Support Head-Fi.org by
starting all of your
Amazon.com shopping by
clicking here.
____________________________________________________________________
Today's Featured Head-Fi Blog: A Japanese headfier's monologue (Sasaki)
____________________________________________________________________
Please help
support Head-Fi by becoming a Contributing Member
CLICK
HERE -- Contributing Members, thank you
for your generous support! --
Final load for the select .243AAI cases with the molyed 70 grain Sierra BlitzKing and the Federal Match LR primers turned out to be slightly north of 45 grains of Varget. I don't mention exact charges because they are particular to firearm and load components; your mileage may vary greatly! Utilizing molyed bullets alone usually allows me another grain or two of propellant; It takes that much less energy to start a lubricated bullet into the lands. Turned out I had guesstimated pretty well and the best charge was right in the middle of the four I had set out. It doesn't always work that way; that's what the lighter charges are for. In this case, we went a grain lower than where the test heavy cull cases showed harder bolt turn which was corroborated by a mean of 0.0008" expansion in the fired case base over loads one grain lighter. Now, we chrono this load.
I've got a test set of .243AI loads with the 107 grain Sierrra MatchKing "flying pencils" over incrementally increasing charges of IMR4350. Funny how even a slight change in bullet weight can send you looking for a different propellant.
Nice looking Blackhawk. I've got Pachmayrs on many of my S&Ws, but there's a school in favor of smooth walnut for the single action wheelguns. I've seen myself how the smooth walnut grip is designed to rotate in the hand to absorb heavy recoil. It works! Also looks traditional. You might want to pick up a set of OEM or aftermarket smooth grips to try it, especially with a .41MAG.
__________________
Doing my duty . . . . the way I see it.
"The trouble with most people is not what they don't know, but what they know for certain that isn't true."
Mark Twain
Well I picked up a couple of cheap grips from Ajax while I was at the shop today. I will probably get something else later but now I am trying to decide between the black out look and the contrasting black/redwood look. I think I like the red wood grips but a nice set of black grips with some grain might be in the future. What do you guys think?
.357RemMag Varmint: The 500 pieces of new Remington brass are visiting the "stations of the cross" to become more concentric and consistent. 500 Sierra .357 110 grain BlitKings are in the house with a couple pounds of Winchester 296 and some "legacy" CCI small pistol magnum primers. These BlitxKings are really something; I expect an echo when I yell across their big cavity. 2000fps is not out of the question with the twelve inch T/C tube, but that will depend on pressure signs. What I'm really hoping for is some two inch 75 yard groups. Which would be really something with iron sights and my old eyes.
.243AI: 10 inch twist would not stabilize the 107 grain VLD MatchKings at any reasonable pressure. They weren't flying sideways at 100 yards like out of my 1-in-12" twist Browning A-Bolt, but their holes were definitely eliptical and falling in 8 to 10 inch groups for a rifle that will shoot 70 grain .243 MatchKings under 0.5". So I pulled the 107 grain bullets from the remaining test loads and went back and loaded some 100 grain .243 GameKing SPBTs over IMR4350. These worked just fine. Gives me something to use on game the size of antelope, deer, and caribou should the occasion arise.
Didn't get much reloading work done over Thanksgiving as we had two guest yellow labrador deceivers in the house. One, Belle, is a six month old pup who is already housebroken but has little or no impulse control and knows that the world is her oyster. Still, a very good snugging girl already. I was saying to SWMBO this morning that while the jury is out as to whether Belle bonded with me, there is no question that I bonded with Belle.
__________________
Doing my duty . . . . the way I see it.
"The trouble with most people is not what they don't know, but what they know for certain that isn't true."
Mark Twain
I managed to pick up a couple more revolvers over the Head-fi hiatus. I also got my .41 Magnum reloading toolhead set up and put together a couple hundred middlewight rounds with AA#9 powder under 210 grn Hornady XTP bullets. The .41 is a nice accurate load that seems to be a bit flatter than the .44 with 10% less recoil. A nice shooting round.
I picked up another .41 Magnum for the collection. A S&W Mountain Gun Mod-57.
And added a Mint+ Colt Diamondback to my small Colt Snake revolver collection.
I also got my .41 Magnum reloading toolhead set up and put together a couple hundred middlewight rounds with AA#9 powder under 210 grn Hornady XTP bullets.
Forgive me for repeating myself, but one of the things that has kept me shooting big bore wheelguns has been quality hardcast lead bullets. With the correct powder choice, hard cast lead bullets are accurate, powerful, and have significantly less perceived recoil than do jacketed bullets of similar (and even lesser) weights. This is because of the greatly reduced effort it takes for hardcast lead bullets to pass through the revolver's forcing cone at the receiver end of the barrel and into the rifling lands. You have to experience it to believe it.
Furthermore, hard cast lead bullets for reloaders are often available from local casters through gun shops, at gun shows, or directly at a fraction of the cost of quality commercial jacketed pistol bullets. A good way to judge the quality of hard cast lead bullets is the uniform sharpness of their bases and if they are packed neatly in rows and stacks rather than loose in a box. Base edge uniform sharpness adds materially to accuracy.
While I have found the effect not worth the while in .357RemMag class revolvers (they lead like crazy), .44RemMag hard cast bullet loads in front of 2400 powder are sweet. It's my guess you would also like them in the .41Mag. For the last decade fully 90% of my .44RemMag shooting has been done with stout loads behind hard cast lead bullets. BTW, another easy and effective revolver modification is to have the forcing cone lengthened. Worth every penny!
__________________
Doing my duty . . . . the way I see it.
"The trouble with most people is not what they don't know, but what they know for certain that isn't true."
Mark Twain
put a sling i feel fits with my 1941 VKT M91 better (the leather civil guard marked M28 sling didn't feel right with a non-civil guard rifle so i got a canvas sling that is correct for all continuation war rifles)
I managed to pick up a couple more revolvers over the Head-fi hiatus. I also got my .41 Magnum reloading toolhead set up and put together a couple hundred middlewight rounds with AA#9 powder under 210 grn Hornady XTP bullets. The .41 is a nice accurate load that seems to be a bit flatter than the .44 with 10% less recoil. A nice shooting round.
I picked up another .41 Magnum for the collection. A S&W Mountain Gun Mod-57.
And added a Mint+ Colt Diamondback to my small Colt Snake revolver collection.
Very nice--where did you pick them up? I just received in the mail a very nice custom bullhide gunbelt from The Beltman. The belt should work well with my IWB Kramer Leatherworks Thompson Perfectionist.
__________________ Why be anonymous?
Last edited by Robert Linthicum; 12-14-2007 at 01:07 AM..
I don't mention exact charges because they are particular to firearm and load components; your mileage may vary greatly! Utilizing molyed bullets alone usually allows me another grain or two of propellant; It takes that much less energy to start a lubricated bullet into the lands. Turned out I had guesstimated pretty well and the best charge was right in the middle of the four I had set out. It doesn't always work that way; that's what the lighter charges are for. In this case, we went a grain lower than where the test heavy cull cases showed harder bolt turn which was corroborated by a mean of 0.0008" expansion in the fired case base over loads one grain lighter. Now, we chrono this load.
Linear Mode
