lead SWC

[kiver]

How does one determine OAL for Lead SWC? I picked up a bunch of Zero 185gn 45cal for bulleye competition out of a 1911.

'I am looking at 3.8 gn to start of Bulleye Powder using Large Federal primer. My guess is 1.250, but I do not want to 'guess'

Also is Zero a good projectile? Any one with success with this formula for bullseye?

 

[wmccurdy53]

I always loaded LSWCs to 1.250.
A better rule of thumb is to load them to 1/32 of major diameter out of the case.

 

[kiver]

Also what is a good velocity at 50 ft? and 50 Yards?

 

[DW357]

Zero makes VERY nice bullets. I've never shot their lead bullets before. But all I use for 9mm and 357 mag are their JHPs which are very accurate and consistent. Problem is they go out of stock often.

 

[peterthefish]

You don't use a particular OAL loading SWCs unless the recipe is for the exact bullet you're using. You should leave about a thumb nails thickness worth of lead shoulder above the the case mouth.

750-800 FPS will be nice and soft shooting and be fine out to 50 yards.

3.8 Bullseye should be a good start. I use 3.8 of N310 under 185 SWCs and N310 is a bit faster.

Here's a 185 bayou to show what you're looking for.. The OAL is 1.250 for these but again with SWCs load by look not be measurement.

 

[kiver]

Thanks everyone. I loaded small batches at 3.8, 4.0 and 4.3 of Bullseye at 1.250. I'll put them through the chrono later today

 

[kiver]

3.8. Was 625
4.0. 687
4.3. 702

 

[noylj]

COL is gun and bullet dependent, so all you can get from anyone else is what works in their gun (or, a COL so short that it "should" work in all guns).
COL for a SWC is the wrong thing. What you want is how much exposed shoulder you can have and still feed and chamber.
For instance, I load Lane 155gn L-SWCs to 1.250-1.252", the old Bull-X 185gn L-SWC to 1.266", H&G 185gn L-SWC (button-nose) to 1.146-1.151", Zero 185gn L-SWCHP to 1.255-1.257", and H&G #68 to 1.256-1.265", and yet, the distance from case head to top of shoulder is 0.925-0.930" for all. If you get a seating stem that ONLY touches the shoulder, you never have to adjust it for different SWC bullets.

 

[highscore]

COL is gun and bullet dependent, so all you can get from anyone else is what works in their gun (or, a COL so short that it "should" work in all guns).
COL for a SWC is the wrong thing. What you want is how much exposed shoulder you can have and still feed and chamber.
For instance, I load Lane 155gn L-SWCs to 1.250-1.252", the old Bull-X 185gn L-SWC to 1.266", H&G 185gn L-SWC (button-nose) to 1.146-1.151", Zero 185gn L-SWCHP to 1.255-1.257", and H&G #68 to 1.256-1.265", and yet, the distance from case head to top of shoulder is 0.925-0.930" for all. If you get a seating stem that ONLY touches the shoulder, you never have to adjust it for different SWC bullets.

Good advice but I would just just the best guage available for your gun, the barrel. Seat your bullet until the case is below the end of the barrel hood. I make sure that mine are about .010 under the hood.

When I got my Dillon 550 and ordered a large amount of lead swchp's, I switched boxes and continued to load about another 100 rounds before I noticed that that "thumbnail" amount of lead had grown. Seemed that my swaged bullets came off either different machines or a different lot. Really pissed me off but it never happened again. I took the seater out and bored out the ID so it would only push on the shoulder like noylj suggests, and never had a problem again. Never again mattered whose bullets I used as long as it had a shoulder on it. Dillon's seater is reversable so there's always the other end to load other shapes of bullets with.

 

[NavelOfficer]

Kind of stating the obvious, but cast bullets are dirty!
Don't neglect to periodically inspect and clean your dies for lube and lead debris (not as much of an issue with coated bullets).
Build up of lead shavings/lube will change your seating depth and COL as it builds up on your seating stem.
A loose seating stem will also disrupt consistency, so don't overlook this either.

 

[mac1911]

Kind of stating the obvious, but cast bullets are dirty!
Don't neglect to periodically inspect and clean your dies for lube and lead debris (not as much of an issue with coated bullets).
Build up of lead shavings/lube will change your seating depth and COL as it builds up on your seating stem.
A loose seating stem will also disrupt consistency, so don't overlook this either.

Coated with Lee ALOX or tumble lube your dies get nasty. Although it took a decent amount of loading before I had problems

 

[1903Collector]

Don't know if you would want to buy it but the Lyman reloading book is a good resource for cast bullet data. I seat my 45 LSWC so that the shoulder is just a hair above the case mouth. don't have my notebook with me so I'm not sure what the OAL is. I use 5 grains of 231 for 185, 200, and 230 grain bullets. I don't use that much lead in auto's anymore, mostly plated heads nowadays.