TargetTalk

chiltech500 wrote:I must be missing something. When I crimp the round the only unchanged portion is the shoulder - does that mean the slight variation between one mfgs' .452 and another matter?

Would measuring the inside diameter of my barrel and a bullet tell me if they are compatible?

A lot of things might matter a little, and many of them can be adjusted with the right powder, OAL and crimp.

Bullet hardness matters, and some barrels will lead badly with certain bullets.



Slugging the barrel is one of the best ways to know for sure, but there are other things that cause leading or inaccuracy other than improperly sized bullets.

The reason a lot of people suggest the Oregon Trail Lasercast is because they are high quality bullets with good bases.

I have had very good luck with these below and recommend them unconditionally.

http://www.rozedist.com/mm5/merchant.mv ... =ZSB-45ACP

Once you have a good reliable load with a quality bullet, you need to stop nit picking the accuracy, and move on to developing your triggering skills.

Bullseye is not benchrest, it is a different game, and is much easier to get acceptable accuracy.

Thanks for all the pointers. Zero is sold out on the bullets you suggest.

chiltech500 wrote:Thanks for all the pointers. Zero is sold out on the bullets you suggest.

Yes, If you call them, they will either send you some or get you on a list. When this craziness got started, their online ordering system was swamped by hoarders and people looking to resell quickly for a profit. and so from what I understand, they have reverted to doing business by phone.

I will most likely be calling them in June for pickup at Camp Perry. I use the linked bullets exclusively for the longline. I shoot cheaper lighter cast bullets at the short line.

If you want a shoulder seating die, e mail Steve Bathje at sbathje@yahoo.com

He sells them on ebay but sometimes it is easier to order direct.

Happy shooting.

I have had good results with both the Magnus and Zero swaged bullets and I think this is because they are relatively soft. When a bullet is soft it is more forgiving and exact sizing is not as important.

I once shot a bunch of bullets through my Baer Wadcutter from Dardas and the .451 bullets were way more accurate than the .452 and the .453 were decidedly the worst.

I now shoot my own Saeco 069 cast out of alloy that is around 9-10 BHN and sized to .452 because that is the sizer I happen to have and the results are as good as I have ever gotten.

I have measured bores and bullets but that is quite tricky to be accurate doing and like to shoot some of several sizes until I am happy and ignore the measurements except to give me a starting idea.

Right now I am testing a 32 Pardini ACP which has a barrel inside diameter of .3138 and I have shot some .313 bullets that grouped better than .314 with the same load. I tested at .313, .314, .3145 and .315. Generally the .314 was the best but it wasn't overwhelmingly better and depended on what was being shot. The alloy for this bullet is also around 9 BHN.

Hard lead bullets are the most difficult to deal with by far.

In comparison the 45 was simple to get good groups with so I never went to such detail working up loads for it before I was satisfied.

Does anyone have a source for N310? I am running low, and would like to try to get some more rather than work up a load with a new powder. I understand the VV factory was recently sold, and production has temporarily stopped (at least I hope the stoppage is temporary).

Sadly I have given up my search. I heard the new plant will not be up for over a year, something about the condition of the old plant.