Poly wads under 'baby' Minies

[JeffinNZ]

Team.

I while back I reported about the .40cal hollow base mould our member 'Glen' sent me. I paper patch it to .403 and over 30gr Swiss 3Fg is SHOOTS like a house on fire in my Colerain barreled Wesson. I do, however, get the odd little bit of inconsistency so for a hoot today I shot the 'baby' Minies over some LDPE poly wads I cut with a 3/8 punch. The material is .030 thick so in view of the hollow base I stack two wads under the bullet so they don't collapse. I cleaned all the oil out of the barrel then fired a blank 30gr charge to foul the bore after a couple of clearing caps, then loaded and shot. Here is the 50m/55y yard target.



0.60 inch it measures. I was very happy off buck horn sights.

[rhbrink]

Thats some great shooting that boolit is really working for you. I have been shooting a .45 fast twist Green Mountain barrel in a underhammer some lately and started with the poly card cause it worked so well with my BPCR rifles in the past. One day I decided to try some vegetable fiber cards actually gasket material just to see if there was a difference. Well there was a big difference shot better right from the get-go, seems to clean the barrel better as you push the card down on the powder. You get a different feel as you load the rifle anyway. Don't know for sure what is going on here but it shoots better, and I like the idea of vegetable fiber better that "plastic" going down my barrel. Don't know if it will improve on what you are getting but just another idea or option to try.
Good Luck, Richard

[Baron von Trollwhack]

I think those bullets were originally made to fit the Dixie Gun Works M/L rifle first sold in the mid 60s. They shot well then too. BvT

[Maven]

Jeff, Impressive results! When I tried that with a .50cal. Minie, the point of impact was ~2" higher than with no wad, but the group wasn't tight enough to suit me with or without wads. On the other hand, my T/C Maxi-Ball mold will drop boolits that group almost as well as yours if I use FFg powder + a cardboard OP wad.

[Good Cheer]

Hey Jeff.
What's the twist in your 40 barrel?
I've been tinkering off and on with 40 barrels with 48" twists to see if a conical design can be contrived that will shoot reliably and not sometimes key hole. Hence the want ad for the Lyman 9mm Devastator bevel base hollow point mold...will be altered to be a dandy short 40 hollow base with a wide flat point.
So far have gotten paper patched semi-wadcutters to shoot straight most of the time.
So, was curious about the twist you are working with.

[JeffinNZ]

Good Cheer: The barrel is a Colerain 1 - 48 twist with round bottom rifling cut for round ball. 1 - 48 is about spot on for .40cal RB you see. The 'baby' Minie is sufficiently short enough that it stabalises.