got some good quality time in w/ the 480 this morning. don't have my notes handy so don't recall specific powder charges or group sizes... but, i'm into rifles in a big way, and handguns are a relatively new arena for me.

unfortunately, i forgot the little piece to adapt the tripod to the chrony, so i didn't get any chrony data. really irritates me that i did that, but i pressed on w/o it.

i took my starting load and stuck 6 in the cylinder and shot 5, then put the calipers on the 6th one and found out that my crimp wasn't tight enough, even at the starting loads. in fact, it was easily visible that the bullet had pulled - didn't need the caliper.

so, the remaining groups were shot 1 at a time. kind of tedious, but it worked out ok.

doing development at 50 yards... is that far enough? my groups (6 shots) ranged from about 1.0x to 3.5 inches... for a rifle, that is terrible. for a handgun, is that at least a place to start, or do i need to scrap the powder and try something new?

so, what is the best way to develop a load for a 6-shooter? i mean, 6 different chambers to keep track of... how does that work? i don't know any better so i just load 1 in each chamber and shoot 'em up. there has to be a better way... but, what is it?

appreciate any input.

btw- i did not reach a max pressure level. even at my top end the cases still extracted easy, and primers looked fine. contrast that w/ hornady factory loads and sticky extraction, i think i still have a long ways to go... i got an owie on my finger from the pounding the triggerguard gave it... then i shot my s&w 686 for a bit... geeze, i need to find somebody who can slick this srh action up a bit... any suggestions?

Shooting a cylinder full is the best way to get groups as individual chambers will shoot just a little difference.

 Start at 25 yds for load developement, then move out when you get nice ragged holes about the size of a silver dollar.

I catch alot of flack for this , but here goes anyway. Based on my experience with straight walled handgun cartridges 50 yds is about right for shooting game.

ok, brushbuster... was hoping to go a little deeper than that!  punching a hole in the lungs is the easy part... getting the gun in shape to perform such a feat is the hard part...

so, what is the accuracy standard for handguns?

ranch- why is 50 yards as far as straightwall handguns should go?

on the crimp... will crimping the bullets tighter dramatically alter pressures? meaning, after i get a tighter crimp, do i need to go all the way back down and restart all my development just because of the crimp?

dakotasin:

I am watching this because I have very much the same questions

My 357mag gives me 2 - 3 inch groups at 50yds.

Maybe that is all I am supposed to get. But I don't think so.

Bojon

 Dakota I say 50 yds because beyond that with out a really steady rest the groups can open up pretty big, and the ballistics on most handgun cartridges start to drop off pretty bad past 75 yds and beyond 100 they drop like a rock.

 The crimp on these cases depends alot on how tight the size die is and what powder you use. H110/296 generally need a real hard crimp to keep ignition consistent. It's not so bad with faster stuff. The trick is to find just the right crimp to keep the bullets from jumping out of the case when the gun goes off, but not to much as the cases will crumple when you seat the bullet. Crimping to hard can also cause premature case mouth splits. Also don't bell the case any more than you absolutely have to to get the bullet to seat easily.

 Yes the crimp will cause pressures to jump, that's why a consistent crimp is really important.

With iron sights 2-3 inches isn't bad at 50. With alot of practice you can tighten that up alittle if your load is good. When everything is right you should be able to get 4 in groups at 100, but it takes alot of patience and practice. Sight picture and trigger control is the real key.

ok, ranch, thanks for the info. i just pulled some brass from the tumbler, getting ready for round 2. went to get some more bullets today, but they're all out. hope they get some more in by saturday (summer school is over for me on friday, so i plan to get back in the shooting groove in earnest this weekend... also have a dog shoot coming up aug 7-8, and i want to get some practice in...). anyway, i'll screw the crimp/seat die in another 1/4 turn and see how that works out. i'll be packing the chrony and all its necessary pieces next time out.

the gun is scoped (fixed 2x), fwiw. trigger control!  not w/ the way ruger sends their guns out from the factory! i'm trying to figure out how to rectify it, though. don't know how yet, but i'll either learn or send it out to someone who knows how.

bojon- my 357 is the next to get worked over in earnest. figure i'll learn w/ the 480, then work the 357 over. i've got a starter load put together w/ hornady 158 xtp's and 2400, but want to get switched over to cast 180's or so... we'll see how that pans out. since handgun loading is so new to me, i'm only doing one gun at a time until i figure out how to do it well.

ranch- forgot to ask: do handguns behave similiar to rifles when working up loads? in a rifle, if i get vertical stringing, i up the powder charge until the stringing goes away, then tune the load/rifle to handle horizontal strings, until i get little clusters...

the 480 shot the first load into a perfectly straight vertical string that measured 3.5" or so on the vertical, and virtually no horizontal string. as the powder charge came up, the vertical gave way to clusters, then to a near perfect circle, then at the top end of the loads i brought along, the load started stringing vertical again... i am not at the max, so i wonder if i can expect this behavior to continue, or was it a fluke, or poor hold, or?

appreciate the input.

Dakotasin;

Ranch's advice should certainly get you in the ball park & on base too.

As for work up ranges, 25 & 50 yards are generally considered to be the 'standard' distances.  Personally, I don't have a problem shooting effectively at 100 yards with a .357.  But, you better know your trajectory pretty good.  Ranch was right, beyond 100 yards, most flight paths resemble that of a brick.  Consequently, the mid-range corrections are  critical if you sight for 100.

If you're getting sticky case extraction with the Hornady's, I'd check a coupla things.  Do the cylinders need to be polished?  Unlikely, but possible.  Mike the case heads.

When I was young & foolish & Speer published loads for SR4756 in the .357, I found that the word 'sticky' didn't do justice to some of my case extraction problems.  I also found that the cases would not fully enter the case gauge even after a full-length resize.  They mighta been a little hot.

900F

 Dakota sounds like you're getting it fairly well figured. Those pistol cartridges do act like rifle, when you hit the groups you'll know it, and when you go past what the gun likes they'll open up.

 On setting the crimp what I do is to run a once fired resized and belled case in , set the die until it touches the case mouth , then turn in 1/4 turn. From then on any adjustments in the crimp come at 1/8 or so turns.

Sticky extraction can come from the cylinder throats getting full of crud, as well as max pressures. And if you're shooting lead bullets keeping the forcing cone clean will help alot with groups.

How much have you shot the gun? Could be you're just getting the thing smoothed up a bit and after everything gets settled it'll set down and go to work for ya.

I have a 12" metal gong target out at 230 yds. My buddy was out with his Ruger .480 a few months ago and we were hitting it about 4 out of 5 times. He has it sighted in for fifty yards with a 2x duplex scope. I was holding about an 1/8 of an inch over into the heavy part of the duplex. If I had to estimate I'd say about 14''-18" over the target. I can hit that thing with my scoped .44mag and 30-30 Contender at will. The thing is I couldn't hit anything at 50 yards if I tried. The midrange trajectory is pretty steep "I have them sighted for 200yds". I like to get a six inch group at 200 for my long range pistols. The .480 can do it with light bullets, the heavy ones have a rainbow trajectory and the wind really gets ahold of them. I don't remember what you're going to use it for but a fifty yard zero works good for a .480. I've shot about 300 rounds through one and find it a real joy to shoot compared to a .454 or .500. My friend uses Lil' Gun I'll ask him what the load is. Crimp,Crimp,Crimp...

DD

ok, fellas, thanks for the input. i just got in from loading round 2. i just went ahead and turned the crimp in a quarter turn tighter. i figure that even that may not be enough since i had the bullets pulling right away w/ my starter loads last time.

so, i turned the crimp in a quarter, and then made my start load for the next outing where my stop load was last outing. i'll be topping out this time at 25.5 grains h-110 and the 355 cast bullet.

part of the trouble w/ this cartridge is that load data is so scarce... when i can find it, the data is not only conflicting, but it is not for this bullet or weight. so, this process may take a long time. hopefully i'll get it it all sorted out soon. need to start practicing for the fall hunts.

i'll also remember my chrony next time out - hopefully saturday (got a practical exam tomorrow, and a final on friday, then i'll get real serious about shooting, again).

dd- ahh, you are a far better pistol shot than i... i couldn't even scare a target at 230 yards w/ a handgun!  i'd appreciate the li'l gun data if you could get it. seems that li'l gun is the hot ticket for the 480. my use for this gun is for deer hunting in the black hills, where shots are pretty close.