Boolits!

[bkoenig]

When the going gets tough...the tough get casting!  .311 caliber bullets aren't exactly cheap or easy to find compared to .308.  I have a stash of pulled Russian 150 grain bullets that shoot very well out of my Finn Mosin, but I haven't seen any more for sale for years so I wanted to save those and use some cast bullets for short range and plinking.  So, I put this together:

168gr Lee gas check bullet cast from a 50/50 mix of soft lead and Linotype.  It's lubed with a 45/45/10 mix of Alox, Johnson's Paste Wax, and mineral spirits.  Loaded over 12 grains of Unique with a S&B primer I was shooting 1 hole groups at 50 meters a couple weeks ago, slung up from prone (not from a bench) and with iron sights.  I started out at 11 grains and the accuracy got better as the load increased, so I've loaded up a few more to keep bumping it up 1/2 grain at a time until I reach the sweet spot. 

Recoil is LIGHT.  Feels about like a .223.  My M39 has a sharp edged steel butt plate and while full power loads aren't unpleasant they get your attention.  I had to run my sight up to the 600 meter setting to get my point of impact correct, but I think with a little more powder this could be a decent load out to 200 meters or so.

My M39 has a much shorter throat than most Mosins, so I had to seat the bullet pretty deep to get it to chamber. 

[unfy]

Purty

12gr in that case ... you using poly fill to help keep the powder towards the head for better ignition ?

[bkoenig]

Purty

12gr in that case ... you using poly fill to help keep the powder towards the head for better ignition ?

I haven't tried that yet.  I've heard some horror stories about ringed barrels due to filler so if I can get away without it I would rather not.  From what I've read Unique is fairly insensitive to its position in the case, but I need to experiment a little.

[unfy]

I know buckshot fill with something like refined oatmeal can produce problems...

Don't think I've heard of any issues with polyfill.

It's basically only a very tiny amount of polyfill due to how poofy it is.  Only 1.5gr is typical afaik.

But if Unique is doing fine, then never mind

[bkoenig]

When it warms up and I have some time I want to load up 20 or so identical rounds and run half over the chrony with the powder tipped forward and half with it tipped back and see what kind of difference it makes. 

I'm also running Unique in my 38-55 but getting some vertical stringing.  I'm not sure if that's due to the powder or the shooter, though.  Last weekend I shot a group from the bench that was about 2" wide and 4" tall at 100 yards.  That rifle has a Williams peep sight with a really big front bead and a huge rear aperture, so while the sights would be great for hunting they aren't really conducive to precision shooting.  I need to at least change out the rear insert and see if that helps tighten things up.

[bkoenig]

Went out yesterday and shot some more but this time at 100 yards, and I was getting really bad vertical stringing.  I forgot my chrony so I can't say if there was a velocity problem, but I'm starting to think I should try some filler.

[unfy]

Hmmm...

Doing a quick look...



Ammosmith's video concerning polyfill.

[bkoenig]

I missed you posting that video, I'll have to check it out when I get home tonight.

I finally made it to the range this weekend to give it another try.  I shot 5 rounds with the cartidge in any random position before loading, and 5 with the muzzle tipped up between shots to ensure the powder was against the primer.  With the powder against the primer the vertical stringing was eliminated, and the extreme spread of velocity was cut in half. 

[Hank]

Are you using unique for a reduced recoil load? Just curious. Them are some nice looking boolits! I have never tried casting any, but I think back to a time when I had access to 2, 5 gal. buckets of used wheel weights..sometimes I wondered if they could have been used?

[bkoenig]

Are you using unique for a reduced recoil load? Just curious. Them are some nice looking boolits! I have never tried casting any, but I think back to a time when I had access to 2, 5 gal. buckets of used wheel weights..sometimes I wondered if they could have been used?

Clip on Wheel weights make excellent boolits.  For mild loads they shoot fine as is - my 45-70 loves them.  They can be alloyed with tin or antimony if you're running a hotter load.  Stick on wheel weights are fine, too, but they're typically very soft, closer to pure lead, so you have to alloy them.  Unfortunately most shops will not give out their weights anymore.

I'm trying Unique not so much for reduced recoil, but because it's so cheap.  If you don't count the cost of the cases (which I already had) my cost per round is something like 8 cents.

I need to get to the ladies' froo-froo store and buy some Dacron this week.  I think it will help in my 38-55 as well.

[JimP]

Here's an interesting article on "Gallery loads" fo rthe 91/30 ..... the author used 7.62x25 Tokarev rounds- pulled the bullets and powder and used them in a 7.62x54r case in a 91/30 ..... makes a subsonic and very quiet gallery round, apparently.  I'd love to try it with boolits....

http://guns.connect.fi/gow/arcane1.html

[Hank]

Thanks for the reply bkoenig. That must indeed leave a big void in the case. Hmm, wonder if them rifles are still available at Cabelas? I might wanna play too...lol
Ok, it could be another thread, but I`ll ask here, what does `ringed  barrel` mean? In regards to using the filler.

[bkoenig]

A Mosin of some sort is something everyone should own.  I'm weird, I bought a Finn before buying one of the standard 91/30's.

A ringed barrel is one that was bulged due to excess pressure or a barrel obstruction.

[Hank]

A Mosin of some sort is something everyone should own.  I'm weird, I bought a Finn before buying one of the standard 91/30's.

A ringed barrel is one that was bulged due to excess pressure or a barrel obstruction.

I feel the same way about a AR15 and LR308..lol
Thats what I guessed about ringed barrel. I saw a picture on another forum with a bulge due to moisture or excess oil/lube or something. (22lr)
I recall if you ever posted velocity for those loads..but seems you have checked?

[bkoenig]

Right about 1500 FPS.

[monkeyboy]

Brian, Instead of the dacron you might want to try floral foam. I've been using it for years on top of a reduced charge in my 38-55.Wallyworld , Michaels, or Hobbylobby carries it.Easy to cut a slab off and thumb it into a charged case,when crushed it turns into a powder so no worries with ringing a chamber. FWIW --Mike.

[bkoenig]

I thought about floral foam in my 38-55.  I bought some Dacron to try out in the 7.62 Russian so I figured I'll try a little in the lever gun also.  It does seem like that might be a little too solid for a bottleneck cartridge, though. 

I loaded up some .303 British tonight, 12 grains Unique each, 10 with filler and 10 without.  Also stuck some Dacron in the 38-55.  I'm trying to decide if I'm ambitious enough to also load some for the Finn yet tonight.  If the weather isn't excessively windy I'm going to try and make it to the range this weekend and try it all out.

[unfy]

Floral foam sounds intriguing.  It seems denser though... wonder if it'll have gunk/plastic fouling problems ?

Does floral foam compress just a lil and then expand ? If so, it might be interesting to see a funnel device with some round cutouts about 1/4 or 1/2 inch thick  that lets you push it through the neck, hopefully expanding past the shoulder, and then a dowel / cleaning rod to seat it against the powder.

[bkoenig]

I think floral foam just crumbles, rather than compressing & expanding.

I went to the range Saturday and took my 38-55, 7.62x54R, and .303 Brit.  I got better accuracy with all three using a 1 grain Dacron filler over the powder.  It was pretty windy so I wasn't able to do a really good test, but it definitely shot better than without. 

What's interesting is my results with the .303.  I loaded up 20 rounds with 12 grains of Unique, 10 with filler and 10 without.  The load with filler shot much more accurately - the group was probably 4 times smaller.  Without the filler it was literally all over the paper.  The strange thing is that the standard deviation for the load without filler was excellent - something like 7.5.  The load with filler was twice that, but it still was way more accurate.  That goes to show that (1) standard deviation doesn't necessarily equal accuracy, and (2) reloading is as much an art as it is a science.

[unfy]

reloading is as much an art as it is a science.

I've always thought of it more as an art, personally heh.

Concerning dracon - awesome.  I'll have to look into it.