480 DGS

[jwp475]

76 grains of AA2230, Norma cases, Federal 215 primer

 

[baxterb]

Perfect

 

[IdaRam]

Hi jwp, interested in what plans you may have for putting this load to good use. Maybe there’s an ele in your future?
If you are open to a bit of unsolicited advice… hey, at least it is free!
AA2230 is a great powder in the .458 Win Mag and the Lott. That looks like a Win Mag?
I’ve shot a bit of it with good results. Eventually switched to RL-10X in my .458 WM.
That is a pretty stout load you are running and you may be well advised to see what happens when things heat up. AA2230 will produce higher pressures when temps are hot and your rifle is baking in the sun with a round in the chamber. A good friend of mine locked up his bolt on a hunt in Africa with that exact load you are running.
I did the following test with a 500 gr DGS and 75.0 gr of AA2230 with temps around 90F. Let your rifle and 1 round of ammo sit in the sun on the shooting bench for a bit. Chamber a round and let it bake in the sun for 15 minutes or so, then fire the round. Preferably over the chronograph. I suspect you will see a change in pressure and velocity.
The Win Mag debate has raged for decades and I have no desire to re-ignite that argument, but the concerns and cautions should be paid some heed. The load I ended up settling on in my .458 WM was 72.0gr of AA2230 with a 500 gr bullet which yielded 2130 fps and I never had an issue with temp over-pressuring.
As mentioned earlier, I ended up switching to RL-10X as my rifle liked it better.
Hope you don’t mind me chiming in, and happy hunting!

 

[jwp475]

Hi jwp, interested in what plans you may have for putting this load to good use. Maybe there’s an ele in your future?
If you are open to a bit of unsolicited advice… hey, at least it is free!
AA2230 is a great powder in the .458 Win Mag and the Lott. That looks like a Win Mag?
I’ve shot a bit of it with good results. Eventually switched to RL-10X in my .458 WM.
That is a pretty stout load you are running and you may be well advised to see what happens when things heat up. AA2230 will produce higher pressures when temps are hot and your rifle is baking in the sun with a round in the chamber. A good friend of mine locked up his bolt on a hunt in Africa with that exact load you are running.
I did the following test with a 500 gr DGS and 75.0 gr of AA2230 with temps around 90F. Let your rifle and 1 round of ammo sit in the sun on the shooting bench for a bit. Chamber a round and let it bake in the sun for 15 minutes or so, then fire the round. Preferably over the chronograph. I suspect you will see a change in pressure and velocity.
The Win Mag debate has raged for decades and I have no desire to re-ignite that argument, but the concerns and cautions should be paid some heed. The load I ended up settling on in my .458 WM was 72.0gr of AA2230 with a 500 gr bullet which yielded 2130 fps and I never had an issue with temp over-pressuring.
As mentioned earlier, I ended up switching to RL-10X as my rifle liked it better.
Hope you don’t mind me chiming in, and happy hunting!

Glad to have you chiming in. You make an excellent point.
I have no real plans other a deer later in the year. I'm just playing around having fun.