Accura with 360gr Lee Minie's

[frontier gander]

My girl friend bought me the 360gr Lee Minie mold for christmas! I tried it out today and made close to 50 of them before my hands hurt from the fireplace heat.

They didnt shoot for crap in my CVA Accura with 80gr Jim Shockey's Gold 2f @ 20 yards. I dropped it down to 60 and after some sight adjustments downward, Its ready to go to the 50 yard mark tomorrow.

First 2 shots were sight adjusters with 60gr JSG 2f.

And like Semisane told me... Try 20gr Volume of cornmeal with the 80gr charge and see if it will help.

 

[OptimaAndy]

what cornmeal???? Explain please

 

[frontier gander]

using cornmeal as a buffer to help protect the base of the conical. I never done it before so my know how is very limited on that LOL. Maybe someone who knows about this, can help out with info?

 

[GM54-120]

using cornmeal as a buffer to help protect the base of the conical. I never done it before so my know how is very limited on that LOL. Maybe someone who knows about this, can help out with info?

Try Fiber wads .060 from Cabelas for $17 per 1000. Or dry felt wads for about $20 per 1000. Another company also offers a "poly filler" but loose filler is used mostly for BP cartridges.

The dry felt you can lube as needed. I prefer the moly based lube with conicals. I hope you are using some kind of lube on those conicals.

This site has tons of stuff.

http://www.buffaloarms.com/

BTW they look good....365gr sounds like a good weight and i like the base. Ive used mostly Hornady Great Plains 385gr HP lubed, 80gr Pyro and no wad since it has a deep hollow base....I like yours better. :yeah:

 

[frontier gander]

She likes 70gr APP 2f. 50 yards with the truglo open sights.

Its a good starting point so far, but theres room for improvement. I plan on knurling some bullets later for a bit of a tighter fit in my barrel.

 

[cayuga]

It use to be ... the use of cornmeal or bee hives from paper wasps, were used on top of the powder charge before you set the conical. The reason is the meal or paper protected the bottom of the conical from the heat and pressure. You can also use this under a patched roundball. If you want to use a paper wasp nest, just be sure the wasps are not using it. They get a little excited when you try to take their home.

I have seen cornmeal in some cases make a very good result when you want to push a stronger powder charge. If you look at the paper work on a LEE REAL, they suggest a 50-60 grain powder charge for best accuracy I believe. I think I still have their paper work around here some where.

 

[frontier gander]

Hole smokes! I went inside to measure some loads and said screw it, its hot inside im getting tired, where the Sticks at? :lol: I used 100gr super sticks for 3 shots and it was worth the experiment!! Shot One ( Lowest) was the first shot from a cold barrel, shots 2 & 3 were warm and didnt get any cool down time.

I cast these from a lead pipe that a forum member gave me. Actually he gave me close to 50lbs of it.

Elk bullet!!

 

[frontier gander]

I knurled 3 of the bullets tonight and they fit much much better. They go down with a little more resistance and i like that, makes me feel a lot better than driving around on the atv during hunting season and having one work off the charge.

 

[GM54-120]

FG

You arent using any lube on them? If so...are you getting any leading problems. Your loads sound like its driving them fairly slow but pure or near pure lead can build up in a barrel fast without some lube.

Ive used Lymans super moly and ive seen a moly based that looked more like a light powder coat used on some cowboy action type bullets. Montana Gold uses something like it on their lead bullets too.

Ive never used a conical without some kind of lube and just about all of them ive seen come pre lubed except maybe the PR Ultimates.

 

[frontier gander]

No Lube at all. Im following American Pioneers Instructions on not using any lube in the barrel or on the projectile. Very very Little leading. In fact, the dull spots i could see, i scrubbed away with a bore brush. The Accura's barrel is super clean inside, but im sure you know that already. True the PR conicals dont use any lube.

I got my loads all powder tubed and ready to go. Going try the Federal 209A primers again too.

 

[TJJ]

FG,

I've been doing some experimenting with knurling, and I'm certainly no expert, I'll share what worked very well for me. The photo shows the file type I used, I had 2 of them and sandwiched the bullets between them. I believe these are single cut basterd files. I practiced on some round balls first. So as not to ruin any good bullets. A little trial and error will tell you the right ammount of pressure to use. Don't be affraid to push down on them. I was careful to only roll them 1/2 rotation so as to keep the knurling marks uniformed. The more uniformed knurling seemed to help with consistency of loading pressure.

Hope this helps.

 

[frontier gander]

excellent, thank you for the picture, thats not what i used but i think i may have one of those in the shop. i will take a look tomorrow.

 

[GM54-120]

Interesting.

I found this on APPs website because i wondered how they felt about using it in cowboy action loads.

No special black powder lube is required for the bullet and regular smokeless lubed bullets actually work the best.

Thats what i thought and the reason i suggested a moly based lube such as Lymans Super Moly. They also claim to NOT use fillers or wads. They dont state anything about the wad being dry or lubed.

My guess is they say not to use a wad because most people will get them lubed using typical BP natural lubes. They recommend not even using a lubed patch with a round ball????? A dry patched round ball?

Ive used their powder with a lubed patch 54cal round balls and a dry over powder wad and it shot fine and you could reload many times without excessive fouling. Thin fiber wads worked even better because they clean the bore with each shot...like a very stiff dry patch and remove excess lube and fouling.

IMO they are worth a try at only $17/1000. If you want a few to try i have thousands of them in .060 thickness.

IMO their reason for no wads or lubes is based on moisture in NATURAL LUBES and the fact their powder creates moisture when fired according to their own website. Im betting modern smokeless lubes used on most hardcast will work fine.

They probably want to use the KISS method for the consumer to increase sales...keep it simple stupid.

Let me know if you want to try a dozen for free. I will lightly lube the felt wads with moly (dry or paste) and give you some thin fiber wads to keep it away from the powder.....this has been my favorite combo for flat based or very short skirt conicals.

I havent tried conicals in my 45 but will be getting some 250-275ish gr Minnies at the gun show this weekend. My friend has them cheap....like under $10 for 75 and they are semi pointed.

Having a more "summer temp" friendly option would be nice and sabots dont like the heat without a lengthy cool down.

Keep it up.....your results are very interesting.

 

[Morris]

I use liquid allox let it dry and roll my bullet in motor mica or powdered molly. This works with conical and my cartridge guns.

 

[GM54-120]

I use liquid allox let it dry and roll my bullet in motor mica or powdered molly. This works with conical and my cartridge guns.

Bingo...very light, dry and thin as possible :yeah:

 

[frontier gander]

once i get some fuel i will cast a lot more up and try some Alox after i knurl the bullets. Thanks again tim for the bullet picture, your file leaves nice deep marks while mine is hardly there. I'll look in the shop for a file today.

 

[frontier gander]

100gr APP 2f did the trick. #1 shot is high with these bullets on a clean barrel so i may just hunt with a fouled bore, No biggy!
50 yards,

After these 3 shots i loaded up and fired 100gr JSG 2f and after 2 shots and not finding anything on the bucket i set up a cardboard box and found it 6" low. I'll have to sight in with JSG one day and see how it shoots.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now the fun stuff! I taped up the holes, got the bullets out, refilled the bucket and took it out back on the ATV to my 100 yard range.

Clean barrel again on #1 shot is Apox 4 1/2" high @ 100 yards.
360gr Minie, 100gr Super Sticks, Federal 209A primers. No scope either :!: This ol Accura is ready for hunting season.

I really like the sticks, Ive even considered loading up the 150gr SS and trying it with this bullet to see how the accuracy goes. I stopped flinching as soon as i pulled the scope off
:lol: