I finally ordered a NOE 9.3mm mould for my 9.3x74R Ruger No. 1. I got the 368-285-FN, gas checked, four cavity mould when they had a 20% off sale over the Labor Day weekend. It casts a nice looking boolit and the mould performed well, dropping all four boolits easily. I had to open up an old H&I sizing die to .3675, (I was trying for .368 but the sized boolits measure .3675). I didn't have any 9.3mm gas checks and NOE was out of stock on them, so I put a little extra taper on the mouth of the H&I die to accept a .375 check since I have a good supply of them. I might try some 9.3mm checks if I run across some. The complete boolit cast from water quenched wheel weights, with the gas check and lubed with RCBS 50/50, weighed 290 grains.
The load consisted of 69.7 grains of surplus WC872 dropped straight from an RCBS Uniflow measure into the case. It filled the case so that it was lightly compressed when I seated the boolit. I could have gotten more powder in the case if I had used a drop tube but I wanted to drop it straight from the measure. I used Remington large rifle magnum primers to light the powder. I flared the cases with a Lee universal expanding die which is almost too short to work with the long 9.3x74R cases. I could only thread it into the press a thread or two in order to get the flare I needed. I'll have to make a stem for the 9.3mm to put in my 375 Lyman M die at some point.
Velocity averaged 1871 fps, which was actually a little better than I was expecting from the WC872. It left a tiny bit of unburned powder in the barrel but was much less than when used in a 30-06 with cast boolits. I have had good luck with this powder with cast boolits accuracy wise. The first 100 yard group shot was 3/4" and the largest group of the three groups shot was just over 1". All three groups had two shots touching or almost touching, I think I might be able to shrink them further when I figure out how the rifle likes to be rested on the bench. It started raining and cut my shooting session short. There was no trace of any leading in the barrel after shooting these nine shots.
The best part of this load is the cost. I got the wheel weights free, the powder was $49 for eight pounds, the gas checks were $14.99 when Wideners closed out all their reloading components, and the primers were $15 from a discount table at a local gun shop. Even with shipping the powder and checks factored in these loads are costing less than $2.00 a box. I loaded two boxes and plan on loading quite a few more.
I bought the WC872 from Wideners back before they quit selling powder. I notice Pat's Reloading still has it listed for $48 for eight pounds. I use full case loads of this powder in a wide variety of rifles for cast boolits.
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Originally Posted by BCB
