35 shooter
Well-Known Member
This thread may have fit well in the cast bullet shooting and testing forum, but as i believe it has a lot to do with lube performance i put here. Feel free to move it if need be.
Getting that first all important first shot in the group from a cold clean or cold fouled bbl. almost made me give up on cast bullet shooting in rifles before i even got started good about 2 1/2 to 3 years ago.
For me it was a very frustrating endeavor and i have seen through reading posts and research, it seems to be a pretty common problem for many.
I would like to hear from others here how they go about achieving that very end. I posted a thread like this on another forum once for one to get feed back on different techniques and two, hoping it would help someone else that's having a problem with it.
I started with commercial lubes and nothing seemed to work for the first shots except to foul the bbl. before shooting groups. Fine for targets, but not so good for hunting. I tried leaving the bbl. fouled, but first shots from a cold bbl. still weren't in the group.
I found my answer when i started making my own lube. The first i tried was Fiver's Simple lube. I also started swabbing my bbl. after shooting with atf oil and then one dry patch through the bore before shooting again the next range trip and things began to come together.
With the atf oil trick Simple lube would put my first shot 1 to 2" high @ 100 yds. "centered" from a cold clean bbl. No problem for big game hunting at all with the plus of having a bit of "yonder" on that first shot.
The important thing was that first shot was ALWAYS centered just above the group...no wandering around with it. I finally went hunting with cast bullets with total confidence!!
Next try was Ben's Red lube. Since atf oil was in the recipe i would swab the bore after shooting with 1 wet patch of atf oil. Next range trip i would run 1 dry patch through the bore before shooting and suddenly all my "first" shots were in the group...every time!
Lately i've been tumble lubing with 3 light coats of BLL lube alone using the same atf oil trick for cleaning, followed by 1 dry patch before shooting and once again "all" first shots are in the group for me.
Also used BLL as an overcoat on top of Ben's Red with the same results.
The "kicker" for me has come from leaving the bbl fouled after shooting with BLL (no atf oil or cleaning at all) and 3 range trips later, all of my first shots from a cold fouled bbl. were in the group.
I live in a high humidity area so i will continue to use the atf in the bore for rust protection. Still it's nice to find a lube that works either way. No other tumble lube mixture has given me that kind of performance before. This lube is going hunting with me this year.
I realize no one thing will probably work in every rifle, but these are the things that have worked for me.
I would like to hear what works for YOU as it may very well help someone struggling with this very thing.
Getting that first all important first shot in the group from a cold clean or cold fouled bbl. almost made me give up on cast bullet shooting in rifles before i even got started good about 2 1/2 to 3 years ago.
For me it was a very frustrating endeavor and i have seen through reading posts and research, it seems to be a pretty common problem for many.
I would like to hear from others here how they go about achieving that very end. I posted a thread like this on another forum once for one to get feed back on different techniques and two, hoping it would help someone else that's having a problem with it.
I started with commercial lubes and nothing seemed to work for the first shots except to foul the bbl. before shooting groups. Fine for targets, but not so good for hunting. I tried leaving the bbl. fouled, but first shots from a cold bbl. still weren't in the group.
I found my answer when i started making my own lube. The first i tried was Fiver's Simple lube. I also started swabbing my bbl. after shooting with atf oil and then one dry patch through the bore before shooting again the next range trip and things began to come together.
With the atf oil trick Simple lube would put my first shot 1 to 2" high @ 100 yds. "centered" from a cold clean bbl. No problem for big game hunting at all with the plus of having a bit of "yonder" on that first shot.
The important thing was that first shot was ALWAYS centered just above the group...no wandering around with it. I finally went hunting with cast bullets with total confidence!!
Next try was Ben's Red lube. Since atf oil was in the recipe i would swab the bore after shooting with 1 wet patch of atf oil. Next range trip i would run 1 dry patch through the bore before shooting and suddenly all my "first" shots were in the group...every time!
Lately i've been tumble lubing with 3 light coats of BLL lube alone using the same atf oil trick for cleaning, followed by 1 dry patch before shooting and once again "all" first shots are in the group for me.
Also used BLL as an overcoat on top of Ben's Red with the same results.
The "kicker" for me has come from leaving the bbl fouled after shooting with BLL (no atf oil or cleaning at all) and 3 range trips later, all of my first shots from a cold fouled bbl. were in the group.
I live in a high humidity area so i will continue to use the atf in the bore for rust protection. Still it's nice to find a lube that works either way. No other tumble lube mixture has given me that kind of performance before. This lube is going hunting with me this year.
I realize no one thing will probably work in every rifle, but these are the things that have worked for me.
I would like to hear what works for YOU as it may very well help someone struggling with this very thing.