Puma 454, 255gr & Lil Gun

[saz]

I am going to try to work up a new load for my 454 puma. I have been tinkering with my Lee 255 RNFP and I finally have it casting perfectly. With "X"grs of Trail Boss I am getting a very consistent 1100fps, no leading and just a little nail driver. What I have been thinking about is water dropping a few and seeing what that little bullet in front of a charge of Lil Gun would do. I checked the Hodgdon site and there is no data for a similar bullet and powder- only jacketed data. Has anyone out there tried a similar load with lil gun? Should I not even worry about water dropping? BTW my melt is WW with 2%tin

[PacMan]

I most likely should even reply because i have never reloaded for a .454 but the limited experience that i have using Lil Gun in my .357 and .44 mag marlin 1894's is that they seem to like the heavier bullets and max. loads.
From what i read some do not like Lil Gun because it heats up the barrel fast and is hot. For hunting loads that should not be a major issue if it actualy is a issue at all. I will say that it was quick and easy to find a load that gave very good acuracy plus outstanding velocity using it.
Dwight

[Frozone]

I've used a little LilGun in 454. It loads a lot like H110 without the ignition problems.
I haven't gone below 300g, but at that weight backing off a grain or 2 from H110 load data gives a very similar performance.

[saz]

I have a couple of 454 and 44 loads where I use lil gun, so I am no stranger to using it. I LOVE using it compared to H-110 as it is not nearly as density sensitive and burns much cleaner. I was looking to try it with the 255 Lee to get a little more velocity out of it than the trail boss as the 1100fps load is max, and the that load is great out to about 50 yds or so but starts to drop pretty quick. And since lil gun is the only other pistol powder on my bench i figured I'd give it a shot. I was looking for a nice mild midrange deer load the youngsters and possibly my wife could shoot.

[Old Goat Keeper]

Hey SAZ let us know how things work out. I too have a Puma in 454 so am very interested in this.

Tom

[454PB]

Lil'Gun is probably too slow burning for that light a boolit.

I use it for 320 and 335 grain gas checked boolits, and it works very well. However, I have found that light boolits (or bullets) in front of H-110, WW296, AA#9, and WC820 produce hangfires and squibs. If you do try it, be extremely cautious and investigate any abnormal report or light recoil.

[bigdog454]

Mine seems very accurate with any load, but especially with blue dot powder and the 255 grain boolit. I also had problems with squibs and hang fires, when I changed to win sr primers the problem went away. My carbine shoot full power 454 loads fine.

[Old Goat Keeper]

I think the powder companies recommend you use rifle primers in the Casull due to the extreme prressure it operates at.

Tom