How a boolit caster knows that spring has finally arrived in Canada . . .

[Fritz D]

It's not when the first robins are back, when the back roads turn to mud, or when the first crocuses or tulips come up . . . it's when you find your first spring boolit in your rapidly melting snow backstop!!! These are Lyman 287448, cast with Linotype alloy and fired with my 1908 Brazilian Mauser a couple of weeks ago. I found them today . . . just the first of many!

101723

[quasi]

snow makes a great backstop, no damage at all.

[Groovy]

Snow backstop must save money not having to purchase new lead for casting.

[Hickok]

Yep, I went out to one of our ranges and picked up some scrap lead quick and easy just lying on the ground after the snow melted.

[shredder]

Wow Fritz, your Mauser sure has lots of rifling left. I picked up a handful of my treasures yesterday at the range too. I learn a lot from examining them.

[CastingFool]

Just the other day, I found a bunch of .22rf slugs that my nephew had shot during the winter. They were just laying on top of the dead grass, and took me a few minutes to realize how they got there. they'll be melted down eventually.

[Fritz D]

Wow Fritz, your Mauser sure has lots of rifling left.

I just bought my Brazilian Mauser a few months ago, it is in near mint condition inside and out. Shoots good too . . . so far my worst 10-shot, 50 yard cast boolit group was 1-9/16".

[zuke]

Another couple day's (weekend?) I'll be going out to do some boolit picking myself.

[fatnhappy]

I have that same mould and it drops real fat boolits, .289" for acww if memory serves.

[Huntsman]

My daughter and I collected 4lbs of boolits 3 weeks back. She spotted, I picked em up.
Kids got a sharp eye, just like dad ;)
I turned them all back into 255gr .452's for my Ruger Vaquero.

[MT Chambers]

All my smelting equip. is still under snow here in Sask.

[DLCTEX]

Were the two boolits without checks fired without? What brand of checks?

[Shiloh]

I rarely find boolits with gas checks still on them. I think the trauma of running into a bern sends a shock wave and pops them off.

Shiloh

[jonp]

Mud Season is a sure sign of spring. That and frost heaves. That is a nice bore on the surplus rifle you have

[Fritz D]

Were the two boolits without checks fired without? What brand of checks?

All the 7mm boolits I fired this winter had gas checks. I've recovered a few more from what's left of my "backstop" . . . some still have the checks, some don't. I was using a very old (early 80's) box of Hornady checks. They are reasonably tight on the boolit shank, but I'm not surprised that some are coming off.

Fatnhappy . . . my mold also drops quite large, .289"-.290" with Linotype alloy. I size down to .286".

This winter I also fired a bunch of NOE 269-145 out of a Swedish Mauser, using my own homemade .008" aluminum gas checks. I'm curious to see if they stayed on the boolits, but they are farther back in the snow pile (so I have to patiently wait for more snow to melt).

[fatnhappy]

All the 7mm boolits I fired this winter had gas checks. I've recovered a few more from what's left of my "backstop" . . . some still have the checks, some don't. I was using a very old (early 80's) box of Hornady checks. They are reasonably tight on the boolit shank, but I'm not surprised that some are coming off.

Fatnhappy . . . my mold also drops quite large, .289"-.290" with Linotype alloy. I size down to .286".

This winter I also fired a bunch of NOE 269-145 out of a Swedish Mauser, using my own homemade .008" aluminum gas checks. I'm curious to see if they stayed on the boolits, but they are farther back in the snow pile (so I have to patiently wait for more snow to melt).

I picked up a 1908 brazillian myself and that fat little fellow fits like a glove, so I have to believe Guy Loverin knew what he was up to. If fitting the throat and starting straight are important to CB accuracy, those rifling marks in your photos tell the tale.
I have to say I was never enamored with that boolit until I got a 1908 with a gaping maw. I'm putting 10 grains of red dot in a reminton case with a tuft of dacron. Remington 9.5 primers. I'm not tearing up target like Ben, but it does pretty well.

[Bullshop]

Spring in Canada! Snow in Montana today. It does make the gophers easier to spot.

[Fritz D]

I'm putting 10 grains of red dot in a reminton case with a tuft of dacron. Remington 9.5 primers. I'm not tearing up target like Ben, but it does pretty well.

I've never used Red Dot myself . . . I'll have to give it a try one of these days.

[zuke]

I was given a 12lb keg of 700X, so I've been playing with it this winter

[Fritz D]

I was given a 12lb keg of 700X, so I've been playing with it this winter

Nice score! In the early 80's a friend gave me a partial keg of 700X . . . it provided many years of cheap and fun cast boolit shooting in several different calibers.

[zuke]

How many grain's were you using?
Whereabout's are you?

[Fritz D]

How many grain's were you using?
Whereabout's are you?

I've only had my 7mm for a few months . . . I've never tried 700X in it. My main use of 700X was for light loads in 30-30, 32 Special, 8x57, 38-55 and 44-40. I had good luck with it at 25 and 50 yards, but other powders performed better for me at 100 yards.

The 1973 Lyman cast bullet handbook gives data for 7x57, Lyman 287448 w/gas chk (#2 alloy), sug. start 9.0grs, 1425 fps., 24,600 CUP; max. 12.5grs. 1755 fps., 41,600 CUP. You might want to verify this with more up to date data.

Re my whereabouts . . . I'm located on the outskirts of the Metropolis ;-) of Sprucedale (north of Huntsville).

[zuke]

The 1973 Lyman cast bullet handbook gives data for 7x57, Lyman 287448 w/gas chk (#2 alloy), sug. start 9.0grs, 1425 fps., 24,600 CUP; max. 12.5grs. 1755 fps., 41,600 CUP. You might want to verify this with more up to date data.

700X?
I haven't been down South in a couple year's now, but one of these weekend's.....

[davidheart]

Wow very nice looking boolits. I wish I could say the same but we don't usually get enough snow to even stay on the ground longer than a day.

[Fritz D]

The 1973 Lyman cast bullet handbook gives data for 7x57, Lyman 287448 w/gas chk (#2 alloy), sug. start 9.0grs, 1425 fps., 24,600 CUP; max. 12.5grs. 1755 fps., 41,600 CUP. You might want to verify this with more up to date data.

700X?

Yes, this data is for 700X.