BE and 185 Nosler - FLASHY

I've been trying some Bullseye and 185 Nosler JHP and my latest loads at 4.6gr with Rem 2 1/2 are super flashy. Accuracy at 25 yards is fairly good but I shoot indoors a lot and a flashy load is very noticeable/distracting. Bullseye produces excellent results with 200gr LSWC with minor flash so I'm surprised with the huge flash with the 185 JHP.

I've never found a 185 JHP load that was as good as the classic BE 200gr LSWC load. I have a Colt wad gun with Kart barrel and slide mounted Ultra Dot so I would expect the 185 JHP to perform but maybe I'm chasing unicorns. I've tried WST before in 230gr loads and BE beat it handily. Maybe it outperforms BE with the 185? I could get some N310 or N320 but I'd want to be sure it's going to give super results. I have played around a little bit with Clays/185 JHP and it works pretty well but not as good as BE and a 200 LSWC.

What do you think? I have 2K of the 185 Noslers (from long ago) so I'll have to shoot them up and I'd prefer to get good results.

WST and VV310 seem to be excellent loads for the 185.  But 4.6 is a tad stout.

bbmann wrote:I've been trying some Bullseye and 185 Nosler JHP and my latest loads at 4.6gr with Rem 2 1/2 are super flashy. Accuracy at 25 yards is fairly good but I shoot indoors a lot and a flashy load is very noticeable/distracting. Bullseye produces excellent results with 200gr LSWC with minor flash so I'm surprised with the huge flash with the 185 JHP.

I've never found a 185 JHP load that was as good as the classic BE 200gr LSWC load. I have a Colt wad gun with Kart barrel and slide mounted Ultra Dot so I would expect the 185 JHP to perform but maybe I'm chasing unicorns. I've tried WST before in 230gr loads and BE beat it handily. Maybe it outperforms BE with the 185? I could get some N310 or N320 but I'd want to be sure it's going to give super results. I have played around a little bit with Clays/185 JHP and it works pretty well but not as good as BE and a 200 LSWC.

What do you think? I have 2K of the 185 Noslers (from long ago) so I'll have to shoot them up and I'd prefer to get good results.

You're doing something wrong, the jhp outperforms the lswc any day of the week. Though many lswc or lswc-hp have proven to be accurate.

I use n310, but accurate bullseye loads are out there

Summer loads can go much lighter for 25 yards. Try 4.0 and 4.2. Though I will say that I noticed some flash I didn't remember last night indoors at 25 with 4.2 of BE.

My best 50yr load with Zero 185 JHP is with 4.5gr of Titegroup. The Nosler 185rg JHP is suppose to the same since Zero JHP is a close copy?

It is no surprise at all you have flashing.  You are loading too heavy.  Keep the BE under 4.2gn.  You have not listed any other dimensions, so you could be creating increased pressures by seating the bullet too deep or with too much crimp.  Simply changing to JHP increases pressures as the bullet is harder to drive. You can lower the load because you are at 25yds, even down to 3.8gn with JHP.

You also did not say why you liked lead, but you probably like it because it is easier to shoot with less drama and recoil.  The lead is easily deformed, has a smaller dimension, is naturally lubricious, and is coated in lube, so leaves the barrel easier and needs less powder to do it vs. JHP.  All this leads to noticeably softer shooting.  3.8gn of BE is plenty for 25yds behind 185-200gn lead.

Personally, I find that that loading with the Nosler bullet is super accurate at the long line (outdoors). I have tested it in a number of different guns from the machine rest and shoots very accurately. I personally think that the Nosler bullet is a waste for indoor shooting at 25 yds. or under. Why not just get a good lead bullet and use a reduced load that functions well in your pistol?

I agree that 4.6-grs of BE is unnecessarily stout with the execellent Zero HP 185 LSWC bullet. Try cutting back to 3.8 grs. and you'll realize great accuracy at 25 yards and reduced recoil (better for rapid fire). For 50 yards, try the Nosler or Zero 185gr JHP with 4.1 to 4.5 grs. of VV N310 (0.469 crimp and 1.20 OAL).  dipnet

Dipnet wrote:I agree that 4.6-grs of BE is unnecessarily stout with the execellent Zero HP 185 LSWC bullet. Try cutting back to 3.8 grs. and you'll realize great accuracy at 25 yards and reduced recoil (better for rapid fire). For 50 yards, try the Nosler or Zero 185gr JHP with 4.1 to 4.5 grs. of VV N310 (0.469 crimp and 1.20 OAL).  dipnet

The best 10 shot group I ever saw was shot with the Nosler 185 gr. JHP and 4.6 gr. of Alliant Bullseye from the Ransom Rest at 50 yards. It was a sub 1" group (all one hole). Dave Salyer, who in partnership with Al Doorman developed the "Marine Load" with the Nosler bullet. Until then, it was rare to hear of a bullseye pistol shooter using hollow point bullets. At the time, I was living in a small remote town on the Mexican Border. VV powder wasn't available to me. On the old Bullseye-L e-mail list I asked Dave Salyer about the load. Dave kindly wrote back and said that they tested different powders and told me that the Nosler with 4.5 grains of Alliant Bullseye was very close to the VV 310 loading. I stuck with that load and found out that it was super accurate with every good pistol I Ransom Rest tested. I even got sub 2" groups out of a couple of very well-worn accurized pistols, one being a Giles.

Lots of years ago, 4.3 VVN310 and 4.5 BE behind a Nosler 185gn JHP gave barely under and barely over 1" respectively, at 50 yards through my barrel, mounted in Dave Salyer's test fixture.  I must confess to not testing the Zero 185gn JPH I have subbed in place of the Noslers.  At 25 yards, I use 4.0 BE for both JHP (bigger matches) and lead (smaller events).