Curious what everybody favorite hunting and range load is for the 460 S&W? Lately I've been shooting a lot of the 250 grain Speer deep curls loaded with 29 grains Hodgeon H110 for range ammo and thinking of using 240 grain XTP and 47.6 grains H110 for a hunting load.

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Go big or go home

Just picked up a 460. I am planning on reloading for it. I see that there are 3 diameters out there and assuming that you can use all of them. .450/.451/.452. My Hornady manual shows 0.452. Any drawback to using the others? What would/should be a minimum weight?

If you use the Hornady bullets buy the 240/300 XTP MAGS the 250 is also a .452 but will not handle the speeds/pressures of a full 460 load and Hornady would not even provide me any loading data to down load it to use them at all. The speer deep curls have a few load options for the 250 grain but they are a very mild load only getting around 1400fps. But they do offer a 300 grain bullet that is made for the 454 casual that can handle the 460 pressures and velocity. You will want a .452 for the 460 best advice would be before purchasing any bullet heads to look up data on charges for it to make sure it will handle it and you don't have extra bullets laying around.

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Go big or go home

A cautionary note here on bullet selection, while there are many .45 bullets available make sure they are capable of handling the velocity and pressure you are planning to load them to. As an example the Hornady XTP is not suited to handle 460 velocity, and jacket separation have occurred driving them that hard.

You can look at my statics and find numerous threads on 460 S&W loading and revolvers

here are a few threads having some handloading information

460 load data

H110 in the 460S&W

There are numerous other if you search

be safe
Ruggy

For hunting my preference are copper monolilthics; Cutting Edge, Barnes, and North Fork are my preference.

For me the 260 CPS that was offered by North Fork is my go to bullet for hunting.

For hogs and deer most any of the jacket bullet that is designed for 460 pressure and velocity will perform reasonable well, the XTP MAGs, Deep Curls and Swift A-frames are good choices.

Remember terminal performance is only achieved when the bullet is in the velocity design window.

On a side note I am sure many have used the 200 FTX on deer and other animals but I find these bullet opens to fast and bullets fragments to easy. I ruined a few hog shoulders when I first started using the 460 and determined this bullet terminals were poor on big game animals.

For punching paper the 225 FTX driven at max (1900-2000 fps)
offers shooter the full 460 experience when punching paper at a more reasonable cost than the 200 FTX or the XTP MAGS.

Asanother aside when shooting the 460 you dont have to drive bllets to the max to have good accuracy. Most of my 300 grain loads (Speer, XTP MAG, SWIFT) are just above listed minimum with 4227 group rather well.

be safe
Ruggy

Just out of curiosity, anyone use the Lehigh match solid 300gr? Just looking though what Midway has to see what I can use. Probably overthinking it but, looking at SD and BC. Kinda narrowing it down to Swift A Frame 325, Barnes XPB 275, or the Hornady XTP 300gr. Is any of this overkill for deer?

In all but a few instances any of the bullets discussed in this thread will be a complete pass through on deer (exception are the FTX).

I would use the 200 or 275 Barnes XPB, 240 XTP, or Swift 265 without hesitation on deer, of coarse shoot placement must be good as well.

Nothing wrong with the 300 or 325 weight bullets, personally I want the flattest shooting options. If your shoots are never going out past 50 yards then weight becomes less of a concern.

As an aside most states require the the use of an expanding bullet when hunting game animals- hence I would not consider the 300 Leigh solid, check your states regulation or state where you plan to hunt.

Solids are used in Africa, especially on dangerous game. In these instances velocity will be important as will the meplat size.

I have used Leigh solids in both 460 S&W and 500 S&W and they work ok, liked the performance of the Cutting Edge Bullets better- better grouping and higher velocity for equivalent load levels.

Terminal performance is the most important criteria when selecting a hunting bullet. Secondly it is the least expense part in any hunt - do not be cheep, use a good bullet and practice.
Good shoot placement and the right bullet means you will not have to track your game.

be safe
Ruggy

I only hunt paper at 25 yds or less and use the 300 grain XTP Magnum bullets. I like the lower velocity over the 200 grain FTX and the barrel stays clean with no build up.