boolit engraving frustration

[nekshot]

If I was really good with my lathe, I would take all my lever actions and set the barrel back so a loaded round would engrave into the rifling and YET still be unloaded with out firing it. Any one else have this frustration? I hate to let excellent accuracy slip out the window just because I have to keep the ability to unload get in the way.
nekshot

[Browningshooter]

I think all of us who try to squeak the best accuracy out of levers have the same frustration. When shooting for groups single loading does get old sometimes.
- Will

[gnoahhh]

How would setting a barrel back get you closer to the lands? You would have to re-ream the chamber too, not to mention re-cut extractor grooves, and deal with fore arm and magazine tube mounting, plus looser fit of fore arm to barrel, etc. I would load single shot at the range- no big deal, most people do anyway- and put a 'long' round up the spout when hunting with 'short' ones in the tube behind it.

[Char-Gar]

I don't really know what your issue is. I am supposing it is because most leverguns has a rather short throat/freebore or none at all. This can be delt with in several ways, none of which involving using a lathe.

1. Use a throating reamer to create a throat/freebore that works with off the shelf molds.
2. Design a bullet with the computer system at Mountain molds a bullet that does not require a throat/freebore in the barrel. With this system, you can have a bullet that exactly fits your barrel, no matter how odd or out of spec it may be.

I have a 1960 Marlin 336 Texas (30-30) that had no throat, just a bevel on the end of the rifling and a barrel that measure .309 X .305. The top driving band of the bullet outside of the case would be driven into the barrel making it hard to extract a round without pulling the bullets. Because the land diameter was so big, the bullet nose (.300) was just hanging in the air.

To cure this, I created a design that;

1. Had a body .311, all of which was contained in the case neck.
2. Had a good crimp groove.
3. Had a short .309 band just above the case mouth that fit the chamfer/bevel throat
4. The nose then tapered from .308 ahead of this short band to .305 before it dropped off to a nice meplat.
5. The bullet weights 170 grains and is a gas check design.
6. This bullet turns that old Marlin into a tack driver.
7. these bullets engrave on the rifling for the bottom 2/3 of the nose, but no so deep they pull the bullets or give any issues extracting a loaded round. The bullet enters the barrel straight (which is the idea) and gives all the accuracy the rifle has to give.
8. I load this bullet over 17/4759 for a velocity of about 1.8 K fps. This is a nice easy load, but still has plenty of power for game up to and including deer.
9. These rounds feed through the magazine as slick as you please.

This pic is not very good, but it will give you an idea of what I am talking about.

[nekshot]

Of course the chamber would have to be re cut. I simply would like to have a boolit that would litely engrave into rifling and still be ejected if not fired. None of the 30-30's will let me eject if seated into the rifling. I guess this is just a hair in my you know where but I hate going with second rate accuracy for hunting simply so I can eject the boolits if not fired. A bolt action is not that big of a deal as you usually can simply pull the bolt back. My savage 340 is a prick to unload if load is too long because the extractor won't let the bolt come back far enough to clear the reciever slot. Makes the single shots look all the better for hunting I guess. I hope am explaining this correctly, forgive me if I am stumbling around again in my thoughts!

[nekshot]

Char-Gar, that is kinda what I try also. Trouble with me I always lose accuracy and I am happy you gained accuracy so I will keep on trying.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
Make yourself a chamber cast. Then you will know the dimensions of that throat area. Then you can decide on the solution route you desire to follow .
Throating is a very simple process.
Or with the chamber cast info you can call Accurate Molds and get your self a custom fitted mold to your chamber.
You can have your "accurate" lever flipper and not real expensive in the long run. Sure beats frustracion.
Mike in Peru

[Char-Gar]

I have been shooting cast bullets in a variety of rifles for over 50 years and when a loaded round debullets when ejected, the problem is always poor bullet fit. Proper bullet fit will proved good function in the rifle and excellent accuracy in the process. I have no idea what you have tried, but this isn't rocket science and setting back barrels in a lathe certainly is not a constructive approach to the issue.

[Gtek]

I have read a couple times trying to completely grab story line. I am not familiar with a 340 and where the bolt locking occurs. Could you not Dremel or mill ejection port a little farther north to allow for ejection without hurting structural integrity. Gtek

[nekshot]

gtek, I cannot open up the receiver on the 340 without compromising the strength. In a short to me accuracy is king. Goes back to all the years I spent in bench rest shooting. I simply find it frustrating to seat boolits way out where they engrave into rifling and shoot 3/8 inch groubs with as many as 16 rounds at 70 yards out of a lever and not be able to use use that given combination for hunting because the gun cannot eject the long seated round if not fired. Yes I chamber cast all my guns and I can get them all to do decent when all is workable with length but my groubs all open up accuracy wise and I simply would love to close the gap between end of cartridge and beginning of rifling. If this is confusing well that seems to be my second nature the last 10 years and maybe I should take up shuffle board!

[fecmech]

My savage 340 is a prick to unload if load is too long because the extractor won't let the bolt come back far enough to clear the reciever slot.
On the 340 with long cartridge lengths to take out an unfired round. Simply drop the mag,extract the cartridge not quite all the way to the ejector and simply push the cartridge down out of the extractor clips. The round will fall right out the bottom.

[nekshot]

fecmech, I never tried that way. I did bent a extracter and don't want to do that again but will give out the bottom a try. Thanks

[300savage]

your only real option as i see it has been mentioned already, dremel some relief to allow the tip to clear. my savage 99,s have it from the factory, i truly do not think it will affect the strength of the gun in the least. setting your barrel back is a good way to ruin a nice rifle.