The barrel on my 20ga handi rifle is disappointingly heavy - straight tube almost.

Fired up the lathe last night and made some expanders for 30 - 32 caliber for .32-20 rechambered Martini.

Found the mould for the 20ga, half done. Plan is to insert a short length of 1/2 copper tubing (0.625" OD) into the mould, pre-heat and then fill with lead. Don't know about air pockets though - that may be a limitation and a reason for going to a more traditional design.

Tune in tomorrow.

Must ... have ... more ... data, PLEASE, 45LCSHOOTER!

I have started casting 900 grain bullets with a rather small metplat for today's trends in bullet shape. I made it that way so I could hollow point the bullets without making them look odd and have made several 700 grain bullets by cutting a 5/16" hollow point in them. I have not fired any of these yet.

I Chronographed some of the 900 grainers today loaded over 140 grain volume (converted to weight for loading purpose: just shy of 100 grains weight) of Pyrodex R. I had plenty of room but wanted to load over a cookie of lube and I seated the bullet deep enough to protect the paper. Velocities averaged 1292 fps with about 10 or 15 fps spread. A slight variation in seating depth may even account for that as my group was split between those hovering around 1286 and 1296. Recoil was stiffer than I recalled from a few informal shots taken after shooting clays with a friend, but I may have been looser then. I was a little concerned about shooting my chronograph today.

I am tickled about getting so close to 1300 fps today. It is still about 550 fps shy of .600 NE, but not having a 16 lb double to shoot it in does make a difference. I have not desire to push it that hard anyway. 1350 would be plenty for me in the current configuration though if I can add a few pounds, I may see how close to 1500 I can stand to get.

1292 fps sounds adequate to me!