Ok Hooked AND Gaffed on Plain Base Bullets

[quicksylver]

So I finally made enough 314299 Plain Base bullets to fool around with.

I believe I posted a picture of my first and second tries with the 299PB,
Red Dot and Universal.

I've posted them again.

This morning I was able to get to the range and try some more.

Well I guess the pictures speak for themselves.

I was using the recently acquired Bubbaed Rock Island 1903 with a 10x Lyman,
HS 4 grove barrel.

The original 8 gr Universal load showed promise so I tried 2 grs either side.

Guess which one was better.

So why am I wasting gas checks and powder on the 407 Mods?

I am going to try these loads in a real gun ( my 1903A3 A4 clone) and see what I get!

 

[Ben]

Ummm, I think you're having way too much fun.

I hope you won't hit a bad streak like I do sometime and walk down to the target and it looks like someone shot it with buckshot.

Great Shooting with your plain base bullets,

Ben

 

[quicksylver]

Ben I believe I had a combination of the good, bad and ugly today.

The 407's should have done a lot better.

I do have those bad streaks when nothing will go right, fortunately I have learned to shoot through them.

Just a mater of getting back to basics.

Oh and thanks for the kind words.

Did not think I could shoot 32-40 type bullets out of my '06's,
I feel like a kid again!

Amazing cartridge that 'o6

 

[Ben]

Not certain if I understand exactly what your question is ?

If the 32-40 question is about a .321 bullet, I'd say now.( It will never chamber )

If the question is about a 32-40 " style " plain base cast bullet that is sizing well to .312" or .311", definitely yes.

Ben

 

[quicksylver]

Actually Ben what I was thinking, was back in our youth when 32 - 20 and 32 - 40 and most single shot rifles were a dime a dozen.Had a lot of fun shooting them and this is going back to those times. Sure wish I had all those hi walls and low walls now.

 

[35 shooter]

This made me stop and think a moment about all my 35 whelen loads. It strikes me kind of funny after 2 1/2 years of load developement in that one rifle, that 12 gr. of unique in that huge case behind a 280 gr. plain base bullet is the single most accurate load i have.

It barely makes 1275 fps., but i wonder how many deer you would have to line up to stop it?
Yep, hooked and gaffed describes it very well lol!

 

[quicksylver]

Hey 35 ....Just had a flashback.
I can remember my friends and I lining up behind the shooter and when the light was just right you could see the bullet go down range !
Those were the days !

 

[smokeywolf]

12 grains of Unique under a 385 grain PB Ideal bullet in a 45-70 cartridge shot out of a Model '73 Trapdoor is pretty dog-gone accurate out to and sometimes beyond 200 yards.

 

[35 shooter]

Another thing i like about shooting the lighter plain base loads is i can hear the bullet hit the target most of the time at 100 yds. That bit of lag time forces you to maintain a good follow through at the shot, so it's great practice time for honing your shooting technique from the bench.

I love shooting full power loads at the range first, then switch to some light pb loads. Invariably after hearing that 35 roar with the hotter loads, when i shoot the pb's someone will come running over to tell me to stop shooting and check the bore.....that last shot didn't sound right.

 

[Ben]

Buddy,

So many " experts " at the range that always want to help, right ?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A man came walking by my bench at the range a few years ago.
He saw an opened box of 50 rds. of 30-06 all with cast bullets ( of course ! ! )

He said, " Oh no, you're about to ruin your barrel."
I said, " Oh really, how is that going to happen ? "

He said, " When you finish firing those, you won't even be able to see the rifling in the barrel, it will take you weeks to get all the lead out of the barrel."

I asked him if he had a few minutes, he said yes.
I fired all of the 50 rounds over a 30 min. period. He sat and looked through my spotting scope while I shot very tight 5 shot groups.
When finished, he asked ( with a cynical tone in this voice ) " What does the bore look like now ? "
I removed the bolt from my Springfield and allowed him a peak.
We pushed 1 clean , dry, white cotton patch with no oil, no cleaning solvent , through the bore.
Spotless...............................Mirror Bright.
His reply as he walked off was ......." Umm, you're doing something different than everyone else isn't ."

Silently in my mind, I thought......." I certainly hope so."

Good Shooting,
Ben

 

[Maven]

"So many 'experts' at the range that always want to help, right?" ...Ben

I heard that very thing before, Ben. There's an almost limitless supply of those with little experience, but lots of "knowledge."

 

[35 shooter]

Lol i've had the same thing happen before. A guy told me i was ruining my bbl. shooting that "stuff".
I had fired about 30 rounds, so i ran a patch through the bore and showed it to him.I also let him look down the bore and as he handed the rifle back to me he said "well the lead is still there whether you can see it or not, your ruining your bbl." ??????

 

[Ian]

If someone runs over and yells a ceasefire right after you switched to and touched off a light load, shake their hand and thank them profusely! Then explain yourself. If you were a doofus, they might have saved your butt, and might save the next doofus' butt. They don't know what you did until you tell them.

The "tacticool training" that so many like to practice at the public ranges, with cheap ammo or poorly assembled reloads, can be disastrous. I've actually witnessed a "Click....tap-rack-KABLOOOOEEEY". No powder, primer popped the bullet into the barrel just enough to let the next one chamber, you know the rest of the story. Dude was doing what he'd trained to do and didn't pause to see what happened or notice the ejected case that didn't fire no longer contained a bullet. I say if you aren't in a class or actual gunfight, be careful with that stuff.

 

[35 shooter]

Ian i agree...as that pop instead of a roar could be trouble...i don't blame folks for checking, that wasn't my point.
What i find amusing are the looks i get from them sometimes when i explain what i'm doing, or the questions of why bother developing a load like that. Seems like reduced loads in a big rifle is a foreign concept to most where i live.
I've completely given up on trying to explain the dual concept of small and big game in the same rifle to most.
Sometimes though, it turns into a good conversation and you see the light bulb go on in their head and they see the sense of it....plus the fun factor. At that point i'm usually asked if i have a few extra rounds.

 

[Ian]

You ought to see the expressions on their faces at a crowded range when I shoot full-house paper-patched bullets out of my .270 Winchester!

 

[35 shooter]

Paper patching is an endeavor i have yet to try with cast...maybe one day. I would at least like to learn the technique. I can imagine it creates quite a stir at the range. Hey ya'll, this guys shooting some of those quigley down under loads lol!

Uh what was this thread about again? Sorry for the drift Quicksylver.

 

[quicksylver]

FUN ! It is about FUN !

I have been busy at the range the last couple of days and have a lot of stuff to report.

This plain base thing is amazing, I shot some of my plain base with BLL alone wait till you see the results.

And the above statements are true, I now have a bunch of 300 BLK shooters watching me !

The Bang, one, two, t-i-n-g when the bullet hits the backstop is really making them crazy, lots of laughs.

Buts it is the accuracy that is impressing me !

Pictures and reports next couple of days. Dan S.

 

[Ben]

Looking forward to seeing your photos ! !

Ben

 

[35 shooter]

Can't wait for the results...especially the BLL results!

 

[quicksylver]

OK Let' s see if I can do this in an orderly fashion. I am NO Ben.
And I will admit NO GOOD shooting with a scope, so please keep that in mind.

First of all I guess we know I only have one plain base mold, a NOE 314299.
( See picture, note back ground)

I have been casting them with range pick up (commercial bullets only and free) and 1% Pewter,
I can splurge on the pewter because an old scrounger friend drops it by ( 21#'s so far)

Air cooled sized .311 through a Lee sizer, lubed with Bac and rolled in BLL.

I should add that when lubing I use a .314 Lyman die in a 450 LS.

Another note the first test rounds were with FC cases and I used a .308 expander plug from NOE.

The powder and weight I have been using is 7.8 grs of either Universal Clays or Red Dot,
(8#'s of Red Dot was a gift from an old friend who gave up Trap).
I have 12# +/- of Universal so I used that.

At first I was using Win. LR primers but I have found that CCI LP work for me much better.

The rig I have been mainly using is a Bubbaed 1903 Rock Island Springfield with a 10X Lyman,
the barrel is a VERY good HS four groove.

I guess that covers the basics.

Now Saturday I took 20 rounds to the range primarily to sight in the scope and see if I could obtain repeatability and
establish some sort of bench mark for the loads.

Things went fairly well, nothing spectacular but fair.

The pictures indicating a .308 Expanding plug were the Saturdays results.

Sunday I returned with 20 rounds loaded with 7.8 grs of RD and 7.8grs UC,
but this time I prepped the cases using a .309 expanding plug.

The shooting went well until I had about four guys looking over my shoulder and pawing over my bullets,
the chattering in the back ground ,one explaining to the other what I was doing just got to be too much.
The last 5 rounds I fired like I would hunting, (picture marked "Rapid Fire").

Two very interesting things happened Sunday;
1. The point of impact using UC was consistent from the beginning. just about 1.5" at 3 o'clock
The Red Dot's point of impact was @ 12 o'clock and high ( see picture with two groups).
That is quite a difference!
2. Now the really interesting part, the bullets I lubed using BLL (one coat)as a stand alone lube gave the best group
despite it being the next to last group I fired and was concerned at that point the guys were going to run away with my remaining loads.

I have inserter one picture showing a group using the NOE 332 as sort of a benchmark.

Sorry I can not place the pictures where I want them ,so you will have to sort through them.

I have been considering painting the rifle black and calling it my 300BLL.

Dan S.