Mouse Fart Musing for .308W and 30 Govt?

[Krag 1901]

Years ago I had a .30 Mauser Broomhandle and bought a bunch (~500) of ~93 gr .309" (no GC) lead bullets for it, but when I got married I sold my broom handle and 1911 with the 16" Herters Barrel and shoulder stock kit, for Honeymoon money. I miss that 1911.
Some 45 years later I thought, why not try these 93 grers in my Krag and Ruger 77? I also had several pounds of 700X left over from my trap shooting days in a bit of research I found that this was compatible and did some experiments to see how it would work.

The Krag wasn't so good but the 77 seemed to shoot them pretty well (under 4"@100) with no more than ~9 gr of 700x. More than that scattered them at 100 yds. Not sure if I shot them at 50 yds, maybe? It's been a while since I did this and have lost my log book.

Anyway I was thinking about duplicating this when the Covid eases up and the range opens again. (Cali is closed to almost everything now.) I think using these at 50 yds might be good to use my Old multifired brass and 700x up. Then I wondered if I had enough boolets and realized that my Krag likes fatter boolets, .310's at least. It has a new Critierion barrel so it's not a Springfield Who knows dia? bore.

A quick look at Lees moulds and realized the .32 pistol boolets might just fill the nitch. Lee advertizes that you don't need to size their boolets 'cause they come out of the mould good enough, and .312" would just about do it, even in the .308, maybe. No GC and just LLA a couple of coats and volia! Boolets! And the .312" boolets may not need the brass resized! How lazy shooters shoot!

Then I thought (always dangerous) what if I just bought .32 ACP boolets? No casting, just LLA for luck, no sizing, or GCs, no wasting good alloy for Mouse farting!

A quick calculation 4 Lb of 700X will yield over 3,000 rounds of easy shooting! Heck if I use my steel pistol target, I won't even need to go down to replace the targets!

I think I have a plan!

[Jniedbalski]

My 308 shoots 90 gr to 100 gr bullets great with 3.2 gr bulseye . 25 to 50 yards shoot like a match 22 lr. I use .the lee 100 gr and 90 swc gr and 93 gr sized to 311 .312 are usally tight to chamber but do shoot. I use lla or white label luge and they shoot great

[John McCorkle]

My 308 shoots 90 gr to 100 gr bullets great with 3.2 gr bulseye . 25 to 50 yards shoot like a match 22 lr. I use .the lee 100 gr and 90 swc gr and 93 gr sized to 311 .312 are usally tight to chamber but do shoot. I use lla or white label luge and they shoot greatThat 314-90 swc is prob my favorite 30 Cal plinking load. I have it in 300 blk, 303 brit, 3006 and I'm sure it's do great in 308w too

Puff of pistol powder with careful attention to not make double charges....it's loads of fun

Teaching my boys on it now to get familiar with the mechanics of center fire bolt guns

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk

[Jniedbalski]

I have used up to 6 to 7 or 8 gr of bulseye with 129 gr noe mold and the lee 160 gr tl. Also noe’s 203 gr shoot good also . If I remember correctly 7 or 8 gr was the sweet spot for the heavies. The lee 90 gr tc tl I had cut down to 81 gr for my 32 acp and it works great in that.

[Krag 1901]

LGS near me sells cast pistol boolets Thought I'd see if they had any ~100 gn 32-20 boolets. Should save casting time and no alloy issues for subsonic loads. Would give me some trigger practice at 50 yds to improve my skills for cheap! 8.5 gns of 700x seemed to work best for me in the past, in 308Win. Might try it lower if the accuracy still held up. I have a rotor for my "Lil Dandy" powder measure that should throw 7.3 gr 700x. Might be good for subsonics?

[Outpost75]

I've used .32 pistol and revolver bullets as small game and indoor gallery loads for .30 cal. rifles for many years.

In the .30 M1 carbine 3.5 grains of Bullseye duplicates .32-20 factory load performance with a 100-115 grain lubricated lead bullet, or .22 WMR performance in a .223 Remington with 40-grain lubricated lead bullet.

The same 3.5 grain charge of Bullseye is the minimum charge in the 7.62x39 or .30-30 which will reliably expell a 110-grain .30 Carbine FMJ from the barrel, or a 71-77 grain .32 ACP FMJ from a .30-'06.

Using a lubricated lead cast bullet the same 3.5 grain load of Bullseye is the minimum charge which will reliably expel a 150-160-grain cast bullet from the barrel of an '06 Springfield, but outdoors in sub-freezing weather you better increase the charge a full grain to avoid unpleasant surprises.

I do not exceed 5 grains of Bullseye in the .223 Remington, .30 carbine or 7.62x39 with any bullet, but these are sufficient to reliably expel military FMJ pulls from the barrel.

In the .30-30 you can safely load up to 7.5 grains with either a 170-grain jacketed or gaschecked cast bullet.

In the .308 Win. or .30-'06 you can likewise go to 8.5 grains with either GC cast or with M118 match pulls for subsonic use with a can.

[Drm50]

I shoot 100gr 1/2 jacket plinkers in my 30/30 & 308. In 308 at about 1200fps they will do a squirrel head out of my old Win m70/ 6x. I have 2 boxes of Hornady 90gr XTP .309”. Bought by mistake for 30cal rifles. Never got around to trying them yet. I wanted to see how fast I could run them in the 30/30. Don’t know if good idea to run these with mouse charges.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

My "mouse farts" are a 110gn GC and PC'd 110gn RCBS originally for the M1 carbine. 10gn of Reddot is real good! Alternatively a 71gn 0.311" FMJ pistol boolit.

https://i.imgur.com/pP7urUP.jpg

[charlie b]

http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm

[Alferd Packer]

I use my .38 wadcutter target load of 2.7 grains of Bullseye under the 90 gr LEE TL SWC in my 30/30 .
i have a dipper I made up long ago for the pistol loads.
Also long ago I discovered that load works well in my 30/30 for plinking loads under the 77 grain, 90 grain and even the soup can 113 grain LEE cast bullet.
Different elevations of course , but I use a William's receiver sight that is easy to change elevations on when I feel like using a different bullet.
They are all accurate and fun shooting.
I move up to 3.5 grs Bullseye in the 30/06 case using the same bullets.
Again, very accurate plinking and small game loads.
I haven't shot a .22 rimfire in years.
These loads are too much fun.

[dverna]

With current economics, using $100+/1000 primers to save powder and lead does not make sense to me. My "mouse phart" loads require no components, case cleaning, casting, sizing or reloading. $20-40/1000 for .22 air gun pellets. But I realize that means buying another gun so it might not be an option for some folks.

If I want a reduced load, I would use a "standard" cast bullet from a mold I already have and pistol or shotgun powder...typically Promo/RD. KISS

[HumptyDumpty]

I'm tinkering with a bunch of 115 grain FP 32-20 bullets, which I picked up at a gunshow years back for a song. Resized to .309 and propelled by a variety of ancient pistol/shotgun powders I recently acquired. I don't have "the load" just yet, but preliminary results have all been good enough for 25 yard plinking, with a suppressed Mauser. Dupont PB so far has shown the most promise.

[racepres]

My "mouse farts" are a 110gn GC and PC'd 110gn RCBS originally for the M1 carbine. 10gn of Reddot is real good! Alternatively a 71gn 0.311" FMJ pistol boolit.

https://i.imgur.com/pP7urUP.jpg

What I use in the tired Mauser small ring, 300 Savage... But the FMJ ACP gets 8.0 gr Red dot and clocks 1837fps
Then again.. the round ball 311 or 312 (I dont recall) at 73 grains are duplicates of 22RF at 1200 fps with 3.0 gr of Red Dot..
They both shoot to close to same POA
My 308 is always loaded with Full Power ... why not use the Savage for "FUN"

[Krag 1901]

I'm still waiting for my LGS to get the ~100 gr boolets I ordered in. It's been about 3 weeks now, but in the meantime I'm processing brass and am considering drilling flash holes a set of brass for larger primers holes in the .308. I've got about 300 rounds in my rotating brass loads for it and think I'll drill a 50 rnd set of mixed commercial brass for this purpose, don't want to waste my LC match brass, though I have many in reserve still.
I also thought about buying some 170 gr PB .30-30 boolets too, for the .30-40 as the little 93 gr don't shoot well in it because the ball seat is so far out. If they wil group ~3" at 100 yds they should be good for trigger practice with the Krag's new scout scope testing with my 6"steel target.

[Rich/WIS]

My standard mouse fart load is 5 grs Bulseye and a NOE 120 gr 30 cal in 30/40 Krag Ruger No 3 and 30/06 in a full military 03A3. Use the same load with the NOE 105 gr 243 bullet in my Win M70 FWT. As noted at 25 yards or so accurate enough for head shots on squirrels. The load is subsonic in all three rifles.

[Krag 1901]

Still waiting for the LGS to come thru, but right now I'm processing brass to load. Found I had a bunch of boolets sized and GC'd so I just need to prep and prime my brass. Did a bunch of .44s today, after I finish the .44s I'll get on to the 200 or so .30s. I only have about 500 Large Pistol primers and ~1900 Large Rifle primers so I'm probably good for this summer.

[Krag 1901]

Still waiting on the LGS to get the boolets in, but was processing the last of my 308 and .30-4- brass today and got out the .30 Mauser boolets. Come out find out they are .312" 83 gr, and not 93 gr! Gonna load up with 7.5 to 8.5 gr of 700X in the .308, not drilling the flash holes yet. I gota lube them with LLA 'cause the grease lube on them is ~50 years old!

[Krag 1901]

Still no luck getting the 32-20 boolets, but was thinking about using some of the 170 gr pb .30-30 boolets I have left for Moose Phart loads with 700x or Unique at 1000 fps? The 170s might just work in the Krag to give me some trigger practice. The 312-160-2Rs need Gas Checks to shoot well, although I haven't tried them at subsonic w/o GCs. Hummm?

[TankerDon]

I'm not into casting yet, so use these .32-20's in my plinkers.

https://www.brazosprecision.com/32-20-120gr-Flat-PointBevel-BaseGroove-853ct-0048bullet_p_36.html

Out of the bag in the Enfield and Mosin. Thru a .310 sizer in the 03A3, M1916 Mauser, and .30 Carbine. Somewhere between 6/7g of HP38 in the big cases.

[Krag 1901]

I'm not into casting yet, so use these .32-20's in my plinkers.

https://www.brazosprecision.com/32-20-120gr-Flat-PointBevel-BaseGroove-853ct-0048bullet_p_36.html

Out of the bag in the Enfield and Mosin. Thru a .310 sizer in the 03A3, M1916 Mauser, and .30 Carbine. Somewhere between 6/7g of HP38 in the big cases.

Thanks TankerDon.
I ordered some just now. Now if primers will come down in price I can get some trigger practice in on the cheap! I checked out their .38s and .44s too I'll order some .44s for sure.

Noticed that these will be PC'd andI've never shot PC'd boolets, so it's a two'fer!:bigsmyl2:

[John Boy]

Every time I read ‘mouse fart’ in a post, I have wondered for measurements ... has anyone ever measured the velocity of the fart and the decibel reading of noise they want to achieve .. :coffeecom

[Krag 1901]

I haven't Chrony'd them but will, I didn't notice much less noise from them but will pay more attention as I try to reduce the loads to subsonic. They weren't as loud as Hi Vel .22s though.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

17 grains of 2400 and about 1700 fps are my light loads for .308. Reloading a bottle neck case seems like too much work for so little effect.

[Beaverhunter2]

17 grains of 2400 and about 1700 fps are my light loads for .308. Reloading a bottle neck case seems like too much work for so little effect.

???

No more work than straight-walled unless you're talking about a little lube and a trip through the tumbler to clean it off. Not a ton of effort IMO.

[Krag 1901]

Try upping the charge to 20 gr and see if you can get 2000 fps with a 155-160-170 gr boolet. I've done it and it worked even more accurately! A slower powder works too.

[racepres]

the round ball 311 or 312 (I dont recall) at 73 grains are duplicates of 22RF at 1200 fps with 3.0 gr of Red Dot..
I can get the FPS of the 130's if Interested

[Krag 1901]

At long last I got word today that my 120 gr 32-20 boolets have shipped and should be here Monday! I have 50 rnds prepped for them and will load the first trials with 700X and Unique. These will come sized for .312 and I'll try some there and some resized to .311".

These are BB and coated with Hi-Tek so that will be interesting, too.

[Krag 1901]

Well the 32-20 boolets showed up today. They look really cool with thier gold Hy-Teck coating but they seem to be sized .315" at the base. It's too hot today to try resizing them, I'll have to wait until later tonight to get to the bench.

They are supposed to be 13-15 BHN so hopefully they will size w/o over stressing my little RCBS Jr press.
////
19:00 hrs I went down to size a few of the 32-20s and they sized alright in the .311 die. It was stil too hot to spend much time but at least I found out they did Okay.

21:00 Hrs cool enough to try to size a hundred or so and maybe in the morning load some Pharts.

[Goofy]

https://i.imgur.com/uPj90NK.jpg

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

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

https://i.imgur.com/PB5RNL2.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/mpY6A0W.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0LR49yA.jpg

[725]

Goofy - Very nice. Will try same with the 311041. What's the RB data?

[Krag 1901]

I finished resizing a couple of hundred 32-20s (2-3 lbs) today to .311" and will load up some .308's this evening after it cools down. The boolets look good and seem to be well cast. I'm going to just use my lil' Dandy to drop the 700x charges and Chrony them on Tuesday. I want to see how 7-9 gr's 700x will work with low effort loading.

I will weigh and dribble the first 20 or so to get a base line for ES and Velocities. but will just double clang and drop the last 30 or so. I was thinking on using them in .308 but may use them in the Krag to see if these short boolets will work in the long throat. No use taking three rifles to the range as I'm using the .223 & Krag for Scope setup and the .308 might shorten the cases with low pressure loads. Humm???
Goofy: WHat is that short round? It looks like a shortened .30-40 X1.5"?

[Goofy]

Goofy - Very nice. Will try same with the 311041. What's the RB data?

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

CCI 500 primers, 20 yards, Hornady .310" round balls w/light smear of SPG lube

1.5 gr Bullseye, Avg 719 fps .79" for 5 shots
1.8 gr Bullseye, Avg 881 fps .73" for 5 shots
1.5 gr Red Dot, Avg 873 fps 1.45" for 5 shots
1.5 gr 700X, Avg 913 fps .82" for 5 shots

[Krag 1901]

Early this morning I loaded 50 rnds of .30-40 with 7.6-8.6 & 9.6 gr of 700x and the 120 gr Gold boolets. I going to take them out in the morning and shoot them to see how high/low the velocity is, and accuracy too. I'm expecting to see ~1,400 fps, so not exactly subsonics. I loaded them long as I could, just putting the lower drive band (approx .300" seating in the case) in the case and tried to get the same leadup to the lands as my 160 gr Lees.

I've got to sight in the 2x scout scope first, so I'm using the 312-1602Rs and 25 gr IMR-4198 as the sighters and then see where the 120's will land?

[725]

Thanks

[Krag 1901]

Just checked the weather forecast and it's supposed to be 78 degrees by noon, wind 6-10 mph SSE. High of 82 by 4 o'clock. I need to load up the car and get to the range early to set up the Chrony and stuff. This is only the second time for me shooting in ~five years.

I limited myself to 150 rounds of .223 and .30 Govt. so as not to get a sore shoulder.:bigsmyl2:

[MT Gianni]

If by mouse fart you mean quiet, you want the heaviest bullet possible with a light powder charge. If you mean light lead charges to use less lead that is just a light load, may or may not be quiet.

[Krag 1901]

Well, mixed results today at the range. Good news the 32-20 boolets shot pretty well at 50 yds, looks like 8.6 gr 700x was a good load, not subsonic but light and good for trigger control practice. I was able to check the 7.6 gr load on the Crony, but Bad News, it stopped working when I switched it off and back on. I thought the battery was gone so changed it, but still no joy! Avg 1422 fps 18 SD.

My trigger control is getting better and if I concentrated on a smooth let off, got some good groups with the 120's and 8.6 gr load.

I got the 2x scout scope set up and ~zeroed at 50 yards. I got the Ruger scope leveled and zeroed at 50 so that was good too.

I only shot about 50 rounds and found a couple of brass problems. The Krag had a problem with primary extraction on some of the 160 gr Lee and 25 gr 4198 loads. Like the necks were sticking in the chamber. I had to whack the bolt handle pretty hard to get the case to extract.??? Once I got the cases out, they rechambered fine and extracted easy? I've just been neck sizing them and may have to do a FL resize next load cycle. Like the powder residue on the necks was sticking in the chamber. I'll clean the chamber well this evening to see if that helps.

The .223 had a problem in chambering some rounds and it looked like the cases need FL resizing, The base of the necks seemed to be a bit long. That brass lot had been fired a bunch of times and mostly neck sized. I shot this same lot of brass last week and did not have this problem, but the load was -1gr under max and it is Mil LC brass so that may be a factor?

Still not a bad day at the range. Have lots of ammo left to check Velo's if I can get the Crony working again. I'll use my springer pellet gun to check it and see if all the connections are good, This week.

[Goofy]

Thanks

To be clear, the round ball loads and 311041 targets were shot with a wildcat I call the .30 Sneezer. It's a .357 case necked to .30 caliber and has approximately the same case volume as a .30 Carbine.

I do shoot the 311041 in a .30-30 as well, but with a bit more powder as you might imagine. Target below reflects a minor amount of load work at the 50 yard line.

https://i.imgur.com/upvGZ9n.jpg

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

The combo shoots reasonably well in the 1,200=1,400 fps range and is a pleasure to plink with.

[Krag 1901]

Last night I cleaned up the Krag and found NO leading from the other day. Bore was smooth and no streaks at all.
The 120 gr boolets shot like a .22 short and I could feel the trigger let off with out the recoil interfering at all. Made me smile.

I'm going to try reloading 10 of the spent 7.6 gr shells with about 5.0 gr of 700x to see how much lower velocity will be. The 120's shot about 3" lower at 50 than the "Full power" 160 gr loads.

Hopefully I can get the Chrony working again. I'm too cheap (broke) to buy a new one.

[Krag 1901]

I Had 20 rnds expended so I loaded 120's,10 ea with 4.0 gn and 10 ea with 5.0gn 700x exactly, to see if I can get sub sonic.

I'll work on the Chrony this weekend to see if I can get it working.

[Krag 1901]

This morning while loading some .38 spcl, I got to thinking about a comment made above about heavy boolets Mouse Pharts.

Since I have a good quantity of Lee 200 gr ready to load, I thought I'd try them with a moderate charges of 700x and maybe 10.0 gr Unique to see how they react to subsonics.

One thing I noticed about the light 120's was that I could feel the gun a lot better w/o roil effecting the act of firing. I could feel the trigger of the Krag as it let off the sear. It was as sensual as when I double action my Colt Police Positive. Smooth and uniform.

I was wondering if I could feel the same with 200 gr boolets?

[Krag 1901]

WHat the Heck?

Last week I was trying to Chrony some loads and got one string recorded, then I switched off the Chrony and back on, got nothing!

So today I went to check it out and , turned it on, worked okay??? I did find one wire that had been pinched in the closing of the case and will fix that but it wasn't broke, was to fix it anyway and wraps some tape around the joint. But thought I'd try to buy and new extension chord. It's just a telephone chord and how much could a new one cost?
I got an error message #1 and wondered what that meant? Lost my Chrony manual years ago and Chrony is out of business now. Wonder if it still will show up on the net?

Good News, the manuals were on line and answered my questions!

[trapper9260]

I shoot 00 buck shot all the way up to regular loads in my 308 win and 30-30 and 30-06 , also use the 32 cal cast also that I load for my BH and SP 101 and Handi rifle all in 327 mag . in the 30 cals. just size it to what you need . i found alot of the information on this site to do it .

[Krag 1901]

Yesterday I tried to fix the cable to the Chrony that had been pinched by the case closing, and couldnot get the 26 ga wire to strip in order to soldier it! I had looked on Amazon for a new RJ-12 cable and could not find a 6 wire cable. Looked at all the usual places on the net and had no luck, except Home Depot that had two 30 footers for $35! I'm too cheap for that!
Then in desperation I tried E-Bay and they had scads of them!? I found one 25 footer for less than $8 with free shipping. Ordered one and have to wait a week or so for delivery.

It is supposed to be 102 degrees tomorrow but cool in the morning so I'll just Shoot the test loads of 700x for accuracy and get home before it gets TOOOO Hot. I can re run the 'good' loads for velocity after I get the cable. I still have over 800 120 gr to shoot up, and a couple of pounds of 700x.

I'm gonna concentrate on "feeling" the trigger let off and refining the zero of the scout scope at 50 yds. I'm hoping that will get me back to shooting better after 5 years of not shooting.

[Krag 1901]

Yesterday at the range the 120 gr loads did not impress me. I got 3-4" groups at 50 yards, but I suspect it was more due to my inability to shoot due to a n eye problem. I couldn't keep my right eye clear enough to see the target precisely and the 2x Simmons pistol scope I'm using as a scout scope just isn't working out. It has however done what I wanted and that is it has proven the the scout scope idea works well. I guess I'll buy the Vortex 2-7x32 which seems to be the best valued scope for this work. I was holding off buying one until I proved to myself that the idea has merit. I raised the necessary funds already by selling off my excess dies and stuff.
** Just ordered the scope and Amazon says it will be delivered Saturday!**

On the positive side of the day though, the 700X loads from 4.0-9.6 gr all showed reasonable accuracy with the 120 gr boolets. I think they can be made to work better though. I need to find some 2400 as I think it will work better than the 700x for real accuracy. Next week, after I get the cable for the Chrony, I'll try some Unique to see if it will work better than the 700x. I also want to see if I can get subsonic velocities with these 120's.

[Krag 1901]

Well I go the cable for the Chrony and the new scope should be here in time to get it mounted and ready to zero by Tuesday, Range day! Selling my excess dies on S&S covered the cost and then some.:bigsmyl2:

[Krag 1901]

The Joy of the right stuff!
Amazon surprised me, by delivering the Vortex scope two days early! Ordered the 16th and they said it would be here on the 3rd. Got it late on the 1st, at my door for less than $8 delivery.
So last night after it cooled off a bit went looking for rings and the first thing I grabbed was a set of Weaver High See THru rings on the shelf. Had a little trouble fitting them tot he Pictinny rail and had to open up the span a bit but they went on and I got the Scope mounted. It was too dark to get it outside to check out all the bells and whistles last night but, it's just after dawn now and I can check it out.

Looked last night like I can use either the aperture sight or the scope by adjusting my cheek weld pretty easily. I have no idea where or when I got these rings but they look brand new and seemed to work well with the Vortex.

[farmbif]

This morning while loading some .38 spcl, I got to thinking about a comment made above about heavy boolets Mouse Pharts.

Since I have a good quantity of Lee 200 gr ready to load, I thought I'd try them with a moderate charges of 700x and maybe 10.0 gr Unique to see how they react to subsonics.

One thing I noticed about the light 120's was that I could feel the gun a lot better w/o roil effecting the act of firing. I could feel the trigger of the Krag as it let off the sear. It was as sensual as when I double action my Colt Police Positive. Smooth and uniform.

I was wondering if I could feel the same with 200 gr boolets?

10gr unique in 38 special?

[Krag 1901]

10gr unique in 38 special?

No in .30-40 Krag. I'm trying 5.0 gr in .38 spl with 125 gr HP Jwords.

Did some COL tests today and found that my chambering problem last week was due to loading them too long. The first band on the 120 .32-20 boolets is 0.308 in dia and so I'm backing off about 0.0150" to get the chambering easier. I may back off some more to see if a little freebore will improve the accuracy.
I got a new cable for my Chrony and will be able to do some velocity checks Plus it looks like the Vortex scope will be a lot better that the Simmons pistol scope was. Much clearer and of course greater power with the 2-7x Vortex.

I tumbled the brass I'm using for the 700x tests and will load up tonight after it cools down.

[Krag 1901]

Got up at midnight and prepped the 50 rnd lot of brass then got up about 06:00 and loaded a test series 4.0-8.0 gr & 120 gr boolets, 10 rnds each.
Finally confirmed that I can use the aperture sight with the see thru mounts. I'll use the apertures to "bore sight" the new scope before I shoot a group. That should save some ammo.
New Scope works well from just viewing it. although the 7x setting has a critical eye box.

[Krag 1901]

The good news, the new cable for the Chrony worked and I got all the loads tested. More good news, the Vortex scout scope optics are excellent. The eye relief is just right and the image is clear and the ocular lens is HUGE!

The bad news is that the Weaver Rings are sub-optimal. With the scope adjustments centered, it was 8" low and 4" right of the Aperture sights zero at 25 yds. There was not enough adjustment available to make it shoot with the Aperture sights. I had to swap the rings fore and aft to get it to maybe get close enough to use the Chrony. Now I didn't try at 50 yds, But I persevered and got all the various (6) loads tested for velocity.

My Reference load of 312-160-2R Lees with 25.0 gr IMR-4198 avgd 1925 fps. Which explains why the recoil was noticeable.:lol:

I loaded some 5 ea 170 gr .30-30 pb with 7.0 and 8.0 gr of 700x and got 1179 and 1257 fps. I did these to see how 700x worked with heavier boolets and to see if the 170's would be sub sonic. Looks like 6.5 gr might be the threshold. The 8.0 gr load had a nice group. I don't know where I got these commercial cast boolets but they seemed to work okay.

Now for the real purpose of today's shooting, other than the scope trial, the 120 gr .32-20 powder coated boolets and 700x trials.

4.0 gr =957 fps. so subsonic, but only two rnds registered on the Chrony, I think I was shooting too high above the sky screens. and one round failed to chamber???
5.0 gr =1120 fps and shot the best looking group.
6.0 gr =1220 fps.
7.0 gr =1352 fps
8.0 gr =1474 fps
I haven't checked for leading but do not expect any.
What did I learn from this? First the Vortex 2-7x scope is just right for the Krag on the Kraghuse rail, but the rings may need some major adjustments. I've got some other rings but like the see thru so I may do some fiddling with them before I change to non see throughs. Pulling the scope off is easy with just a quarter to work the screws.

Second 700x is a very efficient powder for low to medium velocity loads. I did not concentrate on my group shooting today, I was distracted a good deal.

Third I had several fails to extract after firing so I really need to adjust the extractor fitting. This has been a nagging problem ever since I changed bolts. I also need to anneal and full length resize and tumble the brass. I've just been neck sizing for the last few loadings.

While all that is being looked after I've got .223, .308, 38 spcl, and 44 spcl loads to test so the next few weeks I'll have whole new challenges. Oh and I've got the new Lyman 314299 mold to cast with!

[Krag 1901]

Well it looks like I've beat this horse to death so, That All Folks.

Just wanted to add, that I think the reason the Vortex didn't zero is that the rail may be mounted backwards. The Kraghuse rail is machined to fit the Original Krag barrel taper and my 'smith may have mounted it backwards when he put it on? Hopefully the hole spacing is symmetrical and I can switch it to see.