BrassFinger
05-11-2014, 05:46 PM
I went to the range this morning after making pancakes from scratch for Mom's day (cuz the kids certainly wouldn't take the initiative...) and put some of these downrange on paper for the first time. Previously I had good results from some old Lyman 311041 boolits that came as part of a large lot of reloading "stuff" from my uncle. I did not get any molds, however, so I needed to get one to start casting. After a bunch of reading, researching and vacillating, I picked the 165-SIL mold and cast up a few hundred with something close to Lyman #2 alloy.
The gun is a '71 Ruger 77 "hollow bolt" I recently found at a local gunshop in very nice condition with original Redfield 4X scope.
Boolits dropped at .310 and were sized to .309 and lubed with LsStuff BAC with a copper GatorCheck applied in my Lyman 450. They were loaded into R-P brass that was outside neck turned after running through a standard .30 cal. Lyman M die with 16gr. 2400 and CCI LR primer. OAL was 3.165. I was lucky enough to receive a Forster case trimmer/neck turner, Bonanza neck size die and bench rest seating die as well as the M die - pretty much cast-ready loading!
The first 20 to 30 rounds were the last of the 311041 rounds I had loaded up, variously with 7.0 gr. Red Dot, 9.0 gr. PB, 25.5 gr. and 29.0 gr. of 4895. As expected with such varied loads, the target looked like I went at it with a riot gun and buckshot rounds.
I then fed it the 165-SIL rounds and the stars aligned and the angels sang. OK, not really, but I was very surprised at the results. 50 yards with just a front sandbag rest - 10 shots. The two fliers are my fault as I had a bit of a "twitch-BANG" trigger pull on those. Looking forward to getting outdoors at 100 yds. and seeing how good I can do.
I was concerned initially with 165-SIL causing leading since it only has a single lube groove. However, inspecting the bore when I got home showed it to be clean and shiny with just some powder and lube residue and a nice lube star at the muzzle. It's very satisfying to be able cast and load almost anything for a single cartridge from "mouse fart" loads on up. Saves the shoulder, too! :-P
Chris
104565104566
The gun is a '71 Ruger 77 "hollow bolt" I recently found at a local gunshop in very nice condition with original Redfield 4X scope.
Boolits dropped at .310 and were sized to .309 and lubed with LsStuff BAC with a copper GatorCheck applied in my Lyman 450. They were loaded into R-P brass that was outside neck turned after running through a standard .30 cal. Lyman M die with 16gr. 2400 and CCI LR primer. OAL was 3.165. I was lucky enough to receive a Forster case trimmer/neck turner, Bonanza neck size die and bench rest seating die as well as the M die - pretty much cast-ready loading!
The first 20 to 30 rounds were the last of the 311041 rounds I had loaded up, variously with 7.0 gr. Red Dot, 9.0 gr. PB, 25.5 gr. and 29.0 gr. of 4895. As expected with such varied loads, the target looked like I went at it with a riot gun and buckshot rounds.
I then fed it the 165-SIL rounds and the stars aligned and the angels sang. OK, not really, but I was very surprised at the results. 50 yards with just a front sandbag rest - 10 shots. The two fliers are my fault as I had a bit of a "twitch-BANG" trigger pull on those. Looking forward to getting outdoors at 100 yds. and seeing how good I can do.
I was concerned initially with 165-SIL causing leading since it only has a single lube groove. However, inspecting the bore when I got home showed it to be clean and shiny with just some powder and lube residue and a nice lube star at the muzzle. It's very satisfying to be able cast and load almost anything for a single cartridge from "mouse fart" loads on up. Saves the shoulder, too! :-P
Chris
104565104566