The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Which cartridge for lots of flexibility (subsonic)?

Daekar · October 17, 2011, 10:15 AM

Yes, I'll definitely be consulting others when I go to start working up (or down, as the case may be) my own loads. It's not worth blowing yourself up just to say "I did this one all by myself," that's for idiots.

I've been reading online, and it does seem that there are a few very popular powders for light loads in large cases like a 45-70. Many people seem very happy with Trail Boss, even if it is on the pricey side. I've seen other people use other powders for their light loads, but they do all seem to be pistol powders, yes.

As far as jacketed vs lead, I don't see the point in paying for the jacketing. It's not like 1000fps is enough to cause excessive leading, I really have no concerns about that as long as I lube properly.

I am definitely concerned about double charges! The best solutions I have seen to that are 1) Don't fill a bunch of cases from a grid all at once, and then put the bullet on - just do the powder and seat the bullet in one step where you never put down the casing. That means that a charged casing will have a bullet in it, and an uncharged one won't. 2) Determine the variation in weight of your brass and weigh the charged casings to look for anomalies. Not sure how well that would work with really tiny amounts of powder, though.

I'm looking forward to buying a chronograph... it's almost the only way to get concrete information about anything you're doing or shooting. I'm actually curious just to see the velocities out of the guns I'm not reloading for... like the CZ-452 Ultra Lux that I shoot Jim243's subsonic ammo out of.... what is the effect of that long barrel? How will it compare to my Marlin 60?

So... can anybody else verify that 185 gr bullet in the 458 Socom? I only saw references down to 200gr.

I've been doing some searching, and I had no idea how popular it was! I had dismissed the large-bore AR rounds out of hand in favor of the "cowboy" rounds, but it seems that was a mistake. Terminal performance of the 600 gr. bullets looks unreal, ventilates hogs from bow to stern. The middleweight loads are the most popular of course, and there is even a bullet made of ALUMINUM (100gr!) that zips along over 3000fps. Not really sure why you'd want to shoot aluminum, but it's neat that people are experimenting nonetheless.

October 17, 2011, 10:15 AM	#24
Daekar Senior Member Join Date: March 28, 2011 Posts: 458	Yes, I'll definitely be consulting others when I go to start working up (or down, as the case may be) my own loads. It's not worth blowing yourself up just to say "I did this one all by myself," that's for idiots. I've been reading online, and it does seem that there are a few very popular powders for light loads in large cases like a 45-70. Many people seem very happy with Trail Boss, even if it is on the pricey side. I've seen other people use other powders for their light loads, but they do all seem to be pistol powders, yes. As far as jacketed vs lead, I don't see the point in paying for the jacketing. It's not like 1000fps is enough to cause excessive leading, I really have no concerns about that as long as I lube properly. I am definitely concerned about double charges! The best solutions I have seen to that are 1) Don't fill a bunch of cases from a grid all at once, and then put the bullet on - just do the powder and seat the bullet in one step where you never put down the casing. That means that a charged casing will have a bullet in it, and an uncharged one won't. 2) Determine the variation in weight of your brass and weigh the charged casings to look for anomalies. Not sure how well that would work with really tiny amounts of powder, though. I'm looking forward to buying a chronograph... it's almost the only way to get concrete information about anything you're doing or shooting. I'm actually curious just to see the velocities out of the guns I'm not reloading for... like the CZ-452 Ultra Lux that I shoot Jim243's subsonic ammo out of.... what is the effect of that long barrel? How will it compare to my Marlin 60? So... can anybody else verify that 185 gr bullet in the 458 Socom? I only saw references down to 200gr. I've been doing some searching, and I had no idea how popular it was! I had dismissed the large-bore AR rounds out of hand in favor of the "cowboy" rounds, but it seems that was a mistake. Terminal performance of the 600 gr. bullets looks unreal, ventilates hogs from bow to stern. The middleweight loads are the most popular of course, and there is even a bullet made of ALUMINUM (100gr!) that zips along over 3000fps. Not really sure why you'd want to shoot aluminum, but it's neat that people are experimenting nonetheless.