460 S&W rifle

[Harter66]

Ok I've got you in here it's actually a 45 Raptor aka a 460 S&W in a 308 case .
Work with me a little bit .

This is a handy little 16" carbine built on an SR Mauser with a Rhinland bbl . I don't have any groups to brag on at this point because I don't have a Weaver rail bridge mount and with out it the dot fly's off and head buts me and the straight bolt won't allow for the Leupold twist lock bridge mount with a different scope . :( Good news I just happened to have a set of Handi rifle sights and was gifted a take off peep sight insert .
I have mastered the mechanical aspects of this cast bullet thing , so this is pretty much a sharing thing .
I generally run my pistol cast out of 50/50 and the rifles out of 75/25 WW-1-20 derived from tamper seals . So I don't actually have a clue what the finished alloy is but it water drops to 14-16 bhn and splashes rather than fragments on steel gas checked it holds up into the mid 40 kpsi range.

So I have a 16 twist that should get me up to about as heavy a bullet as I want to close the bolt on . I have 7 suitable moulds and a method. Most of the SWC s don't feed well . I have a short action magazine kit in it with the block at the front to serve as an altered feed ramp extension.

For your consideration .
Over 12 gr of Unique , CCI large rifle standard , PMC 308 expanded to 45 trimmed to 1.825 as measured after fire form .
454424 Lyman @ 1330 fps
454424 NOE @ 1335 fps
429421 Lyman. @ 1370 fps @ recut bands to .448 , 257gr paper patched.
452-255 @ 1350 fps @ 265 gr .
454-350 MM. @1225 fps
All sized .454

The 454-350 is .911 long without a crimp groove 2 lube grooves . It seats at the top of the front band on the lands , .456 inside .455 outside , .08 bands and a .446 with a .2 bore ride in the 75/25 WQ alloy.

Loaded up to its full potential with H322 , 4198 might be better , in cases and primed as above it got me to 1650 fps . This appears to coincide with H332s point of clean up pressures . Unfortunately the next step went 1670 and left just a hint of lead. The last load went 1770,1725 ,1670 , 1625 and 1640 . The leading would have been horrible if the stiffened Darrs lube had not layed down the non stick coat. Based on berm impacts the groups other than the last 8 were within a 4" circle at 62 yd .

Hopefully this weekend will allow me to shoot the new peep sight and it's much lower , lighter profile will keep the sights on the rifle .

I have a 457-340 that drops at 353 gr and 459 , I just hate pouring 1 at a time .
188235
The bullets available.
188236

[Cold Trigger Finger]

So, what is this rifles planned job ??

[Harter66]

I'm relocating from the world of 300 yd above tree line and zero cover sage flats for deer ,elk and antelope to thickets dark woods and wild boars . 45-70 class with the option to run it up or down as needed from 141 gr RB to tank killer.

[Mk42gunner]

16 twist seems like it might be a little fast for the lighter boolits, at least to me. I'd at least try some of your 353s to see what they do.

Of course it is all a wild guess until the sights stay on the gun. Handy looking little carbine though.

Robert

[rockrat]

In my 460 S&W rifle, I use the Lee 45-310. I have also used that in my 450 bushmaster with excellent results

[mcdaniel.mac]

In my 460 S&W rifle, I use the Lee 45-310. I have also used that in my 450 bushmaster with excellent results
How fast are you slinging those?

[Harter66]

I still have the option to slow things down for the lights .
After much study I believe that a 1-20" would be better suited to the needs and cartridge .

I joked that the paper patch might go 2500 fps and cause brain damage head on to a 200# hog . The response was that it might cause brain damage via a hit straight on from the other end .

I have sizers to reduce the 350s for paper as well if I don't feel like 1600 is sufficient for moose or buffalo .

[Blackwater]

I think the 20" twist will be plenty fast for any bullets you'd want to use in that caliber. .45/70 BPCR's have shown that 1:18 or 1:20" twists will stabilize 500 gr. bullets, and sometimes even heavier than that with the 18" twist. I'd imagine that 400 gr. will be the heaviest bullet you'd want to use in your gun, due to the shorter case length. Longer bullets intrude more heavily into the powder space in a shorter case than would be true if you had 2.1" of case length as in the .45/70. For 400 gr. and less, 1:22" would be fine, I'd think. If it were me, that's what I'd order, anyway. FWIW?

[Harter66]

I got so close with the first try .
The high polish custom build at the end of this experience will be fortified with everything learned with this rifle .
Weight is a big deal .
Solid mounts possibly as far as an extra screw , yep.
Tight throat ,long leade ?
Start with a WSM action ? Maybe a 284 that is used up ?

In the mean time enjoy this thing .
Shoot some critters ,shoot 100x that much paper .
Shoot lots of weights and shapes .
Run some paper patched maybe even feed it some BP .

[Cold Trigger Finger]

Sounds like a fun project. Looks like an ideal canidate for a Scout scope. But maybe thats just me. Tho I can still shoot iron rifle sights ok. I dont really understand why. The front sight is kinda fuzzy .
Interested to see what velocity you can get from the 350 gr bullets.

[Harter66]

I have another rifle that is scout scoped . The optics have stayed put and everything , it is about 7.5# and in 7x6.8 SPC ...... I guess the recoil pulse is different :p :groner:
Cloudy and wet today , desert rats melt in that wet stuff , so maybe tomorrow I'll be able to see how it actually shoots . Then I'll work up some full tilt loads and tinker with base protection .

[Harter66]

It dried up today and I was able to get out and get the sights close .......
I burned up the last of a box of commercial cast 230 RN over the 12 gr load of Unique ....... Grrrrr out of adjustment and still 10" high at 50 yd . Good news the 454424 NOE only hits 9" high at 50 .......

The aperture kept me from full adjustment so I worked with a ghost ring to get down to 9" high .

Groups are another matter , appearently I'm not a really great bench guy and the truck makes a poor bench ..... God bless the desert . The first shots of strings were on target with following shots wandering around as if leading a target . 5 of 12 230s managed to get within 4" of one another . The remaining 12 NOE 454424s also over 12 gr of Unique managed to stay in a bunch about 8x8 in basically rapid fire .

Having now proofed the sights I will be able to move on to more productive shooting with a more solid bag rest and Remmie the wonder dog at home .
Poor girl ran till her tongue was hanging to her knees . Explosive shorthair energy Rottweiler drive ........ Basically an over wound self winding spring .

[Cold Trigger Finger]

What weight bullet does that 454424 mold throw ? What velocity were the 230 he going? Sounds like if its was accurate that would be a fun load to shoot.

[Harter66]

The NOE is 255 .
The 230s went were about 1360.

All of the Unique loads are comfortable to shoot even the 350 .
I will load some more of the paper patch and work the loads .