460

[DeanC]

I'd consider some 45 Colt recipes for starts. Low velocity with cheap lead bullets.

[ijosef]

Just fill the entire case full of Titegroup, then compress it down with a 325 grain bullet.

On second thought, do not do that.

[Seismic Sam]

The Hornady #8 reloading manual lists Lil' Gun, H110, and 296 in order as the three best powders to use for the 460. That's one of the value of some reloading manuals, in that they will tell you what the best powders are. The reloading manuals take into account pressure and velocity, while we in the field can only measure velocity with a chrono. As such, what any of us are using as a "recipe" is kind of immaterial, because one of us could be using some whacked far-out load that nobody has ever heard of, and you certainly don't want to pass a reply like that back to your newbie friend. As an example, my best Desert Eagle 50 load is a certain number of grains of Alcan-8 powder, and it's the sweetest and also cleanest 50AE load you ever shot. Only reason I'm mentioning the powder is that's it's been obsolete for 20 years, so you couldn't get any if you wanted to. That, however, is by far my best 50AE load. You don't need random people you never met telling you what their favorite load is, and then passing it back to your newbie friend. STICK WITH THE ADVICE FROM THE RELOADING MANUAL(s)!!! The good manuals narrow the powder down to two or three choices, and IIRC, the Nosler manual tells you how many grains of powder for each different powder is the most accurate, and the Nosler data comes from a machine rest and a pressure barrel in a 200 yard tunnel underground, so gun and wind movement are totally removed from the data.

Your question would make a little more sense if you wanted to know what somebody's most accurate Bullseye (the shooting sport, and NOT the powder) load was, but those are low pressure rounds with an emphasis on accuracy. The 460 Smith is one of the two most powerful handguns in the world, and is NOT a cartridge that a newbie should be screwing around with, particularly if he has to ask his good buddy for load data. Just screwing up with the crimp on a 460 can get you into hot water real fast, which is something I'm sure you had no clue about, much less your newbie friend.

And I'm still curious, what is the most powerful caliber and heaviest load in that caliber that your friend has experience with??

[Seismic Sam]

I'd consider some 45 Colt recipes for starts. Low velocity with cheap lead bullets.

Just to quibble, Dean, what if one of those low velocity 45 LC loads turns out to be a squib load in a 460?? Unlike the 45 LC and the 454 Casull, the case capacities of the 45 LC and the 460 are VASTLY different. The gun wouldn't blow up, but 45 LC cases aren't that strong, so the pressue in an obstructed barrel could blow out the back of the case with some attendant nastiness to the shooter.

[DeanC]

I was thinking light on a relative basis to the 454 & 460 loads. Not necessarily low end of the 45 data. But if you use Trail Boss they fill up the case real nice. Hard to screw those up.

[rugersol]

I was thinking light on a relative basis to the 454 & 460 loads. Not necessarily low end of the 45 data. But if you use Trail Boss they fill up the case real nice. Hard to screw those up.

That was my initial thought ... there was a write-up somewhere 'bout takin' ANY case, fillin' it to SOME level, and ya were guaranteed GTG ... by IMR!

I once called IMR 'bout Trail Boss (fer in .45acp, IIRC) ... I'll never forget what he said ... "don't compress Trail Boss ... it don't like bein' compressed!"

Heh! ... goin' off of memory, I recollected 'bout 6gr Trail Boss was the published load fer .44 Mag (don't ask!) ... and figured 7gr might be 'bout right! ... so I go check IMR ... start load fer 335gr cast is 7gr fer 726fps ... max 10gr fer 887fps ... hmmm ... sounds like a nice load!