quote:

Originally posted by Hyak55171:

quote:

Originally posted by 4sixteen:
Like the idea and nostalgia of cast but experiences with less than stellar accuracy have led me to dismiss these for use in hunting rounds. Continued reliable results with jacketed and brass solids.

For example Hornady 45 caliber 500gr RN at 1600 fps impact speed punch clear through broadside on Moose. Wide wound channel. Plenty of shock at this higher impact speed. Prefer a fast handling rifle with quick repeat fire capability when hunting in big Bear territory - lever or bolt action.

Could a guy get more info on this load? Thinking thatd be fin with a 500gr woodleigh

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:

quote:

Originally posted by Hyak55171:

quote:

Originally posted by 4sixteen:
Like the idea and nostalgia of cast but experiences with less than stellar accuracy have led me to dismiss these for use in hunting rounds. Continued reliable results with jacketed and brass solids.

For example Hornady 45 caliber 500gr RN at 1600 fps impact speed punch clear through broadside on Moose. Wide wound channel. Plenty of shock at this higher impact speed. Prefer a fast handling rifle with quick repeat fire capability when hunting in big Bear territory - lever or bolt action.

Could a guy get more info on this load? Thinking thatd be fin with a 500gr woodleigh

Hyak55171,

4sixteen is very shy about publishing any of his load data.
It is well known that 1800 fps with the Hornady 500-grain DGX will go 1800 fps from a 22"-long 1:20" twist barrel with Ruger No.1 rifle,
but requires 2.925" COL.
Hornady shows IMR-4198 47.6 grains and IMR-3031 53.1 grains, both doing 1800 fps.

I guess for the Marlin the COL has to be limited to 2.550".
The flat meplat of the 500-grain DGX will help with keeping COL short.
An extra cannelure might not be very functional on the ogive of the nose, but it would not hurt a ShortCOL load.
I find this very interesting to consider with either H4198 or BENCHMARK,
with loads reduced enough to give 1600 fps.
4sixteen has proved it can be done,
with whatever powder charge and COL that he is not talking about.
He is quite the tease.

Rip ...

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Originally posted by RIP:
Home on the range:

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Originally posted by cdsx:
I've got no pony in this race; I don't shoot or know much about black powder or cast bullets (although I will admit that I've always been in awe of the Sharps!) That being said, I look at the pictures of sharpsguy's gun room, trophies, and photos, and I think to myself that this is a man who's really enjoying his life. I'm impressed - hats off to you sir!

quote:

Originally posted by sharpsguy:
Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it. RIP is the one who convinced me to post. That deer was taken on a friend's ranch in Bosque county in central Texas three or four years ago. Not a big bodied deer, but he was a ten point and clearly dominant. He had three tines broken off one side, and one off the other from fighting.

I shot him at 130 yards on a high shoulder shot with my 40-70 Sharps Straight and a 385 grain round nosed paper patched bullet, and he went straight down, right now. My friend was with me, and we were surprised, even a little shocked at how quickly he went down, and how loud the sound of the bullet strike was.

So far, that is the only animal I have taken with a 40 caliber, but I plan to use it and my 40-65 some this year. My friend in Oklahoma has used his 40-65 on deer to good effect and gives it good marks with a 400 grain flat nosed bullet. It's not a 45, but we'll see how it works.

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Originally posted by sharpsguy:


When you read accounts of the old buffalo hunters working at 900 to 1100 yards, you can't discount it out of hand.
You just have to figure out how they did it.

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Originally posted by sharpsguy:
Ballistic reticles DO work, no doubt about it. And they take the guesswork out of where to hold.

Looking at the recovered bullets from your moose--nice moose, by the way--I felt like I was looking at deja vu all over again. About ten years ago, four of us shot a buffalo apiece off of a ranch in east Texas. One of the guys was shooting a 1895 Marlin and 405 grain Remington factory ammo. It took two shots behind the shoulder to put the bull on the ground from 100 yards, and a third in the ear to close the deal. One of the bullets behind the shoulder looked like the one you recovered from the moose, and the other two completely shed their jackets. The round in the ear penetrated about seven inches before coming apart.

The rest of us were shooting cast bullets, and one of the three shot his buffalo twice behind the shoulder, once with a 450 grain paper patched bullet that was recovered. His second shot was with the 480 grain Lyman 457121, and it went through and through. This was with a 45-90 Sharps from 140 yards. Velocity was 1260 fps.

A third buffalo was shot square between the eyes from 85 yards with the 457121 and the bullet exited the rear of the skull, leaving a baseball sized exit wound. This was with a bull barreled 45-70 Shiloh. I was watching through binoculars from about 250 yards away, and the buffalo went down so fast that I momentarily lost sight of the animal, and thought my friend had missed. I had loaded this ammo, and it had chronographed 1242 fps.

I shot mine that day with a 45-110 and a 511 grain paper patched bullet at 1360 fps, one shot behind the shoulder, down and done with a complete pass through behind the shoulder.

I asked the ranch manager what was the largest number of buffalo taken from the ranch in a single day, and he replied that four was it. He said four was all that his processor could handle in a day, and that he had never had anyone able to put them on the ground as fast as we did.

quote:

Originally posted by sharpsguy:
John, I can't give you an honest answer about your problems with lubing and sizing bullets with a Star or rcbs lubrisizer, because I have never used either one, and have never even seen one work.

What I do is melt my lube in a small cast iron pot, hot enough to melt the lube, but not hot enough to make the lube smoke. I use a ten dollar electric hotplate for this. I dip the bullet base first into the melted lube and sit it nose up on a piece of wax paper to cool. DO NOT set the bullet on a paper towel to cool, as the paper towel will wick the melted lube out of the grooves before it sets up. BTDT. When dipping the bullets in the lube, wearing a thin rubber surgical glove helps immensely in holding on to the short nosed 350 and 400 grain bullets

I then run my bullets after they are lubed through a .458 Lee push through sizing die. This die is quite inexpensive, about fifteen bucks, IIRC. Before loading the bullets into the case, I wipe the excess lube off of the bottom of the base using a folded paper towel. Hope this helps.