accuracy?

[mainiac]

I think i asked this question before,but ill try again. How big are your best groups at 50 yards with a lever gun? Been shooting my .357 rossi alot, trying to find the best load,and was wondering where the wall is? 1 inch? 2 inch? Am down to around 2 inches now,and it has been a long road. My 35 rem marlin will beat this with the 358429 @ 1500 f.p.s., but it leads pretty bad,and i have to lube cases!!! Dont have a correct mold for the 35 rem yet. thanks

[Four Fingers of Death]

When you get it down as good as you can go, give me a pm, I have a good article on accurising a lever, there are plenty of articles on the new if you'd prefer, Pac Kelly wrote the one I have.

I have never really worked out the most accurate load as I just use mine for cowboy, If it'll get 4-6" standing unsupported, going fast like at 50yards, I'm cooking with gas!

Mick.

[Bass Ackward]

I think i asked this question before,but ill try again. How big are your best groups at 50 yards with a lever gun? Been shooting my .357 rossi alot, trying to find the best load,and was wondering where the wall is? 1 inch? 2 inch? Am down to around 2 inches now,and it has been a long road. My 35 rem marlin will beat this with the 358429 @ 1500 f.p.s., but it leads pretty bad,and i have to lube cases!!! Dont have a correct mold for the 35 rem yet. thanks


Mainiac,


Lube cases?

Both calibers / guns should be fairly easy to get 1" at 50. The two most common problem areas are bore constrictions And tight bands. The bore restrictions come from rolling on the writting on the outside of the thin barrel as well as dovetail cuts. These tight spots have to be removed in some fashion. The only way to tell is to run a lead slug through a well oiled bore. It should push through smoothly without stopping.

The bands also have to be lose enough to allow the barrel to expand and extend and to contract as it heats and cools or it will bind. This changes harmonics and POI.

Only then you can play with loading variables. Otherwise you are just going to be frustrated.

[versifier]

My brother is the custodian of the family's '30's vintage W94 in .30-30. Rested, with the proper handloads, it will keep 10 shots in an inch at 100yards, if you let the barrel cool. As a family heirloom, it's in perfect condition and has not seen any hard use - but our hunting rifles LOOK like hunting rifles - but it is more accurate than most new bolt actions. His W88 will shoot sub MOA with its favorite handloads and will put any factory stuff into less than three inches. My good friend has a bunch of Sav99's for which I load in .250 & .300, and they are of comparable accuracy to the W94. None of us will keep a rifle that won't at least approach MOA, and we have bought and sold a lot of them over the years that would not meet our standards, kept those that would.

What any given rifle will do depends on too many different variables. I have seen many lever guns that would barely pass the pieplate test and have still killed more deer than I will see in a lifetime of hunting. Decide what you would like to see accuracy-wise, and what you'd be willing to settle for, and be prepared to buy and sell them until you get what you seek. The pickier you are, the longer it will take. I think "the wall" you refer to is different for each and every rifle. There are some levers that are capable of subMOA, and there are others that can't do 6MOA, with the majority of them somewhere in between. Where? You have to shoot them and spend the time working up loads to find out.

I consider the Rossi you mentioned in the plinking class compared to the older and better made American Marlin, Savage, and Winchester rifles, and would not have high expectations for it from the get-go, but that is just my opinion. (I'm sure there are a lot of CAS shooters and hunters who don't agree.) I shoot centerfire rifles with both cast and jacketed loads at 100yds and beyond, though I do work up my loads starting at shorter ranges. What do you plan to use the rifle for? What is the practical accuracy you'd be really happy with? What would you settle for? Are you just curious to find out how good you can get it to shoot? These are the questions you have to ask yourself. But the question you asked of us, only your rifle can answer.

[Char-Gar]

The answer to your question is irrelevant to your concern.

1. Which leverguns? Some produce smaller groups than others! They are all different in terms of caliber, design, barrel quality, etc. etc. etc. How the rifle is rested, the number of rounds in the magazine and many other factors come to play in group sizes.

2. Best groups don't mean squat? Average groups tell you more than the fluke best group!

Average groups from some of my leverguns run .5" to .6" at 50 yards...others rifles run 1" and still other around 1.5". 2" groups just might be all you rifle has to give... who knows?

You are asking a question we can talk about, but we can't answer.

[charger 1]

The answer to your question is irrelevant to your concern.

1. Which leverguns? Some produce smaller groups than others! They are all different in terms of caliber, design, barrel quality, etc. etc. etc. How the rifle is rested, the number of rounds in the magazine and many other factors come to play in group sizes.

2. Best groups don't mean squat? Average groups tell you more than the fluke best group!

Average groups from some of my leverguns run .5" to .6" at 50 yards...others rifles run 1" and still other around 1.5". 2" groups just might be all you rifle has to give... who knows?

You are asking a question we can talk about, but we can't answer.



Agreed. My marlin 95 22" 45/70 will most often put some of my bolt guns to shame. The next is goin to be the 26" CB version chambered 450 AK

[mainiac]

thanks for the reply versifier, this it what i was after. Am wondering just how good this rossi will shoot. It has an undersize bore (.3566) and the rifling is quite dark,and ruff. But it doesnt seem to lead very much at all. I know about pure accuracy from my br days,just dont know what to expect from these levers and home-grown bullets! Know what you mean about trading rifles untiul you find one that will shoot, have a whole safe full of rifles that shoot very well,but took me many years to find them.Aint it funny that once you find the most accurate loads, that you either put the gun away or trade it away and start working on something else? When the gun is shooting as well as it can,it becomes boring to me and i have to start something else. That how i arrived at the cast bullet thing, dont know everything there is to know about it,but i aim to try!!!

[Lloyd Smale]

I dont consider rossi levers to be plinker class guns. The couple ive shot were extreamly accurate and probably the smoothest out of the box lever guns ive seen. One 454 would do just over an inch at 100 yards. The 357 i shot did one inch at 50. Now dont think any lever is going to do this without some serious load experimentation though.