Lloyd Smale, for kicks and grins

[44man]

I had some of my 330 gr WFN boolits in a box so I loaded some with 31.5 gr's of 4759, Fed 155 primer, a tuft of dacron and Felix lube. This boolit is not as accurate as my 317 gr.
This is for my BFR 45-70 revolver. The first thing I did was to clean the gun. I used Hoppes and then M-Pro 7 with a brush until no more carbon came out. WHY clean? Because I go against the grain all the time.
Remember I use a red dot with a 4 minute dot but when turned up it will blot a 13.5" circle at 200 yd's so bear with me on it being hard to aim with. I also do not change the settings for distance but just aim higher. It is important to have a level gun for this but I don't have a level on the red dot so I will get horizontal dispersion.
Anyway, here is the distance; 200 yd's.

[44man]

And here is the setup. The large circle is what I TRY to aim at but I was blotting it because I had to turn up the dot. Anyway, the shot to the right was my first fouling shot. I shot another and it was a little left but could it be from my vision or the gun not being level for either shot? Take your pick.
What looks like a hole above the second shot is only from my marking pen.

[44man]

And here is the group. I have 4 in 3-3/4" which is good for this boolit and a red dot. Can I say the first shot from a clean gun was bad? Or was it just me? Do I need 100 rounds to settle the bore? What could I do with a 12X scope?
You have to admit that it is ridiculous to shoot that far with a red dot and expect a group anyway! But darn it, I have fun trying.

[Lloyd Smale]

thats some excellent shooting pal. I dont know either if you could call a flyer with a sight set up like that.

[44man]

Nope, can't call a thing! I laugh when I sit at the bench and can't see where the heck I am holding. I am usually surprised when the shots are on paper. I wish I had a scope that would stand the recoil. I ruined a Burris tube with heavy boolits in the .44.
I sure love the Ultra Dot for deer, I haven't found anything better. Just so darned hard to shoot groups with. My glasses are getting old too and no matter how I look, I can't make the dot round anymore. Deer don't care though and that is what is important.
But darn it, I wish I could see what the guns would really do at long range. I blew the guts out of a new Swift scope before I even got sighted. I have a Tasco 2X that takes the recoil but it has a dot that covers as much as the red dot.
My friend has an RCBS mold for a boolit that weighs 320 gr's. I cast some to test. I will keep you posted how they do. The meplat is too small for hunting though.

[Bass Ackward]

Loads that benifit from a blackbore tend to be loads that for whatever reason are on the verge of leading. For me the enemy is usually temperature and velocity.

In fact, that's how I test my lube balance for HV. When you have enough of a certain viscosity of any lube on the bullet, you should see little first shot difference from a clean barrel.

If you do, you can figure that a slight move up in temperature or pressure / velocity and you are going to have trouble.

[ktw]

I sure love the Ultra Dot for deer, I haven't found anything better. Just so darned hard to shoot groups with.

Ultradot make a model called the MatchDot which will adjust down to a 2 MOA dot. Not as good as a scope but a lot better than a 4 MOA dot for longer range work. I find it helps to turn the light intensity down as far as possible, too.

-ktw

[crabo]

Lloyd, I have been wondering... how close is your nearest neighbor? Do they ever complain about the noise? I had a friend who had eighty acres and built a nice berm in one corner of his property. The neighbor would often come out and park in his truck about 75 yards away when we would shoot. He would sometimes yell at us. The man had too much time on his hands. The range was not even close to the guys house.

[44man]

I don't know where Lloyd shoots but I have houses all around me and live on the edge of a small town. I have been shooting here for 21 years and no one ever complains. I hear other people shooting once in a while too.

KTW, I looked at the Match Dot but if I remember the turret is larger. It would probably fit my BFR's but not my Ruger. Higher price too. I had to turn up the dot the other day, I could not see it on the target at 200.

Bass, I am running those boolits right close to 1700 fps, they sure don't take long to cover the distance.

[Bass Ackward]

Bass, I am running those boolits right close to 1700 fps, they sure don't take long to cover the distance.


44man,

I suspect you know this, I thought I 'd throw it out there anyway since some of the newer might be interested in the method. :grin:.

Speed is all relative. That could be 900 fps with pure lead or 3500 fps with WDWW. That is the point I am trying to make.

This is still a good check either for adequate amount or quantity of lube or for .... adequate bullet hardness with that load / gun combination. Balance. This is how I test my HV loads to know how close I am to something failing.

That's why I don't get too excited about changing lubes when there are so many other things you can change first / easier.

[44man]

OK, I tested the RCBS boolit at 50 yd's today. It shot fairly well. I also tested the Lee factory crimp die on them. The two targets on the top left are with the Lee die and the top right with my regular roll crimp. The boolit seems to like the regular crimp better. My other targets reflected that.
The bottom targets are with my 330 gr and that is as good as I have ever gotten them to shoot. It is hard to believe I hit paper at 200 with them. The left is the Lee crimp and the right is a roll crimp, makes no difference at all.
The boolits shown are the RCBS, my 317 gr and my 330 gr. Notice the flat sided nose on the 330. I think that is the problem, I need more curve to it. It would be fine for hunting though. I have to re-design it.
Now the 317 gr boolit has shot a lot of sub 1" groups at 100 yd's.
I don't like the meplat on the RCBS or the 317 for deer unless I soften the lead.

[buck1]

Nice shooting 44man! I used to think I was a pretty good shot Untill I met you!!
WELL DONE>....Buck

[44man]

Not so hard, I test from sandbags or Creedmore position. But all of my deer are shot offhand.