Casting for a 470 Nitro Express

[murf205]

Ted, have you slugged your barrel? Before you buy a bushing, I would slug the thing to find out where you are starting from. The Merkel I work with has a .474 but Krieghoff might be different. .002 over is not too much. As much hell as a 470 Nitro raises when you shoot it, the pressures are not all that high, just a LOT of boolit and powder heading out the spout!

[Rcmaveric]

Greetings from New Zealand.

Thank you for your reply. I am new to casting. Reloading for 25 years.

I have a Lee 400 gr mold - new. I hope to try casting in the next few days.

We do not seem to have 5744 powder here in NZ. We do get Trailboss, 4350, 4831, Re15 and most of the others. We get Vihtavouri powders here I I have N160 & N560 in stock - 2 or 3 lbs each.

We do not get Ramshot here.

I was hoping to get the 2000 fps with 400 gr cast bullets for a reduced load that would regulate. It would be great to get an even slower load to regulate.

I need to make a decision about what to add to the Wheel weight ingots which I melted up a couple of days ago (another first).
Do I just add 50/50 solder & how much?

Do I water quench them or do I oven heat treat them? I definitely do not want leading in the barrel!

I do not plan to size or gas check the bullets. I will pan lube them. A friend in the US who has shot a lot of double rifles including cast loads does this.

I would appreciate any help.

If you have access to Lovex powders, D060 is an equivalent powder to 5744. Equivalent means it is not the same, but it is with in 5% of being its equal.

N120 looks like a good powder as well, Its just a touch slower than Reloader 7 and IMR 4198. All of those in this group are equivalents.

[Petander]

Bump.

I'm on this wagon,too. I contacted Vihtavuori about 325 and 400 grain cast loads. They listened and called back the following day with data for N120 and N135 for both bullets.

Important: you can not go below certain fill % , too much empty space is a serious safety issue. My velocities are like stout 45-70 loads, comfortable with a heavy double. Pressure is 2000 bar, max being 2700. Can't go lower with these powders!

I will chime back in with those loads.

[15meter]

May have to make some reloading opportunities in the 470 this afternoon.


It's been awhile since I loaded any. Easy on the hands, not fighting with little bullets. I've got a batch of 204 Ruger that need to be loaded that I've been avoiding for that exact reason.

[Petander]

Yes, reloading 470 NE is fun and easy!

I thought my NOE (pistol) expander would be too short for PB 400 grainers but the bases stay .477 as sized.

I'm comparing coatings now, Hi Tek is good up to 2300 fps / 325 grain in the pic but now I also PC:d some. I got lucky with my RCBS 476 sizer die, it gives me 477 and that works good.

[15meter]

Yes, reloading 470 NE is fun and easy!

I thought my NOE (pistol) expander would be too short for PB 400 grainers but the bases stay .477 as sized.

I'm comparing coatings now, Hi Tek is good up to 2300 fps / 325 grain in the pic but now I also PC:d some. I got lucky with my RCBS 476 sizer die, it gives me 477 and that works good.

I like the gold ones, they're sharp. Not much of a fan of cotton candy colors for boolits.

Didn't make the reloading opportunities in 470 like I thought, but did make a bunch in 375 Ouch and Ouch, 458 Win Mag, 8x50R, 416 Rigby, 45 ACP, 303 British and 303 Savage.

Making that Lyman polish work overtime tonight. 1/2 tonight, other half tomorrow when I'm at the fall beer festival. They're talking 2"+ of rain between here and Tuesday. Turn up the heat in the shed and start making inroads in last summer's shooting.

Good thing it's turning into reloading weather.

[Petander]

Oh yeah, we got "Reloading Weather" too. Snow.

I'm comparing coating quality,colours don't matter to me.

That Hi Tek Gold holds up to 2300 fps , I'm getting just a tiny shade of gray in the barrel after 20 rounds. It wipes off with Bore Tech Eliminator.

Bright colours are PC from Smoke, the blue one has been very good in other calibers. Gotta let them harden for a week or two before I load.

[15meter]

This be the beast I reload the 470 for, belongs to a buddy, he pays for all the reloading stuffings plus dies, molds and brass. He keeps my favorite beer(and my favorite gin with tonic and fresh limes.) in his refrigerator, provides me with a key to his house with the instructions "if your passing by just stop and get a beer, I don't have to be there".

And I shoot at least half of the rounds that I load for it.

But I'm retired and he is he's still working, I like loading, he hates loading.

It's a tough life, but somebody's gotta do it.

[Good Cheer]

Recently acquired the 525 grain Lyman #470216 for a muzzleloading rifle build.
Thought for sure somebody would be shooting it in the Nitro Express!

[15meter]

Recently acquired the 525 grain Lyman #470216 for a muzzleloading rifle build.
Thought for sure somebody would be shooting it in the Nitro Express!

I think that mold will drop a boolit that is too small. I'm sizing mine @ .476, not sure the 470216 will drop a boolit large enough.

[reedap1]

Petander et al,

Some great information on loading PC cast bullets in the 470 Nitro Express. I have been experimenting also using an RCBS 500-grain mould casting from COWW and PC'ed. In your experiences how have your guns regulated using your loads? I'm finding that I can get good velocity light loads that are clean burning and fun to shoot but regulation is always a challenge. I try to adjust powder charges to get them to regulate at 50-75 yards in my Krieghoff.

What have your collective experiences in this regard been?

Thanks

Paul

[15meter]

Lighter boolits have worked most of the time for me. Pistol boolit light. I am using a 480 Ruger boolit for the 470.

Only exception to the rule has been a William Evans double in 8x50R. That one likes standard weight boolits.

8 rounds off hand, 4 each from two shooters can be covered with a beer can.

At 50 yards, didn't think my or my buddies eyes were that good anymore.

And I load for 450 N.E. (2 rifles), 450/400, 400/350, 400/360 Purdy, 8x50R and 303 British in double rifles.

[W.R.Buchanan]

And I load for 450 N.E. (2 rifles), 450/400, 400/350, 400/360 Purdy, 8x50R and 303 British in double rifles.

that's great,,, But do you have an Ice Boat?

We moved out of MI in 1956, I was 6, but if we had stayed I would have gotten involved with that sport. I did Hobie Cats out here in the Pacific Ocean which are similar but not nearly as fast. I've heard your 15M boats are good for 5X the speed of the wind in a Broad Reach? That could get downright scary on a brisk afternoon!

Randy

[Petander]

My 470 NE plinker bullets are pistol bullets for 480 / 475,too. I have the Lees and:

This is the new to me 405 grain (with my alloy) "Smoke blue" pill from Mihec. It got dark but the load seems to regulate good @ 50 meters, a paint bucket cover was jumping around a lot. About 2000 fps, Vihtavuori N135.

I seat these fat nose bullets a bit past the crimp groove for reliable,easy chambering. The black in the necks is graphite dust, I forgot to wipe in the hurry to the range... daylight time is getting short around here.

[15meter]

that's great,,, But do you have an Ice Boat?

We moved out of MI in 1956, I was 6, but if we had stayed I would have gotten involved with that sport. I did Hobie Cats out here in the Pacific Ocean which are similar but not nearly as fast. I've heard your 15M boats are good for 5X the speed of the wind in a Broad Reach? That could get downright scary on a brisk afternoon!

Randy

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X9VEM4KdgSY

Silver helmet is me, I own 3, my daughter has one. I've been doing for 45+ years now.

Dumbest sport ever invented.

One in the video belongs to a buddy, I was just out joyriding. 32 feet of Sitka Spruce and Mahogany adrenaline.

That day we clocked 56 mph on the GPS on mediocre ice and not enough wind.

[15meter]

My 470 NE plinker bullets are pistol bullets for 480 / 475,too. I have the Lees and:

This is the new to me 405 grain (with my alloy) "Smoke blue" pill from Mihec. It got dark but the load seems to regulate good @ 50 meters, a paint bucket cover was jumping around a lot. About 2000 fps, Vihtavuori N135.

I seat these fat nose bullets a bit past the crimp groove for reliable,easy chambering. The black in the necks is graphite dust, I forgot to wipe in the hurry to the range... daylight time is getting short around here.

Nice looking!

[Petander]

My Dalmatian coating.

[Petander]

I fired some Dalmatians @ 50 meters after firing ten Smoke's Blue ones to warm up. Too dark to chrono,cloudy and a little rain all day. But this MP 405 grainer is going about 2000 fps.





All in black, standing, nothing phenomenal but I'll check the regulation better after I'm sure of this iltalian non-TGIC coating holding up. Spread could be much worse,based on what I've seen on the few doubles I've handled.

[longbow]

Looking good!

That is a nice looking double rifle and nice looking rounds.

Good that they seem to be grouping reasonably with something other than the load the gun was regulated with.

Longbow

[Petander]

Good that they seem to be grouping reasonably with something other than the load the gun was regulated with.

Longbow

This is the BIG dark area, there are rules and logic to how these rifles behave when fired. But there's still luck involved when you change everything about the load. You can predict but...

With Lee 325 grain, N120, everything goes up and left. Both barrels! This rifle has a scope mount as you may have noticed, I have not used the scope yet but I have the idea to adjust the scope for those light bullets @ 100 m. If they group there. If not, I'll set the scope for 380 HP:s, wherever they regulate best. Varmints,you know.

I'm surprised that the trajectory is this close,too. I used the 50 m blade here. Standard load 500 gr @ 2250 is quite a bit different in recoil....