Took the Achilles to the Range This Morning
by JimT, Texas, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, 14:20 (53 days ago)
I had a box of loaded ammo with mixed bullets ... some the original Bittner Bullet ... some the Huffaker Bullet and 3 with the Killebrew Bullet. All were loaded with 6.0 gr. Bullseye and I wanted to shoot them up so I could reload the brass. I also took a box loaded with the Huffaker Bullet over 6.6 gr. of Unique.
Huffaker Bullet .. heel .. hollow base with crimp groove
Bittner Bullet -left ..... Killebrew Bullet - Right
I only had 3 rounds with the Killebrew Bullet with me. They are an accurate bullet as I found in previous shooting.
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Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.
Took the Achilles to the Range This Morning
by Paul , Tuesday, July 16, 2024, 15:01 (53 days ago) @ JimT
That's always been a lovely thumper of a sixgun! I hope someday to shoot it again.
What load are you planning for the now empty brass?
I am going back and forth between the Unique and Bullseye
by JimT, Texas, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, 15:03 (53 days ago) @ Paul
but may try 231 or Green Dot. I have not tried those 2 powders and since I have quite a few loaded with Bullseye and Unique and 2400, one of them probably makes more sense. I haven't yet made up my mind.
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Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.
Since the 480A has almost the same internal volume
by JohnKDM, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, 17:29 (53 days ago) @ JimT
and pressure as the 45acp, 231 and greendot should work well also.
Unless it is crimped well, something faster like BE worked better in mine.
Good shooting, as usual!
John K.
Yes. I try to get a good crimp always. And it is easier
by JimT, Texas, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, 17:34 (53 days ago) @ JohnKDM
with your bullet and the Huffaker bullet as they have a crimp groove. That helps a lot.
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Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.
I was there the day that .480 came off the truck
by A K Church, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, 18:12 (52 days ago) @ JimT
edited by A K Church, Saturday, July 20, 2024, 12:50
At the J Bar T in Mt Vernon. With someone, likely Miles.
The revolver and the cartridge intrigued me from the word go. Still does.
I am the 1st person on the planet to shoot a hedgeapple with one.
I saw the revolver before the work was done on it. It had brass backstrap and trigger guard before it was converted, didn't it? And a very low, sorta crude polish?
Yes ... it was a cheap Uberti ..
by JimT, Texas, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, 19:04 (52 days ago) @ A K Church
called ""Cabela's Millennium" ... put out by Uberti for Cabela's. This is the "before" photo.
When I sent it to Gary Reeder I included a Colt SAA backstrap and triggerguard that I got from John Taffin to replace the brass furniture.
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Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.
This article showed up in my inbox today
by JohnKDM, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, 19:32 (52 days ago) @ JimT
Timely, and Mike experienced all of the gotchas inherent in heel based cartridges - just like us. LOL
With the Achilles I have found Black Powder to be GREAT!
by JimT, Texas, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, 20:33 (52 days ago) @ JohnKDM
The black powder loads are accurate, pleasant to shoot and perform really well.
For hunting, the heavy 2400 loads work well. 13 gr. of 2400 pushes the Bittner Bullet at 950 and is an accurate load. Crimp has to be perfect as they will pull the crimp. I have not tested the Killebrew bullet with that charge, but I expect it to work really well, especially since it has a crimp groove.
--
Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.
I can see the slower powders really needing a good crimp or
by JohnKDM, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, 21:35 (52 days ago) @ JimT
there will be large extreme spreads as the bullets unseat inconsistently, causing internal volume and pressure changes shot to shot.
I went up to about 920fps with the 290gr K bullet using 11grs of milsurp WC820(f) powder. ES was 10fos, and SD was 3.5. Worked well!
Huffaker hollow-base
by AaronB, Tuesday, August 20, 2024, 09:46 (18 days ago) @ JimT
I see that the Huffaker is a hollow-base design, which makes sense since we want that skirt to engage the rifling.
In practice, though, these targets don't seem to indicate that it's a significant improvement over the soft solid heel and a middlin' load of fast powder.
That's counter-intuitive to me... not that the hollow-base design did poorly, but that the solid-base designs did equally well.
-AaronB