The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Dougan wrote:Cheers Blu - that looks a natty kit, but I could buy a hundred boolits for the same price and just try them...

...is there any safety reason why I couldn't get some .312s (as Alpha suggests) and give then a go?

Yeah like I said mate they are way cheaper over here, that's why I use them and they work great for me. As Adam there says your kinda over thinking things, measurements sound okay so I wouldn't worry about it, just get out and enjoy your shooting.

Blu

Blu wrote: As Adam there says your kinda over thinking things, measurements sound okay so I wouldn't worry about it, just get out and enjoy your shooting.

I'm seriously thinking of switching to cast bullets for my SMLE in this years' Trafalgar (one of the biggest meetings over here for classics) - I've had a couple of medals over the last few years using SMKs...

...so if I am going to switch, they're going to need to be accurate, and they're going to need to be safe (enough for snaps, and possibly rapid)...

...and I always enjoy my shooting tongueout

Dougan, good luck to you with whatever you decide mate.

Blu

In days of yore when I used to shoot Classic rifle competitions at bisley on a regular basis, Pistol AD/Phoenix, IHAM and the Trafalgar with the odd gong or two along the way I always used cast boolits unless the competitions were with issued ammunition. Cast boolits will generally be more accurate in military rifles than condoms as you can get them to properly fit the rifle and take account of any historic variation and wear in the barrels. Also there is no need to load to maximum velocities either out to 600, so easier on the shoulder and you can get a better zero at the shorter ranges too.

dromia wrote:Man, you are really over thinking this.

All you need is a lump of soft lead over muzzle size, place it on the muzzle of a clean, lubed barrel and pound it in with a soft faced hammer. Once you have driven the lead in flush with the muzzle and there is a ring of lead to discard the push the slug through the barrel, feel for tight spots if any and then measure for effect.

Do you drive the slug muzzle to breech or do you take it out and drive it the other way? I want to do this to my Metford (still) but it's all witchcraft to me.

Insert at the Muzzle and then just push through to the breech, having got the muzzle size to start with then hopefully there won't be any smaller dimensions down the bore.

Hmm---Years ago I laboriously translated a German reloading leaflet which was at pains to explain that slight choke / taper in a barrel was a very good thing, but that the bullet should always be sized to fit the groove diameter in the throat. My own expareience bears this out.
Fred

Yep standard cast boolit practice, if groove is bigger than the freebore then size the boolit to fit the freebore.

That is why I am always going on about making a chamber/freebore/lead/bore/groove cast.

sign92

dromia wrote:In days of yore when I used to shoot Classic rifle competitions at bisley on a regular basis, Pistol AD/Phoenix, IHAM and the Trafalgar with the odd gong or two along the way I always used cast boolits unless the competitions were with issued ammunition. Cast boolits will generally be more accurate in military rifles than condoms as you can get them to properly fit the rifle and take account of any historic variation and wear in the barrels. Also there is no need to load to maximum velocities either out to 600, so easier on the shoulder and you can get a better zero at the shorter ranges too.

I'm getting quite excited about trying something new at the Trafalgar now - It's going to be a slow process though, as I'm having difficulty getting time shooting at less than 300 yards at the moment...I'm in the process of sourcing some boolits to test, and just hope that the couple of opportunities I get for testing will be enough to get it spot-on by October