My NOS 1919 Winchester 5-groove barrel now has a grand total of 846 cast bullet rounds through it; having never been on a receiver no jacketed rounds have touched it. I'm still trying to find what it will shoot other than the boooooring 16.5/2400 under a 311299 sized to .311. Yesterday cabin fever drove me to the range with a range of loads including some 180 gr 31141s from an old Lyman mold sized to .312. The fat nose jams the bullets into back into the case; the base protrudes .176” below the neck into the case. Nine rounds sailed into 1.1” at 100 yards; it was about 20 degrees with swirling breezes and I had one misfire on a Remington 9.5 primer, so the group “doesn't count” unfortunately. In fact, I had several misfires that day and my firing pin channel needs to be degreased before our first military match January 7th. It would appear that the nose is sealing the throat sufficiently to offset the protruding base. From searching this site I see no safety problem, although it is supposed to degrade accuracy. I'm going to pursue more load development with this bullet, got too far down the 311299 200-gr rabbit hole and this will be a welcome diversion. Thoughts?
Match Director