First Cast Bullets in 03/A3

[AlaskaMike]

Yesterday I took my 03/A3 to the range to shoot my first cast bullet loads. I used Lyman #311334 sized to .310, over some IMR-4227 (10 rounds at 22 grains, and 10 rounds at 27 grains).

The 22 grain load made one ragged hole at 50 yards, and the 27 grain load didn't do quite so good (2" to 2.5" group at 50 yards), but still not too bad. I really liked that 22 grain load, although I was surprised because 22 grains of 4227 leaves a lot of empty space in a '06 case. Guess it didn't really matter.

The Lyman super moly lube that kind of disappointed me in my first .44 mag cast loads seemed to work nicely with this bullet in the 03/A3. After shooting my 20 rounds I looked down the bore and it was mirror bright!

I haven't used much 4227 since I bought it, but I sure found a use for it now! :mrgreen:

Mike

[sundog]

Hooah, Mike! 18-24/4227 is close to the Holy Grail. I have an 03A3 the grandson shoots that dotes on 21.6 and the Ly 311291. Before that I shot it. It wins or places in matches - consistnetly. You can run up or down a grain or two in the range and find a sweet spot. sundog

[Jack Stanley]

Congrats on the good results ! Those A3's seem to shoot most anything from what I have seen . I've used that bullet in a Garand before and it worked well there too .

Jack

[Bret4207]

Is this a 2 groove or 4? I'm looking at a 2 groove and am interseted in your results.

[Bob S]

Bret:

This is a rifle I built from a stripped receiver purchased from CMP in 2001, assembled with parts on-hand, some left over from the '60's. The barrel was a $.98 DCM barrel, NIW, groove diameter .3085".

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v76/BobS1/Rem_4179xxx.jpg

This about what it will do with one proven load. Hopefully, you can read the data.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v76/BobS1/Rem_2groove_target.jpg

Resp'y,
Bob S.

[Bret4207]

Thanks much Bob, thats exactly the rifle I hope to build. Your sucess gives me hope. Col Harrison did quite a bit of work with 2 groove back in the day and reported that bore riders did great in the 2 groove. If I can ever get a decision from the owner I may have a twin to your 03A3 in a short while.

[Char-Gar]

The O3A3s do very well with cast. My Remington (4 groove) will shoot 1.25 to 1.75 MOA all day long. The difference is the bullet. It likes some a little better than others. The RCBS 165 SIL seems to be it's favorite.

My Smith-Corona (4 groove) in my feaux NRA Sporter will shade the Remington by just a hair.

I have a new in wrap 2 groove Remington barrel and it will go on a Krag action I have in the closet.

[AlaskaMike]

Is this a 2 groove or 4? I'm looking at a 2 groove and am interseted in your results.

Bret, sorry it took me so long to reply--my 03/A3 has a 2 groove barrel.

The bullets I shot last weekend were water-quenched, so I'm going to load up some air-cooled and see how they do. I'm also going to try to bracket that nice 22 grain load by trying 10 rounds at 21 grains, and 10 at 23 grains of 4227, and see if one of those loads is better than the others.

I need to shoot my rifle a lot more--my 50 yard group looks like Bob's 100 yard group! :mrgreen:

Mike

[Bad Ass Wallace]

You have to love the old Springfield! My rifle has a 4 groove and just performs well with the Lyman 311284. Not real plentiful in Australia but prized by their owners!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/BAWallace/Springfield_cast.jpg