| Paul |
| (.400 member) |
| 01/04/10 09:55 PM |
Re: .450 Express BP Loads - max bullet weight????
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Quote:
I beg to disagree. Max loads with heavier than originally loaded bullets is not the way to learn to shoot a 100 year old rifle. The original bullets were 260 to 330 grains in the older loadings. Only the later nitro for black loads used a 365 grain bullet and you want to start with 400 +/-?
Having just read Ellis Brown's book on making db rifles, I recall him saying the German proof load was just to add 10% to the bullet weight on the same charge of powder. So, even with the hole, those '405'-grainers could be right up there, testing your metal big-time.
I understand the whole idea of BP express cartridges was to get higher velocities using lighter bullets. It may not have worked and might seem whimpy seeing the heavy bullets in nitro-express cartridges, but that seems to have been the aim of Victorian gunmakers.