Pistol loads for plinking?

[Rollins]

Hello again guys, have not had a chance to do much shooting due to stuff going on and difficulty of getting ammo etc .

I did manage to get 8 lbs of lil gun and 8 lbs of shooters world precision and 1lbs of auto pistol. Sadly wasnt able to get any small rifle primers.

If i can get around and a place to test I'll post how it went. Western powder seems to have decent reviews and cheaper/ easier to get than others.

Anyway i was wondering if anyone has loaded up any pistol loads for 450 bm? The auto pistol among others lists 45 cal loads. Since our rifles are stronger I was wondering if you could load up some 45 loads or 45+p and with the longer barrel get a bolt action pistol carbine?

If using 45 cal blems and pistol powder it could make for cheaper shooting. Using only max like 10-12 grains of powder (whatever the powder maker lists for 45) would sure stretch the number of loads per lb you get vs the 40s for lil gun and would be more pleasant to shoot.

My thought would be that the much bigger BM case size would cause peoblems as some powders go wonky if case has a lot of space. The other thought would be maybe using "The Load" 16 grns of red dot, which is what a lot of cast boolit guys use to launch lead out of old service rifles .

Has anyone tried this? So far all i have seen when searching is guys trying to launch super heavy full power loads but suppressed. I just want to launch 230-250 grn jacketed at plinking speeds for 100 yrs and under.

[Hoot]

You got 8lb of Lil Gun. Load 230 FMJ over 37gr of it (80% fill) to a COL of 2.05 and have fun. If you have longer jacketed bullets load them to a little bit more COL and drop the charge to 36gr. Should still hold 80% fill.

I have no experience with Shooters World powders.

Hoot

[Rollins]

Sorry hoot I thought I posted a reply but it appears it didn't stick.

I sent an email to shooters world asking about the plinking loads, and will post their response if they email back.

Yeah I got 8 lbs of powder. And will try the reduced loads you mentioned. But it was kinda a what if thought since I saw a few vids of people shooting 45 cal pistol carbines and I thought hmmm maybe i could fire off low recoil and cheap loads for close range . powder lasts a long time it is like 8-16 grns a pop vs 30-40

[Hoot]

Sorry hoot I thought I posted a reply but it appears it didn't stick.

I sent an email to shooters world asking about the plinking loads, and will post their response if they email back.

Yeah I got 8 lbs of powder. And will try the reduced loads you mentioned. But it was kinda a what if thought since I saw a few vids of people shooting 45 cal pistol carbines and I thought hmmm maybe i could fire off low recoil and cheap loads for close range . powder lasts a long time it is like 8-16 grns a pop vs 30-40

This is an advisory that is both revered and disputed at the same time. With Lil Gun, try to keep your charges to no less than 80% case capacity and use hot primers. In the case of the 450b with 230gr FMJ's at 2.05 COL, that equates roughly to 37gr. That's why I recommended starting there and working up. I have not delved into reduced power loads using faster pistol powders so I can't comment on whats safe and what's not. I have taken 200gr FTX bullets down to as low as 34gr of Lil Gun at 2.15 COL but they're longer bullets than the 230 FMJ's. That 34gr load and bullet combo is a real pussycat.

Hoot

[plant_one]

shooters world precision is for 308/creedmoor type cases. probably be WAY to slow for use in the 450 bushmaster. probably about like trying to use varget or 4895.
https://shootersworldpowder.com/precision-rifle/


conversely - auto pistol is probably TOO fast - it looks like its designed for 45/9mm/380/40 type applications where blowback is the name of the game
https://shootersworldpowder.com/auto-pistol/


the shooters world powderst that would crossover into the 450 bushmaster would be as follows - and unfortunatly fairly limited too :/
socom & blackout - heavy for caliber loads. use were you would 1680
buffalo rifle - use for substitute for 300mp and 5744


they offer a copy of their reloading manual online, free - that should help you select powders from their lineup that work with the 450

https://shootersworldpowder.com/wp-cont ... manual.pdf


HTH

[Rollins]

Thanks guys. I did download the loader tables they provided which are kinda sparse. My dad asked me to reload for his 300 savage since shells are now 2bucks a pop(if you can even get them) so I asked about that too and will report back. Might have to call them.

As for the pistol loads, i see that the auto pistol has some 45 loads in the same weight category as the bullets i shoot 230-250 grn. So i thought if I could load them up at the same amount of powder or maybe a little more I should get basically a hot 45 pistol load of out a longer barrel.

The only concern is that since the case is much bigger it would leave a lot of empty space. Like hoot said some powders don't play nice with a lot of empty.

It would be sweet if they did amd i could should 230 grn at about 1000fps with pistol powder.
I know for some service rifles a lot of people shoot 16 grns red dot behind a cast bullet of 150-168 grns.
I might ask over there, seems to work well but all the cases seem to be close to 308 size

[plant_one]

It would be sweet if they did amd i could shoot 230grn at about 1000fps with pistol powder.

if you wanna run subs like that... work up a load with trailboss

you should be able to do so safely at least - still wont cycle an autoloader like the other pistol powders. but you'll know with relatively confidence that it'll go bang and not kaboom.

[Texas Sheepdawg]

Sorry hoot I thought I posted a reply but it appears it didn't stick.

I sent an email to shooters world asking about the plinking loads, and will post their response if they email back.

Yeah I got 8 lbs of powder. And will try the reduced loads you mentioned. But it was kinda a what if thought since I saw a few vids of people shooting 45 cal pistol carbines and I thought hmmm maybe i could fire off low recoil and cheap loads for close range . powder lasts a long time it is like 8-16 grns a pop vs 30-40

This is an advisory that is both revered and disputed at the same time. With Lil Gun, try to keep your charges to no less than 80% case capacity and use hot primers. In the case of the 450b with 230gr FMJ's at 2.05 COL, that equates roughly to 37gr. That's why I recommended starting there and working up. I have not delved into reduced power loads using faster pistol powders so I can't comment on whats safe and what's not. I have taken 200gr FTX bullets down to as low as 34gr of Lil Gun at 2.15 COL but they're longer bullets than the 230 FMJ's. That 34gr load and bullet combo is a real pussycat.

Hoot

26DEBF52-CE09-4768-BCA0-DC5B7BBEBC20.jpeg (180.84 KiB) Viewed 8213 times

[Rollins]

Thanks I'll give the 37 grn a try and see how that is.

Still have not heard back from shooters world as of yet, had some other questions also for them.
Still would be nice if there were some loads thay used common pistol powders and loads for flexibility

One more question though.

In the reloading book it seems to have the heavier bullets with shorter oal. But it seems it would be the opposite.

I mean heavier bullets are usually longer so it seems they would be seated to the max oal and if longer, pushed into the case until they meet the oal to have as much case for powder right?

Where lighter and shorter bullets would be to far out of the case to be at the max oal, so they would be seated to about a caliber length inside the case and have a shorter oal right?

But in the lyman book, it shows the heavy 325 cast at oals of 2.010 and speer deep curl at 3.080. But the lighter 225 and 250 ftx at 2.225 .

Is that due to the pointy shape of the bullet and that they are longer for size? It seems to me if 2.225 was about the max length for magazine feeding and hitting the lands etc then why such short loadings for the heavy bullets? Seems to me they would put them out as far as possible to have space for powder.

[plant_one]

OAL is regulated by a couple of things - bullet length itself is just one

the big concern is OGIVE shape (the profile of the bullet) and how it effects contact with the lands.

thats why you see pointy bullets loaded longer than large stubby profile bullets. if you were to take a wide meplat and short ogive bullet and run it max length, if it made contact with your lands incorrectly you could cause a huge pressure spike on firing, potentially catastrophic level bad if you were running a hot load. it would depend on how far into the lands you are. Jamming a few thousandths is common for some bullets, but its a very controlled thing (for example 0.005 jam) but most bullets you want them to start moving out of the case before the come in contact with the lands and the pressure goes up. this is a very simplified explanation of what goes on and why OAL's are what they are.


trust the manufacturer's - they know their bullets. when i doubt get an OAL gauge and see for yourself where those bullets contact the lands in your barrel and what their safe max OAL is. you might be supprised what you learn about YOUR firearms in the process

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW6H9HJzsvQ


hth