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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-
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timmalcolm
Well, I fixed my trigger by adjusting it down to 12oz.
The scope issue was still bothering me, and I really wanted to have a setup where I could remove the scope for safe storage, so I made a weaver rail specific to the Felix rifle from billet 416SS. It is held in a zero stress condition and is parrelel to the barrel within .001 inches. Bugs Bunny would call it “poyfect”.
It was a little difficult because this action had already been D&Ted with some sort of fixture, and it would have been off a little if I had just slammed some holes in there where they “should have been”. What I did was set up the action in the mill and sweep in each hole and record the positions for each. Then I glued the rail in place with bedding compound and clamped it in perfect alignment. Then I went back in and drilled and counter-bored the holes in the exact true position for each one. The result was a perfectly fitting rail that is just as solid as it is accurate. Every flat surface on this rifle is perfectly square to the cross hairs of the scope.
A nice set of Tally rings rounded out the rifle and now I can remove the scope and return it to position at my leisure and have confidence that everything goes together the same every time. Very nice setup.
I was really hoping to get out and shoot this weekend, but business comes before pleasure, and it’s supposed to be raining on Sunday.
Oh well. Gives the rest of the XCB shooters a chance to catch up.swheeler
SwedeNelson
michaelburns
sgt.mike
While not the 30 XCB Cartridge this was shot with the 30 XCB Bullet from NOE.
In a 1903A3 Remington barrel date is 1943, I was using dacron filler in every load
I attempted some powders that might serve as a replacement for SR 4759 which has been really good for my purposes.
Figured I would share these results:18 grs AA5744 Lino XCB 2700+ Lube .310″ Copper Gas Check
18 grs AA5744 WW Water Dropped and Heat treated VCB 2700+ Lube .310″ Copper Gas Check
18 grs AA5744 WW Water Dropped and heat treated XCB 2700+ Lube .310″ Alum Gas Check
20 grs AA5744 Lino XCB 2700+ Lube .310″ Copper Gas Check
20 grs AA5744 WW Water dropped and heat treated 2700+ Lube Copper Gas Check
20 grs AA5744 WW Water dropped and heat treated 2700+ Lube Alum Gas Check
22 grs AA5744 Lino XCB 2700+ Lube .310″ Copper Gas Check
22 grs AA5744 WW Water dropped and heat treated 2700+ Lube Copper Gas Check
22grs AA5744 WW Water dropped and heat treated 2700+ Lube Alum Gas Check
24 grs AA5744 Lino XCB 2700+ Lube .310″ Copper Gas Check
24 grs AA5744 WW Water dropped and heat treated 2700+ Lube Copper Gas Check
24 grs AA5744 WW Water dropped and heat treated 2700+ Lube Alum Gas Check
43grs Superformance Lino XCB 2700+ Lube .310″ Copper Gas Check
45grs Superformance Lino XCB 2700+ Lube .310″ Copper Gas Check
47 grs Superformance Lino XCB 2700+ Lube .310″ Copper Gas Check
the top left is a pulled flyer below is a measured group discounting the flyer
Here is the 311331 WW water dropped 2700+ lube .310″ that I shoved 40grs Imr4350 under
Some have made comments why I measure with caliper well it makes it easier for you the reader.
JRR
The SR4759 shoots quite a bit better than the AA5744 , but maybe a bit of playing will result in a mid velocity accurate load.What simply amazed me is the alloy difference and gas check materials with the exact same load which was also the part I wanted to see. Hopefully this helps understanding, The XCB bullet when using a good powder will absoultly amaze you in it’s accuracy. At least thus far that has been my experience with the bullet
the above is the 21gr load (SR4759) with the XCB. which is the base line I’m looking atWhat I need to do is give Al a call and snag a 5 cavity with handles of that bullet thus far has worked well in every 30 caliber I have placed it in. I’ll keep looking for a powder that will allow me to shoot mid-range velocity as accurately as SR 4759 (i hope)
ohhh sorry just realized I did not give the distance all shooting is at the 100 yd line.
update 17 feb ….. Yes a 5 cavity inbound… AL you the MAN!!!!!! Thank You Sir.Just wondering, why are a lot of people water-dropping for those pressures and velocities? BHN 15 is enough to go really quite fast.
Just a method, have not tried 50/50 mix (non WQ HT) yet in the 30-06.
Total rounds expended that day was 150 or there abouts.
If you go back and look I tried two differant alloys, one was Lino the other a 50 (WW)/50 (range lead) water dropped and heat treated within the same load exact everything then compared the 50/50 WQ/ HT with copper checks versus Alum checks.with the AA5744 my goal was to find a powder to sub for SR4759 and get 1 MOA or Less. just did not find joy…
The Superformance was to see how the Lino was going to act in the old sewer piped 1903 interesting was that as the charge got high the better the groups was in the superformance which will lead me to try a 49grs /51gr / 53gr and a 54grs load to see if the groups go south or where the apex is.Frank not yet it is on the list maybe I should bump it up to higher ??
Your thoughts? (figuring to start in the 20gr range max is 30grs if I recall correctly)Side note:
Right now waiting on the new XCB Mold from AL (soon LOL)
Hopefully that bullet you have (the match in the group buy is done as a production run) I can scare up some disposable income to try it as well.Ohh what I did not list above is the COAL because it is a old 1903A3 with a Military throat etc etc and fired countless corrossive rounds (no I not making excuses but her barrel will not allow what a newer barrel will) the rounds was loaded to a COAL of 3.187 in order to allow engaving the throat.
frankelliott
Frank,
set-up 15 rounds up with 19grs and another 15 with 21 grs (Imr 4227) for the 1903A3 If I can get a consistant 1.5″ I’ll set it as the go to load. Then play with getting some high velocity out of her accurately which will not be a real good test bed but will asist in the 30XCB once she is completed.
Spoke to the barrel maker today, the barrel (s) should be cut next week sometime so here shortly a batch of barrels should be hitting my front door. Figure another coupla weeks before Goodsteel gets his backlog cleared then it’s chuck it in the lathe and off we go. the new 5 cavity should be in setup a few thousand bullets with differant alloys and start playing. Not in a rush to get this done need to round up some accessories rail, adjustable buttstock, etc, shift scopes around until I build enough disposable income to pay for a better grade of scope. Or at least that is the plan little bit at a time.
Thank you for your input I’ll let you know how it goes.
MikeAnother range session with Bertha; this time trying a couple of new things while pursuing that elusive “bug-hole” 10-shot group. Today I switched to Winchester LR primers, from my customary CCI 200s. Larry Gibson uses WLRs with great accuracy, so I wanted to see what they would do.
I also loaded one string with Hodgdon CFE223 powder. This powder sits directly above LeveRevolution (on the faster side) on the Hodgdon burn rate chart, and is also a ball powder. I chose 40 grains as a test load, based on experience with similar powders.
Finally I loaded 10 rounds with bullets cast from a Copper enhanced alloy that Godsteel donated to the cause. I don’t know the exact makeup of this alloy, other than it cast godawful rough bullets, so it was more than likely a tin-poor alloy. After about 4 weeks aging it measured 24 BHN with my LBT tester.
An overview of the 6 strings:
The individual groups without further comment:
I’m getting to the point with this rifle/bullet combo that I feel comfortable starting to change some of the variables beside powder and charge amounts. Alloy is next on the list; I have amassed a collection of NOE 30 XCB bullets cast from multiple alloys and both water dropped, heat treated and air cooled.
Primers are also a subject that interests me; I’ll be doing a side by side comparison using about a dozen different primers with loads in the 2700 fps range, to see if the results will change appreciably.
timmalcolm
swheeler
SwedeNelson
michaelburns
sgt.mike
JRR
frankelliott
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