Finally got a chance (just put off grown-up stuff and DID it) to shoot the new carbine.
I only had time to get 20 rounds down range and most of those were sighting in. It took up a LOT of elevation in the scope to get POA=POI, but the scope is not intended to stay. I really should have mounted a higher-power scope for testing. This is 3x. I have two 6xs sitting idle right now. Hunkered down and shot the last five as best as I could manage off a crappy rest. The orange tape just barely shows in the corners of the reticle using 3x at 65 yards.
This is the RDO 313-150 I got straight from Michael recently. Straight wheel weights, air-cooled, sized to .313" with a home made .0145" gas check, which I had to anneal o get to seat square. I honed a new LEE push-through die to .313" and the bullet just BARELY touches going through, so no resistance to help seat the GC. Have to run the nose of the bullet up against a plate blocking the die, remove the plate and then push through. The sizer is really only squishing the GC walls against the GC shank.
7 Grains of Unique. Pretty much a no-fail starter load for many of my new cast adventures, right along with 5.5 grains W231/HP38. No surprises. CCI Large Rifle Primer.
New Starline brass - and here's where it gets interesting. The brass looked great, as usual. The necks would have put a LOT of tension on .308 jacketed bullets, and testing showed they would re-size my .313 bullets to .311" after being seated and pulled. I got no .310" neck expander in my LEE die set from at least a couple decades ago and decided to special order an expander at .312" for ten bucks. Then, LEE wanted $4 "handling fee" and another ten to ship, so I passed, but not without leaving them a note. Seriously? Just go ahead and charge $20 for the special order item - don't nickle and dime me after sucking me in with the $10 price tag.
Anyway, got THREE .310" expanders (minimum qty) for $13 shipped elswhere. Neck-sized fifty rounds (after annealing - they were STIFF) but still too small. Took a field point from an arrow and "turned it down" on the drill press to .312". Opened all up and, with a very light flaring, all my .313" bullets seated/pulled and still measured .313" without them turning in the neck or setting back when run from the magazine to chamber.
No crimp, left the minor flare and shot. These were all lubed with BLL, two coats and it dried even in this ultra-damp climate we have recently been subjected to. Not chronographed but I'm guessing they're dong about 1200 fps. I'll work up from here, but this first load should at least provide a "squirrel load" and I'd not hesitate to pop a coyote at the 65 yards from which I shot these. I shot a few of the de-GC'd C309-113s with 2.5 grains of W231 and they all make one 44-caliber-sized hole at twenty yards but are several inches low.
The scope is probably the best one made for this gun and its intended use but I dislike the mounting, even though the DIP base is extremely well made. It's a bargain at $38 and Calhoun's bases are up to $113 before shipping now, so I skipped those. I plan to buy a Skinner sight for this gun. Andy, at Skinner Sights, took the time to share his experience with his own 527s and his sight. He'll be getting that business once I sell my Lyman from the rifle I sold to get this one.
Not the most amazing group in the world, but I have plenty of excuses and they all point to me. As I zero'd this load, every shot went right where the clicks intended them to go, so I have faith that on a better day (with a better rest, and maybe a bigger scope), that easily could have been a sub-half-inch group, like I'm getting with almost the exact charge and bullet weight/style.
So far, so good. Can't wait to shoot more and maybe send my 6c 150 grain, and 2c 118 grain (de-GC'd soupcan) moulds to that fella that does HP conversions. This rifle is outside the plan of having only the bare minimum, but the platform is just a dream. I am terribly stricken with this little cutie and can't help myself. Oh, the holes in the target are at the top of a square turned 90 degrees. I had to angle the camera to get the glare off the ruler.
If I still lived in Huntsville, I'd drive down to Ben's and have Trevor do my load-test shooting for me.
I only had time to get 20 rounds down range and most of those were sighting in. It took up a LOT of elevation in the scope to get POA=POI, but the scope is not intended to stay. I really should have mounted a higher-power scope for testing. This is 3x. I have two 6xs sitting idle right now. Hunkered down and shot the last five as best as I could manage off a crappy rest. The orange tape just barely shows in the corners of the reticle using 3x at 65 yards.
This is the RDO 313-150 I got straight from Michael recently. Straight wheel weights, air-cooled, sized to .313" with a home made .0145" gas check, which I had to anneal o get to seat square. I honed a new LEE push-through die to .313" and the bullet just BARELY touches going through, so no resistance to help seat the GC. Have to run the nose of the bullet up against a plate blocking the die, remove the plate and then push through. The sizer is really only squishing the GC walls against the GC shank.
7 Grains of Unique. Pretty much a no-fail starter load for many of my new cast adventures, right along with 5.5 grains W231/HP38. No surprises. CCI Large Rifle Primer.
New Starline brass - and here's where it gets interesting. The brass looked great, as usual. The necks would have put a LOT of tension on .308 jacketed bullets, and testing showed they would re-size my .313 bullets to .311" after being seated and pulled. I got no .310" neck expander in my LEE die set from at least a couple decades ago and decided to special order an expander at .312" for ten bucks. Then, LEE wanted $4 "handling fee" and another ten to ship, so I passed, but not without leaving them a note. Seriously? Just go ahead and charge $20 for the special order item - don't nickle and dime me after sucking me in with the $10 price tag.
Anyway, got THREE .310" expanders (minimum qty) for $13 shipped elswhere. Neck-sized fifty rounds (after annealing - they were STIFF) but still too small. Took a field point from an arrow and "turned it down" on the drill press to .312". Opened all up and, with a very light flaring, all my .313" bullets seated/pulled and still measured .313" without them turning in the neck or setting back when run from the magazine to chamber.
No crimp, left the minor flare and shot. These were all lubed with BLL, two coats and it dried even in this ultra-damp climate we have recently been subjected to. Not chronographed but I'm guessing they're dong about 1200 fps. I'll work up from here, but this first load should at least provide a "squirrel load" and I'd not hesitate to pop a coyote at the 65 yards from which I shot these. I shot a few of the de-GC'd C309-113s with 2.5 grains of W231 and they all make one 44-caliber-sized hole at twenty yards but are several inches low.
The scope is probably the best one made for this gun and its intended use but I dislike the mounting, even though the DIP base is extremely well made. It's a bargain at $38 and Calhoun's bases are up to $113 before shipping now, so I skipped those. I plan to buy a Skinner sight for this gun. Andy, at Skinner Sights, took the time to share his experience with his own 527s and his sight. He'll be getting that business once I sell my Lyman from the rifle I sold to get this one.
Not the most amazing group in the world, but I have plenty of excuses and they all point to me. As I zero'd this load, every shot went right where the clicks intended them to go, so I have faith that on a better day (with a better rest, and maybe a bigger scope), that easily could have been a sub-half-inch group, like I'm getting with almost the exact charge and bullet weight/style.
So far, so good. Can't wait to shoot more and maybe send my 6c 150 grain, and 2c 118 grain (de-GC'd soupcan) moulds to that fella that does HP conversions. This rifle is outside the plan of having only the bare minimum, but the platform is just a dream. I am terribly stricken with this little cutie and can't help myself. Oh, the holes in the target are at the top of a square turned 90 degrees. I had to angle the camera to get the glare off the ruler.
If I still lived in Huntsville, I'd drive down to Ben's and have Trevor do my load-test shooting for me.
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