Loads for webley mk1
- Thread starter Rotaxpower
- Start date
The gun came with some bullets, they weigh 255grns. So I
Figure they are suppose to be 260grn they are .455 round nose flat base. Can I start out with 4grns of unique and go up to 5 max? I probably won't go that high. Thanks!
Yeah I know those bullets. They are originally from ben Hunchak. They are Lyman 454190 cast 30-1. They shoot well in that revolver, too.
But there's a couple things to be careful with using those bullets in a MKII Hornady .455 cartridge, which is what I assume you are using. Because the Webley MKII cartridge is so very short, it is easy to seat the bullet too deeply and greatly increase pressure. Small differences in bullet seating depth tends to have drastic effects on pressure in the MKII cartridge. (Don't confuse the Webley .455 MKII cartridge with the Webley MKII revolver, one is a gun and one is ammunition, it can be confusing).
Using 4.0 gr Unique with the Lyman 454190 bullet seated with both grooves inside the case should be OK according to Quickload, but don't seat it any deeper than you have to. Unique is a very good powder but it is not as forgiving as some other powders and pressure spikes can be induced fairly easily.
The webley MKI/II pistols were designed for a cartridge producing approximately 13,000 psi maximum pressure. Quickload estimates that using 4.5 gr Unique and the lyman 454190 bullet seated with both lube grooves inside the case will cause a pressure spike and bump pressure to well over 20,000 psi. QL estimates the same load with this bullet seated so 1 groove is outside the case mouth drops back to about 12K psi again. In my experience Quickload tends to slightly overestimate pressure with small capacity cartridges but the trend will be accurate and i have no doubt that the spike is there if you push it.
The HB bullets have a built-in safety factor in that the HB provides extra case volume.
Load data is not interchangeable between Webley MKII cartridges and .45acp cartridges used in webley revolvers.
I hope that makes sense, if not ask or PM and I will try to explain it better.
5.4 grains Unique under a 200 grain cactus plains .45 caliber bullet in assorted .45 ACP cases with Federal pistol primers (my cylinder is shaved, and I have a MK III.)
There's a thread on here where a friendly fellow ran it through Quickload for me and it looks OK for pressure. That much powder with a heavy bullet is bad in a MK I!
There's a thread on here where a friendly fellow ran it through Quickload for me and it looks OK for pressure. That much powder with a heavy bullet is bad in a MK I!
That's a good example of why it's important to specify what cartridge a specific load is when we're talking about loading for Webely revolvers. That load in a Webley .455 MKII cartridge is very hot, but much lower pressure and "webley safe" in a .45acp cartridge.
Thanks I will start with 4grns and go up, I loaded a couple rounds so far and seated the bullets so one of the lube grooves out of the case. Another quick question, are you guys crimping the bullets in place? I put a light crimp on them so far.
Unless your only loading one or two rounds per cylinder you typically should always crimp revolver bullets or risk them backing out after a couple fired rounds in a full cylinder. In the Webley MK revolvers you will know they are backing out fairly easily as the cylinder is so short that the bullets will eventually stop your cylinder rotation.
Thanks apu, I will countinue to crimp them.
I got my mic out to check the cylinder and bore. I was pretty surprised at the results, the cylinder was .450 and the bore was .442. Does this sound right? .008 seems like quite a difference.
I got my mic out to check the cylinder and bore. I was pretty surprised at the results, the cylinder was .450 and the bore was .442. Does this sound right? .008 seems like quite a difference.
That doesn't sound right. How did you get that measurement? Did you slug the cylinder and bore?
Ya something is Wrong here i can see .450 throats and a .452 bore as alot of webleys do have tight chamber throats.
Do as jethunter says and slug the bore you mighta measured from land top to grove bottom or land top to land top to get such a weird size.
Bores are hard to measure with calipers.
Most i have measured and were talking dozens of MKI and MKII guns were
.451 to .452 throats and bores the same or very close.
this is why i shoot 250 gr SWC lead Keith type bullets sized .452 in all my webleys i get great accuracy and good stoping power as SWC cut full caliber holes.
Unless its a .476 caliber marked gun then they tend to have bigger .460 throats and .460 bore dias
You may want to get in on this group buy for a 4 cavity mould.
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=652957
