gc boolits..how fast can you push them?

[Throckmorton]

My buddy is loading for a thutty thutty and wants to approach 1900 fps with gc boolits ,LaserCast,170 grain flat nose.

actually he will prolly be more in the 1800 range with the powder he's using.The powder mfgr shows 1850 max and we always stay below max for our plinking.

thanks all.

[Bullshop]

A couple years ago we did a test to see just how fast we could go before things went soure. We were looking for top speed before leading occured not considering accuracy and top speed with accuracy.
Using acww alloy and speed green lube we were able to max out velocity in the Sako 222 used for the test with a cbe 55gn boolit at 3000 fps. Ther was no leading detectable. As for accuracy it was good to about 2500 fps and then progresivly got worse as velocity/pressure went up. It is very likely that were we to have quenched the alloy to bump up the hardness the velocity/pressure with accuracy would have gone higher but thats not what we were looking for at the time. Also would like to mention that the vintage of our Sake has it mated with one of the micro groove barrels they used for a short time. We searched for a conventional groove barreled Sako rifle but didnt find one we could afford. Bummer too because that would have been a good comparison.
Anyway from what little we did we found that with a good fit, an alloy of bhn-12, a good lube (speed green just loves to go fast) and a nicely accurate platform we got to 2500fps and shot about a 1.5 moa average at 100 yards. Still lots of room for testing there. One of you retired guys should pick that up. For me I am self employed and have 8 children at home so that should indicate something about how much available time I have.
BIC/BS

[VTDW]

"...8 children at home so that should indicate something about how much available time I have..."

Catholic or Passionate Protestant bro?:mrgreen: You certainly have your hands full.

Dave

[Larry Gibson]

That velocity is fine and should produce good accuracy if the powder he is using is a medium burning powder. If it is a fact one then slower velocity may give better accuracy. If a Marlin with 10" twist barrel then that velocity 1850 - 1900 is very good. If a Winchester with 12" twist he can push to 2100 fps and still have good accuracy (given a medium burning powder like 3031, 4895, H335 and 748). The Lasercast usually do not lead at those velocities.

Larry Gibson

[Throckmorton]

Thanks for the feedback,we'll load some up and commence to testing.

[454PB]

My experience matches Bullshop's. In .222 Remington, using a linotype gas checked RCBS 55 gr. cast I got to 2500 fps. with good accuracy. Past that point, it started getting erratic.

[Bullshop]

454pb
What kind of barrel were you using? Twist? Just qurious. I had thought since I was using acww a harder alloy may have gone a bit faster with good accuracy. I guess that micro groove barrel im my Sako did right well. Sure does good with bullets too.
BIC/BS

[jimkim]

With 180gr RCBS RN bullets my Marlin likes 30.0gr of IMR-4350. I found the load here. http://www.leverguns.com/articles/taylor/model94_3030.htm It says the velocity is 1647fps. I haven't chrono'ed it so I don't know what velocity I'm getting. It is grouping in the 1.5-2.0 inch range(off a bench) at 100 yards though. I would think the velocity would be a little higher with the 170gr bullet.

In Handloader #233 they got 1959fps with 34.0gr of IMR-4350 under a SAECO 62307FPGC 180gr bullet. I hope this helps.

[454PB]

Bullshop:

I used them in both a Thompson Contender Super 14 and a Savage 340 (marketed by Western Field). The Contender is gone, and I'd have to check the twist on the Savage. A person can make a lot of those tiny little boolits with a pound of linotype, about 127 by my calculator.