Lee Shavers Ferris long range rifle , what are people running??

[Oztrapr]

G'day guys,
I Was lucky enough to purchase one of Lee's "Ferris long range " rifles in .45 and a spare barrel in .40 , I was planing on running the .40 out to 600... Then using the .45 out to 1000y . I've been shooting lee's 575g gg mould with 95g of Swiss 1 1/2 to 800 then 105g out to 1000. Shoots well at long ranges but always wanting more....
Just thought I'd see what people are running in their ferris's at long ranges.....oh yer...super happy with the rifle , Lee does an awesome job .

[Tatume]

They are beautiful rifles. Please post photos of yours.

[Boz330]

I have a friend with one and he isn't shooting that heavy a load, 85gr I believe and he did very well with it last year out 1200yd. This year he is shooting an original English made rifle since the world shoot in OZ is coming up and he competes in the Original Class.

Bob

[54bore]

G'day guys,
I Was lucky enough to purchase one of Lee's "Ferris long range " rifles in .45 and a spare barrel in .40 , I was planing on running the .40 out to 600... Then using the .45 out to 1000y . I've been shooting lee's 575g gg mould with 95g of Swiss 1 1/2 to 800 then 105g out to 1000. Shoots well at long ranges but always wanting more....
Just thought I'd see what people are running in their ferris's at long ranges.....oh yer...super happy with the rifle , Lee does an awesome job .

I would LOVE to have one of these rifles!!

[oldracer]

I'd suggest calling Lee as he is a really great guy and very willing to help you out. When I bought my Pedersoli Gibbs 4 or 5 years ago (memory fading) I called him as he has been a world class long range shooter for many years and he gave me all his bullet, wad, powder and cap info. If I remember correctly he said a 540 to 560 straight side paper patch pure lead bullet, 0.060 wad on top of 90 grains of FFG equivalent powder out to 600 yards. Over 600 yards you He noted most of the world championship matches are shot in a country that supplies the black powder and also the caps. He noted there are always several days to practice with the new powder to get loads set.

You'll find shooting one of these (like my Gibbs) is a very interesting testing experience to get everything correct so make sure to record everything.

[Oztrapr]

Thanks guys , Lee was super helpful when I picked it up at the worlds in camp Butner a few years back and his suggested loads were awsome.... And have been shooting with them ever since but I'm just putting the feelers out to see what other owners of this buitifull rifle are doing ?? I've since been in contact and Lee has been ever so helpful and is shipping me his 545 g version just to c how it proforms ....

[Oztrapr]

I've since changed a little of what Lee suggested and added a felt wad on top of the veggie wad he suggested .... And have shot a 47 @ 300 and a 45 with a 2 as my first scoring shot at 500m .... So I think it's shooting well of the elbows at this stage , but always looking for that perfect 50 ...

[oldracer]

When I shoot grease groove bullets I try to make sure to clean the bottom of the bullet of all lube. I tends to make the wad stick and is terrible for accuracy. When I was shooting my Sharps and also the Rolling Block 45-70 black powder rifles I used a fiber wad and a wad cut of news paper on top since if the news paper sticks to the bullet it pretty much evaporates right after leaving the barrel, similar to a paper patch shot. I tried to get a news paper wad on top of my fiber wads and so far they seem to want to stick to the ram rod!

To help complicate matters, Pedersoli in their instructions for their Gibbs rifle and their cast bullet say to set the base of the bullet right on the powder. Sounds screwy but when shooting their bullet that is the best accuracy I get! A great website to see what the world class 1000 yard shooters do is the South African Union's black powder site as the world results are listed with loads, bullets, rifles, wads, etc.

[Oztrapr]

Cheers , thanks for that . I alway do wipe the base and don't seem to get flyers too often . A lot of guys are saying they only shoot pp at long range because it's less drag than grease grove ... I'm yet to try paper patch in it but have obtained a nice pp mould for my 40 cal barrel just need to find the time to test it. I had a look on the South African site but couldn't seem to find load data ... I'll keep looking . I shot with those guys and girls at Camp Butner a few years back ...great bunch ...really friendly .

[Boz330]

Oztrapr,
PP is the way to go for sure.
Were you with the Australian Team? I was a range officer at Camp Butner in 15, sure was a hot place.
The South Africans are great people, I lived there in 82 and 83 working and was always treated well.

Bob