Target damage saga continues

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
So you are shooting plain lead bullets of some hardness at 2400 fps and above with no ill effects? Assume it is really hard alloy like linotype. I've never said I was an expert on this stuff. Always willing to learn more.

So what calibers, distances and group sizes do you get with your 2400+ fps plain cast bullet loads?
You need to go back a few years in the archives here and read the posts Fiver and Ian made. Lotta blanks would be filled in for you! Even I've taken relatively soft cast up well past 2200FPS with plain old 50/50 alox lube. PC may make it easier but it's not required at all.
 
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Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Interesting. Seems to run against all the urban legend stuff about fast cast bullets. Now, can you shoot say 40 of 50 rounds and maintain your accuracy? I'm still wondering about lead buildup. When I was actively shooting in action pistol events, we shot some very hot loads for pins and deleading the barrel was a regular practice. I don't remember getting huge amounts of lead, but it was there for sure.

This is a good conversation because one of the paths the club was considering was simply banning bullets. But if they can still be pushed that hard without any coating, then we accomplish nothing other than possibly addressing the target welding complaint from the club welder.

Appreciate the insight, guys. I've said this from the first day here that I'm truly a newbie to rifle shooting. I grew up a shotgunner and then moved to handguns. BPCR was my first foray into rifles in the 90's and BP brings with it, its own set of rules and limitations, not to mention home brewed theories and advice. A famous BPCR author shot with us and I'm sure many here would be familiar with his name and books. For all his years of shooting BPCR and all his experiments and theories on what works and what doesn't, the man never was able to hit 10 turkeys.

I'll be passing this along to the club hierarchy. Looks like it will just muddy the waters further.
Fit man! It isn't about Bhn, it's about FIT. The whole assembled cartridge all has to be geared towards making FIT work for that particular rifle. Were you shooting HARDCAST commercial bullets hot in those pistols? That's almost a recipe for leading!
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
What makes you think only "poor people" got drafted?
Snakeoil was pointing out the narrative of the anti war crowd. Using the added pressure of income disparity, racial discrimination, privilege, etc. as tools. Same old thing today, using triggering rhetoric to inflame the citizenry. I'm absolutely certain we can find examples in Greece and Rome, and perhaps on cave walls.
 

Snakeoil

Well-Known Member
You need to go back a few years in the archives here and read the posts Fiver and Ian made. Lotta blanks would be filled in for you! Even I've taken relatively soft cast up well of 2200FPS with plain old 50/50 alox lube. PC may make it easier but it's not required at all.
I really have no interest in going there with cast bullets. Although, it might be fun to show up at an F-class event with my 03 and cast bullet ammo. I would probably give it a try with this new-found knowledge. But the heavy recoil pretty much cancels out that idea.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I really have no interest in going there with cast bullets. Although, it might be fun to show up at an F-class event with my 03 and cast bullet ammo. I would probably give it a try with this new-found knowledge. But the heavy recoil pretty much cancels out that idea.
The stuff they hashed out didn't just apply to hot loads, they applied across the board as far as getting cast FIT working right. I wish I could find the threads they had that were full of "lightbulb" type moments for me. There's just a crap load of stuff to sort through.
 
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RBHarter

West Central AR
I think we all have a goal in mind when we load every round sometimes it's ot about one hole sometimes it's about making a some goal of terminal impact (however you want to measure it) with a reasonable group at a given distance.

As a field user I'm more interested in reaching a personal set level of terminal impact at at least whatever a given arm will deliver for groups .
I have no inclination to think there's a slide or lever gun anywhere in north America in a CF cartridge that will allow every shooter to pick it up Throw some cartridges in it and shoot 3" at 100 yd on demand any day . I've only seen a handful of bolts that would do it .

I also know the limits of my abilities and I'm pretty limited.
 

Snakeoil

Well-Known Member
I also know the limits of my abilities and I'm pretty limited. :rofl:
Ain't dat da truth! At Wilton we call some of those moments "seizures". Someone will line up on a target, compensate for the conditions as called by their spotter as well as what they see and then miss the target. You'll hear "What happened?" from the spotter and the somewhat mumbled reply, "Had a seizure.".

I had one at last Sundays .22 match. 50 yds, 3 MOA targets which makes them 1.5 inches in diameter. You should never miss one, but it happens. I squeezed the trigger and just as it broke, the rifle slipped and I missed. The good news is it took the pressure off for the rest of the match.

For the Black Friday Match, we used 3 MOA targets for all shooters. No fat targets for the iron sight guys. I did the results for the match and. I quoted the guy (84 years old) who won the iron sight class. When the match was over he said, "I couldn't see any of the target beyond 100 yds." My comment was that must've been the secret to success because he beat one of our top shooters to win the class that day. Limitations can work to your advantage now and then.
 

Ian

Notorious member
As a field user I'm more interested in reaching a personal set level of terminal impact at at least whatever a given arm will deliver for groups.
Well said. This is where I have been comfortably settled for several years now.