Cloud9
01-02-2008, 02:15 PM
Shooting Lee 185 grn lead bullets. A friend of mine gave me a quantity of 4350 IMR powder. I wanted to shoot it in my Enfield. Not wanting to risk one of my better guns, I chose a No 4 Mk1 that had seen heavy use. I spent several days cleaning this rifle and had finally got past the gunk down to the rust and pitting in the barrel. I started off with a load of 43.3 grns. I was shooting a gas checked lead bullet cast in a Lee 312 mold. The bullet weighed 185 grns, and was cast out of wheel weights. I had slugged the barrel and it miked out at .313. I machined out a .313 lubricating and sizing die and lubricated and sized 50 bullets. I set up a steady rest and shot 20 rounds. The targets were a disappointment. The barrel was thoroughly fouled and the grooves were full of lead.
I cleaned the rifle. I took a wax candle one inch in diameter and six inches long. I melted it in a soup can and stirred in one heaping teaspoon of petroleum jelly. I laid out a strip of aluminum foil in the bottom of a regular dinner plate and poured the mixture out and let it cool. Once it had cooled, I separated the thin wax sheet from the aluminum foil. The sheet of wax was about a tenth of an inch thick. I neck sized and primed my cases. I loaded 33 grn of IMR 4350. I took the charged case and pushed the neck through the wax sheet inserting a wax wad. I then seated the bullet and crimped the case using a Lyman 303 die. I loaded ten rounds of 4350 using the wax wad and ten rounds of 45 grns of Pyrodex using the wax wads.
The groups were very good. The Pyrodex group at 25 yards was spectacular. The rifle showed very little fowling and no leading.
I cleaned the rifle. I took a wax candle one inch in diameter and six inches long. I melted it in a soup can and stirred in one heaping teaspoon of petroleum jelly. I laid out a strip of aluminum foil in the bottom of a regular dinner plate and poured the mixture out and let it cool. Once it had cooled, I separated the thin wax sheet from the aluminum foil. The sheet of wax was about a tenth of an inch thick. I neck sized and primed my cases. I loaded 33 grn of IMR 4350. I took the charged case and pushed the neck through the wax sheet inserting a wax wad. I then seated the bullet and crimped the case using a Lyman 303 die. I loaded ten rounds of 4350 using the wax wad and ten rounds of 45 grns of Pyrodex using the wax wads.
The groups were very good. The Pyrodex group at 25 yards was spectacular. The rifle showed very little fowling and no leading.