50 Beowulf Load data question

[WilliamSS159]

Good morning!

I'm using a cast 383 grain hollow point from NOE. It's powder coated, gas checked and sized to .501. My question is this. the load data on NOE's site for 385 grain is only listing IMR4227. which is slower than the 350 grain with lilgun and slower than the 400 grains with RL7 and other listed powders. Attached is a photo. My thought is start with 400 grain load data w/ RL7 or H4198. But I was hoping for some other opinions. Thank you.
192099

[flyingrhino]

I don't have an answer for you but I've been interested in the Beowulf. What do you think of it?

[WilliamSS159]

Lots of fun. had mag issues when i got it only the AA branded mags worked. I got pmags working at this point but took some figuring out.

[Greg S]

You are tryIng to compare AA Factory Load Data of a 385gr brass hp and 400 gr jacketed bullets to deduct a powder and start load for your NOE boolit.

Is your cast projo after checking and lubing 383 or heavier? Cast has less resistance but I would still be hesitant of using lil gun or H110 in that weight class. All AA's data moves to slower powders above the 350 weight class. I think it would be safe to start out with RL7 with a start load for the 400gr jacketed bullet and work from there. Since there is no pressure data for the bullet and the use of CCI-350 primers, it'll be hard to tell when you have reached max SAAMI pressure of 42 or 44k. You can measure the case webs and look for expansion against factory loaded rounds for comparison but it is alot of work. You know your over if your rims are damaged during extraction or you rip on off.

I am headed down the same road with Barnes 375s and RL7. I'll have to trim cases to use the crimp groove and get oal.

Another place to ask would be oer at beyond 5.56. At one time they had quite abit of 50bw load data in their reloading section.

I had no feeding problems using cheap Brownells aluminum mags although there was some case scratching for my inital 100 rounds. I took a file and relieved the front corners alittle and took a half round file on the front edge of the mag where the case crimp was catching on the front edge of the mag @s the round was being chambered. I had factory mags on back order for three months. You need to verify it is in stock when ordering from AA otherwise you will wait and wait with no word.

[WilliamSS159]

sounds good. i got that advice on the reloading room on facebook as well. my thought was RL7 or AA1680. I was trying to access beyond 556 but i'm getting an error.. thought the page was down.
192119

[Lloyd Smale]

I mostly use wc297 and 1680 in mine. Ive tried about everything. Lil gun will heat your barrel up extreamly hot if your playing around and dump a mag fast. 110/296 works well but 297 has given me the best accuracy. Sad thing is ive got only one 8lb keg left and it isn't available anywhere anymore so I use it just for hunting loads in the beo. this is for 350 grain bullets. When I switch to a 400 I stick with 1680, 4198 and re7. If I could have only one powder (that's available) for all my beo loading it would be 1680. One thing ill add about the beo is it shoots a big heavy bullet. trying to get the last fps out of it is wasting your time. It will hammer any game animal with starting loads. What I look for is good function and accuracy. to be honest I don't fool much with cast in mine. I mostly use the reineer plated bullets. there fairly cheap to buy and are very accurate and have done real well on game. If you want to push it into a dangerous game gun give some of kelly shelps solid brass punch bullets a try. My wife killed a 1500 lb Asian water buffalo with those bullets and they busted through both front shoulders and are probably still traveling.

[WilliamSS159]

I did a start load of 47.0 grains of RL7 @2.110" which is the same OAL as the Hornady 350 grain HP i got from cabelas. I'll test to night and let you know how it goes. it's a hair away from being a compressed load at start. 192177

[WilliamSS159]

47 grains worked good no pressure. pushing it to 48 today. i had short (3-5' at 1-1:30) and no BHO will report back.

[Vettepilot]

Why is it all the published data for the 50 Beo specify fairly fast powders from a rifle cartridge standpoint? I realize the barrels are usually short, but one would think; heavy bullet, large case, rifle... definitely more of a "rifle", slower, powder than the more pistol type powders listed?

What am I missing here?

Thanks,
Vettepilot

[Greg S]

I believe case capacity, bore diameter and bullet weight. It is right in the 500 S&W neighborhood and I really don't think you are going to gain anything in a 16" barrel limited to 42-44k pressure.

[Vettepilot]

I believe case capacity, bore diameter and bullet weight. It is right in the 500 S&W neighborhood and I really don't think you are going to gain anything in a 16" barrel limited to 42-44k pressure.

Well, I "get" the given powder choices if it were used in a pistol. I just don't understand why they wouldn't select a somewhat slower powder for rifle use. Even a low pressure rifle. Consider the similar 45-70 round....

Just curious here.

Vettepilot

[MrHarmless]

I don't have an answer for you but I've been interested in the Beowulf. What do you think of it?

I had feeding issues early on, which I've completely resolved, but they are very common.

The primary problem is that the .50 Beowulf is fat (no kidding), so it doesn't like to change direction over the short travel between the feed ramp and the chamber. I used a couple of "Beowulf Specific" mags and they didn't really work. They had the semi circle relief cut with the front of the magazine for bullets with a wider meplat, but the issue was feed angle. As a result, I got many nose high jams, where the nose of the bullet would impact the top of the chamber chamfer and stick (if it was a lead bullet), or, because of the angle of the dangle, the bullet would catch on the locking lugs of the barrel extension, and ding up the brass.

I ended up settling on standard 20 round GI mags (aluminum, Okay Industries, ~12 bucks a pop), and using a wide mouth pliers to taper the feed lips up near the front so the bullets sat at closer to a 20 degree angle up into the chamber. Since doing this, I can't recall any failures to feed, and it only took about 10 rounds to experiment and get the angle right.

With that in mind, the Beowulf is an absolute meme caliber. I built mine as a replica of a gun from Fallout: New Vegas, otherwise I would have built a .458 Socom, since I already have a 45-70.

The parts are much less common and more expensive. The brass is expensive as heck (although it lasts a really long time, thicc case walls, low pressure because AR-15 and big bore), Anderson Arms are absolute trash tier as a company, and while there are a few good bullets to choose from (especially for cast), they're much more expensive than .458 and .452, simply because it's not that common a caliber.

The .458 Socom has a way better bullet selection, much more load data, more available brass, and better market saturation. It's got way more versatility in general.

If you need a straight wall cartridge, the .450 Bushmaster is not as prolific, but it has higher velocities, better ballistic coefficients, and WAY cheaper bullets for plinking, although it's not as common as the .458 Socom.

262406

[MrHarmless]

For powder and load data, I haven't used H4198 yet, but I planned too.

I use H110 and have gotten spectacular accuracy out of a 16 inch barrel with Hornady FTX bullets with 39.5 grains. Like 1 ragged hole at 100.

I'm still working on a plinking load for my NOE 502-325-RF Gas Checked. I wanna say somewhere in the 42 grain range has given decent accuracy but I have more work to do.

I also tried 2400 because it meters better, but I had a pressure sign scare earlier than anticipated and just stopped using it, because the accuracy was generally worse at similar velocities with the same bullet, but I'm certain I could find a decent load with it if I took the time. It also burns dirtier and made my cases sooty way more than H110. H110 burned so clean I had the bore clean in like two patches. I was pretty impressed.

[Vettepilot]

I had feeding issues early on, which I've completely resolved, but they are very common.

The primary problem is that the .50 Beowulf is fat (no kidding), so it doesn't like to change direction over the short travel between the feed ramp and the chamber. I used a couple of "Beowulf Specific" mags and they didn't really work. They had the semi circle relief cut with the front of the magazine for bullets with a wider meplat, but the issue was feed angle. As a result, I got many nose high jams, where the nose of the bullet would impact the top of the chamber chamfer and stick (if it was a lead bullet), or, because of the angle of the dangle, the bullet would catch on the locking lugs of the barrel extension, and ding up the brass.

I ended up settling on standard 20 round GI mags (aluminum, Okay Industries, ~12 bucks a pop), and using a wide mouth pliers to taper the feed lips up near the front so the bullets sat at closer to a 20 degree angle up into the chamber. Since doing this, I can't recall any failures to feed, and it only took about 10 rounds to experiment and get the angle right.

With that in mind, the Beowulf is an absolute meme caliber. I built mine as a replica of a gun from Fallout: New Vegas, otherwise I would have built a .458 Socom, since I already have a 45-70.

The parts are much less common and more expensive. The brass is expensive as heck (although it lasts a really long time, thicc case walls, low pressure because AR-15 and big bore), Anderson Arms are absolute trash tier as a company, and while there are a few good bullets to choose from (especially for cast), they're much more expensive than .458 and .452, simply because it's not that common a caliber.

The .458 Socom has a way better bullet selection, much more load data, more available brass, and better market saturation. It's got way more versatility in general.

If you need a straight wall cartridge, the .450 Bushmaster is not as prolific, but it has higher velocities, better ballistic coefficients, and WAY cheaper bullets for plinking, although it's not as common as the .458 Socom.

262406

Hmmm... interesting on the mags. Maybe I'll try some. On good recommendations, I got Lancer mags for mine, and fitted them with Tromix 50 Beowulf followers. I'll try to remember to let you know how they work when I finish building the gun here in a bit.

Still wondering if slower powders might work, but don't have the balls to try them for myself...

Vettepilot

[Vettepilot]

For powder and load data, I haven't used H4198 yet, but I planned too.

I use H110 and have gotten spectacular accuracy out of a 16 inch barrel with Hornady FTX bullets with 39.5 grains. Like 1 ragged hole at 100.

I'm still working on a plinking load for my NOE 502-325-RF Gas Checked. I wanna say somewhere in the 42 grain range has given decent accuracy but I have more work to do.

I also tried 2400 because it meters better, but I had a pressure sign scare earlier than anticipated and just stopped using it, because the accuracy was generally worse at similar velocities with the same bullet, but I'm certain I could find a decent load with it if I took the time. It also burns dirtier and made my cases sooty way more than H110. H110 burned so clean I had the bore clean in like two patches. I was pretty impressed.

How did your "pressure signs" manifest themselves with the 2400?

Thanks,
Vettepilot

[MrHarmless]

How did your "pressure signs" manifest themselves with the 2400?

Thanks,
Vettepilot

Some ejector wipe, as well as a bent rim, the latter of which opened my eye's pretty quick. Nothing wrong with 2400, I suspect I just started the ladder too high.

Because of the whole straight wall thing, and the relatively low max pressure (33k PSI), you don't tend to see primer cratering or flattening at all before you see ejector wipe. At least not with CCI Large Mag Pistol Primers.

[mehavey]

...ejector wipe...Ejector wipe (brass extrusion) is at the 70ksi(+) level -- double the spec,

[MrHarmless]

You'd think, but at that PSI, even a straight wall cartridge would flatten primers, and based on Quickload (with some tweaks to make the burn rate accurate for straight wall data) as well as, extrapolated reduced load data from 500 S&W it wasn't close to that.

[drooling idiot]

slower powders raise gas port pressure causing swipe and rough extraction by opening the action too soon.
They usually put more crud into the action of an AR as well.
If your looking for the velocity increase that comes with slower powders and your fine with the extra cleaning, you should look to an adjustable gas block, pig tail tube, or adjustable gas key.