Max load 500 Mag 440gn coated boolits (no GC)

[BC17A]

Just wondering how hard you you guys are pushing your coated boolits in 500 Mag. I've cast some 440gn Lee's w/o gas check but they do have a heavy coating on the base. These are cast from range scrap with some extra tin added and cold quenched after coming out of the oven. So far I've got some loaded with starting loads of Longshot and wondering how they'd do at higher (near max) pressures and velocities. I've fired max loads with the same range lead/coating in 10mm and some start loads of H110 in 44 Mag with no ill effects but then again those weren't 50,000PSI loads. These will be fired from a 8-3/8" S&W. Powders I have are, AA9, 1680, H110 and CFE-BLK.

[pacomdiver]

love going the extra mile with the smiley faces , adds that little bit of "class".i have this mold and am gonna try some without GC for the beowulf

[BC17A]

love going the extra mile with the smiley faces , adds that little bit of "class".i have this mold and am gonna try some without GC for the beowulf

Yes, the smiley does make 50 cal look more friendly.

Got a chance to test some of these today. I loaded mid range with Longshot, Titegroup and AA#9 and all shot very nice. 18.5gn LS averaged 1200fps, 15gn Titegroup 1128fps, and 31gn AA#9 1392fps. Also loaded some with 47 grains of AA1680. Those were a bit stout and averaged 1650fps. Though they didn't lead the barrel, there was definitely gas cutting happening all the way up through the second drive band(see pic). They also left a ring of PC and lead stuck to the case mouth. Looks like I'm going to get some gas checks before loading more.

[pacomdiver]

maybe that ring is from too much crimp?

[BC17A]

maybe that ring is from too much crimp?

Here's what the rounds looked like after crimp. All cases were trimmed within .002" and I made sure the case mouth was not biting into the coating. Funny thing is, the lead looks to be melted on face of the mouth and appears to be wrapping around the outside of the case in some spots. Looks like flowing solder which only happened with the AA1680 loads. Regardless of the cause, I'm in the process of machining a GS maker.

[bmortell]

i get rings in some guns i load for. and ive seen it talked about in a few threads but never seen anything besides ideas i can rule out, so rings are still a mystery to me. gas cutting looks similar to when my pc'd revolver boolits were too small. what does a projectile in the cylinder throat feel like. mine work well when it takes light force to push through and gas cutting went away.

[Ozark mike]

Yep make sure you are oversize a little my bfr hasnt had a gas checked boolit in it ever 500gr @1500 fps lubed with vasiline and beeswax

[BC17A]

i get rings in some guns i load for. and ive seen it talked about in a few threads but never seen anything besides ideas i can rule out, so rings are still a mystery to me. gas cutting looks similar to when my pc'd revolver boolits were too small. what does a projectile in the cylinder throat feel like. mine work well when it takes light force to push through and gas cutting went away.

Cylinder throats mic'd from .5012" to .5015" and the barrel GD is .4996". I suppose it might be a good idea to polish open the boolit sizer to to .502" or maybe .503".

[BC17A]

Gas-Checked, sized to .502" and ready to be pushed to the max. Next range trip I'll have more to report.

[vagrantviking]

Looks like the results of the crimp to me.

Gas cutting is usually eroded lines running lengthwise.

It will be interesting to see if you get a different result with the new loads.

[BC17A]

Here's a quick followup to the gas checked 440's. Pushed them to the max with H110, 4100, 1680 and 4227. All were very accurate, and I recovered several which showed the checks held tight, both aluminum and copper. Also, there were no more funny rings of lead and PC around the case mouth like before.