450Bushmaster.net

Terrible news friends. I made it to the range today. My first cylinder of my first solo attempt at reloading 38 spcl.



Are they all six supposed to go in the same hole? Seems like a waste of paper. If that’s what I can expect of handloads...(Sigh) I guess I’m hooked. Reel me in.
 
The .45 weren’t as impressive.



But at 50 feet That’s about as well as I can do some days, so I guess it’s ok, too. They didn’t all feed smoothly, but 1)it’s an old school 1911 and they like round nose ball ammo and 2)it’s a Norinco (my G30s is on a more important assignment than testing reloads for a novice reloader.)
 
(WAY too cold and windy to shoot the 450 Bushmaster outside. I’ll hunt in this weather, but punching holes in paper can wait for nicer weather. Yet to see if/how those work.)

Do .45 ACP cases HAVE to be flared? Someone here told me that 450 Bushmaster cases don’t have to be flared (even though the dies come with a flaring die) and, sure enough, after re-sizing and chamfering, the bullets didn’t have to be forced in. But what about .45 ACP? They seem much tighter without flaring.

I flared the first batch, so maybe just keep flaring?

I've had good luck with the Lyman "M" dies in the past and have also polished regular expander dies so the first step up to the flare is a couple thousandths under bullet diameter to give more tension. Haven't figured out how Hornady assembles their expander dies or I'd pull them apart and do the same.

Whats that 38 Special load? Is that a Zero Bullet CO 125 Grain JSP bullet?

The bullets are old Speer 125’s



Over 11.6 grains of Hercules 2400 COAL 1.444”