saz
04-22-2010, 02:33 AM
Here we go- FINALLY got a chance to get out to the range and shoot my new 16.5" puma 454 casull. The first load was a berry's plated 200gr and 9.5gr of trail boss. I loaded up about 30 of these just to play around with. They recoil a little more than a 22 and accuracy at 50 yards was good. Shooting standing kept all 30within a 10" circle. What a gas!
The next load I tried was a 400gr TL plain base design another member on here sent to me to try (thanks Ed!)- Using new WW cases, remington 7 1/2BR primers, Lil' Gun and an OAL of 1.753, they were worked up in half grain incriments from 18-20.5grs. The Crono numbers are as follows:
18gr Lil' Gun
AVG-1370fps
18.5gr Lil' Gun
AVG- 1400fps
19gr Lil'Gun
AVG- 1412fps
19.5gr Lil' Gun
AVG- 1452fps
20gr Lil' Gun
AVG- 1483fps
20.5gr Lil'Gun
AVG- 1501fps
The chrono numbers were looking promising but the accuracy was horrible at best- it was more of a pattern than a grouping. At 50yds I was lucky to keep them on the paper. There was a little bit of leading, but my guess is that my lee FCD is the culprit of the lack of accuracy. I need to check, but I think it was sizing the boolits down a bit. I am going to try it again using the seating die to crimp. Any other ideas out there? I really want to get these boolits to work out as they will make for a really good bear protection round.
Also, I am thinking about a set of XS sights for this gun- the factory hi-vis sights on here just are not my cup of tea- not very fine and the dots are way too big...... But, a less than productive day at the range is WAY better than a day at work, right?
The next load I tried was a 400gr TL plain base design another member on here sent to me to try (thanks Ed!)- Using new WW cases, remington 7 1/2BR primers, Lil' Gun and an OAL of 1.753, they were worked up in half grain incriments from 18-20.5grs. The Crono numbers are as follows:
18gr Lil' Gun
AVG-1370fps
18.5gr Lil' Gun
AVG- 1400fps
19gr Lil'Gun
AVG- 1412fps
19.5gr Lil' Gun
AVG- 1452fps
20gr Lil' Gun
AVG- 1483fps
20.5gr Lil'Gun
AVG- 1501fps
The chrono numbers were looking promising but the accuracy was horrible at best- it was more of a pattern than a grouping. At 50yds I was lucky to keep them on the paper. There was a little bit of leading, but my guess is that my lee FCD is the culprit of the lack of accuracy. I need to check, but I think it was sizing the boolits down a bit. I am going to try it again using the seating die to crimp. Any other ideas out there? I really want to get these boolits to work out as they will make for a really good bear protection round.
Also, I am thinking about a set of XS sights for this gun- the factory hi-vis sights on here just are not my cup of tea- not very fine and the dots are way too big...... But, a less than productive day at the range is WAY better than a day at work, right?