Finally tested some of my cast Boolits in the Rigby.

I bought a FN 350 grain RCBS mold which casts Boolits of 357 or 358 grains. If I was very selective I could cull 60% to get 40% within 0.4 grains of each other. The majority seem to be 358.2/4 grains. All are sized, lubed and fitted with Gas Checks.

I loaded up ten over 35 grains of Trail Boss. This is the max load and fills the case 98% without pressure signs. Recoil is negligible. I mounted a bipod and a new Redfield 3-9x40 for load testing.

After bore sighting, two shots had me on target at a measured 100 yards. My first three shot group went into a perfect triangle of 1.2". The next group went into a vertical line 2.8" high. Signs of promise.

I also shot three rounds over 50 grains of 2206H for a reduced load. There was unburnt powder/material lying in the bottom of the barrel after shooting three rounds so I may have to up the load.

have you chrono'ed yet?

Rich

Not yet Rich.

I went out again this arvo and 30 grains of Trail Boss (a smaller load) produced a sub 1" group in another perfect triangle. This is my 'varmint' load. The poor old 3-9x40 Redfield has just about run out of elevation though. It must have limited adjustment range.

I'm stoked my hand poured Boolits are working so well.

I tried 55 grains 2206H (cause I have heaps of it and don't use it for anything else) and it shrunk the group a little. Recoil is approx to a full house .30-06. I'm going to try 60 grains tomorrow from a cold barrel. I'll take the chrono then.

Well you can never rely on anything.

Fired my 30 grains of TB load again this arvo and it went into a perfect Triangle of 4.650". Velocity was 1,487fps.

60 grain of 2206H went into a vertical triangle of 3.985" for an average velocity of 1,819 fps.

Back to the drawing board.

Giday Code4, there are a couple of areas to consider. First is boolit shape - design and next is fit, where sizing can have an effect on results.
I designed the 350gn GC boolit for my 404 Jeffery with accuracy and velocity in mind.My boolit is the GC and lubed one 6 from left. It has nice long bore dia nose section with round flat point(for hunting effectiveness) radiused to allow loading to standard OAL with engagement. Has wide drive band to allow velocity. Had the mould made by Hoch and it drops beautiful boolits that have only a 1/2 thou of sizing to be 1 1/2 thou over groove dia and it has bought very pleasing results in a number of 404,s.



This is a 55 yd 5 shot group with aperture sights and is the hardest I have pushed this boolit. 87gn 2209 (H4350)gave me 2416fps with a 90/10 ww/lino HT alloy. 74gn 2208 (varget) gives me 2363fps for the same accuracy but 63gn 2209 at 1884fps has shot into .33 and is my accuracy load.
Have shot goats with the 1884fps load and can eat right up to the hole.
Tried 14.5gn Red Dot for 1165fps and while accuracy was in the ëxceptable"plinking range, the lack of "feel" to that load was dissapointing so stay with the 63gn 2209 - 1884fps load for plinking etc.( eagle 27's results on NE were with my boolit)



Von Gruff.

That's an excellent result.

My next step is to try a different alloy to reduce Dia. so I can fire some unsized and see what happens.

I am currently useing an alloy a poofteenth softer than Lyman #2 and sizeing to 0.417 in a lubrasizer.

Have you checked the difference between as cast dia and groove dia for your rifle. How will you set the GC without sizing. I like to be about a thou and a 1/2 over groove dia for the drive bands and a half thou on the bore riding nose section. It may even be necessary to lap out your sizing die as sometimes they are not sizing exactly as marked and a slightly too small boolit will(or may) cause inaccuracy where a fatter boolit may obdurate better with a nice soft alloy suitable for hunting. There is little pressure build up with a boolit a couple of thou over groove dia with casting alloys even up to and including straight lino (that I use a lot) compared to a jacketed bullet.

I took an unused lubrisizer die and opened it up to take a neck sizing bush from the Wilson dies and by using a number of cheap( compared to lubrisizer dies) neck bushes can experiment with various sizing dia. The die also needs to be shortened by the thickness of a over washer to hold the bush in on the up-stroke. This is one I did for nose sizing and allows me to have a bore riding nose a 1/2 thou over bore dia and size just enough of the nose to get the seating depth I want that suits the boolit base - case neck/shoulder junction. I can set the depth of the stroke to suit and have these measurements noted for quick re-setting of the lubrisizer.


Von Gruff.