Maven
05-14-2008, 03:40 PM
C.E. Harris' article on .30-06 "Guard" & Gallery Practice" loads with Bullseye powder (FS #192, pp. 192-5 - 192-7) inspired me to try something like Harris described, but with the Lee 30-150-TL-PB and Hodgdon CLAYS powder*, which I have a lot of instead of B'eye, which I haven't much of. Also, since I didn't want to order 8lbs. of Unique or B. Dot when I have +12lbs. of CLAYS on hand, I thought I'd try it in my .30-06, but only @ 50yds. and with a ~140gr. CB.
Case Prep, etc.: I neck sized 50pc. LC '57 '06 brass + 2 Rem. '06 brass (foulers) in a Lee collet die (no M-die used, nor was it needed), but seated the CB's via an old CH "Vickerman" (window) die.
CB's: Group Buy Lee plain base bullet, but sized to .314" so I could lube them with Felix Lube. OAL was 3.15", but I may reduce this to 3.10" - 3.12" since a few rounds were difficult to chamber. The alloy was WW + ~1% Sn that was water dropped. Past experience indicates that these CB's are a bit more accurate if unsized and lubed with Lee Liq. Alox. (I do these by hand for better coverage, but it's slow and messy.) Maybe I'll return to not sizing this particular CB if my next set of test results are as promising as today's.
Powder, charge, primers: I used my Lyman pistol powder measure to throw charges of 6.0, 7.0, and 8.1 (actual weight) of Hodgdon CLAYS powder (NOT Universal Clays or International Clays) sans filler and ignited by Win. LR primers. Btw, fired cases were almost entirely free of soot.
Results: Mixed, but promisiing @ 50yds. To wit, it was possible to get more than half of the shots touching (2 10-shot groups at 6-, 7-, and 8.1grs. for a total of 60 shots + 2 foulers), but the dispersion on the target was a bit disappointing. I.e., dispersion was least with the 8.1gr. charge and greatest with the 6.0gr. charge**. However, I think Nirvana may reside between 7 & 8grs. since both produced some pretty nice groups. I intend to repeat this test with 7.0, 7.5 and 8.1grs. in the near future. If you have this powder or B'eye and a yen to see how well PB or gas checked CB's, minus the GC, shoot, take a look at Harris' article and try his suggestions. I think you'll be as pleased as I was.
Sight Adjustment: I resighted my rifle for 100yds. last week using 20.5grs. WC 820 and 175 & 195gr. CB's (Saeco #315 & RG-4, resp.). The "gallery practice" loads, a la Harris, I used today required no change in elevation, with the CB's hitting at the point of aim or ~1" high @ 50yds.
* I've been using CLAYS in my .357mag. and .44mag. and find it to be much cleaner than B'eye, G. Dot and Unique.
**It's entirely possible that the the greater dispersion with the 6.0gr. load, which I fired first, may reflect my not yet settling in behind the rifle.
Case Prep, etc.: I neck sized 50pc. LC '57 '06 brass + 2 Rem. '06 brass (foulers) in a Lee collet die (no M-die used, nor was it needed), but seated the CB's via an old CH "Vickerman" (window) die.
CB's: Group Buy Lee plain base bullet, but sized to .314" so I could lube them with Felix Lube. OAL was 3.15", but I may reduce this to 3.10" - 3.12" since a few rounds were difficult to chamber. The alloy was WW + ~1% Sn that was water dropped. Past experience indicates that these CB's are a bit more accurate if unsized and lubed with Lee Liq. Alox. (I do these by hand for better coverage, but it's slow and messy.) Maybe I'll return to not sizing this particular CB if my next set of test results are as promising as today's.
Powder, charge, primers: I used my Lyman pistol powder measure to throw charges of 6.0, 7.0, and 8.1 (actual weight) of Hodgdon CLAYS powder (NOT Universal Clays or International Clays) sans filler and ignited by Win. LR primers. Btw, fired cases were almost entirely free of soot.
Results: Mixed, but promisiing @ 50yds. To wit, it was possible to get more than half of the shots touching (2 10-shot groups at 6-, 7-, and 8.1grs. for a total of 60 shots + 2 foulers), but the dispersion on the target was a bit disappointing. I.e., dispersion was least with the 8.1gr. charge and greatest with the 6.0gr. charge**. However, I think Nirvana may reside between 7 & 8grs. since both produced some pretty nice groups. I intend to repeat this test with 7.0, 7.5 and 8.1grs. in the near future. If you have this powder or B'eye and a yen to see how well PB or gas checked CB's, minus the GC, shoot, take a look at Harris' article and try his suggestions. I think you'll be as pleased as I was.
Sight Adjustment: I resighted my rifle for 100yds. last week using 20.5grs. WC 820 and 175 & 195gr. CB's (Saeco #315 & RG-4, resp.). The "gallery practice" loads, a la Harris, I used today required no change in elevation, with the CB's hitting at the point of aim or ~1" high @ 50yds.
* I've been using CLAYS in my .357mag. and .44mag. and find it to be much cleaner than B'eye, G. Dot and Unique.
**It's entirely possible that the the greater dispersion with the 6.0gr. load, which I fired first, may reflect my not yet settling in behind the rifle.