I have a Ruger Bisley with factory cylinder. I am wanting to develop a load that I can use for cougar. I plan to try a 270 grain Keith bullet. I am looking for a blend of excellent accuracy with high, yet safe velocity. So I am thinking of using H110. What would be a suggested maximum charge? Hogdon lists 23.5 grains as maximum with the Cast Performance 335 so with the lighter 270 grain bullet I am sure I could use more than that but not sure by how much. I know I do not need maximum velocity to kill a cougar but would like the flatter trajectory that will come with higher velocity. The vitals on a cougar are not very deep. Thanks for the help, Brian.

Hi Brian,

That's a good bullet and it will kill anything you ask of it, within reason.

Let me suggest a slightly alternate route to load development.

What you need is enough H110 to burn uniformly, regardless of the actual charge weight.

My experience with loading the .45 Colt for Ruger-level loads (say up to 30,000CUP) is that lot-to-lot variations in WW296 and H110 will mean you have to tune your loads a bit, there will be no one perfect charge weight for a particular bullet. Really, with those powders, 30,000CUP is just 'getting started', pressure-wise, and they don't burn real well much below that.

So..... get a chronograph! Use the data above as a starting point, and work up to between 1200fps and 1300fps. When you hit that velocity level, you should be in the range of where the powder is burning fairly uniformnly. The extreme spreads will tell the tale.

I know for a fact that my can of WW296 would need a pretty healthy dose for that light of a bullet.

Alternately, if the thought of this makes you uncomfortable, then I'd suggest going to a slightly faster powder, say Blue Dot, 2400, or perhaps AA#9, and then follow their load recommendations.

I'm sticking with 296 as I have a lot of it.

Last thought, if you don't want that much velocity, then you really will need to select another powder.

PM me or send me an email if you want to get more details, or this doesn't make sense to you.