nitro-express
04-21-2015, 10:29 AM
My rifle is a 94 Commemorative in 38-55, and I'm taking the foray into new territory, casting my own bullets and working up a load. I've done some research and when I applied it to the task the results had me puzzled.
I have WW metal, probably 20 year old stuff so I assume it has about 3% Sb. I also have 20 pounds of Babbitt that I smelted down into ingots. It's tin based Babbitt and it contains copper, definitely plugs the spout. I use it as a source of tin. I also have old bullets from my buddy that may be lino, that I use to bring up the Sb %. I blended up a mixture that should be #2 clone, and cast up some bullets with a used 375248 that I found in my box of tricks. I selected, by weight, enough to size/lube/load, @ 242 gr. They cast just a whisker over 377, barely big enough to size. A quick check puts my groove more in the 380 region.
I loaded up a few with 20 gr of SR4759, and they came out @ 1535 fps, ES=27.6, SD=10.9, but I did get some leading in the throat. I went down in powder but my ES/SD went into the toilet, but the leading went down. I tried some loads with H4198, but the ES/SD was ****. I did not shoot any targets, just chrono out the back door, not at the range.
So, my thinking was that the alloy was too soft, and it did seem soft, but they were just freshly cast as well (hours). I still had a few bullets that I hadn't melted down, and they seemed softer than lino. My bad for not checking before melting.
I think that I may need a bullet that is softer, so it can obturate, and load with a faster powder for about 1000 fps. Or try a harder alloy. I'm leaning to mixing up some 1/16 or 1/10, or perhaps pure lead !!!
My mold is a challenge, I had to wail on it to get the bullets to release. I gave it a tune-up as per an article I read, and it seems to work better.
Or is this bullet never going to work.
I checked my brass and chamber, 377 is about as big as I should go, if I want the ammo to feed.
I do have a load with 375449, with gas checks, that works, unfortunately I do not have that mold, I'm just using up the bullets that came with the rifle.
Perhaps I have to buy a new mold, a 375449, or perhaps something from Accurate Molds.
This project is worth while to me as I like the rifle, and the caliber is a fun shoot.
At this point I'm a bit frustrated and confused.
Picture is of my 2 commemorative rifles, a Bat Masterson in 30-30 and a Saskatchewan Diamond Jubilee in 38-55. Both are shooters, not collectors. Some sources say that Bat was born in Canada, and I watched the TV show when I was a kid, so its a keeper. The Sask was a good deal, in a caliber that I wanted to try, and it is a good companion for Bat, so its a keeper as well.
I have WW metal, probably 20 year old stuff so I assume it has about 3% Sb. I also have 20 pounds of Babbitt that I smelted down into ingots. It's tin based Babbitt and it contains copper, definitely plugs the spout. I use it as a source of tin. I also have old bullets from my buddy that may be lino, that I use to bring up the Sb %. I blended up a mixture that should be #2 clone, and cast up some bullets with a used 375248 that I found in my box of tricks. I selected, by weight, enough to size/lube/load, @ 242 gr. They cast just a whisker over 377, barely big enough to size. A quick check puts my groove more in the 380 region.
I loaded up a few with 20 gr of SR4759, and they came out @ 1535 fps, ES=27.6, SD=10.9, but I did get some leading in the throat. I went down in powder but my ES/SD went into the toilet, but the leading went down. I tried some loads with H4198, but the ES/SD was ****. I did not shoot any targets, just chrono out the back door, not at the range.
So, my thinking was that the alloy was too soft, and it did seem soft, but they were just freshly cast as well (hours). I still had a few bullets that I hadn't melted down, and they seemed softer than lino. My bad for not checking before melting.
I think that I may need a bullet that is softer, so it can obturate, and load with a faster powder for about 1000 fps. Or try a harder alloy. I'm leaning to mixing up some 1/16 or 1/10, or perhaps pure lead !!!
My mold is a challenge, I had to wail on it to get the bullets to release. I gave it a tune-up as per an article I read, and it seems to work better.
Or is this bullet never going to work.
I checked my brass and chamber, 377 is about as big as I should go, if I want the ammo to feed.
I do have a load with 375449, with gas checks, that works, unfortunately I do not have that mold, I'm just using up the bullets that came with the rifle.
Perhaps I have to buy a new mold, a 375449, or perhaps something from Accurate Molds.
This project is worth while to me as I like the rifle, and the caliber is a fun shoot.
At this point I'm a bit frustrated and confused.
Picture is of my 2 commemorative rifles, a Bat Masterson in 30-30 and a Saskatchewan Diamond Jubilee in 38-55. Both are shooters, not collectors. Some sources say that Bat was born in Canada, and I watched the TV show when I was a kid, so its a keeper. The Sask was a good deal, in a caliber that I wanted to try, and it is a good companion for Bat, so its a keeper as well.