rl-7 & 458.w/m

[bigted]

so here is the question...i loaded 40 grains of rl-7 in my 458 win mag and topped it with enough cornmeal to kiss the bottom of the 350 gr hornaday round nose. i also loaded as an experiment a lyman 520 grain boolit from mould number 457125. i loaded the same 40 grains of rl-7 with the exact same amount of cornmeal fill.

went out and shot the 350 grain jacketed and they were very much powder puff loads...very easy on the gun n shooter.

the 520 grain boolits seated to the top drive band...compressed the cornmeal and powder. when i triggered this load off i was very surprised with the recoil. not a push nor anywhere gentle...this load whacked me very hard and not knowing what the heck...i fired the other three i had loaded...they too were brutal in the recoil dept.

question is...why the very large increase in recoil with the same amount of powder over the 350 grain jacketed?

thanks for the answers in advance.

[stubshaft]

The 350 wasn't heavy enough to allow all of the powder to burn, had the same problem in my 50AK. The heavier boolit raises pressures to levels that RE7 burns properly at. BTW - 40 grs of RE7 behind a 520 is still a powder puff load.LOL

[onondaga]

I'm a .458 shooter and experienced with RL7 and fillers. The weight of the cornmeal is substantial and is added to the boolit weight to determine total projectile weight. You are after all shooting the cornmeal with the boolit. The cornmeal is KICKING you man! And, it is jacking up your pressure substantially.

Try a much lighter filler. I use BPI original it is 1/4th the weight of cornmeal. If you care to try a fluffy fiber filler like synthetic batting from a sewing supply store that can be even lighter if you use it carefully. 40 grains of RL7 with a 350 gr boolit and BPI Original filler is a mild load you can easily shoot all day. Recoil from that load in my 10 lb scoped Colt/Sauer Grand African .458 Win Mag is less than a Marlin 30-30

My source for BPI Original:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=695248

I gotta tell you that I have much better accuracy and lower recoil with H4895 and BPI Original in reduced loads in .458 Win Mag. than with REL7.



Gary

[Old Goat Keeper]

Having studied physics many years ago the real difference in the recoil between the 2 loads (all things being equal) the increase of the bullet weight by 170 grans is the reason you got a bigger "kick" out of the cast load. The heavier the boolit the more resistance you have to starting it moving and the more the rifle will recoil. Pure simple physics guys.

T-o-m

[onondaga]

Ted, You can also use this free online recoil calculator to accurately compare recoil differences of different loads in the same rifle. If you look the site also has a very convenient reduced load calculator that I use frequently

Recoil Calculator:

http://www.handloads.com/calc/recoil.asp.



Reduced Load Calculator:

http://www.handloads.com/calc/reduced.asp

Gary

[bigted]

thanks guys...yes i know this load should be a puff and the 350 gr bullet load is indead very easy to shoot however i was a bit taken a-back when i fingered the 520 off with the same grain rl-7 load is all. didnt think the increase was realistic so i came here to inquire as to why.

i load my ruger with these boolits and 50 grains of 3031 and they are not a powder puff either but i knew that when i fired em off. in the light ruger #1 they will light my world up as well but in the brush where a guy is liable to be the animal stocked up here i wanted a repeating rifle so when and if this ever happened...id have a repeater to answer the call with.

this is a ruger 77 that i had re-barreled with a 458 barrel so it is nice n lite to pack ...thinkin it only weighs around 7.5 or 8 lbs with scope n sling n all so it bumps pretty well with even the downloaded loads.

im privvy to the inertia thing and know about the recoil calcutator but i was thinking that i had a nice load with the 40gr rl-7...maybe i will load it without any fill to see if this makes a difference.......YES ???

[onondaga]

Reduced loads in 458 with REL7 at that low volume are likely to be disastrous! This has happened to me with REL7 in my .458 and have had squibb rounds leaving a boolit half way down the bore. Other reduced REL7 .458 rounds I have had hang fire , misfire and 20 foot long muzzle flashes. One flash knocked my club range-master off his stool.

My serious advise is DON'T DO IT! without fillers and loads below recommended minimum with REL7 in the .458.

REL7 is NOT a powder to be messed with. It needs pressure to ignite or it does nasty stuff in the .458 WM. The filler will help, heavy boolits helps, heavy crimp helps. Less than recommended loads leave too much air space and ignition can go seriously wrong with REL7. Stick with recommended loads or use a safe filler.

A great powder that works well with no filler in the .458 is IMR Trailboss.

5744 is also recommended as it is not position sensitive, I find 5744 leaves trails of incompletely burned powder kernels in reduced loads in .458 unless I use the BPI Original to get 100% density loads.

H4895 and BPI Original in reduced loads have given me the most consistent clean burning and best accuracy in my reduced .458 loads.


Gary

[onondaga]

Ted, I am currently working up a load for the .458 Win Mag with a boolit that I believe is the best selection I have ever made for the .458 for my Bear hunting.

I have recently gotten the RanchDog CTL-460-350 mold in 6 cavity. It is an extreme meplat 350 grain gas checked boolit. My goals with this boolit in .458 are to get a load at 2100 fps with H4895 or A2230, both with BPI original and/or PRPSB filler . Accuracy target is less than 1 inch groups at 50 yards.

My current Bear load uses the Lee 457-340-RN-F that drops .460 and is sized .459. it is a plain base boolit and I drive it with 53.3 grains H4895 and BPI Original to 1610 fps with less than 1 inch groups at 50 yards. This load delivers over 1000 foot pounds energy at 200 yards. It is a proven killer for me But I have wanted the extreme meplat boolit in .458 for a while for extra insurance with Bears.

Gary

[bigted]

thanks Gary...i surely would have loaded the rl-7 without a filler. i knew about this but it slipped my mind and i very much apreciate your reminder....dont need 20 foot flash n flame.

i plan to load some 3031 with fill as well. my rifle is reluctant in chambering the flat point boolits so im so far playing with round nose boolits.

thanks again for the advise and reminder.

[pmer]

There is some good info here. I am just starting out with the .458 Lott and just got some dies and brass. It's good to know about RL #7, I was going to try it with the 350 RN too. So the idea with filler is for reduced loads and to take up space in the case for the right density, can oat meal work as a filler like corn meal? And what is the proper way to use the bating from the furniture industry?

For cast I'm going to go with LBT and send a casting of its throat in for a LFWN type of boolit. (I think)

[44MAG#1]

This is something I don't understand. Why would anyone get a 458 Win Mag and then load it down toa level that a 45/70 will duplicate? Makes no sense to me. Unless it is just something one wants to do for giggles.
I have a 458 Win Mag Ruger #1 and with a 550 gr cast I load to 1890 fps. Shoots well with Irons and leaves an impression.
Mostly I load to maybe 2/3rds of full power with whatever bullet I'm shooting. If I want 45/70 level I will break out a 45/70 that is easier to develope lighter loads for.
If one is that recoil sensitive a 45/70 makes a better cartridge.

[pmer]

"Makes no sense to me. Unless it is just something one wants to do for giggles."

Yes, I have to say its for the giggles. I have reloading data that should push the Horn. 350 RN to 2600 - 2700 fps and I understand that. I just picked up a Saeco hardness tester and the lead core of this bullet is quite a bit softer than WW. So if I'm going to use this for deer hunting (I'd like to) I think I'll have to load it down in order to not have little chunks of deer everywhere. I don't think I'll have a cast boolit ready for it by deer season.

This will be my first rifle to cast for.

I checked out a couple Safari type web sites and they seem to say "work up to your hunting load so you can used to the recoil". I think thats where I am, I tried a few factory loadings of 500 grain round nose and I'm glad I didn't break my nose with the thumb of my trigger hand ( on one of the first two shots).

If I just jump into full power loads I'll start hating it. I can learn to shoot this thing and it will be fun. And two guns for the price of one, load her down for fun and load her up for those rapid prairie dogs.

[bigted]

This is something I don't understand. Why would anyone get a 458 Win Mag and then load it down toa level that a 45/70 will duplicate? Makes no sense to me. Unless it is just something one wants to do for giggles.
I have a 458 Win Mag Ruger #1 and with a 550 gr cast I load to 1890 fps. Shoots well with Irons and leaves an impression.
Mostly I load to maybe 2/3rds of full power with whatever bullet I'm shooting. If I want 45/70 level I will break out a 45/70 that is easier to develope lighter loads for.
If one is that recoil sensitive a 45/70 makes a better cartridge.

well lets see if i can answer this with as much aplomb as possible without getting too wise-***.

i want a 45-70 level gun that will repeat rapidly with the loads i want it to do. i hunt animals that will and do every year kill and hunt us to chew un-repairable holes in a human body... so i want a repeater that will throw a 500+ grain cast boolit at em with the corresponding fast follow up that your #1 cant do...[ i know as i have a #1 in 45-70 as well and im an accomplished single-shot shooter]. i also dont stay on the path where most "hunters" stay instead i go into the over my head[[over 6 foot]] brush where these small 6 to 8oo lbs bears hang with their mostly nasty personality.

not meaning to be too smart-*** but just becouse it dosnt make sense to you dosnt necessarily mean that there isnt a good reason for it. the 458 is un-nessarilly powerful for these bears and the rest of the thin skinned game here but the caliber is of the weight that i like in a heavy hitter at moderate velocity.......believe me if i could have found a 45-70 bolt gun that i could have afforded i would have it and answered my own questions as i shoot several 45-70's and with the exception of my black powder experiments ...i believe i have accomplished everything i want and need out of that cartridge.

so thanks for the semi-weird question....... but i didnt get the "helpfullness" i had hoped for from your post here. if i missunderstood your post then i oppoligize for the curt answer.

[44MAG#1]

BIGTED:

The Marlin 45/70 will do anything you need it to do in alaska. Witness the Garrett Ammunition that is available. A 540 gr at 1550 fps. That ammo has taken the big five of Africa.
What else would you want? That load is easy to duplicate in a Marlin. so is his 420 gr load.
What else is slicker than a good lever action? What is easier handling? Why would you need more accuracy?
So with that being said the question remains. With the levels a 45/70 will generate why would one want a 458 Win Mag to try and reload down to 45/70 levels when we have Garrett ammo and buffalo Bore ammo readily available? Do you think you couldn't get off the shots you would need with a lever action?
Do you think that that level of performance would not be enough?
By the way I wasn't trying to be helpful. I was asking a question. In my semi-weird way.
I saw your question as semi-weird so my semi-weird answer kind of complimented each other.

[bigted]

in trying to answer your question i must have forgotten that there are those that drive chevys and those that drive fords. some buy pick-ups even tho they will never haul anything in the bed and those that buy sedans and pack everything in the trunk with a goofy wire or rope to hold the lid down. some things are never understood and will not be changed no matter how much they are misunderstood.

i asked an inocent question here becouse of a lack of understanding on the issue and all you have to say is that you dont understand the car i drive...[so to speak]. seems like a waste of time is all and i wont try further to "convince" you about my logic. ill let you continue to wonder and hope that someday you dont have to try to answer such a question yourself to another that happens to not understand the difference between folks that like chevys and those that like fords.

have a happy day sir!

ive heard it said that if your not part of the solution.........and so on.

[44MAG#1]

BIGTED
Sorry I ruined your day but if you will go back to your first post and read it it seem like you were kinda asking a "weird" question.
Anyone knows if you load a light bullet and a heavy bullet with the same powder charge the heavier will recoil more. This is simple physics and anyone reloading even for a short time should know this. Heavy bullets develope more momentum than lighter even when the lighter is going quite a bit faster than the heavies. We learned about momentum in school.
In case you are momentum challenged here is an example. A 350 gr bullet traveling at 1500 fps will generate 75 pounds feet momentum. A 520 gr bullet traveling 1010 fps will generate the same amount 75 pounds feet momentum. Both amounts are transmitted into backward thrust through the rifle to your shoulder. Remember Newton's law?????????????
Now if the 40 gr charge gave the 350 gr bullet 1600 fps and the 520 1400 fps, give or take a few fps what do you expect???????????????????? You do the math.
Come on now you know that right???????????
I have never chronoed that light a powder charge in the 458 Win Mag as I see no use in it as both loads and powder charge pressure wise according to Lymans 49th data book is safe for any 45/70 except the trapdoor Springfield's. So I would break out my Marlin 45/70 with a 550 cast at 1500 to use with confidence.
Tell me you honestly didn't know why the big bullet whacked you harder.
Maybe you didn't, its possible, or maybe the ole gray matter was on a trip to far away places the other day.

[onondaga]

Great comments on why get a .458.

I got mine free. Well I bartered 2 days work. I rewired a lightening struck yacht, He bougt all the supplies. I had the choice in payment: A 375 H&H Model 70 Win Pre-64 or a Colt/Sauer Grand African .458 WM. I had recently read an article claiming that the Colt/Sauer Grand African was the nicest sporting rifle ever available and whether that is true or not it sure stuck in my head. I am very fond of my Colt/Sauer and have fielded it a lot. I have only used factory ammo when the rifle was used for Polar Bear protection when Muskox bow-hunting in Alaska and never needed to fire it with that ammo at Polar Bears. But, I was ready.

The action on the Colt/Sauer is the smoothest I have ever felt, the bore on the rifle is the slickest I have ever looked down and I have several load levels that all group under 1 inch at 50 yards. It is a lovely rifle and my Favorite. The stock is African Bubinga, grip cap with Ivory Colt Mustang inlay and end cap are Ebony.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c338/rhymeswithwhat/coltsauer.jpg

The rifle came to me in an aluminum airline case along with 3 magazines, 100 rounds Browning 510 gr.Safari Ammo, a target fired with that ammo showing a 1 inch group 2 inches high @50 yards (that I also verified myself) and the original Owners manual. There was a little ticket fastened to the trigger guard that said the bore was greased for storage and to clean before firing. Somebody else loved that rifle too.

Gary

[bigted]

44MAG,

i will not banter with you sir!! you have your opinion and your welcome to it...i never invited you to make un-needed comments on my firearms choice nor do i need your smurfy comments on my question that still stands...which is thusly....im going to type this vewwy slowwly !

the recoil i got with my heavy boolit loads were very much out of line with what was expected...im indeed not a newby to loading and this was out of character as for the amount of felt recoil...un-ussual is the key word sir so if you have no worthy words for an answer then i highly invite you to keep your smirfy comments to yourself as i dont need nor appreciate them...i started this thread to gain new area of thought and if you dont want to add worthy comments to this posting then feel welcome to begin another with your unwanted opinions and comments.

Gary...nice looking rifle bud. sorry to have gotten off track with all this. i had a cz in 458 that shot factory loads very well as well. it wasnt smooth tho and it wouldn't feed accurately some of the time so i gave it the big boot and informed the new owner of its malady's in fairness. this ruger i had built is not only smooth but lite for packing along. i am thinking of shortening the barrel tho to keep it carbine length for the heavy brush. your colt looks and sounds like it has been very well taken care of and should be a treat for you for years to come.

took a shot at a little black bear the other day but he ducked when i thought he was gonna dive so i shot rite over his head...pretty bear but recon he will grow for another year as we were in a very unlikely spot where nobody else hunts so im sure he will be there next time around.

have a great day all

[onondaga]

The Ruger sounds nice. These big Calibers are also "Unusual" when you shorten their barrels. When I shoot my rifle offhand with factory ammo the vertical rise on recoil is 16 to 18 inches with my 25 inch barrel. I am sure that jump would significantly increase with a shortened tube and the bark would also be "Unusual"--- food for thought!!!! I bet your Ruger is a couple pounds lighter also. It is just a preference but my Squirrel rifle weighs 10 pounds also. It is a full length bull barrel match rifle.

I hope you get a chance to scale weigh the amount of cornmeal you had tried and get a handle how much that increased your total projectile weight. I bet well over 20 grains. I think that is a part of the surprise you got with the heavier boolit..

Tomorrow I am range testing my 458 with the Ranchdog CTL-460-350 at ~ 2100 fps-- I am wearing my Past Super-Mag Recoil Vest !

Gary

[swheeler]

44MAG,

i will not banter with you sir!! you have your opinion and your welcome to it...i never invited you to make un-needed comments on my firearms choice nor do i need your smurfy comments on my question that still stands...which is thusly....im going to type this vewwy slowwly !

the recoil i got with my heavy boolit loads were very much out of line with what was expected...im indeed not a newby to loading and this was out of character as for the amount of felt recoil...un-ussual is the key word sir so if you have no worthy words for an answer then i highly invite you to keep your smirfy comments to yourself as i dont need nor appreciate them...i started this thread to gain new area of thought and if you dont want to add worthy comments to this posting then feel welcome to begin another with your unwanted opinions and comments.

Gary...nice looking rifle bud. sorry to have gotten off track with all this. i had a cz in 458 that shot factory loads very well as well. it wasnt smooth tho and it wouldn't feed accurately some of the time so i gave it the big boot and informed the new owner of its malady's in fairness. this ruger i had built is not only smooth but lite for packing along. i am thinking of shortening the barrel tho to keep it carbine length for the heavy brush. your colt looks and sounds like it has been very well taken care of and should be a treat for you for years to come.

took a shot at a little black bear the other day but he ducked when i thought he was gonna dive so i shot rite over his head...pretty bear but recon he will grow for another year as we were in a very unlikely spot where nobody else hunts so im sure he will be there next time around.

have a great day all

Ted you could go with 16.5 inch barrel, real handy in the thick stuffhttp://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg234/kmw3291/Picture086.jpg

[swheeler]

If the 458 Win isn't enough the 450 Watts Ackley improved is a honey with cast, gophers and even rock chucks tremble at the sight of it.http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg234/kmw3291/Gophers963.jpg

[bigted]

the ruger 458 of mine was origanally barreled in the 375ruger chambering and i whittled it down from the already short 20 to 18 inch barrel. this was a handfull with full throttle loads but 300 was the heaviest i found for it so ...as i had dreamed of a 458 cal bolt for a long time for the calibre...not the horsepower. i cant imagine even the most determined bear here can withstand a couple from this firing a 500 + lead cast into them that will expend the energy inside the critter...that is what i wanted/needed this 458 for in the first place.

in answer to how much cornmeal...my lee plastic meassure i used is the 1.6 so i will weigh this to find the added weight in my loading column.

im not done yet with the experiments with diff kinds of powder and on the horizon is going to be a load of compressed black powder as well. just searching for the rite-on powder/load for it using smokless first. everything has to be perfect including the feeding/firing/accuracy thru her. she only only has to be accurate to 150 yards so maybe i can find a 400 with the full round nose comfiguration to experiment with as well.

[44MAG#1]

BIGTED:

Have you figured out why she whacked you so hard with the 500 gr bullets with the same powder charge as the 350's?
Could it be because of what I said about the velocity of the loads and the momentum they developed?
I am curious as I may run into the same situation some day.

[onondaga]

Ted, I checked the BPI Original and used the 1.6 cc scoop. I weighed 10 and the average was 7.6 grains. You can compare that to the weight of your cornmeal at 1.6 cc volume. Others might be interested too.

Gary

[onondaga]

Here is a peek at the RanchDog CTL-460-350 loaded in my .458s:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c338/rhymeswithwhat/RD458.jpg

I really wanted to shoot today but my range was closed for today and tomorrow due to The Blue Angels Air Show at the at the Niagara Falls Airport that borders my club rifle range. I watched the airshow from the berm top at the range!!!!

Gary

[swheeler]

the ruger 458 of mine was origanally barreled in the 375ruger chambering and i whittled it down from the already short 20 to 18 inch barrel. this was a handfull with full throttle loads but 300 was the heaviest i found for it so ...as i had dreamed of a 458 cal bolt for a long time for the calibre...not the horsepower. i cant imagine even the most determined bear here can withstand a couple from this firing a 500 + lead cast into them that will expend the energy inside the critter...that is what i wanted/needed this 458 for in the first place.

in answer to how much cornmeal...my lee plastic meassure i used is the 1.6 so i will weigh this to find the added weight in my loading column.

im not done yet with the experiments with diff kinds of powder and on the horizon is going to be a load of compressed black powder as well. just searching for the rite-on powder/load for it using smokless first. everything has to be perfect including the feeding/firing/accuracy thru her. she only only has to be accurate to 150 yards so maybe i can find a 400 with the full round nose comfiguration to experiment with as well.

Ted sounds like the perfect combo for what you want it for. As to the cornmeal 1.6cc should be right at 22 grs in weight. H4895 and dacron for filler has given good accuracy with 455 and 500 gr cast. While doing some cottonwood stump penetration testing the 455 gr at 1700fps penetrated about 3 ft of green cottonwood at 50 yards, should turn a hairy pig around right smart, "FASTEST AIN'T ALWAYS BESTEST"

[bigted]

LOL...i heard that bout the fastest aint always the bestest.

weighed my cornmeal and it weighs in at average of 17.3 grains for 10 tested scoops so that ups my boolit weight to 540 ish grains. still i have a hard time with the amount of added punishment...i will load more to be sure i hadnt done something else in the stupid dept. but i always am very carefull with my portions as ive seen a couple friends when i was a kid overload and blow up very nice rifles...left an impression that lasted.

my intention was to load the 40 gr of rl-7 and add enough c/m to just kiss the bottom of the boolit so ill re-measure the column and check to see if i didn't arrive at a compressed load with too much c/m in there. i know from experience that with a 357 mag i loaded for years ago that when experimenting with downloads in it i used c/m to fill an almost empty case that the compressed load recoiled like a full load so i know that compressed loads will perform different then UN-compressed loads do.......maybe this is what i UN-intentionally have done.

im back to work for a few days so will have to wait till later to re-visit this experiment. ill report back with the results tho as i started this and will see it thru.

also i really like those rounds Gary. they are what id like to use only with the big flat me plate they don't seem to want to feed thru my ruger for some reasson...maybe i should load some and take her back to the dr office and see if i cant get it to fee them as this is exactly what i wanted for hunting

[onondaga]

Ted, If you do take your Ruger to the DR'S office, take a look at my Colt/Sauer magazines and the spooned ramp in front of the follower. The RanchDog boolit glides right up for me out of this magazine and feeds very well:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c338/rhymeswithwhat/458follower.jpg

Gary

[bigted]

Ted you could go with 16.5 inch barrel, real handy in the thick stuffhttp://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg234/kmw3291/Picture086.jpg

this is what im talking about...very nice looking rifle...458 i assume? bet it is a handfull with semi-stiff loads. id be interested in what you feed it and details on the rifle.

[swheeler]

Ted it is m98 with Shaw barrel 16.5 inches long. I have the 450 gr Lee plain base, a 455 gr Lee gas checked bought from their surplus items page several years ago, and the 500 gr Lee gas check molds. For the plain base 450 gr Unique 17 grains is accurate, mild and fun, wife and kids love it. Unique with the 500 gr gas checked bullet, 17-19 grs does 1100-1200 fps from the 16.5 inch barrel. 28 gr of 2400 is another good gentle load with either weight bullet, I use enough dacron to fill the airspace and gives 1400 fps. The 455 gr gas checked ACWW with 40 grs 5744 and no filler clocks 1572 fps and does 1.5 moa at 100 yards, deer load. H4895 and the 455 bullet, 45 grs-1448,50-1502 and 55-1702fps use dacron filler with these. Much more than this and you will have to start heat treating . I've got a partial box of 500 Hornady RN and about 20 cupro nickle FMC 500 grainers and a bag of Rem 405 gr that never see daylight anymore. IMR 4895 at 74 grs is a handfull with 500 grainers, just seating the bullet is work, all the crunching and sqeeking the powder makes me feel uneasy, these are best saved for ground squirrels. If a 455 gr bullet at 1700 fps won't kill it, it probably doesn't need killing.

[swheeler]

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg234/kmw3291/Picture048.jpg

Look at that FMC bullet, 1.360 " long, kinda like a 160gr 6.5 on steroids!

[bigted]

been a little curious about the unique loads in such a giant case...do you use filler with the 17 to 19 grain loads?

also is this a miss-print with the 16.5 inch barrel? i measured mine and have settled on 18 inch for a trim package...my 375 ruger barrel was 18 inches and this seemed like a good length for a brush thumper in the small 458 wm cambering.

also Gary...i looked at my feed ramp this am and this rifle was originally chambered for the 375 Ruger so the nose of the bullet kinda guided the rest of the cartridge into the chamber...however this straight case with a flat wide me-plate boolit jumps too high and catches on the top of the chamber mouth so looks like a dremel on the feed ramp is going to be required...also the width of the ramp needs to be widened slightly for proper alignment with the staggered mag in my Ruger.

never got around to trying to reproduce those thumpers but ive come to the conclusion that i must have dribbled a small bit too much powder in the case when i intended the 40 gr load with my rcbs 530 grain boolits......i regularly shoot 41 grains in my marlin 45-70 with this boolit and it thumps but nothing like i experienced with the load i somehow processed with the filler n rl-7. chalk it up to a mistake and ill just have to pay much more attention.

this 40 grain rl-7 with 350 grain and fill is so nice and fun that its hard to believe. if the unique load is this fun ill have two loads for fun and rock busting.

[swheeler]

been a little curious about the unique loads in such a giant case...do you use filler with the 17 to 19 grain loads?
also is this a miss-print with the 16.5 inch barrel? i measured mine and have settled on 18 inch for a trim package...my 375 ruger barrel was 18 inches and this seemed like a good length for a brush thumper in the small 458 wm cambering.

also Gary...i looked at my feed ramp this am and this rifle was originally chambered for the 375 Ruger so the nose of the bullet kinda guided the rest of the cartridge into the chamber...however this straight case with a flat wide me-plate boolit jumps too high and catches on the top of the chamber mouth so looks like a dremel on the feed ramp is going to be required...also the width of the ramp needs to be widened slightly for proper alignment with the staggered mag in my Ruger.

never got around to trying to reproduce those thumpers but ive come to the conclusion that i must have dribbled a small bit too much powder in the case when i intended the 40 gr load with my rcbs 530 grain boolits......i regularly shoot 41 grains in my marlin 45-70 with this boolit and it thumps but nothing like i experienced with the load i somehow processed with the filler n rl-7. chalk it up to a mistake and ill just have to pay much more attention.

this 40 grain rl-7 with 350 grain and fill is so nice and fun that its hard to believe. if the unique load is this fun ill have two loads for fun and rock busting.

I do not use a filler with the Unique, it is a unique powder(pun intended), virtually position insensative. Yes 16.5 inch barrel, oops now I can't transport it through Canada when I come up to see you, har![smilie=s:

[bigted]

loaded the 40 grains of rl-7 behind the 350 round nose [hornaday] sparked with a cci 200 reg large rifle primer...very nice!

im gonna do the unique loads behind both the 430 and the 522 grain lymans...sounds like a fun load.

no didn't find the reason for the hard shove with the cornmeal and 40 grains rl-7 behind the 522 lyman...shot it again and it didnt recoil like the originals i loaded...however i put just enough cm in over the powder to just kiss the bottom of the lyman boolit...still lets you know it fired but nothing like the first ones...dont know what happened.

[Crawdaddy]

I almost missed this thread. Glad I didn't. I want to go to Africa some day and wanted a 458. I also wanted to build a gun from scratch. I had never done that before.

It took me the better part of six months to finish. I used a Mauser 98 action, a bell Carlson stock a timney trigger and Adams and Bennett barrel.

I got it to the range was putting it in a rest with a long string to touch it off when a pseudo range master at my rural range asked what the heck I was doing. He laughed and told me to give him the gun. He went on to say it was a low pressure round and I was a chicken.

He put three rounds in, put it to his shoulder and touched all three off. Turned out to be an accurate gun. Made my own muzzle brake on the lathe.

Anyway, thanks for the filler idea. I can get full power jacketed rounds to shoot well but with low case capacity I can't get it to shoot worth a darn. A project for this weekend.