45cal loads/velocities

[Charger440]

Hey guys first post here. Im not new to the gun world and i have a very good understanding of reloading etc... so you wont have to baby me too much haha. Ive researched every where trying to gather as much info and other peoples loads for a 45cal inline. Now that I'm a member i believe i can get more accurate answers to my exact question. I have a knight mountaineer 45 cal, 1:20 twist. I plan on using fury 250 gr bullets sized bullet to bore. Using T7 FFFG OR BH209. Ill get straight to the point, my plan is to get as much velocity as i can and still hold a good accuracy. Basically hot rodding this thing.. On a whitetail deer 350 yrds would be my MAX shot from my stand. I want to know what you guys are getting as far as velocitys, powder charges, accuracy. What your setups are basically.. obviously the most accurate wont be the hottest load possible but i wanna hear what you guys are doing. Thanks in advance..

 

[ElDiablo]

Welcome! This is the BH209 .45 data to give you an idea. I shoot smokeless in my .45 so I can’t tell you what you might get with a 250 and a sub powder. Somewhere in the 2100-2200 range I would think. I’m not sure there are that many guys out there shooting jacketed bullet to bore in Knights.

 

[ENCORE50A]

................... I plan on using fury 250 gr bullets sized bullet to bore. Using T7 FFFG OR BH209. Ill get straight to the point, my plan is to get as much velocity as i can and still hold a good accuracy. Basically hot rodding this thing.. On a whitetail deer 350 yrds would be my MAX shot from my stand. I want to know what you guys are getting as far as velocitys, powder charges, accuracy. What your setups are basically.. obviously the most accurate wont be the hottest load possible but i wanna hear what you guys are doing. Thanks in advance..

Your Knight will shoot sized bullets very well. They compete at Friendship every year using bullet to bore in factory rifles. However, if you're going to be shooting to 350yds, shoot a heavier bullet, at least 300grs. You could go to 325gr or 350gr bullets. We were shooting 325gr and 350gr bullets to 1,000yds in June, using 120grs BH209 by VOLUME.

With lot#39, 120grs volume ends up with an average weight of 95grs. That charge will send a bullet to bore 350gr XLD bullet at 2183fps. Actually that charge and bullet doesn't drop below the sound barrier until 700yds+. This is my actual chart w/drops. Red shows the sound barrier.



If you want a maximum charge, take a quality volume measure and measure out 10 rounds of BH at 120grs VOLUME. Once you have the 10 volume charges, weigh each one of the charges, then find the average weight. Use that weight but consider it a maximum charge. You'll find that those 120grs volume charges are no where near 84grs by weight that's recommended. You'll increase your velocity. Western errored on a very conservative side when they developed BH209.

As for T7, IMO go by VOLUME ONLY.

With BH, size the bullets to load at 10# in a CLEAN BORE. Once you foul the bore it'll increase the loading force to around 18 to 20#, which is good.

 

[Charger440]

This is some good stuff here..and would there be much of a diff between loose T7 3Fg vs BH as far as velocities? And would it be worth trying a 40 cal with a harvester sabot? with an obvious better BC wouldnt that give be better down range velocities / less drop and better penetration. In theory, even tho the sabot is the weak link sort of. Just poking all my unclear thoughts. Before i jump to buying all this stuff i wanna have a clear idea of what the best options are.

 

[ENCORE50A]

This is some good stuff here..and would there be much of a diff between loose T7 3Fg vs BH as far as velocities? And would it be worth trying a 40 cal with a harvester sabot? with an obvious better BC wouldnt that give be better down range velocities / less drop and better penetration. In theory, even tho the sabot is the weak link sort of. Just poking all my unclear thoughts. Before i jump to buying all this stuff i wanna have a clear idea of what the best options are.

T7 looses to BH when the range is increased, but out to 100yds, maybe more, T7 and BH are pretty equal. BH starts to shine beyond 100yds.
You want energy at long range. The 250's and 275's will shoot to distance, they use a lot of 275gr bullets at Friendship. But that's target. Its just my opinion and the charts prove it, heavier bullets will have more energy. The 350gr XLD's have a BC of well over .400, but I get the most accurate chart using G8 with a BC of .282

If you are familiar with ballistic charts, use your data for a 250gr bullet, then use the data for a 300gr bullet. Then compare the energy of both.........

 

[ENCORE50A]

Here's a Barnes 250gr flat base using 2,200fps. Compare the energy on the charts to the 350gr above




Same bullet at 2,300fps............

 

[Charger440]

Here's a Barnes 250gr flat base using 2,200fps. Compare the energy on the charts to the 350gr above

View attachment 27906


Same bullet at 2,300fps............

Now i see it. Yes that makes sense totally. I never thought it would be that low energy with a 250. Im sold on the heavier bullet for sure. Even the drop with a 250 is significantly more than the 350 your shooting..

 

[.45er]

This is some good stuff here..and would there be much of a diff between loose T7 3Fg vs BH as far as velocities? And would it be worth trying a 40 cal with a harvester sabot? with an obvious better BC wouldnt that give be better down range velocities / less drop and better penetration. In theory, even tho the sabot is the weak link sort of. Just poking all my unclear thoughts. Before i jump to buying all this stuff i wanna have a clear idea of what the best options are.

I primarily use .40 cal. saboted bullets in my .45's. I'm comfortable with a 200 grain bullet out to about 200 yards using 120 grains of BH209. If I were looking at 200 plus yards I'd definitely swap my bullet out for something heavier.

 

[GM54-120]

250gr land riders are on the light side for BH209. It likes pressure and its more efficient as you go up in weight. You can pretty much get the same speed from a 275gr and not a whole lot less from a 300gr.

If you want to shoot sabots i would look at the 240-250gr Fury options. The 240gr OT is a claimed .350ish BC@2500fps. You should have no problem getting close to 2200fps. Maybe a tad more.

 

[GregK]

Dennis make some fantastic bullets at fair prices. In my 50 caliber Knight long range hunter I shoot 120 greens BH209 pushing a fury 265STB. I have not chronograph to the slow but it is deadly accurate. Also with my mountaineer 45/1–20 Dennis had made some bore rider 275 grain Fury Star Tips that shot very well. As many other guys have said I would definitely go with at least 275 when you’re going long range. 200 or less you’re fine with a lighter bullet. FWIW.
Good luck.

Greg

 

[Charger440]

So lets go with 300-350 gr. Bullets. Im seeing pitmans 300gr aeromax bullets look decent as well, depending how well they expand. I cant seem to get arrowheads website to load currently to see their selection. Im def going to take the advise from you guys, i was just throwing out my initial idea hoping for everyone to chime in and get me straightened out, but after seeing proof of down rang velocitys and energy , its a no brainer for the heavier bullet. I may some day decide to hunt elk so starting off heavier was def the better idea anyway. So lets talk bullets. Arrowhead, pittmans, any others? I like the higher BC. As long as they do their job on impact..

 

[GM54-120]

Pittmans have a thicker jacket and they are not bonded. He caters mainly to the SML guys shooting over 2500fps. When it comes to land riders i have far better luck with thin jackets and softer lead cores. Bullets like the Parker BE are very easy to get shooting but they are also a bit fragile for some shots.

 

[.45er]

So lets go with 300-350 gr. Bullets. Im seeing pitmans 300gr aeromax bullets look decent as well, depending how well they expand. I cant seem to get arrowheads website to load currently to see their selection. Im def going to take the advise from you guys, i was just throwing out my initial idea hoping for everyone to chime in and get me straightened out, but after seeing proof of down rang velocitys and energy , its a no brainer for the heavier bullet. I may some day decide to hunt elk so starting off heavier was def the better idea anyway. So lets talk bullets. Arrowhead, pittmans, any others? I like the higher BC. As long as they do their job on impact..

You might want to also consider the 285 grain Aerolite ELR .45 Bullet. BC is .333.

 

[Charger440]

You might want to also consider the 285 grain Aerolite ELR .45 Bullet. BC is .333.

I would use that grain as well. Let me look them up. How do they perform on game?

 

[michiganmuzzy]

I would use that grain as well. Let me look them up. How do they perform on game?

Oh no! Here comes the age old debate on Power Belts.

 

[Charger440]

Oh no! Here comes the age old debate on Power Belts.

Ive heard some powerbelt horror storys haha but lets stay on topic things are going well currently

 

[michiganmuzzy]

I dont shoot past 200 yards with my .45 Disc 1:20” but i do shoot 345 and 340 grain lead bullets on bh209. The 330Gould, which i modified to be a flat round nose instead of a hollow-point so it drops at 345grain, is what i would shoot to 300yards. Also, its a hammer on white tails.

 

[MrTom]

Ive heard some powerbelt horror storys haha but lets stay on topic things are going well currently

I personally do not think the Power Belts are all bad as long as they are not being pushed to maximum velocities. There seems to be a fine line between working well and exploding on game and I think that line is found in the velocity the bullets are used at. Of course, CVA boasts all of this MAGNUM garbage with all of their guns along with the Power Belt line of bullets so unknowing people using both feel that they can go afield with a howitzer and come home disappointed. Keep the speeds down to sane levels and those Power Belts are an accurate and decent deer/maybe elk sized game bullet

 

[Charger440]

I personally do not think the Power Belts are all bad as long as they are not being pushed to maximum velocities. There seems to be a fine line between working well and exploding on game and I think that line is found in the velocity the bullets are used at. Of course, CVA boasts all of this MAGNUM garbage with all of their guns along with the Power Belt line of bullets so unknowing people using both feel that they can go afield with a howitzer and come home disappointed. Keep the speeds down to sane levels and those Power Belts are an accurate and decent deer/maybe elk sized game bullet

Yea i knew power belts are better at slower speeds. They expand to much to fast when pushed.

 

[Charger440]

Yea i knew power belts are better at slower speeds. They expand to much to fast when pushed.

Ok back to other bullets. We all are aware of power belts