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What powder for 450 Rigby + 500grs + 2150-2250fps?
What powder for 450 Rigby + 500grs + 2150-2250fps?
What powder to use if I´d like to achieve around 2200fps with a 500 grain monometal in .450 Rigby?
I like a "mildish" load with low pressure.
I know I could choose a 458 Lott, but I´d rather have the Rigby case if only for low pressure and the looks.
30 May 2022, 07:02
Michael RobinsonThere are several. H414, H4350, RL-15, RL-17, Norma MRP, and others.
I have settled on RL-17, but I like around 2,400-2,500 fps with Barnes 500 grain TSX bullets.
Mike
Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer.
Slow burning powders should be avoided for reduced loads.
Hodgdon promote H-4895 for reduced loads and claim that you can reduce loads down to 60% of a max loading. I’ve used it in several reduced load applications and it has worked well. Make sure you still use a magnum primer to provide enough spark for proper ignition.
https://hodgdon.com/wp-content...uced-rifle-loads.pdfSince the 450 Rigby case is similar in capacity to the 450 Dakota and 460 Weatherby, you should be able to find a suitable starting point for H-4895 in published load data.
The calculator below may help in trying to find a suitable load.
https://www.weatherby.dk/rlc.htmMichael what is your load with R17 and 500gr TSX as that is the bullet and power I want to try too
Joe
31 May 2022, 05:50
Michael RobinsonJoe, I did a thread on it.
.450 Rigby Loads
Mike
Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer.
Thanks for the advice!
I have a good supply of powders similar to Reloader 15 and 22.
What kind of loads are safe with RL22?
I see they use that powder in relatively light charges in the 470NE that has a more voluminous case?
04 June 2022, 02:07
Baker458I have a 450 Dakota and I think the case capacity is super close to the Rigby. Mine is an AHR CZ with a 21" barrel.
I really like the 450NE level velocity. 2150-2200 is where I typically load my Lott, have taken 5 Cape buffalo with that & they get hit plenty hard (visibly). Probably not necessary, but I've pushed up closer to 2300 for Ele.
500gr Barnes TSX, 88gr Varget with foam filler, 2165fps.
550gr Woodleigh softs and solids, 82gr Varget with foam filler, 2030fps.
Took a bunch of buffalo in Australia using both loads.
02 August 2022, 06:50
chuck375quote:
Originally posted by JFE:
Slow burning powders should be avoided for reduced loads.
Hodgdon promote H-4895 for reduced loads and claim that you can reduce loads down to 60% of a max loading. I’ve used it in several reduced load applications and it has worked well. Make sure you still use a magnum primer to provide enough spark for proper ignition.
https://hodgdon.com/wp-content...uced-rifle-loads.pdfSince the 450 Rigby case is similar in capacity to the 450 Dakota and 460 Weatherby, you should be able to find a suitable starting point for H-4895 in published load data.
The calculator below may help in trying to find a suitable load.
https://www.weatherby.dk/rlc.htm
Not trying to be a contrarian or a know-it-all but I would not recommend H4895 for reduced load in a large case. I use it exclusively in my 500 Jeffery, loads in my reloading book with a 570g bullet range from 101g to 105g but I've had two hangfires when I first started reloading for my rifle by going down to 95g. I wasn't using any fillers and maybe that was my problem. Very very scary. Accurate 5744 is designed for reduced loads, I even loaded 500g cast bullets down to 45-70 velocities. If you call them and tell them what you're doing they will send you load data.
Once again, I apologize, I just knew from my experience that it could be dangerous to use H4895 without fillers.
Regards,
Chuck
"There's a saying in prize fighting, everyone's got a plan until they get hit"
Michael Douglas "The Ghost And The Darkness"
quote:
Originally posted by chuck375:
Not trying to be a contrarian or a know-it-all but I would not recommend H4895 for reduced load in a large case. I use it exclusively in my 500 Jeffery, loads in my reloading book with a 570g bullet range from 101g to 105g but I've had two hangfires when I first started reloading for my rifle by going down to 95g. I wasn't using any fillers and maybe that was my problem. Very very scary. Accurate 5744 is designed for reduced loads, I even loaded 500g cast bullets down to 45-70 velocities. If you call them and tell them what you're doing they will send you load data.
Once again, I apologize, I just knew from my experience that it could be dangerous to use H4895 without fillers.
That’s interesting. I had hangfires in a smaller case (still 80+ gr of powder) but I was using std LR primers. Once I switched to magnum primers ignition was perfect.
Were you using std or magnum primers when you experienced the hangfires?
04 August 2022, 05:02
chuck375I was using Jamison brass and CCI 250 magnum rifle powders. Even with full house H4895 loads (105 grains and 2400 fps with a 570g TSX) case density is still a bit low, but no problem with hang fires ever since I kept my loads at or above 101g.
Regards,
Chuck
"There's a saying in prize fighting, everyone's got a plan until they get hit"
Michael Douglas "The Ghost And The Darkness"
Cases don’t come much larger than the 500 Jeffery and no doubt the large volume contributed to poor ignition. Your experience does reinforce the fact you need to be very careful moving outside of published data. Thanks for flagging your experience.