Anybody Cast for 458 Socom

Ian

Notorious member
The noses may be sticking. Sharpe the noses from the front band to the ogive and see if you can tell where they're rubbing in the gauge. You'll probably have to seat these a little deeper than the uncoated ones. I seat mine to 2.248" oal, which puts the case mouth in the middle of the front driving band.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Try to stay under 350 grains, preferably about 300 for supers to get the most out of them. 300 grains can typically be pushed to around 1800 fps before you max out on pressure, but once you start adding payload, your top end drops significantly.
 

Gary

SE Kansas
I've been looking and I'm going with a 458-305 either NEI , Lee, or Accurate, assuming they each make such.
 

Full.lead.taco

Active Member
Just because you sized the bullets .458" doesn't mean they came out that way. If they're too close to .459" they won't chamber in mine.
Ian, is your chamber a little on the tight side? What brass are you using? I'm using Starline brass and size my bullets to .459 (and they come out to .459) and chamber well in both my .458 soc as well as my co-worker's.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Anything over .4588" or so starts to scuff the necks. Remember I'm using a neck expanding spud that I made from a Lee universal rifle charging die insert turned down, and it's something like .4565" so my bullets don't get squished. Have you pulled your bullets and measured to see if they're still actually .459" after being seated? I guess the real question is what's the loaded neck OD, I never checked mine.
 

Full.lead.taco

Active Member
Anything over .4588" or so starts to scuff the necks. Remember I'm using a neck expanding spud that I made from a Lee universal rifle charging die insert turned down, and it's something like .4565" so my bullets don't get squished. Have you pulled your bullets and measured to see if they're still actually .459" after being seated? I guess the real question is what's the loaded neck OD, I never checked mine.
I've not pulled any to check. I may check one.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Cramming a .459" bullet into a stiff, .453" neck can sure make a difference. I know you shoot mostly slick-sided bullets through yours and IIRC water-quench them as well, but some squishing may still occur. I use Starline brass too.
 

Sig556r

Active Member
Anyone got pet loads for RCBS 45-300-FN PC for 16" carbine gassed AR?
Got the usual RL7, 4198, 296, 1680, 5744 powders
Thanks
 

Ian

Notorious member
I don't, and if I did it probably wouldn't act the same in your rifle.

One issue with home-grown load data for the SOCOM is there are so many different chambers and loading dies out there that are not made to the Teppo-Jutsu/Tromix specifications, so data developed for one chamber may not be good data for another. Another thing you should be aware of in general is that internal case capacity, as affected by seating depth, is an absolutely critical factor to consider when copying or extrapolating data from existing published loads. Even a few thousandths difference in seating depths can have a drastic effect on pressure, and if you're pushing to the ceiling with your loads, it doesn't take much reduction in case capacity to really shove pressure over the top.

My advice is develop your own data based off of published stuff (Nosler and others have j-data readily available) and use a chronograph. Starline brass begins to get a nib on the headstamp from metal flowing into the ejector plunger hole in the bolt face at around 40K psi, which is the first sign you'll have of overpressure on the brass, and already above proof load pressure. Be careful and don't push your loads until you see any bolt imprint on the headstamp.

You will see around 5% decrease in PC cast velocity vs. J bullets with the same loads at the same pressures.