45 Hellllppppp!!!

[Lugnutz]

Howdy gang, I need some suggestions and whatever other help you can give me.

I have a TC Encore in 454 ( affectionately called the Kazoo ) that is just being down right picky. I've tried 255gr, 300gr gc, and 340gr HP 458's sized down to 452 and I found something it likes...but its not what I was hoping for. It shoots the 255's like a shotgun pattern but the heavier I go the better it shoots. The 300's did well and the 340's were great.
I figure there are 2 reasons the heavier bullets shoot better, first slower speeds and second more bearing surface. The 255's that I have ran over a chrono ran right around 1500 fps, the really good scope moving loads were running at 1900 + so I can see where those might give me some problems. [smilie=1:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r270/Gunguys/Ricks%20Side/DSCF0778.jpg

I could probably slow those down to shoot better but then I'm losing the joy of having a 454. I'm not completely opposed to the 340's but it kills the usable range. Maybe I'm wanting to have my cake and eat it too but I would think that if I could find a 250-275gr that has more bearing surface than what I have now I would be able to keep the speed and range along with the mega thump.

I bought this for a woods range gun, but then it occured to me I might see a critter before I make it into the woods...or maybe on my way back to the truck.

Give me your thoughs and maybe if someone has some different varieties of 45 castts I could get some samples before I go and buy 3 or 4 moulds looking for the right one. Been playing on Mountain Molds and think I might have something that would work well in 275, just not sure I want to jump before I look.

Thanks
Rick

[runfiverun]

that is a nice looking pistol.
the heavier boolits may just be filling your throat better.... t/c is kinda famous for their generous throats.
you are gonna have to approach this one like a rifle and fill the throat with lead.
have you tried like a long nose boolit like l.b.t., or some of those?
[ i know you are a caster , but]
you may just wanna experiment with moving your 300 outta the case a bit further.
also the more bearing surface thing translates into less lube.
with a bbl that short you can try a lube change, might make a difference also.

just some ideas.

[454PB]

Are the cast boolits you use gas checked? Have you slugged the barrel?

All my .454's like boolits weighing 300 to 335 grains.

[WHITETAIL]

Lugnut, if you wish I can send you some of my boolets.:Fire:
This wayyou can try with out having to buy!
:castmine:

[Just Duke]

Rate of twist to bullet weight ratio always has a lot to do with accuracy.

[Lugnutz]

Thanks for the resonses guys. I thought about the long throat issue as well as the other things I've considered. It just might be that the longer boolits are the why to the better groups. The 255 and 340 are not gc but the 300 is. I have not tried the lbt style I just got this thing in January and had it shortened and back in my hands in Apr. My buddy Mark Taylor provided the moulds for the 255 and 340 hollow points and the 300's were some he had gotten from another member over at Specialty Pistols. And no I have not exactly slugged the barrel as much as I wanted to after I saw how it shot...I figured I'd give it another chance before I became abusive :-D I did find a 255 boolit in the ground after shooting at my mini range in the backyard and now for the life of me I cant remember what it measured but it wasn't one of those " wholly crap why is it so strange " measurements I want to say it was 453. I know a dug up boolit probably is not the most accurate but it was the best I could get at the time.

Whitetail I'll send ya a private message about your offer, and thank you.
Thanks to all of you for your help and ideas.

Oh anf FYI that is a factory 15" pipe that I had shortened and had a brake installed for an overall length of 10.25" Man that thing handles nicely and is much easier to handle than my 16.5" 1" bull barrell 358 Win Imp !! The finish on the pipe and scope were done by The Gun Garage and the brake and cutting was done by a guy in Pa whose name is David Belinda.

[Bass Ackward]

I figure there are 2 reasons the heavier bullets shoot better, first slower speeds and second more bearing surface. Rick


Just two reasons?

Well, heavy bullets also have more inertia and make up for less case neck tension. Try seating your light bullets so that you can crimp over the front band / olgive. That will increase case grip and tell you if this is an issue.

It will also improve ignition. Plus raise pressure faster to seal quicker that may be blowing off your lube. Just because you don't see leading, doesn't mean your bullets aren't lube starved.

The lighter bullets do have less bearing area, so they may need to be harder than the heavies too.

May also need to be sized a little bigger to not only increase the tension, but also prevent tipping if they are having to jump farther.

Since they possibly have less lube capacity than the heavies, they may need a better grade of lube.

Could be tons of reasons.

But your throat slug will eliminate a lot of this, what's it tell ya? :grin:

[runfiverun]

one other thing, have you tried 454 sizing instead of the 452..??
most obvious first..

[Lugnutz]

I believe the 255's drop between 453 and 454, we even tried water quenching and they just don't work. The 340's were sized down to 452 and seem to make the Kazoo very happy.

I have a few of each left over from testing maybe I'll try seating the 300's out further along with the 255's and see if the groups improve or not. If its a throat issue I'm not sure that the 255's will seat out far enuff to make much of a difference.