12" plate at 75 yds.

[geargnasher]

So, why is this even a question? Don't change a thing!

And some people will tell you you can't shoot soft lead at full-throttle! HA.

If you had a good scope and seasoned shooting hands you might get some improvement at 100 yards by going to harder boolits, but what you have is good enough to hunt with, so it all depends on your goals for the gun.

Gear

[cbrick]

So, why is this even a question? Don't change a thing! Gear

Yep, someone else in an earlier post said "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

Rick

[JeffinNZ]

I am pushing 7.8 BHN alloy out of my .310 Cadet right now at the same velocity without issue. Don't argue with success.

[Marlin Junky]

I am currently pushing gas checked bullets to between 1400 and 1500 fps using a bhn of 8 with no leading after 150 rounds. Is there any reason to not continue with the 8bhn?

A gas check will typically allow a softer boolit to be shot at a much higher velocity than one which is not checked.

How are you measuring your hardness and what lube are you using?

MJ

[justinhip]

Its a hunting gun with a leupold 2x scope. Im using javelina and the lee hardness kit. I also am gonna try a lyman devastator mold

[williamwaco]

I am currently pushing gas checked bullets to between 1400 and 1500 fps using a bhn of 8 with no leading after 150 rounds. Is there any reason to not continue with the 8bhn?



My favorite alloy is reclaimed bullet cores with 2% tin by weight added. It tests BNH 8 to 9.

I use it in .357 Mag without gas checks, lubed with Lyman 50/50, at velocities of 1400. I get 1.5 inch groups at 50 yards from my TC. There is NO leading. ( Diameter is critical. I size .356 for the TC and .357 for my S&W M-19. ( Yes that .001 does make a difference. )

AND, that 1400 fps, is not particularly fast. I push that same alloy to 1800 in my .38-55 with no gas check, zero leading and 1.5" groups at 100 yards.

The .44 magnum was developed by Elmer Keith. His favorite alloy was 1/16 or 1/20 tin lead. Either one of those alloys is going to test around 10 BNH.


justinhip -

There is only ONE hard and fast rule in bullet casting. Here it is:

"There are NO hard and fast rules in bullet casting."

If it works use it!

[midnight]

In resonse to cbrick's "If it ain't broke, why fix it". You have just got to get with the Obama program. Their motto is "if it ain't broke, fix it til it is".

Bob

[Frank]

justinhip:

The load is 44 mag 240g swgc (lee mold) 24 grains of 296 mag primer in 9.5 super redhawk. Getting 1" groups at 25yds. Someone else could prob do better as i have troble shooting this gun as well as others. Easily hit 12" plate at 75 yds.
Sounds like you're shooting OK, but something is seriously wrong with the load if it shoots 1" at 25 yds and 12" at 75 yds. Why don't you try water dropping WW's and ditch the mag primer?

[justinhip]

Hits 12" plate not groups

[Frank]

justinhip:

Hits 12" plate not groups
Oh, I see. If somebody else shot it better offhand then maybe they would hit a 6" plate. Maybe if you changed the load, 1" at 25 yds there's room for improvement, you already are better than you think! [smilie=w:

[Stick_man]

justinhip:

Sounds like you're shooting OK, but something is seriously wrong with the load if it shoots 1" at 25 yds and 12" at 75 yds. Why don't you try water dropping WW's and ditch the mag primer?


So, if you can "easily hit" a 12" plate at 75 yards, what kind of groups are you getting at that distance? If you are getting 2" groups to easily hit that plate, I see no problem. However, like Frank said, if your group is 12" at 75 yards, you have a problem.

Is this a fairly new to you gun you are still trying to get used to? If so, have you tried using lighter loads to get used to it, then working up to heavier hunting loads as you learn to shoot the gun? Maybe try backing the load off a little for better controllability? Remember, lots of practice will generally help you shoot better unless your loads are hot and you develop a flinch from shooting them.

[Bret4207]

Seems to me you have nothing to question. Load and shoot and practice. I wouldn't change a thing until I saw a NEED to change something. And a great big "GOOD FOR YOU!" for not following the advertising hype about Bhn. Softer alloys can shoot and so can harder. It just takes a little effort and thinking outside your comfort zone at times.

Myself, I think my days of shooting small groups, even with scopes, are long gone. Between the eyes and arthritis...I just wish I had done more of it when I could still see and feel.

[Frank]

Stickman:

So, if you can "easily hit" a 12" plate at 75 yards, what kind of groups are you getting at that distance? If you are getting 2" groups to easily hit that plate, I see no problem. However, like Frank said, if your group is 12" at 75 yards, you have a problem.
Right. A javelina isn't going to give justinhip a second chance.

[Three44s]

You are doing pretty darned good already!

I have a 9.5" SRH as well. I tried scoping it and it's pretty heavy unless you put a wheel under the muzzle! I went back to irons ........ then I did a very good thing .......... I put the smallest appeture of the One Ragged Hole rear sight on it and changed the front to a Ruger bead and painted it black.

Now I realize I have strayed off you original post but it seems to me that where you have 1" @ 25 and bang a 12" plate at 75 yds you might have more going on than loads or bullet fitament?

What I am alluding to is you might want to shake up your sighting methods a little and see if you can get minute of gnat at longer ranges ............ not just @ 25?

If you want to experiment, there is a fellow over on Rugerforum.com in the classifieds building and selling the peep rear blade that will fit a Ruger revolver for a mere 10 bucks.

I know my SRH (9.5) really get interesting set up as I described!


Three 44s

[JIMinPHX]

As a general statement - the softest boolit that will give you good accuracy & no leading is usually the best choice for hunting. Softer boolits tend to give better terminal performance on thin skinned game. Tough skinned & dangerous game can be a different story. If 8BNH is flying well for you, then I'd stick with it. 8 should do a good job for you down range in most applications.

[goofyoldfart]

JeffinNZ: a little off subject, BUT, could you post your load for the 310 cadet? I could use some advice on getting my little girl cadet Martini going. appreciate any advice. TIA. God Bless to all .

goofyoldfart.

[justinhip]

Thanks for all the thoughts. Im waiting for a 431 sizer to come before i load anymore

[MtGun44]

Good load.

I'll bet that you can run a nonGC at the same speed with good fit, design and lube.

Bill

[justinhip]

I just tested some 250 lyman devastator hp bullets and found that they lead at the muzzle on a 9.5" srh. I ran 24g of 296 wih a mag primer. It suprises me bacause they were gas checked but i guess thats not a curall. An observation i had made was that the lyman bullet has small grease grooves. I wonder if my grease, javelina, is used up by the muzzle. The other thoughts about this load is that, is my lead too soft and am i pushing too hard. It seems most loads recepies are about 21g. The 310s never lead with the same lead, presumably because they are heavier and moving slower. Gonna try two things, lightening the charge and coating the bullets with liquid alox after lube size.

[onesonek]

I'm thinking along with the "if it ain't broke" crowd. As for me, most any open sighted revolver would be a 50 yd. big game rig. Beyond that, I would switch to one with optics of some sort.
I would be curious as to what your load shoots at 50yds. then. If it is in the 4-5" group range, while not spectacular, it is still minute of deer to me.
Also for me, open sights at short range, are no problem, at 50, it seems more difficult, and at 75 and beyond is near impossible. It's not the boolit or the load, it's my eyes.
If you do experiment with optics, I might also suggest, UltraDot LT reflex sight. It gained me all the yardage I wanted for a short range big bore handgun. Yet is still fast on target, light weight and low profile. They just take a little getting use to is all.

[ColColt]

The load is 44 mag 240g swgc (lee mold) 24 grains of 296 mag primer in 9.5 super redhawk. Getting 1" groups at 25yds. Someone else could prob do better as i have troble shooting this gun as well as others. Easily hit 12" plate at 75 yds.

I wish I had that kind of trouble.