Cast accuracy expectations ?

[fourdollarbill]

A few weeks ago I had mystery .358 158gr LSWC GC cast bullets causing fliers and it ended up being voids and junk in my casting. Problem fixed...

While trying to figure out the bad accuracy from my own cast bullets I purchased some better made hard cast bullets from a local shop to try for better accuracy. Here is the short story:

The store bought 158gr LSWC .358 shot okay, the home cast 165gr LSWC GC tumble lube shot terrible, the home cast 155gr LSWC tumble lube shot great.

At 25 yds with a bench rested 6" GP, my worst group was 12" and the best group was 4". I used various loads of Unique and 2400.

My big question is... What do you consider a good group for a 6" 357mag, benched at 25yds shooting cast bullets?

[Maven]

$4bill, 2" @ 25 yds. with open sights is a "good" [5 shot] group, but 1" or slightly less is what I strive for. Btw, if the GP you referred to is a Ruger GP-100, try sizing those CB's to .359".

[MR45]

My 38,s shoot one inch or less out of S&W mod 27 with a dot sight.
3.0 bulleye.

[Bret4207]

Back when I could see my sights I considered anything under 2" at 25 yds pretty darn fair, anything smaller was great and usually involved some luck I think.

4" Smith 19 BTW.

[fredj338]

How well do you shoot? If I can get sub 2" groups @ 25yds w/ open sights off a rest, I am having a good day. On really good days, I can get under 1 1/2" from a bench. That's about as good as my old eyes can do now days.

[Cowboy T]

With a 2-hand isosceles stance, I can do 4" groups with the 6" barrel and cast boolits (light .44 Mag). The gun is a S&W Model 629. Haven't tried the bench yet.

[BSkerj]

I shot this group with my S&W 625 .45 ACP using a Mihec 452, 200grn mould at 20 yrds. I could not ask for a better group.

[Cherokee]

2" or less (from the bench) I consider my "accurate" level now with 68 YO eyes. I usta go for 1" and could do it, but that was some years ago. More common now is a 3" group, even with loads that usta shoot 1.5-2.0".

[Bret4207]

I'll challenge anyone to shoot my ancient Iver Johnson 32 Long with it's tiny knife blade front sight and tiny little gnats nose rear sight. That thing would drive a saint to drink. Someday I want to figure a way to put a dot sight on it.

[MtGun44]

Bret,

I think you have a real challenge if you want to put a red dot on an Iver Johnson. I'm
guessing they weren't factory drilled for scope mounts. :bigsmyl2:


As to the point of the thread. If you are having tumbling boolits, you have
too small boolits as a general rule. I am no fan of the TL boolit design, either. We
have folks that do well with TL, but a substantial number of newbies starting with these
things have a bunch of headaches.

Please read the revolver accuracy sticky and learn about throat diameter, barrel
diameter and boolit diameter issues. You want a .358 or .359 in most .357 Mag
pistols.


Bill

[Bullshop]

Bret
I had the same problem with a 7.62 Nagant. The front blade is so thin it just dissapears when I squint. I went through my parts box and found a red ramp sight from a desert eagle. Now that thing is big enough to see!!! Looks kinda odd up there like a bull on a fence post but I can hit with it.
BIC/BS

[462]

A recent lucky day off sand bags: 6 1/2" Blackhawk in .357 Magnum, open sights, 25-yards, Lee 358-158 FN, air cooled 2:1 clip-on/stick-on, and some W-296. The two furthest holes are 1 1/16" apart.

[MtGun44]

Bullshop,

Not like you are ruining the asthetics of a fine handgun with the large front sight.
No offense but that Nagant is one of the homeliest pistols out there.

Sights big enough to see are critical.

Bill

[fourdollarbill]

You guys getting 2" or less groups... Have your guns been worked on such as cylinder throat or forcing cone work? Or are these just oem guns?

[Maven]

$4bill, No cyl. or throat mods. on any of my revolvers (Ruger, BH & SBH, S&W Mod. 10, DW, 6" shrouded bbl.) but one (SBH) has had a trigger job. However, it was scary accurate before the trigger job.

[StarMetal]

I would expect more from a quality gun. This was done with a 30 Luger with a 3 5/8 inch barrel with cast off my garage retaining wall at 25 yards:

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg51/starmetal47/30Luger.jpg

[fecmech]

I'll challenge anyone to shoot my ancient Iver Johnson 32 Long with it's tiny knife blade front sight and tiny little gnats nose rear sight. That thing would drive a saint to drink. Someday I want to figure a way to put a dot sight on it.

Bret--I know this sounds crazy but glue the mount on with silicone caulk just to see how good it shoots and then peel it off when you are done! There is next to no recoil from that gun and the caulk remains tough and flexible. I did that just for kicks to see if it would hold on a ruger SBH with a Weigand mount and fired about a box of mag loads through the gun. The Weigand has a shoulder that takes the straight back force from the recoil but the silicone still had to hold the mount down like the screws do. It was a $25 BSA dot sight so I was not taking too much of a chance. The silicone held up just fine although I certainly would not recommend it for regular service on a SBH! Just wanted to see if it would hold and it did.

[462]

The only modification to the Blackhawk has been a set of Wolff springs.

[MtGun44]

Stock guns. One BH had very tight throats and I reamed them up. All other revolvers
are dead stock. A SBH has fat throats and requires fat boolits, others are pretty normal
like .358 for most .38/.357s and .430 or .431 for most S&W .44s. Not 100% like that,
but most.

Good boolit design, good load, good revolver - should be able to go under 2" at 25 yds
pretty much any time.

Bill

[44man]

A .357 can be very difficult mainly because of boolit choice. The old original 358156 HP shot super but now if a boolit will not group, it is time to try another.
Wring out your boolit every way you can first, from alloy changes to powders.
I was trying to get a friends S&W .357 4" barrel, to group with open sights. Then I tried my Vaquero .45 with the Lee 300 gr boolit.
Now pay attention, I hate 25 yards and all of my testing and load work starts at 50 yards.
I have to shoot Creedmore so the sights are far from my eyes, kind of tricky with a 4" barrel, need to really watch your leg.
2" at 25 goes in the dumpster and so does the same at 50 yards. A decent load should be one ragged hole at 25 from a rest and is why I just do not shoot any gun that close unless I am can shooting for fun. 25 yard targets usually get down to walnuts and Necco wafers.
These are 50 yard targets. 6 shots from the S&W and 5 from the Vaquero.

[44man]

Load testing a Desert Eagle at 50 yards. Yes, even this hunk of iron will shoot!
Creedmore, not sandbags.
Yes you can, never be satisfied and keep working at the loading bench.