Photog
08-20-2012, 12:50 AM
So, as my first post I wanted to share a bit of info. I've been casting for not much time, but it sure is fun.
I was gifted a couple bricks of lead, I think they are linotype, not sure, but they so make very hard bullets. They clink much better than cast bullets I have used in the past.
So I bought a Lee 4-20 pot, and 3 molds, 30cal 110gr, 30 cal 170gr, and 7/8 oz slug.
Been experimenting, and finally got some good bullets made, and did testing with my new30-06 Mossberg ATR100. Got the gun for the elk tag I got for this October. The Mossy has a Redfield Revolution 3-9x40 and Caldwell bi-pod. Gun was about 300 bucks new, the scope 160 and bi-pod was 20, so under $500 for the rig. I made a Kydex cheek weld and screwed to the stock.
I initially tried the 110gr and 170gr bullets with Titegroup, 2400 and Power Pistol, and did some testing with Varget. I found no real pattern to any particular pistol powder, other than 2400 was terrible and TG was consistent.
Last test with Varget was at 32gr under the 170gr boolit, and gave me 1645fps and 6" groups at 200 yds. Now one thing I must stress is that I am not a rifleman. I shoot USPSA pistol competitions and practice with my pistols a good deal. I can shoot rifles all right, but I don't practice enough to be really good. I thought 6" at that distance and FPS was awesome. That load had very little noise or recoil.
Today I tested Power Pistol (since I have a 4 pound jug!) and found that it shoots these cast boolits quite well.
100yds, 75degF, wind 0, El 6800', bullet: 168gr cast with gas check, powder: Alliant Power Pistol, Rifle: Mossy 100ATR, cases: Federal range pickups, primer: Remington LR
powder grains--average speed---------group size without fliers-------group size with fliers
12-------------------1387---------------------------3.16---------------------5.33
14-------------------1512---------------------------1.2-----------------------1.61
16-------------------1640---------------------------1.59---------------------2.16
18-------------------1778---------------------------1.8-----------------------2.88
20-------------------1861---------------------------1.25----------------------4.17
22-------------------1952---------------------------7.0------------------------12.0
So what I found was:
1. the cast boolits were very accurate at around 1600fps.
2. pistol powder at the same speed as Varget kicks way harder and is louder and smokes more.
3. while the standard deviations were pretty high, the accuracy was plenty good for a non-rifle shooter like me.
4. the loads were barely on the paper at 22grains, but had very low SD (like 7, versus the 27 for the 14grain loads). So better "numbers" doesn't always mean better accuracy.
The whole point to loading these is to give me trigger time with the rifle so I can hit an elk with real hunting rounds.
Just thought people would like the info, as I find hardly any Power Pistol loads out there.
BTW, at 22gr the primers are showing some pressure signs, with the bolt face indented and the pin hole has a mark on the brass. They still extract just fine, and recoil is pretty stiff. I would not say they are over-pressure, but with pistol powder one should be careful and only duplicate this load with CAST bullets in a MODERN rifle. By working up in 2gr increments, I could really feel the difference and hear it too. I feel that there is absolutely no reason to go beyond 22gr.
(having no existing data, I looked at all the magnum handgun rounds and found 460's and 500's going up to 27grains with 300grain+ bullets. My opinion is that the 30-06 rifle is going to be able to take those same pressures. Also the pressure in a rifle case will be a bit less than in a handgun case with the same amount of powder, so I made the assumption that 22gr was safe enough to try.
I was gifted a couple bricks of lead, I think they are linotype, not sure, but they so make very hard bullets. They clink much better than cast bullets I have used in the past.
So I bought a Lee 4-20 pot, and 3 molds, 30cal 110gr, 30 cal 170gr, and 7/8 oz slug.
Been experimenting, and finally got some good bullets made, and did testing with my new30-06 Mossberg ATR100. Got the gun for the elk tag I got for this October. The Mossy has a Redfield Revolution 3-9x40 and Caldwell bi-pod. Gun was about 300 bucks new, the scope 160 and bi-pod was 20, so under $500 for the rig. I made a Kydex cheek weld and screwed to the stock.
I initially tried the 110gr and 170gr bullets with Titegroup, 2400 and Power Pistol, and did some testing with Varget. I found no real pattern to any particular pistol powder, other than 2400 was terrible and TG was consistent.
Last test with Varget was at 32gr under the 170gr boolit, and gave me 1645fps and 6" groups at 200 yds. Now one thing I must stress is that I am not a rifleman. I shoot USPSA pistol competitions and practice with my pistols a good deal. I can shoot rifles all right, but I don't practice enough to be really good. I thought 6" at that distance and FPS was awesome. That load had very little noise or recoil.
Today I tested Power Pistol (since I have a 4 pound jug!) and found that it shoots these cast boolits quite well.
100yds, 75degF, wind 0, El 6800', bullet: 168gr cast with gas check, powder: Alliant Power Pistol, Rifle: Mossy 100ATR, cases: Federal range pickups, primer: Remington LR
powder grains--average speed---------group size without fliers-------group size with fliers
12-------------------1387---------------------------3.16---------------------5.33
14-------------------1512---------------------------1.2-----------------------1.61
16-------------------1640---------------------------1.59---------------------2.16
18-------------------1778---------------------------1.8-----------------------2.88
20-------------------1861---------------------------1.25----------------------4.17
22-------------------1952---------------------------7.0------------------------12.0
So what I found was:
1. the cast boolits were very accurate at around 1600fps.
2. pistol powder at the same speed as Varget kicks way harder and is louder and smokes more.
3. while the standard deviations were pretty high, the accuracy was plenty good for a non-rifle shooter like me.
4. the loads were barely on the paper at 22grains, but had very low SD (like 7, versus the 27 for the 14grain loads). So better "numbers" doesn't always mean better accuracy.
The whole point to loading these is to give me trigger time with the rifle so I can hit an elk with real hunting rounds.
Just thought people would like the info, as I find hardly any Power Pistol loads out there.
BTW, at 22gr the primers are showing some pressure signs, with the bolt face indented and the pin hole has a mark on the brass. They still extract just fine, and recoil is pretty stiff. I would not say they are over-pressure, but with pistol powder one should be careful and only duplicate this load with CAST bullets in a MODERN rifle. By working up in 2gr increments, I could really feel the difference and hear it too. I feel that there is absolutely no reason to go beyond 22gr.
(having no existing data, I looked at all the magnum handgun rounds and found 460's and 500's going up to 27grains with 300grain+ bullets. My opinion is that the 30-06 rifle is going to be able to take those same pressures. Also the pressure in a rifle case will be a bit less than in a handgun case with the same amount of powder, so I made the assumption that 22gr was safe enough to try.