BABore
07-18-2005, 09:32 AM
I just got into bullet casting for my 450 Marlin. Got a Lyman #457643 mold that drops a straight WW bullet at 0.4595" and 423 grains. My bore is 0.4585". I visually sorted the bullets from the first couple casting sessions, but did not weight sort. Lubed them with 2 coats of Alox. I loading them with WW231 powder at 11, 12, and 13 grains and used a LFC die.
When I finally got them on paper, at 100 yards, they were grouping 3 shots into almost the same hole. Every now and then I would get an unexplained flyer that was like a foot out. It was almost always low. My last group, at 13 grains, put 5 shots into a horizontal strung group that was an inch wide. Two other rounds, fired in that group, landed over a foot low and six inches left.
Number one, I going to weight sort my next batch to see if that makes a difference. I would love to stick with a fast pistol powder for economics, but wonder about powder position in the case affecting things. I have H322, H4198, 2400, IMR4895, and others available to try. I'm looking for a velocity range of 1,000 to 1,400 fps. I've only used the rifle powders, mentioned above, for full house loads. Kind of nervous using reduced loads of the same. The Lyman Cast book recommends IMR4198 and RX7 (I'm assuming this is Reloder 7) with dacron filler. I would like to avoid fillers if I can. Any recommendations?
I also bought A Lyman #311041 mold that drops a 0.3095, 175 grain bullet with WW's and 1% tin. Kind of got it for my buddy's 30'30. Decided to load up some for my '06. I used 20, 21, and 22 grains of 2400 and a CCI 200 primer. I wasn't expecting too much, but what a surprise. From 100 yards the 22 grain load punched 6 rounds into a 1 1/4" group. Now this gun has never done much better than 1 1/4" with any jacketed bullet for a 3-shot group. These hardcast bullets were only visually inspected and lubed with Alox. I'm going to weight sort them next time to see if things can be tightened up. The three different powder charges didn't seem to make a difference accuracy wise.
When I finally got them on paper, at 100 yards, they were grouping 3 shots into almost the same hole. Every now and then I would get an unexplained flyer that was like a foot out. It was almost always low. My last group, at 13 grains, put 5 shots into a horizontal strung group that was an inch wide. Two other rounds, fired in that group, landed over a foot low and six inches left.
Number one, I going to weight sort my next batch to see if that makes a difference. I would love to stick with a fast pistol powder for economics, but wonder about powder position in the case affecting things. I have H322, H4198, 2400, IMR4895, and others available to try. I'm looking for a velocity range of 1,000 to 1,400 fps. I've only used the rifle powders, mentioned above, for full house loads. Kind of nervous using reduced loads of the same. The Lyman Cast book recommends IMR4198 and RX7 (I'm assuming this is Reloder 7) with dacron filler. I would like to avoid fillers if I can. Any recommendations?
I also bought A Lyman #311041 mold that drops a 0.3095, 175 grain bullet with WW's and 1% tin. Kind of got it for my buddy's 30'30. Decided to load up some for my '06. I used 20, 21, and 22 grains of 2400 and a CCI 200 primer. I wasn't expecting too much, but what a surprise. From 100 yards the 22 grain load punched 6 rounds into a 1 1/4" group. Now this gun has never done much better than 1 1/4" with any jacketed bullet for a 3-shot group. These hardcast bullets were only visually inspected and lubed with Alox. I'm going to weight sort them next time to see if things can be tightened up. The three different powder charges didn't seem to make a difference accuracy wise.