Casting for my greedy M-1
I cast some boolits in a Lyman 311284 GC mould and ended with 225 GRs including GC's and lube. Water cooled and loaded with 35 gr of 4064.
I know 4895 is what I should have used but I had metal can of 4064 that had been gifted to me years ago and it should work ok.
The plan is to try them out on Tuesday. Range report to follow.
Update....found the last two lb's of 4895 by IMR at Bass Pro Shops today and I will be loading another 100 06 cases tonight for Tuesday.
Wednesay....found out to my chagrin that the COL was too long at 3.265 for the clip to be fully inserted into the M-1. If I inserted an empty clip I would be able to get three rounds into it and then close the bolt. I had 3 shooter rather than an eight shooter.
It shot pretty well. I had a brisk East wind crossing the range at 90 degrees so I had to dial in a few clicks for windage. Dialed in 12 clicks of elevation and @ 50 yds I was in business. HOWEVER the 4064 powder {35 gr} seemed to be position sensitive and my groups were up and down by up to 10 inches.
I do need to heed the advice provided by Larry Gibson and BruceB and I will get some Dacron filler or drier lint or whatever to keep the powder against the primer. If I held the rifle vertical and smacked the butt on the table top the shot was normal but the 2nd and 3rd would be down on the target. Even the report was different. One time the report was so mild that I stopped to run a patch through the barrel to be sure that the round had indeed left the gun.
I have almost a full box of COW but a gas port scares me from using it in a Garand. Worked great in my old Mauser bolt action.
COW {Cream of Weat} Filler
Larry G:
How about some Cream of Wheat on top of my powder to the base of the boolit?
I have used it with great success in my 8 x 57 Mauser and .303 SMLE with reduced loads and it kept the bore really clean and shiney.
My only concern would be the gas port into the gas cylinder. I do not want to clog that up or damage it in any way. Would COW be advisable rather than dacron or drier lint?
I have a goodly supply of it and all it requires is another powder dispenser after the propellant powder dispenser. I have done it before it worked out really easily and did not slow me down at all. If it was set up correctly the base of the boolit rested on top of the COW and kept all the propellant and COW stable so there would be no intermixing of the elements.
The smell after firing was a bit strange but the results were excellent in both rifles and the bores stayed clean and shiney with no leading or any other problems.
Have you tried it?
I give up larry...i bought some dacron filler.
Larry G: I give up! You are probably right so I braved a downpour {Vegas yet} and went to a Michaels fabric store and bought a large package of polyfill. Looks like dacron for a whopping $3.29 plus tax. When I told the checkout gal what I was gonne do with them she about fell over.
Also got a packet of red post it notes to cover over the holes in the center of the target that I intend to shoot out.
I have about two hundred rounds to load which I plan to shoot early next week.
We are gonna go with some 4895 {29 gr} with dacron filler and my gc'd 311284's and I will report back my results.
I ordered a bunch of powder and primers from Powder Valley which should probably be in by the end of next week.