Molly
09-18-2011, 08:09 PM
Warning! Long posts!
You know, once in a while, some of us come across or develop some really strange and interesting reloads. I know I have, and thought that a collection of them might make really interesting reading. So here's a thread where you can post loads that have piqued your interest, and might interest others too. I'll start it off with a few of mine below.
*****************
I once decided to see how lightly I could load Bullseye in a .357 Martini for ultra quiet basement loads. I started with the usual cast lightweights, and dropped the charge until one stuck. Then I'd seat it deeper in the case, and / or go to a lighter bullet. To make a long story shorter, I ended up with about 1/4 grain of Bullseye under a 000 buckshot that was pressed down to the very bottom of the case. The very first shot with this combination produced the most astonishing report I ever heard. It didn't go 'bang' or 'pow' or even 'pop'. It went 'Thoiinggg'. Sounded like a spring in a vise that someone whacked with a ruler.
I quickly made up some more. They were all alike, and made the same sound. It took me a while to figure out what was going on, but I THINK that the push from the primer and the trace of powder was enough to get the buckshot moving fast enough to get out of the muzzle, but it didn't produce enough gas to fill the bore of the rifle. So the buckshot started drawing a vacuum after the gas pressure ran out, and the funny report happened because after the buckshot was gone, air was pulled into the bore and bounced like a spring. The only thing I’m pretty sure of is that I had generated the only ammunition I'd ever heard of that (ahem!) really sucked.
***********************************
I stumbled across another neat little trick that may interest the PP crowd, and other CB shooters too. It's a take-off from something I wrote up for the CBA a while back, but here's the whole story:
Some time back I bought one of the unfired Yugo 8x57 Mausers because they were such bargains. But when I got the cosmoline off of it, the bore was pretty rough. Not rusted, not pitted, but it looked like it had been finished with sandpaper.
I didn't want to throw it away, and at the same time, I didn't want to pour coarse abrasives down a new barrel as was recommended for conventional fire lapping. I decided to try something a bit less radical, and used JB Compound on a bore mop the coat the bore of the rifle. Then I fired a light jacketed bullet load, used the mop again, fired another light load, etc. When I was done, the bore looked like a mirror, and without any noticeable enlargement. I wrote it up, and several people have tried it with excellent results.
A recent discussion of various grades of paper for PPing and various PP lubes brought the experience back to mind, because I wondered if anyone appreciated the fact that TiO2 - added to make paper whiter - is also a very, very fine abrasive. You can get the idea if you just walk over to the wall of your room and rub it with a nickel. It'll generally look like you wrote on it with a pencil, because of the metal polished off by the TiO2 (& other pigments). I'm a retired paint chemist, and I knew about this, but just didn't make the connection before.
Anyhow, my first thought was to wonder if anyone had noticed any polishing effect from ordinary PP lead bullets. Then I put two and two together and wondered what would happen if I 'lubricated' PP cast bullets with JB compound! Just finger rub it into the PP after wrapping, drying and sizing. Works great, and without all the trouble of the bore mop approach.
I wasn't trying to develop a more accurate load, and didn't test for accuracy (I should have, but didn't.) I was trying to test another approach for polishing bores, and I got that in spades. FYI, I used a moderate load with wheelweight alloy in a 30-06. Nothing fancy, but it worked fast, easily and well.
So if you've got a rifle (or pistol for that matter) that's prone to fouling or leading, you might want to give this a try. If you happen to have a bore that has been rusted, it MAY be possible to salvage it like this, using an appropriate grade of very fine abrasive polish. I'd recommend that you steer well clear of the coarser abrasives often recommended for fire lapping. For some reason, the very fine abrasives like JB compound seem quite effective here, and polished the bore of the Yugo M48 in about 5 or 6 shots. I see no advantage to coarser abrasives, and I can see numerous potential problems they could cause.
Of course, the usual caveats apply: These results were obtained using components, equipment and techniques that will differ from yours, so approach this experimental procedure with great caution if you decide to evaluate it yourself. NEVER use experimental procedures of this nature - or any nature - with maximum loads unless you work up very gradually because the interactive effects could produce dangerous pressure levels. Since you are the only person controlling most of the variables involved, you will have to accept full responsibility for the results of your judgment and practices.
***********************
You might also be interested in something I did about 30 years ago. I took a single cavity Lyman 358495 (148g full wadcutter) and milled off the top of the mold (IE, the bottom of the bullet.) This cast into a sweet little collar button bullet that was wider than it was long (by a few thousandths) weighing 73-75 grains, depending on the alloy.
I had a ball with it. Not only did it make great recoilless squib loads to use in the barn,, but I could get three of them into a 357 case over 8.0g H-110. A cylinder full of these was the equal of a 12 guage double with 000 buckshot, and the flat face gave them incredible shocking power. Cast of hard wheelweights, they'd open up into a perfect little triangle about 2.5 or 3 inches on a side at about 30 feet. They were death incarnate on varmints around the place.
They were also good for some wild times shooting with my friends. We'd set up targets and go back to the bench and load up. I'd put two of them through my target, and the rest through my buddy's target. Chewed it all to BLEEP! I'd look at his target and ask him how many times he needed to shoot. Naturally, he'd object that he only shot six times, and accuse me of some sort of skullduggery. I put on my innocent hat and pointed out that I only had six empty spots in the box of reloads, matching six empty cases and six holes in my target. While he scratched his head, I'd start musing about hearing that some guns of his make didn't have good alignment between the cylinder and the barrel, and sometimes the bullets would break into pieces as they jumped sideways going from the cylinder into the forcing cone.
I let him sweat a while, and (after being doggone sure he'd put his guns in the car) told him what I'd done. He was a little disgruntled at first, but then he had to grin and admit how confused he had been. I really had him going, especially when I started the BS about bullets breaking up in the throat.
I still have the little mold, and break it out every once in a while for some fun. The above makes a dandy CCW load, and individually, the little slugs shoot well over one or two g B'eye for basement loads in a 38 special, and not too badly in a 38 S&W.
****************
This one isn't a CB load, but you might like to hear about it anyhow.
Way back when, long before we had the wide availability of obsolete ammo and reloadable cases that we enjoy today, I was handed a 577/450 Martini in worn but really nice shape, and was asked to develop a few rounds of ammunition for it. Well, I won’t go into the process of forming 577/450 cases from 30-06 (It’s not only involved, but I’m also cognizant of modern liability laws. Suffice to say that it CAN be done – and the fireforming process was a hoot all by itself.)
But I could hardly miss the contrast between the huge mouth of the fireformed case and the original 30-06 case. In fact, it looked like … was it possible to ... By golly, you COULD insert the original case in the mouth of the fireformed case.
‘Bout this time, the devil got a grin on his face and double dog dared me to do it, so I did. I loaded up a 577/450 round using a live 30-06 round as the projectile and hauled it to the range. I never had any hope that it would show any semblance of accuracy – and it didn’t. But it came out of the end of the barrel instead of the side of the chamber. The Brits were exceedingly practical in their war weapons, and made them oversize enough that they'd still take a round that had been dropped in the mud. I suspect you could form some good jacketed-but-cast bullets for these oversized chambers and bores by pouring lead into 45 ACP cases and swaging a round nose to it.
But I just wanted to be able to say that although millions of men have shot a 30-06, I believe I’m the only person on earth who has FIRED a 30-06. (VBG)
You know, once in a while, some of us come across or develop some really strange and interesting reloads. I know I have, and thought that a collection of them might make really interesting reading. So here's a thread where you can post loads that have piqued your interest, and might interest others too. I'll start it off with a few of mine below.
*****************
I once decided to see how lightly I could load Bullseye in a .357 Martini for ultra quiet basement loads. I started with the usual cast lightweights, and dropped the charge until one stuck. Then I'd seat it deeper in the case, and / or go to a lighter bullet. To make a long story shorter, I ended up with about 1/4 grain of Bullseye under a 000 buckshot that was pressed down to the very bottom of the case. The very first shot with this combination produced the most astonishing report I ever heard. It didn't go 'bang' or 'pow' or even 'pop'. It went 'Thoiinggg'. Sounded like a spring in a vise that someone whacked with a ruler.
I quickly made up some more. They were all alike, and made the same sound. It took me a while to figure out what was going on, but I THINK that the push from the primer and the trace of powder was enough to get the buckshot moving fast enough to get out of the muzzle, but it didn't produce enough gas to fill the bore of the rifle. So the buckshot started drawing a vacuum after the gas pressure ran out, and the funny report happened because after the buckshot was gone, air was pulled into the bore and bounced like a spring. The only thing I’m pretty sure of is that I had generated the only ammunition I'd ever heard of that (ahem!) really sucked.
***********************************
I stumbled across another neat little trick that may interest the PP crowd, and other CB shooters too. It's a take-off from something I wrote up for the CBA a while back, but here's the whole story:
Some time back I bought one of the unfired Yugo 8x57 Mausers because they were such bargains. But when I got the cosmoline off of it, the bore was pretty rough. Not rusted, not pitted, but it looked like it had been finished with sandpaper.
I didn't want to throw it away, and at the same time, I didn't want to pour coarse abrasives down a new barrel as was recommended for conventional fire lapping. I decided to try something a bit less radical, and used JB Compound on a bore mop the coat the bore of the rifle. Then I fired a light jacketed bullet load, used the mop again, fired another light load, etc. When I was done, the bore looked like a mirror, and without any noticeable enlargement. I wrote it up, and several people have tried it with excellent results.
A recent discussion of various grades of paper for PPing and various PP lubes brought the experience back to mind, because I wondered if anyone appreciated the fact that TiO2 - added to make paper whiter - is also a very, very fine abrasive. You can get the idea if you just walk over to the wall of your room and rub it with a nickel. It'll generally look like you wrote on it with a pencil, because of the metal polished off by the TiO2 (& other pigments). I'm a retired paint chemist, and I knew about this, but just didn't make the connection before.
Anyhow, my first thought was to wonder if anyone had noticed any polishing effect from ordinary PP lead bullets. Then I put two and two together and wondered what would happen if I 'lubricated' PP cast bullets with JB compound! Just finger rub it into the PP after wrapping, drying and sizing. Works great, and without all the trouble of the bore mop approach.
I wasn't trying to develop a more accurate load, and didn't test for accuracy (I should have, but didn't.) I was trying to test another approach for polishing bores, and I got that in spades. FYI, I used a moderate load with wheelweight alloy in a 30-06. Nothing fancy, but it worked fast, easily and well.
So if you've got a rifle (or pistol for that matter) that's prone to fouling or leading, you might want to give this a try. If you happen to have a bore that has been rusted, it MAY be possible to salvage it like this, using an appropriate grade of very fine abrasive polish. I'd recommend that you steer well clear of the coarser abrasives often recommended for fire lapping. For some reason, the very fine abrasives like JB compound seem quite effective here, and polished the bore of the Yugo M48 in about 5 or 6 shots. I see no advantage to coarser abrasives, and I can see numerous potential problems they could cause.
Of course, the usual caveats apply: These results were obtained using components, equipment and techniques that will differ from yours, so approach this experimental procedure with great caution if you decide to evaluate it yourself. NEVER use experimental procedures of this nature - or any nature - with maximum loads unless you work up very gradually because the interactive effects could produce dangerous pressure levels. Since you are the only person controlling most of the variables involved, you will have to accept full responsibility for the results of your judgment and practices.
***********************
You might also be interested in something I did about 30 years ago. I took a single cavity Lyman 358495 (148g full wadcutter) and milled off the top of the mold (IE, the bottom of the bullet.) This cast into a sweet little collar button bullet that was wider than it was long (by a few thousandths) weighing 73-75 grains, depending on the alloy.
I had a ball with it. Not only did it make great recoilless squib loads to use in the barn,, but I could get three of them into a 357 case over 8.0g H-110. A cylinder full of these was the equal of a 12 guage double with 000 buckshot, and the flat face gave them incredible shocking power. Cast of hard wheelweights, they'd open up into a perfect little triangle about 2.5 or 3 inches on a side at about 30 feet. They were death incarnate on varmints around the place.
They were also good for some wild times shooting with my friends. We'd set up targets and go back to the bench and load up. I'd put two of them through my target, and the rest through my buddy's target. Chewed it all to BLEEP! I'd look at his target and ask him how many times he needed to shoot. Naturally, he'd object that he only shot six times, and accuse me of some sort of skullduggery. I put on my innocent hat and pointed out that I only had six empty spots in the box of reloads, matching six empty cases and six holes in my target. While he scratched his head, I'd start musing about hearing that some guns of his make didn't have good alignment between the cylinder and the barrel, and sometimes the bullets would break into pieces as they jumped sideways going from the cylinder into the forcing cone.
I let him sweat a while, and (after being doggone sure he'd put his guns in the car) told him what I'd done. He was a little disgruntled at first, but then he had to grin and admit how confused he had been. I really had him going, especially when I started the BS about bullets breaking up in the throat.
I still have the little mold, and break it out every once in a while for some fun. The above makes a dandy CCW load, and individually, the little slugs shoot well over one or two g B'eye for basement loads in a 38 special, and not too badly in a 38 S&W.
****************
This one isn't a CB load, but you might like to hear about it anyhow.
Way back when, long before we had the wide availability of obsolete ammo and reloadable cases that we enjoy today, I was handed a 577/450 Martini in worn but really nice shape, and was asked to develop a few rounds of ammunition for it. Well, I won’t go into the process of forming 577/450 cases from 30-06 (It’s not only involved, but I’m also cognizant of modern liability laws. Suffice to say that it CAN be done – and the fireforming process was a hoot all by itself.)
But I could hardly miss the contrast between the huge mouth of the fireformed case and the original 30-06 case. In fact, it looked like … was it possible to ... By golly, you COULD insert the original case in the mouth of the fireformed case.
‘Bout this time, the devil got a grin on his face and double dog dared me to do it, so I did. I loaded up a 577/450 round using a live 30-06 round as the projectile and hauled it to the range. I never had any hope that it would show any semblance of accuracy – and it didn’t. But it came out of the end of the barrel instead of the side of the chamber. The Brits were exceedingly practical in their war weapons, and made them oversize enough that they'd still take a round that had been dropped in the mud. I suspect you could form some good jacketed-but-cast bullets for these oversized chambers and bores by pouring lead into 45 ACP cases and swaging a round nose to it.
But I just wanted to be able to say that although millions of men have shot a 30-06, I believe I’m the only person on earth who has FIRED a 30-06. (VBG)