Not my best group ever.

Getting ready for a cow elk/deer hunt next month and I really want to take my contender with my 45-70 barrel.
I shot this group at 100 yards with a Lee 457-405 RF. It is 4 inches at its widest point.
They drop out at 420 gr with 50-50 coww and soww.
I shoot them as dropped in front of 35 grains of H4198 and lubed with Alox.
I have a 2x Leupold on it.
Hoping the next outing is better.:Fire:[smilie=l:
The 2 little holes are my 7 mag. It shoots right where I left off 11 years ago. That was the last time I shot it.
It will be a back up gun. Hopefully I won’t need it to become my primary.[smilie=b:Attachment 227430

Might need a fatter boolit. Did you slug your barrel?

My best advice after checking fit of boolit to bore is try powder coating; for little boolits going fast and great big ones going like a coal train I’ve yet to find anything that seems to shrink groups like that nice even non friction causing smoke free lube . All other tenants of marksmanship: reloading obviously apply.

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Originally Posted by kenyerian

Might need a fatter boolit. Did you slug your barrel?

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I’m thinking the same thing.
My barrel is a Virgin Valley barrel that slugs out right at .458 with no loose or tight spots.
The boolits came out right at .4585 with this alloy. I have no leading at all.
For my next outing the brass will be just deprimed and not sized. I’ll see if that makes a difference.
I will also load some j-words to see what I get there. I prefer to take an animal with my cast, but it may not be possible this time.
Next year I want to get an Accurate mood with a big meplat and sized .460.

You could try beagling. There is a good article on this in Castpics plus several posts on here.

Handgun or rifle?

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Originally Posted by jsizemore

Handgun or rifle?

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It is a handgun. I was shooting it off of sandbags.
My best group with another barrel on this frame is 3/8 inch at 100.
3 shots. I know I’m capable, and I’m sure the barrel is capable.
Just need to find the best boolit combination.
I did load up some 350 gr fp. I’ll see how those shoot hopefully on Monday.

If you limit your shots to 100yds you are good to go. Minute of dinner plate. Stretch beyond that and you want a more accurate load.

4"@100 is good to go for elk. Have fun!

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More testing...will enhance your shooting skill, increase hand and eye coordination, increase your confidence, and the hope is tighten the group.

So, the only change I made was depriming the cases without sizing, just opening the mouth and seating and crimping the boolit in.
I shot just a few 2 shot groups to see if it changed poi. It didn’t.
But, the groups tightened up significantly!
I think I’m on to something! :Fire:[smilie=l:

Forgot to add a pic. Attachment 227926

Group really doesn't tell you anything until you get to at least five shots and I typically use ten. For hunting, however, the first shot from a cold barrel is really what you need to know. Yes, it's a one shot group, but how many times do you get a second shot at a game animal? It is nice if the rifle clusters all bullets together - but it is essential that you know where that first shot is going.

I agree with you Wayne. Normally I shoot 5 shot groups to really see what my firearm is doing with a certain load.
I only had 6 loaded up because I had to cast more.
For whatever reason I figured I would shoot 3, 2 shot groups instead of a 6 shot group.
With my rifles I shot 2 5 shot groups and they were good enough for minute of deer vitals at 200.
They will work for either deer or elk in two weeks.
Now to figure out what my kids did with my hunting gear!

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Originally Posted by Wayne Smith

Group really doesn't tell you anything until you get to at least five shots and I typically use ten. For hunting, however, the first shot from a cold barrel is really what you need to know. Yes, it's a one shot group, but how many times do you get a second shot at a game animal? It is nice if the rifle clusters all bullets together - but it is essential that you know where that first shot is going.

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+1 on Wayne Smith. After you find a load that groups well, I would spend sometime cold bore shooting only just so you know your POI with your very first shot. Trying different lubes will also change your POI and some lubes (a lot actually) will put the first shot an inch or two away from otherwise a really good group. For s#@t's and giggles I kept everything the some in my load, just changed lubes even tweak recipes and was surprised how and where boolits impacted the target. This whole boolit casting handloading thing can get quite technical, just depends on what your standards are. If you like that Lee 420gr. boolit and want to keep it, mabe try to vary other things/variables in your loading process. Good luck with your load development and on your elk hunt.

Only 4570 contender experience I have is with my 16 inch carbine. Its a good honest 3 inch 100 yard gun and maybe 2.5 at its best. What helped it more then anything was harder bullets especially if I pushed them harder that black powder levels. anything softer then 12 bhn sprayed shotgun patterns in it, especially non gas checked bullets and it did much better with bullets around 18bhn. I tried .459 and .460 and that didn't seem to change anything.