185 & 200 Lehigh in 45
Jun 19, 2009 15:08:41 GMT -5
Post by Chris Champion on Jun 19, 2009 15:08:41 GMT -5
First off I want to thank Grouse for sending me a box of Lehigh bullets to test. I received 20 each of the 200g and the new 185g bullets. Below is a pic of the bullets. In each instance the 185 is on the left and is slightly shorter than the 200. Sorry for the quality of the pic. My digital camera is on the fritz so I took these with my phone. Pictures don't do them justice. The fine craftmanship and machining is evident.
There has been some impressive groups posted with the Lehigh bullets and I wanted to see how the 185 & 200g versions liked a little more speed than what the BH209 shooters are able to muster. These bullets have a gaping hollow point in the shape of a hex. The hollow point runs nearly half the total length of the bullet. I weighed 10 bullets each and the weights averaged 184.8 and 199.7 respectively. With about a 0.4 grain variance between high and low in both instances. They also have an extremely flat base.
I had planned on shooting both of these bullets with proven loads that shoot very well with both the 200 SST and the 195 Barnes. I started out with 58g of H4198, 68g of H322, and one new one...a duplex of 12/48 N110/H322. It was cloudy and temp was about 70* with no wind. All bullets were shot with Harvester light blue sabots shown in the above pic. I planned on shooting at 100 & 200 yds.
I started out with the 58g H4198 load @ 100 yds. This load has shot apx 2600 fps with both the 200 SST and 195 Barnes in similar temps. My first two shots were only in the 2100 fps range and I couldn't find the holes in the target. I shot one more (< 2000 fps) and then walked down and saw this:
One of the shots missed completely and the other two hit the cardboard sideways. I was very surprised. I have shot nearly 1000 total smokeless loads out of my 50 cal and now my 45 in the last 3 years and have never found a blown sabot or had a bullet keyhole the target.
So I measured out a few vials of 56g H4198 and tried that with the 200g. I also put a very light knurl on the bullets with a couple of files. Same results. First two shots missed the target board and speed for both was under 1800 fps. I was waiting 5-7 minutes between shots. I have shot both the 200 SST & 195 Barnes in similar temps with only 5 minutes wait between shots and never blew a sabot.
I switched to the 185g Lehigh and 56g H4198 load and shot these two groups. Nothing to beat your chest about but the velocity and POI was consistent. Velocity was a little higher than I expected.
I tried the 68g H322 load and velocity was in the 2680-2720 fps range and both 100 yd groups were about about 2.5" No pic of this one. Again I was waiting about 5-7 min between shots. I never blew a sabot shooting the 185g Lehigh regardless of the load I shot.
I then tried the 12/48 duplex with the 200g. The first two shots missed the target board again and speeds were 2250 and 1456 respectively. I did not shoot any more of the 200g bullets after this. I never got a 200g bullet to shoot without blowing a sabot and the only ones that hit the target board keyholed.
I tried this same duplex with the 185g Lehigh and velocity was in the 2690 fps range but the group was nothing to write home about. Again about 2.5"
I did not attempt any 200 yd shooting.
In between groups I walked through the yard and recovered all sabots, or what was left of them:
I also shot some new handloads a buddy made up for my dad's 30-06 and shot a couple of sub 1" 100 yd groups with those so I don't think I was having an off day behind the trigger. Maybe the Lehigh's just don't like to go fast.
There has been some impressive groups posted with the Lehigh bullets and I wanted to see how the 185 & 200g versions liked a little more speed than what the BH209 shooters are able to muster. These bullets have a gaping hollow point in the shape of a hex. The hollow point runs nearly half the total length of the bullet. I weighed 10 bullets each and the weights averaged 184.8 and 199.7 respectively. With about a 0.4 grain variance between high and low in both instances. They also have an extremely flat base.
I had planned on shooting both of these bullets with proven loads that shoot very well with both the 200 SST and the 195 Barnes. I started out with 58g of H4198, 68g of H322, and one new one...a duplex of 12/48 N110/H322. It was cloudy and temp was about 70* with no wind. All bullets were shot with Harvester light blue sabots shown in the above pic. I planned on shooting at 100 & 200 yds.
I started out with the 58g H4198 load @ 100 yds. This load has shot apx 2600 fps with both the 200 SST and 195 Barnes in similar temps. My first two shots were only in the 2100 fps range and I couldn't find the holes in the target. I shot one more (< 2000 fps) and then walked down and saw this:
One of the shots missed completely and the other two hit the cardboard sideways. I was very surprised. I have shot nearly 1000 total smokeless loads out of my 50 cal and now my 45 in the last 3 years and have never found a blown sabot or had a bullet keyhole the target.
So I measured out a few vials of 56g H4198 and tried that with the 200g. I also put a very light knurl on the bullets with a couple of files. Same results. First two shots missed the target board and speed for both was under 1800 fps. I was waiting 5-7 minutes between shots. I have shot both the 200 SST & 195 Barnes in similar temps with only 5 minutes wait between shots and never blew a sabot.
I switched to the 185g Lehigh and 56g H4198 load and shot these two groups. Nothing to beat your chest about but the velocity and POI was consistent. Velocity was a little higher than I expected.
I tried the 68g H322 load and velocity was in the 2680-2720 fps range and both 100 yd groups were about about 2.5" No pic of this one. Again I was waiting about 5-7 min between shots. I never blew a sabot shooting the 185g Lehigh regardless of the load I shot.
I then tried the 12/48 duplex with the 200g. The first two shots missed the target board again and speeds were 2250 and 1456 respectively. I did not shoot any more of the 200g bullets after this. I never got a 200g bullet to shoot without blowing a sabot and the only ones that hit the target board keyholed.
I tried this same duplex with the 185g Lehigh and velocity was in the 2690 fps range but the group was nothing to write home about. Again about 2.5"
I did not attempt any 200 yd shooting.
In between groups I walked through the yard and recovered all sabots, or what was left of them:
I also shot some new handloads a buddy made up for my dad's 30-06 and shot a couple of sub 1" 100 yd groups with those so I don't think I was having an off day behind the trigger. Maybe the Lehigh's just don't like to go fast.
