Comments thread: July 2014 Photo contest

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Let the good times roll...

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

The rest of the story:
20+ years ago, My Liberal Brother gave me this French Gras rifle. I was just starting to get 'seriously' into shooting (but it was still years before I started reloading), and he thought it'd be funny to give me a rifle (that he thought) I couldn't shoot due to no ammo available. It's another long story about how he traded a bottle of wine from his cellar for this rifle, so he had almost nothing money-wise into it, as compared to it's value...even in 1993.

After about a 6 month's search (As I said, I was new to the sport, so I didn't have the contacts and there was no public internet yet), I found a Gun shop owner (Janesville Gunshop) that would make me some ammo...then another few months wait and I had a box of expensive ammo, loaded with the Holy Black and some "roughly" cast boolits that measure quite out-of-round (.430 on one side of the large seam and .442 on the other side). I did shoot two rounds right after I got them...action shoots with a Polaroid, to include the smoke, specifically to send to my brother to prove He gave me a very shootable rifle and Ammo was to be had :)

I've been saving the rest of this ammo for use at special occasions...never had one til yesterday (on this holiday weekend). I've been reading and researching any hints tips and tricks to reloading for this for about a year now. I've slugged the barrel more than a couple times, as the results seemed way off at .454 ...It is supposed to be around .438 I should mention this rifle looks almost "unissued" and the rifling looks crisp, so it's not worn (it is a french military rifle after all :) ).

As you can expect, I am quite happy that this rifle has a oversized bore which happens to be a much easier size to deal with as a caster and reloader. I don't have the precise dies for this, my plan is to use a combination of 45 colt and 45-70 dies. I should only need to size the neck (with 45 colt sizer). I'm hoping that after seating with a 45-70 seater, I can get that die to remove the 'bell' in the mouth, if not I have the 45 colt Rifle style FCD and a gentle touch???

Then, I guess we'll see exactly what size boolit the chamber will accept??? As I haven't gotten that far yet. But I am one step closer, I now have 18 pieces of fire-formed brass to play with.

btw the way,the case mouth of a fired case measures .452 ...just more proof that my slugging results are correct, as you can tell by my constant double checking of things, in the back of my mind, I still can't believe this rifle's bore is so large.

Oh, as you would expect, I got massive lead fouling in the barrel. Luckily, it easily cleaned out. I did save one of the Janesville Gunshop Loads for reference.

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/rifle_zpsb791a610.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/rifle_zpsb791a610.jpg.html)

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/receipttargecloseup_zps546f4b31.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/receipttargecloseup_zps546f4b31.jpg.html)

[WILCO]

Great story Jon!

[texassako]

Good story! Sounds like you have one converted from a Chassepot, judging by the bore size.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

All the markings indicate it's a 1874 Gras Manufactured in 1875, with matching SN's. But that sure is an interesting theory.
Jon

[RED333]

davwingman (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?4114-davwingman), Swede 45 (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?36873-Swede-45), very good pics guys, I like both.

[Beerd]

davwingman (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?4114-davwingman), Swede 45 (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?36873-Swede-45), very good pics guys, I like both.

beat me to it! I was thinking the same thing. [smilie=s:
..

[Swede 45]

Thanks!
I like to take gun pictures..
Just fun to play around..

[davwingman]

Thanks!

I take lots pictures of gun related stuff. Mostly write load data & other info on targets Then take the picture & save on my computer.

Makes it a lot easier for me than looking through a bunch of written notes!

[Pinsnscrews]

I have to say, those boolits of yours Swede make cleaner holes then my Hole Punch! And a Hell of a lot more fun to use!

[Swede 45]

They sure do! :-)
Special short fiber papertarget and wadcutters is a great combo for easy scoring!
Makes nice pics too!:-)

[Lead pot]

Not a paper target, but it was a life 100 yd plus target.
My wife wanted to go hunting :)

[RED333]

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww43/Kurtalt/KurtsBuffalo2013021_zpsdd763f05.jpg (http://s704.photobucket.com/user/Kurtalt/media/KurtsBuffalo2013021_zpsdd763f05.jpg.html)

Well it is a target, nice.

[btroj]

Hey Leadpot, where a bouts did you do that hunt? Sure looks like the Nebraska Sandhills from the terrain, vegetation, and sand.

[Deliverator]

Sure looks like Swede45 used a nice hole punch on his target hehe. Semi-wadcutters make nice clean holes.

[Lead pot]

Yup it was on the sand hills.

[Bullwolf]

I was testing a brand new EWK arms 4 inch stainless barrel in my Dan Wesson Model 714 on 5/17/2014

Had a box of cheap Winchester white box 38 Specials to see how it worked using a known ammunition. Shot my best full group using the Winchester white box.
(Wish it had been wad cutters, but oh well)

My first cold shot went right in the red paste on Bulls eye. The rest of my shots grouped nice and tightly, but were slightly higher. I usually keep on shooting different loads into the same target out of laziness, and they consequently end up looking like trash when I am finished shooting.

111470

Because this target looked so good, I had to pull it down and hang onto it after only shooting 6 rounds. When I got home I took a picture of the target, and was happy to see that it was one of the old Gunloads.com printable targets, and not one of my generic Midway Pistol, or Targetz.com printable targets.

http://www.gunloads.com/

The Target is "Fading Center" under the Printable Targets / Rifle category

It seemed fitting to post it in the July target thread.



- Bullwolf

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Taylor, was that snake shot with a boolit?,or a bullet? or Shot ?
I've dispatched a few small critters with 45acp Shot.
Just curious.


111465 Springfield 1911,one shot at 2yds.

[ELFEGO BACA]

[ATTACH]111727[/ATTACH
]One of my favorite rifles - Remington's 1903A3.

Shooting 159 grain flat nose cast bullets charged with 20.0 grains of SR4759.

Target is 12" square A500 3/8" plate that rings nicely when hit from 240 yards!

Annie is my spotter!

Elfego

[SSGOldfart]

I was testing a brand new EWK arms 4 inch stainless barrel in my Dan Wesson Model 714 on 5/17/2014

Had a box of cheap Winchester white box 38 Specials to see how it worked using a known ammunition. Shot my best full group using the Winchester white box.
(Wish it had been wad cutters, but oh well)

My first cold shot went right in the red paste on Bulls eye. The rest of my shots grouped nice and tightly, but were slightly higher. I usually keep on shooting different loads into the same target out of laziness, and they consequently end up looking like trash when I am finished shooting.

111470

111471

Because this target looked so good, I had to pull it down and hang onto it after only shooting 6 rounds. When I got home I took a picture of the target, and was happy to see that it was one of the old Gunloads.com printable targets, and not one of my generic Midway Pistol, or Targetz.com printable targets.

http://www.gunloads.com/

The Target is "Fading Center" under the Printable Targets / Rifle category

It seemed fitting to post it in the July target thread.



- Bullwolf

Wish my Dan Wesson target was that good,so I take it you like that
Ewk barrel?

[Bullwolf]

Wish my Dan Wesson target was that good,so I take it you like that
Ewk barrel?

Yes I'm definitely loving that EWK barrel on my Dan Wesson.

A 4inch barrel assembly is my all around favorite barrel length to wear on your hip. It's not too long to sit in the truck, or drive the tractor when holstered, and it doesn't seem to get in the way while working around the ranch.

I purchased my first 4inch barrel assembly used, from an online auction sight that I won't mention. I bought the used 4inch assembly as a barrel and shroud combo. Back when I first purchased my Dan Wesson, it did not come with a 4inch barrel assembly, or in a pistol pack. My revolver came with a 2.5inch barrel installed along with the original multi-tool. A spare 6inch barrel and shroud also came with the gun. The spare barrel and shroud were supplied in a Monson marked cardboard box.

The used 4inch stainless steel barrel that I purchased online was extremely pitted both inside and outside of the barrel, yet the barrel shroud itself was pristine. The pitted barrel was also grossly leaded. It was easily the worst leading I have ever seen in a bore.

It took me ages to get all of the lead out of that used barrel. I felt like I could have cast a whole other bullet from it. Sadly, underneath all the leading was nothing but deep pitting that wasn't clearly visible through the ironed in barrel leading. I probably should have expected that, due to the pitting on the outside of the barrel, but it still came as a bit of a surprise to me.

I chucked the barrel up and turned the outside diameter some to clean up and polish off the worst of the outer pitting... But the more important bore and rifling and were still extremely pitted. It wasn't something likely to be improved by fire lapping either, without leaving me with a smooth bore .363 or something along those lines.

I suspect the previous owner soaked just the stainless barrel tube in a caustic vinegar and peroxide solution in a feeble attempt to remove the awful leading. He probably assumed that since the barrel was stainless, it would be fine. Maybe he left it in that overnight, or did something else stupid. Had probably never heard of a Lewis lead remover, or using copper Chore boy pad strands to remove bad barrel leading.

Anyways, despite the terrible pitting, that used 4inch tube shot better than you would have expected. (with jacketed stuff ) Still, it performed no where near as good as my other 2.5inch, 6inch, or 8inch barrels did. That one barrel tube always kind of bothered me as the 4inch was my favorite length to have on the gun.

So, I signed up to be notified as soon as EWK arms had another stainless 357 Magnum 4inch barrel tube in stock. It wasn't long till a new EWK barrel became available, and soon arrived on my doorstep.

Just by looking at the new EWK barrel tooling and finish reaming work compared with my older Dan Wesson barrels, you can easily tell the difference in quality.

The EWK barrel actually has a nice noticeable muzzle crown, and a much smoother forcing cone. The barrel threads and rifling were pristine. Both barrel ends are true, and they don't look like they were cut using hack saw or a belt sander. I was already a fan of the EWK 4 point barrel nuts which are easier to get your hands on, (and barrel tool) than the older 2 point Dan Wesson original nuts.

It's obvious that someone who actually cares and takes pride in their work put a lot of time into finishing the EWK barrels. I have a few older Monson DW barrels that look like they were cut with woodworking tools in comparison.

You can see the difference just from the muzzle while looking at both an older Dan Wesson barrel and the new EWK barrel.

As the target shows, I am extremely pleased with the accuracy of my Dan Wesson revolver with the EWK barrel installed. I'll need to come up with some new excuses, when I don't shoot as well as the gun is now capable of performing.





- Bullwolf

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

The Winner

Swede 45
S&W 686 2½", Lee 105gr swc

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g404/Swede45/SampW6862frac12-2.jpg

I'll keep this thread open for a week or so, in case anyone wants to comment on any part of the July Contest.

[RED333]

Congrats Swede 45, check is in the mail.LOL

[Swede 45]

Thank you, thank you, thank you...

[MOA]

Awesome Swede 45, just awesome.