Modifying Dies For Cast Bullet Shooting

[Doc Highwall]

That is why I picked the avatar that I have. Small-bore shooting will help out alot with wind reading.

[Doc Highwall]

Last weekend I cast up several hundred more of the SAECO #315 and they came out excellent and I loaded them up in the new Lapua Palma cases with the small primer pocket with 20.0 grs, 20.2 grs and 20.4 grs of AA-5744. Last weekend I was wishing I had brought some thing for helping to read the wind and made some thing out of a camera tripod with a piece of wire hanging off the top with a piece of surveyors tape hanging and put one at 300 yds and one at about 150 yds and used them today and they helped out. The 22.2 gr charge shot the best with the four five shot groups measuring 1.610", 1.924", 2.635" and 2.968" with an average of 2.284". These were shot with a .310" diameter bullet and now I will make a .3105" die to test for results at 300 yards hopefully next weekend. All of these targets were shot at 300 yards.

[Doc Highwall]

Well I did not get to finish my .3105" sizing die only have it up to .3103" so I used a .311" die that sizes the bullets .3107" x .3108" and the results are mixed as to what the optimal size will be for this gun either .3100" or .3105" and when I get a chance I will make the .311 die the correct .311" and try that also. Here are the pictures of the wind flags I made for last week and the two best targets for .310" and .3107" and take note that I have four shots in 1.090" on the 2.386" target at 300 yards. Now that all 300 cases have been shot and fire-formed I will get to play some more with my die modifications. I am also going to make a stop for the rifle rest to keep the forend in the same place shot to shot as I find that it causes wild shots if I do not keep an eye on it, I hate it when that happens.

[63 Shiloh]

Very nice work Doc, brilliant shooting.

I like the attachments on your verniers for group measurement, where did you pick them up from mate?

Also, why do your boolits look like you poured them from gold??? I want that look too!

Mike

[Doc Highwall]

63 Shiloh, I bought the attachment for the calipers from Sinclair International. The bullets have that color from the light next to the casting area. I finished lapping the sizing dies out tonight so I have a .3100", .3105" and a .3110" to use for testing for both my 308 Win and 30-30 Win. I have to load ammo for this weekend and still have to come up with an idea about the stop for my rest.

[blastit37]

Doc: I being new to this wonder why you chose the small primer pocket brass? I thought you wanted more primer to start the lighter loads.

[Doc Highwall]

blastit37, Lapua came up with the small rifle primer pocket and small flash hole for 1000 yard shooting as it reduces the extreme spread for more accurate shooting and this is with 40 plus grains of powder. The 6mm PPC was the first to use the small primer and flash hole due to the fact that the 6mm PPC holds less powder and does not need a large primer. When I started to load for this 308 Win the Federal cases had large primer pockets and I was only using 20.5 grains of AA-5744 and I felt that the small primer would help and it appears that it does.

[Doc Highwall]

Well I made a stop for my front rest and tried it out today and it looks like it will work great. It is still in the white and needs to be refined like cutting screws to a finished length mill off a little more here and there edge breaks and sand blast it before putting a finish on it. I had 50 rounds of the old Federal cases loaded and shot 10 five shot groups at 100 yards looking for a sweet spot on the forend. I did not subtract .308" form the groups with the worst being 1.450" and the best group being .663" maybe this will stop some of the vertical shots outside the group at 300 yards.

[Doc Highwall]

Well I have been laid up the last several weeks with a bad disc in my back and I had an epidermal for it two weeks ago and the pain still goes down my left leg not allowing me to get out an do more testing yet. Meanwhile I thought I would post a picture of some work that I did before my disc acted up again, also I purchased a strain gage so as to do pressure trace with my loads and hope to post them here.

[wquiles]

Well I have been laid up the last several weeks with a bad disc in my back and I had an epidermal for it two weeks ago and the pain still goes down my left leg not allowing me to get out an do more testing yet. Meanwhile I thought I would post a picture of some work that I did before my disc acted up again, also I purchased a strain gage so as to do pressure trace with my loads and hope to post them here.

Hope you are feeling better, and thanks much for this great thread.

I am going to soon start shooting my new Savage M10 in 308, and since I have a lathe I can make custom fitted parts for my dies (already have done some in my 45-70 and 44Mag dies), so this thread gives me more ideas!

Will