Quick update on last weekend's range trip... Part 1, Christmas got in the way of Part 2

Planned load lineup:

Planned bullet lineup:

Changed slightly since taking the above photos...

Found some more .450/400 load data from an article by John Barsness in Handloader Magazine Feb March 2012 (thanks Con!) called Modernising Two Old .40's.

He lists some loads specifically for the Ruger No 1 in .450/400 at modern pressures (but still within CIP/SAAMI limits) vs the more conservative loads necessary for double rifle construction and regulation.

I tried the 400gr Woodleigh RNSN in front of 90gr ADI 2213SC through the chrony at 2288 and 2290fps.
Then the same load behind a 400gr Hornady DGX at 2298 and 2293fps (Federal 215 Magnum primers)
Recoil was pretty brisk at those velocities

Next the 300gr Hornady SP .411" (405 Win bullet)
This was the eye-opener... you were quite right Daryl 2400fps was quite conservative!

The Barsness article indicated that 85gr 2206H would give ~2637fps. In my rifle (with 1gr Dacron wadding) velocity with this load was quite incredible at 2831 and 2837fps, case extraction still easy but noticeably more 'sticky' than traditional loads. Way too fast for the .405 Win's bullet construction velocity envelope (~2200fps) Backed off to about 2650fps this load would be great for lots of hunting in Australia...

Finally some light Trailboss loads...
31.5gr and 30.5gr loads were trialled behind the Sierra 210gr HP pistol bullet at 1915 and 1888fps respectively. These were of course very mild to shoot, and stabilised fine in the barrel twist at these velocities, make great plinker loads as well as probably being quite effective on close range pigs

Next trip I'll so some more load development with the 300gr Hornady, perhaps using RL-15 and the cordite conversion factor of 1.19 for the original 70gr cordite load (vs 55/60gr cordite for the 400gr) making 83.3gr RL-15 to duplicate the lighter original cordite load at 2600fps... then work up a little to about 85gr.

I'll also trial some more slightly reduced full power loads using ~85gr 2213SC for around 2150-2200fps using the 400gr Bertram and 400gr Hornady solids in Part 2... along with some accuracy tests.