Cast boolits at 600 yards.

[Smellysniper]

I thought my experiences might be of interest. I have been reloading lead bullets since the late 50’s, initially for pistols. Our pistols were taken away from us in 1997 after a school massacre. Gutted! Well compensated,I bought rifles. Lots of them,mainly Lee Enfields. Also a Marlin 1894 in .357” and a Ruger 10/22. Fortunately we can shoot all the old pistol disciplines with these last two.
The fullbore rifles are shot at Bisley which is not far from me. 303” ammo. is expensive and I initially started reloading using FMJ PPU bullets 174 grains (also expensive and getting more so)and PPU cases.
41.5 grains Reloder 15 is a great load but Vit 140 is as good and cheaper in the UK ,so that is my powder for service loading. A cheaper load is 22 grains 5744 behind a Lyman 314299 lead bullet and It suits most of my Enfields,I have eight,all in .303”. Wanting to shoot at 600 yards, I decided to experiment with the Lyman 314299 sized to the barrel of my 4(T) I found 34 grains of Vit 140 was the optimum load,after that short range accuracy fell away. Today I shot 34 grains Vit behind the Lyman, very successfully. The service load scope setting was 600 and I had to go up 17 , 1 minute clicks to hit the target to 825 yards.
The group was a bit scabby but is was wet and horrible weather. Things will improve .At least it reached the target,that’s a plus.
The bullet is 16 BHN , gas checked, Lee Alox lubed,(wonderful stuff , no leading ).Sized to barrel throat at .314”I only use PPU cases,keep them separate for each gun,neck size only and count the firings.,they last for lots of firings.I am well chuffed ,a nice cheap load and it worked!

[cwtebay]

Very nice!!!
Welcome, and thank you for sharing your experience - interesting to hear about experiences from across the pond.


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[Thumbcocker]

Glad you all are still shooting despite the attack on it. I would love to see some targets if you can post them.

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[Chill Wills]

Shooting at Bisley, likely no target to see. Shots are scored by the pit crew and pasted and returned (up) for the next shot. The rifleman marks his score or impact location on a small target on the clipboard or some such similar. That is the record of what took place. No target to take home.
Yes, I too would enjoy seeing what the accuracy is like. Fun stuff.

[marlin39a]

Sir, almost 4 yrs a member here, and your first post. You have my attention. The 314299 is a great projectile for the .303. Please share more.

[Martin Luber]

Any idea what velocity you were getting? 22 5744 is around 1700'fps but I don't know the other

[Win94ae]

Very good, I am surprised it took you this long to try.

[richhodg66]

It's nice to see that you guys can still shoot. It's a condition we enjoy here in the states that way too many of us take for granted I fear.

[quilbilly]

Welcome to our group. I envy your opportunities for long range shooting. My only opportunity to shoot anything farther than 200 yards is at the Nevada Cast Boolit Shoot (NCBS). For that event this year I will be shooting my 338 WM and my "new-to-me" 270 Win at the 400 yard iron sight shoot. This year your infields should be well represented in the new military arms events.

[Smellysniper]

Chill wills has got it right.Usually no target to take home. Target markers are diffficult to get sometimes and the NRA uk are installing electronic targets which show your hits on a screen next to the shooter. Eventually they will all have a printed readout available so your record is there. Each lane costs £25,000 so it’s an expensive project .I hope to get velocity readings next week.
My group wasn’t too good but it is the first time for years I have shot 600 yards. I was pleased to even hit the target this time round.

[andrew375]

Shooting at Bisley, likely no target to see. Shots are scored by the pit crew and pasted and returned (up) for the next shot. The rifleman marks his score or impact location on a small target on the clipboard or some such similar. That is the record of what took place. No target to take home.
Yes, I too would enjoy seeing what the accuracy is like. Fun stuff.

Electronic marking is now available at Bisley, a massive improvement! There are two systems, one uses a web type interface on a tablet. You can connect to the tablet via Wi-Fi and a browser to download the target plot. Note that this gives more information than just poi and scores but also velocities and poi trend. The grid on the plots is one minute of angle pitch.



The other system uses a display screen. With this you use the normal plotting sheets and you take a picture when done.

[Smellysniper]

Andrew375. After my shoot today using the display screen you show,I contacted Andrew Mercer and asked him if there was a User Manual for the systems. I am pretty clueless on computer thingies and very few of my fellow shooters know anything about using them. It is obvious that there is loads of info. within the system but no one knows how to use it to advantage.What it needs is someone like yourself to write a manual! I was on Century today and did manage to take a pic of my last target but it was a bit scrappy.

[Chill Wills]

[QUOTE=andrew375;5189467]Electronic marking is now available at Bisley, a massive improvement! There are two systems, one uses a web type interface on a tablet. You can connect to the tablet via Wi-Fi and a browser to download the target plot. Note that this gives more information than just poi and scores but also velocities and poi trend. The grid on the plots is one minute of angle pitch.
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Two Thumbs Up!
That is a very nice system.
The three 1000y ranges I access do not have that yet. You are clearly out in front of us good for you.

There are private systems like the one you picture that show up now and then. They are really great for working alone and seeing your target impacts on screen on the firing line next to your shoulder scope. I don't have one ....yet.

One of these days I will get both feet into this century.
Thanks for providing the good info.

[dverna]

Going back 50 years....our Rangemaster at the University of Toronto competed at Bisley. He was an old man so he shot there decades earlier and shot a tuned .303. He taught me to shoot smallbore. Those .303’s could be made to shoot. Many American “experts” at the time did not have anything good to say about the SMLE...and they sold at a significant discount from the other milsurps.

Good luck with your project!

[Bent Ramrod]

I use 21 gr of SR-4759 behind GC boolits of 165-200 gr in a cobbled-together .30-40 Krag rifle for an exercise I call “annoying the animals.” The targets are standard Ram silhouette swingers at 500 M, shot at off a bench rest.

With weighed boolits and powder charges, rigorous attention to air currents and a good shooting day for me, I can sometimes get 3-4 hits in a row before one spills off for a narrow miss. On the big round 500-yd disc at my former range, on a windless day most of the shots were within 3MOA or so.

Crimp-on gas checks give me more hits than the old Ideal type. My rifle has a 12” twist Douglas barrel with a forward-mounted T/C pistol scope, and a stock military trigger. Depending on conditions and what I’ve loaded, it takes some sighting shots to get the day’s settings, but it’s an interesting exercise and a lot of fun.

The boolits will go right through a 1/8” aluminum plate at that distance. A friend’s .223 jacketed loads would mostly stick in the plate. Momentum beats muzzle velocity, apparently.

[andrew375]

Andrew375. After my shoot today using the display screen you show,I contacted Andrew Mercer and asked him if there was a User Manual for the systems. I am pretty clueless on computer thingies and very few of my fellow shooters know anything about using them. It is obvious that there is loads of info. within the system but no one knows how to use it to advantage.What it needs is someone like yourself to write a manual! I was on Century today and did manage to take a pic of my last target but it was a bit scrappy.

I don't know that much about them I'm afraid. I would have expected the range office would have a simple user guide available. I was shown how to use the tablet by another member of my club. When you finish your detail and clear the screen it asks you if you want to name the file before resetting. Just give it a name containing details of rifle and bullet. When behind the point get your phone out, switch on WiFi and open a browser. In the location bar of the browser enter the i.p. address of the tablet, which is written on it somewhere where. Once connected to the tablet you see the same screen as the tablet. Tap on the files icon ,this will open the file manager. Find your file and tap on it to open it. Now save the image by doing a save screen, on android press the volume and power buttons simultaneously.

For the other system I believe you can get print outs from the range office.

[Martin Luber]

Did the electronic target work eith subsonic boolets? Our manuals suggest mach 1.1 in order to record the shot.

[Smellysniper]

Andrew 375. Thanks for that ,I will try that next time. I will copy your instructions and let other shooter see them. all useful stuff.
As for "did they work with sub-sonic ",I don't know. Rumour has it they don't, but mine were mostly shown.Some were`t My problem was when the shot wasn't shown ,did i just miss or did it not register.Who knows. Without a good marker(butt crew) you have no feedback if you miss. Two of my rifles' P14 and a SMLE are fitted up with period Aldis scopes.These have a very odd windage adjustments, rotatable prism, and this can lead one a merry dance round the range until you get it on. As I only have classic rifles, all Enfields, I sometimes envy the guys with tack driving rifles that put all the holes in one.But they are a bit boring, no fun at all!Developing lead loads is much more interesting(and frustrating) I recently bought a 10 shot Hatsan shotgun for slug shootingKnown as Target Shotgun over here. I heavily modified a Lee key drive mould to a bore riding Fire Hydrant slug form. it weighs in at 35 grammes and makes a lovely big hole. Working up a load for it.At the moment i am using 28 grains Unique. I will stop at 30 because Unique is reputed to have pressure spikes after 30 grains. Alox lubed with felt wads ,they work OK.

[andrew375]

Did the electronic target work eith subsonic boolets? Our manuals suggest mach 1.1 in order to record the shot.

Don't know, but they are used by the black powder shooters and they are definitely subsonic.

[725]

Smellysniper,
Wonderful post. I have to ask, what exactly does, "I am well chuffed..." mean? Love the language usages from other parts of the world. Welcome aboard here. Great site and your contributions will make it better.

725