The 540 is my favorite load for Alaska hunting . Unfortunately I buy these from Garretts ready to go so I don't know the recipe but they are moving at 1550 fps .

 

40 grains of H322 (max in Winchester cases, cci 200 primer) should give you around 1500fps, depending on barrel length, a good strong push it is. A real hoot to shoot.

 

40 grains of H322 (max in Winchester cases, cci 200 primer) should give you around 1500fps, depending on barrel length, a good strong push it is. A real hoot to shoot.

I have used the same load with H4895 for my home cast 560 grainers, but with Rem brass and WLR primers.
Got 1500-1550 fps. The H322 meters better. It is a blast heaving 1 1/3 oz. of lead downrange ;D ;D Tried 9 grains of Unique just for s@#*s and giggles, shooting at frozen trees. Goes Bang, Pause...... Whack!!! And shakes all the snow off of the branches ;D ;D
Sharptail

 

It is very important to remember seating depth of some bullets and the huge difference in brass capacity of the three major 45-70 brass.In saying that..I ran JB Youngs 550 grain to 1501 fps in my Guide Gun using "Winchester" brass/CCI-200 primers and H-322 at 40 grains..The much better and lower pressure load was the 525 Beartooth with Starline Brass/CCI-#34(Mag) primers and 37 grains for 1515 fps in my Guide Gun pressure checked at 35,000 PSI or under.

Seating depth was quite different between the two bullets and the crimp groove.The 550 Craters were more like 5.20 with the 525 Pile Drivers at 5.56..

I am in a strange place with my son in the hospital so I cannot give exacts on OAL, but those are real close..Take care and use a Chronograph and do not exceed 1500 fps in a Guide Gun with those two powders that are best suited for the job over the others...RL-7 is by far the best pressure wise for pressure around the board for the 45-70 from 300-550 grains with RL-10X right there or slightly better but littla data is available.

Jayco

 

I shoot 500 gainers and the loads I worked up from several Lyman books.

 

I have Lyman books but they irritate me expecting us to do the math from a 26"(usually) universal barrel to the common barrels used,ifact,Randy Garrett used to do his own pressure measurements on a regular Marlin barrel..Don't get any better than that in my opinion..Once you start stoking bullets into different barrels and try to decipher the difference, your left with the safety factor built into reloading manuals then combine those with the safety factors built into the rifle.

One you change "any" component from book data, the pressure could be and probably is different.

Jayco

 

Any change is different, that is why several different books is a good idea, working up a load + or - from mid range is not hard to do and people should work up their own loads for there own guns with their own books.

 

Well I ended up loading a handful of cartriges using 40 grains of H322
at a COL of 2.525".(Federal OF brass) Now all that is needed is some nicer weather to
give them a try. If I experience any pressure problems I will look for some RL-7
Thanks for all your input.

 

..I ran JB Youngs 550 grain to 1501 fps in my Guide Gun using "Winchester" brass/CCI-200 primers and H-322 at 40 grains...

Jayco

i'll second this load too....550's with 40 grains H322...been shooting it now for 4-5 years, moose, black bear and deer!..still waitng for my elk???... ...only i use starline for the brass!...cronied about 1530 fps my last time i tested it!. like others have said, more push than hit!!....good luck with anyload you chose! larry

 

..I ran JB Youngs 550 grain to 1501 fps in my Guide Gun using "Winchester" brass/CCI-200 primers and H-322 at 40 grains...

Jayco

i'll second this load too....550's with 40 grains H322...been shooting it now for 4-5 years, moose, black bear and deer!..still waitng for my elk???... ...only i use starline for the brass!...cronied about 1530 fps my last time i tested it!. like others have said, more push than hit!!....good luck with anyload you chose! larry

Hey larry, good to hear from you!! ;D Thought maybe the wolves got you : How did your hunting season go?
All the best,
Sharptail

 

Well I ended up loading a handful of cartriges using 40 grains of H322
at a COL of 2.525".(Federal OF brass) Now all that is needed is some nicer weather to
give them a try. If I experience any pressure problems I will look for some RL-7
Thanks for all your input.

Hey Jeff, sent you an email. I just weighed some Federal and some Winchester brass. the Fed were about 30 gr. heavier on average Methinks that equates to a lot less case capacity. I figured 40 gr.of H322 in Win brass was pretty much a max load. Do you have a chronograph? I'd work up to 1500 fps. and stop there. That will shoot end to end almost anything on the planet so no need to go further.
Just my $.02
Sharptail

 

hey sharp tail, things are good...LEH cow moose, and LEH late season elk are in the freezer!...now..sitting in the vancouver airport, on route to florida for 3 weeks,,,,fish'n and maybe go for a gator if it isnt too expensive?? ;D...anyway, have to run.....i want to add that i "think" the crator 550's seating in the starline brass was 2.520....plus pretty sure i started are about 37 grains H322 then went up...40 grains was nice and tite,...i'm sure its here in the files if a search is done!!....
ps, neal, your boolits are still waiting to be loaded!..dont give up on me yet!! .....have to run...,,sun, here we come!!!! larry

..I ran JB Youngs 550 grain to 1501 fps in my Guide Gun using "Winchester" brass/CCI-200 primers and H-322 at 40 grains...

Jayco

i'll second this load too....550's with 40 grains H322...been shooting it now for 4-5 years, moose, black bear and deer!..still waitng for my elk???... ...only i use starline for the brass!...cronied about 1530 fps my last time i tested it!. like others have said, more push than hit!!....good luck with anyload you chose! larry

Hey larry, good to hear from you!! ;D Thought maybe the wolves got you : How did your hunting season go?
All the best,
Sharptail

 

hey sharp tail, things are good...LEH cow moose, and LEH late season elk are in the freezer!...now..sitting in the vancouver airport, on route to florida for 3 weeks,,,,fish'n and maybe go for a gator if it isnt too expensive?? ;D...anyway, have to run.....i want to add that i "think" the crator 550's seating in the starline brass was 2.520....plus pretty sure i started are about 37 grains H322 then went up...40 grains was nice and tite,...i'm sure its here in the files if a search is done!!....
ps, neal, your boolits are still waiting to be loaded!..dont give up on me yet!! .....have to run...,,sun, here we come!!!! larry

..I ran JB Youngs 550 grain to 1501 fps in my Guide Gun using "Winchester" brass/CCI-200 primers and H-322 at 40 grains...

Jayco

i'll second this load too....550's with 40 grains H322...been shooting it now for 4-5 years, moose, black bear and deer!..still waitng for my elk???... ...only i use starline for the brass!...cronied about 1530 fps my last time i tested it!. like others have said, more push than hit!!....good luck with anyload you chose! larry

Hey larry, good to hear from you!! ;D Thought maybe the wolves got you : How did your hunting season go?
All the best,
Sharptail

[/quote
Lucky skunk! ;D 8) Only 3 more months of winter here : ;D
Have a great trip! bring back pics 8)

 

togojeff,

Have you ever thought of making paper patched bullets out of your 540 grain hard cast bullets?

It's not a bad idea and it is not hard to do. Think about it.

 

togojeff,

Have you ever thought of making paper patched bullets out of your 540 grain hard cast bullets?

It's not a bad idea and it is not hard to do. Think about it.

Actually I don't cast my own boolits, I got them pre-lubed.

 

No experance with 540s using 500gc 3198 38.5 gr 4198 31.0 very accurate out of a Guide Gun a Ruger #1 & #3.

 

togojeff,

Have you ever thought of making paper patched bullets out of your 540 grain hard cast bullets?

It's not a bad idea and it is not hard to do. Think about it.

Actually I don't cast my own boolits, I got them pre-lubed.

Depending on the actual bullet diameter and thickness of the paper you can still make them in to PPB's, if you load them and they chamber they will shoot.

 

Finally got around to firing off a few of the big boys. Still have the
bruise several days later.
Cases and primer look good, no signs of overpressure other than my
multi-colored shoulder. I think I will tone it down a couple of grains
just for that reason. ;D

 

540 grains aint nothing to scoff at...regardless how fast its going. I wouldn't want some one throwing that at me!!

 

Finally got around to firing off a few of the big boys. Still have the
bruise several days later.
Cases and primer look good, no signs of overpressure other than my
multi-colored shoulder. I think I will tone it down a couple of grains
just for that reason. ;D

Holy smokes, you don't like to rush into things eh? ;D
This thread started in January ;D
Were you shooting from the bench??? Because offhand they really shouldn't knock you around too bad :
You were trying the 40 grain load or something else???
Sharptail

 

Holy smokes, you don't like to rush into things eh? ;D
This thread started in January ;D
Were you shooting from the bench??? Because offhand they really shouldn't knock you around too bad :
You were trying the 40 grain load or something else???
Sharptail

Yes it took me a long time to get around to it, so many guns so little time.

I tried offhand and off the bench. Off the bench were the bruisers.

These were indeed the 40 grain loads as discussed way back earlier in
the year.