Bunnies & an M1 Carbine

About a year ago an old friend down in Utah sold me a mint, in the wooden presentation box model 27 S&W. At the same time he told me he life long buddy had a mint, all original M1 Carbine he would sell me at a very good price along with some ammo. I had wanted one for a long time so I jumped on it just to have & for the grand kids to use on our Jackrabbit hunts.
The gun hadn't been fired in over 50 years & at some point he had sent it back to Inland & had them factory mount a scope on it. He gave me over 500 rounds of ammo along with 7 mags & a military canvas carrying case also.
I fired 8 rounds through the gun last year just to see if it would cycle & it ran great. Now, this last week I decided I would work up a cast load for it & take it on a bunny hunt yesterday since I was going to a high school game in that area anyway.
I've had a #311410 mould for years that weighs about 130 grs & is a plain base RN & has worked well in several Ruger Blackhawks so that was my choice. I prepped a bunch of brass & powder coated some bullets sized to .310" & ran to the range.
The little 3/4" scope is only a 2 3/4 power so I decided to zero for 50 yds out the window of the truck (cold) I wasn't very steady with the first 5 shots but they went into about 2", a bit high & a bit left but I couldn't get the scope to adjust in any direction.
I turned the box upside down & fired 3 more rounds after turning my truck a bit so I could get more steady. That worked, I had 3 shots in about 1" at 50 yds with a plain base powder coated cast bullet using 11 grs of 2400.
So I went home & loaded up 65 "bunny busters" & grabbed my 8 shot Blackhawk 327 & me & a buddy headed out yesterday to meet 2 of his brothers for some heavy duty Jackrabbit busting.
One little trick that I do with this RN style bullet when I'm sizing the powder coated bullets is, I use a different top punch so that it puts a little bit of a flat point on the bullet making it much better when shooting ground squirrels or rock chucks. It really makes a difference, you can see in the last photo a couple of the flat nose bullets with a round nose bullet in between.
The rabbits were really wild, we probably killed a little over 30 but I'm sure we seen well over 100, perhaps 150 but they were running hard on sight & you had about a 3 second window to get off a shot, it was crazy.
The 3 guys with me were shooting AR's with the 22 conversion's & 2 of them were shooting the lead Remington ammo & it was terrible, some of those Jacks ere taking 4-5-6 hits to stop. My 327 magnum shooting 118 gr HP's was blowing them up big time, yippee!!

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Dick

Nice, great post
Thank you
Mike

When I was young and newly married my fil and I hunted cottontails with beagles and 22 pistols. We were supposed to only take running shots but I caught him whistling one to a stop when he didn’t know I was around.
We always killed all we wanted to eat but on good days we would go through 100 rds apiece. It was a lot of fun.

As a fan of the 30 Carbine round in the M1 and the 32 H&R Magnum in a original Single Six I use the 313631 (105 gr SWC GC) in both. I cast them a bit soft, size at .309 and load them over H110 for 1950 fps out of my M1 Carbine "shooter". I also HP them with the Forster 1/8" HP tool after loading for busting 'bits.

Attachment 233490

Attachment 233491

sixshot, my buddy and I hunt jacks quite a bit, but we typically use duck loads in 12 gauge pumps. Exactly how do you manage to shoot jacks with a rifle or pistol? I assume that they take off like a bat out of heck for you like they do when we flush them.

Corrected my mistake, it's an original Inland M1 carbine, not Universal, my mistake. The gun came with one magazine full of loads with a 110 gr RN cast that I sure would like to find the mould for. It's a plain base but I can't find a number for it, maybe Larry or some of you might recognize it. Thanks,

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

Dick

Nice! Took this one at a 136 yards the other day using my Ruger 77/44 and a ACCOWW devastor.

http://i.imgur.com/vYaUdfo.jpg

I like the modification by top punch. That is a much better looking bullet for jacks.

Where did you get the belted 30 carbine brass? :)

You are right, they are up & running & that makes for a tough target but it's sure fun when you connect. As for the "belted" brass, the one mag that he had loaded up it looked like he didn't have the cases centered in the shell holder & some of them had a little belt about half way around. Funny thing though, all of them but 2 fired.
Here's a photo of the box I was shooting at, at 50 yds out the window of my truck. The bottom 5 were actually on top & I shot them first, so they were a bit high & left. Then I turned the box over & that's when I turned my truck just a bit so I could hook my right elbow into the steering wheel, that helped a bunch. Then I shot the last 3 test loads. I haven't measured them but they appear to be about 1". I will be changing to another scope.

https://i.imgur.com/uC6MIR3h.jpg

Dick

I hope you have plenty of carbine brass.
I`m sure you didn`t find most of what you shot in the snow and sage brush...dale

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Originally Posted by Tripplebeards

Nice! Took this one at a 136 yards the other day using my Ruger 77/44 and a ACCOWW devastor.

https://imgur.com/vYaUdfo

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Does that count as 2 towards a limit?

I have lots of Carbine brass & also a brass catcher on my gun.

Dick

Brewer- the jacks I hunted in east Idaho would flush and beat feet for about 100 yards, then stop and look back- so the trick was to either use a shotgun or just wait until they stopped and get them with a pistol or rifle.
Loren

Nice to see some old Idaho boys doing good on here!
Last time I went rabbit hunting only saw a few Jacks and no bunny's.
The Jack's were real skittish. This was north west of Aberdeen.

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Originally Posted by rockshooter

Brewer- the jacks I hunted in east Idaho would flush and beat feet for about 100 yards, then stop and look back- so the trick was to either use a shotgun or just wait until they stopped and get them with a pistol or rifle.
Loren

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By me they seem to flush and either head for the next county or stop after 100 to 200 yards behind cover where you cannot see them to get a shot. I was really just wondering if OP was shooting them on the run with a handgun.

I shoot "at" them on the run & I actually manage to hit a fair number of them if I'm using one of my S&W double action guns. Not too many years ago I was shooting a lot of USPSA matches with a lot of moving, swinging, turning, disappearing targets & I always shot Revolver Division. It's surprising how well you can do double action if you're tuned up from shooting many, many thousands of rounds in competition.
Doesn't mean I had a high hit average on the Jackrabbits but I've managed some pretty good days. I think my best run was 7 straight Jacks, all running & me shooting double action. Don't remember how many were on the first shot but all were taken before the gun ran dry. In 2005 I fired just over 54,000 rounds in competition & practicing & I could easily empty the gun in 1 1/2 seconds if I needed to.

Dick

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Originally Posted by sixshot

I have lots of Carbine brass & also a brass catcher on my gun.

Dick

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Thanks for sharing!

I need to get one of those brass catchers for mine as well.

An employee showed up with a very trashy looking M1 carbine one day at our ranch. He had stuffed it the back of a closet and totally forgot about it UNTIL they were moving.

He dropped it off with me, a friend and member here on Boolits happened to have ammo, dies, brass boolits and magazines.

I started cleaning it up. I thought I was doing so to help the employee get to fire his long forgotten rifle. After some elbow grease I got it to the point where it was time to show and tell. I put one round in the chamber and fired it. It held together. I borrowed a magazine and put one in the basement and a second round in the chamber. It fired successfully and cycled the second round and fired it also without a hitch.

The next day we were out loading cattle feed and I told my employee/rifle owner what had transpired.

The news met him without much fanfair and he uttered that he ought to sell it .......

Not sounding to anxious I finnaly asked if he had a price in mind. He says “um, 150.” Being carefull not to fall down I ask if he is sure on that. He acknowledges, yes.

So I told him to think on that one more day and I would ask him again. The next day he reaffirmed his price.

In the meantime my friend/Boolits member dug out his blue book and we determined this 150 $ rifle I bought is an early Inland. I was shocked at what this rifle was worth even in rough shape and also what it shoots like. All the bad press would make one think you had to throw it at a barn to hit one. My rifle, ugly as it is hits golf balls at 30 yards easily.

I don’t shoot it much as chasing brass goes against my “reloader religion”. A catcher would solve that.

I can not fire on bunnies as my wife would not stand for that but I have tons of grey digger squirrels and no body has kind feelings for those around here.

Best regards

Three44s

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Originally Posted by rockshooter

Brewer- the jacks I hunted in east Idaho would flush and beat feet for about 100 yards, then stop and look back- so the trick was to either use a shotgun or just wait until they stopped and get them with a pistol or rifle.
Loren

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That is the ticket, right there. Or they graze on fresh grass sprouts in the dry washes is Spring, sometimes 200+ yards out. Offhand shots with 223s and 22-250s are the rule. Too much fun!

Funny thing, I tried mine on golf balls too but **** those guys get mad just as they're starting to putt!

Dick

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Originally Posted by sixshot

Funny thing, I tried mine on golf balls too but **** those guys get mad just as they're starting to putt!

Dick

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I like 'em moving...... take 'em right before they fall in a hole..........

Larry, it's a good thing I don't live closer, I think me & you would get in a lot of trouble............ Although we might go back to Wickenburg next year!

Dick

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Originally Posted by sixshot

Funny thing, I tried mine on golf balls too but **** those guys get mad just as they're starting to putt!

Dick

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They don't taste very good, either.

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Originally Posted by sixshot

Larry, it's a good thing I don't live closer, I think me & you would get in a lot of trouble............ Although we might go back to Wickenburg next year!

Dick

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Dick

If you do we'll get together out Solome or Bouse way......

Larry

Done deal!

Dick

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Originally Posted by sixshot

Funny thing, I tried mine on golf balls too but **** those guys get mad just as they're starting to putt!Dick

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There should be some way to combine golf and skeet shooting.

There is! Back in my younger years we went to the Air Farce Academy to compete against their trap and skeet team. They had a trick shooter there who played golf with a shotgun. He put on a display for us of drives that carried long distances, and could also hit high wedge shots that only covered about 100 yards. He could also slice or draw the ball as required. It was very fun to watch but appeared very hard on the golf balls using #8 shot!
Tony

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Originally Posted by sixshot

Corrected my mistake, it's an original Inland M1 carbine, not Universal, my mistake. The gun came with one magazine full of loads with a 110 gr RN cast that I sure would like to find the mould for. It's a plain base but I can't find a number for it, maybe Larry or some of you might recognize it. Thanks,

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

Dick

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I would be a bit worried about that brass. Are the loads way to hot and bulging the case or is there something wrong with you die? That round looks ready to rupture!

I didn't load those rounds, they came with the gun when I bought it so I pulled one to see what we had inside. It's some fast burning powder, about 6-7 grs by weight but the brass had been sized off center & some wouldn't chamber. It looked like he didn't have them lined up straight in the shell holder but I can only guess.
I only have 4 rounds left. Would still like to find one of these moulds, #311257.

Dick

Yes, at 110 gr that should be the 311257. Years ago one of my first cast bullets for the 30 Carbine was the 311410. I also had a 311255 mould loaned to me for a while. It's basically the same bullet as the 311257 but I also didn't get much accuracy at/past 100 yards above 1600 fps. I loaded both about every way they could be loaded but didn't get as good accuracy as factory soft points. Accuracy with Speer and Hornady 100 and 110 gr bullets was much better. The PB'd 311410 and 311255 were both excellent short range plinkers though and I shot a lot of each before I "discovered" the 311359 GC'd cast bullet.

Once I tried the 311359 I quickly discovered accuracy was on par with both factory SPs and reloads with 110 gr SP. The GC'd 311359 at 115 gr could also be loaded to 200+ fps faster than the 130 gr 311410 or the 115 gr 311455 and could regulate to the rear sight ranges out to 300 yards. The GC'd 311359 also was as accurate as commercial factory JSPs. I still shoot a lot of 311359s for fun and in some "carbine matches" where it's fun to watch the AR shooter's jaws drop when I out shoot them not only with an M1 Carbine but with cast bullets too!

However, with it's spire point nose the 311359 and the RN '410 and '255s didn't kill very well. I then found a 311316 mould (the GC'd 32-20 bullet with a large flat meplat) and used it for quite a while but there were feed issues with it in some carbines. Feeding was not always 100% reliable. When Lyman announced the 313631, A GC'd SWC at 105 gr for the 32 H&R, I got one and have found it to be an excellent bullet in the 30 Carbine. I generally cast them of COWW + 2 % tin these days, AC and age them and size and GC in a .311 H&I in a Lyman 450. I then size them in a .309 Lee sizer for use in the 30 Carbine. Those are the rounds in the previously posted photo. I push those over H110 at 1950 fps and they are accurate and deadly out to 300 yards and are my preferred hunting bullet/load in the 30 Carbine.

However, back in the day when I was loading the RN I was not aware of being able to flatten the nose when sizing. Had I been I may have taken another route and still have the PB'd moulds as I have passed over a couple 311255/257s at gunshows over the years.......:-( Looks like they are working fine for you.

Looking forward to meeting and doing a little 30/32 shooting. There is a good café in Salome BTW........:drinks:

I have dabbled with Lyman #313631 in 32 Magnum and 327 Federal. The faster it is driven, the better it groups from my revolvers. From what Larry writes, I need to try this casting in my 32/20 levergun and in the 30 Carbine Blackhawk. Couldn't hurt......

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Originally Posted by MaLar

Nice to see some old Idaho boys doing good on here!
Last time I went rabbit hunting only saw a few Jacks and no bunny's.
The Jack's were real skittish. This was north west of Aberdeen.

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This has been my experience this year. I haven't been out there since October. We camped out there and drove clear from Coffee Point to Arco and didn't see a single Jack, granted we didn't get out and walk much that trip but typically we should have had them cross the road. We did see 3 coyotes though. Earlier in the fall the areas that we typically hunt held very few and they were busting out in front of us at least 50 yds and wouldn't circle just keep going. Me and my boys hunt with our Jack Russel and Collie/Pit mix dogs and if there are rabbits around they will get on them and flush and find for us. We are definitely having a off year not like 2 years ago.

Larry, the little trick with the top punch is something I've done with several different molds over the years & it works great. I'm sure you're like me & have a whole bunch of different top punches, it's pretty simple to find one that will do the job on either a round nose or a spire point cast & make it into a hard hitting cast bullet that really changes things! Much like Paco Kelly's accurizer tool.

Dick

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Originally Posted by sixshot

Funny thing, I tried mine on golf balls too but **** those guys get mad just as they're starting to putt!

Dick

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Right there in front of God, the golfer and everybody?

That would sure stir things up with the greens keeper lol! ...... tearing up pretty grounds, oh my.

I did tick off my BIL though. He said I was shooting better golf balls than he was playing with (though all mine are free). I informed him to bring his tattered specimens up and I would trade ball for ball anytime just to make him happy. Never heard another whimper about since.

Three44s

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Originally Posted by sixshot

Larry, the little trick with the top punch is something I've done with several different molds over the years & it works great. I'm sure you're like me & have a whole bunch of different top punches, it's pretty simple to find one that will do the job on either a round nose or a spire point cast & make it into a hard hitting cast bullet that really changes things! Much like Paco Kelly's accurizer tool.

Dick

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Yeah, I learned that trick after I had already gotten rid of the PBRN bullet moulds and had the GC'd 311316. Between that and the 313631 SWC I don't need to flatten the noses......[smilie=w:

I also have one of Paco's tools for .22LR and a Waltz die also.....they are great tools to use which really improve the accuracy and on game performance of many .22LR rounds.

Have had good success with the LEE 113 gr. FP, FYI. Kills very well. I flat-based one mold and keep the other as a GC original.