Powder compression and filler

[Thundermaker]

The Accurate mould is very accurate in the Miroku 44-40 WCF rifles Targets shot 100 yards.

Wow. I have a long way to go. I'm using the accurate 430-215c cast from COWW and sized to .430. The best I've gotten is 4" at 100. Of course, 40 grains of Scheutzen crammed in the case only gives me 1080 fps, so the poor quality powder might have something to do with it.

[harbor2]

The Accurate mould is very accurate in the Miroku 44-40 WCF rifles Targets shot 100 yards.

Randy, I can't make out the load info on your target. Looks like 38 grs OE under the 43-215C Accurate mould. Is that correct? If I may ask, what is the hardness of your bullet and diameter? I have the Miroku 73 saddle ring carbine with the Marbles peep sight and mostly Starline brass.
John

[Randy Bohannon]

Yes you have it correct , all bullets are cast with RotoMetals 16:1 alloy. R.P. brass, bullets are sized 429”, Winchester brass sized .430 . What surprised me was being able to put 40 grains of either Swiss 1.5 or O.E. in the case and compress enough the seat the bullet and not swell the case. 36-38 grains of powder has been the accurate load ether with the 43-215c or the 43-230 , no card or wad, lube is 50/50 olive oil and bees wax with some food grade lamb tallow added.

[Randy Bohannon]

Both of my Miroku 1873’s have 26” barrels , one half round, one tapered octagon which might shoot a bit better than the half round barrel. Since both rifles support tang sights I opted for MVA front and rear sights as I was wanting to determine accuracy potential of the new 1873’s and the Miroku guns. They have not disappointed .

[DAVIDMAGNUM]

Wow. I have a long way to go. I'm using the accurate 430-215c cast from COWW and sized to .430. The best I've gotten is 4" at 100. Of course, 40 grains of Scheutzen crammed in the case only gives me 1080 fps, so the poor quality powder might have something to do with it.

John Kort's tests and my own have resulted in better 44WCF accuracy with softer alloys. We both tried wheel weight alloy. While I had no leading in the bore, 30-1 alloy is much more accurate. Scheutzen is not BAD powder but Swiss is better. Also Federal and Winchester primers have proven to produce less accuracy than CCI #300.

[Don McDowell]

My 44wcf prefers 16-1 alloy bullets sized .430 my Colt likes it too. Chi primers give better results than Winchester or federal with Remingtons a close second so close in fact its just a matter of which ones I grab when priming cases. 37 grains of OE 2 f , bullets lubed with Bulshops Nasa

[harbor2]

Thank you all for the load info on the .44 wcf. I'm wanting to hunt deer and antelope so will try a load with the 43-215C bullet 30-1 and sized to .429 over 38 grs OE.

[JuliettDeltaGolf]

Randy, that is astounding shooting. I’m experimenting with the same bullet and powder in Starline cases in my Uberti 1873 and haven’t gotten a group that good at 50 yards! I am not a great shot though. I may never get the accuracy you do, but it that is very inspiring I must say!

[Silhouette]

Reviving this thread just to give you an update.
I had put this project on hold for a while because I was tired of getting nowhere. This rifle (Miroku '73) was my most inaccurate lever action. I had been persevering with the Lee bullets and could not for the life of me, get them to shoot well with bp even though smokeless loads were reasonable. Reduced loads with fillers were the worst and some groups were 20" at 50m. Yes, that's right, half a meter!
So recently I decided to give it another go and forked out for a Accurate 43-215C mold. It arrived the other day and after casting a couple of hundred (drops at 223gn), today I picked a random starting point of 34gns of Wano 2F.
Well 4 shots went into 5/8" at 50m off a crude rest and the 5th shot was an inch away (operator error).
That equates to about 1 1/2" at 100m. I haven't tried it with a smokeless load yet but if it's consistent then it will be on par with my most accurate lever action.

To say I'm impressed by the difference would be an understatement. Now I just have to get my lube to stay in the groove. Pan lubing hasn't been successful with this bullet.

[Abert Rim]

That is a very fine mold, all right.