[Mikestebs]

Hey y’all, recently I started building a big bore AR in .458 socom, I’ve been buying my brass from the same guy for a while and he happened to give me some .458 socom cases, I’m having a hard time finding anything on trim length for these cases, starline says their cases come between 1.569-1.576, some of my cases don’t make the 1.569 mark after resizing and I’m trying to figure out what the shortest I can run them at without issues. The cases them selves look fine as far as stress signs go, id like to put them to good use if I can. Ive heard the socom can be tricky when it comes to this. I have a case gauge coming soon, I won’t chamber without it, also I have a pound of LiL gun, I’m gonna play around and work it up, but what loads have worked for you guys best? Bullets I’m shooting are Hornady FTX 325 grain. Hope you guys can help!!!

 

[Strawdawg]

Mike, I would not worry about the cases that are a bit shorter. It's pretty common and in my experience, I have not really seen enuf case growth to require any case trimming yet. These cases can be used multiple times unless severely abused.

I have been using Lil Gun but it is very temperature sensitive and I think the pressure curve has a tendency to suddenly have a knee in it and it can be dangerous. I think I am going to H110 next go round as it seems to be a lot more stable. I think my last load was 28.8 gr of Lil Gun with 325 ftxs n warmer weather but not necessarily hot weather.

Remember this is a LOW pressure load. Don't try to push it. It does not need it.

Altho I suspect Big Bore will drop in and offer his thoughts, I am going to go ahead and strongly suggest you register on the 458socomforums. You have to send the admin an email requesting membership. They do this to minimize spamming. there is a ton of reloading info, etc there. Big Bore has a lot of info in stickies, etc. and his comments are gold as far as I am concerned.

 

[Mikestebs]

Steve,

thanks for the reply and information, I have heard good things and bad things about lil gun, I’m guessing it’s sensitive to cold weather? I’m located in upstate NY and it’s not exactly warm right now. Also, I probably shouldn’t be using magnum primers then with it either I’m guessing as well?

lil gun was the only thing available right now for me, would like to get some 110 if I could get my hands on it but it ain’t gonna be easy. Haha

 

[Strawdawg]

No, it's sensitive to heat...it really jumps up. I believe the gentleman that gave me a lot of of info lives up in Alaska and he was using 30 gr. Anyway, I used 28.8 Lil Gun as I said at 2.26" oal. Velocities averaged 1725 fps and that was in May so I guess the temps were close to 90 degs. I did not mark that down. That was CCI 350 on the primers.

Right now, I wish I had bought a lot more powder...and primers, etc. I guess 90% of us are in the same boat.

 

[PostalBound]

You might want to try AA2200. I shoot it all the time in 6.8 so I had several lbs. My tromix 458 likes it as well. I used lil gun but it seems a little harsh to me. Plus ... I can't stand the way it smells ! Reloader7 or AA2200 are my go-to for 458 now.

 

[Mikestebs]

You might want to try AA2200. I shoot it all the time in 6.8 so I had several lbs. My tromix 458 likes it as well. I used lil gun but it seems a little harsh to me. Plus ... I can't stand the way it smells ! Reloader7 or AA2200 are my go-to for 458 now.
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No, it's sensitive to heat...it really jumps up. I believe the gentleman that gave me a lot of of info lives up in Alaska and he was using 30 gr. Anyway, I used 28.8 Lil Gun as I said at 2.26" oal. Velocities averaged 1725 fps and that was in May so I guess the temps were close to 90 degs. I did not mark that down. That was CCI 350 on the primers.

Right now, I wish I had bought a lot more powder...and primers, etc. I guess 90% of us are in the same boat.

you aren't kidding Steve, I just hope there will be an end to this madness.

 

[Mikestebs]

You might want to try AA2200. I shoot it all the time in 6.8 so I had several lbs. My tromix 458 likes it as well. I used lil gun but it seems a little harsh to me. Plus ... I can't stand the way it smells ! Reloader7 or AA2200 are my go-to for 458 now.

Thanks for the info!! I'll see if I can get my hands on some A2200 or some h110 here going forward. For now I'm kinda stuck with this pound of lil gun.

 

[Ncbowhnter]

I use h110 in my 16" tromix barrel with 325gr ftx. Stupid accurate. I can look for my load recipe if u want. I wouldn't worry too much about the case length. As long as its close to published data

 

[Mikestebs]

I use h110 in my 16" tromix barrel with 325gr ftx. Stupid accurate. I can look for my load recipe if u want. I wouldn't worry too much about the case length. As long as its close to published data

Thanks! Yeah I would really appreciate that, gonna try and get my hands on some 110 although I'm doubting I'll be able to find it right away. Hey I can always buy it on gunbroker for 110 dollars a pound ? and it's funny you can only really find like 1 reference of a case range on the internet, I really couldn't find much about it at all. Usually just a maximum, anyways after I sized them up they're coming in around the 1.570 range which I think is within parameters thankfully, skin of their teeth though.

 

[Ncbowhnter]

1.570 is good. U probably will never have to trim them. My load for H110 is 31gr. CCI350, Starline brass. COAL is 2.14. Puts me around 1756fps. THIS IS MY LOAD SO WORK YOUR OWN LOAD SAFELY. I got most of my info from Teppo Jutsu : Advanced Firearms Applications
And rhe 458socomforum is a must

I believe his max for H110 with the 325ftx was around 31-32 grains but I cannot find the info for it anymore. I'm sure its in the house somewhere. I also use H110 for subsonic. I believe it was around 17gr loaded to max length to fit in the mag. 500gr maker bullets. I wish I could get my hands on some more of those. Also shot really well.

 

[Mikestebs]

No, it's sensitive to heat...it really jumps up. I believe the gentleman that gave me a lot of of info lives up in Alaska and he was using 30 gr. Anyway, I used 28.8 Lil Gun as I said at 2.26" oal. Velocities averaged 1725 fps and that was in May so I guess the temps were close to 90 degs. I did not mark that down. That was CCI 350 on the primers.

Right now, I wish I had bought a lot more powder...and primers, etc. I guess 90% of us are in the same boat.

Steve, you sure your OAL was 2.26? Maybe I got the wrong bullets my cannelure is .142 above the beginning of the neck, looks weird

 

[Ncbowhnter]

Steve, you sure your OAL was 2.26? Maybe I got the wrong bullets my cannelure is .142 above the beginning of the neck, looks weird

That's why mine are 2.14 coal. I replicated some factory ammo that I had that was shooting really well. Seat them to the cannelure and u should be really close to the same number. What kind of barrel do u have?

 

[Strawdawg]

Yep, mine is much more accurate at that length. I started shorter but increased it after discussion with board members

 

[Mikestebs]

Steve, you sure your OAL was 2.26? Maybe I got the wrong bullets my cannelure is .142 above the beginning of the neck, looks weird

That's why mine are 2.14 coal. I replicated some factory ammo that I had that was shooting really well. Seat them to the cannelure and u should be really close to the same number. What kind of barrel do u have?

I got a barrel + gas system from omega tactical, hopefully it's ok it wasn't the most expensive. it's a 16" 1-14t 4150 cmv heavy barrel- it was a spontaneous buy, couldn't turn down the deal honestly. Got a tromix bcg

 

[Strawdawg]

I don't anything about Omega Tactical. Be sure your upper is modded for .458 🙂

 

[Mikestebs]

I don't anything about Omega Tactical. Be sure your upper is modded for .458 ?

Not many left but I did grab a big bore upper from MOA customs. I don't know anything about omega tactical either, but giving it a shot, American made.

 

[Mikestebs]

Not many left but I did grab a big bore upper from MOA customs. I don't know anything about omega tactical either, but giving it a shot, American made.

Maybe I made a mistake by not going with a tromix barrel, time will tell.

 

[Mikestebs]

That's why mine are 2.14 coal. I replicated some factory ammo that I had that was shooting really well. Seat them to the cannelure and u should be really close to the same number. What kind of barrel do u have?

I've seated it to almost 2.14 COAL, seems like the powder is pretty packed in there now, has a little space but not much, should I be concerned about this?

 

[Strawdawg]

Assuming the gun has the correct chamber, no. As I suggested early on, go to the 458socomforums board. There is a section dedicated to reloading. People have used used around 2.14 up to full mag length like me. At 2.26" mine was not in the lands yet and it shot more accurately.

The original suggested loads for the 325ftx bullet were at 2.14" according to one of the charts.

 

[Mikestebs]

Assuming the gun has the correct chamber, no. As I suggested early on, go to the 458socomforums board. There is a section dedicated to reloading. People have used used around 2.14 up to full mag length like me. At 2.26" mine was not in the lands yet and it shot more accurately.

The original suggested loads for the 325ftx bullet were at 2.14" according to one of the charts.

Thanks, unfortunately there's a registration issue with that forum right now.