Range results first casts in 45-70 Springfield TD, 45 acp and 7.62x39

[bassin57]

Hi,

I took my first cast bullets to the range. The 45-70 was poured in SOWW with tin to a 25:1 alloy. The mold was .459 405 grn HB which I pan lubed in BAC. The starting load for the powders SR 4759 and 5774 was used. The boolit did not keyhole like the commercial BH of 18 boolit. At 25 yards I had 3 almost touching but at 50 yards I had 8 inch group after firing 15 rounds. Upon cleaning the barrel I had little leading . I am happy with the results and I will try 25:1 alloy from rotometals. The trigger on thre 1873 trapdoor is hard and beaks all ot once. Can a smith improve the trigger on a rifle that old? My next outing will be with a higher powder load...I have reloader7 and IMR 4198 as a possibility I would like better grouping.
The SKS was shot with a cast my friend made for me 155 grn GC boolit and the Lee 160 TL GC boolit I made and lubed with xlox 45-45-10. Both were shot with a starting load of Rel 7. Both boolits fired OK and cycled the action. The 155 grn felt weak in velocity due the large powder range for Rel 7 and weight. I only had time to fires these at 25 yards. I will go out again using boolits cast from wheel weights with a little tin and water squeached. I will incease the powder charge of Rel 7 and I may add imr 4198. I LOST SOME SKS BRASS due to the ejection. I have read on the internet shooting an SKS with the gas pistion (large rod in gas tube) removed will allow you to shoot and SKS as a single shot?? Has anyone tried this?
Finally I shot my 45 acp 200 grn and 230 grn cast boolits. I used the Lee 200 grn SWC TL and Lee 230 grn TL molds. The alloy I used was recommended here 50/50 lead to COWW with 2 % tin. lubed X2 with xlox 45-45-10 from White Lubes. The loaded and shot great from rest at 17 yards using a near starting load of Win 231. My next cast will be a mix of 1-25 lead alloy (rotometals) / COWW With a slight increase powder charge.
It was a fun outing and thanks again for the replies to my earlier posts.

Bassin57

[Cowboy_Dan]

[ snip]
I have read on the internet shooting an SKS with the gas pistion (large rod in gas tube) removed will allow you to shoot and SKS as a single shot?? Has anyone tried this?
[Snip]


I don't know about removing the piston. It sounds like it might work, but it will probably make a mess in the tube. My SKS is a Yugo 59/66 with the muzzle grenade launcher. It has a switch to close the gas port for grenade use (so all of the gas from the blank will push the grenade). Never used it to fire a grenade, but it sure is handy for making it into a bolt gun.

When I take people out to shoot it, I flip the switch if they have never fired a semi before. I think it helps them get used to firing it to force them to slow down.

[Toymaker]

You say "leading". Did you get what looked like "slivers" of lead from 0 to about 4 inches up the bore from the breech? That's not leading - the bullet is tearing as it engages the rifling. I've had the same thing, it didn't adversely impact accuracy. I tried a harder bullet but still got it. Tried pure lead but it still happened. Finally got to 20:1 and it stopped.

You didn't say what charge of 4759 or 5744 you were using. You'll probably find something in the neighborhood of 23.5 grains to be most accurate.

'Fraid you're stuck with that trigger pull. About all a smith can do is polish things to make it smoother. Remember, it's a battle rifle not a target rifle. Military pull is probably something like 7 pounds.

[Poygan]

I routinely take the gas piston out so I don't have to look in the next county for my brass. No major fouling and a very easy clean up.

[Maven]

"I have read on the internet shooting an SKS with the gas pistion (large rod in gas tube) removed will allow you to shoot and SKS as a single shot?? Has anyone tried this?" ...bassin57

My experience with a Type 56 SKS mirrors Poygan's. I think accuracy was a tad better with the gas piston in place, but you'll want to change both the powder type and charge so the SKS doesn't toss the brass "into the next county" as Poygan mentioned: 13gr. Alliant 2400 did the trick for me with a 145gr. gas checked LBT bullet (C.E. Harris design).

[Yodogsandman]

Slugging your chambers could help. I found out that my bore diameter was .313" on a Yugo SKS. No wonder!!

[bassin57]

Hi,
Yes, the leading I saw was lead slivers. In my case this is telling me the boolit is expanding and making contact to the rifling. The commercial cast bullet I used was keyholing. The TD powder charge I used was SR-4759 24.0 grn and 5774 was 26.0 grn these were listed as starting loads in my Lyman cast bullet hand book. With the SKS my next casts I will shoot with the gas piston in and removed ( gas tube lubed with marvel mystery oil or ATF) at 50 yards to see if there is any difference in accuracy. My ultimate goal is a cast load with accuracy out to 100 yards. I may also try the powder IMR 4198 I have heard a lot of good things about this powder. Your suggestion of trying alliant 2400 sounds great but the powder is not listed in my Lyman cast book. How did you come across this load data? I have I considered slugging my bore but was afraid of damaging my rifles esp my Springfield TD.
Thanks again,
Bassin57

[Maven]

"Your suggestion of trying alliant 2400 sounds great but the powder is not listed in my Lyman cast book. How did you come across this load data?" ...bassin57

I developed that load after reading several articles in various publications and doing a bit of extrapolation and range testing with a chronograph. IMR 4198 will also work, but I never tried it in the SKS. Btw, WC 820/AA #9 is also a good choice as long as you don't exceed 15gr. with 140 - 160r. CB's. 13gr. barely operated the action of my Type 56, which is what I was looking for.

[oldfart1956]

Bassin' sounds like you had a productive day and larn't some things...ehh? Now, as far as the trapdoor, slug that barrel. You won't hurt anything. A soft lead roundball. sinker or even take one of your 405gr. boolits and sit it on something solid and give it a wee whack with a hammer to make it fatter. Then lube barrel&slug and drive it thru the bore. I use a steel range rod with some electrical tape every few inches so it won't hit the rifling. Another problem area as has been mentioned is these things don't seem to have a throat. The rifling just sticks up at the end of the chamber (or near enuff) and there's no taper to them. It digs into the boolit like a chisel plowing into wood. Goodsteel (Tim) wrote up an excellent tutorial on how to do a pound casting of the chamber an that will really open up your eyes. As far as the trigger...yes it can be improved. My gunsmith (Ft. Chambers of Chambersburg, Pa.) dropped mine to 3-3 1/2 pounds with no creep. Still a lot of overtravel...haven't drilled the trigger guard yet to put in an overtravel screw. If your having trouble seeing that front sight at 50+ yards let me know. I can tell ye how to fix that to. :) Audie...the Oldfart..