Reloading Barnes 325 Busters

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Reloading Barnes 325 Busters

Postby MRRJF » Fri Jun 29, 2018 3:08 pm

Hey Folks, I am glad I found this forum! I am a rifle nut, hunter and avid re-loader. With that being said I have been reloading for over 10 years for many different calibers ( approx 25-30). Lately, 6.5 creedmoor has been my new pet, but I have always loved the big bore rifle and pistol cartridges. My loads for 45-70 alone could be a manual. However, I recently acquired a Ruger Ranch, in 450 bushmaster, and love it. Having used the Busters in 45-70 (.458 400 gr), with incredible devastating results, I want to give the .451 325 gr a try. Has anyone loaded these heavier bullets? I was using Lilgun for 250 grain pills, but for these I was considering H110 or even maybe reloader 7. Thank-you, Rob
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Re: Reloading Barnes 325 Busters

Postby Hoot » Fri Jun 29, 2018 6:14 pm

Welcome aboard Bob!

I haven't shot the 325gr Buster but I resized some .458 325gr FTX down to .4515 and they shot very well with AA1680. I would expect the Buster would do as well with it.

Hoot
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Re: Reloading Barnes 325 Busters

Postby MRRJF » Sat Jul 07, 2018 3:53 pm

Thank-you for the reply! As I have copious amounts of H110, reloader7, and 4198 I was looking for a starting charge/grs for the 325 Buster. I have been searching but cannot find any data for these heavier bullets. Thanks, Rob
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Re: Reloading Barnes 325 Busters

Postby pitted bore » Sat Jul 07, 2018 8:21 pm

MRRJF wrote:Thank-you for the reply! As I have copious amounts of H110, reloader7, and 4198 I was looking for a starting charge/grs for the 325 Buster. I have been searching but cannot find any data for these heavier bullets. Thanks, Rob

Rob-
Reliable reloading recipes from a reputable lab is available for the 325-grain Barnes Buster bullets. These are available on-line in the Western Powders Reloading and Load Data Guide, Edition 6.0, set up as a printable pdf document. It can be found at ramshot.com. Check page 62.

The same data are also in the new Western Powders Reloading Guide, 1st edition, which is an elaborated version containing much helpful information particularly for novice reloaders. Recipes are found on page 419. The optimum powders appear to be 5744 and 1680.

The archives contain information about these bullets from Tim/Wildcatter, who describes his role in designing the bullet. Here are links to some of the older pertinent threads:
Lyman's 50th edition of their handloading book contains some tested loads for 325-grain cast lead bullets.

Please post the results of your trials in this forum. Thanks.
--Bob
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Re: Reloading Barnes 325 Busters

Postby MRRJF » Sun Jul 08, 2018 5:34 am

Thank-you very much! This is an amazing resource that I was not aware of. I will certainly give some feedback of my results.
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Re: Reloading Barnes 325 Busters

Postby Al in Mi » Sun Jul 08, 2018 7:26 am

with the .200 freebore the 450B has, your RAR you should be able to stretch those bullets out past the 2nd cannuler for some added case capacity.

load data sorta scarce for the bolt guns, anything published will be within the AR pressure limits, Rel 7 or 4198 for that short barrel might not give the best speeds, Hodgdon list 42.8gr compressed as a top load for the 300gr Swift with 35.4k psi, that being from a 24" barrel, might be a good starting point.

As Bob and Hoot noted, 1680 is a very good pick for the heavy bullets, I run a above book load of 45gr of that under a 300gr XTP mag in my 16" AR and have never had a problem.
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Re: Reloading Barnes 325 Busters

Postby MRRJF » Sun Jul 08, 2018 11:38 am

So I started reloading some busters and another concern has popped up. Using the Hornady taper crimp die and crimping down to .476, this is NOT providing a good hold on the bullet. This is causing me some concern! I cannot crimp more as I understand the mouth of the case is where the head spacing occurs. This also make me wonder if the factory ammo is also suspect in regarding to bullet retention in the shell casing. Any thoughts from the experts?
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Re: Reloading Barnes 325 Busters

Postby Al in Mi » Sun Jul 08, 2018 2:02 pm

I crimp .474
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Re: Reloading Barnes 325 Busters

Postby gmstack » Sun Jul 08, 2018 5:55 pm

What oal are you gentlemen loading these bullets ? I was thinking of trying them.
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Re: Reloading Barnes 325 Busters

Postby pitted bore » Sun Jul 08, 2018 9:49 pm

gmstack wrote:What oal are you gentlemen loading these bullets ? I was thinking of trying them.

gmstack-
The COL used by the Western Powders lab for pressure and velocity testing was 2.190 inches. (See the data source I cited above.)
This is longer than their loads for any other bullets except the 200-grain Hornady FTX, which they loaded to the same COL.

This length should be a good starting point for further experimentation.
--Bob
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