Posted By: sixshot
Testing a New HP - 10/04/2018 3:32 AM
Since I've bought a lot of Miha moulds in the last few years I've been on a quest to test several different HP's on deer & antelope size game. For about 50 years I've used nothing but cast solids & never had a problem, there have been a very few times I've had game get out of sight before they went down but I could probably count the number on one hand.
The only exception to using a HP on bigger game has been the fantastic Miha 385 gr 475/480 bullet & it has been a proven big game killer on bears, elk, moose, bison, large feral hogs, etc with a great track record & as far as I know almost always complete penetration with correct alloy & velocity.
In the last 5-6 years I've been stacking up a fair number of deer & antelope with different 41, 44 & 45 caliber HP's & so far they have worked great. Almost always I've used an alloy of 70% wheel weights & 30% lead with maybe a 1/4 lb of linotype thrown in to pick up some tin & then I powder coat everything to anneal the cast slugs. These bullets are working great up to about 1150 fps using a plain base slug with great expansion & penetration.
In the last couple of days I've been using a new bullet in my wonderful 41 magnum Bisley that weighs 212 grs that is a LFN style HP with a gas check. Two loads that show promise have been 18 grs of 2400 & 18.5 grs of 2400. I haven't been testing from the bench so the results aren't the very best these loads will do but I like to test from the Keith, reclining position because I use it a lot in the field when hunting & since our regular deer season opens one week from today I need to get things dialed in.
I haven't run this load through the clock yet but the heavier load (18.5 grs of 2400) will be going out to 50 & 100 yds tomorrow so that when Tank arrives I'll be ready & waiting. As usual my back up gun will be my scoped 10.5" 357 Maximum with a 180 gr Miha HP.
I've already taken one deer a month ago with the 230 gr Keith, a life long favorite so now it's time for this new HP to show me how it holds up in the game fields, I think with the long shank of this LFN it's going to be a dandy & with 18.5 grs of 2400 this bullet is going to be running pretty fast. Target is 7 shots reclining at 25 yds.
Dick
The only exception to using a HP on bigger game has been the fantastic Miha 385 gr 475/480 bullet & it has been a proven big game killer on bears, elk, moose, bison, large feral hogs, etc with a great track record & as far as I know almost always complete penetration with correct alloy & velocity.
In the last 5-6 years I've been stacking up a fair number of deer & antelope with different 41, 44 & 45 caliber HP's & so far they have worked great. Almost always I've used an alloy of 70% wheel weights & 30% lead with maybe a 1/4 lb of linotype thrown in to pick up some tin & then I powder coat everything to anneal the cast slugs. These bullets are working great up to about 1150 fps using a plain base slug with great expansion & penetration.
In the last couple of days I've been using a new bullet in my wonderful 41 magnum Bisley that weighs 212 grs that is a LFN style HP with a gas check. Two loads that show promise have been 18 grs of 2400 & 18.5 grs of 2400. I haven't been testing from the bench so the results aren't the very best these loads will do but I like to test from the Keith, reclining position because I use it a lot in the field when hunting & since our regular deer season opens one week from today I need to get things dialed in.
I haven't run this load through the clock yet but the heavier load (18.5 grs of 2400) will be going out to 50 & 100 yds tomorrow so that when Tank arrives I'll be ready & waiting. As usual my back up gun will be my scoped 10.5" 357 Maximum with a 180 gr Miha HP.
I've already taken one deer a month ago with the 230 gr Keith, a life long favorite so now it's time for this new HP to show me how it holds up in the game fields, I think with the long shank of this LFN it's going to be a dandy & with 18.5 grs of 2400 this bullet is going to be running pretty fast. Target is 7 shots reclining at 25 yds.
Dick