The Lee 310 RFN can be abusive.

[Sturgell]

It seems that not as many people make it over to the CB Loads forum so I figured I would cross post it here.

So I finally loaded up some boolits that I cast the other day.

Both loaded with CCI300 primers and H110 and crimped in the first crimp groove (second groove sticking out of the case.)

22 grains avg 1300 fps
22.5 grains avg just shy of 1350

No signs of pressure, normal looking primers, and easy extraction. Just for the hell of it I am going to see how hard I can push them in my 7.5 Redhawk, then look for a hunting load.

This was my first outing with boolits I have cast and I used my own lube that started out as Darr's lube and morphed into a 2:1 mix of paraffin to vaseline. The lube produced NO leading and I am completely amazed that my first batch of boolits are performing well and not leading.

Here is the post I made from my after lunch shooting session.

Took my 23 and 23.5 grain loads out to launch over the chrony and I can honestly say I don't want to load it any higher.

23 grains
1428 1382 1389 1401

23.5 grains
1441 1447 1430 1436
:shock:

The recoil is abusive, the primers are slightly flattened however, extraction is still easy. Creeping up on the 1500 ft lb mark is someone else's job now.

I shot a couple through an old mower and I am positive that I have enough gun to stop any hard charging Briggs and Stratton powered implements.

[snaggdit]

I'll make some assumtions here. .44 and gas checked? What alloy did you use? Still no leading? Hollowpoint those puppies and you could probably take out smaller tractors as well:roll:

[Sturgell]

I'll make some assumtions here. .44 and gas checked? What alloy did you use? Still no leading? Hollowpoint those puppies and you could probably take out smaller tractors as well:roll:

Yep 7.5" Redhawk, air cooled wheel weights, and gas checks made from .011 aluminum superglued to the bases. I might need to get a HP mould or get a 2 cavity Lee and do a little cutting on it.

[shotman]

would say so that is about what I load in a 444 . The lee 310 HPed is about same as the Lyman devastator and it does some damage

[randyrat]

By crimping in the second grove, how close are they from the end of the cylinder and are you woried about them working their way out? Just currious.

[44man]

Yep 7.5" Redhawk, air cooled wheel weights, and gas checks made from .011 aluminum superglued to the bases. I might need to get a HP mould or get a 2 cavity Lee and do a little cutting on it.
You are doing just the opposite of what you need. You gain zero by loading hotter. All of your accuracy is gone and the gun will not kill any better.
Drop that load to 21.5 gr and play around in that area for groups.
You do NOT need a hollow point, the boolit as is will stop anything you care to shoot and do it mighty fast.
We shoot that boolit into an inch or less at 50 yards and not a single deer has gone more then 30 yards, most much less.
Now I do not know where the RH shines, we use SBH's, but you should only be shooting for groups and never looking for as fast as you can go.
I assure you 100% that an animal of any kind can not tell the difference in your velocity.

[Doc_Stihl]

I've run the 310 in a bunch of different stuff. RHs, and SBH's seem to do real well at 1350fps. ~21Gr of H110.

[Sturgell]

By crimping in the second grove, how close are they from the end of the cylinder and are you woried about them working their way out? Just currious.

They are held in place by a heavy roll crimp and none have moved yet and to answer the length question they are at 1.69 inches. They are .12" from the end of the cylinder.

44Man - I wasn't speeding them up for accuracy, I was seeing where the top was just for grins. The gun grouped around 2 inches at 25 yards open sighted using a sapling as a rest with 22 grains of H110, I imagine it will do well when I test it. I am only looking for 1.5-2 inches at 25. If I get a load that is better then I will just take that as a bonus.

[44man]

They are held in place by a heavy roll crimp and none have moved yet.

44Man - I wasn't speeding them up for accuracy, I was seeing where the top was just for grins. The gun grouped around 2 inches at 25 yards open sighted using a sapling as a rest with 22 grains of H110, I imagine it will do well when I test it. I am only looking for 1.5-2 inches at 25. If I get a load that is better then I will just take that as a bonus.
OK, I was hoping you were not one of the muzzle energy at all costs guys! :mrgreen:

[Sturgell]

OK, I was hoping you were not one of the muzzle energy at all costs guys! :mrgreen:

Nope, I did want to know what it was like to shoot a 44 approaching 1500 ft lbs of energy though. The extra velocity will only help slightly with the bullet drop out to 100 yards, which is my maximum range on 4 legged critters with a pistol. I do however shoot a little further at bottles and such in the river.

On the other hand I need to work up a load for the RCBS 225 gr SWC-GC that has the same poi as whatever my final load for the 310 so I will have a small game load.

[44man]

Nope, I did want to know what it was like to shoot a 44 approaching 1500 ft lbs of energy though. The extra velocity will only help slightly with the bullet drop out to 100 yards, which is my maximum range on 4 legged critters with a pistol. I do however shoot a little further at bottles and such in the river.

On the other hand I need to work up a load for the RCBS 225 gr SWC-GC that has the same poi as whatever my final load for the 310 so I will have a small game load.
Now that might be very hard to do. [smilie=1:

[Sturgell]

Now that might be very hard to do. [smilie=1:

This gun is very odd up to other revolvers that I have had. All of my 357's have had the same poi with 38 spl wad cutters and full tilt 158 jhp's but this Redhawk is more than a foot off at 25 yards from the 310 loads to the 240 swc's I had loaded up over Unique.

[BD]

I used the Lee 310 for years in a couple of redhawks. Best results were always in the 1,200 to 1,300 fps range whether driven by H110, 296 or WC 820. Completely penetrated everything I ever shot with it, and nothing went more than 25 yds.

I eventually ponied up the $$ for a DW 744 and went to a lighter 265 grain WFN, only because it makes less difference to POI what I'm wearing for gloves. Same results inside of 150 yards. The 310s seem to fly better at longer ranges, but then I'm not using the handgun at longer ranges.

BD

[fredj338]

I agree w/ 44man, I'm not sure you gain much pushing a solid much beyond 1250fps in the 44mag. You are just increasing recoil & beating the crap out of the gun.

[Tom W.]

21 grains of H110 works well in my SRH...And that 310 Lee boolit shoots to the left of where my 245 gr RCBS pb boolit shoots...

[mtnbkr]

Nope, I did want to know what it was like to shoot a 44 approaching 1500 ft lbs of energy though. The extra velocity will only help slightly with the bullet drop out to 100 yards, which is my maximum range on 4 legged critters with a pistol. I do however shoot a little further at bottles and such in the river.

On the other hand I need to work up a load for the RCBS 225 gr SWC-GC that has the same poi as whatever my final load for the 310 so I will have a small game load.

FWIW, I load the Cast Performance 300WFN-GC (similar to the lee bullet) to 1300fps with 20.5gr H110 and the Oregon Trail 240gr SWC-BB to 1000fps with about 6.7gr TrailBoss (both out of the same 5.5" Redhawk with CCI Mag primers for the H110 load and Winchester LP primers for the Trailboss load). They hit pretty close to the same POI at 15yds. Even out to 100yds, the 240gr load doesn't impact that much lower than the 300.

Chris