A list of stupid things for a man to do...

Leica Geovid Pro - Green
LeftHandGuy said:
On a more serious note, I think cast bullets in 314 or 315 might be the easiest way to have a suitable projectile. Or if you want jacketed, buy some . 318 bullets and use Lee sizing dies in stages to get them down to 314, but I would only do that if I really wanted to use soft points for hunting. For a pure range rifle lead is easier and cheaper
Click to expand...

Lyman makes a #314-299 bullet (mold) that is very good. I have a large number of 303's and Finn Nagants so I had a company called LBT (Lead Bullet Technologies) copy the bullet with a .317 driving band and a .306 nose. Best investment I've made in a mold.

I have given up slugging grooves. I do a chamber cast and measure the throat diameter. I then size to .001-.0015" below that. All other things being equal, this measurement is where accuracy lies. My No4 MkII target rifle has a .310 groove but the throat measures .315 so I shoot .314" heat treated bullets through it. At 100 yards it puts them atop each other. The next consideration is bore diameter. IF you are shooting a nose-riding bullet such as the Lyman mentioned above, you want to make sure the nose doesn't fall into the bore when tested at the muzzle. If it is loose, you will need to cross your fingers or find a different mold. Some US suppliers make "nose-bumping" dies to reform the nose for better fit but I never bothered. I have many molds to choose from. If the nose of the bullet you have chosen is so large that it pushes the base of the bullet past the neck-shoulder junction, have a machinist make a die to fit in your sizer-lubricator bored to to a 3-degree included angle taper. This slight angle will fix that. I load a 197 grain Loverine-style (Full diameter, lots of grooves) bullet in a 308 NATO with a 'ball seat" chamber and it fits once tapered. With the taper aligning the bullet with the throat, the accuracy is increased as well.

Lastly. If the bore is a rusty pipe, shoot jacketed. If it's good, make sure you clean all the copper from the barrel and keep it out. Copper ruins cast bullet accuracy. I have many rifles that I reserve for cast bullets only. I think the majority of my military rifles have never seen a jacket bullet once I began feeding them. ~Muir

(Oh.... and NEVER ram a a dowel down the barrel to measure bore and groove. Find the person who gave you that advice and get revenge.)
 
Oh dear. I do apologise for inferring that this has been a very, very long thread. Having just read over it I now realise that it only started on 24th January - this year! Soooo in reality it just seems like a very, very long thread, spread over only 6 pages of posts, with lots of ups and downs (dowel) plus quite a few twists and turns or am I confusing this last bit with your moderator thread?
Anyhoo, you now have accumulated more sage-like wisdom than you could shake a dowel at so do carry on old son, I cannot wait for the next thrilling chapter.
🦊🦊
 
Years ago when I used to do this I used a very very light load of about one grain of Bullseye loaded the ball into a case and fired it. If you get it right you'll drive the ball down the barrel part way. Then just use a rod to tap it out from the breech end.
 
“It's a hell of a lot easier to remove than the cosmoline it was probably stored in...”
One of the first joys of buying a Mosin is removing “n“ years of cosmoline - a substance somewhere between concrete and tar. If you check it out on t’internet there are more “solutions” for removal of said gunk than you could shake a boomstick at. After much swearing frustration and in a rare moment of genius I used Mrs FB’s hairdryer - run it hot and the gunk turns into liquid and simply runs off every surface. Result!
Hot tip - do it outside, the smell can be pretty bad.
Hot tip No.2 - make sure hrh is out for at least a couple of days hours.
🦊🦊
 
Stalker1962 said:
I am fairly happy to 'dive in', but they are talking out getting Fulton's to check for headspace, bore and crown (good luck with that on a counterbored Mosin).
Click to expand...
You've not had problems with the brass or have you?? They are just covering ass.

Check the head space your self. Take a full sized case that is seated on the rim when in the chamber.
Now measure the thickness of black tape you have in your tool box.
Stick a patch on the case head covering the primer.
Will the bolt close on it?
If so stick another patch on top of the first.
Will it close? Repeat until it's getting difficult to close.
Now you can add up the total.
Try it out friend 👍🏻
 
Smellydog said:
You've not had problems with the brass or have you?? They are just covering ass.

Check the head space your self. Take a full sized case that is seated on the rim when in the chamber.
Now measure the thickness of black tape you have in your tool box.
Stick a patch on the case head covering the primer.
Will the bolt close on it?
If so stick another patch on top of the first.
Will it close? Repeat until it's getting difficult to close.
Now you can add up the total.
Try it out friend 👍🏻
Click to expand...
Yep - works with masking tape too.
🦊🦊
 
Smellydog said:
Will it close? Repeat until it's getting difficult to close.
Now you can add up the total.
Click to expand...
Right, I will take (another) one for the team.

This will eventually give you a 'number/measurement' - so what?

What will that 'number/measurement' tell me - apart from "X number of layers of tape is Y thick"?

NB

It may well be, that it is I who is thick...

Unknown-24.webp
 
Stalker1962 said:
Right, I will take (another) one for the team.

This will eventually give you a 'number/measurement' - so what?

What will that 'number/measurement' tell me - apart from "X number of layers of tape is Y thick"?

NB

It may well be, that it is I who is thick...

View attachment 299516
Click to expand...
You can assess if the head space is excessive or not. Instead of paying someone else to give you the same information
 
Stalker1962 said:
Right then.

Notwithstanding it is a Sunday, I have already had a response.

Getting rid of the rifle was one rather unhelpful suggestion!🥺

The other was their hard cast 165gr bullets at 0.316".

My current load used 174gr at 0.311".

Anyone see any drama about putting .316" bullets down a 0.313,5" barrel?
Click to expand...
None. ~Muir
 
Ahhh stuck bullets.

When I was young and dumb (now I’m just dumb) I heard about squib loads that could be used for squirrels and such from a regular center fire. Seeing as a friend had given me 1000 factory second .277 soft point bullets, I began working on a load.

Actually, it worked great at the range. A tiny bit of shotgun powder (maybe red dot, but might have also been 700x) and a lightly seat bullet and I found something that was dead on at 25 yards.

Then I proceeded to actually hunt with it, from a high seat. A rabbit was directly under the stand, so I pointed down and pulled the trigger and got a loud PUFFT noise that didn’t even bother the rabbit. Opened the bolt, and all the smoke came back at me. Pulled the bolt and had a blocked barrel.

Eventually got the bullet out and found out you needed some kapok or other filler to keep the powder back near the primer. That said, just quit that game entirely. Decided if I wanted to shoot small game, just take along the 22

A much bigger error, with no concise tale, involves swapping engines in trucks that result in transmission swaps and drive train etc….. Best explanation seems to the Johnny Cash song “one piece at a time”
 
Cootmeurer said:
Ahhh stuck bullets.

When I was young and dumb (now I’m just dumb) I heard about squib loads that could be used for squirrels and such from a regular center fire. Seeing as a friend had given me 1000 factory second .277 soft point bullets, I began working on a load.

Actually, it worked great at the range. A tiny bit of shotgun powder (maybe red dot, but might have also been 700x) and a lightly seat bullet and I found something that was dead on at 25 yards.

Then I proceeded to actually hunt with it, from a high seat. A rabbit was directly under the stand, so I pointed down and pulled the trigger and got a loud PUFFT noise that didn’t even bother the rabbit. Opened the bolt, and all the smoke came back at me. Pulled the bolt and had a blocked barrel.

Eventually got the bullet out and found out you needed some kapok or other filler to keep the powder back near the primer. That said, just quit that game entirely. Decided if I wanted to shoot small game, just take along the 22

A much bigger error, with no concise tale, involves swapping engines in trucks that result in transmission swaps and drive train etc….. Best explanation seems to the Johnny Cash song “one piece at a time”
Click to expand...
270? It is a long case.
My 30-30 small game loads use Herco and are approaching, estimated, 30% case fill.
Not shot it straight down though.
Will bear it in mind if mole stalking!

Even 22 are not 100% case full, subbies that is. Just saying.
 
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