first trip with the Cruise Missile

[brotherdarrell]

This was a 'getting to know you' trip. The rifle was a standard M96. Numbers matching on the barrel, action, bolt and bottom metal. All the rest were non-matching. The barrel is a little on the dark side but the rifling is strong and sharp. Sorry, forgot pictures.

I loaded 10 each of 14, 15 and 16 grs. 2400 and WLP primers. Brass is a mixture of Century 6.5 (Yugo) and others formed from various calibers.

14 (1500 fps) and 15 grs.(1576 fps) @ 50 yds. I didn't realize I was shooting so low. Each group has one more shot just off the paper.

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16 gr. (1644 fps) @ 50 yds. I moved the sight up.

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And 15 grs. @ 100 yds.

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Groups weren't anything to brag about but it does give me a starting point.

A couple of notes:

Checks had to be seated in a .266" die as they weren't large enough to seat @ .268".

Boolits were sized @ .268" in a push through and lubed in a .269". They were sized @ .268" the same day they were cast and lubed a week later (tac #1)

Alloy is a water dropped 'mystery' alloy. Based on the 'clink' they make I would say the hardness is in the low 20's.

The boolits were seated firmly into the throat/rifling. Enough that removing an un-fired round would leave the boolit in the throat.

The first two bands (.266" and .268") were both touching the throat. The nose (.2605") was touching the rifling.

For a first trip I am satisfied. I think I can work with this boolit. Would properly sized checks make a difference? Beats me. I have to do the same thing with my Chilean short rifle and it works pretty well. I also have a good supply of '06 brass that I hope to get turned into 6.5 brass so that I can get more brass with the same head stamp. Powder selection is Herco, Steel, BD and 2400 on one end and then heavy on the 3031 to 4350 speed powders.

I traded a k31 in very good condition for this rifle because is was 'too easy' to get to shoot. It just wasn't much of a challenge. This rifle should give me that challenge. It should be fun.

Darrell

[Ben]

If you like a challenge , then shooting the 6.5 X 55 with the cruise ( espec. at higher velocities ) will certainly give you that challenge.

Ben

[1johnlb]

I know what you mean about the K31, it sometimes just gets boring because of its accuracy. My .02 cents I never would have traded the k31 for a swede. You really do have a challege now! I,ve had 7 swiss and 2 swedes and would trade both my swedes for my first k31 back. Kick myself!

I am thinking about rebarrelling one of my swedes to a 1-9 twist. Its got the soderin competition sights, If I could just get it to shoot cast. Not to worry it's not a matching #'s.

Good shooting on the first day. My first day out I had mostly sideways holes. Good luck and I hope I didn't discourage you, there are several here on this forum that's had very good luck with the swede's, and some great right ups on that cruize missile.

[leadman]

Appears you may have a little boolit wobble at 50 yards and almost none at 100 yards. A little load work and it should be a good shooter.

[brotherdarrell]

Well, to be honest, the challenge wasnt the only reason for the trade. Dies and brass for the K31 was an issue. This is my second Swede, the first having been stolen after only 3 range trips. It came down to being able to have one or the other and I chose the swede. There is just something about a problem child that attracts me and I am well aware of the swedes moods. The question is am I good enough to deal with them? And now I have the Cruise Missile to add to the equation. The first step was round holes and most of the holes are nice and round.

Darrell

[1johnlb]

Your a better man than I. good luck on your ventures

[JeffinNZ]

Good Lord! Those holes are round!

[45 2.1]

Good Lord! Those holes are round!

Yep... that happens when you load it correctly. They are nice and round at long range to. We have gotten them to shoot at high velocity at slightly over 1 MOA..... all round holes also.

[brotherdarrell]

I thought I would give a quick update from my third trip this morning with the cruise missile. I wanted to try some slower loads to see if would get round holes. The load was 11 gr. of herco. It was spitting rain off and on so no chrono but Quikloads says it should be around 1400 fps. 50 yds on the left and 100 yds on the right.

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Some of the holes show a slight amount of tipping others are perfectly round. So the question is why am I not suffering from "wobbly bottom syndrome"? Well, lets discuss my second range trip with the Cruise Missile.

As I stated in my first post I had enough neck tension to seat the boolit in the throat but not enough for it to come out with the case. I had sized the cases with a Lee collet neck sizer with a case mouth I.D of .266" (boolit sized @ .268"). On my second trip I sized the neck I.D. down to about .2645". At this size it allowed me to remove an unfired case bringing the boolit with it. The result on the target was,,,,,,,,,,"wobbly bottom syndrome". The holes on the 50 yd target were as bad or worse than many have shown. The loads were the same as the first trip (15 & 16 gr 2400), the only difference was the neck tension.

So, what do I conclude? Todays results in the 1400 fps range lead me to believe that it is not a "stability" issue, maybe. I am thinking that the minimum neck tension is allowing the boolit to align with the bore/throat better and that the increased neck tension is forcing the boolit where it doesn't want to go. I don't know, but I can't think of any thing else.

Another thing I would add is in regards to the second trip where I got 'wobbly bottom'. At 50 yds the tipping was very apparent. At 100 yds it was less so. At 200 yds the holes looked about like my results from this morning at 50 yds and at 300 yds the holes were perfectly round. The further the distance the less tipping showed. They stabilized over distance.

Another factor that leads me to believe that alignment is at play here was the last couple shots this morning at 100 yds. All shots to this point were from cartgs. loaded from the magazine. The last three I single fed my hand. The holes @ 100 yds were as perfectly round as a person could ask for. Hmm.

Darrell

[45 2.1]

So, what do I conclude? Todays results in the 1400 fps range lead me to believe that it is not a "stability" issue, maybe. I am thinking that the minimum neck tension is allowing the boolit to align with the bore/throat better and that the increased neck tension is forcing the boolit where it doesn't want to go. I don't know, but I can't think of any thing else.

Another thing I would add is in regards to the second trip where I got 'wobbly bottom'. At 50 yds the tipping was very apparent. At 100 yds it was less so. At 200 yds the holes looked about like my results from this morning at 50 yds and at 300 yds the holes were perfectly round. The further the distance the less tipping showed. They stabilized over distance.

Another factor that leads me to believe that alignment is at play here was the last couple shots this morning at 100 yds. All shots to this point were from cartgs. loaded from the magazine. The last three I single fed my hand. The holes @ 100 yds were as perfectly round as a person could ask for. Hmm. Darrell

Give the man a cigar................ Nice clear analysis for once. It is also very important not to mangel this boolit in sizing or seating it.

[brotherdarrell]

Nothing too earth shattering from this mornings trip with the swede/cruise missile. I am still in the 'getting to know you' stage and seeing what works and doesn't.

One of the things I was checking for was how slow I could shoot and still keep a balanced boolit. I loaded some CM's on 13 gr. of TrailBoss (a little over 1300 fps) and got holes that looked like these (100 yds.)

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One showed a little "wobbly bottom syndrome" but I would put it under the acceptable category.

I also tried a little shorter oal and a little tighter neck tension trying to get a combination that gave round holes and still allowed me to remove a chambered round without leaving a boolit in the throat. No luck.

I also tested some aluminum checks that allowed me to securely seat them @ .268". Results were mixed until I got to 200 yds. These checks were formed out of round with a noticeable tear from when the the blank was punched from the sheets. At 50 and 100 yds there was not much difference, but at 200 there was very obvious tipping. It would appear that a consistently shaped check makes a big difference at the longer distances.

One more factor that is becoming obvious is that the target makes a big difference when it come to accuracy with open sights. I am shooting round bulls out to 100 and at 200 I was using a silhouette target ( and yes, I did reference Mr. Webster to spell silhouette correctly). I am having fits getting a consistent sight picture with the round bulls but the SILHOUETTE target is a big aide. I sent the last four rounds to 200 and put all in about a 4" group. Not conclusive but the target makes a big difference. If anyone has a better idea for a target shape for shooting with open sights I am all ears.

Next trip I am going to play with neck tension a little more and I just ordered some Hornady checks that should seat firmly @ .268".

Oh yeah!!!! I almost forgot. I have some Czech brass that has necks around .015" thick and some re-formed 257 roberts that are around .012". The thicker necks are showing better accuracy and rounder holes than the thinner necks. The end of the chamber is .300" and I am sizing to .268".

Thats all for today.

Darrell