Range Report 5/18/2016

[Pete]

Not sure what you all want to see so I'll start like this and you can add questions or comments as needed.

The target picture is what I shot yesterday. Groups were shot from the lower left going up, over and down.
the "S" is group #6. What I normally do is fire 6 rds. with each load I'm trying out that day. The first shot is one one circled. I do this because I've found with many guns as you change the powder charge the first shot doesn't go into the group. As you can see by the target this is pretty obvious. I think I know the reason for the great variations but I'll get into that later.

Powder used is Titegroup, Starline brass, Win. SP primers, Lyman 358212, 148 grs. cast out of Range Scrap, sized .358", lubed with Lyman/Alox to an OAl of 1.589". Distance 50 yds.

Target #1 - 2.8 grs. - 1 1/4"
Target #2 - 3.1 grs. - 4 1/8"
Target #3 - 3.4 grs. - 2 1/8"
Target #4 - 3.7 grs. - 1 5/8"
Target #5 - 4.0 grs. - 1 1/2 "
Target #6 - 4.3 grs. - 1 3/4"

I THINK the reason for those shots that are way out is due to powder positioning. Loading the gun requires the muzzle to be pointing up so the powder in the first shot is back against the primer if your careful putting the gun onto the rest. The recoil of each successive shot spreads the powder fairly evenly over the length of the case. The other point is that it looks like I could up the powder charge some more.

I'm not to happy with the results from yesterday. Should have kept the target from last week. The worst group of that shoot was better than the best group above.

I'm not going to be go further with this powder and bullet as last weeks work satisfied me I had about as good as I was gonna get.Also want to start working up the load with the bullet I want ot use at 100 yds.

An interesting aside. Last week I used a roll crimp which gave a little trouble feeding. So switched over to a taper crimp which worked a lot better.

[JEBar]

I THINK the reason for those shots that are way out is due to powder positioning. Loading the gun requires the muzzle to be pointing up so the powder in the first shot is back against the primer if your careful putting the gun onto the rest. The recoil of each successive shot spreads the powder fairly evenly over the length of the case. The other point is that it looks like I could up the powder charge some more.

very interesting point .... while it may be universally known to the rest of the folks in the universe, this is the first time I've heard it expressed .... I'm looking forward to reading comments from folks who are much more knowledgeable in this area

An interesting aside. Last week I used a roll crimp which gave a little trouble feeding. So switched over to a taper crimp which worked a lot better.

another interesting observation

thanks for starting this thread

[Cofisher]

Thanks, Pete. I am just starting to study reloading and appreciate the details you are providing. I saw no reference to velocity, and am curious if you have specs or estimates. Using cast is beyond me at the moment, maybe someday.

[sharpessword]

Pete:
Good range report on your developing cast bullet loads for your Henry .357.

I have also been working on developing an accurate 50 yard load for my Henry .357.
Haven't had a chance to try any Titegroup powder yet. Your results were appreciated.

My best and most consistent cast bullet, 50 yard load to date includes 158 grain, coated, cast
rifle bullets from the Missouri Bullet Company, on top of 8.4 grains of 800-x powder, Star Line brass,
CCI small pistol primers and yes-- a taper crimp. This is just below the accuracy load from the Nosler #3 Manual,
(which was 8.7 grains of 800-x powder, pushing the Nosler 158 JFP bullet. With Skinner receiver peep sights and
a tall fiber optic front sight, the 8.4 grains of 800-x load will provided 3 shot, 50 yard groups of around an inch.

Not bad, but there is some room for improvement. Seeing some progress on load development can be a lot of fun.
Keep us informed on your progress with your Henry.

Dave

[RanchRoper]

Detailed report. Thank you. Your targets look pretty good to me.

[Pete]

Cofisner,

Haven't done any MV work yet and won't till I don't have to lug everything 20 yds. to the bench.

Sharpessword,

My next bullet I'll be trying is also an MBC bullet. Their .38 Match which is a 158 gr. LSWC. The batch I have is 12 bhn. I see they also have the same in 18 bhn. Looks exactly like an old Ideal 358411 mold I have so can use that if I need to go to Lino.

Ranchroper,

Nah! Not happy at all. As mentioned it might have been better if I'd been more careful with the powder position.. Didn't think of it till the drive home. Also always had the idea that Titegroup wasn't position sensitive. Either that or it needs more powder. Will try Titegroup with the above bullet and keep running the charge up further if needed. Want to go to the heavier bullet for 100 yd. and I'm happy with the Unique load I have for the bullet in today's test.

Pete

[tx gunrunner]

Unique powder is not positioning sensitive and that is why I use it in reduce loads since 1968 . No wads or filler needed and no double pressure spike like other powders with reduce loads in large volume cartridges .

[Pete]

txgunrunner,

Agree with you 100% and why I started with Unique. But got to thinking I'd heard/read that Titegroup was a good powder to try. But didn't seem to work to well in reduced loads.

The problem these days is the availibity of powders. So it seems to me the more kinds you can get good accuracy with the better. The bullet I used in the above test is my trying to find something better/equal to Unique. Since I don't plan on using it for 100 yd. shooting I feel it's time to switch to the bullet I want use. In the effort to find several powders that'll work I'll try Titegroup again but start upping the charges past where I got to yesterday. More bullet wgt. should help the burn rate too.

One of the problems with using lighter than normal wgt. bullets for the caliber is the requirement to use quick burning powders in small charges that aren't position sensitive. As you mention, Unique is one them and Bullseye is another.

As I've mentioned this my first try at playing with a lever gun. I expect to have a lot of with it this Summer trying out different ideas to see where the facts are and the BS.

Pete

[Pete]

Imagine to my surprise when looking up possible loads of Titegroup for a 158 gr. cast bullet that about all I can do is duplicate what I did with bullet I used in this test. Back to the drawing board.

Pete

[Pete]

Been figuring out how to add text to photos before posting them. Thought you might be interested in seeing the bullet I used in the test above.

Pete

357RN.jpg (9.2 KiB) Viewed 2351 times