Identification: Lee- Enfield 7.62 mm |
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450 Fuller
Groupie Joined: June 07 2022 Location: New Mexico-AK-A Status: Offline Points: 40 |
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Yes and no. Not having a factory test barrel or a strong Weatherby action
in 338-06, I demurred in favor of common sense. The bullets were cast .338/250 gr and the bore was not blocked by a cleaning patch. Subsequent hunting and shooting this rifle with jacketed bullets from 225-250 gr have produced no ill effects and the rifle is accurate. The evidence is sufficient beyond a reasonable doubt that the GC was the culprit. |
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Only the dead have seen the end of war-Plato
Socialism-The equal sharing of misery-Churchill MACVSOG-5th Special Forces Gp |
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DaveNo5
Groupie Joined: January 15 2022 Location: Western NY, USA Status: Offline Points: 82 |
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450 Fuller:
Thanks. I shoot almost exclusively cast in all my rifles. Cast have been used successfully in bottle-necked semi-auto, such as the Garand family: The website so linked has another discussion on cast in the M1 Garand as well. Considering the length of the threads at that site, there must be hundreds of thousands of rounds fired from bottle-neck cartridges, all with gas checks. However, there's a similar warning to yours found here, with attendant discussion: In contrast, the discussion here includes gas checks fall off in flight (obviously loose), with the only effect being a loss in accuracy: It seems to me the thing to do is to contact the gas check manufacturers, who can test with the appropriate test equipment using different bullet molds, different cases, different loads, and different checks. If this is really a risk (and it may very well be), the manufacturers should be made aware of it.
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DaveNo5
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Goosic
Senior Member Joined: September 12 2017 Location: Phoenix Arizona Status: Offline Points: 8792 |
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(What you have described is something I have read about and experienced first hand and I highly doubt that a gas check was the actual culprit even though it might have played a part.)
I have been reloading for 38 years now.
I handload using jacketed bullets. I weigh each charge out individually on a scale. Up until 6 - 8 months ago, everything was as it should have been. A few years ago I started using a 200grn D166 Lapua bullet in my 303B. Trying to extrapolate load information was not as fruitful as anticipated. That being said though. I was finally able to establish a minimum charge weight and I stay to that number without deviations. I had just finished loading 50 rounds and proceeded to the range. The first 20 rounds were looking good. It was when I placed round #42 into the chamber and squeezed the trigger that I was gifted with the most unpleasant experience I had encountered that day. The rifle recoiled hard enough to knock me out of the chair I was seated in. Got up, dusted myself off, looked at the rifle and noticed straight away a definitive outward curve on the slabside of the reciever. Removing the bolt required me to use a chopsaw and cut the reciever in half. The short locking lug was broken off and lodged in its recess. I took the remaining 58 loaded rounds and scaled each one just to make sure of what I was dreading I had done hadn't been done. Found it with the first weigh in. Somehow I managed to double charge load 42 and 43. How did this come to be even though I weigh each charge out independently? I don't know and never will know. What I do know is that, after breaking the rifle down into its individual components it was noticed that the resulting pressure spike sheared away the assend of the rebated boattail and left it lodged halfway down the barrel making it appear to be an obstruction when in fact it was the end result of a double charged load. Agree to disagree with me as you will see fit to do but, it does sound like you experienced a double charged round... |
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450 Fuller
Groupie Joined: June 07 2022 Location: New Mexico-AK-A Status: Offline Points: 40 |
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Interesting. You were fortunate.
I have been reloading for 51 years, and have not experienced a repeat incident similar to the one described. Neither do I now utilize GCs in bottleneck cases. I don't miss them at all. I still retain the damaged brass 338-06 case, in case bad memory should overtake me. And I still use cast bullets. If I did'nt make a habit of single weighing rifle cases in ALL cases, and used IMR 4198 or similar faster powder at the same time in a progressive press operation- it would be entirely possible for a double charge. The only other possibility is accidentally seating a 348 cast lead FP bullet, of which I had a box or two. Fortunately, the Model 70 chamber would have required a bit of force to make that happen-and these were gc'd 338 bullets designed for an 1886 Winchester in 33 WCF. If there had been a double charge or overcharge, or a faster powder than a standard load in IMR 4064 powder- with much more damage- I might be willing to concede the possibilty. There is also the remote possiblity that 2 gas checks were fastened to the bullet base, but not likely. More friction is encountered with jacketed bullets than cast, but that is a moot point. The Model 70 in question continues to fire and function well, and between another early Model 70 in 338 WM and a few 1886 Winchesters-I am well supplied with jacketed .338 bullets. The facts at hand are enough for me. We do share a similar experience without guarantees of the cause-but one possibility has been permanently removed from the equation. My lesson has been learned. I paper patch heavy cast bullets for a Sharps and 1885 SS in 45 2.1, and use cast bullets in a couple of New Service Colts. Gas checks are just as common as scorpions in my loading bench area-and just as welcome. |
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Only the dead have seen the end of war-Plato
Socialism-The equal sharing of misery-Churchill MACVSOG-5th Special Forces Gp |
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A square 10
Special Member Donating Member Joined: December 12 2006 Location: MN , USA Status: Offline Points: 14452 |
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bottom line response to your original question , if it appears to be a no4 rifle it might be longbranch but if it appears to be a no1 style rifle most likely the ishy ,
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450 Fuller
Groupie Joined: June 07 2022 Location: New Mexico-AK-A Status: Offline Points: 40 |
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I believe it is an Ishapore, 7.62. Without the usual markings.
Excellent bore-accurate. |
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Only the dead have seen the end of war-Plato
Socialism-The equal sharing of misery-Churchill MACVSOG-5th Special Forces Gp |
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Goosic
Senior Member Joined: September 12 2017 Location: Phoenix Arizona Status: Offline Points: 8792 |
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If and when you can, please post some photos of this rifle. We here would be very interested as to what it looks like...
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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I used to do a lot of 9mm pistol reloading. I worried about the effects of a double charge, so I would visually check each loading block that held 50 charged cases to see if there were any cases that appeared to have more powder than the others. Its not fool proof, but does add another step to minimize the risk.
Itβs fairly easy to see a double charge in a 9mm case, but much more difficult to see this when loading cast bullets in rifle cartridges using fast burning pistol powders. Human error can never be totally eliminated.
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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I don't shoot as much as a lot of members, and my reloading stuff is pretty old and slow, so I only load 40 max at a time. The last thing I do after adding powder prior to seating the pills is to use a flashlight and look at the powder levels in the brass. Just a double check I've always done after I double charged my black powder rifle! Luckily that time (and I still do it) once I get to where I'm gonna sit, I always take the ram rod and give the load a quick tamp. It was at that moment I realized there was something fishy in Denmark!
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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I have an LED light setup on my Dillon RL550b because that whacking big head casts a big, deep shadow. I
also avoid powders that give a less than 50% volume fill, that way a
double charge is immediately obvious as powder spills everywhere! |
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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I like that light set up Shamu.
I have a magnifier desk lamp with an LED light that is pretty bright, and I can move it around (on a scissor arm). I move it over top of the 50 case loading block and I can see the top of the powder in the case prior to seating bullets. But, it's not foolproof!! At the last match, I had what I thought was a bad primer in my M1 load (CCI #34). Firing pin left it's usual mark, but bullet did not move out of the case. I pulled the bullet when I got home and no powder in the case! Evidently, the primer is not strong enough to overcome the neck tension on the bullet. I was fortunate that it happened during the prone slow fire stage, so it's easy to deal with. After waiting the usual 10 or 15 seconds (incase of a hang fire), slowly pull back the bolt and extract the round; check to be sure the bullet is still in the case, then load another round. Had this been in the rapid fire stages, it could be disastrous if the bullet was lodged in the barrel and another round was fired... In all my years of reloading, tens of thousands of rounds, it was the first time I seated a bullet on an empty case. |
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Goosic
Senior Member Joined: September 12 2017 Location: Phoenix Arizona Status: Offline Points: 8792 |
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It took me 37 years worth of reloading to finally overcharge 2 cartridges. It is never a matter of "IF" but a matter of, "WHEN" it will happen no matter what safety precautions are in place...
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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Old age catches up to all of us...ππ
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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All my rifle powder loads are well above 50% load density; so a double charge would be obvious. I have done that a few times, so just dumped the powder back into the measure and started again.
It's pistol loads and cast bullet rifle loads with pistol powders that you have to be so careful with. Another potential problem is loading the wrong powder; I've almost done that before. A disaster if you load pistol powder in place of a rifle powder, if you intended to load a ball rifle powder, you might not notice...
I once dumped back about 1/4 full powder measure of IMR 4064 into a 8 lb jug of Varget. I didn't realize it at the time. Next loading session I could see the different coloured powder sticks in the weight scale pan. I tried to get as much of the 4064 out of the Varget as I could; but could not get it all. I decided to live with it; mainly because those two powders are very close in burn rate and charge weight density. If Varget wasn't unobtanium these days, I would have burned it up or spread it out on the lawn for fertilizer. To err is human. As Gossic said, it's just a matter of time... |
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