Heavy boolits in 38-55

[rockrat]

Traded into this rifle. Traded a Marlin 336 in 35 Rem. and some boot for this. A P-14 Enfield action, very heavy barrel, and a thumbhole stock. Came with a set of Redding dies and about 110 pieces of brass
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d149/Bigdog337/Mobile%20Uploads/0525111356a-1.jpg

Took it out today for the first time. Best group was with the BRP 38-310 boolit. Didn't have my crony, so no velocities. Seems like the boolits were yawing just a bit, but still had a group of 2" with 5 in 1.5" horizontally x about 3/8" vertically, then 3 rounds in 1/2" at 7 o'clock outside the horizontal group.

Anyone else trying heavy boolits in the 38-55? Was using 2015br, but plan on trying 4895 or Varget, possibly 4759 too.

[doubs43]

I've just loaded up 30 rounds of 330 grain Lyman boolits sized at .378". I have 5 different loads and will shoot them in my Winchester Hi-Wall the first chance I have. I'll let you know how they do.

A forum member was kind enough to send me some of his Lyman boolits to try and they were encouraging enough to make me order a mold.

[JeffinNZ]

It will depend on the twist. My .38/303 has a 1 - 18 twist so a FN 300gr bullet is about as big as it will spin. The BPCR guys shooting 330-350gr bullets are using 1 - 12 or 1 - 14 IIRC.

[Boz330]

Mine is a 15 twist and shoots the 335 the best but I'm using BP. With smokeless it gives you more options since your velocity isn't as limited as the BP. I tried a few smokeless loads with mine and it really showed some promise but that isn't what I bought it for.

Bob

[rockrat]

Its also a 1-18 twist. Because of the possible yawing, I suspected the BRP boolit was about as big as I could go. Too bad, cause I have a 350gr mould too.

[doubs43]

A 1:18 twist may - or may not - stabilize the 335 grain Lyman boolit. Some rifles will while others won't. (I ordered the 335 grain Lyman mold but it came marked as a 330 grain with the same mold number as the 335. The boolits I loaded are between 330 & 331.9 grains so the mold is pretty accurate weight-wise.)

My Winchester Traditional Hunter Hi-Wall has a 1:18 twist. My RCBS 312-BPS boolit drops from the mold at 318 grains. At 350 yards - the longest distance I have to shoot - it's both accurate and puts nice round holes in paper. If the 330 grain boolits work out, I should get a slight edge over the 318 grain boolits on the rams at 350 yards.

Before you give up on the heavier boolits, have you slugged the bore and matched your boolit to it? It could make a difference.

[rockrat]

Yup, first thing I did was slug it, .377/.369" 8 land/groove. sizing boolits to .379"

[doubs43]

Yup, first thing I did was slug it, .377/.369" 8 land/groove. sizing boolits to .379"

You can try playing with cartridge over-all length and different powders. Also velocity may make a difference. Lots of variables but you may simply have a rifle that isn't going to stabilize the heavier boolits.

If you experiment, let us know what the results are.