IdahoLewis 395gr CC conical

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Idaholewis sent me 6 of his custom cast .504" 395gr conicals and I got them in today. I'll try them in my Traditions St.louis Hawken with 80gr 2fg
Gearhart Owen 2fg black powder & a lubed felt wad at 50 yards to see how they group. I will also swab between shots.
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Looking forward to your results Jonathan! I know they killed a Cow Elk this Year, I gave some to a friend to hunt With, It was one of them last minute deals, trying to get my own stuff ready for the opening day, and helping others get theirs ready (Funny how that works :D). He used them in a CVA Wolf, Bullet passed through the Cow and was not recovered. 

  I need to get out and Test these as well, in my 1-28 Twist Green Mountain LRH Barrel. Just haven’t had a Chance to do so yet.

Here is the Cow my friend killed with 1 of these Bullets
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thats a good looking yummy cow! Got to love the feeling when you walk up on them and see those dark legs and hoof sticking up out of the downed timber.

CVA Wolf huh... I was interested in how these would work in a 1:28 twist like my winchester x-150. I may have to save one to test out the sizing in that rifle.

great looking bullets to, I like how they load, just would have to test them on a dirty bore to ensure that I could reload on a fouled bore in my Hawken.
 
I was REALLY Curious about how these would load in your Rifle? I remember my Lyman Plains sized to .501 Slid down your bore with little to no help, That is why i sized these to .504, I have a Friend here that recently bought a Knight Bighorn, that thing has a large Bore, I kept working on a .501 Sizer and Testing fit, i ended up opening the Sizer to Exactly .504 To get good Perfect fit in his Rifle, That is how i ended up with this .504, My GM LRH .50 is a .501 Bore, Bullets poured of 1-40 Alloy, and sized to .502 Are absolutely perfect in it. Lot of Folks don’t realize just how Critical .001 actually is in Loading, especially with an Alloy, It makes a BIG difference FAST! I bet a .503 sized Bullet would be Perfect in your Gun
 
well crap! I skipped shooting yesterday because of 20mph wind. Today I wake up to over a foot of snow and its still coming down :shock:
 
FrontierGander said:
well crap! I skipped shooting yesterday because of 20mph wind. Today I wake up to over a foot of snow and its still coming down :shock:
Same thing here bud! It’s dumping snow on us as i type this. I went out yesterday to try some Patched Roundball in my New CVA .45 Mountain Rifle, it was DARN Cold and lightly spitting snow, like a Dummy i was wearing my Leather Georgia boot Romeo type Slipper Shoes :idea:, i had just started to get my stuff out and a friend pulled in to visit :x I stood there and visited for about 30 minutes, when he finally left my feet was so Damn cold i was standing on numb stobs! I popped my Loaded gun off 1 time to unload it and i headed home, with the thought in my head “There will be better days for this” I got my rifle all cleaned and polished back up good, It’s standing here in the Gun safe now. Not sure when i will get a chance to Shoot it?
 
thats not so bad. Using the skidsteer today, just put chains on, checked the oils and headed down the drive way... Kept hearing a chirping sound and then lost the hydros. Loose belt! not a problem. Got all the bolts loose, started tightening up the engine mount adjustment nut and noticed the metal caving inward :evil: :evil: Got it into the shop and took the seat out and found that the entire section of the engine mount plate busted completely. Have to pull the engine out now to fix it.
 
The first 4 shots I cleaned the bore  between each shot, used a felt wad and 90gr 2fg gearhart owen black powder. Nice solid thump, but it did not hurt at all. Pretty mild actually. Accuracy wasn't the best, but to be honest, I really think I need to start shooting these conicals without a wad. I have the slower 1:48 twist with shallow rifling and Im thinking that I need to eliminate the wad and get all that pressure directly at the base of the bullet. They load pretty darn stiff but I can grunt them down on a fouled bore. This rifle really liked conicals when they seem to just lightly ride the rifling, but thats real pain in the butt unless its a REAL  bullet.

4 shots swabbed @ 50.
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2 more added to the group WITHOUT swabbing.
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Well POO!! I was hoping for better results!! But That is very similar looking results as the CVA Wolf, Nothing stellar by any means, But did kill the Cow Elk above.

I have had 6 of these on my Table to test for over 2 Months now, just haven’t had the Chance to do so. I will be trying them in my GM LRH 1:28 Twist barrel, i have these 6 Sized to “Bore Ride” They are sized to .500, They will just “kiss” my .501 Bore on the way Down. Some of my very best accuracy is this Way. Lee Shaver’s is the one that told me to try this, This is how he Shoots to 1,000 Yards. Sizing like this is great for Bench/Target work, but obviously no good for hunting, i want my Bullets TIGHT, I don’t want to worry about a Bullet slipping off the Powder charge! This is 1 of my biggest Reservations about hunting with my VERY WIDE Array of Paper Patch Bullets, amongst others

Thank you for your Testing Work/Time Jonathan! I sure hope my 1:28 does better than that, I might Cry if it Doesn’t? LOLOL!!
 
lol you'll find it. If I had a sizer to get them to fit just right, im sure all would be good. The real bullets take a pop to get them into the bore and after that they ride the rifling nice and lightly, just enough snugness to stay put on the charge.

Were those made from softer lead than what I use? I read that the shallow groove bores usually do better with harder lead. Maybe thats why my old maxi balls and the real bullets did so good for me?
 
FrontierGander said:
lol you'll find it. If I had a sizer to get them to fit just right, im sure all would be good. The real bullets take a  pop to get them into the bore and after that they ride the rifling nice and lightly, just enough snugness to stay put on the charge.

Were those made from softer lead than what I use? I read that the shallow groove bores usually do better with harder lead. Maybe thats why my old maxi balls and the real bullets did so good for me?
Those bullets were 1-40 Alloy which is 8.5 BHN, These would actually be a little bit harder than what i tested of yours way back. Maybe these being a little Harder, and More length had something to with it in the 1:48 Twist? Sometimes Little things that seem insignificant can turn out to be VERY significant, I have found that the case MANY Times in this stuff

The worst shooting i have ever done, or seen was with REALLY Hard lead Paper Patched and Shot from a Stock TC 1:48 Twist 54 Cal, HOLY MOLY! Im not sure it would have been safe Standing behind me? :lol!:

It was an experiment that Did NOT work!! But that lead was REALLY Hard, it was in the Lyman No. 2 Range Which is 15 BHN, Wheel Weights are 12-14 BHN depending on Age. The crazy part is my Old Stainless GM LRH Barrel absolutely Loved that Stuff? That Barrel would NOT shoot a Soft Bullet worth a Hoot, No matter what i did, That Old Barrel drove me nuts!
 

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