Alex Henry, New South Wales Police 577-450

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Last Post 22 June 2009

Standard Member

LoLo25643 posted this 01 April 2008

Howdy ya'll, One my my friends just got this little carbine a couple of months ago and we just got around to rounding up a few cases and trying it out. He said that the bore slugged around .464” so he loaded up some paper patched Lyman 457193 bullets for a starter using a charge of XMP5744. The few loads that we had clocked around 1,000 fps. I forgot what the charge weight was. I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on loading this big bugger. Here's a couple of pics of the carbine and loads.

It shot into about 3” at 50 yards and functioned fine. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks,

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CBA Member

NORMSUTTON posted this 22 June 2009

C .B. E. bullet mould 465-480 I got my long awaited mould from JIM today

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CBA Member

NORMSUTTON posted this 26 May 2009

LoLo if he is real careful he can do it with just the sizing die this how I did the first box of brass , http:/s.gunboards.com/showthread.php?t=93784 then I got a die, also http://www.ch4d.com/>http://www.ch4d.com/ has some nice dies a little cheaper than RCBS, give them a call NORM

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Standard Member

LoLo25643 posted this 26 May 2009

Thanks for that information Norm. I'll make sure my buddy gets this. If I'm not mistaken he got hold of some of the shotshell brass but has not made or come up with a die to neck it down yet.

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CBA Member

NORMSUTTON posted this 26 May 2009

LoLo for the last 4 or 5 month's I have been loading the 577/450 for one my Martini Henry's I use 24 gauge Magtech brass shotshells to form my brass and large rifle primers in them, I also use this bullet http://www.castbulletengineering.bigpondhosting.com/>http://www.castbulletengineering.bigpondhosting.com ) http://www.martinihenry.com/images/drawn.gif>http://www.martinihenry.com/images/drawn.gif best group to date is 45 grans of H 4895 not 85 grns 1F black powder

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Standard Member

LoLo25643 posted this 26 May 2008

Sure did Jeff, I took over and left it with my friend day before yesterday. Some good stuff written up in that article and was glad to see it. Looks like being a member here is really paying off with some good information.:D

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Standard Member

JeffinNZ posted this 26 May 2008

That's a LOVELY wee rifle but my God, I bet it leaps around when you drop the hammer!

Have you seen the very informative article in the Fouling Shot this issue on loading the .577/450? The author picks up on what most shooters miss. The rifles for this round don't have .457-458 grooves. They run into the .470's. Worth a read.

Jim at CBE in Australia makes moulds specifically for the .577/450.

Cheers from New Zealand

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Standard Member

LoLo25643 posted this 24 May 2008

Thanks for the tip 30-30. That possibility never entered my mind until you brought it up. We'll look into this further.:D

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Standard Member

30-30 Wesson posted this 24 May 2008

LoLo, Hi.

A few years ago I modified some .577/.450 cases for a mate of mine. He had made them from .50 BMG cases, of all things, and the primer pockets were way too large of course. I machined the pockets to take .30-30 case heads and silver soldered them in place. He could then prime them easily and had no problems with the conversion.

He was using an original mould for the bullet and 85g of black. Shooting them from an original M-H rifle with a mint Henry bore. It shot really well and he had alot of fun. He is dead now and the rifle is gone but I still have one of the modified cases in my collection.

This information may help you with your priming problems.

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CBA Veteran

Scott Merchant posted this 02 April 2008

LoLo25643

Now thats a nice rack of guns, enjoyed the pic's Thanks Scott

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Standard Member

LoLo25643 posted this 01 April 2008

Thanks for the tip on the mold Scott. Since we only have a limited amount of the larger berdan primers were looking for some good brass at the moment. I have around 10,000 of the PMC .217 berdans but only a couple of hundred of the larger size. It would be nice to find some boxer primed stuff and know that it would a little expensive but think it's worth it to be able to bring life back in to these old ones. I'll look in to that mold and thank's for the reply.

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Standard Member

LoLo25643 posted this 01 April 2008

Scott, I'm afraid I didn't take many good pictures the other day but here is a couple of more.

He just got another rifle chambered in the 577-450 today in a Martini Henry so were probably going to be playing with these a good bit over the summer.

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CBA Veteran

Scott Merchant posted this 01 April 2008

LoLo25643

Just had a thought LEE makes a 405 hollow base mould. Spence Wolf was the one that designed it years ago for the Trapdoor. When he died LEE made it a catalog Item. But any way back to the 450/577 cast out of pure alloys 1 part Tin to at least 25 parts lead it should drop out of the mould at around .461. This should expand up to fill the bore like it was meant to on over sized Trapdoors. How this helps

Scott