303 loads

yeh some people cant take constructive criticism WR..thats their loss mate..stuff him. he'll learn in his own time.

White Rhino wrote: Yep guys, placment. I was in Spillway Sportsman the othe day and this guy was looking for a .270 wssm for his girl friend! they didnt have one on hand, so i sugested he get her some thing in 7mm 08, .243 , or .308. he said he didnt want to blood trail nothing. and i said the round he was looking for was awfully big for deer hunting down hear. he responded with, he uses a .300 magnum! dont have to blood trail them with it! i said of course not you just have to meat trail that at 100 yards, get a bucket and pick up the peices. then i said if you know how to shoot you would'nt need to blood trail that far anyways. well the look he gave me sent me to the door and on my way. he was one of those young punks that know every thing and dont like being put down in front of thier girl. any way he looked like he could of tied me into nots, so i left before he was finished with the sales man.

   This is something that fasinates me ! New Chum walks into a Guntore & the sales man sells him the latest wiz bang cal /Rifle on the market ! It normaly shoots something that is something too large & powerful for anything the New chum is ever going to encounter ! It hits the shoulder hard,the hip pocket hard ,the reloading ,or ammo budget hard ! Thing is the animals it hits don't know the differance

       Dave   the Bewildered

Tony wrote: Assuming new chum can hit the side of a barn when he/she's locked in it Dave! I vaguely remember reading an article years ago about a hunter in Africa. He used to shoot elephants for ivory and used a light calibre rifle, each animal was a head shot. The bullet entry point was between the eyes where there is a light spongy area of bone which is easily penetrated.  Before any tree hugger starts screaming I'm talking before the poor animals were hunted to near extinction and like the rest of the responsible shooters on here I don't condone what the guy did.

  The Gentleman your talking about Tony was WDM Bell ! His prefered rifle was a 318 (8mm) But there is a popular belief that he shot most of his prey with a 7x57 ! He once wrote that the weapon he would have prefered to use was a 6.5 x55 Manlicher ! He felt the rifle was too delicate .(yet it was his meat rifle ) He used the .303 extensively hopeing to be able to make use of the 10 shot magizine ! Although the man was a incredible shot .IMHO he was either very Brave ,Nieave ,or just plain crazy ! He would stalk into a herd of Elephants & then let rip at close range ! He gives details of climbing on to a dying elephant (giveing a description of it's death throws) to use it a a Shooting Platform to get another !
         Read any of his books & you find this man left a trail of destruction behind him ! IE 100 Zebras or Girrafes shot purely for their skins to be used to wrap ivory ! As a Pro shooter myelf I have trouble comming to terms with the actions of people like him I'm afraid ! We work to the theroy of having to have a Renewable resourse !

       Dave

Tony wrote: To be honest cookie I wouldn't try casting any bullets myself. Law of sod says if its gonna go wrong it'll be me it goes wrong on. I'm intrigued though why the barrel doesn't "lead up" on you using non gilded ammo. Surely the friction generated by the bullet skimming down the rifling softens the lead and causes it to leave a greasy soft deposit which must affect accuracy as it blocks the gaps between the lands. Basically becoming a smooth bore after several shots. Do you use pure lead or is there an additive you use to harden the lead? It may sound a stupid theory to you lads who cast your own but never having tried it I'm curious to learn the tricks.

     There are several tricks used to avoid the leading problems you discribe Tony! The first being the lead used to make bullet is a mixture of lead ,tin & antomony (which bonds the tin to the lead ) There are many sourses of lead with a content of tin . Soldering lead 50/50 is a great mixer to a blend & if you can get it Lynotype (the Old printers lead ) is ideal due to a large content of lead ! Wheel weights are popular over here & are hard enough for pistol bullets but more tin must be added to harden them up for bullets  in rifles  !  Then on casting the bullet it can be hardend further by dropping it into water there by heat treating it ! The bullet is designed with Grooves into which a Lube is placeed or in this day & age the whole bullet is coated thereby reducing friction & leading !
         A standard pistol bullet can be pushed along to about 1000fps without undue leading & although rifle bullets lay claim to being pushed to 2000fps with just lube I've found 1400 is about the limit !  there is a thing called a Gas check which is a small copper cup which fits to the bottom  of the cast bullet which protects it from heat & this enables bullets to be fired at more than 2000fps!

       Dave