.475-cal, 445 gr LFN

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Lee Martin

Hunter
Joined
Dec 18, 2002
Messages
2,313
Location
Arlington, Virginia
Here's a new .475 bullet I designed through Mountain Molds. Its identical in scale to my .41-cal 290 and .50-cal 585 LFNs. Lubed and GC'd it'll be 445 grains:





The nose is long and in Linebaugh hulls OAL equals 1.83". My BFR cylinder measures 1.85" so it'll just fit. It also just clears my custom .475 Bisley. 0.020" is tighter than I like so I'll probably use .480 brass.

I hoped to cast some last Sunday but got running on 290 gr .41's. If time permits I'll pour a bunch this weekend and post an update.
 

Lee Martin

Hunter
Joined
Dec 18, 2002
Messages
2,313
Location
Arlington, Virginia
In my initial post I incorrectly said the nose length is 0.430". It is really 0.450", which was intentional. Seated to the top of the crimp groove in Linebaugh brass and it's exactly the length of my BFR and custom Ruger cylinders. So I'll either shoot these in .480 or Linebaughs trimmed to 1.35". Cutting that 0.050" may seem like a waste of time but it nets another 1.5 - 2.0 grains over the 1.29" Ruger.



Martin LFNs (left to right): 290 gr .41-cal, 445 gr .475-cal, and a 585 gr 0.510-cal



Halfway done casting the 445 gr:



The nose:



I also received a PM from a member of my forum asking how does my LFN differ from the traditional LBT. My changes aren't that radical but include:

1) The nose is longer but retains the 74% meplat (my nose length is in-between an LFN and Beartooth's LCMN)
2) I use a deeper and wider crimp groove
3) My driving band is a bit taller, providing better ogive support
4) I've increased the shank height to put more lube above the gas-check. This essentially yields 3 lube grooves
5) All of these are scaled the same way. Nose-to-total length = 43%. Caliber-to-total length = 45%

In August I'll work the next two into the line-up. One is a 380 gr .45-cal, the other is the 515 gr .50-cal shown above. Make or break for these slugs is how they perform at 100 yards.
 

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