Load data for .450B with Barnes 200 Gr. XPB

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Load data for .450B with Barnes 200 Gr. XPB

Postby mousiecat » Tue May 25, 2010 10:10 pm

Greetings All,
New member Mousiecat here, unhappy gun nut from the Peoples Republik of Commiefornikation. I have a .450B and have taken a nice doe at 175 yards with factory ammo in Virginia. I'd like to hunt boar here in Calif. but need to run non-lead ammo because of the goofy environmental laws. I have a Smith and Wesson .460 and it shoots Barnes 200 Gr. XPB which I hand load. I would like to shoot this same pointy coned bullet out of my Bushmaster but I have no idea where to start in choosing a powder and how much of it for a charge weight. I'm choosing this bullet because 200 grains of flying mass is just about enough for anything I'm gonna shoot. I would like to get 2600 to 2700 FPS muzzle velocity out of my 20 inch barrel along with a flatter trajectory. Now that's not asking too much, is it? I've talked Barnes but they had no helpful info. If anybody has information or personal experience with this load I would appreciate the data as I have no desire to blow up my gun or myself.
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Re: Load data for .450B with Barnes 200 Gr. XPB

Postby Hoot » Wed May 26, 2010 4:28 am

You may stress the cases too much getting that bullet to those speeds. Loading the 200gr FTX, I saw 2550 fps with 41 gr of 2400, but the cartridge showed excessive bolt thrust signs. AKA pronounced extractor and ejector marks. Since the cases didn't grow in length, I suspect the chromed chamber has a hard time holding onto the case at the pressure that 2400 creates reaching that velocity. Take a look at my thread "200 FTX Going the other way". That bullet is actually for the .460 S&W just like your 200 XPB is. I was using cooler running CCI BR4 primers. With a hotter primer, you might be able to cram enough Lil Gun in to get up there with less pressure. If you want to send me a box of the XPBs, I'd be happy to work them up and see for you.

Hoot
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Re: Load data for .450B with Barnes 200 Gr. XPB

Postby Siringo » Wed May 26, 2010 6:00 am

I had used the 200 grain Barnes in some tests with poor results (accuracy). There is very little bullet to grab on to. I used 43.5 grains of Lil'gun and a Winchester Small Rifle Primer. Average velocity was 2573 fps, extreme spread was 105 fps and standard deviation was 40 fps. In contrast, factory ammo is 1/2 of those values. These velocities are with a 16 inch barrel. With the 20", you may get another 100 fps.

Try the Barnes 275 grain bullet (for the 460 S&W). With 35.0 grains of Lil'gun, WSR primer -- this shoots OK, but not great. I had gotten groups in the 1 1/2 inch to 2 inch range.

Part of the accuracy problems with the Barnes bullets is they are .451, not .452 inches in diameter. When loading these, size your cases, but do not expand them. You want all the neck tension possible.
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Re: Load data for .450B with Barnes 200 Gr. XPB

Postby pitted bore » Wed May 26, 2010 10:47 am

Siringo-

Did you side-crimp the 200-grain Barnes bullets? I've forgotten whether you did, and I'm too lazy to search for the answer.

--Bob
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Re: Load data for .450B with Barnes 200 Gr. XPB

Postby Siringo » Wed May 26, 2010 11:45 am

I did not use the side crimp. It isn't the crimp/neck tension so much that I thought contributed to the accuracy problem as much as the very short bearing surface, in combination with a long free bore and smaller diameter -- the bullet just didn't get a "square" start to the bore -- sloppy start so to speak. In the 450B barrel the bullet is nearly completely our of the case before it engages the rifling. If I were to seat the bullet just so it barely (and I mean barely) sits in the cartridge, I can close the bolt.

In comparison, the 275 grain bullet groups where 1/2 the size. My groups with the 200's were more or less patterns.
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Re: Load data for .450B with Barnes 200 Gr. XPB

Postby pitted bore » Thu May 27, 2010 8:59 am

Siringo-
Thanks for replying. I asked because I wondered whether the large variation in velocity happened with or without a side crimp. I'm guessing that a side crimp would have lowered the spread and standard deviation. I also suspect that the crimp would not have improved group size much if at all.
--Bob
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