Newb 500 first loads...

rick'o'shea

rick'o'shea

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Burlington, On
So I've loaded some up.. 38.8 gr of H110

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Book uses 350gr hollow point but mine are solid 350's. My OAL is 2.08, the book wants 1.985 ?? I set mine
to put the crimp in the groove.

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Look ok?

I've been shooting Hornady 300gr FTX @ 2075fps. Wondering how these will feel compared to those.

thoughts, input...?
 
From reading and advice from an avid 500S&W loader I was told to avoid any significant amount of air volume when using H110. The bullets and powder level you're using look like there's going to be a significant air gap when loaded to the cannelure groove.
 
Not that I can find now. Just the odd posting on other forums from a few years back when I was searching the web for .500S&W reloading recipes.

But the local guy that avised me learned it from back when he did a lot of H110 in .44Mag that someone had tried to go with less than the fairly generous minimum load. It caused VERY inconsistent burns to where some didn't ignite at all and some others went off with one heckuva bang. As in far stronger than the amount of powder would suggest. He took this as a warning that we should not dicker around with the narrow range of min to max for H110. He also mentioned running into his own issues if there was much of an airgap even with the proper load. He was quite strong on this advice suggesting that it may be worth a gun and maybe some possible bleeding to not heed it. This from a guy that had been reloading with H110 for a good 30 years at that point. A fellow that REALLY likes his Magnum loads in all sizes and thinks that .454 Casull is "just right when stoked up". How he hasn't popped his fillings loose or detached a retina I have no idea.....

As a result I've always tried to stay with no more than about 10 to 12% of the volume of powder for any residual air space over top of an H110 load. So, for a simple example, if the powder fills the casing for, say, a depth of 1 inch and the bullet when seated leaves more than 1/8" air gap from the powder to the bullet base I would not want to risk it. This method served me well with my 500S&W loading and with a few batches now of .44Mag. The recoil has always been very consistent so I'm not about to play with anything more than that given the power in a case full of H110.

And while pictures can be deceiving your pictures seem to suggest that you're well over that amount of air gap. If this is just a perspective issue and the air gap is minor then carry on.
 
The only load problems I've run into with H110 was with some of the early brass that was available. Some of that brass was made to accept large pistol primers and even with large pistol magnum primers with H110, there were instances of borderline ignition. The problem was solved with the introduction of brass, designed to use large rifle primers. I haven't had any problems since and have saved that older brass for light loads.
 
just crimp it to the cannalure and you'll be fine, all 3 in that picture are fine. for the 350gr bullet's i start at 39gr with h110/w296 and ended up around 42gr. pretty much band on for the factory hornady stuff.
 
Had a chance to shoot these the other day... keep in mind these are my first reloads
of any caliber so I was a wee bit nervous.. Went well, I was surprised how accurate they
were and much less abusive than factory loads.
Out of ten, two had slightly flattened primers. I was pretty anal with the powder measure
so im not sure what would cause that?
 
What brand of primers? large pistol or rifle? Either way if it's only slightly flattened I wouldn't worry about it. I would be more concerned about tough extraction from the cylinders.
 
rick'o'shea said:
The primers were federal large rifle. The casings came out easily, no other issues.
Click to expand...

federal primers are softer and will flatten out more so then other brands with thicker cups like winchester or CCI. even with really hot loads of h110/w296 my CCI primers barely flatten out.
 
Spawn-Inc said:
federal primers are softer and will flatten out more so then other brands with thicker cups like winchester or CCI. even with really hot loads of h110/w296 my CCI primers barely flatten out.
Click to expand...

According to this chart from accurateshooter.com all large rifle primers listed have the same cup thickness, not sure why Fed 215's aren't measured.


calhoonprimers02.png
 
Glad you are having fun with the hand cannon. Pics of your load looks good. Time to crank up the powder.

Do mine with 350gr berry bullet, crimped at cannelure.
41-42gr H110/LilGun or 16.5 gr Titegroup for light load
Fed Primer
 
I mainly shoot Berry's plated 350 grain bullets in my 500 S&W too, they can handle any load up to 2000 fps so you can load them with a maximum load of H110 if you want to.

Berry's Preferred Plated bullets

500 S&W (.500) 350 gr RS - 500 ct.

This bullet has a Cannelure.

Can withstand velocities up to 2000 fps.
Click to expand...
 
burnaby said:
Glad you are having fun with the hand cannon. Pics of your load looks good. Time to crank up the powder.

Fun...? This thing is awesome... Sure glad I can reload for it.

Do mine with 350gr berry bullet, crimped at cannelure.
41-42gr H110/LilGun or 16.5 gr Titegroup for light load
Fed Primer
Click to expand...

Ever had any issues with titegroup? I've read some stories...
 
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