I mentioned to everyone here that I cast up some of the Lee 410gr .533 Minie Balls, incidentally the first time I had gotten my lead pot working since the divorce and move. It took some time to knock the rust of the pot and me, but I got a few.
Yes, none of them look really great, but I consoled myself that the ones cast around firepits during The War Between The States probably didn't look all that much better!
So, after some adventures in mundane activity, (I tweaked my ankle doing laundry. How stupid is that?), we finally made it out to the firing line!
Da Boys customized left handed Kit Carson ready to go.
My T/C Renegade with sling.
Note - NONE of the pics are of me. Why? Nobody took pictures of me shooting. Simple enough.
So, let's get started. Clearing caps fired, and loading up with the 78/100 FFG powder from a great buddy. First load of 60 grains, or roughly 45 grains of regular powder. Why? We really didn't have a clear starting point, so that seemed like a good one. BTW, LOADING these things was unreal - with a generous helping of Bore Butter they literally slid down inside the bore. Only two between the two of us needed any help. I saw that paper patching idea, might do that next time. That Bore Butter is some weird grease...
Um...oops...
Is rifle? Is not rifle...
Well, it seems that the boolit drop at 50 yards with that powder equivalent was...astounding. I did a dead center hold on the target and the boollit dropped right at the target's feet. Might need to bring that up a skosh. OK, so 70 grains.
A HIT!
That would be great if it was the start of something wonderful and grand...but alas, it was not. We switched off, he fired one, I fired one, and between the two of us we fired ten slugs before calling it a day. We hit the target once. I tried playing with my adjustable sights and Da Boy tried adjusting the charge, from 70 t 80 and back. I was consistently over the top, so it's not the powder charge this time. No problem, I have the paper target stand, we'll just put up some paper at 25 yards and...I forgot the backing. Double whops. I blame it on my laundry ankle. I consoled myself with some shots from a 4 inch Smith...and hit the steel 5 out of 6 times with iron sights at 50 yards...gee, what does THAT say?
Like I told the kid - a bad day at the range beats a GREAT day at work, and he enthusiastically agreed. Hah, what does HE know about work? Hah, I say. But we both have that fighting spirit, and we will come back down and we will make this work.
BTW, so how DO you paper patch...?
Say tuned for "Act One, Scene Two", or, "Big Honking Boolit Misses Steel Again!"