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Thread: 577-.450 Grease groove boolits

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
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    Northern WI
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    577-.450 Grease groove boolits

    Getting ready to load for my Martini and will be starting with paperpatched slugs. I have heard of good results and less monkey business with a traditional lubed cast bullet. However the diameters used vary pretty wildly and with the oddness of Henry rifleing i can't just slug it and get a good starting number.

    Can I please try some of what works for you? Happy to pay your postage or send some lead.

    Looking for 480gr to 510 gr weight and 462 to 472 diameter.

    Thanks for your time.
    .455

  2. #2
    Boolit Mold
    Join Date
    Feb 2021
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    7
    Try www.xringservices. Spokane WA

  3. #3
    Boolit Master Bad Ass Wallace's Avatar
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    May 2005
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    Australia
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    Martini's are a law unto themselves. The barrels are made with an 8" freebore ahead of the chamber (to accept black powder fouling) of 0.364" then constricts to 0.362" for the remainder. All this ozersizing to 0.372" etc. is utter rubbish. The bullet needs to be super soft (mine are 2% tin) so that upon firing the boolit will 'upset' into the freebore section, then squeze down to the main barrel. With over 40 years of playing with these rifles, I have found most commercial caster use an alloy that is just too hard to reform.

    I have several of these rifles and ALL shoot the 0.462" boolit very well. Slugging the barrel is impossible on 7 groove rifling without a special anvil micrometer.



    200yard target (5 bulls) and barrel profile

    Hold Still Varmint; while I plugs Yer!

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bad Ass Wallace View Post
    Slugging the barrel is impossible on 7 groove rifling without a special anvil micrometer.
    This trick may not be 100% accurate, but it'll probably get you in the ballpark:Click image for larger version. 

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  5. #5
    Boolit Master

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    This trick may not be 100% accurate, but it'll probably get you in the ballpark:

    what the sam are you saying? these guns are all .458 and up .462. ,464. What does o.472 mean? Wrong thread?

    OP first two guys gave sound advice. good luck

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
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    Northern WI
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    Paper patching has worked well for me. Took second in my clubs 100 year old rifle match with it. Thanks in large part to the help I received here.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy iron brigade's Avatar
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    Jan 2010
    Location
    WI
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    354
    I had two of these rifles and shot the accurate molds 470-465 with great accuracy. Sized the bullets to .470

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Posts
    125
    Out of the gate, a .450" bullet wrapped in paper is the best bet. There's plenty of information on the web showing how the original ammunition was constructed. Make your shells like this, and it'll usually work, all else being equal.

    It's a novel concept, feeding a rifle what it was originally designed to use, but it does work.

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Posts
    275
    I have swaged 451 480 grain slugs and patched them. Results have been inconsistent, but did include a hit on a 12" plate at 600. What is your patched diameter/paper thickness?

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check