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Update on my post 2 years ago about mounting a Parker Hale aperture sight on my Mosin.

It works! Furthest I've shot with it is 600 yards; it certainly shoots no worse than my other target rifles....

Purely to see how the patch would behave, before I started wrapping 180 grain SWCs for 357 use I tried a couple of PP'd 158 SWC over my usual 25 yard 38 spl load of 3 grains Vectan BA10. Got about 3"...

Thanks, Nobade. OAL isn't a problem, since I tend to load 'em one at a time (my Rossi is very accurate but doesn't cycle worth chips; saving my pennies to get a tuning job done on it).

Have just...

I can't get no satisfaction using cast bullets in my Rossi 92 in 357 mag mode at 100 yards, tho' it'll put ten Lee 125 flatnoses into one ragged hole at 25 yards, loaded as a light 38 Special (3...

As well as the mild sugar solution, I've had very good results wetting the patch in tea (I'm English...) or coffee - just sticky enough to bond the paper over on itself where it touches, but without...

Thanks for explaining. I don't think I'd trust myself to attain that level of consistency. I guess it depends to a certain extent on the conditions in which you usually shoot. Because nearly all my...

303Guy wrote -

"The lubed case prevents case elongation on firing so I never have to trim."

That's interesting.

With my Lee Enfields in particular, I've always gone to great lengths to keep...

Point taken, gentlemen. The next batch I cast, I'll try air-cooled wheel weights.

Out of interest, I took 10 bullets at random from the latest finished batch (water-cooled weights, patched and...

I generally tend to water-cool, even for 38spl bullets, mostly because I cast quite hot and if they drop straight into water they don't tend to get damaged or chipped by other bullets dropping on...

Thanks to s-mac for his advice about using a softer alloy. I cast up a batch of water-cooled wheel weights, and I was able to size them all without a single one tearing in the sizing die.

Now...

Well, I've been practicing... For me the breakthrough came when I added 1 tablespoon of sugar to 1/2 pint water for wetting the patches. Now the patches go on nice and tight, and don't unroll when...

I've slugged the bore (0.312") but not done a chamber cast - had a bad experience with chamber casting once, too difficult for me! - so a loose chamber's a possibility, yes. After all, the...

Thanks to all for valuable advice. A lot to think about there

303Guy -

Awesome photographs!

Thanks, I'll try the softer alloy. Interesting that you don't get leading from an uncovered base and no gas check. The photo makes the point about base damage from...

303Guy -

Thanks for that; another carryover from shooting unpatched cast bullets, I guess - I assumed that the hardest available alloy would be the best. I'll try a softer alloy - wheel weights...

Finally, after a lot of dithering and false starts, today I got to shoot my first paper-patched cast bullets.

Results were mildly encouraging; I'm not there yet, but it's a start!

I used the...

Doc-

What temperature did you bake them at (approximately) and for how long?

I know what you mean about dried-on masking tape!

Thanks for the warning - I won't waste my time with the tape.

I'd really like to try PPCBs for 303 and 7.62 X 54R but I'm a total klutz for getting the paper patch tight enough.

So, how about self-adhesive paper tape (we call it masking tape here in the UK;...

I'm assuming the sight Truckjohn has in mind is the Mojo ghost-ring aperture unit, which I've got on my M-N at the moment. It's a huge improvement on the military ladder sight, entirely adequate out...

When I first got my Lee PPM, I tested it by throwing and weighing 10 charges of 4gn Bullseye, and got very poor results - +/- 0.4gn. I nearly threw it in the trash at that point; instead...

When I load rifle ammo, I weigh each charge on a beam scale. Today, just for kicks, I set up my Lee powder measure to throw the charge I planned to use (26.0 gn RL7; to go with hard cast quenched...

British-made 303 surplus is definitely starting to show its age. At our club, we call it flintlock ammo (click-fizz-boom) Hangfires are the norm, not the exception. Even our club champion, who's been...

Multigunner -

Many thanks! That's exciting news. I've been using Kynamco's remanufactured South African surplus for the last 5 years or so - used up my last box at the end of last season - and was...

Multigunner -

You wrote -

"Surplus MkVII bullets are at this time used to manufacture a match grade .303 ammunition for use in UK military service rifle matches."

I'm in the UK, and would...