GSSP
09-14-2009, 11:29 PM
Just thought I'd report on my work on my new mold; LBT WFN 280 gr in 45 cal.
First I 'd like to say that Veral Smith, owner of LBT is an absolute joy to work with. You have to be patient as he has something akin to 28,000 bps dial-up and only responds to his emails about 12-2 am when he gets his best connections speed.
After a few emails limping back and forth where we discussed the gun at hand, caliber and bullet, I decided on ordering one of his 2 bullet molds. My SS 4-5/8" Ruger NMBH in 45 Colt has .451" barrel and .452" in the cylinders. I wanted a bullet my 19 yr old daughter could shoot and I could use it for plinking and Rocky Mtn game such as mule deer and elk. My daughter had already been shooting the same gun with the RCBS 45-270-SAA around 850 fps and truly seemed to enjoy shooting it. Once the molds arrived, I immediately set about throwing some boolits. It took about 100 bullets before they were what I considered up to my quality. This is the first time I'd used an aluminum mold and was afraid of getting the melt too hot. Not too worry! I learned that at the pace I cast, about every 25 seconds, I could run my melt as hot as the Lee Production pot could muster; upto about 850 deg F. They filled nicely with good clean bottoms. Any with slightly rounded bottom edges were set aside for my daughters plinking; about 10-20%.
I have a sizeable variety of pistol powders and wanted to focus on the ones I had in quantity; Universal, HS-6, Titegroup and H110. I made the mistake of saving the H110 for last which ended up being the best. I tried to push the pb WW boolits too fast with the faster powders and would start getting leading around 900 fps and faster. I was using White Label BAC lube. I discussed this with Veral and we decided I needed to lap my bore. I assembled about 100 rds using about 2.5 gr of 700x as lapping loads. Out of the 100 rounds I had about 1/2 dozen stick just shy of the muzzle. Glad I had someone there to hold the revolver while I used a 3/8" dowel to drive the bullets out. I then switched to LBT solt blue and the leading reduced with most loads but still some powders leaded at over 900 fps.
W231 was a joy, keeping 10 in 1.5" with a 7 gr charge, WLP and Starline cases. In fact, Starline cases are what I use. Vel = 755 fps.
Titegroup. As soon as I hit 9 gr, the leading started and I never got any groups smaller than 3". 9gr hit 1038 fps using F150 primers. Even after I added a Trijicon RedDot sight and Hogue rubber grips, the accuracy never got any better.
Power Pistol. I started at 8 gr and hit leading, at 9 gr/942 fps. Accuracy was only 3.2".
AA#5. 10 and 10.5 gr hit 863 and 915 fps respectively. Accuracy was 3.2" and 2.33"
Since I have about 16 lbs of Universal, I really wanted this one to work. 6.9 gr, a F150 primer gave 1.5" groups and 751 fps. Great plinking load for women and kids. At 9.7 gr I again was hitting 1.5" groups but leading near the forcing cone. Vel was round 1006 to 1044 fps depending on what day I shot it and what primer. I tried F150, WLP and CCI 300's. All leaded. It's a good load and doesn't seem to loose it's accuracy. I just have to live with the leading. Glad I got plenty of copper wool.
HS-6. I started at 10.3 gr, 861 fps and got as far as 13 hitting 1030 fps. No leading until 13 gr and just a little. Best accuracy seemed to be around 10.5 gr in the 860 fps region with any of the three primers. Best accuracy was 1.93"
I tried some Lil'Gun since I'd had such a great experience with it and the Cast Performance 335 gr WFNGC bullet and my 62" AK moose I shot last 10 Sept on the Seward Peninsula north of Nome. Accuracy was getting there but it has such a nasty recoil I gave up on it. No leading to 19.5 gr hitting 1181 fps w/ F150 primers. Groups in the 2.1" region.
H110. I've got 16 lbs of it and am glad of it. No matter the load, 21 to 24.5 gr, zero leading and totally acceptable accuracy hovering around 1.5" to 2". I believe 25 gr is max. I've tried four primers, F150, F155 match magnum, WLP and CCI300 and the F150 consistently give the best ES, SD and accuracy. The 155 primer only give about 20-25 fps more. I run groups at 71 yds, my initial sight in distance, and am getting sub 5" 10 shot groups from the bench. I'm now practicing from seated positions over my knees or my Stoney Point Hunt n Hike shooting sticks. I can keep all shots inside 8" at 75 yds throwing 1-2 out of 10 at 100 yds to 12". Recoil is big but slower and more rolling than the Lil-Gun. The Hogue rubber grips really make a difference as do the Past shooting gloves though I cranked off about 40 rounds on saturday, bare handed and am showing no wear and tear on my digits.
This thing is a blast to shoot. Hope this helps anyone looking to use this bullet.
Alan
First I 'd like to say that Veral Smith, owner of LBT is an absolute joy to work with. You have to be patient as he has something akin to 28,000 bps dial-up and only responds to his emails about 12-2 am when he gets his best connections speed.
After a few emails limping back and forth where we discussed the gun at hand, caliber and bullet, I decided on ordering one of his 2 bullet molds. My SS 4-5/8" Ruger NMBH in 45 Colt has .451" barrel and .452" in the cylinders. I wanted a bullet my 19 yr old daughter could shoot and I could use it for plinking and Rocky Mtn game such as mule deer and elk. My daughter had already been shooting the same gun with the RCBS 45-270-SAA around 850 fps and truly seemed to enjoy shooting it. Once the molds arrived, I immediately set about throwing some boolits. It took about 100 bullets before they were what I considered up to my quality. This is the first time I'd used an aluminum mold and was afraid of getting the melt too hot. Not too worry! I learned that at the pace I cast, about every 25 seconds, I could run my melt as hot as the Lee Production pot could muster; upto about 850 deg F. They filled nicely with good clean bottoms. Any with slightly rounded bottom edges were set aside for my daughters plinking; about 10-20%.
I have a sizeable variety of pistol powders and wanted to focus on the ones I had in quantity; Universal, HS-6, Titegroup and H110. I made the mistake of saving the H110 for last which ended up being the best. I tried to push the pb WW boolits too fast with the faster powders and would start getting leading around 900 fps and faster. I was using White Label BAC lube. I discussed this with Veral and we decided I needed to lap my bore. I assembled about 100 rds using about 2.5 gr of 700x as lapping loads. Out of the 100 rounds I had about 1/2 dozen stick just shy of the muzzle. Glad I had someone there to hold the revolver while I used a 3/8" dowel to drive the bullets out. I then switched to LBT solt blue and the leading reduced with most loads but still some powders leaded at over 900 fps.
W231 was a joy, keeping 10 in 1.5" with a 7 gr charge, WLP and Starline cases. In fact, Starline cases are what I use. Vel = 755 fps.
Titegroup. As soon as I hit 9 gr, the leading started and I never got any groups smaller than 3". 9gr hit 1038 fps using F150 primers. Even after I added a Trijicon RedDot sight and Hogue rubber grips, the accuracy never got any better.
Power Pistol. I started at 8 gr and hit leading, at 9 gr/942 fps. Accuracy was only 3.2".
AA#5. 10 and 10.5 gr hit 863 and 915 fps respectively. Accuracy was 3.2" and 2.33"
Since I have about 16 lbs of Universal, I really wanted this one to work. 6.9 gr, a F150 primer gave 1.5" groups and 751 fps. Great plinking load for women and kids. At 9.7 gr I again was hitting 1.5" groups but leading near the forcing cone. Vel was round 1006 to 1044 fps depending on what day I shot it and what primer. I tried F150, WLP and CCI 300's. All leaded. It's a good load and doesn't seem to loose it's accuracy. I just have to live with the leading. Glad I got plenty of copper wool.
HS-6. I started at 10.3 gr, 861 fps and got as far as 13 hitting 1030 fps. No leading until 13 gr and just a little. Best accuracy seemed to be around 10.5 gr in the 860 fps region with any of the three primers. Best accuracy was 1.93"
I tried some Lil'Gun since I'd had such a great experience with it and the Cast Performance 335 gr WFNGC bullet and my 62" AK moose I shot last 10 Sept on the Seward Peninsula north of Nome. Accuracy was getting there but it has such a nasty recoil I gave up on it. No leading to 19.5 gr hitting 1181 fps w/ F150 primers. Groups in the 2.1" region.
H110. I've got 16 lbs of it and am glad of it. No matter the load, 21 to 24.5 gr, zero leading and totally acceptable accuracy hovering around 1.5" to 2". I believe 25 gr is max. I've tried four primers, F150, F155 match magnum, WLP and CCI300 and the F150 consistently give the best ES, SD and accuracy. The 155 primer only give about 20-25 fps more. I run groups at 71 yds, my initial sight in distance, and am getting sub 5" 10 shot groups from the bench. I'm now practicing from seated positions over my knees or my Stoney Point Hunt n Hike shooting sticks. I can keep all shots inside 8" at 75 yds throwing 1-2 out of 10 at 100 yds to 12". Recoil is big but slower and more rolling than the Lil-Gun. The Hogue rubber grips really make a difference as do the Past shooting gloves though I cranked off about 40 rounds on saturday, bare handed and am showing no wear and tear on my digits.
This thing is a blast to shoot. Hope this helps anyone looking to use this bullet.
Alan