Hornady 45gr HP/BEE

[grimmond]

If your pin is not stepped I could probably do it for you on my lathe.

[Rapier1772]

The die I have is one of the 1st dies Lee kicked out for this caliber. The seating plug looks like that, except it is only 1.7" long.

[500SWfan]

The die I have is one of the 1st dies Lee kicked out for this caliber. The seating plug looks like that, except it is only 1.7" long.

Mine is the same length as grimmond's. Well, if you want to invest in a newer set, now is the time. As I noted here (http://www.fivesevenforum.com/viewtopic ... 40#p218630" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), MidwayUSA just got them in stock. Lee must have just done a run of them, because Ammodepot shows 18 available now as well (http://catalog.ammodepot.com/itemdetail ... mber=90603" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).

Add: and Graf & Sons (http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/pro ... ctId/23847" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)...and Brownell's (http://www.brownells.com/reloading/relo ... %2028%20mm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), etc.

[Rapier1772]

Finally went out & tested the rounds I loaded. My truck's thermometer said it was 70F but it felt 80F - & that was at 730am :laugh:


Accurate 5 also had the best pattern (might just have been me) so it looks like that's what I will be using for the rest of these bullets.
There was some shoulder movement but not so much that I would be worried about the pressures. Primers were also ok.

I had one feeding issue, it was on the Accurate #7 loads. Gun was FsN with threaded barrel and 20lb recoil spring, did not test with a PS90.

[JollyRogers]

Awesome Rapier1772! Thanks for posting your results. :thumb:

After I got done loading for the evening, I test fit a 45grn HP/BEE using the Hornady die and there is no issue seating the BEE to the needed depth. So looks like I will be playing with these some pretty soon.

[Rapier1772]

I am curious if Grimmond's shorter case length would allow me to load without worrying about filing off the bur. But if I did that then I couldn't reuse the brass for any other load besides the BEEs. Well, I "could" but then the load data would be inconsistent with my established loads. It's an idea to toy with...

[grimmond]

I trim all of my cases to 1.130". I have not had any problems with regards to loading of different length bullets with this case length. These are some of the rounds that I load for and my OAL.
BULLET OAL
36gr Barnes HP Grenade = 1.565"
36gr EA Copper PFP = 1.580"
30gr CE HGHPA30 = 1.569"
40gr Nosler LF FB = 1.575"
40gr Hornady Zmax = 1.575"
40gr CE Raptor ESP = 1.604"
45gr HP Bee = 1.450"
45gr Barnes TSX = 1.596"
50gr Nosler BST-BT = 1.585"
50gr Horn Vmax Moly = 1.590"
53gr Barnes TSX = 1.580"
55gr Hornady FMJBT = 1.600"
55gr Nos Varmageddon = 1.600"
55gr Hornady GMX = 1.570"

[fd57]

grimmond,

Between us it looks like we're loading most every 30-55gr bullet for the 5.7x28mm cartridge. LOL To your list I add;
35gr Nosler Varmint
40gr Hornady VMax
40gr Nosler Varmageddon
40gr Sierra Varminter
40gr Berger Varmint
50gr Barnes TSX
50gr Barnes TTSX
50gr Barnes Varminator
50gr Hornady GMX
50gr Nosler Ballistic Silvertip
52gr Barnes Match

[JollyRogers]

I went with trim @1.35", COAL of 1.415", 5.9grn of Accurate #5, Win SRP. Shot a few and was happy with it, accuracy wise. Need to get a chronograph to get my FPS.

Thank you very much for sharing your load data & results!

[JollyRogers]

Some fun with these loads

(Sorry, no crony #s, no target pictures with grouping etc. Just having fun over the weekend with friends and BBQing!)

[grimmond]

Finally found a stash of 45gr Bee's to test and had the chance to run some tests this weekend. All were fired out of my FSN which has EA's threaded barrel w/ HD spring.

5.7gr True Blue Avg = 1816fps & SD = 11.66fps
6.0gr AA#5 Avg = 1728fps & SD = 26.25fps
6.0gr VVn105 Avg = 1678fps & SD = 14.24fps
6.0gr Blue Dot Avg = 1624fps & SD = 37.96fps

As a side note I also ran some tests with Hodgdon Lil Gun. I would strongly recommend to stay away from Lil Gun as a viable powder in this platform. It would only become viable in a bolt action platform.

[Rapier1772]

I didn't try 105 or BD, I think I have some though - I was hoping to run another test batch before loading up the rest maybe I'll give those a go?

[grimmond]

I am thinking of trying some of those loads again with Rem 7 1/2 and WSR to see what difference it might make in velocities and spread. Also I will try your trim and OAL with those primers and CCI400 to see if I can match your data and see what difference the other primers will have.

[tomjonesa22]

I saw a thread for the hornady bee 45 grain. I was wondering does anyone still use this bullet and if its worth to reload with?

[kmiles]

That is not one that I have used. It looks like it could be a little on the short side, and the "flat" tip could cause some feeding issues. The other difficulty I see is the flat base. It can be a little challenging getting flat base bullets to feed straight into the small case of the 5.7x28. If I had a box or two sitting around I would give them a shot, but not something I would seek out to purchase to try.

[Rapier1772]

(Merged with the BEE thread)

I loaded them but as kmiles said, they're a bit on the short side & your dies can cause problems. I have Lee dies & I had to trim my cases more than usual & turn my die down a bit more to get them to work. Once that was properly set they worked fine & fed through the FsN with no problems - I did not try feeding it through the PS90.

Personally, I do not recommend them simply due to the extra effort & resetting of the dies involved.

[Grantness]

http://www.fivesevenforum.com/viewtopic ... 65292VN105" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

45gr Hornady FB HP 218 Bee bullet crimped at the cannelure w/ seating die. Trim: 1.135" OAL: 1.400" Primer: CCI 400

7.5gr: avg: 1782.75 fps (excluding the outlier)
1777fps
1724fps
1766fps
1789fps
1799fps
7.6gr: avg: 1768 fps
1777fps
1787fps
1761fps
1749fps
1770fps
7.7gr: avg: 1776.75 fps (excluding the outlier)
1718 fps
1768 fps
1766 fps
1814 fps
1759 fps
7.8gr: 1776.8 fps
1756 fps
1770 fps
1775 fps
1789 fps
1794 fps
7.9gr: avg: 1761.4 fps
1742 fps
1796 fps
1740 fps
1770 fps
1759 fps
8.0gr: avg: 1778 fps
1770 fps
1766 fps
X
1787 fps
1789 fps
8.1gr: avg: 1793 fps (excluding the outlier)
1789 fps
1814 fps
1711 fps *lost primer. following round jams*
1777 fps
1792 fps

N105 is quite the unpredictable powder! 7.5 and 7.6gr had some stiff recoil and a bit of black smoke. The recoil and smoke diminished from 7.7-7.9gr...gradually increasing up to 8.1 where I lost a primer. Back when I tried N105 w/ the 45gr BBS, I noticed that I got higher velocities at a relatively low powder charge (compared to the max) and saw the results plain off or even drop as I went higher. I chalked it up to the extreme powder compression...but now, w/ the 218 Bee bullets...I got very similar results w/o any compression at all. Also of note is that the BBS was getting at least ~100fps more velocity for the same charges.

[Rapier1772]

Grant! It's about time you dropped in! What have you been up to? :cya:

[Grantness]

Moved to Virginia. Haven't been shooting for a while... Just starting to get back into it! :guns: .

[grimmond]

Grant I had the same results as you with every bullet I tried. I chalked it up to the relative burn rate and compression. Very few bullets actually scaled up like normal powders.