Lodi scores

[Distant Thunder]

Todd,

I have found that a bullet that is not overly slender in the nose and with a fairly generous radius at the tip and a length of 1.430 to 1.440" to be very good in all winds especially the switchy head and tail winds. That is of course just my opinion.

The bullet that Jim Ruch was shooting is from a mold that I shortened to 1.440" before I loaned it to him. I shot it for a couple of years at 1.460" and it did very well at mid range and okay at at Creedmoor. That bullet did very well for Jim in some pretty rough winds. He had a 92-1X at 800 on Sunday when I finally had some mirage that I could count on being useable through the whole relay. Once we found the right combination of flags and mirage we were shooting 10s with ease and I was giving him 1/2 and even 1/4 moa and the bullet was taking the correction very well. I just could not get another one to land in the X-ring! So many times I would give a green light and before he could break the shot it would change again and I have to have him hold. We would wait for things to return and they would and then we go again. A few times we repeated this go then hold 3 or 4 times before we would get one in there, but it would be a 10 or at least a 9. The elevation held very well throughout. That 92 was the high point of the match for me and gave Jim a good 2nd place finish.

Good spotting is made easier by good shooting and Jim shot very, very well!

While pulling targets I always look at holes. Jim were perfectly round throughout the weekend. Kevin was shooting a very good bullet too but at 1.460" long and his holes were not always round, not real bad just not round. It's things like this that I have seen over my 24 years of Creedmoor that have formed my opinions.

I believe Kevin's bullet would do much better for him if he added about 5 grains more powder, from 77 to 82 grains, and if it was 1.430 to 1.440 long. I plan to take that same bullet and shorten the mold to 1.440" and give it a try. I already know it will be a better bullet in my 18 twist, I just want to prove it to myself again.

Many people don't believe when I tell them that shortening a mold to 1.440" from 1.460" can make a difference, but I have seen it happen every time I done it over the past several years. If you can drive it faster at 1.460", say 1350+ then it will also improve in an 18 twist, but the .45-70 is hard pressed to get much over 1300 even with shallow seated paper patch bullets.

Shorten your mold or get a shorter one and you'll see the difference.