HV rifle challenge

yodogsandman

yodogsandman

Well-Known Member
I'm in! Winter's the best time to shoot, when no one else is at the range. It makes setting up the chronograph worth the time, without others there, too. I won't shoot if it's below 0 or the range isn't plowed out, though. Just a fair weather shooter.
 
waco

waco

Springfield, Oregon
I've had some limited success with cast in rifles but they were under 2K
I'm game though. Not sure what rifle I'll use, .308, .22-250, .221 Fireball
I'd probably have the best luck with my Rem 700 in .308
Be prepared for lots of questions from me on this one...
Alloy, lube, primer, brass, powder, ect....
I do have a bunch of H4831 on hand now. Maybe that would be a place to start. Dunno.....
 
Brad

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
4831 in the 308 might well be a good choice.

Once fiver gets back from out o town work he will have some answers on that. Figure on a week or two for that.
 
F

freebullet

Guest
I thought fiver would be shooting light weighs at 4k in his new 243 by the time 2 weeks was up.
 
Brad

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
He is on the road with work a bunch. He doesn't have 'net access most of the time he is away from home.
 
F

freebullet

Guest
It's not as much fun to razz him if he isn't here.

I may be able to get a small quantity of window came.
It supposedly contains .03% copper .6% tin/antimony. Might be useful if it comes through.
 
A

AKbushman51

New Member
Well I don't know what the accepted definition of HV with cast is, but what I tried to do is duplicate velocity and accuracy of jacketed bullets. My most accurate jacketed load was a Nosler 225gr SP@ 2650fps (chrono'd) 1.0" @ 100yd. (35 Whelen, 24" ER Shaw barrel, bedded, Ruger action). To date the best I've been able to do was 2549 fps (chrono'd) (ave 10 shots) NOE 360200FP 215gr ( 50/50 COWW/Pb+2% Sn) WD'd, Hornady GC's, Ben's Red with a topcoat of BLL, gave me a 1.5" group@ 100yds. Didn't have any of the slower powders so I used H 4895 53.0gr. I did have to dual size the bullet though as this barrel has a short throat, so the top band was sized to .357 to allow seating to the lands. Improved accuracy alot. Now the remaining development is to get the bullet to act as a jacketed one at that velocity. More alloy work to be done, since all shooting is into frozen sand bank, will have to wait till spring for that. bushman
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
I think a lot of people are in your situation in the middle of January, but when it thaws I believe there be a whole lot of people putting up some impressive targets at impressive velocities...looks like with .35 caliber rifles!
 
Brad

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Makes me kinda wish I had a 35 Whelen. Some of you guys are showing why I view 35 cal with cast to be the ideal for hunting. Good bullet weight along with an ability to get them up to speeds that give good downrange trajectory and accuracy.

I'm impressed
 
quicksylver

quicksylver

Well-Known Member
Someone said we could ask questions, right?
Here is mine, what do you contribute the ability of the 35 Whalen to shoot HV well to ?
Twist rate, powder choices or a combination of these ?
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
quicksylver said:
Someone said we could ask questions, right?
Here is mine, what do you contribute the ability of the 35 Whalen to shoot HV well to ?
Twist rate, powder choices or a combination of these ?
Click to expand...

I'm going to go with generally slower twist rate (compared to typical 30-caliber) combined with larger surface area for the powder to push against. We can push a .45 Colt to .44 Magnum energies (velocity and bullet weight) easily with far less peak chamber pressure. The .35 to .30 comparison is even more dramatic in this regard. How much the slower twist matters may be debatable, since the larger diameter of the .35 caliber bullet should exaggerate imbalances more. I don't really know, I'm not a ballistician and didn't even stay in a Holiday Inn last night. This is a question I bet Outpost75 could answer very succinctly.
 
Brad

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I think of HV as getting over the 1600-1800 fps "normal" range for cast. There is a tweener window that stops, to me, around 2000-2200 fps.

What Ian proposed is to see how fast you can push cast and still get accuracy comparable to what that rifle does with jacketed. In this case HV is what it is, where you max out. Then see if you can find ways to push that max ahead.

Not so much a Mano-a-Mano challenge but more of a man vs rifle challenge. Get the most you can from you and your rifle
 
A

AKbushman51

New Member
Quicksylver- The twist in this barrel is 1 in 16. This rifle is still a work in progress with cast bullets. I have got some slower powders now so they will be the next step. One note though, Ben's Red with a BLL topcoat worked up to 2715fps, no leading just not the accuracy I wanted. So another variable to factor in. bushman
 
Rick

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Brad said:
What Ian proposed is to see how fast you can push cast and still get accuracy comparable to what that rifle does with jacketed.
Click to expand...

Well . . . That let's me out, I haven't a clue what any firearm I own does or would do with jacketed bullets.

.
 
3

35 shooter

Well-Known Member
quicksylver said:
Someone said we could ask questions, right?
Here is mine, what do you contribute the ability of the 35 Whalen to shoot HV well to ?
Twist rate, powder choices or a combination of these ?
Click to expand...
I'm no expert on ballistics for sure, but twist rates available from 12 to 16
certainly doesn't hurt it.
That 35 bore being married to a 06 case and neck length makes for a very balanced cartridge in my book.

Definitly forgiving when it comes to powder choice as mine has shot everything from bulls eye to 4831 and everything i've tried in between very well.

I think Ian hit on a big part of it on the bigger surface area to push on thing.
It does seem to change chamber pressures in a way that makes it easier to up the speed a bit.

I'll put it this way lol, if a rookie cast shooter like me can get the whelen to shoot, you guys could probably get it to sing the National Anthem while going 2600 fps.
 
yodogsandman

yodogsandman

Well-Known Member
Where all 35's seem easier to load for, I think the thickness of the diameter, with the strength of the same lead alloys, gives more rigidity to the bullet, too.
 
quicksylver

quicksylver

Well-Known Member
OR, just OR 'cause I am talking shot gun now, it may be a "squared" round.
I believe that is what they refer to when they speak of the 28 gauge being such an efficient round.
The shot string and bore diameter ratio are near perfect.
Could be the bullet diameter and length are "squared off" or of at least
have a better working dia./bullet length ratio than a .30.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.