- This topic is empty.
-
Topic
-
bjornborud
I shot 160 rounds loaded with the XCB bullet today, giving my XCB rifle a good workout. What I was doing was in no way a TEST, in fact I won’t be using that word much anymore, since a test implies laying down baselines, using a comparison protocol, a minimum amount of shots, etc. etc.
Rather than getting all complicated I’ll be doing some shooting, explaining and observing over the next few months, and I invite you shooters out there to share your comments and critiques here on the board. No “rights” or “wrongs”, I’ll be trying out a multitude of variables in my quest to make my rifle shoot as well as she is capable of.
When I did my “HV lube test” the other day, Geargnasher commented that I hadn’t shot sufficiently large strings for the bore to get conditioned with the lube. I have to admit that he most likely is right, and today I wanted to give this famous lube a fair shake. At the end of the day a hundred rounds lubed with FWFL had gone down the bore, and here are some of the highlights:
First I shot a few mild loads – 13 grains of Unique. After the first group of 6 I went directly into 3 strings loaded with 28 grains of Varget. The first 2 groups, 15 shots each, were filled with 3/4 gr. Dacron, with the third group (10 shots) I used Puff-Lon as a filler. This is a powdery substance that is compressed (by 20%) between powder and bullet base. I could not detect much difference in accuracy between the two methods.Then I went straight into some High Velocity stuff. The lube held up very well as the target pictures show. I didn’t set up my chronograph; I have ordered this contraption and it’s being delivered Wednesday:
It should make documentation much easier, since I like to gather data from all my shooting.
The numbers in parenthesis next to the HV groups are MVs chronographed with the identical loads earlier, when the rifle’s barrel was 3 1/2″ shorter. It should give a good reference.Here are the targets from several of the strings shot with Felix lube:
At this point I scrubbed the bore thoroughly, and changed over to a lube I hadn’t tried before: White Label 2700+, from Lars’ Lubes. I had loaded several strings from mild to wild, and to say that I was impressed with this lube would be an understatement. In earlier conversations with Larry Gibson it was mentioned that this lube could be too stiff and possibly leave lube in the grooves upon muzzle exit. Because of the XCB bullet’s shallow grooves I decided to give it a go and it appears the lube performs as advertised.
With this lube I also mixed it up and loaded several bullets cast from pure linotype. Those are indicated in the target photos.
All in all I was very pleased with the way both rifle and loads performed. Not pictured are several groups shot with experimental powders, that didn’t work out well. These loads bombed with both lubes, so no fault there. Hodgdon Superformance just doesn’t shoot well at the velocities we were trying to attain, and more experimenting is needed in this area.
bjornborud-
Replies
-
JRR
timmalcolm
No problem Jeff.
Sorry about the fuzzy picture, but you get the idea.
Concerning damage to the leading edge of the check:
1. You’re going to be sanding them anyway.
2. I experienced no visible or measurable damage to the checks as I took them off.
3. The most uncritical part of the check is the edge that might get “damaged” by wedging them off the mandrel and any damage done to it will either prevent it slipping on the shank like a glove, or will get wiped away by the sizing die.
4. what could you possibly do that would be worse than the way the check arrived? I mean of we can get away with checks that are bowed like potato chips .005 and which have skirt height variations of up to .007, and which roll a bur of lead up the shank of the bullet because they are undersized, then I think the little bit of potential damage that could be inflicted by removing the check pales in comparison.Goodsteel,
Thanks for the good photos. I have a decent stand up drill press. I went through my selection of drill sizes and selected the one that is the diameter I wanted. Chucked it upside down, raised the bed up to the required height. Checked the run out to make sure it was straight enough and then test bumped some checks successfully. I’ll try spinning them against the bed tomorrow morning. I aligned the bed with the drill shank using a machinist square.I have always had problems seating the checks of certain bullets. This is much better, since now they will go on with finger pressure. Drill sizes are available that will do just about any shank size you can come up with.
Thanks again,
JeffGoodsteel,
Thanks for the good photos. I have a decent stand up drill press. I went through my selection of drill sizes and selected the one that is the diameter I wanted. Chucked it upside down, raised the bed up to the required height. Checked the run out to make sure it was straight enough and then test bumped some checks successfully. I’ll try spinning them against the bed tomorrow morning. I aligned the bed with the drill shank using a machinist square.I have always had problems seating the checks of certain bullets. This is much better, since now they will go on with finger pressure. Drill sizes are available that will do just about any shank size you can come up with.
Thanks again,
JeffSounds good Jeff.
Remember to press the drill shank down on a file or sand paper to make sure it is absolutely flat, relatively flat, or at least slightly coned in a concentric manner LOL!If a guy had a rusty pin gauge set, he’d be in hog heaven for this.
I would like to extend a hearty highfive, handshake, and knucklebump to Detox for getting us going this way.
daveridenour
SwedeNelson
Played with reconditioning GC about a year ago, but never tried to spin them
Was able to come real close to what Goodsteel has done with just a drill press
and a $4.00 pin gauge for MSC
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/89028401
Spinning it with a gas check on it and ran it down on the top of the vise
Didn’t even sand them, about as flat as you can get.
A punch and die by them self is not the answer
Spinning them is the key – thanks Goodsteel!Bullet maker, maker
Al Nelsonerty
Played with reconditioning GC about a year ago, but never tried to spin them
Was able to come real close to what Goodsteel has done with just a drill press
and a $4.00 pin gauge for MSC
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/89028401
Spinning it with a gas check on it and ran it down on the top of the vise
Didn’t even sand them, about as flat as you can get.
A punch and die by them self is not the answer
Spinning them is the key – thanks Goodsteel!Bullet maker, maker
Al NelsonFor the record, I do not recommend using sandpaper on the bottoms of the checks. I did the first 10 of them like that, and i found the thickness to be nonuniform. I couldn’t control the amount of material removed.
Spinning them against a flat piece of steel or iron proved to be very consistent indeed.Also, the pin diameter that I used (the tip of the MBT tool) was .287 in diameter. This was the size of the check shank of the bullets cast of linotype. Sized thusly, the check would slide tightly onto a Linotype bullet (without shaving), and easier onto lesser alloys, but it would not fall off. In fact, it was a real bear to get a check off even my house alloy bullets after they had been pressed on with the thumb.
That said, the checks I was using were Hornady brand, and you were probably using gator checks, so YMMV?
Interesting stuff for sure.tommeboy
tomme boy
A flat punch and die would get most of the cup out of them
Tried a convex pin and a concave die and could never get it to work 100%
Spinning gets them dead flat and it’s fast!
Was looking for the quickest easiest way, I didn’t think any one really likes add
steps to the process.Bullet maker, maker
Al NelsonLarry Gibson
keithsharp
Taper bumping not only makes bullet more uniform, it also compresses bullet for less deformation during take off. Soft alloy such as wheel weights makes bumping easier and hardening them afterwards seems to be the trick. Linotype should work also.
THUS (I hate using that word) better groups with cast a higher velocity.
How bout developing a 60 grain 22XCB bullet
JRR
timmalcolm
daveridenour
SwedeNelson
erty
tommeboy
Larry Gibson
keithsharp- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.