I've been thinking over info available on Linebaugh's site http://www.sixgunner.com/linebaugh/ regarding his theories on heavy .45Cal bullets in the 325grain - 450grain range ahead of a healthy dose of slow-burn powder such as H110.
He's getting excellent performance even with barrels as short as 4.5" or so.
Normally, you'd think "slow powder" like H110 wouldn't burn right in a short tube, but the heavy bullets (with a fair bit of crimping, apparantly) take a bit of time to accellerate that first 1/4" or whatever, giving the powder time to "catch fire". Using such a gameplan, Buffallo Bore sells a 325grain .45LC "Ruger Only" load rated at over 1,300fps...somewhat past typical .44Mag horsepower levels, yet most people describe this class of loads as "feeling fairly gentle" because the "whoomp" takes place over a longer period of time than the more usual "CRACK" of a faster powder. Linebaugh describes low peak chamber pressures down in the 33,000psi range, despite exceeding energy levels found in 40,000psi .44Mag loads with lighter bullets.
Now let's switch gears to the .357 a sec. We know we can get a 158grain moving up past 1,500fps in a strong gun (N-Frame S&W, Ruger SA, even the GP100 within limits). But the hottest 125grain factory loads are up near 1,400 (Remington). True, those are set so they won't *immediately* detonate a K-frame or J-Frame .357.
My ponder is this: what if you took a 100grain slug, loaded it "deeper than usual" into a .357 case ahead of H110 or other slow-burn powder, and used a MASSIVE crimp to slow the initial projectile accelleration enough to let H110 "catch"? I'm talking about a "crimp" so nutso you'd have to throw the brass away afterwards - the brass would actually be folded somewhat over the nosecone of the round
. Load development would have to be REAL slow and careful in a strong gun, checking for barrel obstructions on every shot.
Could this work?
If you didn't have enough case volume for the powder needed, start with .357Maximum brass and fold THAT over the nosecone. Overall length would be down in regular .357 territory, right?
He's getting excellent performance even with barrels as short as 4.5" or so.
Normally, you'd think "slow powder" like H110 wouldn't burn right in a short tube, but the heavy bullets (with a fair bit of crimping, apparantly) take a bit of time to accellerate that first 1/4" or whatever, giving the powder time to "catch fire". Using such a gameplan, Buffallo Bore sells a 325grain .45LC "Ruger Only" load rated at over 1,300fps...somewhat past typical .44Mag horsepower levels, yet most people describe this class of loads as "feeling fairly gentle" because the "whoomp" takes place over a longer period of time than the more usual "CRACK" of a faster powder. Linebaugh describes low peak chamber pressures down in the 33,000psi range, despite exceeding energy levels found in 40,000psi .44Mag loads with lighter bullets.
Now let's switch gears to the .357 a sec. We know we can get a 158grain moving up past 1,500fps in a strong gun (N-Frame S&W, Ruger SA, even the GP100 within limits). But the hottest 125grain factory loads are up near 1,400 (Remington). True, those are set so they won't *immediately* detonate a K-frame or J-Frame .357.
My ponder is this: what if you took a 100grain slug, loaded it "deeper than usual" into a .357 case ahead of H110 or other slow-burn powder, and used a MASSIVE crimp to slow the initial projectile accelleration enough to let H110 "catch"? I'm talking about a "crimp" so nutso you'd have to throw the brass away afterwards - the brass would actually be folded somewhat over the nosecone of the round
. Load development would have to be REAL slow and careful in a strong gun, checking for barrel obstructions on every shot.Could this work?
If you didn't have enough case volume for the powder needed, start with .357Maximum brass and fold THAT over the nosecone. Overall length would be down in regular .357 territory, right?