enfield trailboss loads keyholing

[juanvaldez]

Good day all. Hoping someone might have some insight into a problem I am having. I recently picked up a 2 groove No. 4 enfield and proceeded to load 12 grains of Trail Boss under a 185 grain .312” sized GC'd cast bullet (Lee mould #C312-185-1R). Of the 10 I shot only one went through straight the rest printed sideways. I realized I am probably on the small side with my boolit but I had these already sized for a mosin that I own that loves .312 boolits.

I had a second load with me of 16 grains of 2400 using the same .312 sized GC'd boolit and they were fine but did not shoot very tight. Is this TB not pushing the bullet enough to get it stabilized?.

Cheers

[dmftoy1]

I don't know the mold you're using, but I had to go to a 314299 to get decent groups in my Enfield. Seems like it needed a bore-riding nose. I've had really good luck with Trailboss and the same boolit in my Mosin, but have only played with 2400 in my Enfield.

FWIW

[BerdanIII]

You might be using too much Trail Boss. Somewhere on the web there's an article entitled "Trail Boss K.I.S.S." that details the use of 9.0 grains of Trail Boss with .30 caliber milsurp rifles for a no-fuss, cheap target load. The author got very good results with just about every rifle he tried.
www.surplusrifle.com/articles2008/trailbosskiss/

Or, your bullets may be too small. I get iffy results from 0.312" bullets and very good results from 0.314" bullets in the .303. Paper-patching might be an option. I did a very limited trial with Meister .309(?)" 165-gr. plain bases wrapped with one layer of a patch made from self-adhesive mailing labels and sized in a 0.314" Lee die (with the original lube on the bullet; the patch wouldn't stick with the lube removed). They shot very well in a 7.62x54mmR M39, despite the nose being undersized. The load was around 7.5 grains of Unique, if I remember correctly.

[johnly]

I shoot Trailboss in my 30-06 and use 12.5 grains with a 311291/311041/311466 bullets. Your load might be on the high side given the heavier bullet and smaller case capacity. I'd try 10.5 grains and see if you get better accuracy.

John

[jonk]

I have an enfield that slugs .317. Another at .314. Unless you know this all else is just guesswork.

[dromia]

I have an enfield that slugs .317. Another at .314. Unless you know this all else is just guesswork.


Yep get your boolit fit right first then all else will follow.

[35 Whelen]

I used to own a Savage Enfield that had a .315" groove. 'course everthing I cast was .314" max. But I found that filler, specifically PSB shotshell filler, was just the ticket! I've even used my Lee 312185 bullets with the PSB and they shot OK when filler was used. When I used it bullets didn't keyhole and groups were better. Just be sure to lower your powder charge accordingly.
35W

[juanvaldez]

Slugged it at .315 guess .312 would have a hard time in that bore. Beagled my mold to throw .316., will try soon :D