What hardness for .480 Ruger

[onlybrowning]

Hi all, I'm new here and just getting my feet wet with cast bullets. I've just acquired a .480 Ruger and would like to shoot some 400-420 grain cast bullets with it. If I'm loading it with H110, I am expecting to be somewhere around 1200 FPS. Do I need gas checks at that speed? What approximate hardness will I need to effectively seal the bullet in the bore? It seems most commercial stuff is around 22 BHN. I can get 15 BHN as well. Thanks for the advice. Here's the cannon. 43886

[white eagle]

more to it than bhn
fit is key
run a search and you will see a whole
lotta intell on the how of cast and see here
http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm

[onlybrowning]

Thanks for the link. I've been reading and know to slug my barrel. I've done that several times before. I think I have a decent handle on most other variables, just looking for that piece. Thank you.

[onlybrowning]

I will also do my best to estimate my pressures at these velocities and use the 1440X BHN. Thank you again.

[Frank]

Hardness isn't going to seal the bore, but if it's too soft you may lead it and get lousy groups. What seals the bore is the fit. Stick with the 20-21 BH. That is the preferred hardness for a magnum revolver which is what you've got. And use a good lube. GC's are needed when over 1400 fps, but they don't hurt anything at lower speeds. Sometimes a GC can help at lower speeds if the gun has problems.

[DLCTEX]

I'm shooting Lee's 400 gr plain base over H-110 and air cooled WW alloy works just fine. Love shooting the 480.

[onlybrowning]

Hardness isn't going to seal the bore, but if it's too soft you may lead it and get lousy groups. What seals the bore is the fit. Stick with the 20-21 BH. That is the preferred hardness for a magnum revolver which is what you've got. And use a good lube. GC's are needed when over 1400 fps, but they don't hurt anything at lower speeds. Sometimes a GC can help at lower speeds if the gun has problems.

Would you recommend 20-21 BHN for mid level loads as well? I'm thinking of using Unique or something in that range for lighter than full house loads to learn the gun and for lengthier practice sessions. I was thinking 15 or so for those and 20-22 for magnum loads. Again I appreciate the input and advice.

[Frank]

There's no gain going from BH 21 to BH 15. Just water drop your bullets and be done with it. :cbpour:

[LUCKYDAWG13]

i'm shooting air cooled WW in my 454 300gr G/C boolits & H110

[Frank]

Do it both ways. See what works best.

[Bret4207]

Here we go again. Look, FIT IS KING. Period. Bhn reading is a comparative number that gives you almost no information beyond having that number in hand. The right, the only way really, to determine what will work in your guns with your loads is to go shooting. Than you'll need to see what happens and try and figure out what is the best way to work on it. There is no "perfect' Bhn for any given caliber in any given gun. If you're looking for something like that, stick with jacketed. Your 21 Bhn may work fine at a variety of pressures- but ONLY IF IT FITS. That means more than starting with a boolit +.001 or more over groove. It means starting there and fitting your chosen boolit to that gun by manipulating powder and charge, primer, brass, neck tension, lube, boolit design, bore condition, fillers, checks, size, alloy, boolit design and the particular mould you use, Bhn and probably 20 other things I'm not thinking of. Bhn doesn't tell you what the alloy is, what it's properties are, what pressure will cause it to do or not do. It's akin to thinking that simply by wearing a certain aftershave and clothing that you'll become a lady killer in an instant. It simply doesn't work like that.

Do yourself a favor and record all your observations, no matter how insignificant they may seem. Change one thing at a time in your search. Sounds to me like you're buying boolits, so your options are limited, but you can get this working. Just stop thinking in terms of the "one perfect" Bhn, alloy, powder, etc. There are at least a dozen "perfect" setups for most gun/boolit/powder combos. Fretting over a number isn't going to get you where you want to be.

[44man]

Would you recommend 20-21 BHN for mid level loads as well? I'm thinking of using Unique or something in that range for lighter than full house loads to learn the gun and for lengthier practice sessions. I was thinking 15 or so for those and 20-22 for magnum loads. Again I appreciate the input and advice.
Actually, when you move the pressure curve back towards the case with faster powders, harder works better.
Like Frank said, fit first, then hardness does not matter that much.
Soft lead needs a gas check, not so much for the velocity. They help stop boolit skid. Heavy PB can skid past the base band if too soft.
I shoot PB at 1632 fps and have taken them to 1800 fps by making them hard enough.
Stay with the harder boolit for everything.
You won't get as good an accuracy with Unique, it works but find loads for HS-6, it does better.
Hard boolits in the .480 and .475 kill deer as good it gets, no expansion needed at all.
Don't fool with a Keith style boolit.

[Lefty SRH]

As mentioned before fit is the key. Match your boolit diameter to the size of the cylinder throats, you should slug your cylinder throats along with your bore.
When I got my .480 I thought I HAD to shoot a HARD boolit, so I water dropped mine....WRONG! I ended up breaking my sizing press.
My groups actually got better with just air cooled wheel weights and obviously they were easier to size also.
I am shooting a Accurate 48-420S boolit, a 420gr LFN at 1130fps average using H110 and a magnum primer.

Some say hard boolits, some say air cooled wheel weights. Bottom line you will have to experiment with different methods and see what works best for you and your .480.
Welcome to the short case BIG Bores!

[williamwaco]

1) Re-read Bret 4207.
2) Re-read LUCKYDAWG13
3) Read http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=152007
Those were not 480's but they were .44Mags at max pressures.
The bullets were air cooled wheel weights.


.

[Faret]

http://http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/4911043/m/55810309?r=86810309
Try here.

[onlybrowning]

Thanks guys. I'm pretty certain a .476 will be great. I'll try other variables if my groups are less than stellar before I worry about BHN.

[Cold Trigger Finger]

I wonder if I can drag up an old thread. ?? This looks interesting. Before joining this forum . The only thing I ever thot about cast bullets for was heavy revolver use. . I have to hunt all around to find threads on heavy revolver boolits here.

[44man]

Look at my avatar. Bottom gun is a .475, average 5/8" at 50 yards. Top is the BFR 45-70 and has since done 3/8" at 50, Both WD WW boolits. The .475 is a PB. My .500 JRH shoots a PB and did 1/2" at 100. The .480 is just fine with a PB. Just stop skid at the base band.
You want 12 BHN or less, use a GC. You need the skid stop.
Here is a PB at 100 yards with the JRH.189515189516 Right group is my PB from a freedom at 50 yards, left factory. My load was over max, 55,000 or more. I will not tell the 296 load I used.

[Cold Trigger Finger]

What does WD stand for ?

[Loudenboomer]

Water dropped. About the most inexpensive way to toughen a high antimony Boolit. A little Tin is still good though.