Windy, dusty, turned rainy, went and shot the 454 anyhow. I'm definitely backing off the load with both the 355gr and the 335gr HP, haven't run them over a chrony, but judging by the recoil, they are moving. The 335gr HP over 18 grains of 2400 was very manageable, and grouped 3 shots into 3/4" at 25 yards, the 4th was fired into what was left of our Jack O'Lantern, recovered 14" into the dirt after a mere 3" of pumpkin. Wish I would have gotten a picture of my target, or been able to bring it home for my catalog, but it is probably still flying. The 45 Colt cases with max 45 Colt loads performed much better than expected, accuracy was as good as with 454 cases, especially the 45-270SAA bullets and 2400. Plan on trying H110 next outing, then see about testing at 65 yards again. Wind was blowing left to right at 25-35kts.

Well we hunt in all weather conditions so we might as well practice in them as well right? I know it's hard to load test in bad weather but still.

The one rub I have found with the cast hollowpoint is they don't hit the same place as the same bullet with a solid nose. In my 480 my hollowpoint runs 482gr and my solid is 405gr, about 2" higher at 25 yards honestly. So generally you have to pick one or the other but you can't mix them in your cylinder

My standard bullet for my 480 for years has been a 375gr LFN that I cast, it hits close enough to the hollowpoint that they can be mixed in a cylinder, the groups over lap each other completely at 50 yards. The idea for me was a hollowpoint for the first shot and solids behind it if I had to breakdown the animal after the first hit. I'm probably over thinking all of this but I am going to try them out on dies here shortly.

There is a 20 grain difference between the HP and solids. The solids I managed to recover, which was darn few, got tired of digging, retained 92% of their weight after 4" of damp newsprint and 18" of dirt, the HPs retained an average of 67.5% of the few I managed to dig up, they went through 3" of Jack O'Lantern and close to 14" of loose dirt and rocks. I'm thinking a 355gr Solid, or even a 325-330gr at 12-1400 fps would likely go almost end to end on a cow elk. Everyone, except barrel makers and a few others tell me the 1:24 twist of the FA won't stabilize bullets over 300 grains unless they are pushed over a certain velocity, I know my 325gr WFNGC bullets are still stable at 150 yards when shot at 900-1000 fps, and the barrel twist calculators I use tell me the 355s will be stable down below 800 fps. I really want a good, all around load for this 5 gun, one that I enjoy shooting day in and out. I would shoot mostly the 45-270SAA bullets, but I can't seem to get them to not lead, at 285 grains, they retained 96% after Mr. O'Lantern and 16" of dirt, at that weight, if I could shoot them at 13-1400, they would be a good all around bullet.

Here are the heavyweight remains.

I like it!