My Interesting; New to me mould!

[JWFilips]

Hi Folks,
Received a mould I bought off 300BLK this past weekend. I jumped on it when he listed it even though I didn't know what it was.
I had to do a bit of searching but finally in one of my old Lyman books it listed the 287221 mould that I know had in my hand. I bought it for my worn 7mm Spanish Mauser since it a 170 gr. + mould. After research I found out it wasn't designed for a 7mm ( but neither is my 1916 Spanish! )
Apparently it was designed by C. H. Herrick for the .28- 30 Stevens Single shot rifle!!! It was made in a number of gr weights from 120 up to 179 gr.

Thought some folks would be interested in this piece of history
Here is the diagram of the bullet I have:

As cast : had to bring up my alloy to a Lyman #2 to get the size at .287


Close ups



I'm hoping after PC'ing them I will get to .290" to get them to fit my Spanish Lady

Jim

 

[VZerone]

I had that mould like 40 years ago. Shot those in my 1908 Brazilian that had a very good bore in it. Don't know what happen to it!!1

 

[RBHarter]

I have a little bitty 7mm that would probably work well in ...... except every Lovern that's come out the muzzle does so sideways .......

I may have to resort to a custom to get what I think I want ........

Neat mould . My luck with 7×57s is that they are unbelievable on both ends of the scale ......yet I love them .

 

[Kevin Stenberg]

Jim that alloy really fillsout the mold nice. Too bad its so hard and so expensive.

 

[358156 hp]

A lovely bullet design. You did an excellent job of casting, too!

 

[JWFilips]

Well good new for me today! My first time out with bullets from this mould & I got the old Spanish Lady shooting better then ever!
I shot about 10 different loadings with my best powders for this rifle. (2400, Unique, American Select , Red Dot & Bullseye) I shot as dropped bullets and beagled taped molded bullets as dropped.
One combination was way beyond my expectations for this bullet and this rifle ( for sure, since this rifle never showed any signs of target shooting accuracy in the past year )
Below is one of my best targets from this mornings shoot:
The winning combination is 8.4 grains Red Dot with that new to me Lyman 287221 bullet from ( beagled mould) Smoke's Clear PC over unsized "as dropped" bullets CCI 200 primers and COL of 2.770" @ 50yds with williams 5d receiver rear sights and my homebrew front aperture sight.
I have probably put over 2000 rounds of every kind of bullet / powder combos Traditional Lube and now PC though this rifle and never had any real accuracy. I think it finally paid off! Now maybe I should put it in the safe!

 

[300BLK]

It sure looks like you've found something that it likes. Was the base of the bullet still in the neck, and will it accept an even larger diameter bullet?

 

[JWFilips]

It sure looks like you've found something that it likes. Was the base of the bullet still in the neck, and will it accept an even larger diameter bullet?

By no means: It sits pretty deep in the cast but that never bothers me. None of my loads get hot rodded so pressures are always low.
As to thicker diameter I can put a second coat of PC on them but do not feel the need. Think I'm happy where they are.
Shot it again this morning and was relieved to find that it still is shooting fine ( & it wasn't a dream!) Was able to hit clay targets placed on the ground from 50 to 75 yds with the first shot. I never imagined this rifle doing that!

 

[KHornet]

Jim, you is prime example of persistence paying off!
Good show!!!!!!

Paul

 

[JSH]

I had loan of one similar to that years back, for 38-55. I cast some up to use in my 375WW.
This was when I had just stuck my toe into the pool of casting. I always lubed ALL of the lube grooves back then. Targets at 50 looked like you had wiped a greasy skillet out from the lube spinning off of it!
None the less it shot very well all the way to 200m. It took the steel critters over with pretty good authority. Couple of guys that were spotting for me swore the could see all those lube grooves at 200m. They dubbed it the "flying culvert", lol. Now that I think it may have even been the first iron sighted 40x40 I shot with cast.
Jeff

 

[JWFilips]

This mould continues to be the ticket for this rifle! Recently shot this target ( best of 4 similar targets) 50 yds receiver rear and aperture front on my 1916 Mauser 7mm ("The Fat Spainish Lady" as my buddy Ed likes to call her) 7 grains American Select and that 287-221 lyman coated in Eastwood Ford Blue PC ( unsized which puts it at about .2925"after coating) Bullets touching the lands.
This was the last target shot so there were 45 rounds through the bore before this target ( targets seemed to get progressively better to the end)
Jim

 

[Bret4207]

If it gives progressively tighter groups as you shoot, I hazard a guess that it either likes a fouled bore (better burn? a little more pressure? grooves filling a bit? lube building a bit?) or the bedding is settling in. If it's been shot a bunch before, I'd lean towards it liking the fouled bore.

Everything I've read on those styles of bullets always gave me the impression they were designed originally for breech seating in soft alloys. I know some later designs used the same multi lube groove idea and were fit for in the case seating. I want to say I recall the name of some of the better known designers fallowing that style, but I'd probably be wrong as my memory stinks these days. Yours is one of the best set of groups I've seen with those styles in recent times. Usually the shooter is disappointed. I'm really surprised because in worn 7mm Mauser I'd expect it to need something much fatter. IOW- don't bother buying any Lotto tickets, you used up your luck!

 

[waco]

Awesome shooting Jim! Well done Sir!

 

[fiver]

I remember both Pope and Mann talked about the 28-30.
Mann mentioned it shooting much better with dead soft lead alloy.
I would not try a dead soft lead,,,, okay I probably would try it, but he was seating out into the rifling and punching things along at about the same speeds you are.
super different systems...

 

[JWFilips]

If it gives progressively tighter groups as you shoot, I hazard a guess that it either likes a fouled bore (better burn? a little more pressure? grooves filling a bit? lube building a bit?) or the bedding is settling in. If it's been shot a bunch before, I'd lean towards it liking the fouled bore./QUOTE]



Bret, one other thing that has to be taken into consideration ( and I know from experience) I seem to hold and sight better as I get into the shooting!
Can't rule that out! Psychology tells us that if you see and improvement you only try harder!
Jim

PS Fiver I do not crimp so more often then not I let the cartridge and far seated bullet set it's own COL In effect I let the "bolt close" determine seating depth. Not just this rifle: pret near all my rifles . That I like to call "Auto col" and I do it often

 

[JWFilips]

One thing I like to say ( and I think that is why I'm shooting & posting about this rifle more then others) Is the great satisfaction I have got from bringing a really crappy bore rifle to a point when I can get 1 " and less groups from it ( albeit 50 yds)
The acquisition of this mould and the use of PC coatings have helped me achieve that

 

[Bret4207]

Pope and Mann and several others wrote about the 28-30, one of "THE" target cartridges of it's day in the small bore line. I suppose to them it was like the 17's for us, with them having grown up with muzzle loaders and 40 or larger cals. Ned Robets wrote extensively about the 28-30 IIRC. It was a woodchuck round it' it's day too.

 

[fiver]

oh yeah it was highly touted for the chucks.
they made a thing out of chuck hunting back then, dressing for the occasion and even hauling the things back for pictures.

 

[JWFilips]

Not to change the subject.... but a woodchuck story:1953
My good friend Steve from upper state NY use to tell me that when his Mom was pregnant with him and going into labor their Doctor drove over to pick her and his Dad up to take them to the nearest hospital, which was two towns over. Just before his Dad entered the car Doc told him bring his rifle because they would be driving through some good chuck fields!
Needless to say Steve was almost born in the Doctors car because Doc and Dad stopped a few times to take some shots on the way to the hospital!

 

[RBHarter]

I want a doctor like that !