Heavy Keith style LSWC-HP GC for deer?

Boolit Buddy Join DateApr 2013Posts59

Seems to be a good number of hollow cavity cast boolits making their place into hunting loads both pistol and rifle. Is there anyone casting a 300gr hollow point Keith style boolit or WFN hollow point in softer alloy with gas check .452" for .45 Colt? Seems to me that would make an excellent deer load at 1100 - 1200f/s.

I have a Keith style boolit I use for hunting, it's the 452424 Lyman. It's not a hollow point or GC design but I'm not convinced either feature is necessary for this cartridge at this velocity. I'm also developing a hunting load for the RD 454-290 gr boolit, it utilizes a GC but I guess that feature will allow me to utilize a softer alloy. When I go hunting I don't know if I'l be shooting a 90# white tail doe or a 300# bruiser boar. I don't have much experience with a HP CB hunting boolit, I'm pretty solidly in the big meplat camp. I only have one HP CB mould and my rifle doesn't much care for it. Some folks around here have awesome results with HP's, I just don't see the need.

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Someone is probably casting a 300 grain HP but for deer, it is not really needed. I hunted deer with the 454424 for years before siwtching to 454190 over blackpowder. 260 grains of lead at +/- 950 fps is more than enough for penetration and accuracy.

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Have a 44 caliber mold. Mihec copy of H&G 503. Three different sizes of HP pins to control how much you get.
Think it's 255 grains? For big game like deer I have a RCBS 245gr gas checked boolit I cast soft enough to expand a little.
Never shot a deer with one but I Know they'd work. So would the HP boolits. For a 45 colt I've the NOE copy of a Lyman SWC. Has a huge meplat without any further expansion.

I thought I had a pic of my boolits, but guess not.
In my 45 colt, I am shooting a Lyman 265 grain plain base Keith style HP. Cast of 50/50 air cooled and hollow pointed with a flat end pin, loaded to Ruger only levels out of my 7 1/2 inch blackhawk, it is devistating on hogs. Even the big uns. I haven't shot a deer with it yet, but dont think I will unless it is a real bruiser and that is all I have. I dont even shoot eater hogs with that load. Only those that I intend to dump get shot with that load. The last eater I shot, I made a poor shot, right through the shoulders on a 125 or so pounder and basically, I had to cut the hind quarters off and dump the rest. It was alll full of blood and shrapnel. Just a waste.

I came into this world kicking, screaming, and covered in someone elses blood. I plan to go out the same way.

I'll try to point something out here........ which may do some good. Several people here insist on using 50% WW / 50% pure lead alloy air cooled. That is quite soft AND if you hollow point it the boolit WILL blow up if pushed past a relatively low velocity. To get proper performance you need to water drop those boolits using that alloy. It gives a whole different aspect to it. You get premium performance boolits with it that way...... even when hollow pointed...... especially in the 357 Mag, the various 40 Auto pistols, 41 Mag, 44 Special, 44 Mag and 45 Colt.

45 2.1

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Knowledge is easy to get, but worthless if you never use it. However the info is free, so the only person you have to blame is yourself if you chose not to use the information.

I'll try to point something out here........ which may do some good. Several people here insist on using 50% WW / 50% pure lead alloy air cooled. That is quite soft AND if you hollow point it the boolit WILL blow up if pushed past a relatively low velocity. To get proper performance you need to water drop those boolits using that alloy. It gives a whole different aspect to it. You get premium performance boolits with it that way...... even when hollow pointed...... especially in the 357 Mag, the various 40 Auto pistols, 41 Mag, 44 Special, 44 Mag and 45 Colt.lemme ask a serious but probably, to many, stupid question here. if ur gonna WD it to make it harder, why not just cast a harder (ie: add more WW) to the mix? I ask because I am wanting to hunt white tails this year w/my 629 loaded with the HP devastator boolit cast soft (50/50 mix). last year I shot 3 w/my mod. 94 loaded w/173 gr gc straight WW AC. they fragmented like grenades inside the deer. I like a small entry and large exit hole in the animal. thanks

Boolit Master Join DateMar 2005LocationIndianaPosts360

Could we also heat treat and get the same result as WD?

lemme ask a serious but probably, to many, stupid question here. if ur gonna WD it to make it harder, why not just cast a harder (ie: add more WW) to the mix? I ask because I am wanting to hunt white tails this year w/my 629 loaded with the HP devastator boolit cast soft (50/50 mix). last year I shot 3 w/my mod. 94 loaded w/173 gr gc straight WW AC. they fragmented like grenades inside the deer. I like a small entry and large exit hole in the animal. thanksI want the outside harder, not the core...... which I get the way I do it. With more hardening agents in the alloy, the core would be harder also. In handguns with cast hollow points, this has been well tested on deer and other varmints over the last twenty or so years. Chest cavity shots show some expansion in the ribs going in with the vitals disrupted a lot and a quarter size exit out thru the opposite ribcage wall with very dead on the spot deer or very shortly thereafter. Shooting into virgin clay walls in stream beds show where expansion initiates and the length/ shape along its travel. Tested against the best factory hollow points show equal disruption with slightly more penetration for cast. Could we also heat treat and get the same result as WD?I've got some friends that say yes, but they haven't shown me any deer autopsy's to prove that either. Casting at a lower (700 to 725 degree) temperature and water dropping give 30 caliber and above some soft core / harder outside attributes (at least for me... but your mileage may vary). You would have to try it both ways to decide, but I'm not going there.

45 2.1

Knowledge without understanding is a dangerous thing. For a little knowledge entices us to walk its path, a bit more provides the foundation on which we take our stand, and a sufficient amount can erect a wall of knowledge around us, trapping us in our own ignorance.

Never sleep, never die

Knowledge is easy to get, but worthless if you never use it. However the info is free, so the only person you have to blame is yourself if you chose not to use the information.

Boolit Mold Join DateFeb 2010LocationNW OhioPosts6

This months Handloader magazine has an article by Brian Pearce and it's called Sixguns and Bears. His son uses an RCBS mould 45-270 SAA cast with Lyman #2 alloy loaded with 11.1 grains of Longshot that produces an average 1,048 fps. The gun his son uses is a Ruger New model Blackhawk 45 Colt from Lipsey, which is strong enough to handle that load. Not all 45s are that strong. In past articles he has used 452424 Lyman Keith style bullet at about 900 fps on deer with great success. My friends who hunt white tail use plain base cast SWC or RNFN, no one uses an HP.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading
Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt"

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