400gr. lead load needed

[vic3620]

I bought some vance 400gr.rnfp bullets at the Indy show last week and can't find any load data for lead bullets in this size.
I have lil gun and H110 powder on hand.
Also my brass is winchester but is not marked on the top to use rifle primers like my other brass is. so i'm not sure to use rifle or pistol primers.

 

[vic3620]

I bought some vance 400gr.rnfp bullets at the Indy show last week and can't find any load data for lead bullets in this size.
I have lil gun and H110 powder on hand.
Also my brass is winchester but is not marked on the top to use rifle primers like my other brass is. so i'm not sure to use rifle or pistol primers.

 

[vic3620]

I guess it would have been helpful to also mention this is for a S&W500.

 

[Skip Sackett]

That was my first question!

Never loaded that heavy of a bullet in the 500. 325gr was my limit. Just couldn't imagine needing more than a slug that heavy @ 2000fps for anything in North America, and I don't have a safari planned anytime soon!

 

[JD 500]

Hodgdon Data

Here's load data from Hodgdon.


Good luck

 

[vic3620]

hey JD the hodgeen data for 400gr look to be all jacketed bullets. what I bought was lead cast. thanks: vic

 

[JD 500]

Sorry Vic, I assumed at 400gr, you were loading the sierra jacketed.

I would look through some old posts here, I think I've heard guys suggest you can use jacketed data, but start at the starting charge, working up slowly. I'm not gonna be much help as I've never loaded lead or cast lead.

good luck !

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

Loading lead bullets over data for jacketed bullets isn't any problem. It's when you reverse that, and load jacketed bullets over lead bullet data that you need to reduce the charge and work back up. Lead bullets slide down the bore with very little resistance compared to jacketed bullets. Since jacketed bullets create much more resistance to the expanding gasses, the charges are almost always lower than those for equal weight lead bullets while still keeping pressures equal. It is safe to use lead bullets over jacketed bullet charges, but never start at the top end, especially in high pressure rounds like the .460, .500, .475, and .454.

 

[vic3620]

thanks, guys for the reply back.
I've tried unsuccesfully to contact the bullet
manufacturer for the last two days.
I'm thinking with them working gun shows on the weekends they might take the first of the week off. Anyway I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Thanks again: vic

 

[ohiococonut]

You're Winchester brass uses Large Pistol primers. You can either use them or buy a primer pocket reamer and ream them deeper. The case head is thick enough that it's not a problem. There's .006" difference in length between Large Pistol and Large Rifle primers.

If you try to use Large Rifle primers without reaming the pockets you stand the chance of them standing proud and possibly locking up the cylinder or even slam firing. Although some people have gotten away with seating them flush, it just depends on the brass. I reamed out some original Hornady brass when S&W first made the change to Large Rifle and didn't have any problems. I've got about 1K of brass and didn't want to have a few that needed different primers.

 

[vic3620]

thanks ohiococonut for the brass info.
I got a call back today from the bullet manufacturer on my load request. he said as long as I kept the loads under 1150 fps max
there should not be a problem with leading. he also said his bullets were about 28 brinell
hardness. he said guys have been shooting them up to 1350 but he could not recommend that.
I will work up a half a dozen and do some playing in the back yard. till I get what I like

thanks: vic

 

[Redhawk1]

vic3620, I can go to your profile and get your E-mail address and I can send you an 8 page Excel file with load data for the 500 Mag. Bullets go from 275 gr. to 700 gr. Hard cast & jacketed data, if you like.

And don't listen to anyone that tells you to stop using 400 plus bullets in your 500 Mag.
My favorite load in a 440 gr. hard cast bullet.

If I wanted to stop at 325 gr. bullets I would be shooting my 45 Colt or 44 Mag.

 

[Redhawk1]

Originally posted by vic3620:
thanks ohiococonut for the brass info.
I got a call back today from the bullet manufacturer on my load request. he said as long as I kept the loads under 1150 fps max
there should not be a problem with leading. he also said his bullets were about 28 brinell
hardness. he said guys have been shooting them up to 1350 but he could not recommend that.
I will work up a half a dozen and do some playing in the back yard. till I get what I like

thanks: vic

Vic, 28 is a hard bullet, and in my opinion to hard. They will be very brittle and bust apart. Take a hammer to them on a hard surface, you will see what I am talking about, you should be at around 22 BHN or close to that.

All my bullets are 22 BHN and gas checked, and I shoot them way over 1700 to 1800 fps and get no leading. I get my bullets from Ranger Rick and mostly from Montana Bullet Works. http://www.montanabulletworks.com/default.php

 

[vic3620]

Readhawk1 you are correct about 28 being too hard. I rechecked my notes and they are 18 BHN,
not 28. I thought I had all my errors corrected
before I hit the post key.
I work with some local machine shops in town so I will take them a bullet and let them check it on their hardness tester. just to confirm it.
As per your other post I would appreciate your load data file you have. my E-mail is in my file.

thank you very much: vic

 

[Redhawk1]

I sent you 2 e-mails, one with an attachment and one with the data in the body of the e-mail.