Bullets suggestions for 450 bushmaster?

[Tripplebeards]

I haven't received the rifle yet but have a Ruger American on order so I obviously haven't slugged it yet but everything I've read its .452. I am looking at the lee 300g and 255g flat nose. I plan on using it for whitetail and black bear over bait. I'll PC them as well. any other boolit mold suggestion that will throw tight groups for this 1/16 twist?

[Tripplebeards]

Anyone?

i ordered a lee .452 300g two bullet mold don't plan on sizing until I slug the bore.

[Efin]

I have the 450 Socom, but looked into the 450, and my research showed that any jacketed pill used in the 45 colt was acceptable, thus the cast boolits used for the same should suffice, gas checked obviously.
.452 was what I read as well.
I load and cast for both the 45 colt and the 45-70, but have lots of Jacketed for the 45-70 and research at the time showed more availability of Jacketed for the 458 so I went with the Socom.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[Rainier]

Sorry, this probably isn't much help. I don't own a 450 BM but I did cast and PC both the Lee 255 & 300 for a friend to try in his 450 BM - I cast them to shoot them in my .45 Colt. I haven't gotten a range report from him yet - when I do I'll post it. He doesn't cast so he advised he has been using the 250gr Hornady FTX bullets with great success on Michigan whitetails.

[Tripplebeards]

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Bullets made....I weighed and PC them. They are color coated in one grain increments. Rifle comes back from Ruger today. Guess I have to wait for a month for lead to harden for best consistancy. Will give me time for more research. What velocities are best for tight groups with these heavy boolits with a 1/16 twist? The only powder I have is h110/w296.

[Tripplebeards]

My new custom hornady die set only came with one seater die for pointed type"FTX" bullets. I called them and they sold me a 45 colt cowboy seater plug for $8 shipped. The lady sad it was for wad cutter bullets so I'm hoping it's completely flat. If not I'll grind it flat.

[Rainier]

Pretty PC'd boolits - I like the "Zombie" green :smile: What weight(s) did they finish at? Also, it looks like Hornady has load data for 300gr J-words - seems like you could start with that data and find a fine load for the BM.
Also, this link was in another thread and might be of some use - http://450bushmaster.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12143

[Artful]

I don't have a 450 Bushmaster, but I will say that you can take a .458 down to .452 pretty easy
I like the Gould 330 grn HP (350 as FN)

http://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.w0iUD9xb-KYiO8kHtMnUrAEcEs&pid=15.1

[Tripplebeards]

I weighed them before I GS and PC so I'll do a final weigh before I load. Green 303g( 303.0-303.9), blue 304g (304.0-304-9), bacon grease 305g(305.0-305.9), and my teal mixed color 306g (306.0-307.0g). My first batch of cast 99 percent were 303-305 and a few 306g. I ran a 2nd batch and ended up getting a lot more 306g. Out of all those I only had about 20 or so that were above or below these weights.

[Tripplebeards]

I don't have a 450 Bushmaster, but I will say that you can take a .458 down to .452 pretty easy
I like the Gould 330 grn HP (350 as FN)

http://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.w0iUD9xb-KYiO8kHtMnUrAEcEs&pid=15.1

I have a lee .452 sizer I'll have to look for that mold. A quenched hollow point would be a beast out of that gun.

[Moonie]

I have this mold from NOE for my 45 Colt:

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=41_168&products_id=538&osCsid=87d2nupjq3l8idbat3l31pthb6

it is 335gr HP or 350gr solid. I think it would probably make a great boolit for the 450 and can be had gas checked or plain based. I use the GC version.

[Tripplebeards]

I have this mold from NOE for my 45 Colt:

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=41_168&products_id=538&osCsid=87d2nupjq3l8idbat3l31pthb6

it is 335gr HP or 350gr solid. I think it would probably make a great boolit for the 450 and can be had gas checked or plain based. I use the GC version.

That one is a winner. I'll have to order one in the next couple weeks. I like the wide meplate. I would GC, quench,and run it as a hp.

[rockrat]

I have used the RCBS 45-300 mold for the 45-70 and sized down to .453" and then a 45-300 mold from Ranch Dog too.

[crackers]

196473
With a Ruger Ranch version I've never done well with the ball 230s - top right.
Top left is Lyman 452260, 7.0 Titewad. Below that is Lyman 454190, 9.0 Titegroup. In the center is RCBS 325, 10.0 BE86. Extrapolations are 1000, 1100, 1050 respectively. HF red range scrap squashed to .452. 70 yards, 7x scope. For a fact, a 300BO magazine will flush-fill the well for single-shooting. More than a grain or so below those numbers brings on a dirty burn - these are just over that threshold.
You're just gonna have to look at it like the dog does.

[Tripplebeards]

Once my hornady cowboy seater die insert shows up I plan on working up starting loads in h110/w296 all the way up and I will post my results. I will be shooting shooting at a 100 yards off a lead sled, all my brass will be trimmed to the same length, bullets used will be one grain or less from each other, and I will be measuring each powder charge individually to take away all the variables. I'll probably borrow one of my 3.5x14 pro staff 5 scopes from one of my long range rifles for testing...that won't be left on for hunting use. I will pick up another powder or two to test along the way. I think lil gun seems to be a popular choice.

I have Lyman's #4 and there isn't any loads for the 450 bushmaster in it. If I can't find any I will be using data from the 460 s&w and will be loading my bullets to the bottom crimp groove for a bigger case capacity and increasing overall length. They are almost identical with the s&w case being a tenth of an inch longer when both are trimmed to minimum. The ranch magazine is so long it allows bullets to be seated 1/4" further out.

Doesn't seem like cast bullet shooting in the 450 bushmaster is too popular since there is very little info out there when googled. Not much info on 450bushmaster on the subject accept for posters talking about doing it with no results posted. Guess I will have to brake the mold.

[Tripplebeards]

196473
With a Ruger Ranch version I've never done well with the ball 230s - top right.
Top left is Lyman 452260, 7.0 Titewad. Below that is Lyman 454190, 9.0 Titegroup. In the center is RCBS 325, 10.0 BE86. Extrapolations are 1000, 1100, 1050 respectively. HF red range scrap squashed to .452. 70 yards, 7x scope. For a fact, a 300BO magazine will flush-fill the well for single-shooting. More than a grain or so below those numbers brings on a dirty burn - these are just over that threshold.
You're just gonna have to look at it like the dog does.

I think you need to load them a little faster. They are probably not stabilizing properly. I loaded a few of my rifles with trailboss and it was like throwing a hotdog down a hallway. Like 12"plus groups at 100 yards. As soon as I switched to the lowest load charges published with normal powders I was back to normal sized groups. You must be trying for subsonic loads to use in a suppressor? Not familiar with your powder choices but for the grain charges they all took light. With 300g bullets I've seen load offerings in the bushmaster anywhere from 1400fps to 2200fps.

[crackers]

I didn't come for advice. You can load your five-pound gun any way you want.

[Tripplebeards]

I didn't come for advice. You can load your five-pound gun any way you want.

Sorry,didn't mean to offend you. Thanks for posting your target to let me see your results with an American Ranch 450 bushmaster. That's what I've been looking for since there isn't much info on them anywhere that I can find. I'll post pics of mine once I get my cast PC bullets loaded and a scope mounted. Hopefully in a week or two.

[alping45]

I've been experimenting with the RCBS 45-300-FN in my Ruger ranch 450 bushmaster. I use this boolit in my Marlin guide gun and get MOA groups with full power loads all day long.

I can not seem to get the Ruger to do much better than 2-3" groups unless I run low power reduced loads. I have tried Lil gun, IMR4227, 2400 and H110 all between 1400-1900fps. The best load was 33.5gr of IMR4227 at 1,750fps that was a little under 2" but may have been a fluke. I am sizing them to .452, gas checked, and have tried both lube sized and PC'd.

The best grouping load, and probably the funnest, was a case full of trail boss, i think close to 13gr. IIRC it was doing around 1,000fps but was giving me 1 moa. Would be a perfect load to run with a suppressor.

I havent given up just yet and am still tinkering to see if I can improve my results with full powe loads and the RCBS 45-300-FN. I think i just need to fins the sweet spot, seems to be very load sensitive. I have had drastic changes in group sizes with only .5gr change in powder charge.

I have yet to slug my bore and would like to try running .453 but dont yet have a sizer.

[308Jeff]

My only comment is those are some really good looking PC bullets. Nice work.

I'd like to have a 450 someday. Appreciate you posting this topic.

[alping45]

Also I believe there is limited data for .450 bushmaster with cast boolits since only untill recently the only thing chambered for the cartridge was the AR15, and from everthing I've read there has been very little success with cast boolits due to the gas port in the barrel pulling GC's off or gouging the boolits.

[Tripplebeards]

Well the bullets won't feed in my rifle. I loaded at 2.075". They keep getting caught on the wide meplate when feeding out of my magazine. I need a rounder tipped bullet. Guess I'll save my bullets for my 45 colt chambered vaquero.

[Tripplebeards]

Got them to feed!!! I seated them deeper. Loaded them at 2.035" and I can cycle a full mag through my gun as fast as I can work the bolt. Game on!

[bpatterson84]

That's good to hear! I'll remember the 2.035 number for when I get mine.....I want to run larger maplats for obvious reasons. I feel that Ruger chambering this round will provoke some companies to make a few more heavy options for .452.

[RedJackson]

Also I believe there is limited data for .450 bushmaster with cast boolits since only untill recently the only thing chambered for the cartridge was the AR15, and from everthing I've read there has been very little success with cast boolits due to the gas port in the barrel pulling GC's off or gouging the boolits.

Didn't find any damage to boolits or missing GCs but 5" @ 50 was the best. One theory is the AR's gain twist bbl is unhappy w/cast boolits.

[Tripplebeards]

Didn't find any damage to boolits or missing GCs but 5" @ 50 was the best. One theory is the AR's gain twist bbl is unhappy w/cast boolits.

Yeah, I'm not expecting miricales but we will see how they shoot in the American 1/16 twist.

[alping45]

So have you been able to try your lee 300 loads yet? Also have you slugged your bore?

I haven't had much time to fiddle with mine until today, and I did finally have atleast some progress. First off, I had never shot anything but my cast loads out of this rifle, so I figured I would try some factory Hornady 250gr ammo that I keep on hand for my AR, just to be sure there wasn't any issue with the scope/mounts (2.5-8x VX-III in Warne Maxima rings). Let me say I was impressed... Sub MOA 5 shot group, basically one big hole... Definitely shoots better than I can. Ammo chronied right around 2,300fps which I also thought was quite impressive. Ok so that definitely ruled out any issues with the scope...

It dawned on me that I hadn't slugged my bore yet. Shoved a solid lead boolit down it and I'm seeing .4520-.4524. My sized boolits are almost exactly the same. I don't have any .453 sizers but I did find a lee .454 push through sizer laying around so I gave that a try. After our PM's about OAL and problems cycling, I seated these right to the top of the driving band which gives me a touch under 2.050", instead of the +1.110: when I was seating to the crimp groove previously and was having some hangups. So far I have only been able to shoot 3 3 shot groups, had zero issues cycling, and I am getting the best groups I have gotten yet. I am picking up a lead sled from Cabella's tomorrow and will do some more testing.

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[Tripplebeards]

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Sweet, I'm still waiting for my warne scope mounts to arrive and then I'm off to the range for the guns first shoot. While I've been patiently waiting I polished the trigger and removed a coil and a half from the spring. I don't have a scale but it's got to be a crisp 2.5lbs. I also polished the trigger release since it had scratches in it and was grinding along with replacing the pin that held it in...it was too loose and caused the release to wiggle side to side.

197172

I also sanded the bolt with 600 grit sandpaper and polished with mothers and a dremmel. No more zipping noise when cycling the bolt. I casted and PC the boolits on the 25th of last month so I figured it would give them some time to consistently harden while the mounts show. Hopefully by this weekend. I never slugged my bore yet but did size them all with the lee .452 and GC at the same time. Hopefully they aren't too small in diameter. From some of the posts I've read cast bullets will expand in diameter after sitting around for a while. I'll have to check before I hit the range. I have bullets all loaded with h110 in .5g increments starting at 27g all the way up to 40g. If and once I get any pressure signs I'll stop. I only loaded 3 of each as well since I didn't have enough brass. I also made bullets for my 44 mags last month but haven't had a chance to try out my first go at cast bullets but am anxious to get to the range and try them out. I'll make sure to get my bore squeaky clean before I go as well.

Just looked quick, I don't want to take the brake off to slug the bore...and it's a little too late now since I have them loaded already. If they don't group with a darn I'll slug it, size properly, and load up again. I did put put one of my bullets flush with the barrel and it didn't drop down it so I know they are bigger than the bore. Just won't know their optimal till I slug it.

I received some help from here...

http://www.450bushmaster.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15297

[alping45]

No need to take the brake off to slug the bore, the ID of the brake is a good bit larger than the bore.

Funny you mention about the trigger as I just did about the same thing to mine but went a little further. My trigger had alot of creep and was braking at 3.5lbs with the adjuster backed all the way out. I polished everything, clipped the spring, and progressively stoned a chamfer on the sear while re-assembling each time to check the creep. I then shimmed the sides of the trigger and made a tighter trigger pivot pin to get all the slop out. In the end it breaks just under a super crisp 1.5lbs on my scale with zero creep. I ended up removing the trigger safety as it was no longer fully functional with such a short take up. After I get the gun dialed in I will probably crank the adjuster screw back in to get back up around 2lbs. Other than shooting off a bench a 1.5lb trigger is kind of scary on this gun lol.

[Tripplebeards]

That's why I quit and left mine where its at. I have enough target guns with 1-1.5lb triggers. I was foing to run it light like you did but since this is a hunting rig I want it heavy enough to know when its going off. I keep debating taking a little more coil off and I can adjist it heavier before I'm all done. I didnt have any schims but did replace the trigger release push pin since it had too much slop. You can check it out in my previous post "check out rugers cobble job" I might make a slug when I get home this afternoon n push it through.

[alping45]

I think i dropped more weight from shortening the take up than clipping the spring. Ide bet if you stoned a small chamfer on your sear it would do sone good, don't have to go as far as i did to where the trigger safety is no longer functional. One nice thing about these triggers are they are super easy to dis/reassemble.

Funny the action on this gun is both tighter and smoother than on my American Ranch in .223. The .223 had the "zipper effect" pretty severely before I lapped it out, but I havent had to do it on the .450 as it was smooth from the factory.

[Harter66]

I'm late here a little .
The 16" twist is great for about any bullet shape you want to send .
I shot some 350s in a slower twist 45 Colts 92' , hold on don't go all apples and oranges yet , I wanted the load to be under 1150 fps (I'm at 4,000 I get a little fudge factor for supersonic) . Instead of the typical powders I went to fast rifle powders H322 shows promise the bad break in it is that where the load settled down and closed up shot string variations and closed groups was looking at 1260 fps in a 16" bbl , from a Colts case loaded 1.65" with a 453-350 RNFP Mountain Moulds custom . I have a 45 Raptor in a 95' Mauser . Same bullet and powder 2.300 OAL ..... It stopped being fun to shoot in the 5.5# rifle with 16" twist as groups closed getting close to 1700 fps .
I went back to the assorted 250-265 gr selection with H322 and hit 2000 fps in the Raptor . These are all plain based bullets without a wad .
The Raptor is really a built as cheap as possible test bed to see if I want to go ahead with a 460 Smith in a bolt rifle and that answer is , probably as a full novelty 6 cartridge gun .

[Tripplebeards]

I think i dropped more weight from shortening the take up than clipping the spring. Ide bet if you stoned a small chamfer on your sear it would do sone good, don't have to go as far as i did to where the trigger safety is no longer functional. One nice thing about these triggers are they are super easy to dis/reassemble.

Funny the action on this gun is both tighter and smoother than on my American Ranch in .223. The .223 had the "zipper effect" pretty severely before I lapped it out, but I havent had to do it on the .450 as it was smooth from the factory.

I just removed another half of the coil spring and repolished the trigger. I bet I'm under two pounds now at the lowest setting. I agree, These triggers are easy to work on. I left the trigger release in tact but think I'm going to remove a coil on the trigger release since it's not much less than the trigger pull itself. I slammed the bolt about 20 times and bounced the stock from about 2' from the ground for a half a minute with no issues with it going off. It's light and crisp and I am ready for some accuracy work.

[Tripplebeards]

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Looks like I'm good to go with my .452 sized boolits. I went around my slug several times and the average was .450

My rings came today so I'm down to cleaning the bore and mounting an optic.

[Tripplebeards]

Tried a second slug. I made a boolit out of soft fishing sinkers. I Ran this one through my .452 sizer first and then slugged it through my barrel, it averaged .451...still good. My cheap harbor freight micrometer might be the issue between the two?

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[alping45]

Yeah I wouldn't be too confident using a cheap set of calipers to check boolit diameter. What did they read on the boolits you sized at .452? If they are indeed showing .452 then you should be in good shape. I wouldn't use anything but a micrometer, which will accurately read down to .0001 increments, but then again I'm a machinist so I have all the tools on hand.

This is a micrometer
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[alping45]

I'm anxious to hear your results, I had a small amount of time today to shoot a few more groups with my latest loads, which pretty much only lead to disappointment. Starting to get a bit discouraged as I have burned a heck of a lot of powder, and flung a lot of big boolits trying to work up a load... Luckily all my targets are on my boolit trap, a stack of tires filled with sand, so someday I'll be able to reclaim them...

[Tripplebeards]

I'm anxious to hear your results, I had a small amount of time today to shoot a few more groups with my latest loads, which pretty much only lead to disappointment. Starting to get a bit discouraged as I have burned a heck of a lot of powder, and flung a lot of big boolits trying to work up a load... Luckily all my targets are on my boolit trap, a stack of tires filled with sand, so someday I'll be able to reclaim them...

What powders did you try so far? Normally with j words I'll try four to five powders before I get a load to cloverleaf. I've never just used one powder like I did here. If I don't get a good grouping out of one of these loads I've cooked up I'll try another powder. When I sent it back a few weeks ago Ruger changed my barrel out. It apparently has a little smaller inside diameter than yours.

[Tripplebeards]

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My .452 lee sizer is on the money.

[alping45]

So far I have tried lil gun, h110, IMR4227 and 2400. Not sure if there is really anything else to try? I will be running around some gun shops this weekend and could pick something else up.

[Artful]

Lil'Gun is supposed to be the go to powder for 450 bushmaster - I have seen 296 data but that's pretty much H110 and as slow as 1680 powder for heavy boolits. I like 5744 for my 45-70 (a similar straight walled case).

[Tripplebeards]

So far I have tried lil gun, h110, IMR4227 and 2400. Not sure if there is really anything else to try? I will be running around some gun shops this weekend and could pick something else up.

What was your start and stopping grains with yout loads and did you space them out in .5g or less increments? Some times I test in .2g varences.

This is my first go with cast bullets so I'm new at this. I was recommended to tapper crimp only and at .474, which sounds like the optimal pressure to hold boolits in place enough for a more consistent powder burn. What did you crimp yours at?

I'm using quenched 100% WW, what is your lead mix?

Did you weigh each of your bullets and powder individualy?

I kept mine all within a one grain varience in bullet weight and weighed each powder charge individualy.
I cant rely on my rcbs powder dropper as it at times will drop as much as a 3-4g varience.

I watch videos of people using powder drops with progressive presses and never weigh them. They guy that taught me how to reload back in 2000 did this with my first loads and I had 12" groups at a 100 yards with them. I guess that has its purpose if your shooting under 25 yards.

Sorry for all the questions but its all new to me yet and wanted to see if I'm going to be heading down the same path. My optic is mounted, just have to clean my Barrel and find time to head to the range. I'm getting excited to try out my first cast bullets!

[alping45]

I don't remember the exact powder charges, just velocities starting from 1400fps up to 1900fps which is where I stopped as it was getting pretty uncomfortable to shoot. I was going in .5gr increments though. My range is literally right out my back door so I would just load up 3rds, go try them then come back and load up another 3 .5gr up on the charge. My boolits actually weigh in right around 330gr after PC and GC. Alloy is about 75% COWW to 25% lead. I did not sort the boolits by weight as they were all within 1gr or less of eachother, which I have never found to make a difference in the past. I've been casting for about 12 years now. All of the powders I tried meter very well in my Redding powder measure, staying within .1 -.2gr between charges.

Now the crimp is something I have yet to play with, I've just been eyeballing it and using a relatively light taper crimp.
I think the undersize boolits have been throwing me off the most, now that I've discovered that I probably need to start all over again. I've only tried 1 load with the .454 boolits so far using H110. I burned up all of my IM4227 so I'de like to pick up some more of that as that seemed to be doing the best when I was shooting the .452 boolits.

[Harter66]

I still think you'd like using the fast slightly inappropriate rifle powders .
Gentle launch to full speed .
I'd take a 30kpsi load at 15-1700 fps that shoots well as quick as a 50kpsi load that shoots well at 15-1700 fps . All of the Load data is driven by having to make a gas gun work which means a pressure curve that's short and steep . In your bolt gun you can use a long shallow curve and reach the same MV maybe higher .
I might be barking at the moon but I have run a 350 in a Colts around 20kpsi nearly 1300 fps in a 16" carbine . To fast for what I was after but clean and consistent . I ran out of 4198 but H322 worked so it's not hard to pick a good load to try .

[alping45]

I have some 4198 on hand, which is what I use exclusively in my .45-70 with this same boolit. Not sure where a good starting load would be... I have seen some data for .460s&w using 4198, which has similar dimensions but with about a .100" longer case than the 450bm.

[Tripplebeards]

I finally got freed up so I will head to the range this coming week to test and post results.

[alping45]

Any updates? I still havent messed around anymore with my cast boolits, but I did briefly try some Hornady 225gr FTX bullets with excellent results. Will do more testing tonight.

[Tripplebeards]

Any updates? I still havent messed around anymore with my cast boolits, but I did briefly try some Hornady 225gr FTX bullets with excellent results. Will do more testing tonight.

No, hoping to get out this coming week. Been punishing myself to to get the rest of my lead smelted and finish painting my tree stand before range time. It's killing me too.lol I'm down to a quarter of a tote of flooring lead to melt...I'm going to fire it now.

I'm hoping either tomorrow or later in the week

[Tripplebeards]

All lead melted into ignots! SOB! I started five minutes after my post this morning and just finished. I feel like I've Been sweating off about 5lbs a day standing over my pot in the garage. I bet I smelted over 2 ton in the last two weeks. I have family coming in for the 4th so I'm guessing Thursday morning

[dondiego]

What was your start and stopping grains with yout loads and did you space them out in .5g or less increments? Some times I test in .2g varences.

This is my first go with cast bullets so I'm new at this. I was recommended to tapper crimp only and at .474, which sounds like the optimal pressure to hold boolits in place enough for a more consistent powder burn. What did you crimp yours at?

I'm using quenched 100% WW, what is your lead mix?

Did you weigh each of your bullets and powder individualy?

I kept mine all within a one grain varience in bullet weight and weighed each powder charge individualy.
I cant rely on my rcbs powder dropper as it at times will drop as much as a 3-4g varience.

I watch videos of people using powder drops with progressive presses and never weigh them. They guy that taught me how to reload back in 2000 did this with my first loads and I had 12" groups at a 100 yards with them. I guess that has its purpose if your shooting under 25 yards.

Sorry for all the questions but its all new to me yet and wanted to see if I'm going to be heading down the same path. My optic is mounted, just have to clean my Barrel and find time to head to the range. I'm getting excited to try out my first cast bullets!
Bench rest shooters don't weigh their charges and seem to do OK at 1000 yards.

[Tripplebeards]

Bench rest shooters don't weigh their charges and seem to do OK at 1000 yards.

Lol, your kidding me right???

[Artful]

Lol, your kidding me right???

No, because they use the same load into the same case(s) at the range it's not conducive to weighing powder charges...
So you does it by volume -


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3f72GQS5pE

I've had a couple of friends into benchrest - Memorable guns -
one shot a 300 win mag with a HOT Pink sparkly paint job - rifle must have weighted
close to 20 pounds and it stangely shot same size groups at 100 as 200 and smaller size groups at 300 (yes, it did this repeatedly)

Other gun was a 22 PPC and I watched him shoot 10 shots into what I called a one hole group (he disagreed and measured it as under 0.150") but he did it with something like a Lee Whack a mole kit using a single case which he indexed each time he put it into the gun or the Neck sizing die.

[Tripplebeards]

Art, you must have an awesome powder dropper. The one that came with my RCBS rockchucker kit will throw 1.5g plus variances all day long. If I tried to load the way you do my groups would go from one hole to 3" at a 100 yards. I don't think I would ever feel confident enough to never weigh each load. To each his own. At least it works for you. Nice setup by the way.

[Artful]

Art, you must have an awesome powder dropper. The one that came with my RCBS rockchucker kit will throw 1.5g plus variances all day long. If I tried to load the way you do my groups would go from one hole to 3" at a 100 yards. I don't think I would ever feel confident enough to never weigh each load. To each his own. At least it works for you. Nice setup by the way.

Actually the Video isn't me - but I have a Belding and Mull that is pretty Awesome

[308Jeff]

I've got 3 Hornady powder measures and one Lee Perfect powder measure. They all seem to throw ball and flake dead on 90% of the time, and +/- .1 grain the rest of the time. None of them will throw VARGET better than +/- .1-.2, which isn't bad, but part of the reasons I abandoned VARGET. When I load, I load a lot, and almost always on one of the progressives. My pet 308 load is 38 grains of TAC under a 168 gr Nosler CC. Powder measure throws that one dead nuts, and it's 1/2 MOA ammo.

Precision ammo is very doable on a progressive.

[Tripplebeards]

I will start a new detailed post about my range day today. Finally tried out my Ruger for the first time and my first cast bullets. Best group was 1.250" at a 100 yards. I had three groups at 1.5" and three more at 1.9" the rest ranged from 2"-5"

Here is the link...

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?339280-Ruger-American-450-bushmaster-using-Lee-310-s-(my-1st-casts)group-results

[brstevns]

OLd post I know, but has anyone tried the Lee 255 RF bullet out of a Rhindland barrel?