Maven
08-16-2012, 07:43 PM
I asked Waksupi to build a Chambers Isaac Haines rifle for me last winter, and a good job he did too! As you know, a new rifle needs quite a bit of time and effort to shoot its best, and I'm still looking for nirvana, or essentially the right combination of patch thickness, RB diameter, and powder charge that's most accurate. Although I haven't yet found it, I'm getting closer. First, instead of 85gr. Diamondback FFg, I tried Graf's (Wano) FFFg (only because I happened to have some around) in doses of ~73gr., 75gr., and finally 80gr., all by volume. This didn't make much difference in 50 yd. accuracy v. DB FFg. The projectile was a .530" Tanner RB, which I cast and weighed. What I really wanted to see, though, was how patch thickness affected accuracy. In short it did, but more in terms of where the RB's impacted the target than group size (very similar). The easiest loading .018" patched ball typically hit the target @ 7 o'clock @ 50 yd., while the hardest to load .022" denim patched balls, grouped in the 8 - 10 rings of the NMLRA postal match target. Btw, the patches were wetted, but not dripping, with 1 Ballistol : 6 water. Accuracy, was best with the thickest patches, but a mallet was required to start that combination.
I also brought some .530" x .531" RCBS RB's cast from a mold I picked up on eBay not long ago. It was in sorry shape when I received it, but I was able to clean, adjust, and stone it so that it cast perfectly, particularly after RCBS sent me a new sprue plate for it. (How can you screw up the underside of the sprue plate?) To my surprise, those weighed RB's were more accurate than the Tanners using the same .020" muslin patching. This bears repeating as I may be onto something. Besides, a mold with a sprue cutter is much easier to work with than those without one, e.g., the Tanner.
Clean-up: After soaking the breech area in Friendship Speed Juice twice and agitating the bbl. (twice), I needed only 4 patches to clean up. Once it was dry, I used one additional patch soaked in Hoppes #9 to "preserve" things until I got home and gave the bore a proper swabbing with WD-40. Incidentally, I only wiped the bore twice during the entire session, but neither was particularly necessary, but I wanted to give the RCBS RB a fair chance v. the Tanner.
Lastly, I took Waksupi's suggestion about using less prime to heart and got instant ignition as a result. Although I didn't find nirvana, or rather THE proper combination of components today, I came close enough to narrow things down a bit. To wit, the RCBS RB and .017" (don't know exactly what material these are)-, .018" (pillow tick)-, and .020" (muslin) will get closer attention in the very near future!
I also brought some .530" x .531" RCBS RB's cast from a mold I picked up on eBay not long ago. It was in sorry shape when I received it, but I was able to clean, adjust, and stone it so that it cast perfectly, particularly after RCBS sent me a new sprue plate for it. (How can you screw up the underside of the sprue plate?) To my surprise, those weighed RB's were more accurate than the Tanners using the same .020" muslin patching. This bears repeating as I may be onto something. Besides, a mold with a sprue cutter is much easier to work with than those without one, e.g., the Tanner.
Clean-up: After soaking the breech area in Friendship Speed Juice twice and agitating the bbl. (twice), I needed only 4 patches to clean up. Once it was dry, I used one additional patch soaked in Hoppes #9 to "preserve" things until I got home and gave the bore a proper swabbing with WD-40. Incidentally, I only wiped the bore twice during the entire session, but neither was particularly necessary, but I wanted to give the RCBS RB a fair chance v. the Tanner.
Lastly, I took Waksupi's suggestion about using less prime to heart and got instant ignition as a result. Although I didn't find nirvana, or rather THE proper combination of components today, I came close enough to narrow things down a bit. To wit, the RCBS RB and .017" (don't know exactly what material these are)-, .018" (pillow tick)-, and .020" (muslin) will get closer attention in the very near future!