[frontiergander]

Anyone ever shot these? Ive spent about 4 hours over 2 days in the shop casting these up. Normally i dont dip, but on these i dropped them into a bucket of cold water to make them a bit harder than they normally are.

Hopefully they'll do decent in the Apex with 70gr BH209. I scoped it last night just for the heck of it. The scope is fuzzy but for target shooting it will be ok.

$25 every month and a half to feed him, but at least i know my rifles are safe :biggrin:

 

[Hunting Man]

I used to pour my own round balls but it got old when I could just purchase a whole box for 9.00. Dog looks like he owns the gun.

 

[frontiergander]

i used to just buys the balls too but they went up to $20!!

Was going to cast some .54s yesterday but couldnt find the darn mold. Found it later when i was looking for some stuff in a bag. So maybe i will cast those this evening.

 

[frontiergander]

oooh these suckers are showing promise! I took 5 loaders out with 70gr BH209 and my lee minie. First shot at 25 yards was 4" low, 50 clicks up put it under the bulls eye, Adjusted 20 clicks up and moved the target out to 50 yards. First shot was high so i adjusted it down a bit and fired 2 shots. I'll post a picture after i get back from shooting 75 yards. We'll see how tight they hold up at 75.

 

[frontiergander]

Heres the 50 yard target, First shot i thought was to high so i adjusted it down and fired 2 more.

Went out to 75 yards, first 2 shots were within 1 1/2" center/center. 3rd shot loaded stiff as heck. My hand still hurts. That hard to load bullet dropped 3" and blew the group.

I may end up presizing these bullets by pushing them through the barrel and then go back over them with a file to knurl them a bit larger. Right now the bullets lack of consistent size is killing the accuracy.

 

[frontiergander]

Apex - 360 minie testing

Well its nice and sunny and warm here today. A big step up from the past 2 days.

I wanted to try the unlubed 360gr lee minies in the Apex again with 70gr BH209, W209 primer. Group was a big pooper at 50 yards.
Due to not lubing them, reloading was smooth and easy now! No stickiness or gummy feeling. Perfect! I may retry them here with 80gr pyrodex pellets and see maybe if a different powder will work with them instead.

Switching to 100gr pyrodex pellets, w209 primer and i scrounged up TWO 295gr Aerotip Powerbelts i figured what the heck, worth a try to see how they shoot.
They shot pretty darn good!

With the W209 primer i did have a bit of a soft crud ring to push through when seating the next bullet. Very doable in the field but once i UBC this bore, it should no longer be an issue.

Target with all the shots on it.

Man its been a long time since i shot that stinky stuff! I can taste it in my mouth after only shoot 2 rounds LOL.

Now its time to clean the Apex and get some powder tubes ready with the 50-50 / 50-30 pellets and see how the minies will do.