Hey everyone, I did some shooting today with my .45 Colt Ruger Blackhawk, 5.5" barrel. The following load is safe in my gun, but might not be safe in yours. The load I am shooting is 9.0gr Unique, CCI 300 large pistol primer, Laser Cast 255gr LSWC with Winchester brass. I really like this load, it shoots very well out of my revolver...accurate but it lets you know that it is there too.
After shooting about 75 rounds I am just too fatigued to keep shooting...the fun is over and it is time to go home. The Blackhawk is my only handgun, so until I get a .22LR and a 9mm (both on the list, both being saved up for) I need to develop a little softer shooting round.
My problem lies in the fact that I really like shooting the above load, and that even though I have adjustable sights I hate fiddling with them.
So I need to develop another load that will shoot to the same POI out to 15 yards. After that distance I will shoot the heavier loads but at 15 yards, I would like to have the option to shoot something that recoils a bit lighter than the 255gr. Now I realize that this is going to require a bit of experimentation but I would like some input on starting points. I would like to stay with Unique and CCI 300 LPP, so that leaves bullet weight and charge weight.
For the bullet I was thinking Laser Cast 185gr LSWC. I like the bullets, and I like the LSWC since they cut a nice hole in paper. Powder charge I could use a little bit of help where to set as a baseline to window around. My Lyman manual gives 185gr jacketed bullet (so we are already a little different) as 7.5gr Unique going 615 fps and 10gr. Unique as 934 fps. For the 255gr bullet with 6.0gr of Unique it says it will go 590fps. Of course, for the 255gr bullet they don't go up to 9.0gr Unique only 8.5gr. for 845fps (they do go up to 9.0gr but for a contender with a way different barrel length so the speed won't compare.)
Given all that information, can I draw a line between the two 255gr points to get the speed relative to 9.0gr Unique in their test conditions and then compare that to the lighter bullet to pick a powder and speed that would give me the same point of aim as the heavier bullet? And if that was the case, what charge would that be?
Or should I just bite the bullet and load up some 185gr bullets from 7.5gr to 10gr in .5 grain increments and figure out which one shoots the best?
Thanks for the help...I figured what better way to spend the evening than a ballistics problem!
After shooting about 75 rounds I am just too fatigued to keep shooting...the fun is over and it is time to go home. The Blackhawk is my only handgun, so until I get a .22LR and a 9mm (both on the list, both being saved up for) I need to develop a little softer shooting round.
My problem lies in the fact that I really like shooting the above load, and that even though I have adjustable sights I hate fiddling with them.
So I need to develop another load that will shoot to the same POI out to 15 yards. After that distance I will shoot the heavier loads but at 15 yards, I would like to have the option to shoot something that recoils a bit lighter than the 255gr. Now I realize that this is going to require a bit of experimentation but I would like some input on starting points. I would like to stay with Unique and CCI 300 LPP, so that leaves bullet weight and charge weight.
For the bullet I was thinking Laser Cast 185gr LSWC. I like the bullets, and I like the LSWC since they cut a nice hole in paper. Powder charge I could use a little bit of help where to set as a baseline to window around. My Lyman manual gives 185gr jacketed bullet (so we are already a little different) as 7.5gr Unique going 615 fps and 10gr. Unique as 934 fps. For the 255gr bullet with 6.0gr of Unique it says it will go 590fps. Of course, for the 255gr bullet they don't go up to 9.0gr Unique only 8.5gr. for 845fps (they do go up to 9.0gr but for a contender with a way different barrel length so the speed won't compare.)
Given all that information, can I draw a line between the two 255gr points to get the speed relative to 9.0gr Unique in their test conditions and then compare that to the lighter bullet to pick a powder and speed that would give me the same point of aim as the heavier bullet? And if that was the case, what charge would that be?
Or should I just bite the bullet and load up some 185gr bullets from 7.5gr to 10gr in .5 grain increments and figure out which one shoots the best?
Thanks for the help...I figured what better way to spend the evening than a ballistics problem!