VariableRecall
08-18-2022, 07:54 PM
I'd picked up the Lee 300gn .45 Colt projectile to cast boolits with. My pal has an Uberti SAA clone and it's a delight to use, and I'm glad to load for him to keep it chuggin despite the ammo shortage.
So far, I had one run of .45 Colt with 5.2gn of Hp-38, but that loading had very poor case obturation and felt like you were shooting 9mm out of a full sized handgun. There was tons of unburnt powder everywhere and while everything got out the barrel just fine, it was not a very good experience.
To correct the issue, I had found a 275gn loading in the Lyman Cast Bullets Handbook and rolled with that, going to a higher 6gn of HP-38.
I had been somewhat skeptical of that loading potentially being a little on the dangerous side, so I had downloaded the latest version of Gordon's Reloading Tool and punched in the data. The results, were pretty surprising!
With my projectile weight, seating depth, barrel length, and the cylinder gap, it had estimated that the 6gn loading would give a chamber pressure of 13,800PSI. Looking at other reloading manuals in terms of maximum PSI, that's pretty dangerously close to +P territory. While that would leave the projectile at a remarkable velocity of 747fps, putting a beautiful Uberti in the danger zone is going to be a bad situation.
From the looks of things, Should I pursue another powder that's going to be a little safer with that deeply set of a projectile?
With my experience with HP-38, at its ideal pressures, it burns very cleanly and is wonderfully accurate. Outside that zone, I tend to get a lack of proper case obturation, inconsistent burns, and unburnt powder everywhere.That is a not nearly as fun time.
Looking at the Gordon's Reloading Tool data, a much more comfortable pressure to run the load would be 5.6gn, with a PSI of 12,190, and a Muzzle Velocity of 714fps. Does that sound realistic to you all on paper?
When it comes down to it, I've got a good amount of HP-38 and I want to make use of it, but also make good use of it safely.
Any advice is appreciated, thanks!
Attached is the output from GRT. I'm certain to make good use of the software before I start putting together ammo that doesn't have exact backing from a loading manual.
303324
303327
So far, I had one run of .45 Colt with 5.2gn of Hp-38, but that loading had very poor case obturation and felt like you were shooting 9mm out of a full sized handgun. There was tons of unburnt powder everywhere and while everything got out the barrel just fine, it was not a very good experience.
To correct the issue, I had found a 275gn loading in the Lyman Cast Bullets Handbook and rolled with that, going to a higher 6gn of HP-38.
I had been somewhat skeptical of that loading potentially being a little on the dangerous side, so I had downloaded the latest version of Gordon's Reloading Tool and punched in the data. The results, were pretty surprising!
With my projectile weight, seating depth, barrel length, and the cylinder gap, it had estimated that the 6gn loading would give a chamber pressure of 13,800PSI. Looking at other reloading manuals in terms of maximum PSI, that's pretty dangerously close to +P territory. While that would leave the projectile at a remarkable velocity of 747fps, putting a beautiful Uberti in the danger zone is going to be a bad situation.
From the looks of things, Should I pursue another powder that's going to be a little safer with that deeply set of a projectile?
With my experience with HP-38, at its ideal pressures, it burns very cleanly and is wonderfully accurate. Outside that zone, I tend to get a lack of proper case obturation, inconsistent burns, and unburnt powder everywhere.That is a not nearly as fun time.
Looking at the Gordon's Reloading Tool data, a much more comfortable pressure to run the load would be 5.6gn, with a PSI of 12,190, and a Muzzle Velocity of 714fps. Does that sound realistic to you all on paper?
When it comes down to it, I've got a good amount of HP-38 and I want to make use of it, but also make good use of it safely.
Any advice is appreciated, thanks!
Attached is the output from GRT. I'm certain to make good use of the software before I start putting together ammo that doesn't have exact backing from a loading manual.
303324
303327