farrow's reloading kit

[BRUCE MOULDS]

http://arco-iris.com/George/images/farrow_tools.jpg

note the paper patches in the box.
keep safe,
bruce.

[Lead pot]

That is a interesting bullet mould. I see the bullets in that kit are .32 Cal.

Bruce I started using a palm tool like that and it worked fine for the smaller calibers but getting to the .44's and between bore and groove diameters palming the bullets in started to do some damage to the bases. Checking the recovered bullets there was a lot of finning on just part of the base and I think this started from flattening the base when hitting a tight bullet that is still on a slight angle palming the tool and that damaged 1/2 of the base edge like dropping a bullet on the floor (It seems like the base always hits when you drop one :) ) and that forms a fin on part of the base. This a caming tool does not do. I never seen a fin using one.

I forgot that Shiloh link. There is a lot of good info.
Kurt

[Don McDowell]

[QUOTE]That is a interesting bullet mould. I see the bullets in that kit are .32 Cal.
/QUOTE]

Keep in mind Farrow made his mark mostly in the midrange matches and his favored cartridge was the 32-40.
Interesting when you look at the class system used then and cross reference it to todays class system for bptr long range, in the long range he would be classed a Sharpshooter.

[BRUCE MOULDS]

yes kurt,
if you drop bread and jam, it always lands on the jam side.
your using bullets 1/2 way between bore and groove has been noted over time.
with my palm seater i find bullets bigger than 0.001 over bore too hard to seat.
hitting the breech seater is definitely a no no, as if nothing else you might make a big bullet even bigger.
bore sized bullets with a little friction on seating shoot well, load easy, and due to the lack of stress in the process probably align well with the bore.
you need enough friction to keep the bullet where it was placed.
could it be the case that the odg had access to tougher paper than we can get now?
farrow was one of the early long range shooters of note
probably, because they could get bank note paper.
don,
farrow was also one of the early long range shooters of note.
while we can grade them on todays methods, some of those old fellas would still be tough competitors.
we must remember that while hinman was allowed sighters at 800, the early guys had no sighters.
there would be a lot of guys today that might not get a shot on paper without spotters or radios.
general,
farrows kit contains paper patches and a palm seater.
they would not be there if he did not use them, suggesting a trend in that time slot, whatever the discipline.
keep safe,
bruce.

[Don McDowell]

Well if we knew Farrow's kit wasn't hand packed by who ever it was that cleaned his house out after he died we could feel a lot better about why and what was in there.
It's not surprising he had a palm seater in his kit as he did do a bit of Schuetzen shooting in his later years.
Ever wonder what the story was why the American team kicked him off the team during the Dublin/ Wimbledon trip? Would sure like to know what that story was.

[Lead pot]

Breach seating a PP bullet patched at bore diameter I really don't see much improvement over a PP in the case mouth 1/8" or less. That bullet is well into the throat and the portion that is not is supported inside the case mouth when the powder is lit. The only portion that will/might get damaged is what is behing the .45 degree chamber transition if it has this. My rifles don't have that .45 wall. But using 1/16 or 1/18 even that 45 does not have much effect when the PP bullet is a 1/8" off inside the chamber end in the case mouth. Soft 1/20 or 1/30 you definitely see damage ahead of the case mouth on a patched bullet. I don't see much accuracy improvement until my bullet is patched 1/2 between groove and bore diameter even if I seat that bullet right on the top edge of the lead with a wad at it's base that gets seated with the bullet so I keep the gap a 1/16" or less between the wad that is flush with the case mouth and the wad behind the bullet. I'm very leery compressing the air between two wads.
Scheutzen shooters don't have to worry about airgaps with their .32 calibers shooting smokeless because they most generally have a cork in the shell case holding the powder in so it don't spill during transit and remove the cork from the loaded case if they don't refill the case during a match and that charged case is inserted into the chamber with the muzzle elevated some. This is the way I did it and I see other shooters do it this way also.

It's very hard to find how exactly the ODG's did for loading or how they did it. They were no different then what some of the competitors do now days and I can understand this because they compete and don't want the folks they shoot against to gain an edge over them.
Now days with these computers a lot more information on how they do things to get the most from their rifles but a lot of this information is not 100% reviled. :)
Kurt

[BRUCE MOULDS]

kurt,
you often mention a wariness of the airgap.
i would be more concerned about it with a bullet sized 0.001 over groove.
looking up the barrel with a breech seated patched to bore bullet in place, you can see light between the bullet and barrel.
this gap would probably let air past the bullet prior to bumpup and sealing.
all the greaser breech seaters around here fill the case so a card, ldpe, or veg wad is level with the top of the case and leave it there.
certainly some guys had secrets, but maybe mostly certain things were just taken for granted so much they were just not mentioned?
mostly the ones that waste time with secrets should have their minds more on the job to improve.
anyway it is interesting to surmize and try things.
you have been a great mentor to me, even though we might do some things differently.
your main gift to me has been to have an open mind and try things accordingly, and also your generous sharing of findings from your experiments.
keep safe,
bruce.

[Lead pot]

Bruce if we all have a closed mind we would still be in the dark ages. There is not just one way to do something and I'm always willing to try what others do to see if I can improve my ways.
Kurt