longbow
03-11-2008, 10:27 PM
2 actually!
I finally got out to the range and I think I said I would post results good or bad. Well, they weren't good but a bad day at the range is better than the best day of work right? Now what does a guy that works at a range say?
Anyway, I loaded up a selection of slugs and shot some through a cylinder bore and some through my Browning BPS with I/C choke.
Accuracy was less than stellar - nothing smaller than about 5" at 50 yards.
slugs were:
1) 0.662" RB (437 gr.) with attached basewad AQ style and in a WWAA shotcup
2) 0.690" RB (475 gr.) in a WWAA shotcup
3) 0.735" RB (580 gr.) on card and fiber wads
4) home made Foster slug (445 gr.) sized to fit in WWAA shotcup
5) Brenneke's (440 gr.) from a custom designed mould and provided by a friend
6) a home made Brenneke style slug at 610 gr. (teardrop shaped)
The bore size ball, bore size teardrop Brenneke and he 0.690" balls were all shot from the cylinder bore gun. The rest were shot from the Browning.
The best shooters were the 0.662" RB's shot from my BPS and the 0.735" RB's shot through a cylinder bore single shot. Both gave about 5" at 50 yards.
The 0.690" RB's gave about 6" shot from the cylinder bore.
The home made Foster which I sized down to fit snugly into a WWAA shotcup gave very poor accuracy. Last time out I shot them as cast and very tight in the shotcup but they gave better accuracy - not great but better. Odd they have a very heavy nose and very thin skirt filled with hot melt. I expected better, oh well.
My friend's Brenneke's didn't do well either but the teardrop Brenneke's showed some promise. I may do a few more tests of each with different wads attached.
The 0.690" RB's were loaded a while ago with Unique, the rest were loaded over Blue Dot as it is all I had that was suitable. Based on equivalent weight slug loads and buckshot loads I chose 2 charges which should have been "light" loads and generally were. I used 38 grs. of Blue Dot under the 3 approx. 1 oz. slugs and 35 grs. under the 0.735" RB and 610 gr. Brenneke. I have loads listed to 44 grs. Blue Dot for a 610 gr. slug so these were conservative. Hulls were Fiocchi and primers Win 209.
I wasn't actually expecting the powder to work well under the light slugs but it did and seemed quite consistent with moderate recoil. The 0.662'' RB's gave a sharp crack and seemed to shoot quite flat.
The 0.735" RB's which I expected to give me a thump really didn't give a good powder burn (so no thump) and I got one blooper. Accuracy wasn't bad though. The 0.662" RB's gave more recoil.
The 610 gr. teardrop Brenneke was really, really unpleasant to shoot! Not much heavier than the 0.735" RB, just bore size and on the same wad column (attached though) but WOW WHAT RECOIL! OUCH! If accuracy had been good it would be a devastating load.
While I can understand the plastic shotcups sealing better where used and maybe building a little more pressure for good burn I am surprised at the huge difference between the 0.735" RB and the 610 gr. Brenneke which both had the load and same card wads.
I'm not expecting one hole groups by any means but accuracy has got to be better than this at 50 yards. So far the best groups I have gotten are from BPI AQ slugs and those were about the same at 100 yards as I am getting at 50 with these slugs. I guess I still got work ahead of me!
Regardless, it was a nice day and felt good to be shooting, and at least learning what doesn't work.
Longbow
I finally got out to the range and I think I said I would post results good or bad. Well, they weren't good but a bad day at the range is better than the best day of work right? Now what does a guy that works at a range say?
Anyway, I loaded up a selection of slugs and shot some through a cylinder bore and some through my Browning BPS with I/C choke.
Accuracy was less than stellar - nothing smaller than about 5" at 50 yards.
slugs were:
1) 0.662" RB (437 gr.) with attached basewad AQ style and in a WWAA shotcup
2) 0.690" RB (475 gr.) in a WWAA shotcup
3) 0.735" RB (580 gr.) on card and fiber wads
4) home made Foster slug (445 gr.) sized to fit in WWAA shotcup
5) Brenneke's (440 gr.) from a custom designed mould and provided by a friend
6) a home made Brenneke style slug at 610 gr. (teardrop shaped)
The bore size ball, bore size teardrop Brenneke and he 0.690" balls were all shot from the cylinder bore gun. The rest were shot from the Browning.
The best shooters were the 0.662" RB's shot from my BPS and the 0.735" RB's shot through a cylinder bore single shot. Both gave about 5" at 50 yards.
The 0.690" RB's gave about 6" shot from the cylinder bore.
The home made Foster which I sized down to fit snugly into a WWAA shotcup gave very poor accuracy. Last time out I shot them as cast and very tight in the shotcup but they gave better accuracy - not great but better. Odd they have a very heavy nose and very thin skirt filled with hot melt. I expected better, oh well.
My friend's Brenneke's didn't do well either but the teardrop Brenneke's showed some promise. I may do a few more tests of each with different wads attached.
The 0.690" RB's were loaded a while ago with Unique, the rest were loaded over Blue Dot as it is all I had that was suitable. Based on equivalent weight slug loads and buckshot loads I chose 2 charges which should have been "light" loads and generally were. I used 38 grs. of Blue Dot under the 3 approx. 1 oz. slugs and 35 grs. under the 0.735" RB and 610 gr. Brenneke. I have loads listed to 44 grs. Blue Dot for a 610 gr. slug so these were conservative. Hulls were Fiocchi and primers Win 209.
I wasn't actually expecting the powder to work well under the light slugs but it did and seemed quite consistent with moderate recoil. The 0.662'' RB's gave a sharp crack and seemed to shoot quite flat.
The 0.735" RB's which I expected to give me a thump really didn't give a good powder burn (so no thump) and I got one blooper. Accuracy wasn't bad though. The 0.662" RB's gave more recoil.
The 610 gr. teardrop Brenneke was really, really unpleasant to shoot! Not much heavier than the 0.735" RB, just bore size and on the same wad column (attached though) but WOW WHAT RECOIL! OUCH! If accuracy had been good it would be a devastating load.
While I can understand the plastic shotcups sealing better where used and maybe building a little more pressure for good burn I am surprised at the huge difference between the 0.735" RB and the 610 gr. Brenneke which both had the load and same card wads.
I'm not expecting one hole groups by any means but accuracy has got to be better than this at 50 yards. So far the best groups I have gotten are from BPI AQ slugs and those were about the same at 100 yards as I am getting at 50 with these slugs. I guess I still got work ahead of me!
Regardless, it was a nice day and felt good to be shooting, and at least learning what doesn't work.
Longbow