450/400 3" Hornady DG-X bonded

[Kevin Peacocke]

Hi All, my Heym 89b was regulated with Hornady DG-X bonded , last year. I have Bertrams cases and Hornady 0.410 bonded heads. What load will get me the closest please as I don't have them in abundance please

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Also, how many times is it really safe to reload a case?

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

@Kevin Peacocke this is straight off of Hornady's website and reloading manual (10th ed)

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

@Kevin Peacocke this is straight off of Hornady's website and reloading manual (10th ed)

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Thank you 375 Ruger Fan

 

[deewayne2003]

Kevin Peacocke

Do you have any factory Hornady cartridges that your rifle shoots well and access to a chronograph?

Because having reliable velocity records of the factory ammunition your rifle is regulated with as a baseline will yield great dividends in the future if experimenting with various powders and bullets.

I’m sure the Heym regulation target provided with the rifle will have the lot# of the ammunition it was regulated with - also good information to have.

 

[1dirthawker]

Do you have any factory Hornady cartridges that your rifle shoots well and access to a chronograph?

Kevin,

that is what i did, shot the hornady's across the chrono then tried to duplicate that velocity. My o/u zoli with 25.5" barrels likes:

76 gr of IMR 4831
FED 215 lg rifle mag primer
400 gr North Fork softs or solids
muzzle velocity: 2100 fps

North Fork in their bullet box states that their bullets usually use a touch less powder than other bullets. I suspect hornady gets 2050 fps out of a 24" barrel. i got 2100 fps out of the hornady factory load in my gun.

you can always move the velocity up or down a touch as you approach the velocity of the ammo of the gun was regulated to. YOUR gun might like a touch more or less than the factory loads, but you can check for too much spread or crossing as you approach your target velocity.

good luck.

 

[Puddle]

Also, how many times is it really safe to reload a case?

In the case of this cartridge, I've reloaded as many times as 5 before annealing.
However, being A-R, and a bit OCD, I'm annealing over a candle after 3 loadings.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

In the case of this cartridge, I've reloaded as many times as 5 before annealing.
However, being A-R, and a bit OCD, I'm annealing over a candle after 3 loadings.

Thanks Puddle, makes sense.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Kevin,

that is what i did, shot the hornady's across the chrono then tried to duplicate that velocity. My o/u zoli with 25.5" barrels likes:

76 gr of IMR 4831
FED 215 lg rifle mag primer
400 gr North Fork softs or solids
muzzle velocity: 2100 fps

North Fork in their bullet box states that their bullets usually use a touch less powder than other bullets. I suspect hornady gets 2050 fps out of a 24" barrel. i got 2100 fps out of the hornady factory load in my gun.

you can always move the velocity up or down a touch as you approach the velocity of the ammo of the gun was regulated to. YOUR gun might like a touch more or less than the factory loads, but you can check for too much spread or crossing as you approach your target velocity.

good luck.

Thank you @1dirthawker and @dewayne, great info, I don't have any new ammo but will go aim for 2100fps initially.

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

Hi Kevin do you have access to Reloader 15 if so. I have a good load, but we will not be back to the lodge for a week. If I remember right this load is for 2125 or 2150.
PS any news on the sight based?

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Hi Kevin do you have access to Reloader 15 if so. I have a good load, but we will not be back to the lodge for a week. If I remember right this load is for 2125 or 2150.
PS any news on the sight based?

Thanks Lon, sent you a PM

 

[Arthur Morta]

Hey Kev.
Once the red dot has been mounted and secured, hopefully by this coming Sunday's BigBore shoot, I'll be more than happy and thrilled at the same time to help set up the chrony and bench on the 300m range for you.
Ps watched two .500 doubles tested for regulation yesterday.
Your 450/400 should be ok on the shoulder from the bench...

 

[Pondoro]

I have this old Joseph Lang 450/400 3 1/4 of 1906 vintage..barrels are 0,408 so will use Woodies.. Dont mean to highjack the thread..but have any of you done some load developement on this round..? Can load data for 450/400 3" be used without concern..? Just asking..

The N165 load is very interesting as it reaches desired velocity...but what about pressure..?
Vithavuori powders are easy to get here in Norway..

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Hey Kev.
Once the red dot has been mounted and secured, hopefully by this coming Sunday's BigBore shoot, I'll be more than happy and thrilled at the same time to help set up the chrony and bench on the 300m range for you.
Ps watched two .500 doubles tested for regulation yesterday.
Your 450/400 should be ok on the shoulder from the bench...

Hi Arthur, thank you for the offer, that would be great. Roscoe will have it complete this Friday, so can we do the set up on Saturday? Then I will load some of the correct rounds for the following Sunday's big bore.

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

@Kevin Peacocke

FYI, I discovered for my .458 Heym that 450 grain Barnes TSX regulated at about the same velocity as do the 500 grain Cutting Edge Solids and 470 grain Safari Raptor.

For the Cutting Edge Raptors, I had to reduce the powder charge by one grain so the velocities of the solids and Raptors were the same. This provided the same regulation.

It seems Velocity, Velocity, Velocity I know in theory there are other factors but in practical application matching the velocity got me what I needed!

 

[Desperatezulu]

Also, how many times is it really safe to reload a case?

Anneal every reloading cycle and they should last many, many firings being a low pressure round. Keep using until the cases crack.

Annealing only every 3rd, 4th, 5th whatever cycle might be ok but why take the chance - you'll only discover when the necks have already cracked that you should have annealed more regularly. It's really not much extra effort in the reloading process to do it every time.

 

[Puddle]

Anneal every reloading cycle and they should last many, many firings being a low pressure round. Keep using until the cases crack.

Annealing only every 3rd, 4th, 5th whatever cycle might be ok but why take the chance - you'll only discover when the necks have already cracked that you should have annealed more regularly. It's really not much extra effort in the reloading process to do it every time.

I agree. My benchrest friends do that and they indeed get an amazing number of reloads from their custom brass.

Me? Just too lazy. I build up a pile of brass all with the same shot count and on a Saturday morning head outside with a big cup of Joe to the picnic table and commence annealing for a couple hours.

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

@Kevin Peacocke this is straight off of Hornady's website and reloading manual (10th ed)

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@Kevin Peacocke All though this published data from Hornady doesn't call for it, I would consider using a case filler when using the RL15 powder charge. That's a fairly small charge for a case of this size and I'm thinking it will probably leave quite a bit of empty case space.

Woodleigh published data for the 450/400 3" calls for a case filler with RL15 charge weights of 64 grains and 66 grains.

I use an open cell foam as a case filler, works perfectly when I'm loading 470 Nitro Express with faster burning powders like RL15, RL17 and AR2209.

 

[Dewald]

Kevin in the 3&1/4 version ive had good succes with H4350; H4831; S385 and limited R15 on the range

 

[1dirthawker]

Hi Arthur, thank you for the offer, that would be great. Roscoe will have it complete this Friday, so can we do the set up on Saturday? Then I will load some of the correct rounds for the following Sunday's big bore.

Kevin,

what is the length of your barrel? the hornady info states 2050 fps out of a 24" barrel and that jives with my 25.5" barrel at 2100.

i suspect hornady used the "tropical" load velocity for their regulation/loads to accommodate a large number of double out there that were made for that load. maybe being in hot weather with cordite caused guns to be a bit "hotter" and would run at 2150 fps or so. anyway, good luck!