50AE with Berry's bullets
- Thread starter Dsiwy
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I do. Also using Berry 300grn with H110/win296 and CCI350 primers. My sources:
1-Lyman 49th edition says 29.7 - 33.0 for 300grn JHP
2-Speer 12th edition says 27.7 - 33.7 for 300 grn. (checked the book at LGS, can't remember which type of bullet)
3-2 unreliables sources (guys on youtube videos) used 33grn for Speer 300grn and 34.5gr for berry 300grn. Neither blew up their hands.
Lyman book seemed like the most reliable so I went with it. Started with 30 grn. No sign of overpressure, load was actually quite tame for 50AE; it felt more like a 44magnum.
So I bought a chrony and made loads with 30.6, 31.0 and 31.4grn. I'll test them this week end and I'll report. Actually I might make a full post on reloading for the deagle since I got both the 44 and the 50, and I've tried some loads that are in the manuals but are total fails.
All my 50AE loads are 1.575'' OAL.
1-Lyman 49th edition says 29.7 - 33.0 for 300grn JHP
2-Speer 12th edition says 27.7 - 33.7 for 300 grn. (checked the book at LGS, can't remember which type of bullet)
3-2 unreliables sources (guys on youtube videos) used 33grn for Speer 300grn and 34.5gr for berry 300grn. Neither blew up their hands.
Lyman book seemed like the most reliable so I went with it. Started with 30 grn. No sign of overpressure, load was actually quite tame for 50AE; it felt more like a 44magnum.
So I bought a chrony and made loads with 30.6, 31.0 and 31.4grn. I'll test them this week end and I'll report. Actually I might make a full post on reloading for the deagle since I got both the 44 and the 50, and I've tried some loads that are in the manuals but are total fails.
All my 50AE loads are 1.575'' OAL.
Do you have a chrony? If you do, feel free to post your results. I chronied mine. Here are my results so far (average of 5 rounds):
Reference: Hornady 300gr XTP/HP: 1398.8
H110/Win296:
30.6grn: 1214.2 fps
31.0grn: 1220.0 fps
31.4grn: 1240.6 fps
Anything less than 1200 fps will not cycle the gun correctly.
I'll do hotter loads and test them. 31.4grn isn't cutting it.
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Some update. I made hotter loads and chronied them:
31.8grn: 1263.7 fps
32.2grn: 1281.8 fps
32.6grn: 1304.4 fps
33.0grn: 1326.0 fps
Average of 5 shots each charge. Zero problem cycling at any of these charges. Last one (33grn) started kicking a bit, but all others are quite tame. Since my goal is to get up to 1400 fps like Lyman's handbook and Hornady XTP, I'll increase the charge a bit, but going by .2 increment instead of .4.
31.8grn: 1263.7 fps
32.2grn: 1281.8 fps
32.6grn: 1304.4 fps
33.0grn: 1326.0 fps
Average of 5 shots each charge. Zero problem cycling at any of these charges. Last one (33grn) started kicking a bit, but all others are quite tame. Since my goal is to get up to 1400 fps like Lyman's handbook and Hornady XTP, I'll increase the charge a bit, but going by .2 increment instead of .4.
I don't have a chrony, but am going to get out this weekend and try my 33gr load. I also need to make sure my crimp is good, plated bullets are tricky as it does not take much to over crimp.
33gr seems to be the minimum in most load data for 300gr bullets.
33gr seems to be the minimum in most load data for 300gr bullets.
My Lyman 49th edition says 29.7 to 33.0 grains for 300gr bullets. But that book also says 33.0grn will give you 1400fps, but out of my 5 shots, the highest was 1357fps. So I'm not sure why their data and mine differ so much. If I had not tested the hornady I'd be second-guessing my chrono right now.
Tested some Berry's 300gr bullets with 33gr Win296 loads today and they are definitely milder than Factory 50AE. I had a little bit of unburnt powder too, so i'm going to try some 33.5gr and 34gr loads next. I m hoping the high pressure will burn cleaner since a heavy crimp is out of the question with plated bullets.
Ok, so I got my numbers in my excel spreadsheet, and I'm flabbergasted. Those were my results from 2 weeks ago:
31.8grn: 1263.7 fps
32.2grn: 1281.8 fps
32.6grn: 1304.4 fps
33.0grn: 1326.0 fps
And these are my results from yesterday:
33.4grn: 1299.4 fps
33.8grn: 1306.6 fps
34.0grn: 1311.0 fps
34.2grn: 1311.2 fps
34.4grn: 1374.8 fps
So I actually got less velocity when I increased the charge from 33grn to 34.2grn, then up up up to the moon when I increased another 0.2grn. There is one large difference between my 2 weeks ago results and yesterday's results: temperature. 2 weeks ago it was quite hot outside, but yesterday it was chilly. But I don't think this could impact the velocity that much, and I don't understand why going from 33.4 to 34.2 would barely move the needle while every 0.4grn step in my previous data consistently increased 20fps, and then the last 0.2grn increase the velocity by 60 fps. The only explanation I have is that my sample (only 5 rounds per charge) is statistically non-significant, or I messed up when I loaded (which I doubt, I used my single stage press and weighted every charge so I wouldn't mess up).
However, in my previous loads, the velocity would increase about 5fps per 0.1grn. Going from 1300fps at 33.4grn, I would expect and increase of 50fps for 1 grain (I'd expect 1350fps at 33.4grn) and got an increase of 75, so in the same ballpark.
In any case:
1-I didn't get any ammo up to 1400fps (fastest was 1392fps), which is my target for that load, and is achiveable according to every reloading book;
2-I didn't get the slightest sign of overpressure.
So I think I'm good to go up to 35grn. I'll load some more ammos starting back at 34.0grn to try to figure out what happened, and increase to 35.0grn.
31.8grn: 1263.7 fps
32.2grn: 1281.8 fps
32.6grn: 1304.4 fps
33.0grn: 1326.0 fps
And these are my results from yesterday:
33.4grn: 1299.4 fps
33.8grn: 1306.6 fps
34.0grn: 1311.0 fps
34.2grn: 1311.2 fps
34.4grn: 1374.8 fps
So I actually got less velocity when I increased the charge from 33grn to 34.2grn, then up up up to the moon when I increased another 0.2grn. There is one large difference between my 2 weeks ago results and yesterday's results: temperature. 2 weeks ago it was quite hot outside, but yesterday it was chilly. But I don't think this could impact the velocity that much, and I don't understand why going from 33.4 to 34.2 would barely move the needle while every 0.4grn step in my previous data consistently increased 20fps, and then the last 0.2grn increase the velocity by 60 fps. The only explanation I have is that my sample (only 5 rounds per charge) is statistically non-significant, or I messed up when I loaded (which I doubt, I used my single stage press and weighted every charge so I wouldn't mess up).
However, in my previous loads, the velocity would increase about 5fps per 0.1grn. Going from 1300fps at 33.4grn, I would expect and increase of 50fps for 1 grain (I'd expect 1350fps at 33.4grn) and got an increase of 75, so in the same ballpark.
In any case:
1-I didn't get any ammo up to 1400fps (fastest was 1392fps), which is my target for that load, and is achiveable according to every reloading book;
2-I didn't get the slightest sign of overpressure.
So I think I'm good to go up to 35grn. I'll load some more ammos starting back at 34.0grn to try to figure out what happened, and increase to 35.0grn.
Also, the recoil is very different with my reloads compared to the hornady ammos. It's a LOT longer and milder, and it makes a fireball, which makes me believe hornady use a powder that's faster burning than h110. I have a pound of Alliant 2400 that I intend to try in 44magnum and 50AE, so I'll see if it "feels" the same as factory ammos, but I'm running out of 50 bullets (only 35 left, I intend to do more h110 tests with them) and I'm completely out of 44, so it'll have to wait until Henry is back from vacation to test other powders.
AWESOME! thanks for the great info.
Glad to hear there were no signs of over pressure. Both hornady and Federal factory ammo showed signs of over pressure in my gun. The federal left nasty ejector marks on the primers too.
How clean did the powder burn on the heavier loads?
Glad to hear there were no signs of over pressure. Both hornady and Federal factory ammo showed signs of over pressure in my gun. The federal left nasty ejector marks on the primers too.
How clean did the powder burn on the heavier loads?
They're all really dirty, like someone bled black blood on the brass. All the ammos I've made with H110 (357mag, 44mag and 50AE) looked the same. The guns themselves don't end up that dirty however. I've kept my brass still separated my powder charges, so I'll check tonight if there's a significant difference between the lighter and the heavier loads.
Also, which primer do you use? I use CCI350, Large magnum pistol, and so far it's the only one that never leaves any unburned powder of any kind. I'll admit I haven't tried every brand of primers, when I figured out that the CCI were 100% functionnal, I just bought a couple thousand and never looked back.
I'm still puzzled about the reloading manuals all showing much higher velocity than what I obtain for any given load. I think maybe I'm not crimping enough. With the 44magnum it's easy, I just use the factory crimper, but Lee doesn't make factory crimp for 50AE, so it's kind of guesswork crimping with the seater die. Maybe I'll try an extra 1/2 turn on the die with the next batch.
Should have bought 500 bullets instead of just 100
I'm still puzzled about the reloading manuals all showing much higher velocity than what I obtain for any given load. I think maybe I'm not crimping enough. With the 44magnum it's easy, I just use the factory crimper, but Lee doesn't make factory crimp for 50AE, so it's kind of guesswork crimping with the seater die. Maybe I'll try an extra 1/2 turn on the die with the next batch.
Should have bought 500 bullets instead of just 100
