Ed Harris
posted this
18 March 2008
giorgio de galleani wrote: I have got an SMLE N°4 with two grooved barrel shooting good groups with your NEI #72 bullet., A gorgeous 6 cavity gang mould. In two more .303 Smle with five grooves and an Italian bolt action Sabatti rifle in 7.62x39 with russian throat ,to have the bullet's nose engraved by the lands I have to poke the bullets out of the case,merely the gascheck is inside the case. This takes away the peace of my mind,I believe the bullet is out of alignement with the case. In any case I would appreciate a 200 gr. bullet. I have very old Lyman moulds 314299 and a 311467 flat nose loverin,they shoot bad,
Would a longer bullet body (.315 dia,)followed by an ogive as in bullet #72 be a good idea? Or have you already solved the problem? Or would you advice me to shoot #72 seated normally ,accept plinking accuracy and not look to make bench rest winning champions of old junk? Bullet#72 gets easily under moa groups in a heavy barrel mod 70 .308w I own.
Giorgio,
In my experience, as long as the gascheck base of the bullet is still guided by the neck of the cartridge case as the bullet engages the origin of rifling, accuracy will be OK, if not competition quality.
If bullets are seated far out, so that the shank length held by the case neck is less than the bullet diameter, ballistic uniformity is adversely affected.
I would try seating the #72 to normal length, shooting as-cast, without sizing the bullet, and crimping the GC in an oversized die, to ensure that the bullet base is large enough to seal the throat, not sizing the driving bands at all.
If your No. 4 is properly bedded cast bullets seated in this manner should do at least as well as good lots of Mk.VII ball ammunition.
I did not have great success using over-sized .315"+ bullets in the military .303 chamber. I must confess that I rebarreled my .303 using a Hyem hammer forges .30 cal. barrel of normal 7.62mm NATO dimensions, .300 bore, .308 groove, four grooves one turn in 12", and using a .303 British pressure and velocity test barrel reamer. This rifle shoots very well indeed, but of course is no longer “military issue."
I hope that other .303 shooters will add their advise, and that our new thread "Lessons on Rule .303" will attract a following as large as the .32 Popguns!
73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia