Buckshot
08-22-2007, 05:01 PM
http://www.fototime.com/35572699B1D8361/standard.jpg
...............Not a real super photo, sorry.
http://www.fototime.com/D41D95B7168B29D/standard.jpg
A couple comparison cartridges with the Snider and the powder compression die I made.
While I have managed to accumilate 60 of the new Jamison 577 Snider cases, all my shooting with the Snider to date has been with the Mag-Tech modified 24 ga shotshells. These are slightly shortened and altered from Berdan primers to use the modern 209's. New Mag-Tech brass takes large pistol primers.
All my previous shooting with the Snider (in the carbine and a 3 band rifle) has been with regular Minie's. These most commonly at about .580". Due to a couple issues like undersized slugs, and the slow twist in addition to rather indifferent reloading practices, accuracy has been pretty casual .............. as it were :-).
So to begin, I got home Monday morning and standing in the shop it struck me to load some Snider ammo for the range the next day. My Lee pot the last time I'd used it had been dripping at a very rapid rate so I lapped in the valve rod and it's seat using some valve grinding compound. That took care of that.
I loaded it up with some good soft lead and while it was heating I got out a Lee .600" round ball mould I'd had some time but had not used to date, and prepped it. This was also the first time I'd used Bullplate lube on a Lee mould other then the sprueplate of a 6 cavity mould. It makes an amazing improvement!
In one or 2 drops I was getting perfect RB's that looked as if they'd been chrome plated. Word is that not all Snider chambers will accept a case with a .600" RB seated. As it is the carbine will so I was good to go and cast up about 15 lbs of'em. Next up on the agenda was to prime and partially neck size a few cases. Then I adjusted the Lee seater die to slightly crimp the casemouths into the ball.
As there had been a few interuptions and it was getting on into the early afternoon I needed to finish up before I faded away (having been awake since 4 pm the previous day). I'd made a .605" wad punch sometime back so I punched out a bunch of cardwads from bar coasters. I used a Lee 4.3cc dipper heaped with Swiss 1-1/2Fg powder for a 73.5gr charge, give or take a few tenths.
The charges were dumped through a funnel into the 10 cases filling them a bit more then half full. Then I dumped in an amount of "Active Filler" (50/50 mix of COW and 2Fg BP) to within 0.100" of the casemouth. A single cardwad was put in and then each went under the compression die and got about a 1/2" compression. I used a spoon to pour in some melted lube, again to about a tenth inch from the casemouth.
After seating and crimping the RB in the case there was just a bit of lube around the casemouth. They all chambered just fine in the carbine. Since I hadn't had time to put a front sight on the barrel since the last time I'd shot it, I again used the ole hoseclamp setup, below:
http://www.fototime.com/13CE8BA4DA1EB3C/standard.jpg
Seems to want a .480" tall front sight. So at the range Tuesday shooting at 50 yards the fist 2 rounds landed about 1.5" apart. I was a bit disbelieving, but hope springs eternal, especially with the way the cartridges had been loaded. However I wasn't disappointed as the next 3 rounds landed in an arc about 4" below the first 2 rounds. I'll get a picture posted later. In actuality it was a real group.
In any regard it was great fun, and the target produced was match grade in comparison to previous efforts. There was a satisfying amount of recoil with a good solid and sharp bang, and a loverly cloud of smoke.
..................Buckshot
...............Not a real super photo, sorry.
http://www.fototime.com/D41D95B7168B29D/standard.jpg
A couple comparison cartridges with the Snider and the powder compression die I made.
While I have managed to accumilate 60 of the new Jamison 577 Snider cases, all my shooting with the Snider to date has been with the Mag-Tech modified 24 ga shotshells. These are slightly shortened and altered from Berdan primers to use the modern 209's. New Mag-Tech brass takes large pistol primers.
All my previous shooting with the Snider (in the carbine and a 3 band rifle) has been with regular Minie's. These most commonly at about .580". Due to a couple issues like undersized slugs, and the slow twist in addition to rather indifferent reloading practices, accuracy has been pretty casual .............. as it were :-).
So to begin, I got home Monday morning and standing in the shop it struck me to load some Snider ammo for the range the next day. My Lee pot the last time I'd used it had been dripping at a very rapid rate so I lapped in the valve rod and it's seat using some valve grinding compound. That took care of that.
I loaded it up with some good soft lead and while it was heating I got out a Lee .600" round ball mould I'd had some time but had not used to date, and prepped it. This was also the first time I'd used Bullplate lube on a Lee mould other then the sprueplate of a 6 cavity mould. It makes an amazing improvement!
In one or 2 drops I was getting perfect RB's that looked as if they'd been chrome plated. Word is that not all Snider chambers will accept a case with a .600" RB seated. As it is the carbine will so I was good to go and cast up about 15 lbs of'em. Next up on the agenda was to prime and partially neck size a few cases. Then I adjusted the Lee seater die to slightly crimp the casemouths into the ball.
As there had been a few interuptions and it was getting on into the early afternoon I needed to finish up before I faded away (having been awake since 4 pm the previous day). I'd made a .605" wad punch sometime back so I punched out a bunch of cardwads from bar coasters. I used a Lee 4.3cc dipper heaped with Swiss 1-1/2Fg powder for a 73.5gr charge, give or take a few tenths.
The charges were dumped through a funnel into the 10 cases filling them a bit more then half full. Then I dumped in an amount of "Active Filler" (50/50 mix of COW and 2Fg BP) to within 0.100" of the casemouth. A single cardwad was put in and then each went under the compression die and got about a 1/2" compression. I used a spoon to pour in some melted lube, again to about a tenth inch from the casemouth.
After seating and crimping the RB in the case there was just a bit of lube around the casemouth. They all chambered just fine in the carbine. Since I hadn't had time to put a front sight on the barrel since the last time I'd shot it, I again used the ole hoseclamp setup, below:
http://www.fototime.com/13CE8BA4DA1EB3C/standard.jpg
Seems to want a .480" tall front sight. So at the range Tuesday shooting at 50 yards the fist 2 rounds landed about 1.5" apart. I was a bit disbelieving, but hope springs eternal, especially with the way the cartridges had been loaded. However I wasn't disappointed as the next 3 rounds landed in an arc about 4" below the first 2 rounds. I'll get a picture posted later. In actuality it was a real group.
In any regard it was great fun, and the target produced was match grade in comparison to previous efforts. There was a satisfying amount of recoil with a good solid and sharp bang, and a loverly cloud of smoke.
..................Buckshot