Monday, May 20, 2013

Lee 457-405-F and RL7

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Lyman's 4th Edition Cast Bullet Handbook gives a load of 37 grains RX7 for their 405-grain #457193 as a starting load suitable for Trapdoor Springfields.

I used the same load with the Lee 457-405-F. Loaded some up, went to the range yesterday. I am glad that the first shot with this load was from a Ruger #1 because the first round and a couple more from the same loading were ejected with the primers missing.

The gun is new to me, so I fired a couple of factory-loaded .45-70 rounds. No problems showed up with those.

This not being my first rodeo, I looked at the Lyman's #44 book and it shows 29 grains of Rx7 for a 405 j-word bullet.

Needless to say, I'm glad I didn't try that load in my Trapdoor first.

Am I missing something here?

I've got a metric buttload of Rx7. Would be nice if I could find a .45-70 load that didn't blow the door off my Trapdoor.

Dale in Louisiana
(sort of new to the blooper game)

I assume you are talking Reloder 7?
I have a Lee loading guide that came with my 45-70 dies [6 months ago].
It lists 37.0 gr Reloder 7 for thr 300 gr Jword and 30.8 gr for the 350 gr Jword.
NO listing for either cast boolit.
However:
I have a load from Loadbooks USA showing:
RL7 with 300 gr cast FP gas check
Start.. 33 gr RL7 1400 fps
Max...38 gr RL7 1639 fps
Also:
322 gr cast #2 alloy #457122HP
Start: 47.0 RL7 1687 fps 13,100 c.u.p.
Max: 51.0.........1813 fps 15,800 c.u.p.
suggested 1/2 gr polyester fiber wad 5/8" sq.x 1/4" thk over powder.
Sure would like to hear/understand what happened to you load as I have loaded some 300 gr gas checked boolits with 37 gr RL7 which I haven't yet shot. They were loaded for my 45-70 1886 Winchester and supposedly this is a safe load.
I also have a load listing a start load for a 300 gr FP cast and RL7 at 38 gr for 1428 fps with a max of 45 gr RL7 for 1811 fps
And another for 47 gr start for 1687 fps with a max of 51 gr for 1813 fps

The same book lists a 50.0 gr [with filler] start load at 1842 fps 16,000 cup and a max of 58.5 gr compressed powder charge for 2132 fps and 27,000 cup. NOT FOR A TRAPDOOR!

Last edited by double8; Today at 12:06 PM.
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Yep, it's RL-7.

I'm going to disassemble the rounds and start over. I know the Ruger will handle loads that will supposedly disassemble a Trapdoor, and the same Lyman Cast bullet Handbook shows a 47-grain starting load for a 405 grain bullet specifically for the Ruger actions.

Based on those figures, I cannot fathom a reason for the primers blowing out of the pockets. Note that the primers didn't flow or puncture. They fell out of the pockets. No other signs of high pressure were noted.

I want a decent load for RL-7 for the Trapdoor. That means less than 18,000 CUP or PSI.

dale in Louisiana

Tatume is online now Boolit Master Join DateJan 2010LocationTom, in Gloucester, VAPosts828
Although I'm not recommending your load in the Trapdoor Springfield, I can say with considerable confidence that it should not be expanding primer pockets as you describe. Something else is going on here. You are right to disassemble the loads. You should also weigh the powder charges that you remove, because the first thing that comes to mind is that your charges are much heavier than 37 grains of RL-7.

The next thing you should do is to place a new primer in the primer pocket of one of your fired cases. Just put it there with your fingers. If it goes in easily and falls back out, you have certainly exposed that case to extremely high pressure. This is too much pressure for your Ruger No. 1. Even though it will probably not blow up the No. 1, it won't do it any good either.

Another thing to check is the integrity of the powder. Could it be something else in an RL-7 canister? Might someone have accidentally dumped a hopper full of some other powder in your RL-7 canister? Pour some out into a saucer and compare it to a known batch of RL-7.

Last edited by Tatume; Today at 12:40 PM.
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Abbreviations used in Reloading
Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt"


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