Yesterday testing at the range proved rewarding. I made a change to a different expander plug and believe it made a difference in the accuracy of the load I tested. I used a Lyman M die to open the case neck for the Lyman 311332 GC bullet. The bullet was lubed with 50/50 from NOE and the bullet was sized .310. The powder charge was 16 grains of IMR4227 and a Federal 210 primer used.
The test rifle is a CPA 30-30 ( 1 turn in 10" ) outfitted with a Lyman 20X STS scope. The test firing was all done from the benchrest on our privet range. The rifle was started with a clean dry bore and it took several rounds to have it settle in and start shooting accurately. About 8 I believe. Once a 100 yard zero was established the rifle was fired to create a group. The first shot was low in the bull and then the rifle turned on. I fired 5 more rounds at the 100 yard test target. While doing so I made slight corrections to the elevation as I went. See 100 yard test target.
An elevation previously recorded for 200 yards was set on the scope and the rifle turned to the 200 yard target. Shots 1 and 2 were low so additional elevation was added before firing the next f 5 shots. See test target. Btw the avg speed cron-o-ed at 1477fps.
My spotter gave me a "Bet you can't hit the staple in the corner of the 100 yard target. So the rifle was turned to it and shot #1 took out the staple. He then said " Bet you can't do that again." Shot #2 and #3 printed very close. see test target.
I must add that I took some advice and dry patched the bore about every 8 to 10 rounds except the last 15. I believe that the dry patching helped keep the bore condition more uniform. I know that this can be more easily managed with a better lube. I'll find it in the future testing.
