200 FTX - Going the other way

[Hoot]

Very impressive. I tried soaking books in water and placing them in a box at the range I go to. Same deal, Get there way early before anyone else, do the deed and clean up. I love the milk jug idea. I might try some kind of gelatin in the jugs.
Have you tried 225 Grain Flex Tip, They are .452 and twice as many for about the same price? http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=192444
Thanks

I stand corrected!
I bought some of these Saturday since they came out nearly the same price per round as the 240 gr XTP Magnums. I took some loads to the range this evening and I can attest that they are good performers. I'm just about done with an extensive article on the internal workings of the .452 FTX family and don't want to scoop it, but suffice it to say the 225s are good to go at least up to 2100 fps which was my highest speeds on this first loading. I expected just the opposite. More tomorrow when I get time.

Hoot

[Hoot]

Here's the 225 FTX after it came to rest in the 4th of 6 milk jugs full of water. Bullet velocity was 2000 fps. An excellent CX2 load IMHO.
The 250 FTX at 2200 fps MV made it to the 5th jug. It's cool that you can still see the marks from the hollow point constriction dimples. More info about the jacket difference between it and the 200 and 250 FTX's Here


Hoot

[Siringo]

Whow -- great work!!!!!! Looking forward to your article.

[brewdos]

Outstanding work. I am very much looking forward to your article. Can't wait to take this information Deer hunting!

[Hoot]

Outstanding work. I am very much looking forward to your article. Can't wait to take this information Deer hunting!

All Done

Hoot

[Hoot]

I have uploaded the latest load table that shows my results with this bullet ahead of Lil Gun at the beginning of the thread. I threw in a couple of tables as well. If you've viewed it before, you may have to refresh your browser's view of to see the changes.

While 2400 fired by the CCI BR4 primer IMHO peaks too fast, Lil Gun fired by Rem 7 1/2 peaks a little too slow with this bullet. While 2400 has lower velocity SDs, Lil Gun was easier on the brass at speeds above 2200fps. I believe you will run out of case capacity with Lil Gun before you reach maximum, accurate speed with this round. Depending upon who's burn rate chart you look at, the only powder every one agrees lies between those two is Vihtavuori N110. Given that the FTX bullets seems to expand best around 2000fps, the upper end speed issue with Lil Gun is not a deal breaker unless you're trying to take game out past 150 yards. All of these FTX bullets shed speed like they're dragging a sea anchor.

Aside from loading a few more Lil Gun loads above 41gr and up until I run out of case capacity, I'm pretty much done with this bullet.

Hoot's pick: 36gr Lil Gun, Rem 7 1/2 Primer, 2.19" OAL, 2300fps MV (2000@100yds), 0.5 inch group discounting my called flier 5th shot. Accurate as the day's long and good water jug expansion @2000fps. Great choice for woods Whitetails.

I can't testify honestly on the groups with 2400 because when I tested it early on, I had not gotten used to shooting this gun accurately yet.

Hoot

[Texas Sheepdawg]

I have used 2400 powder for some of my .357 Magnum loads. It is a slow burner.
When using the 2400, did you experience any muzzle flash at the higher charges
and did you have any unburned powder in the bore?

[Hoot]

I have used 2400 powder for some of my .357 Magnum loads. It is a slow burner.
When using the 2400, did you experience any muzzle flash at the higher charges
and did you have any unburned powder in the bore?

I have to apologize. My 56 year old memory doesn't work back that far. I don't recall any muzzle flash that stands out in my mind from back then and to date, I've only once had a round that left powder and it was because of a poor crimp not producing enough pressure. That was using H110, not 2400.

Hoot

[MOUNTIN DU]

Hoot... i ran a 5rd test on some hornady handloads that i put together based on some of your tests. i didn't have my chrony but they printed a 5 shot group 2moa at 100; roughly 3" higher than the factory fodder. the 5 rounds feed, fired & ejected flawlessly from the factory mag, which was my "real" test.
i know i'm askin' for trouble; but here goes. if any one here pays attention to my past posts, i've found that "neck" sizing some of my straight walled cartridges(rifles & revolvers) adds case capacity, case life and accuracy. i figured the 450bm was another good test subject. i decapped with my universal decapper & neck sized the once fired cases to the heel of the bullet w/o the .452 expander. deburred in & out and checked trim length(none). primed with winchester magnums & charged with 40gr H110. seated the hornady 200ftx to the cannalure and taper crimped for my "feed & fire" cycle test of the ar gas system & 20" tube. as stated earlier, they feed & fire flawlessly but did show some light sooting at the mouth and didn't fully reform the case to the chamber. see pic of fired cases. my next test rounds will be with the same 5 cases loaded simalarly but with 42gr, 43gr, 44gr H110 until i get a reformed case or sticking cases or pressure signs limit my progress. any thoughts?

[Hoot]

While I can buy the longer case life, I doubt the increased capacity amounts to a significant advantage. I only neck size my bottleneck calibers, but prefer to full length resize the 450b. I've tried not resizing the 450b and the cases drag going into the chamber just above the web. I never expand my necks anymore, only to turn around and crimp them back down. I sincerely believe I not only get stronger neck tension, but more importantly consistent neck tension from round to round by just cleaning the inside of the necks after resizing. Consistent neck tension yields the best group consistency for me more than any other factor with this caliber. I have not used H110 for the 200 grain FTX's. I have had acceptable results with Lil Gun, but only when I fill 'em up and use a hot primer like the Remington 7 1/2. I have not tried magnum primers in the 450b. What I'd like to find is a powder slightly faster than Lil Gun and slightly slower than 2400. I tried N110, which depending upon who's chart you look at implies it's in that zone, but it threw residue all over my chrony. Not unburned powder, but it seems to create a gritty residue after combustion like dark brown pepper. I only tried 2400 with a cooler running primer. It worked very well as long as I wasn't trying to get top speed. In practice, I found there was a small window in charge weight change between sooting and case head imprinting with 2400 and the 200 FTX. If the chamber wasn't chromed, I suspect the cases would grip the chamber tighter. The 200 FTX opens up at speeds much slower than 2200fps so if you're content with keeping the speed down in that area, 2400 is hard to beat. I ran out of R&D time before deer opener and intend to continue pursuing the 200 FTX when spring comes. Right now, the compounding snow at the range is almost up to the tops of the shooting benches and we still have three more months of it to go through. My work with the 200 FTX and 2400 was early in my experience with the 450b and I suspect some of the reloading techniques for the 450b that I've refined may yield better results when I resume experimenting.

Hoot