Range Report - my first sub MOA group with cast

[dtknowles]

I fixed a few things and it eliminated the bad flyers. I added more sawdust to my front bag, I polished my seating die and I am now shouldering the rifle when shooting off the bags. I will post pictures of the targets shortly but the summary is:

It was a pleasant day with light winds and mostly overcast. Started out on the cool side, low 70's but warmed up into the 80's.

I had 57 rounds of my current test load. Lapua brass, CCI 400 primers, 32gr. of BLC-2 and the Lyman 31141 cast from linotype (163 gr.)

While the wind was light it was variable so the shooting was slow. I had trouble picking the right condition. This also meant that I needed to use a lot of ammo for sighers and fowlers.

The bullets where weight sorted into three groups (0.6 gr. variations, 161.8 to 162.4, 162.4 to 163.0 and 163.0 to 163.6) but it was not clear that the lightest ones were worse than the heavier ones.

I shot 8 ea. 5 shot groups at a range of 100 yards.

Three of the groups were under 1 MOA. The smallest was 0.79" the largest was 2.25" but I think the bore was fowled out as it had vertical stringing, the previous group also had vertical stringing and was the second largest at 1.82". I cleaned the bore and the groups shrank. I think, in the future, I will clean the bore after every other group.

The extreme spread for the 40 rounds was 2.34" all forty rounds into less than a 2.5" circle.

Tim

[3GRacing]

Good info. Is this a 30-30 and did you get the fps? Thanks for posting...

[dverna]

Nice Tim!!!

BTW, what lube are you using?

[dtknowles]

Nice Tim!!!

BTW, what lube are you using?

NRA 50/50 alox/beeswax

Tim

[Bazoo]

Nice. Thanks for sharing. What caliber and gun? Did you crimp?

[dtknowles]

Here are the promised target picture. The three best groups and the worst one.

270218

My mistake in the picture the calipers are set for 0.690" the group was reported measured at 0.790" that is why it looks like I am cheating in the picture. The group is really a smig less than 0.790"

Tim

[dtknowles]

Nice. Thanks for sharing. What caliber and gun? Did you crimp?

No, they are not crimped. I don't have a die that will crimp this cartridge. They have one thou of neck tension.

Tim

[Rcmaveric]

Awesome, I am jealous. I never got good results on cast with BLC-2. I got usable results but nothing I would post about. Had great results in Jacket bullets with it though.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

[dtknowles]

Good info. Is this a 30-30 and did you get the fps? Thanks for posting...

Nope it is 30 BR long, bench rest bolt action, I did not shoot it across my chrony but they should be right around 2000 fps.

Tim

[dtknowles]

Awesome, I am jealous. I never got good results on cast with BLC-2. I got usable results but nothing I would post about. Had great results in Jacket bullets with it though.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

I would try Varget if I had it. I tried IMR 3031 first but most people don't have the best groups with 3031. I have Reloader 10X and IMR 4198 but they don't fill the case as well but who knows. I have not varied charge weight either. I had worse problems to deal with. Now that they are getting sorted I can refine the load.

Tim

[dtknowles]

Nice. Thanks for sharing. What caliber and gun? Did you crimp?

Here are links to the gun and cartridge and a picture of the cartridge with a different bullet.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=178563

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=266550

270221

Tim

[7br]

What twist rate?

[charlie b]

Try the 4198. It seems to do a little better than 3031 in my .308.

Varget gets me some decent groups (~MOA) but the ES and SD are higher than the two above for some reason. Slower burn?

[dtknowles]

What twist rate?

One in fourteen.

Tim

[dtknowles]

Try the 4198. It seems to do a little better than 3031 in my .308.

Varget gets me some decent groups (~MOA) but the ES and SD are higher than the two above for some reason. Slower burn?

I will, I think cast bullets at less than 2000 fps like a faster burn. I think this gun would be better for cast with a small capacity and a longer neck. There is some rule somewhere about having a case capacity of the 30-30 or more.

Tim

[dtknowles]

I think it is worth mentioning. I am having no leading, none at all. The bore cleans to a bright shiny and clear with just one wet patch and one dry patch. I am thinking about leaving one of the lube grooves unlubed. I think I am getting lube fowled faster than I should. Three lube grooves is too many.

Tim

[dtknowles]

I don't know what a custom gun like this costs to build but I got it second hand off GunBroker for less than $1000. I spent almost that much for the scope.

I see this all as a good investment. Nothing here will go to waste. It is a platform and parts that will serve for my lifetime. Oh, did I mention the trigger. I don't know the make or model but it is crisp and less than a pound. The stamping on the shroud say its a Rem 600 but the bolt handle is not like those.

[Forrest r]

You have a fantastic choice with that rifle/caliber/combo. An absolute lead slinger for sure!!!

Clean the muzzle of the bbl and see how many shots it takes to have a lube star form on it. A good bbl that has been cleaned/starting clean will take 2" per shot to coat/season the bbl and produce a lube star.

A +/- $10 inspection camera (android phone) from ebay is a useful tool for seeing what's going on with your bbl while you're shooting at the range.
clean bbl:
https://i.imgur.com/st4tMS0.jpg?1
A 30" 308w bbl 1 in 14 twist (shilen select bbl) 15 shots and a lube star on the muzzle
https://i.imgur.com/bydam1r.jpg
Last 6" of bbl after 30 shots with lead/traditionally lubed bullets using a $10 inspection camera
https://i.imgur.com/kFuSQZL.jpg?1
It's hard to get too much lube on lead rifle bullets to the point it affects accuracy. A simple test of putting grease on the nose of loaded rounds and shooting them will confirm this. Too little lube on the other hand will absolutely affect accuracy in rifles.
Not enough lube the 37gr/2600fps group looks more like a shotgun pattern, couldn't get enough lube in the lube grooves of the lee tl 160gr bullet.
https://i.imgur.com/y5CttId.jpg?1
Same bullet/load/firearm this time the bullets were lubed in the lube grooves and then tumble lubed with 45/45/10. 37gr load tightened right up.
https://i.imgur.com/QCvbTnt.jpg?3

Anyway check to see how many shots it takes to get a lube star on your muzzle. Try adding extra lube to your bullets and see what your targets say. Invest in a $10 inspection camera/bore scope and use it between sets/letting the bbl cool.

And most importantly keep on shooting, looking forward to seeing what that beautiful rifle/setup can do.

[Forrest r]

Oops, forgot to post this picture. Same lee 160gr tl bullet that has been pc'd and lubed with 45/45/10. A 10-shot 100yd moa group using 2400. Upper left target
https://i.imgur.com/PWiZFog.jpg

Seeing your beautiful rifle/setup reminds me to get out to the range more often. Been doing a ton of kayak fishing with ul setups this year and no shooting.
https://i.imgur.com/Mzcc6BW.jpg

[Bad Ass Wallace]

Congratulations and well done! A great sense of pride in achieving the "holy grail":Fire:


Two years back I fired over 600 rounds of 30.06 to get 2 x 10 shot groups under MOA in the same day. It was very frustrating, I would get 7 or 8 shots cutting each other then a flyer ruining the group. My rifle is a Springfield with military barrel that has a 1:10" twist. I did everything, trimmed cases, skimmed the necks, weighed the cast projectiles, and finally changed to LP primers. The boolit was a Lyman 311284 weighing 210.8gns exactly.

https://i.imgur.com/SabiU6D.jpg

[charlie b]

I also think your .30BR is a lot better for cast than my .308. I like it for jacketed a lot, but, cast it does have too short a neck and too much case volume. Surprising that it does shoot some cast bullets very well.

I would not back off the lube. I'd rather swab out the bore after 10 or 20 rounds than use less lube. I also wonder if that is really the problem. My barrel is very sensitive to heat. I have to let it cool quite a bit, even keep it in shade during summer.

Question about the star pattern. I get a similar star when shooting jacketed and powder coated as well as lubed cast bullets. I can't really tell the difference. What I can see is when I look at the bore in the muzzle with a magnifier I can see if there is leading or not. It shows up first as a grey material that is in the sharp corners of the rifling. I also get a grey color in the grooves, but, it is not leading (doesn't stick at all).

[dtknowles]

I also think your .30BR is a lot better for cast than my .308. I like it for jacketed a lot, but, cast it does have too short a neck and too much case volume. Surprising that it does shoot some cast bullets very well.

I would not back off the lube. I'd rather swab out the bore after 10 or 20 rounds than use less lube. I also wonder if that is really the problem. My barrel is very sensitive to heat. I have to let it cool quite a bit, even keep it in shade during summer.

Question about the star pattern. I get a similar star when shooting jacketed and powder coated as well as lubed cast bullets. I can't really tell the difference. What I can see is when I look at the bore in the muzzle with a magnifier I can see if there is leading or not. It shows up first as a grey material that is in the sharp corners of the rifling. I also get a grey color in the grooves, but, it is not leading (doesn't stick at all).

My 30 BR is 30 BR long so it has a longer neck and more case capacity instead of being 1.5" long it is 1.8" long.

I don't know if I am lube fowling but that was my first suspect.

I will stick with lubing all the grooves and just watch and clean.

Tim