Al in Mi wrote:thou not for the 450B yet
, I've turned bullets from 110 copper and 360 brass with no ill effects.
One problem with both, is weight to length of bullet.
Translation:
Lead weighs more than copper or brass. For the same weight in brass, say 300gr, it would be considerably longer than a jacketed lead core or solid lead bullet of the same weight. Ditto for all copper bullets. Look at Barnes solid copper bullets. They're always long. The problem is you have a magazine that only accommodates COLs up to about 2.29-2.30 without mods. If the bullets are longer, in order for them to fit into those mags, a lot of their length will have to be down in the case, taking away vital powder capacity. Now if you weren't hung up on weight as much, then there's some wiggle room. If you're chasing BC and wish to use a spire pointed brass bullet, you're going to sacrifice either weight or powder charge. Pick one. If you're making either a flat nose (Tim's favorite) or truncated flat nose, you can boost the weight because a cylinder has more volume than a cone
and if you hit them with a flat nose .452 diameter bullet traveling fast, it'll put a serious hurt-down on them from hydraulic shock. Given collateral damage from such a shock, shot placement is key so that you don't trash too much meat. The obvious drawback from a flat nose bullet of less dense material the drag is going to shed velocity like a shuttle cock.
It is a performance equation composed of many variables, each needing careful consideration.
IMHO, if you're looking for action out past 150 yards, you're hard pressed to do better than the FTX family when you consider powder capacity, BC and very importantly, the fact that they still expand reliably at lower velocities when they hit their mark. The 225 FTX is designed for the .45 LC. Leaving the barrel at 2500 fps, it'll be down to about 1500 fps at 200 yards and that's about twice as fast than it leaves the barrel of the .45 LC. It'll expand just fine and still deliver over 1k ft/lbs of energy. Any further and it drops like a bowling ball. Sure a pointy, higher BC bullet will shoot flatter, but will it expand when it gets there? I suspect that's why Tim is so fond of more flat profiled bullets at higher weights. They just aren't going to expand, so you must benefit from the fact that they're already flattened before they get there. In the absence of velocity, frontal area is what equates to TKO value.
That's what I mean about tailoring your load for what you intend to do with it.
Tim's bobber just went down
Hoot
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 1:46 pm