Whitespider
07-06-2007, 06:24 AM
I spent Monday working on a load for my .41 Redhawk and my very own boolit, the Lee TL410-210 SWC, cast from WW and a bit of tin. Wanted a load that pushed the boolit 1000-1100 fps from my 5½-inch barrel.
Started with SR4756, the same load I always used with commercial hard cast. I alternate holding the muzzle down / muzzle up between shots looking for a load that isn’t so sensitive to powder position. The chronograph showed an extreme spread of near 200 fps. I tried 800X, 700X, AA#5, #7, #9, 2400, Unique, W231, WAP, Clays, Universal Clays, Power Pistol, Herco, Blue Dot, Red Dot, they all showed extreme spreads 125-200 fps. I cleaned the bore between powders, all were leading a bit, some worse than others. It took all day, but I found that 18gr IMR4227 and a Federal 150 primer gave me 1050 fps, ES 41 fps and SD 10 fps. I had some leading just ahead of the forcing cone, but not bad. I was using a steel gong as an aiming point and was too tired for any accuracy testing at that point.
Well, yesterday I loaded up 50 of ‘em and set up a paper target. Starting with a clean gun so I ran a cylinder full at a pop can first, hitting high. The next cylinder at the 25-yard target, supporting my arms and off hand on bags, put all six high and all over the target. I was disappointed, a group size of some 7-8 inches, I was starting to think I couldn’t cast a decent boolit. I checked the barrel, had some leading just in front of the cone. Well I screwed the sight down a couple of clicks and fired another cylinder, the group had tightened up some, still hitting high. Couple more clicks and printed a fairly good group right where I wanted it.
Strange thing, I checked the barrel again, to my surprise the leading was almost GONE! Put up a new target, concentrated on the sights, four shots touching, 5th shot opened the group to just over an inch. I’m not gonna’ tell you about the 6th shot, it don’t count. :mrgreen:
I burned up the rest of the loads at my 50 and 75-yard gongs. Using a semi-rested hold I was able to hit the 75-yard gong (8-inch diameter) 7 out of 8 times. Checked the barrel when I was done, I could see no leading at all, it had disappeared on it’s own! A quick dry brushing over white paper produced maybe a half-dozen small flakes of lead and a bright barrel.
I may never clean that barrel again, I’m afraid too!
Well my confidence is up, I CAN cast a usable boolit. Guess I’ll expand my mold collection from ONE to More. I’m headed over to the “Group Buys” to look around.
Started with SR4756, the same load I always used with commercial hard cast. I alternate holding the muzzle down / muzzle up between shots looking for a load that isn’t so sensitive to powder position. The chronograph showed an extreme spread of near 200 fps. I tried 800X, 700X, AA#5, #7, #9, 2400, Unique, W231, WAP, Clays, Universal Clays, Power Pistol, Herco, Blue Dot, Red Dot, they all showed extreme spreads 125-200 fps. I cleaned the bore between powders, all were leading a bit, some worse than others. It took all day, but I found that 18gr IMR4227 and a Federal 150 primer gave me 1050 fps, ES 41 fps and SD 10 fps. I had some leading just ahead of the forcing cone, but not bad. I was using a steel gong as an aiming point and was too tired for any accuracy testing at that point.
Well, yesterday I loaded up 50 of ‘em and set up a paper target. Starting with a clean gun so I ran a cylinder full at a pop can first, hitting high. The next cylinder at the 25-yard target, supporting my arms and off hand on bags, put all six high and all over the target. I was disappointed, a group size of some 7-8 inches, I was starting to think I couldn’t cast a decent boolit. I checked the barrel, had some leading just in front of the cone. Well I screwed the sight down a couple of clicks and fired another cylinder, the group had tightened up some, still hitting high. Couple more clicks and printed a fairly good group right where I wanted it.
Strange thing, I checked the barrel again, to my surprise the leading was almost GONE! Put up a new target, concentrated on the sights, four shots touching, 5th shot opened the group to just over an inch. I’m not gonna’ tell you about the 6th shot, it don’t count. :mrgreen:
I burned up the rest of the loads at my 50 and 75-yard gongs. Using a semi-rested hold I was able to hit the 75-yard gong (8-inch diameter) 7 out of 8 times. Checked the barrel when I was done, I could see no leading at all, it had disappeared on it’s own! A quick dry brushing over white paper produced maybe a half-dozen small flakes of lead and a bright barrel.
I may never clean that barrel again, I’m afraid too!
Well my confidence is up, I CAN cast a usable boolit. Guess I’ll expand my mold collection from ONE to More. I’m headed over to the “Group Buys” to look around.