As far as accuracy, I shot eight 5 shot groups today with the 44 grain Lyman’ s and although a couple groups showed promise there would have been none under 1 ½” @ 50 yards. Today I was using Unique 2.5 - 3 grain (1,214 - 1,434 fps), half with small pistol and half with small rifle. Neither primer showed an advantage. Velocity was fractionally slower (24 fps) with the small rifle and the standard deviation was slightly better with the small rifle.
Let me preface this by saying that I’m not a grey beard when it comes to casting, but I’ve logged a lot of time behind 6PPC’s shooting short range (100/200) benchrest competition. I’m only saying that because I ruled out bench technique as a problem and the rifle can shoot sub MOA @ 100yards with J bullets.
So as it is right now, I’d say the Lyman boolit "as I am casting them" are not accurate enough for anything but tin cans at 50 yards.
And I think it’s the quality of the cast. My discard rate is pushing 60% to get what I could shoot. I have a Lyman 2660415 FN 55gr that I’ve put some time into. My records show that between 2.2 and 2.6 grains of Bullseye (1,095 to 1,325fps) I've shot multiple groups between .444 and .863 at 50 yards. And I can easily reach the lands with the 55 grain Lyman. The 37 grain NOE is jumping .038 to reach the lands so I don’t hold a lot of promise for that one.
But……(this is starting to sound like a soap opera isn’t it) the far cavity on the 55grain Lyman is not releasing it boolit worth a darn.
So if anyone is still listening I have two last questions.
- Would I be able to use a brass brush (Harbor Freight) to clean the 44 grain mold with the Comet paste. I'm thinking there are contaminants stuck in the cavity.
- And I promise this is the last question. What do you do about a cavity that won’t let go of its cast
So the plan is to scrub the mold once more, run the temp around 380, inspect the vent grooves in the mold to make sure they are clear and give it another go.
Thanks for listening to all of my whining, Bill.
PS. Maybe I should change my user name to Whining Bill.