Worn rifle bullet selection-LBT and a bore slug

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  • Last Post 18 May 2010
Tom Acheson posted this 17 May 2010

My Military rifle for use in the CBA Military BR and Postal program is a 1903 Springfield. I have owned it for 33 years and when I first got it, it was a sporter” thing” with a scope, stock, etc. I drug it around Wyoming for 5-years chasing Mule Deer and Antelope. I switched to hunting with a handgun and have never gone back to a rifle. It sat in the vault for years but then in 2008 I restored it to Military form by buying pieces and parts from Sarco. A Rock Island correct style finger groove stock and what I was told was a never fired Sedgely USMC 4-groove barrel were bought from E-bay.

The powders I initially tried were 2400, 5744, N-133, 4759, 4198 and 4756. Bullets included the Lyman 311284, 314299, 311332, Lee 312 CTL-160 2R , Saeco 301 and Ideal 311365 (pointy thing, very old mould). The results were less than miserable. So I made a bore slug per Veral Smith's (LBT) instructions and sent it to him. His comments on the slug were”¦” It has definitely been used a LOT, as the throat is well worn, but that's not a detriment to cast if the bullet fits, and the new one will. The throat is out-of-round”. So much for believing the E-bay seller claims.

The 2-cavity mould Veral made is a 315-200 SP.8 (his ogive profile designation). It has one lube groove and an extra wider front driving band. What he made was a “stepped bullet” and suggested that I size it at 0.315". I don't have a 0.315” sizing die (yet) but do have a 0.314” die. So far it has produced better groups than any of my earlier load combinations. It seems to like SR-4756, somewhere between 12 and 15 grains. With (5) rounds over the Chrony, 13-grains gave 1299 fps, 12 ES and 4.5 Sd and 2 MOA at 100-yards”¦using that silly little peep hole on that issue sight. More work to do once I get the 0.315” sizing die and get a more definitive powder charge value. The bullets using wheelweights and a touch of lino for better mould fill-out, weigh about 202-grains and fall out of the mould much like my other (3) LBT moulds do.

Unfortunately my Postal groups are still needing “improvement” and what is lacking now is not a better bullet or load....but eyes that can consistently see the front post centered on the bullseye and the light gap between the top of the post and the bottom of the bull to be kept consistent. I get some great 4-round groups every now and then but that darned 5th round but not necessarily shot in that order!

Suggestion: When frustrated with accuracy performance, give the bore slug and LBT mould route a try.

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billwnr posted this 17 May 2010

Tom, how does the LBT bullet/load perform when shot with a scope? Flyers disappear hopefully.

Congrats on coming over to the dark side and shooting rifles again.

Mitch shoots with a “thingee” stuck on his glasses to sharpen up iron sights. He does well.

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Tom Acheson posted this 17 May 2010

Bill,

Don't know on the scope subject. The mounting holes are there so maybe I should look into it...(pardon the pun).

For the last 18-months my strongest shooting ineterest has been my C. Sharps 74 BPCR in .40-65. Had to laught at some of the BPCR forums where they say to new shooters..."welcome to the world of sight and mould collecting". At least I'm a mould collector for smokeless. Might even use it in Wyoming in Oct. After shooting (22) Mule deer with a revolver since '82 it would seem odd to use a rifle but maybe...

Buffalo Arms sells those stick-on reading glass “films". Is that the same thing you mentioned?

Tom

 

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billwnr posted this 17 May 2010

Tom, I was curious if the flyer was because of the load or the problem in getting the same sight picture every time.

I think Mitch uses a Merrit disc stuck on his right lens. There's a couple of other iron shooters doing the same.

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Tom Acheson posted this 17 May 2010

Bill,

I have the Merit device and it works better for me with iron sighted handguns than rifles. Getting my head in just the right position for the 1903 and looking STRAIGHT through the Merit is a challenge. If you get sideways at all there is a slight distortion that results from the “thickness” or gap between the two pieces of the “lens” that makes it hard (for me) to find the front sight. Get everything lined-up right and it does help!

Tom

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Vassal posted this 17 May 2010

VERY INTERESTING! I have been trying to get accuracy from my '68 M39 with a LBT 315-175-sp.8. I havent had as much time to work on it as I wish, but I believe I may be getting there. I have also had the best luck with 4756! weird OR valid:thinking:.

   I am in the process of scoping this gun. it will allow me to better see what is going on, as I have had some trouble (most of which I believe was a combo of this and that = perfect storm of nastiness)  As such I can not compare LBT (I also sent a slug) with others, but I will report back. (when I gain some ground that is) It is alot easier to explain what you did right than to try and explain everything you might be doing wrong:wnk:

I hope your 03 gets even better - and my Mosins too.

 I would LOVE to get ahold of one of those 365 pointy's.

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tturner53 posted this 18 May 2010

My new LBT mold turned my Marlin 1894 .357 into a tack driver. Not a worn barrel, a new gun, but what a bullet.

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Tom Acheson posted this 18 May 2010

4756? We have a shooter up here who (two years ago) sold all of his random cans of powder (I bought his 5-pounder of 4759) and shoots nothing but 4756 in everything he owns. And he has infected a few others to do it also. I haven't discarded all of my powders but am slowly coming around to 4756 for 1903.

Tom

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JSH posted this 18 May 2010

Tom, pretty much the same thing on my end to long guns, pistols and then back to long guns. I have the itch for a 1000 yard BP rifle. But, it is no fun to travel by your self to shoot, or at least not for me. I also have incurred the eye syndrome. I encourage the youger than me crowd to shoot ironsighted before it is to late to really enjoy it. You guys are killing me on the LBT moulds....... jeff

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mike morrison posted this 18 May 2010

i have a gun that has a large throat. .005 over bore. i will not go into why. i have a lbt mould. top of the line in my opinion. with the large throat i was getting leading and poor accuracy. i solved the leading by using a softcheck under the gc bullet.it chrony's at 2200 w/o leading now. working on accuracy load now. never heard of 4756 would someone expand on it? thanks m

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Tom Acheson posted this 18 May 2010

Check this forum out. Guns and shooting, handguns, page 3 there is thread called SR 4756.

Tom

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Vassal posted this 18 May 2010

SR 4756 works really well for LIGHT 9mm cast loads also.

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tturner53 posted this 18 May 2010

4756 is a good powder for all kinds of things. I have a burn rate chart(for what it's worth) from reloadbench.com that lists 173(!!) powders. Unique is #35, SR4756 is #48, and 2400 is #67. Seems 4756 is about halfway between those two popular powders. It is next to WSF(Winchester), and Herco, just for comparison. I got a 8 lb. can for free several years ago from a friend, so it's all good news for me to be reading about your successes with it, especially in the '06 and big Russian, two of my favorites. (Actually I love them all.) 4756 is a real good powder for short barrel handguns too, I tried it, looking for a .357 load with less muzzle flash from a 3” Model 60, my favorite handgun. Now I'm going to read up some more on 4756 on that thread Tom mentioned, thanks for the tip. Oh, would it be all wrong to try a filler with 4756 in a rifle case such as the '06? Pointless?  EDIT: One more question, back to LBT molds. Anyone tried a spire point cast bullet in a .444 Marlin? I have a new barrel for my Handi Rifle single shot, was thinking of ordering a mold for it, maybe a SP for the higher BC.

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