300 grain boolit starting load and W296/H110.

[Gibbs44]

Need some advice.

I've got some 300 grain .430 Ranchdog boolits on order from Jerry at Carolina Cast Bullets. Starting charge with W-296 and a 300 grain jacketed bullet is 18 grains according to the Lee Modern Reloading Manual Second Edition the max is 19 grains. They don't have an option for a 300 grain cast with 296. The Hodgdon family doesn't show back up until a boolit weight of 325 grains where 296 is shown to have a starting load of 20 grains and a max of 22 grains. 19 grains is the starting load for a 330 grain boolit with a max of 20.8. It shows a starting load of 17.5 grains of 296 for a 355 grain boolit with a max of 18.8. These are very close to what is shown for a 300 grain XTP. I don't believe that 296 is even listed for a boolit until it hits the 325 grain mark.

Here's the question if 20 grains of 296 is the recommended starting load for a 325 grain boolit, could the 18 grains starting load for a 300 grain jacketed boolit be marginally unsafe. I'd feel a lot better about it if Lee had some info on their 310 grain design and 296, but I don't see it. They do list Ramshot Enforcer, but not 296 or even 2400 which I already have some of.

Just asking, I know going too light sometimes is as bad as going too heavy. Any information/experience on similar lead projectiles would be appreciated. Oh I posted the question here because I will be shooting this out of my Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter.

Thanks,

Sully

[44man]

That is too light for a starting load with 300 gr cast. Jacketed uses less because of friction so my best .44 load with the 300 gr Hornady is 20.5 gr of 296. I use 21.5 gr with a 320 gr LBT and 21 gr with a 330 gr of my own making. The Lee 310 gr also uses 21.5 gr. These are not max loads, just the best.
Yes, you must work loads because boolit seating depth can be different but I would not go below 19 or 20 gr with the RD to start. You can get a failure to ignite. Be aware of every shot to start and make sure it exits the boolit.
Poor dies with no case tension and mag primers can move a boolit and make things worse by increasing air space.
I use a lot of tension and Fed 150 primers in my .44.
H110 and 296 are the same. I have nothing for heavy boolits with 2400, it can spike pressure with a small addition. 296 will not spike, groups just open, a sign to back down for accuracy.

[375RUGER]

If the RD boolit is the one on the Ranch Dog website it appears to seat real deep, probably as deep as the XTP with it's 2 crimp grooves. Myself, I would use the XTP data because it also near matches the data for the Nosler 300HP which seats deep into the case as well, something like 0.500-0.550" deep IIRC.

[tek4260]

Mark a dowel rod to match the seating depth of the bullet in question with H110/W296. Add powder to the case until the dowel rod mark matches the top of the case while sitting on top of the powder charge. Weigh that charge and that should be your load with those powders. Forget what the "book" says since these powders work on case volume and have a narrow working range. The seating depth will dictate the charge. FWIW, I have a 300gr that I load to 26gr of H110 in my 44 magnum, since it seats to roughly the same depth as a cast 240.

[44man]

Mark a dowel rod to match the seating depth of the bullet in question with H110/W296. Add powder to the case until the dowel rod mark matches the top of the case while sitting on top of the powder charge. Weigh that charge and that should be your load with those powders. Forget what the "book" says since these powders work on case volume and have a narrow working range. The seating depth will dictate the charge. FWIW, I have a 300gr that I load to 26gr of H110 in my 44 magnum, since it seats to roughly the same depth as a cast 240.
This is good advise, minimum airspace without compression. I am not afraid of H110 or 296.
It only needs immediate ignition and should not move away from the flash hole.

[pkie44]

Both posts above are spot on.

[Gibbs44]

Thanks, I'll give to dowel rod idea a try. I appreciate the insite.

[subsonic]

Ranch Dog has Quikload data on the dead sight still.

Back off about one grain from what is shown and work up.

http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/bin/TLC432300RF/data/

[Gibbs44]

Ranch Dog has Quikload data on the dead sight still.

Back off about one grain from what is shown and work up.

http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/bin/TLC432300RF/data/

That puts it at the 20 grains that 44man was suggesting. I'm still going to try the dowel trick, with a fallback to 20 grains if I need to.

[white eagle]

I have used the 21.5 gr load for quite some time now
no ill effects
use for both 300-320 gr boolits my gun
ymmv however I would not hesitate to use it in the 300 gr class

[Gibbs44]

Update folks, I finally got to shoot my test loads. I've settled on 20 grains, with the exception of pulled shots I was in the 2 - 2.5 in group with all of them at 25 yards. Though I was pulling a few more at the 21 grain loading. I don't know if I was tired, or straight up flinching. The SBH Hunter was a little more of a handful with these, not painful or anything just a handful.

These were cast from the isocores and had a gas check of course. The leading was minimal from the session, just a light wash. I suppose once I've used the ones I have up, I may order some at .432 and size them down to .431, and see if that eliminates it altogether. Still not a big deal.

I did have some poplar blocks stacked behind the target. They did not exit, I split the blocks open to find the boolits had penetrated an estimated 12 to 13 inches based on the tip of my pinky to the tip of my thumb being around 10 inches when stretched. Now all I need to do is load up a bunch more and practice getting my groups down. Still if I limit my shots to 50 or 60 yards at deer, I don't think they'll ever know what hit them.

In all, I'm pretty happy with how the testing went and the performance of the boolits.

[Lead Fred]

We use 19gr H110 with the doggie 300