Resized Hornady .458 350gr Interlock Load Data

[TacoTaco]

Anybody have a good starting point for sized down .458 cal 350gr Interlocks using Win296. C.O.A.L.??

Thx

[Hoot]

Searched on interlock and got This Thread

Good luck and let us know both how the resizing went and how they shot for you.

Hoot

PS: Got some SS blacking solution. Need a guinea pig. Offer still stands.

[wildcatter]

Anybody have a good starting point for sized down .458 cal 350gr Interlocks using Win296. C.O.A.L.??

Thx

To my way of thinking, powder capacity is more important than a crimping cannelure, that doesn't mean that a great crimp isn't important to "Bullet-Pull" or ignition efficiency, in other words, fill the Magazine up and use a good crimp, just realize that you "Can" have both.

H110/ww296 will be a good starting point, just do not reduce the load more than 3% as the manufactures recommend. Don't be shy of 4227 or 1680 either. My best over-all loads have been with 1680, using 350gr bullets (FYI- I consider this weight, 350-375gr, to be pretty much the end, before Diminishing-Returns, raise their ugly heads. The other Big-Bore AR Folks, all tout, 405-700gr bullets, in their cartridge, but I gotta tell ya two things, those heavies, in those cases, "Do-Not" have enough powder capacity to take advantage of the increased weight, and wont expand at the speeds they claim, they might be better off using lighter, AP's. In fact, those heavy bullet weights, in those cases, may even be irresponsible to use, in trying to kill big-game. Remember, I always say.."I can make a Bowling-Ball, come out the muzzle of an AR, but at that point the only things in danger, are my toes!). Sometimes, speed isn't the best thing and some loads suffer from full throttle speed, and if you find 1680, doesn't give you full speed (which hasn't been my experience, I always get better speeds and lower pressures using 1680, with the heavier bullets), the drop in pressures and the efficiencies of a full case, hence accuracy, can be a good trade off.

I've been wanting to try the FP-350gr interlocks (Item Number-4503), myself. They are a more recent development, since the advent of the 450-Marlin, so I haven't had the time to try everything that is new. Milk-Jug, Relative-Comparisons, with the FP's, could be very helpful. Hoot thinks we are somewhat "Crazy", to want to use the Heavies (Hey, we are already into Over-Kill), and he may be more right than he knows, but we want them, just "Because". I actually designed the first Big-Bore AR's to us the .458" 350gr-RN (Item Number-4502), resized to .451, many long moons ago.

So, by all means try 296, so you have a comparison to other powders, use a good crimp and fill the Magazine, for maximum OAL.

..t

[TacoTaco]

Thanks guys. I did a little searching on the forums prior to starting this thread, and saw that 1680 is a better powder for the heavier bullets. Problem is, it's a hard powder for me to get locally. I can get Hodgdon/IMR/Win to my hearts content, but the Accurate powder is almost non-existent. I may wait until I can get a few pounds of it and avoid the 296 outright. I'm a little skiddish when it comes to wandering off the beaten path when it comes to reloading. While I've been reloading for years, it has always been with a manual to give me a starting point. Now that I'm going into non-standard territory with the .450, I'm being a bit more cautious. I have this odd thing about keeping all of my body parts in one piece, along with my rifles.

I'm still perfecting the sizing of the bullets. I ordered a Lee .452 die, but the amount of force needed to size those guys down was insane. This was using Alox however, and not the Liq Lanolin that others have raved about on here. Again, I've looked all over town for the Liq Lanolin with no luck. Amazon.com it is....At the end of the week I have a Lee .454 and .451 dies due in. Hopefully that will make my down sizing a tad easier.

I apologize to all if Im asking questions that have already been covered. I'll do my best to embrace the power of the search feature a little more.

[Hoot]

...snip...This was using Alox however, and not the Liq Lanolin that others have raved about on here. Again, I've looked all over town for the Liq Lanolin with no luck. Amazon.com it is....At the end of the week I have a Lee .454 and .451 dies due in. Hopefully that will make my down sizing a tad easier....snip...

Not everyone raves about "roll your own" Lanolin recipes. Imperial Sizing Wax is great and it's already manufactured. My tin has over 2k reloads through it and there's still half left. Some of those were serious sizing challenges and it worked great. Try smashing 300 WSM down to 25 WSSM! Too bad we're not in the same area. I have two bottles of 1680 and doubt I will use up the first one in my lifetime. They came from a philanthropic member here and I'd pass his kindness along to you. Unfortunately, I have a strong philosophical issue with paying more than the powder is worth in hazmat fees to send it to you.

Hoot

[wildcatter]

Here's some 350gr RN Interlocks.

Left to right,

1). Liquid Lanolin, but don't pass-up Imperial Sizing Wax, either.

2). 2ea-350gr-RN Interlocks, the first is .458", the Second is .4515". I use a .451" sizing die and the bullet Springs-Back, the extra .0005"

3). The Cartridge seated to 2.260". Note the cannellure sticking out of the case. This is an effort to maximize case capacity and there still plenty of bullet in the case, so a good strong crimp wont disrupt the bullet base. In this vane, the second pic shows how much bullet is in the case, with the bullet seated to SAMMI Max OAL of 2.26".

Sorry about the quality of the pics, they are the best my phone will allow, but you'll get the idea..

..t

[TacoTaco]

Thanks for the reply guys, and thanks for the offer on that 1680! I never have understood why I can ship 10K rounds of loaded ammo with no HAZMAT fee, yet one pound of powder necessitates a fee. Makes no sense, but there ya go. The wife is ordering some items on amazon today, so I think I'll try to get the lanolin and Imperial wax tacked on to her order. (They have both) It'll be interesting to see which performs better. Oh, and I found a somewhat local shop with 30lbs of A1680. It's a bit of a drive, but worth the effort I think.

I sized those 350's last night. Now that I use an in-between die (.454) my press and my shoulder aren't going through hell anymore. And they came out gangbusters:

They look to be right at .4515, which is the "sweetspot", or so I've been led to understand. I also picked up a box of .458 325FTX's. Those were surprisingly more difficult to size down, even when using the .454 die.

One thing that jumped into my mind is safety. Keeping track of the bullets and where they are in the resizing loop is critical. It would be very easy to miss a size down and accidentally place a .458 bullet in with your .451 resized bullets. This could lead to big time safety issues. I think Im going to spend a little time developing a methodology that will reduce this possibility to zero. There's a lot of risk there....

Thanks for the pics Wildcatter, that's awesome. Question for ya: If I don't seat it to the cannelure on these bullets, do you see any value added in me creating a cannelure at the seating point? I've got the CH4D tool, so it wouldn't be all that hard. But would a heavy bullet like the 350 benefit from that?

[TacoTaco]

Oh, and sorry about the massive picture. Still trying to figure out how to size the pictures right.

[wildcatter]

Thanks for the pics Wildcatter, that's awesome. Question for ya: If I don't seat it to the cannelure on these bullets, do you see any value added in me creating a cannelure at the seating point? I've got the CH4D tool, so it wouldn't be all that hard. But would a heavy bullet like the 350 benefit from that?

Cannelures serve many functions. You won't need one for controlling excessive expansion. My self, as long as you can fill the mag and stay away from the lands, I'd not use a cannelure. As for the lands, Hoot has a new study and he can hit them.

Question for Hoot. Those loads, wherein you were hitting the Lands, were you out over 2.260 oal? My question is because we are supposed to have a .200" free-bore, so it should be impossible to hit the lands and still have the cartridges stay "Inside" of the mag??

..t

[Hoot]

Cannelures serve many functions. You won't need one for controlling excessive expansion. My self, as long as you can fill the mag and stay away from the lands, I'd not use a cannelure. As for the lands, Hoot has a new study and he can hit them.

Question for Hoot. Those loads, wherein you were hitting the Lands, were you out over 2.260 oal? My question is because we are supposed to have a .200" free-bore, so it should be impossible to hit the lands and still have the cartridges stay "Inside" of the mag??

..t

Not to thread jack but to answer your question, the 300gr XTP Mags are .82 inches long. seated .295 inches into the case, those blunt noses go from the case's 1.695 out to 2.22 where they stop firmly against the lands. If you turn the bullet around backwards so that it's heel first (IE immediately .452 not tapered), you start encountering taper at 1.961 COL, or .266 from the mouth with the case inserted until it thunks, as opposed to being held closely to the bolt face.



Luckily we're not shooting wadcutters. As a reference to chamber depth for my particular rifle, the maximum case length my chamber will allow the bolt to close upon is 1.74 or 4/1000 past spec for the chamber lip, so there's a little leeway but I'm not complaining. For those with a Hornady/Stoney Point overall length gauge I referenced in the other thread, if you want to compare apples to apples, the Hornady 250gr FTX bullet, deployed in my rifle, hits the lands at 2.45 COL.



So, loading the 250gr FTX to 2.26 COL, it jumps .19 to the land. In the interest of scientific objectivity, despite the fact that I'm a fastidious cleaner every 20 rounds during load development and JB Compound every 200 rounds, there's always the remote possibility that I have buildup in my rifle. I have never had it scoped, but my gut feeling is that buildup is not a significant factor in my readings.

Now back to the topic at hand. If you wish to discuss this further, take it to my Ultimate Neck Tension thread, where I'm copying this post as well.

Hoot