RW

Overall I'm very pleased. The Mashburn and the 30-40 are almost too good to believe. Five shot groups are runing in the mid .3's for both, but then that's where I've been concentrating. 40 Gr V-Max and 52 gr Sierra MK for the Bee and 190 SMK's for the Krag seem to work best. I want to shoot cast in the Krag barrel but haven't found the right combination yet. The 38-55 is strictly a cast operation and I've had some promising results with a modified NEI mold at about 290 gr. Shooting about 1.5" right now but expecting more improvement as I refine the receipe. My barrel change time including scope is about 4 minutes on average and that includes the extractor which sometimes adds an additional minute. I (like you) wanted something different and went with something off the regular track.

I am not familiar with the extractor design on the 1885. I would recommend that you discuss case extraction wirh your builder along with your cartridge choices because changing extractors and might prove to be a PITA in the 1885. As to your cartridge references, all are good performers regardless of the target. You are embarking on an interesting adventure.