Maven's Day at the Range: .45-70

[Maven]

I've been meaning to try WC 820 in my .45-70 Marlin Mod. 1895 (Microgroove)* since I use it in everything else. Today was the day and I wasn't disappointed at all. It burned clean, was very accurate, didn't leave any lead in my bbl. and gave no signs excess pressure (primers were nicely rounded; cases extracted with ease). I had previously been using Frank Marshall Jr.'s (of the Cast Bullet Assoc.) load of 13gr. Unique with Lee 340gr. & 405gr. HB's for accuracy and comfort, but WC 820 was tempting me. I tested 16gr. with the aforementioned CB's Lee CB's and a slightly undersized (.458") commercial CB that a friend gave me. With the exception of the latter, all CB's were sized to .459" and seated to 2.55". Since I was loading them into the chamber directly, no crimp was used. All shooting was done at 50yds. (from a rest) as it was windy and the 100 yd. berm was in deep shade. As you might expect, the commercial CB's gave the the widest dispersion with 15 going into a 2 1/2" x 1 3/4" group. Discounting a high shot would have closed the group to 2" x 1 3/4". The 405gr. Lee HB's were predictable, with 7 going into 1 1/4" x 1 1/4", but lack of concentration on my part opened the group to 2" x 1 1/4". (I only had 10 of these and used 2 to readjust the elevation on my 'scope). The 10 340gr. Lee CB's shot well, but frankly after firing 50 rounds from a light rifle, I wasn't at my best. Nonetheless, they grouped well enough (smaller than the commercial CB's , but not as well as the 405HB's) to retest them at a later date.

I also tested a 460gr. LBT design with 17gr. WC 820 and was rewarded with some of the best results I've ever obtained with said rifle. 10 shots from the front cavity went into a 1" x 1" group. The rear cavity** did even better with all 10 going into 11/16" x 1". I was thrilled! 17gr. also left the cases very clean.

It was too windy and I was too lazy to set up the chrono., so I don't know how fast any of my loads were moving. (The LBT's certainly let my shoulder know they'd left in a hurry.) I do think that 17gr. will burn a bit cleaner with the lighter CB's I mentioned and is just about at the top of my "abuse threshhold" for a light rifle fired from a rest.


*Rifle wears a 4x Tasco scope: Much easier to adjust than the Williams receiver sight I used to use.

**Veral Smith originally cut the mold with a PB front cav. and a GC for the rear. I quickly discovered that loads pushing a 460gr. GC'ed bullet from a 7.5lb. rifle were punishing (both shoulder and lever bow's smacking of my fingers). I then returned the mold to him for removal of the GC shank, which he did. I also suspected that CB's from each cavity performed a bit differently. Today I was able to prove it. Btw, rear cav. CB's grouped ~3/4" higher (and a bit tighter) than those from the front.

[TCLouis]

in the Contender is satisfying to say the least.

MY batch of WC820 was shot against H110 when I got it with "equal results" so it is not like the lots of WC 820 out there today (glad Hi Tech goofed and sent me an extra jug of 820 instead of what I ordered now).

With one of those coated bullets and the starting load for the Contender from the Hornady manual I get one hole group at 50 and within 15 fps of published velocities.

I have to get some of those 325 RCBS boolits cas so I can see if they will shoot out of the Contender. Oh well at least they have shot well out of the RB in the GC version of that boolit!

[steveb]

Maven, sounds like a good day of shootin to me. I like WC820(n) and use AA# data with mine for the 44Mag and getting great results with it. What other calibers do you use with this powder? I use it in the 357Mag to and just need to experiment some more to get a good accurate load with it. Do you use it for the 30/30 by any chance? If so details please!!!!.....Steve.:Fire:

[Maven]

steveb, Yes I do use it in the .30-30Win., a Marlin #336 with MG rifling, a factory-added rough spot ahead of the throat (makes no difference in performance though), and a Lyman receiver sight. With any of the usual .30-30 CB's (#31141, -291, -466) I use 15gr. WC 820 (AA #9 data) and sometimes 16gr. With #311284, I wouldn't use more than 15gr., particularly in hot weather. Btw, neither my .30-30 nor my .30-06 performs well with -291, --41, or -284. However, the Marlin likes both -466 and Saeco #315, while the '06 prefers only the latter.

[armexman]

Maven, Thank you very much for these post. I follow your postings as they have helped me establish a baseline and useful starting point for my use of 820. Will try these loads with th 405HB as right now I am loaded with 4759 and Dacron, luckily I have 30 405 cast and will load the cases up when I shoot these up. Of course starting lower than your load as things maybe different in my Handi.

[drinks]

With the Lee 405gr HB, I have tried 18 to 30 gr of WC820, no filler.
Velocity was from 900fps to 1600fps.
Going above 26 gr, A1420fps, was a waste of powder, the bullet started going everywhere.
22 to 24 gr was the sweet spot with my Handirifle, 1300fps to 1360 fps and 1" or less groups at 50 yds.
IMR 4198, 24gr, gave 1100fps anf 7/8 " groups.

[Maven]

armexman, You're very welcome, but understand that with milsurp powders, there is more variation in burning rate than with cannister powders. Ergo, start low and work up and, if you have a chronograph, by all means use it as some milsurps, e.g., IMR 7383, are laws unto themselves. Btw, I should have made this clearer in my initial post, my lot of WC 820 is apparently the same "speed" as AA #9.