This year I wanted to develop a mid-level load that I could use with my Super Blackhawk instead of my shotgun for deer hunting. The area that I hunt is pretty heavily wooded and most of the shots are fairly close range due to the heavy tree cover. I wanted to develop a load that would launch a hardcast bullet to a speed around 1000 FPS. I was hoping to have the load ready before the end of the season, but didn't get a chance to work on it till recently, after the season ended.
I recently loaded up some mid-level 44 magnum loads that use a Cast Performance 255gr hard cast, wide nose lead bullet over 8.7 gr of Unique in a 44 mag case. I also bought a Shooting Chrony Alpha Master Chronograph to measure the velocity of these loads. I was able to sneak away to my local range this afternoon and test fire these rounds. I began by shooting a few rounds for accuracy and to make sure that I could stay on target and not hit the chronograph.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the rounds grouped nicely offhand at 11 yards. I then set up the chronograph. At first I had the chronograph placed about 10 feet from the firing line per the instructions. This turned out to be too close, since I kept on getting errors or weird results (6000 FPS) due to muzzle blast.
I then moved the chronograph to just in front of the target (11 yards) and got much better results. I was happily surprised to see that the velocity of my loads were consistent (between 990 and 1010 FPS)and I was very happy that I did not destroy my chronograph. I was a little nervous because the device sat right below my target, but thankfully everything went well.
Anyway, I'm extremely pleased. The loads were very accurate for my purposes, and the mean velocity was up there where I was hoping it would be. Also, the recoil was very manageable from my gun and the muzzle blast was not overwhelming. I'm not a big fan of shooting fire-breathing, full-powered magnum loads from this short barreled handgun and I think that this mid-level load suits me well.
I was so pleased today that I decided to snap a picture of my gun when I got home. Here is a medium res shot of the gun and a link to a higher res picture. I was surprised and very pleased with the accuracy of the load - the target in the picture was shot offhand at 11 yards and I was shivering from the cold!
http://home.comcast.net/~cynergyou/sbh_hardcast.jpg
I am looking forward to next year's deer season!!!
I recently loaded up some mid-level 44 magnum loads that use a Cast Performance 255gr hard cast, wide nose lead bullet over 8.7 gr of Unique in a 44 mag case. I also bought a Shooting Chrony Alpha Master Chronograph to measure the velocity of these loads. I was able to sneak away to my local range this afternoon and test fire these rounds. I began by shooting a few rounds for accuracy and to make sure that I could stay on target and not hit the chronograph.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the rounds grouped nicely offhand at 11 yards. I then set up the chronograph. At first I had the chronograph placed about 10 feet from the firing line per the instructions. This turned out to be too close, since I kept on getting errors or weird results (6000 FPS) due to muzzle blast.
I then moved the chronograph to just in front of the target (11 yards) and got much better results. I was happily surprised to see that the velocity of my loads were consistent (between 990 and 1010 FPS)and I was very happy that I did not destroy my chronograph. I was a little nervous because the device sat right below my target, but thankfully everything went well.
Anyway, I'm extremely pleased. The loads were very accurate for my purposes, and the mean velocity was up there where I was hoping it would be. Also, the recoil was very manageable from my gun and the muzzle blast was not overwhelming. I'm not a big fan of shooting fire-breathing, full-powered magnum loads from this short barreled handgun and I think that this mid-level load suits me well.
I was so pleased today that I decided to snap a picture of my gun when I got home. Here is a medium res shot of the gun and a link to a higher res picture. I was surprised and very pleased with the accuracy of the load - the target in the picture was shot offhand at 11 yards and I was shivering from the cold!
http://home.comcast.net/~cynergyou/sbh_hardcast.jpg
I am looking forward to next year's deer season!!!
