.40-65 to .40-70 s/s ?

arnie, the BACO bullet i'm working with is the JM393425 (it's not listed in their catalog, it's slight custom made for me, a blown out 392) that drops at 422 grains with 1:20 alloy and is 1.391" in length and wraps to .395" with fidelity 9# onion. the pedi sharps 30" heavy barrel is stated to be a 16" twist but my testing shows it to be slightly under that at 15.75". i haven't shot this bullet/cartridge build beyond 300 yards and at that distance all paper holes are round, but no testing has been done yet at the longer 600 yards that it'll be required to reach out to come this fall at the bptr matches. much to do.

Attachment 219575

rfd that bullet I had some input with when Dave and Jim first started making moulds. We spent several phone conversations over the phone but the the ogive is not quite what I was trying to get jim to program into his machine. I was after the Metfort nose but it turned out this way but I shot that bullet for many years in my 16 twist Shiloh .40-70 and it holdes very good in some heavy Nebraska winds to the 1000 iron and I still use this bullet from the original two alignment pin mould Dave sent me. And I also just loaded some of these in the 14 twist CPA .40-65 to shoot a silhouette match with this coming weekend. I like this bullet but I wish I would have it made at .394" At the time I wanted to shoot dirty so I could patch it a couple thousands under bore to do this but I use .0025" thick paper and it shoots good enough to hold the 3" X ring 7 out of 10 or better shots fired @200 yards.

Lead pot, It wouldn't take much to lap that mould up .001-.002. If you really wanted it there. But remember once you go up theres no going back. A couple bullets cast up and some very fine compound a little time.

well now THAT is some good scoop, right from the horsies mouth, thank you! Attachment 219603

the diameter i wanted isn't listed on the BACO site, so i had Jim do my mould @ .393 and that's just what they drop @ w/1:20, 422gns. i wanted a long bore rider to nestle the ppb into since the chamber is a greaser. curious as to yer version's dimensions and such.

i've been working on loads with swiss 1-1/2f, using .025 milk carton wads and light compression of 60-70 grains in FF starline brass ... got some .060 wad loads to try out wednesday @ 200/300, and some with grease cookie ldpe wads.

ah, that .40-65 must be yer li'l missy?

CG yup it is easier to take some off metal but a bunch harder to add some and make it right :grin:
I learned long ago that if it works don't fix it ! but sometimes I don't listen to my own advice LOL.

rfd Here it is along side of a mould I had Brooks make for little missy but I have not shot it past 200 yet but I will take both bullets with me this week and give them a run at Silhouetts. It will me another load testing match :grin:

Attachment 219606

I hit the send button instead of the preview to finish what I was going to say for a load for the .40-70.
Robert I haven't shot the .40-70 for many years to often and I'm still using up the loads I used back in around 05. I used to use 72 gr of 2F Goex express, sometimes I would use 3F but it always ranged from 69 to 73 grains. I used a OJ carton wad on the powder and a 1/8" lube wad then a 1/32" cork wad cut from very dense 100% cork and the alloy was 1/20 T/L.
The loads I have for this weekend for both bullets for the .40-65 are 58 grains of 1.5 Swiss with a OJ over the powder 1/8" lube wad and a .060" Poly under the bullet. Also I have 62 gr load of 1.5 Swiss which is all this case will hold flush with the case mouth and a .060 polly and a 1/32" cork under the bullet for a positive gas seal. No lube.
Missy has a very tight chamber with a 4/1.2 degree compound lead and a 14 twist Douglas XX premium barrel. The .40-70 Shiloh has a 16 twist and it has the standard chamber and it still has a 45 degree transition at the chamber end. I just have never messed with it because it shoots so well as it is........Kurt

thanx for the further scoop, kurt. i'm finding that with swiss 1-1/2 and a single .060 ldpe that it takes a good 66-68 grains with light compression for a 1/8" ppb seat - any less powder and the ppb slides further down into the f/f starline case and out of the rifling.

wad stuff for a .45/2.1 ... do you find any advantage/disadvantage with a cookie wad stack such as a .060 poly wad over the powder, 3/16" lube, .060 poly under the ppb? or is it all trial and error as usual? TIA!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lead pot

... rfd Here it is along side of a mould I had Brooks make for little missy but I have not shot it past 200 yet but I will take both bullets with me this week and give them a run at Silhouettes. It will me another load testing match :grin:

Attachment 219606

---

wow, i like the lines on that elliptical brooks! i think i need one! is it tapered or parallel sided?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rfd

thanx for the further scoop, kurt. i'm finding that with swiss 1-1/2 and a single .060 ldpe that it takes a good 66-68 grains with light compression for a 1/8" ppb seat - any less powder and the ppb slides further down into the f/f starline case and out of the rifling.

wad stuff for a .45/2.1 ... do you find any advantage/disadvantage with a cookie wad stack such as a .060 poly wad over the powder, 3/16" lube, .060 poly under the ppb? or is it all trial and error as usual? TIA!

---

Robert I haven't had to good results to this point to comment on using lube or no lube to make a good judgement. I started the no lube thing four years ago and I had some bad stretching using Swiss and a .060 plastic wad. The problem was more using the Swiss then the KIK or the Old Eynsford for some reason that I did not have if I used a lube wad. I think the lube left in the case let the wad slide through the case neck with out grabbing it. Also using a OJ carton and a .034" ice cream bucket wad did not pull the case necks but gas cuts showed up testing over the winter to see what was going on because the vertical that increased.

I just got the .40-65 last fall and only had a short time at the last Silhouette match to shoot it to see how it does with two bullets I had moulds made for it for the 14 twist. The Brooks in the photo and one made by BA. the 395-415 but for some reason that bullet dropped out at .3967" and it just would not fit the bore using .0015" paper. I ordered a custom .400" die to size it down and it works fine but I have a thing sizing bullets down so I ordered a custom mould just like it but at .394" and I had it made a little longer at 1.455" and it drops out with 1/6 alloy at 424 gr. sofar at 200 yards it has put 5 shots under 1.5" (1-3/8" outside to outside of the group) with a 60 gr load or 1.5 Swiss using a OJ and a .060 poly no lube. The 60 gr load drop tubed and a .023 OJ wad the wad is flush with the case mouth because of the tight chamber made for a PP bullet only. But the .060" poly bulges the case mouth but this might end when the annealed new cases work harden again.
By seasons end when I get the loads worked out I will make a judgement if there is a difference between lube and no lube..........Kurt

By the way the Brooks is a .393" Diameter 1.391" long and 385 gr with 1/18 tin/lead/antimony alloy.
The custom BA is .394" @ 1.455" 424 gr with the same alloy.
The BA .3967" @ 1.416" 414 gr.
All three bullets work very good in the 14 twist but the Brooks just barely lays the rams down slow enough that it makes me leary using it for the rams but it is a 10 for 10 turkey killer :)

thanx yet again, kurt. i've got a few ldpe and ldpe cookie loads to test out tomorrow, all with the JM393425. my brass is u/s cleaned inside and out like shiny new, so if there's any case bulging or lengthening (which i've never had) it'd be the poly wad. but dang, i sure like the looks, dimensions and weight of that brooks .393 elliptical - should work gooder if not better in the 1:16 twist barrel than the 422gn 1.395" BACO bomb, and be killer for the 200-300yd matches. the cumberland matches are out to 600, and that'd be the real distance test, but later this year. is that a stock mould from steve?

Attachment 219686