Bragging Target

[andrew375]

Shot this ten shot group on Monday night with my Savage M12, .223 on the 100 yd. tunnel range in Nottingham. Bear in mind this is not bench rest but prone with the aid of a single point sling. At it's widest point the group measure's 1.25 inches but the central cluster is less then 0.75". The low shot that opened the group was shot number 8 and was due to a loss of concentration, I actually watched the cross hair slide down and right as I released the shot.

Bullet is the NEI .224-71-DD-GC. Cast from WW, heat treated by quenching from the mould, sized .224" and lubed with Lyman SuperMoly. All loading is with a Lee collet die set.

Load is 10 gr. VV N320 with a CCI magnum small rifle primer for just over 2100 fps.

I know that one group does not prove much but my rifles tend to do this sort of thing just to make it clear to me that it is not they that are letting the side down.
:castmine:

[Ben]

Great shooting, I'm very impressed.

Ben

[44man]

Yes Sir! Super shooting and boolit making too.

[carpetman]

Andrew 375---From another thread it can be ascertained that you,being in England, are not casting from a buffalo chip fueled fire. To be the real deal,gotta be using buffalo chips. Heck anybody can shoot groups like that using those bullets made out of electric fires,fossil fuels or heck even wood. Now my .223 using 58 grain RCBS (buffalo chip fire) wont group at all.

[9.3X62AL]

Andrew--

Fine work, sir! I did a little 223 cast boolit shooting yesterday myself, with some (not all) results at 50 yards similar to your 100 yard outcome. I was pretty happy with my work, so your satisfaction level should be what.......twice my own? :-)

Good news, and also good to see our British members out shooting.

[castalott]

well done Andrew! I wish I could do as well.... Your modesty and thought reminds me of the book..."Quartered safe out here" ...about another Brit who could shoot...although his targets moved and had guns too....

[doc25]

Nice shooting and even though you let the group slide [smilie=1: your casting ability kept it together! Congratulations.

[JeffinNZ]

Do you get tunnel vision though?

[LET-CA]

Let me add my words of admiration to the rest of the group too. That is an impressive target!

On a separate note, I lived in Nottingham years ago (1972) in the Carlton area. I have many fond memories of the city; Goose Fair, etc.

All the best,

Lenny

[mag_01]

:coffee: --- Andrew nice shooting-----your work paid off----and the good results show it-----------------------Mag

[Bigjohn]

Welcome Andrew; Good shooting and casting, now I think that does give you braggin' rights.

Nottingham aye: Last time I breezed through there a fellow called Robin was dissing off the local Sheriff. Is that still going on or have they made up and forgiven each other. [smilie=1:

John.

[PatMarlin]

Way to go!!! What twist is your barrel?

Is your mold this one???

[wcb_gabe]

Great looking group and even more impressive since it from cast .22's.

I hear that it getting trickier to shoot and own boom sticks over in you country.
Can you still shoot in your back yard there or do you have to go to a range?
I remember someone telling me that in Germany you had to leave your guns at a range and couldn't take them home with you. Is that the case in the UK?
:drinks:

[andrew375]

Let me add my words of admiration to the rest of the group too. That is an impressive target!

On a separate note, I lived in Nottingham years ago (1972) in the Carlton area. I have many fond memories of the city; Goose Fair, etc.

All the best,

Lenny
In that case you will know where the range is. As you are going down Carlton Hill to the city, about half way down, you cross Porchester road. The range is on the left at the end of a cutting.

The tunnel was for a double track line so it is nice and wide at 25 feet. http://www.leytransport.i12.com/nottslb.jpg I did take some pictures inside but I think they are on my linux box somewhere.

[andrew375]

Way to go!!! What twist is your barrel?

Is your mold this one???

Yep, that's it.

Actually I don't take any extra care over casting .22's than any other bullet. I've found the key to quality bullets is a clean alloy and maintaining consistent melt and mould temperatures. The former is taken care of by using a thermostat controlled pot (RCBS ProMelt) and the latter by maintaining a consistent rhythm, much aided by the bottom pouring facility. Out of the 3000 odd of these bullets I cast last summer, apart from those made getting the mould up to temperature, I've only rejected about ten prior to loading; and they were for excessive flash around the base.

The only extra step I use in processing my bullets is that I size and seat the gas check in a nose first sizer before lubing in a conventional lubrisizer. Whether this extra step has any impact on accuracy I've no idea but it makes me feel better. I started doing this with long .30 cal. bullets and it sometimes makes a difference there.

I long ago gave up weighing bullets, I came to the conclusion that doing it right in the first place meant that there was not enough variation to make sorting by weight worth while, whereas if my casting was so bad that weight variation was an issue then the problem was better addressed by curing the problem than treating the symptom. I get less than 4 gr. extreme spread with 560gr. .577 Minie bullets so I don't lose sleep over them either. Sorry if I am sounding a bit of a big 'ead but the key to casting good bullets is consistency, particularly as regards temperature.

I have found that primers are a key accuracy issue with cast in my .223, it is a 1 in 9" twist btw, This same load standard small rifle primers will hardly make two moa and that is only by discounting the several wild flyers. With N110 it is magnum primers that wont work.

[andrew375]

Andrew 375---From another thread it can be ascertained that you,being in England, are not casting from a buffalo chip fueled fire. To be the real deal,gotta be using buffalo chips. Heck anybody can shoot groups like that using those bullets made out of electric fires,fossil fuels or heck even wood. Now my .223 using 58 grain RCBS (buffalo chip fire) wont group at all.

Bizarrely there are several Bison farms in the Uk and Bison meat is available from some butchers. Also there is a growing number of water buffalo farms, there is one not far from me, also taking advantage of the demand for healthy eating meat.

I stressed consistency as the key to casting good bullets in another post so I guess your problem might lie with inconsistent buffalo chips. As a first step I would ensure that the chips all came from the same animal and it was fed a consistent diet. you will probably have to try the products of several animals and variations of diet before settling on the perfect combination. Then there is the drying to think about; the right bit of pasture, the exact length of time, the exact mix of sunlight, humidity and wind. All to get the optimum mix of energy, moisture and heat content. Potentially this would keep you in sleepless nights for decades!
:drinks:

[andrew375]

Great looking group and even more impressive since it from cast .22's.

I hear that it getting trickier to shoot and own boom sticks over in you country.
Can you still shoot in your back yard there or do you have to go to a range?
I remember someone telling me that in Germany you had to leave your guns at a range and couldn't take them home with you. Is that the case in the UK?
:drinks:

Things are getting more restrictive, but even worse is the paranoia generated by the panic mongering media. Most shooting is either at game or formal target, virtually all the latter are on purpose built ranges such as the one owned by the Notts. & Derbys. Vintage Arms Society (see link below). My backyard is only 20 feet long and not very private. We are still trusted to keep our firearms at home, though some clubs do have secure armouries for their members to use.

Of course all the restrictions only affect the law abiding, the criminals do what they want as always. I used to say that the local drug dealers only went without their guns when they had a court appearance but there was an incident last year when one of them couldn't even be bothered to do that! Caught by metal detectors inside the court building he simply walked out and the gun had disappeared when he returned a while later.

Still, punishing the law abiding for crime they did not commit always looks good to the politicians but even the media are being openly critical of the value of gun control for protecting the public.
:drinks:

[Char-Gar]

Andrew... That is might good shooting and impresses even this Texan. I really grieve for what British society has become. We have lots of shared heritage and most of us still have a very fond spot for our cousins across the pond.

I know that the average Brit. thinks we Americans are crude, unclultured and backwards in all regards, which may or may not be true. But, for all of that, and all of that we are still free.

I am glad there are still some of you guys over there who know about a tight sling, sight picture and trigger squeeze. May your tribe increase!!!