Originally Posted by
crabo
A beginner’s guide to ……revolver accuracy
1. Start with a bullet that has a reputation for being a good bullet. A few examples are: the 250 K in 44, the H&G 68 in .45 acp, and the H&G 51 in 357. Is this bullet going to be used as a hunting, target, plinking, or combat load? This will be a factor in what bullet design you decide to use. You might want a round nose bullet to use in a speedloader or a swc for hunting. I have found that a plain base bullet will often shoot better than a bevel based bullet in the same design. Wheel weights are great raw material for casting revolver bullets.
2. Make sure that your lead and your molds are hot enough. Many of the more experienced casters run their pots at maximum heat. You can preheat your molds on a hotplate while your pot is coming up to temperature. I cut a wood block to hold my mold handles so the mold can sit flat on the plate while it preheats.
3. Start with powders that are known to give good accuracy with cast bullets. 2400, AA#9, and 296 are good powders for max loads. Bullseye, 231, and Unique are good powders for midrange and target loads. Work up your loads in increments of .3 of a grain of powder. You should be able to see trends in the groups. You can always try more powders if these don’t work for you.
4. Start with a good lube. There are many good recipes for lube, but if you buy a good one to start with, you can eliminate a variable while you are beginning. After you are doing well in your casting and sizing, then it would be time to experiment with different lubes if you want. Your budget will have to decide what method of lubing and sizing you are going to use.
5. Check the barrel with a push through slug to see if there are any restrictions, particularly where the barrel is screwed into the frame. If there is a restriction, firelapp using LBT’s techniques until the restriction is gone. Slug the barrel to see what size it is. A bullet one thousandth over bore size often works well.
6. The cylinder exit hole should not be smaller than the size of the bullet you are sending down range. Have a gunsmith open up the cylinder holes so your bullets are not swaged down before they enter the barrel. This is also something you can do yourself. The ultimate boolit size is that which requires felt finger pressure friction when pushed through the Largest cylinder exit. The size chosen should not be so large as to cause a loaded cartridge to have any felt friction when placed into the Smallest cylinder
7. At this point you need to decide what your accuracy goals are. Will you only shoot at combat distances, or are you going to shoot at longer ranges, or is the ultimate goal to shoot silhouette at 100 or 200 meters?
8. Test your loads by shooting your gun off the bench. If at all possible, put optics on the gun that you will be testing. The optics can help you remove human error while you shoot for groups. You can take the optics off after testing if you want. You may find that the point of impact often varies when shooting from the bench and shooting offhand. You should shoot groups at the distances you intend to shoot. You may find that many bullet/powder combinations will fall apart at 50 yards and beyond.
9. Keep targets and accurate records. Check and see if groups are round, or elongated. The shape of the groups can be indicators of problems with grip and technique. I also think you should consider adding a chronograph to you toolkit. Knowing your velocity is an important ingredient in working up loads. I don’t have one yet, but I will in the future.
10. Enjoy yourself. There is quite a bit of satisfaction in shooting the bullets you cast, not to mention the savings. I load and cast so I can shoot more for the money I spend. I like being able to shoot a bucket full of ammo instead of a couple boxes of store bought bullets.