Rossi Rifleman

I have a 20" Rossi M92 El Jefe in 45 Colt. This thing has a very high fun factor!

I'm going to try a 230gr copper-plated HP pushed by 27.0 gr H110.

Has anyone tried something near it? The load is based on what I found on the Hodgdon site.

Steve

Welcome, I have no load data to give you but, I do look forward to any info
you may work up.

Retired wrote:I have a 20" Rossi M92 El Jefe in 45 Colt. This thing has a very high fun factor!

I'm going to try a 230gr copper-plated HP pushed by 27.0 gr H110.

Has anyone tried something near it? The load is based on what I found on the Hodgdon site.

Steve

I've loaded a lot of 45 Colt with cast bullets and 27 grains of H110 sounds like a lot. I ran QuickLoad with just generic 45 Colt and used cast bullets either side of 230 grains and both weights came out over the listed SAAMI max pressure. I'd approach that load from below and with caution.

Stay well, be safe, make smoke,

Yes, H110 load is the low end for 240 gr. Sierra jacketed bullet in Hodgdon online manual ... for T/C or Blackhawk handguns. The Rossi should be okay with this load, BUT i would work some ladder loads up from maybe 24 grains of H110. Remember, you'll already get a big velocity boost from the 20" tube and ya wouldn't want to overdo that with a plated boolit. That is a really thin plating.

Most of the plated boolitz don't have a suitable crimping cannelure either. Too much oomph and the recoil may start to seat the plated boolitz further into case, increasing chamber pressure, sometimes dramatically.

This is a good time to employ a chronograph in load development. I recall plated boolit manufacturers recommend holding velocities to 1,500 or 1,700 fps max to not compromise the thin plating. That is a bunch of game killing power already.

Just an additional thought, I don't think that's going to be a load for an afternoon of casual plinking and can busting.

Stay well, be safe, make smoke,

Top velocity recommendations and plating thickness often vary depending on the manufacture and expected use.

Xtreme has a blanket limit of 1500 FPS across the board.

Rainier no longer is in business but as I recall their plating on 45 caliber bullets was very thin.
I have pushed their 240 grain bullets with heavy loads of 2400 in .44 magnum both in handguns and rifles without noticing any issues.

Berry's Bullets specifically mention different top velocities on their website for each individual bullet type. Bullets that might be intended for use with magnums or rifles have higher velocities listed and are manufactured with thicker plating.

I don't think the maximum velocity is with regards to bullet length changes but is more with regard to the fact that plated bullets are often dead soft lead cores with a thin plating over them. Too much OOMPH and the initial start of the bullet down the rifling may exceed the strength of the lead and thin copper instead of starting the bullet spiraling down the grooves. This has the effect that the bullet is damaged, the gun is left full of lead and the bullet doesn't spin as expected. Nothing good, bad aerodynamic effect, a gun full of lead and your next bullet sees increased resistance from the fact that the grooves are full of chunks of the previous bullet. To some extent I think you CAN possibly cheat this max velocity a little with the rifles as long as you are exceeding it somewhat slowly. That is to say you might be able to get 1700 fps out of a max 1500 fps bullet given that it is going out of a rifle and would have been less than 1500 fps out of a handgun. BUT if you are trying to accelerate the bullet so quickly that the inertia of the bullet resists the engraving and spin to the point it basically breaks the structure of the bullet you are done. (As a side note, with traditional jacketed bullets, pushing a particularly light bullet that is lightly constructed at a fast velocity with a fast twist can cause the bullet to fail. For example pushing a 35 or 40 grain thin jacket bullet designed for use in a slow twist varmint gun out of a fast twist AR can lead to the bullet fragmenting before it reaches the target.)

The comment about cannelures is extremely relevant.
1) Heavy recoiling firearms, particularly handguns since they are often lighter than rifles, have been known to recoil quickly enough that bullets in loaded rounds in the weapon are pulled making them longer in the weapon. This doesn't have to be a magnum load, Bond Arms bullpup handgun in 9mm for example is known to completely pull the bullet out of 9mm ammunition that is not crimped and they have a list on their website and the manual of ammo that works vs. ammo known to have problems.
2) The tube feed of the lever actions has a lot of spring tension when fully loaded. I have even seen improperly manufactured factory ammo where the bullet has been pressed inside the case making the round much shorter after feeding through the gun. This can raise pressures to unsafe levels. Without a cannelure this can be a problem.
3) You can get the same effect of a shortened cartridge if the bullet hangs up on anything during feeding with the bolt pushing the cartridge case onto the bullet. I haven't seen much of this in a lever action but I have seen it with plated bullets in semi autos. My guess is that if this problem exists in levers it is already a problem with the mag tube spring tension before you get to the actual chambering.