The mother of all .475 loads

[dubber123]

I think I found it today. Well actually it's the opposite of "the mother of all" loads. I have been trying to get a plinker load to shoot to the sights on my .475, and thought I had it, but no dice. Lloyd Smale to the rescue!, I had been steadily loading the Lee 400 gr. plain base hotter and hotter to try and get it to the sights, but no doin'. Lloyd suggests go slower. Duh, more barrel time to get the muzzle higher before the bullet leaves. OK, how about a smidge of a fast powder? I considered Bullseye, but went with Trailboss, because it's so bulky. Hmmm.. The charge? 5 grains sounds good. Load up five. Went out to the yard and shot at the 30-30 target I had shot earlier, (it wasn't a keeper). First round, can's see it on the paper, thats good. It's a big piece of paper, and means it's in the black. I shot all five, and finally saw # 5 just left. I walked down, (only 25 yds.), I'm dumbfounded, 4 are in 3/4", # 5 that I saw last made it about 1-1/2". This is a very good offhand group for me. Back in the house, load five more, shot sitting at 50 yds., 3 in 1-1/2", the other two blew it out to 4", I'm positive it was me. Grouped about 3" below the sights. I think thats close enough for practice. Thanks Lloyd, for pointing me in the right direction!:drinks:

[freedom475]

After trying hotter loads with little success and recieving the PM's from Dubber123 I tried Trailboss. I am using 6gr. behind a 420gr. WFNGC in my FA 83. Today I shot it at 100yrds. The first five from a sitting position were all in the rifle sight-in target, but all over the target. I got out the sand bag and tried again. The next 3 went into a nice 2 inch cluster with the other 2 shots just outside, pushing the group to just over 4 inches. Recoil and noise are very light. The load is so fun to shoot! This is the best group I've shot with it. And with open sights i don't expect much better. At 200yrds I was able to put 3 out of 5 into my shotgun popper by holding on its head.

Dubber do you Know how fast your loads are going?

[dubber123]

After trying hotter loads with little success and recieving the PM's from Dubber123 I tried Trailboss. I am using 6gr. behind a 420gr. WFNGC in my FA 83. Today I shot it at 100yrds. The first five from a sitting position were all in the rifle sight-in target, but all over the target. I got out the sand bag and tried again. The next 3 went into a nice 2 inch cluster with the other 2 shots just outside, pushing the group to just over 4 inches. Recoil and noise are very light. The load is so fun to shoot! This is the best group I've shot with it. And with open sights i don't expect much better. At 200yrds I was able to put 3 out of 5 into my shotgun popper by holding on its head.

Dubber do you Know how fast your loads are going?

No idea of velocity, I'll chronograph some just for fun though. At 50 yds. they still leave about 1/3rd of the bullet as a mushroom against my steel backer plates, so I would guess 750 fps. tops. The lack of recoil is really weird in this gun!

[dubber123]

The lack of recoil is no longer a mystery, I chronographed some of the five grain/Trailboss loads/400 gr. Lee plain base loads, and got the screaming velocity of 536 fps. ave. It's certailnly a specialty load, but it shoots close enough to the full power sight setting, and very well to at least 50 yds., the farthest I have shot. I shot a 1-7/8" group at 50 yards Friday, shooting off my knees, sitting. Thats plenty of accuracy for me.

[No_1]

I sounds like the perfect load for getting use to the gun. Great job!

R.

[dubber123]

Thanks, but Lloyd Smale is mostly responsible for me thinking this one up.