Calling all Old 1911 Bullseye Shooters...

[S.R.Custom]

Back in the day the hot bullet for use in the 1911 in Bullseye matches was the H&G 68, and to a lesser extent, the RCBS 201, and a couple of similar moulds from Lyman. My question is-- The guys that won the matches and set the records, what alloy did they use in those moulds?

TIA, Mike

[Dave C.]

92-6-2.

[tigweldit]

Back in the day when I was shooting bullseye matches,don't think I set any records, straight WW's was my alloy. Back then I got my WW's for $5.00 for 3/4 full five gallon bucket from local tire shop. Lubed my Lyman 452460's with NRA 50/50 mix, CCI primers, and just enough Bullseye to get my Gold Cup (with light recoil spring) to function reliably. Won my share of matches I entered, but there was always a better shooter right around the corner.

[Kraschenbirn]

Pretty much the same as tigweldit. Slightly 'improved' Series 70 Gold Cup, shooting RCBS 201-KT SWCs cast from straight COWW with a dab of 50/50 solder to improve the fill out, 3.8 gr. 700X, Federal primers, GI brass.

Bill

[243winxb]

Photo from 1970's NRA reprint. https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?media/45acp.900/full

The Lyman 200 gr bevel base is the best i used. Wheel weights with a bit of lynotype added.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?media/castbullets_20090207_005.497/full

[jsizemore]

I looked through my NRA Illustrated Reloading Handbook from the early 60's. It's reprinted articles from 1950-60 American Rifleman Mag.

There's one article titled "Pistol Champions' Target Loads". Seems they found an alloy they liked and used it in 45acp and 38spec. They shot all manner of wadcutter in 38 and semi-wadcutter in 45acp from all the iron mold manufacturers but mostly H&G.

The various alloys were monotype, linotype, Lyman #2, scrap lead with 6% Sb & trace Sn, 78-12-10, 75-15-10, 15-1 Sb, 85-10-5, 95-5, 15-1Sn.

My alloy is 50% COWW/50% Pb + 1% Sn. My Kart barrel loves it.

[wv109323]

I don't think alloy is that important. Last fall I cast several h&g 68. I visually rejected the obvious then picked 10 of the worst remaining. I loaded them up along with some very well respected commercial cast bullets. The alloy I used was a mixture of range recovered and coww. I shot a 10 shot group with my Cast vs. Commercial .Using my wad gun in a Ransom Rest I ended up with identical groups. Both were 3" X 1 1/2". One was 100-6x and the other 100-7x. This test surprised me. The load was 4,2 gn. of Bullseye with a .469 taper crimp on top of a WLP primer. Brass was Federal.

[fecmech]

Looks to me like H&G 130 is a better bet than #68 in that picture. My wad gun shot Lyman 452460 better than than H&G 68 in a Ransom rest back when I shot bullseye.

[gwpercle]

I did manage to win a First Place in a 1911 GI Match , and several in 22LR , 38 special, 45acp Bullseye Match. The boolit was Lyman # 452460 SWC, 200 grain .
Used air cooled wheel weights , both the clip on and stick on , whatever was in the bucket went into the pot. No zinc or steel weights back then. I had free unlimited wheel weights so that's what I used. Air cooled, sized .452 and lubed with a Lithi-Bee lubricant . Now I mix COWW and soft lead 50-50, my free wheel weight supplier has retired and this extends my WW supply and works just as well for handgun boolits.
Gary

[S.R.Custom]

Looks to me like H&G 130 is a better bet than #68 in that picture.

There's more there than than meets the eye... The 130 was preferred, but not because it was more accurate--one was as good as the other--but because it was lighter and could be shot with a lighter charge. Depending on how many rounds in the course of fire, this could be important by the end of the day. There were, however, a couple of downsides to the 130. One, it wasn't as reliable as the #68. Not a big deal in Bullseye, but is a huge consideration in IPSC. Two, if it was was windy to any appreciable degree, the guys shooting the #68 got the girl.

The thing about that pic that jumps out to me is the number of roll crimps. I can take a guess as to why, but I'd be making stuff up. If anyone knows the why about the dearth of taper crimps, I'd be interested to hear it...


I don't think alloy is that important...

On its face, a bold statement... but I've been around a casting pot long enough to know what you're saying...

What motivates me to ask about the alloy of old time #68 shooters is a current project we're working on. It's a +P capable Lightweight Commander with one of Fred Kart's barrels. We're looking to put a 200 gr (or so) bullet 50 yards downrange into a 2" group at "enhanced" velocities, and not looking to re-invent the wheel in the process....

Cheers