A New Bullet For the 480 Achilles

[JimT]

My friend John Killebrew (KDM LLC) has designed a new bullet for the 480 Achilles. He was kind enough to send me about 10 pounds of them!

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The bullet has a large meplat, deep grease grooves and a crimp groove in the heel. The meplat is not quite as large as the original Bittner bullet but it is plenty large and will work just fine on game. The original bullet has pretty shallow grease grooves and does not have the crimp groove in the heel.

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Left = the Bittner bullet Right = the Killebrew bullet

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The 3 bullets we have for the 480 Achilles .. Left = Bittner bullet, Center = Huffaker bullet (Round Nose, Hollow Base, Heel with crimp groove), Right = Killebrew bullet
All 3 run right around 290 grains.

Standard loads run between 750 fps to 900 fps.

[GunnyMack]

That looks like the best of both worlds! Curious to see how well they shoot.

Does KDM LLC make moulds ? If so does he have a website?

[JimT]

Does KDM LLC make moulds ? If so does he have a website?

No. He makes suppressors and suppressed firearms ... like the Ruger 10 22 with a built in suppressor .. etc,

http://kdmcans.com/

[GunnyMack]

Ah gotcha!

[Ray]

Small world.....

I picked up about 3 dozen .480 bullets of various head stamps yesterday at the range.....

7/8" lengths of 1/2" glue sticks to tie the case and bullet together, primer of choice, and 4gr. unique.

Jim, you're the only person reading this who will understand. After all, I got the idea from you.

When I get a chance I'll post a photo for everybody else.

[AJMD429]

Small world.....

I picked up about 3 dozen .480 bullets of various head stamps yesterday at the range.....

7/8" lengths of 1/2" glue sticks to tie the case and bullet together, primer of choice, and 4gr. unique.

Jim, you're the only person reading this who will understand. After all, I got the idea from you.

When I get a chance I'll post a photo for everybody else.

I gotta go on Ammoguide.com and see what cartridge cases have a 0.480" rim diameter....

AmmoGuide Cartridge Search Tool.png

....am I close....????

I really like AmmoGuide....

[JimT]

Small world.....

I picked up about 3 dozen .480 bullets of various head stamps yesterday at the range.....

7/8" lengths of 1/2" glue sticks to tie the case and bullet together, primer of choice, and 4gr. unique.

Jim, you're the only person reading this who will understand. After all, I got the idea from you.

When I get a chance I'll post a photo for everybody else.

Sounds like fun!

[Ray]

Yes, those are viable, loaded .480 achilles cartridges.....

Cylinder is currently loaded with .490"s squeezed in from the front & propelled by blanks of 20gr. fff....

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[JimT]

I have shot a lot of 45 ACP cartridges as bullets .. but in the .475 Linebaugh. Never have loaded them in the 480 ... though you have given me some ideas. Your solution to be able to load them base first is a good one.

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.475 Linebaugh with .45 ACP "bullet" .. velocity on these was about 1700 fps.

[Bill in Oregon]

This .480 Achilles business sure is intriguing! Jim, have you had a chance to shoot the Killebrew slug yet?

[JimT]

This .480 Achilles business sure is intriguing! Jim, have you had a chance to shoot the Killebrew slug yet?

No sir. Just received them yesterday. The weather is cold and rainy. In my old age I have become a Fair Weather Shooter. When I was younger I would've been out there!

[Nath]

I remember reading of the 480A years ago Jim. Never forgot it.

[Ray]

I have shot a lot of 45 ACP cartridges as bullets .. but in the .475 Linebaugh. Never have loaded them in the 480 ... though you have given me some ideas. Your solution to be able to load them base first is a good one.

The 1/2" glue stick is just a nominal size. They fit readily into a .45 case. A .440" ball glued into the bottom of the acp case and a length of glue stick to tie the two cases together gives you approximately 128gr. + 90gr. + the weight of the glue stick.....

The cartridges shown in the above photo are tied together with a 230gr. lead bullet and a bit of glue.....if memory serves, 12 to 13gr. 2400.....

[Ray]

B.T.W. The brass i started with was magtech with a heavy cannelure. I had no choice where to cut so my achilles brass is a bit short. You might have to trim something with a mind to o.a.l. Or use g.a.p. brass for bullets

[JimT]

B.T.W. The brass i started with was magtech with a heavy cannelure. I had no choice where to cut so my achilles brass is a bit short. You might have to trim something with a mind to o.a.l. Or use g.a.p. brass for bullets

I made some brass from .45 Schofield cases, only to realize later they require a different size shell holder!

We made bullets early on by bumping up 45 bullets and by turning down 50 caliber bullets. They shot. Nothing to write home about but it proved the gun would work..