03A4 Target with new 2 groove RA barrel

[RicinYakima]

Target is a TQ4, 100 yard small bore target, X-ring is 1". I shot today with the rebuilt A4 that was finished last week. Upper left 10 shots are Lyman 311041's, next lower right is 311291 sized .311 and bottom right is 311291 sized .313. 10 shot groups are about 1 3/4, 1 1/2 and 1 1/4, so it is starting to shoot in alright. Primers are WW LR's, powder charge is 16.0 grains of Alliant 2400 and put up in TW52 cases that were match preped. Ric

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[tenntex32]

.......and did you get any more than usual leading with the .313" lead cast bullets? My '03A3 slugs near .310", but fires .308" jacketed projectiles beautifully. I've never fired lead cast out of her. Just curious about the .313"'s.

Dale

[RicinYakima]

Dale, At match shooters velocity, 1400 to 1600 f/s, we have found that sizing the bullet to fit the throat, and not the bore, is the key to accuracy. If it is a round nose or flat nose style with 1/2 the bullet length driving bands accuracy will be good. Shooting a .308/.309 cast bullet through a .312/.313 throat is going to lead, from gas leakage past the bullet. I seat the bullet long enough so that when the bolt handle is turned down into battery, I can feel the first driving band being pushed up into the throat. I shot my match rifle a whole season once with just one pass with a nylon brush and one dry patch at the end of each day. No leading, but that was to keep the powder fouling and primer fouling in check. At the end of the year, I cleaned it well with Ed's Red. No leading was found.

Yep, cast bullets are a whole different animal than jacket bullets.

Ric

p.s. Bore is .301 on the lands and .309+ on the grooves.

[Turk36]

Ricin: I have had good luck with the Lee 180 gr gas check bullet .310 LBT blue lube and 21gr 5744 seated to touch lead ,1630 fps no leading. My fake A4 put 10 into .935 at 100 yds.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[RicinYakima]

Turk36, You ought to consider joining the Cast Bullet Association and joining us for postal matches. Lots of Springfields are shot and three classes: issue, modified and any iron sight, and modified and 6X scope. Lots of fun and nice folks. Ric

[rayg]

Nice shooting. I'm still having trouble getting less then 1-1/2" groups at 50 yrs with my A4.
Been trying every powder load, I-4227, I-4198, 2400, I-4895, I-3031 and Unique behind a 311413 and 314299 cast bullets.
Going today or tomorrow with 10-11grs Unique and 15-16grs 2400 as I heard that the 311413 bullet is not that good and has to be slowed down to shoot ok so will give these light loads a try. Ray

[RicinYakima]

Ray, That has been my experience also. The long pointed nose does supply any support for the bullet, however the 10 grains of Unique load is reported to be very good with the '413. Ric

[rayg]

Well folks I tried different light loads using Unique and 2400. This 16 grs of 2400 did the best at the 50yr target.
I wish I would not have fired this load as first shot of the day as I don't know if that high shot was from a cold barrel or not. Even with the flyer it was still 1-1/8" which is better then before. The other five shots were under an inch. Will have to load up some more of the same load to see if it will do this consistently or not. I guess they are right, 16grs of 2400 works well.

I also tried 15 grs of 2400, and also 11 grs Unique but they did not do very well. I tried 6rds with a 10 gr Unique load and got two 3 shot clover leaf groups an 1-1/4" apart. I can't figure out why they are apart. However It was very windy and the 2X4 legs of the target frame was loose in their ground sockets, (pipes), and the wind kept moving the target frame forward and back about 3" each time the wind caught it. I'm not sure if that would change the impact if I still held POA on the target. Ray

[RicinYakima]

Ray, FWIW, I shot the first three in the dirt to warm the barrel. Cold barrels and cold bullet lube don't mix well. Keep shooting! Ric