New Lehigh bullets

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Re: New Lehigh bullets

Postby Bmt85 » Sat Jan 28, 2017 5:13 pm

Alright,
Bullet length - .5995
Heel-to-Groove - .225
Nose-to-Groove - .300
Diameter - .4515 not .452
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Re: New Lehigh bullets

Postby Hoot » Sat Jan 28, 2017 6:16 pm

Bmt85 wrote:Alright,
Bullet length - .5995
Heel-to-Groove - .225
Nose-to-Groove - .300
Diameter - .4515 not .452


PM headed your way.
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Re: New Lehigh bullets

Postby Hoot » Sat Jan 28, 2017 6:24 pm

For those of you watching with trepidation or anticipation:

I won't post QuickLoad derived recipes out in the wild without first getting some real world experience. Both the XD135 bullet and Ramshot Enforcer are kinda outside the normal applications we as a group have had the opportunity to play with. We don't even know if the rounds will strip and chamber reliably if we seat them to catch a little of the groove with a taper crimp. Worst comes to worse, they wind up being relegated to bolt actions.

Bmt85 has his homework assignment. He will proceed with due diligence and report back. Stay tuned...

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Re: New Lehigh bullets

Postby Bmt85 » Tue Jan 31, 2017 7:04 pm

Well had a chance to play with these bullets. I loaded to 2.05" to put the taper crimp just in the driving band. That was with new brass at 1.695" in length. Loaded up 5 dummy rounds and tested cycling in my rifle. No issues, so that's the first step. I have more new brass to prep and sort for this, but it's going to be a while before I can actually get to shooting anyways.

Left to right : 200 xpb, 135xd, 275 tsx

Image
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Re: New Lehigh bullets

Postby Hoot » Tue Jan 31, 2017 7:18 pm

That's insane looking! Glad they cycled ok.

Looking at it makes me wonder how may times they stabbed a shoulder roast with this screwdriver before they saw the potential of using it as a projectile! :lol:

Image

EDIT: Its good you only loaded them to ~2.05 COL. I suspect if you could load them to 2.26, the bolt would not go into lock because the bullet would run into the lands before being fully chambered. That's what happens with the Hornady 300gr XTP Mag bullet and I suspect other blunt nosed 300 grainers.

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Re: New Lehigh bullets

Postby Bmt85 » Tue Jan 31, 2017 7:56 pm

Ha, nice.
Yeah I wouldn't feel comfortable loading out any longer. I took an oal length measurement till it hit the rifling, but don't remember. Definitely remember there wasn't much bullet left in the case! Actually I think I figured it had a .11x jump.

I was playing around with sized 350gr Interlock flat points awhile ago, didn't shoot any, but played with loading. Saw some people getting 2.26 maybe a little better, but mine were in the rifling at that point.
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Re: New Lehigh bullets

Postby Hoot » Tue Jan 31, 2017 8:04 pm

Bmt85 wrote:Ha, nice.
Yeah I wouldn't feel comfortable loading out any longer. I took an oal length measurement till it hit the rifling, but don't remember. Definitely remember there wasn't much bullet left in the case! Actually I think I figured it had a .11x jump.

I was playing around with sized 350gr Interlock flat points awhile ago, didn't shoot any, but played with loading. Saw some people getting 2.26 maybe a little better, but mine were in the rifling at that point.


This image is from a previous post, but it gives you an idea of the distance to lands in the original 450 Bushmaster with a .452 diameter wadcutter. Other manufacturers may cut their chambers differently. As I said in the post, "luckily, we're not shooting wadcutters". ;)

Image

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EDIT: My Franklin barrel measures 1.972 and my Bartz barrel measures 1.970, so that appears to be the norm.
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Re: New Lehigh bullets

Postby Hoot » Fri Feb 03, 2017 11:21 pm

What follows and $1.85 will get you a "Tall" Starbucks coffee:

Modeling with QuickLoad and that is by no means an accurate analog to real results, the following charges are alleged to deliver the following performance. YMWIALV (...will in all likelihood...). ;)

20 Inch Barrel 2.05 COL for 1.695 case length

XD135 QL Predicts.jpg
XD135 QL Predicts.jpg (41.34 KiB) Viewed 16482 times


That doesn't mean to order some of these bullets and load those charges right out of the chute. Image In theory (see sig), they are near or slightly above the QuickLoad maximum recommended pressure based upon a solid copper bullet, so naturally you would start lower and work up. Some of these powders I have never worked with, but I can tell you from my experience that W296 models a lot higher with lighter bullets, than it really delivers in the 450b. The percentage burned should be a giveaway.

I like loads that use up most of the case capacity and my best luck has come from those which burn about 95% by the time the bullet exits the barrel. You'd think 100% would be best, but that has not been my experience. You want to leave a little for the cleaning lady. ;)

Again: This table is based upon a synthetic algorithm, not real world experience. It is solely for the sake of giving you an idea of what may work in terms of powder choices and even then they may wind up not being a good match. With such a light bullet, you really have to hold the horse back until the powder gets going, so crimp is especially important. Sort your brass by length for best consistency when using a taper crimp and light bullets. BTW, Yes, I do have Vihtavuori N110. The bottle I have exhibits slightly less energy density than Lil Gun and a lot of granular debris downrange that looks like cream of wheat. Never figured out what it was. Image

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Re: New Lehigh bullets

Postby Bmt85 » Sun Feb 05, 2017 10:48 am

Good info, Hoot.

For those following, I've been messaging Hoot to get some help with these bullets. I told him that I seated to 2.05" with brass at 1.695". I taper crimped to .474, but felt I should seat deeper to get better results. Hoot concurred, so I tried oal of 2.045" and 2.040", again using 1.695" length brass. Oal 2.045" was a little better, and 2.040" was a lot better. So from here on I will loading to 2.040".

I am planning to run Enforcer with these, but after seeing the Lilgun predictions, I may run them side by side.
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Re: New Lehigh bullets

Postby Pig_Popper » Sun Feb 12, 2017 4:29 am

I'm following with interest, would be nice to see if the propeller design can hold respectable accuracy at 100 yards.
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