Loading for pistol

[Smithjdsr]

Crickets… seems real quiet around here, lately.

I have a few supplies stored away. Not a lot, but some. What do I need to know about loading for a 10.5” barrel? I’ve been hunting with Hornady Black in my 18” AR and my 22” Ruger American. I suppose I can just keep using the same ammo in a pistol, but is there a suggestion for shorter barrels? I have some ‘target’ ammo if I just want to punch big holes in paper. For the supplies I have, I’m talking loading for hunting whitetail deer.

[Hoot]

Crickets… seems real quiet around here, lately.

I have a few supplies stored away. Not a lot, but some. What do I need to know about loading for a 10.5” barrel? I’ve been hunting with Hornady Black in my 18” AR and my 22” Ruger American. I suppose I can just keep using the same ammo in a pistol, but is there a suggestion for shorter barrels? I have some ‘target’ ammo if I just want to punch big holes in paper. For the supplies I have, I’m talking loading for hunting whitetail deer.

With a 250gr FTX over Lil Gun, the lion's share of the burn completes in 16". I'm not a pistol platform, rifle caliber person, but if I were loading for a 10.5" barrel, I'd drop back to Alliant 2400. A little faster burning. I've actually loaded the 200 FTX over it in my 20" and velocity was on par with Lil Gun. Different recoil impulse however. Not objectionable, just different. As would be expected with a faster powder, IIRC, the pressure stacked up pretty fast with charge increases, so start low (32gr) and work up If loading for the 250 FTX (or equivalent), start at 30gr and work up slowly

Here's my results from way back when reloading supplies flowed like water and I was just beginning to experiment with the 450b.



Hoot

[s4s4u]

Crickets… seems real quiet around here, lately.

I have a few supplies stored away. Not a lot, but some. What do I need to know about loading for a 10.5” barrel? I’ve been hunting with Hornady Black in my 18” AR and my 22” Ruger American. I suppose I can just keep using the same ammo in a pistol, but is there a suggestion for shorter barrels? I have some ‘target’ ammo if I just want to punch big holes in paper. For the supplies I have, I’m talking loading for hunting whitetail deer.

I think of the 450 BM as kind of a rimless 460 Smith for the most part, and any magnum pistol powders will work fine from a short barrel. All you lose is a little velocity and you gain a bit of noise and muzzle flash. The only thing that going to a faster powder will do is reduce velocity even more.

https://matchgrademachine.com/velocity-testing-thompson-center-barrels/#bushmaster

[Smithjdsr]

The back story is that it is legal to use a pistol during late muzzle loader season here in Iowa. AR pistols included. I got a urge to build again, and a STRONG urge to put a bit more venison in the freezer, so… What would you do?

I don’t really feel that a .357 is any kind of substitute for a rifle. One option was to look for a long-barreled 41 mag or 44 mag. But 1) that doesn’t involve a build 2) it adds a caliber I don’t current have/shoot/load and 3) a 10.5” barrel Bushy has to be as/more effective than a 41 or 44.

At the same time, I am a pretty cautious person and I have no interest in building an AR pistol with the intention of ‘accidentally’ shouldering it with a bracing device- it will have to be a pistol. I guess a 12” still fits the bill, but 10.5” is already getting to be a lot of pistol.

[s4s4u]

The back story is that it is legal to use a pistol during late muzzle loader season here in Iowa. AR pistols included. I got a urge to build again, and a STRONG urge to put a bit more venison in the freezer, so… What would you do?

I don’t really feel that a .357 is any kind of substitute for a rifle. One option was to look for a long-barreled 41 mag or 44 mag. But 1) that doesn’t involve a build 2) it adds a caliber I don’t current have/shoot/load and 3) a 10.5” barrel Bushy has to be as/more effective than a 41 or 44.

At the same time, I am a pretty cautious person and I have no interest in building an AR pistol with the intention of ‘accidentally’ shouldering it with a bracing device- it will have to be a pistol. I guess a 12” still fits the bill, but 10.5” is already getting to be a lot of pistol.

Funny you bring this up. I am in the process of rebarreling a Savage Striker pistol in 450 BM for the same reason. Pistols can be used in shotgun slug zones in MN. I will be cutting down an 18" barrel to 9" and adding a Harrells brake. I want to keep the package as small as practical and still retain some performance. I already have dies, bullets, brass etc hence the 450 BM. I had thought of the 350 Legend as well for this, but I would need to swap the bolt face and buy dies, etc. As shown in the link above, the 450 BM doesn't suffer as much as others from short tubes. There are a lot of 8" revolvers in 460 Smith used for hunting, but I already have a Ruger Bisley in 45 Colt that I load to the ceiling so wanted something different and the beauty of the Savage is you can swap barrels in NY minute. I will be using the same loads as the AR.

[plant_one]

have you considered a legend pistol build?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u4Oc32QQ_M


watch his velocity testing. with the right bullet (i'm thinking maker 150) it'd make one helluva hunting ar pistol. almost no recoil so super easy to manage, etc.

(here;s the link directly to the MV numbers)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u4Oc32QQ_M&t=2348s

a 9" barrel maintains >2000 fps MV

https://makerbullets.com/proddetail.php ... D150HVTREX

[Smithjdsr]

Thanks. Yes. I have, indeed, considered a 350L pistol. Considered so seriously, in fact, that I have the barrel sitting right here

I certainly don’t turn my nose up at 350 L, and I have a very nice carbine that I built. My daughter-in-law also shoots a Ruger American in 350 L. I figured between the three of us, we would have at least one Bushy, and one Legend.

Ultimately, we might want three, if we all three hunt with an AR pistol, but there are options such as someone actually shooting a smoke pole, and the .357 mag, and even a proposed 10mm that my son wants. Presently, I can’t find the parts for a P80 ‘G21’ build, but if I do we’ll have a 10mm also.

[plant_one]

fair enough!

ive got a 9" legend barrel - just waitin for the side charger to show up next week so i can put it together.

i had origionally built it on a regular rear charging upper - but i got a decent deal on a bca gen2 side charger so i jumped on it and just waiting on UPS to get'r'done

[Smithjdsr]

I’d love to know how that side charger comes together. Please check back when it’s built, or when you shoot it. All I have is a barrel, so that might make the difference in what I do about an upper and BCG.

[offrink]

I’d love to know how that side charger comes together. Please check back when it’s built, or when you shoot it. All I have is a barrel, so that might make the difference in what I do about an upper and BCG.

I’m interested in what you do because I have a 10mm barrel coming my way. It’s been a month and no word yet.