HEAVYWEIGHT BULLETS - Part 1 - by John Linebaugh

[JimT]

(John Linebaugh sent me this series years ago for the old Sixgunner.Com website. It is still good information!)

The trend in bullets over the last few years has been heavier in handguns and lighter with the attending high velocity in rifles. This combination in rifle leaves a lot to be desired on heavy game, often becoming the most game-crippling combination ever devised. In handguns the extra weight is a good thing, to a point. As with most things it got out of hand. Using the .44 Magnum for an example most experienced shooters can see the standard 240 gr. slugs can be improved upon greatly. The heavier the game one shoots the more evident this becomes. Soon slugs of 300 and 320 gr. weight were on the market. And just behind them came slugs up to 360 gr. in weight.

Now there is nothing wrong with bullet weight, but to keep pressures in balance we need to go up in case capacity or better yet, caliber. Most shooters unknowingly pour in more powder, or worse yet, follow the advice of others who only think they know, and bet their well-being on the MAGNUM headstamp on the case head. In most cases they get by, but few have little idea of what is really happening inside their sixgun.

True, we have bigger and stronger guns today but we're still shooting the same small cartridges and asking more and more performance out of them. This parallels the old saying of, "Don't Send a Boy to Do a Man's Job." Brian Pearce says, "It's like pulling a 24-foot stock trailer loaded with horses with a (small) Toyota pickup." You are gonna over-work the and the truck to get the job done.With too heavy of bullet in any given caliber we're overworking the gun. The velocity/pressure ratio is out of balance. I have long been promoting safe full-power loads for the various .45 Colts. This has been met with various reactions from laughter to fear.

Linebaugh Heavyweights part1.JPG

The 250 gr. Hornady JHP in the .45 outran the 250 gr. Keith a bit and the pressures are about the same. So what? And the 315/318 gr. slugs are running practically identical velocities with the .44 only showing 4,000 more psi. So what? Now look at the pressure barrels for each caliber.

The .44 Magnum pressure barrel in the above test was 10" in length.

The .45 Colt pressure barrel in the above test was 5 1/2" in length.

Whatever the .44 Magnum will do, the .45 Colt will do with roughly 1/2 the barrel length, pressures being nearly identical. From the limited pressure testing we have done, we have found that whatever the .44 Magnum will do, the .45 Colt will duplicate with about 5,000 psi less pressure. This is with standard bullet weights. As the slugs get heavier the gap widens.

An interesting point to note is the .45 Colt holds about 4 to 5 grains more powder than the .44 Magnum. Our load/pressure data proves this difference while pressures remain comparable. But you can see the .44 has to work 4,000 psi harder than the .45 to move a 318 gr. .slug at the same speed, this even discounting the drastic difference in barrel length.

The point I'm getting to is this. As the bullet weight goes up pressure does not go up accordingly. It usually goes well until we reach the balance point of bullet weight in each caliber. I have not done nearly enough testing in all the caliber's to give you an exact bullet weight/velocity limit for each caliber, but here are my ideas. The .41 Magnum is probably at its best with not over 250 gr. slugs. I will not shoot over 300/320 gr. in the .44 Magnum and my favorites are the 290 Keith and the 320 LBT at not over 1300 fps in 7 1/2" guns. I've done the majority of my testing with the .45 Colt and feel the 350 gr. is about the best heavy of them all and is my maximum recommended weight in this caliber. I have shot 420 gr. cast bullets to some interesting velocities, but they are too big for the gun and well over the balance point for that caliber. I also feel the 350 gr. is a happy maximum weight for the .454 Casull.

The thing to keep in mind is this: I have had several shooters tell me they are shooting a given load, say 24 or 25 gr. of H-110 and a 300 gr. slug in their .44 Magnum for velocity of 1450 to 1500 fps. Don't gasp. I've heard this several times and have seen it in print in a couple of gun magazines. Look back at the pressure data and take a guess what they are doing in their guns!

Here is some more data to help you figure out what is happening. A .44 Magnum runs 44,000 psi with 21 gr. of H-110 and a 318 gr. slug. Go up 4 gr. to 25 gr. and think what the pressures are. in the .45 Colt 25 gr. H-110 is 40,000 psi with the 315 gr. slug.

In the .45 Colt our proof load is 29 gr. H-110 with the 315 gr. bullet. (This is in our strong 5-shot guns.) From Hornady's pressure barrel it runs 1617 fps and develops an honest 59,000 psi. This is what we proof our custom .45 Colt with. They are fitted with our oversize cylinders. THIS IS NOT FOR ANY STANDARD, STOCK, .45 COLT OR THE "BEND IN THE MIDDLE" CONTENDERS. This is a pressure barrel tested proof load and only a proof load. But we do have "would be" reloaders walking around shoot loads equivalent to these type of loads in their .44 Mags.

Another problem with this is that due to the fact the .44 has less case capacity than the .45 they are loading way beyond the working case capacity the .44 offers. Pressure does not go up comparatively. Power, when ignited, needs working room to work "comfortably". Putting too much powder in a crowded space means a pressure curve well out of proportion to the velocity return we get. Put too heavy a slug on top this and pressure climbs even further out of line. Heavy slugs seat deeper in the case aggravating the situation even more, and reducing case capacity. Some bullets are made with a double crimp groove so the reloader can seat slug further out in the case, but this does not cure the problem completely. When the powder itself reaches the limit to burn with the pressure limits it is designed for, and at the rates it is designed for, it goes wild. The result is called "DETONATION."

Results are that pressures soar off the scale in relation to the velocity we obtain and at worst a destroyed gun and injured shooter. All of this in search of "high velocity". And for what? To shoot through a skinny Whitetail, or a piece of paper, or to impress your pals?

I would guess there are lots of heavy bullet shooters out there that are running some "UNREAL" pressures in the revolvers. Their argument being they are using strong Redhawks or other strong guns and pressure signs are "normal". I have personally loaded hundred of rounds of ammo well over 60,000 psi and even 70,000 psi level in special test guns. In all cases I got normal extraction and normal looking primers. Scott Heter of Speer wrote me years ago of fired cases falling out of the chamber of pressure guns when the gun was tipped up. These loads exceeded 60,000 psi. Even with this high pressure the cases fell out of the chamber by gravity.

Straight cases handle pressure differently than bottle-neck cartridges and often show no excessive pressure signs. We have blown a few guns up here, on purpose, and in all instances upon recovery of the cylinder fragments and case remains, the primer has shown normal pressure. Pressures in these instances have run from 70,000 to over 100,000 psi in our estimation. Do not depend on case pressure signs for danger signs in a sixgun. In most cases the first sign of high pressure you will have, other than excessive recoil and blast, is a bulged cylinder or cracked bolt notch.

I have long stressed loading guns to the Full, Safe, Potential. But not to endanger or impress anyone. And I'm picking on the .44 Magnum here. The .44 and .45 are just what I have worked with the most and I use them for comparison. The .44 will always be what we judge other sixguns by, jus like the rifleman uses the .30-06 to judge all other rifle cartridges by. My point it this: If you need more power, use a bigger gun. A .44 cal. 300 gr. at 1300 fps will shoot through a lot of material. The same slug will shoot through a bit more at 1500 fps, but so what? As long as we shoot completely through our intended target we've done all damage we can do. The animal won't know or care if it's 1200 or 1700 fps. All the extra speed does for us is give us more range. If we can't apply it to our target we're kidding ourselves.

"But what about really big game?" "We need more speed for more penetration!" I say, "So what?" A .44 is still a .44 whether it's going 1200 or 1500 fps. I prefer a bigger caliber and slug even if I have to loose a bit of velocity. The bigger gun can do and equal amount of work as the smaller caliber with less pressure, blast, and felt recoil. And with handguns we simply can't get enough velocity to shock big game animals like we can with our medium and big-bore rifles. A sixgun is simply a long-range punch press. It simply punches a hole in game. Often times velocity works against us in penetration if our bullets are too soft, or perhaps, too hard.

My route is a dependable cast slug, not too hard, not too soft, at a moderate velocity not to exceed 1300 fps and let caliber and bullet weight do the job. CALIBER AND BULLET WEIGHT are the only CONSTANTS we have in external ballistics, since velocity is constantly DIMINISHING VARIABLE. I have tried several avenues and find myself coming back full circle to moderate velocity and dependable cast slugs. Robert Smythe always said, "...not to exceed 1100 / 1200 fps." Jim Taylor has killed quite a bit of big game with his .45 Colt 300 gr. at 1200 fps. My wife and I have shot around 4 Mule Deer and a dozen Antelope with .45 Colts. The loads ranged from 260 Keiths at 900 fps to 250 gr. JHP at 1500 fps. While the JHP always knocks a 1" hole through game they don't drop any quicker than the .45 caliber hole made by the cast slug at 900 fps. In these cases of ours, shots were made from 90 to 130 yards.

I like 1200 fps as a balance point for shooter comfort, trajectory, and ample penetration. If you are after dangerous or really Big game, don't load your little gun up. Load your big gun normal. In other words, don't send a boy to do a man's job.

[Scott Tschirhart]

260 gr Keith at 900 fps is so much more pleasant to shoot than a full house 240 gr .44 mag and much easier on the ears.

[GunnyMack]

Good read and very good information.
In school we had a class on reloading, the instructor always used 'and the angles sing ' as his motto when unsafe practices showed up.
I dont hotrod loads, I've found most often best accuracy is found on the lower scale for a given powder.

[Grizz]

Thanks Jim, do you have a publication date for that article? I think that pushing velocity is a death-wish symptom.

grizz

[Scott Tschirhart]

I’m not saying that a big bullet at 1200 fps is not more effective on game. I just don’t know how much more effective it is.

[JimT]

Thanks Jim, do you have a publication date for that article? I think that pushing velocity is a death-wish symptom.

grizz

I don't have a date ... it was somewhere between 1999 and 2001. I think.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I think it was around 1992.

[JimT]

I think it was around 1992.

That could well be.

[Bill in Oregon]

I always think back to Ross Seyfried writing about the first time he met John Linebaugh. He took a safe position around the corner of the barn and expected to see Linebaugh's gun blow up. Of course it didn't -- and Seyfried became a big fan.
Reading the commentary above, I am reminded of another vignette: David Copperfield's Aunt Betsy after seeking advice from Mr. Dick: "Oh, the sense of the man!"

[KWK]

... 260 Keiths at 900 fps...

I wrote that down decades ago as the floor for a hunting load. I had found this on his web site: "My wife has taken around 6 antelope and 5 mule deer with her .45 Colt. She uses a 4 3/4" Seville and the handload is a 260 Keith cast at 900 fps. This load will shoot lengthwise of antelope and mule deer at 100 yards." His statement was an eye opener. From a carbine, that would be a gentle, low blast affair.

Did Linebaugh revise that formula? I know some hunters prefer a little more fps. I never tried the 45 Colt for hunting.

[JimT]

Did Linebaugh revise that formula? I know some hunters prefer a little more fps. I never tried the 45 Colt for hunting.

He never changed it as far as I know. I spoke with him about a month before he passed and we talked then about how effective the lower pressure/velocity loads were and what could be done with them.