Keith boolit in a puma 454-

[saz]

I have a Puma 454 that I absolutely love. I have a light load using the Lee 255rnfp and trail boss that moves at 1100fps at max load. When I try to push the lee boolit any faster with other powders accuracy just goes in the toilet. Would a keith style boolit cycle well? The keith design usually shoots good in ANYTHING. I love how well the Lee cycles through this gun though- Whatcha think? Anyone used a SWC in a levergun?

[missionary5155]

Good morning
I use that same Lee in my 45 Colts...
I do not have any Trailboss so no help there.
Straight wheelweight shouls get you more velocity. I load with 2400 and from 17-19 grains there is no leading even with 50/50 mix. Slow Pistol powders will be a help.
So be sure your boolit fills the throat +.001 ( I prefer +.002) and try a slower burning powder like 2400, H110, 296 and you can make that Rossi sing.
I do not see the KIETH design having any hunting advantage. It is the flat fat nose that transfers energy. Back in mr Kieth´s day many molds were RN design which is about the worst design for handgun hunting. So many hunters were filing the noses flat & hollow pointing. I did it for years with .22 long rifle. There is nothing majic about a big flat on the nose.

[jlchucker]

I've levered lots of Lyman 429215's through a 44 mag Winchester trapper and through an EMF 44 mag Hartford 92 with no trouble at all. I've even done the same with some Lyman 429421's given to me by a friend to try. Again, no feeding problems, but when I tried them the only 44 mag levergun I had was the trapper, and it definitely preferred the lighter boolit. Like Missionary, I usually load with 2400, from 18 up to 21 grains. Never had leading problems.

[AaronJ]

saz i have the same rifle and also love it. i have yet to try any cast in it but just in loading for it i have found that mine likes a nice sharp tc style bullet. a rounded bullet most times wont feed well in my rifle.

[Old Goat Keeper]

I've not had any feeding problems with my 454 rossi lever yet. but then I've only shot factory stuff. Like Hornady 45 LC, Buffalo Bore 300 soft points and Buffalo Bore 360 hard casts. Even the "stubby" Hornadys fed well.

Tom

[AaronJ]

i was loading 300 gr hornady xtp bullets and turns out they have two differnt nose profiles one rounded one tapered. tapered ones feed awsome, roundnoses bind up and have to be kind of flicked up onto the feed ramp in my rifle.

[BBA]

They occasionally hang up. They don't feed quite as smooth as a RNFP. Seem to work OK in 45colt brass.

[submoa]

SAZ, Bullets with a large meplat (flat nose) have atendency to stabilize better both in flight and after impact. They travel much straighter through tissue than a round nose bullet, through what is referred to as "bow stabilization". Energy transfer was never the reason for a large meplat and although it may be an advantage it is not the mechanism we can rely on to stop large or dangerous game. We need reliable, straight penetration to blood carrying organs through heavy bone and tissue so we can make the critter leak as fast as possible. Large, heavy, flat bullets do a dandy job of that. I've killed a ton of medium to large game with hard cast bullets and it seems the larger the meplat, the better. I've tried the Keith bullet in several lever guns with varied success. IF the gun is set up to feed correctly, they do fine, however the shoulder may sometimes catch on the mouth of the chamber. I've often seen lead shavings in the action after shooting them. By the way, I'm an *** on this forum, but have been melting lead for about 35 years .

[rintinglen]

I think the answer to your question is "maybe." My experience with Keith type bullets is mixed,
My Rossi 357 carbine runs them just fine, in fact, it simply dotes on 358-156 163 grain bullets (thats what mine usually end up weighing).
A friend of mine has a .454 and while we managed to get it to feed, it was 0only by deep seating the bulet and crimping over the front shoulder. The crimping groove was merely decorative if we wanted to feed shells through the magazine, the RCBS 45-250 that we were using hung uup if loaded normally.
If I couldn't shoot better than I type, I 'd be in a world of hurt. Thank goodness for spell check.

[bigdog454]

I have a puma .454 C, and shoot the lee FN 300 cast hard and I push them hard, shooting them at 1600 fps+. They feed well and shoot very accurately at 50 yards. I haven't tried shooting them any further because it has iron sights and I have poor sight.
BD