A little help please

[GLynn41]

My cast hunting load for my Vanguard .358 is 38.5-39 gr of h322. The bullet is the Lee 200gr .35 cal gc. They weigh 208+- These shot well with the 45/45/10, but now the last ones have been pc'd..Brass is old .358 Win and new Starline .. all sized and trimmed properly. At 50 long steps... it will put 3 bullets nearly touching but one shot-usually the first shot is off being high and just a little with the pc. I did some shooting with the bullets tumble lube but most of my shooting has been the pc'd. so I have come to notice this most with pc. At 150 steps the rifle still puts two out of 3 in a very close together centered...but one at least is high and over to the left. Adjustment is not a problem. This makes this load non usable for deer hunting. I have a wood stock as well as an early Bell & Carlson stock. Both have been had the action acra glassed. The wood normally will out shoot the fiberglass. But with either stock I have the same one shot out and away with the rest very close together... about an inch at the 150 long steps.. Neither stock touches passed the first few inches. This .358 is one I have had and shot a lot since the mid 70's. There is barrel wear. The barrel now likes 225 gr Sierra and 250 gr Speer the best. So I was happily surprised when it shot the cast bullet this well. Any thoughts? My first was bore wear... but the shooting makes me wonder.

[joatmon]

How far off is the off shot at 150 steps?
Aaron

[Bazoo]

If it's the first shot that is the flier, Is this with a clean bore? Or is it the first shot after having shot jacketed, Or is it with a cold bore? Is try the tumble lube again as a control.

[rking22]

I have seen this with seberal 22s over the years. I tried everything I could think of with a remington tubefed bolt gun. Finally traded it as it was useless a a squirrel gun. I presently have 10-22 that dose it. It did it as a bull barrel, turned it down to tapered, still throwes 1st shot 3/4 inch hi and to the side at 25 yards. Next 9 are 1 hole. Shoot half a mag ,wait 5 minutes and it dose it again! Epoxied it to the reciever, same, 2 different stocks,multiple bedding designs, same thing, multiple scopes, bolts ect. Common thread is the barrel, chamber and bore. I will sell it to someone to target shoot with, when I finish trying to figure it out. If I really wanted to hunt with one that had that tendency, I would sell it and get a different one! Agravating ,in spades!!!!

[quilbilly]

If it is the last shot, it may be the effects of barrel heat. I have a couple rifles that do this so I let them cool a bit before shooting again. They have always started showing heat effects on the third shot even if a small amount. Also, some powders generate more heat in the barrel than others but I have no experience with your powder.

[Winger Ed.]

My first guess is also the barrel starting to get hot. I'd wait about 5 minutes or so between shots to see if it makes a difference.

[GLynn41]

had not thought about heat--but will try that as well 208's with lube. I tumble lubed them and then put some carnauba red on too.
The barrel looks clean-- but I will clean it. I cleaned the barrel well before starting with the cast, so nothing but lubed or PC. over 2018. Since this happened with both stocks I guess this is a barrel / bullet thing
Hunting season is almost over here so now shooting season will begin, as well casting season.
Thanks for your thoughts ….

[RU shooter]

If this don't happen with a regular lube or the TL your using before I'd say it's the PC . What happens when you shoot say 10 shots in a group ? do you still only get one flier ? If so is it the first shot ? Or random ? The PC maybe be more slick inthe bore and may have to adjust your load .

[quilbilly]

If barrel heat turns out to be the issue like it is with my rifles, I went over to Wally World and bought an old fashioned sand style three minute egg timer to put in my range bag. With those rifles, I shoot two shots then turn over the egg timer to tell when to finish the string.

[GLynn41]

I will try larger grouping later, normal I shot three 3 shot groups.... I just started all this in August.. my wife since Sept
has had trip by pass/ sepsis/ pneumonia/ and now colon cancer--so this is a work in progress and it will be fun… just have work around my beloved


















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