Finally having good success!

[Nobade]

I had been messing with paper patch in my .308 for a while, and finally have it shooting reasonably well. I have a Lee 170 gr. mould, designed for the 30-30, that I cut the top off of to get rid of the gascheck shank. That bullet, cast from wheelweights, sized to .302, oven heat treated, patched with printer paper, and sized to .309, over 40 gr. IMR 4895, is shooting good enough to reliably hit clay pigeons at 200M.

The other rifle is a 375 Taylor. The Lee 250 designed for the 38-55 is working well in that one, as is a NEI 200 gr. pistol bullet. I didn't think the Keith bullet would shoot all that great, but it suprised me and is working really well, about the same accuracy as the 308. But it's getting pushed to 3000 fps! I am just amazed at what is possible with paper patching, and I'm having fun learning how to make it work. The next project is to see if I can get PP to work in my 260 silhouette rifle. It'd be fun to win a high power silo match with PP bullets! I just need to find a heavy 25 cal. mould to try in that one.

[docone31]

Suprise! suprise!
I told ya so.
Feels good doesn't it.
I found it a real pleasant suprise myself.
I couldn't get a plain casting to hit the berm at 20ft before patching.

[303Guy]

The next project is to see if I can get PP to work in my 260 silhouette rifle.Oh yes... you gotta do it! That would be so much fun!
A thing I noticed about cast bullets is that if you go for a lube grooveless design, they get quite heavy for their length! That's a good thing. It means that one can adjust the weight of the bullet to suite the powder and case capacity without concern for twist rate and bullet stability. That does require a little bit of custom mould making.:roll:
Here's a pic of my 'custom' bullet. (The g/c is intergral with the bullet, i.e. forms the base of the mould).

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-745F.jpg

This is about my fourth or fifth (or sixth) mould attempt - I am getting better at it! That thing is a 200gr 303 Brit hollow point.

[Nobade]

You're right about the mould making. I am currently working on an adjustable push out type mould for the 375. Base pour, with the pusher forming the nose. I get to work on it a little eah day at lunch, I'm hoping another week or so and I'll have it wrapped up. That will be nice to not have to sie those .383" bullets down to .367. And since the paper patch types seat so much deeper than GG type, if I can get the weight up by getting rid of the grooves all the better to get more powder in there.

[pdawg_shooter]

Oh Boy, now you are hooked! You now are missing out on the fun of removing lead fouling, low velocities, and wondering just why the target paper has fewer holes in it than the number of rounds you fired!

[303Guy]

Oh Boy, now you are hooked! Hell yeah!:mrgreen:

... currently working on an adjustable push out type mould ...I can adjust mine a small amount by the depth of the g/c seating. But since my bullet is tapered, there is a limit to that - or was a limit until I 'discovered' paper patching! I'm using cigarette paper. It says 'rice' on the pack so I'm thinking it might actually be rice paper? Anyway, the stuff is real thin which allows me to use my 'normal' cast bullet - the one in the pic. I like that particular bullet because it is so big it seats on the case neck 'dough-nut'. With the patch and the lube I use, it pushes into the chamber tight enough to not be able to be extracted! The case comes out all right. For me it's better to use a case filler so the powder doesn't spill out! Of course, I don't have to use lube. That was just how I tried my first ones.
:drinks: