It looks like I'll be doing some .460 Rowland load development in the very near future.

Clark kit and brass are on the way.

Anyone here have some relatively heavy bullet pointers/data for me to start with - from their own experience?

The intent is to get the 1911 set up with more of an 'oomph' margin for woods and timber carry on big game hunts here on the West Coast.

Mule deer, black bear, big cats, and feral pig are all likely suspects...



Cheers
Tinker

quote:

0) 45 acp....................... 185 gr 7.6 gr AA#5 jams w/stock Patriot spring
1) 45 acp........................185 gr 10.2 gr AA#5 1100 fps 18,000psi
2) 45 acp +P...................185 gr 10.8 gr AA#5 1200 fps 21,700 psi
3) 45 Super.....................185 gr 12.4 gr AA#5 1312 fps 28,000 cup
4) 460 Rowland............... 185 gr 14.5 gr AA#5 1500 fps 38,800 cup
5) Easy extraction ...........185 gr 15.0 gr AA#5 *rifle
6) Case starts to stretch...185 gr 15.2 gr AA#5 *rifle
7) difficult extraction ........185 gr 16.0 gr AA#5 *rifle
8) primer falls out ............185 gr 16.5 gr AA#5 *rifle

230 gr. FMJ 13 gr. AA#5 4" 20 Shot @100m 230 gr.


The rifle likes 460 Rowland loadings in 45acp brass with 230 gr FMJ for best accuracy.



I took out the 12 pound recoil spring and made a 42 pound triple recoil spring asembly for the 20 ounce Patriot pistol.
I interweaved two magazine springs for twice the push up force and holds one less round.

It will go a grain or two past 460 Roland published loads with 45acp brass.

Thanks for the note


That 185gr chart looks pretty frisky.
I'm looking to run 220-250 grain hard cast bullets, Cast Performance has a gas-check bullet in that range that looks good.
Not quite sure what powder to run though.

Perhaps I'll figure this all out at the ranch via chronograph and a broad selection of powders at the ranch once the conversion kit and brass arrive.



Cheers
Tinker

The recoil is horrible in a 20 ounce pistol, so I used 185 gr.

The recoil is nothing in a 20 pound rifle, so I use 230 gr that has better accuracy.

I have worked up loads with Unique, Longshot, and Power Pistol, and they are just as good as AA#5. I only used it, because in May of 2000, those were almost the only published loads I could compare to.

Real Guns.com...the website has some great articles about it also.

I finally managed to get out and test-drive a load in the Rowland kit.

I'd gotten a couple handfuls of the Cast Performance 265gr WFNGC and a couple bags of brass.

After having looked at what little cast bullet load data there was for anything in that weight range then following up a bit with the maker of the barrel and conversion kit I settled on AA#7 as the powder and CCI large pistol primers (as I have a good stock of them) and loaded a pair of cartridges at 1.240" (max possible with this bullet to work in a 1911 magazine) OAL on 10.9gr powder.

My chronograph had been unreliable and I'd chased the issues to the screens, fixed it with a new set of infrared screens - which by the way we tested in the kitchen (on a cloudy day, no additional lighting!) with an airgun.
Brilliant! They worked quite nicely.


With the chrono set up outside I tested the load for function and velocity into a sandy berm.

First two rounds functioned properly, but showed flat primers.
Switched the firing pin spring and the slide spring to the heavier springs provided in the kit.
Next four rounds showed consistent velocity, but with no change to the primers.

I'd read about this issue with the Rowland as run on a Kimber - seems as if Clark often suggests bushing the firing pin and carrying on with load development.

Velocity was a solid 995-998fps as read with the screens five feet from the muzzle.
Recoil was creampuff compared to pretty much everything I've been loading for the past couple years.
No muzzle flip to account for and I'm sure that quick controlled pairs would be cake with this load or hotter.
There was no case head expansion and the brass didn't look overly worked otherwise.
I don't think I'll have time to get back out for another test run this week or next.
In the meantime I'm considering running CCI200 large rifle primers and backing the charge off a few tenths of a grain to start again.
From all accounts 1000fps and a 260gr jacketed bullet is not a max load at all, and I'm thinking I'm in relatively safe space if I keep it in that neighborhood with this bullet.


We shall see...



Cheers
Tinker

At long last...


The sale of our old place and move to our new ranch in NV got in the way of this load development project.

A friend had given me a box of the 230gr Hornady XTP bullets, on which I had gotten many high recommendations.

Running the Starline cases, AA#7 powder, and Federal 150 primers, finishing the loads with a heavy crimp by way of the Lee Factory Crimp die I got 1300FPS over the chronograph just about two feet behind the screens.

This was after having gone to the heaviest recoil spring, the heavy firing pin spring, and also having switched to a new (minimum radius) firing pin block.

With this load there's a bit of scuffing on the primers, but the load is consistent and the brass doesn't look sketchy at all.
Another tenth of a grain gets an additional 25fps, but the brass appears to be heading in the wrong direction.

From the Hornady Ballistics Tables:

Muzzle = 1300fps +.8"
25yds = 1237fps +1.7"
50yds = 1181fps +2.7"
75yds = 1131fps +2.2"
100yds = 1098fps +-0"
150yds = 1021fps -10"
200yds = 968fps -28.3"


I haven't tested for accuracy yet, just did the work to arrive at a max load.

More later



Cheers
Tinker