460s&w load with my stuff

[BoogieMan]

I planned on working up my loads with the stuff I have. Problem is im out of time. I can do this once and go to range to zero scope in on the load. Anyone have some experience that will give me some help with achieving "hunting accuracy" out to 150yds
Gun= 460xvr-8-3/8 barrel standard
Leopold= vari 2-8 scope
Bullet= 300gr xtp mag, once fired hornady and federal brass
Large rifle primer
Win296 and power pistol available
If I have to go blind I will go with the middle load of 296, Which is 40gr (bot-38 top-42.5) according to Lee Manual

[Poindexter]

I have never loaded for 460, but I owned a Xframe in .500SW for years and loaded a couple thousand rounds for that.

I personally would load up 50 or so rounds with the Win296 1-2 (1.5?) grains below max and go shooting, somewhere between 40.5 and 42.0 ass/u/me/ing your reference is good; unless you are expecting ambient temperatures on your hunt hunt between 0dF and +32dF.

If you are going to be in that temperature range I persoanlly would use a powder other than H110/Win296.

[TimSr]

The good news is that the range of weights at which you can load 296 is so narrow that the differnce between min and max load is not much to work up, and I doubt you'll see much difference on your target. I never have.

I'd go with the starting load. I'm assuming by "out of time" you are in a hurry for a hunt, and the lethality of the min load won't be much different from the max.

They generally call for magnum primers for 296, even those pistol cartridges that use rifle primers.

I don't load 460, so this info is based on my extensive experience with 296 for .454 Casull and .44 Mag.

[BoogieMan]

@TimSr-- Would it be wise for me to look at loads with the power pistol? Lee calls for max of 24gr @ 1500ish fps. Thats more than 500fps lower than the 296 load.
I dont want to go to a mag rifle primer because Lee data doesnt support it. Lee calls for a large rifle primer

[buck460XVR]

Hornady shows a max of 39.2 of H110/W296 under their 300 gr XTP Mag using a LR primer to ignite. I found my 10.5'' P.C. XVR likes 38 gr. which is the start load from Hodgdon. Anything much more than that tends to lead to sticky extraction.

[BoogieMan]

@Buckxvr- Have you had any ignition issues with the 296 as others have suggested? Any issues using in low temp? Mag primers? I will be in NE PA on Dec 2nd, I would expect temps +-30 daytime.

[buck460XVR]

I always use magnum primers with H110/W296 altho many folks claim that with the large volume of powder used in .460 they are not needed. My .460 has tight throats and most of the starting loads shown on Hodgdon's website are it's max.

[Poindexter]

Originally Posted by Boogieman

@Buckxvr- Have you had any ignition issues with the 296 as others have suggested? Any issues using in low temp? Mag primers? I will be in NE PA on Dec 2nd, I would expect temps +-30 daytime.

I hope its kosher to link to an outside website. If you were to google "H110 cold ignition", the first hit at the top of the first page would be this existing discussion:

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/...ld-is-too-cold


Concensus is about 0dF to about +30dF is the most troubling range for H-110, concensus is Lil Gun is the easiest closest sub that does fine in cold weather.

[BoogieMan]

I can get Mag rifle primers easy enough and sub them. What effect if any will it have on pressure?
Hodgdon web site doesnt list what primer they are using, Lee manual has the same min (38) and max (42.5) and specifically calls out Large Rifle primer.
I dont know if I will be in a "cold" weather issue but its very possible I will be in temps down into the low 20's. I dont want a hang fire or a FTF when a buck or bear is standing in front of me. I also dont want to overpressure and blow the chamber.

[buck460XVR]

Because of the well known issues with Lil' Gun in revolvers, I have not used it for several years in mine. What I have found is IMR4227 works very well in long piped .460s and it has become my "go to" powder for hunting type loads and 300 gr bullets.

[buck460XVR]

Boogie-man......If you go to "print" on the Hodgdon website it will give you the primer and the test barrel when the other window opens. As I said, I would use magnum primers with H110/W296 and a heavy crimp. Doubt if you'll have any ignition problems as long as you stay at or above Hodgdon's start load.

[BoogieMan]

Thanks Buck. I printed the Hodgdon page and never even looked at the header.
Ill stop at LGS on way home and see if I can get a few mag primers. I also just noticed that the Lyman book also states Mag primer.

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

Hornady #9 latest manual shows 42.4 as max for 296.

Buck460vxr where did you get your data out of just curious.

[TimSr]

I have loaded .454 Casull since 1989. I've shot thousands of rounds through my Freedom Arms pistol. I won't go into my .44 Magnum experience which far exceeds that. I got my big magnum pistols to hunt big critters. I have rarely killed any of them in temps above 30 degrees. Often it is much colder. These days I'm mostly relegated to deer hunting in Ohio though I've hunted NE PA and Alaksa some years ago.

Nothing beats W296/H110 performance for heavy loads, and I have never hunted with anything other than H110 or W296 over CCI Small Rifle Magnum primers in my Casull. I have never had a hangfailure, or even a misfire with this gun, ever. I've never used Power Pistol, but I don't see you getting any where near full performance out of it in that cartridge.

Some people may have had failures due to cold. I'm sure many problems people have attributed to cold are incorrectly diagnosed. I'm sure that reloading practices, and primer handling (contamination) and seating are responsible for more failures than powder choice. If it is 0 degrees on opening day, I have no doubts whatsoever that my .454 Casull with W296 will fire and hit where I have it aimed.

This isn't to say that if hunting in Arctic extremes, I would not be concerned, but for Midwestern winter hunting, it will always be my first choice.

On a side note, many cold weather failures are due to lubrication of moving parts with oils and greases that turn into gum at low temps. I have an SKS that shot fine all summer, and began slam firing on a cold day last winter because the firing pin was "gummed" out with some grease. A friends bolt action rifle refused to drop the firing pin hard enough to ignite when very cold because he thought some light grease would better coat movning parts to prevent rust corrsion.

[BoogieMan]

TimSr- Thats some reassuring information. Seeing as powder burns close to 4000deg I was having trouble believing that ambient temps varying 0.07% would make much difference. Im loading 38 gr of 296 with mag rifle primers so I guess we will find out. Im expecting a bang when I squeeze the trigger