[PRIMO1]

Hi - I'm considering buying a British Bulldog revolver, allegedly chambered in 450 Adams (I haven't seen it yet).

Assuming it's an actual Webley, and not a Belgian copy of some kind - can I use the Fiocchi 450 Corto ammo in it?
If not, is there a custom ammo maker you can recommend - or are there other types of vintage ammo I should be searching for?

i don't plan on firing it much, but generally only collect guns I can shoot once or twice annually.

Thanks very much for the advice. Best - MP

 

[hrf]

Don't use the Fiocchi .450 ammo in your Webley Bull Dog. Some lots were badly overloaded, and no record of lot numbers to identify them:

http://www.phelbs.com/HRFTX/WARNING.htm

 

[PRIMO1]

Actually the plot thickens. It's not a Webley, but a Belgian version.

Seller claims it's a WWII bringback, and that he has shot a box of Fiocchi through it previously (doesn't mean I will).

I'm going to look at it tomorrow.

 

[[email protected]]

He very well might have shot Fiocchis in it. The problem is that no one knows which lots were OK and which were loaded too hot. I have a Ruger in .45 Colt in which I test Fiocchi .450s. One of out 8 boxes were too hot. I pulled the bullets in that box and reloaded them to normally velocities.

 

[revelation1911]

He very well might have shot Fiocchis in it. The problem is that no one knows which lots were OK and which were loaded too hot. I have a Ruger in .45 Colt in which I test Fiocchi .450s. One of out 8 boxes were too hot. I pulled the bullets in that box and reloaded them to normally velocities.

How can you tell it's to hot??

 

[PRIMO1]

How can you tell it's to hot??

Chronograph, I'm guessing.

 

[[email protected]]

When a load should be 600fps and is 865, you know its too hot. I have a pressure gun, but I didn't want to go to the bother of chambering an insert barrel.

 

[Hawkins]

I have only reloaded a few 450's. with the remington hollow base 200 gr 4 gr of P38 gave 752 fps (too hot).
With 13.5 GR of FFG Black the velocity was only 435 fps. I have been told that Magnum primers would help.
The black powder was a compressed load asnd just above the speed where bullets stick in the barrel.
If you are going to load thes things get a chrony or some reliable data first.

 

[RpR]

Are you speaking of a kaboom too hot, frame stretching too hot, or just hotter than you prefer?

I have never had a kaboom but know people who have, and it is the destruction of the firearm that causes the grief. The chance of the shooter being injured are very slight, unlike a rifle one would have to have very bad misfortune to be injured BUT depending on the firearm, the loss of said same can cause mild to extreme misery.

 

[John Sukey In Memoriam]

How can you tell it it's too hot? When the top of your cylinder goes into low earth orbit

 

[45Auto]

One trick is to examine the fired primer. If it's too flat, or the metal is bulging back into the firing pin hole it's too hot.

 

[PJGP]

One trick is to examine the fired primer. If it's too flat, or the metal is bulging back into the firing pin hole it's too hot.

It is a common and dangerous myth that you can gauge pressure by such signs. Consider that the same small pistol primer is used in the low pressure 38 S&W and the high pressure 357 Magnum; does the primer know which cartridge it is in? Flattened primers, in an old revolver in particular, are a sign of excessive headspace and likewise flowback into the firing pin hole points to an overlarge hole. A Bulldog is an old, low tech metalurgy, and low pressure black powder beast. You should really not be using nitro powder loads at all.

Peter

 

[Hawkins]

A pistol that is made for 10,000 psi will be dangerous if the primers are flattened. In a rifle that is
somthing like 65,000 + psi. If you want to hot-rod a pistol please don't destroy a relic.