Time to continue load development with my .44-77.

[Distant Thunder]

Looks pretty darn good, Fred! Congratualtions, keep it going!

[Kurt]

Very good Fred!
A lot of high power rifle shooters would have a hard time doing that.
Kurt

[beltfed]

Great shooting, Fred,
Looks like that 403380E is working well for you
Arnie

[Distant Thunder]

I had time today to cast 55 more bullets from my new Brooks PP mold. I weighed them and the first one was 489.4 grains, the other 54 were between 490.4 and 491.4 so it continues to cast pretty consistent bullets. I had less trouble this time than the first time because I knew to run things on the hot side and that helped.

The one problem I had was once the mold gets hot enough to cast good bullets it starts to flash around the base. I eventually got that to stop by just dropping the pot temperature a little. Then it really started to cast very good looking bullets and the weight within .6 grains total for the rest of the session.

I'll load 10 each of the two best loads so far and see how they shoot. That won't be anytime soon because I have some family doings this coming week and some other things to finish before I get back to shooting. After July 1st I should be able to get my shooting back on track.

[Kurt]

Jim,

I finally made the range today with the Farmer 17 twist .44-77.
I switched the scope, took off the MVA 10X A scope and put a 8X DZ scope on the rifle and got a zero. I started at 25 yards last night here at home to get the vertical on the line and that 25 yards gets me pretty close at 200 yds vertical and horizontal. That saves a lot of shots finding the paper.
I used some loads I had loaded for Lodi and some odd and end left over ladder loads I wanted to get the cases empty.
The best I shot today was with 82 Gr of 2F OE with a 441/505 DDE bullet seated on two ice cream bucket wads 5 shots target #2. The other good group was with 85 gr of 1.5 swiss with the same bullet and wad stack, target #7, That was a 7 shot group and the rest.

I shot around 50 rounds and I'm pretty well satisfied with all rounds fired this morning with a mix of left over ladder loads.
But the jury is still out with this 441/505 DD bullet till I work it out at long range, but it sure looks good @200 yds.
The morning was perfect. the flag was limp but but the sky was overcast with a storm brewing.

Kurt

[Distant Thunder]

Kurt,

The #2 target looks very good! If that load holds together it would be a good one for 1000 yards.

I will revisit my 441505 DDE at some point and when I do I am thinking I may try to cast it pretty hard like what Arnie does. For now and probably all of this year, I will work with this latest bullet from Brooks. If I can come up with a reasonably accurate, consistent load I am pretty sure it will perform well out to 1000 yards based on what I have had with my .45 caliber version of the same bullet.

I'll load some tonight and hope to shoot them Wednesday and see how it looks.

[Kurt]

Jim those bullets I cast with my usual alloy 18# lead and a roll of solder. It measures on the Lee lead tester at .79.

Today shots were sandbagged front and back and that is like clamping the rifle in a vise. I did that so I could hold hard down pressure on the rifle to help reducing the recoil to save my back.
But it shows the rifle/load combination is working.

[Distant Thunder]

Today's shooting is pretty much going to be the end of my short range (220 yards) load development. I shot two 10-shot groups with the loads that have been looking the best over the past couple weeks. The weather was excellent for shooting groups, mostly cloudy with the wind at 2 mph straight in my face. My shooting could have been better, but that is always the case. I need to shoot these loads at a few matches now and see how they perform. Paper would give me the most feedback, but gongs would be good too.

Both loads used my new 490-grain paper patch bullet that Steve Brooks cut to my design.It is the same modified elliptical design that I have used in my .45-70 and .45-90, is just scaled down to .44 caliber. I have used that .45 caliber bullet for all but one or two of the long-range matches that I have won over the past 12 twelve years. It is a good design for 1000-yard shooting no doubt. I have high hopes for this .44 caliber version.

Load #1:

Brooks custom 490 grain PP wrapped with Paper Mill 100% cotton onion skin.
(1) .060" LDPE wad.
86.0 grains of Swiss 1 1/2, lot #210.113
BACO converted .50-110 Starline brass, 2.250 to 2.255" long.
Remington 2 1/2 large pistol primers.
C.O.A.L. = 3.500".


Load #2:

Brooks custom 490 grain PP wrapped with Paper Mill 100% cotton onion skin.
(1) .060" LDPE wad.
89.0 grains of Swiss 1 1/2, lot #210.113
BACO converted .50-110 Starline brass, 2.250 to 2.255" long.
Remington 2 1/2 large pistol primers.
C.O.A.L. = 3.500".

Now for a few excuses!

Load #1 has 11 shots because I used one sighter that I loaded with a bullet that was over 1 grain light. It was the only reject from my last casting effort with this mold and I figured, what the heck! It still went into the group. I shot it at the first target to confirm my sight setting.

This group, like all the groups with this load, has a little more vertical that I'd like to see, but it's not a bad group, it's just not really good. I shot a group with this load because it has been the most consistent load through my work with this bullet. The group today just confirms what the load is capable of. If I were to go to a silhouette match this is the load I would use.

Load #2 could have been a lot better if the jerk on the trigger was any good at his job. I had a complete meltdown on shot #3. One of those times where everything falls apart just as you break the shot. I was a bit surprised to see it come up that far right. I have no idea what happened with #9. It looked good at the break but there it is! I get those from time to time and I usually just say, "Bad bullet." and move on.

Shot #8 broke a bit left and it shows exactly what I saw through the scope at the break. Those kinds don't bother me like #9 does. The bottom line on this group is when I broke a good shot the bullets pretty much went into one ragged hole. And this is at 220 yards! I really think this is a very good load in spite of the over 3" wide that it is.It could easily have been under 2" wide and should have been. I just need to break good shots.

This will be the load I use for any paper matches this summer and for sure for long-range matches.

I am not sure what I could do to cut down on the vertical that I see in load #1. Maybe a different primer?

About the only thing that will improve load #2 is a different shooter! Maybe I need a pinch shooter? I believe this load is really close to something special, it can just lay 'em in there, one on top of the other. That's pretty good for a 153 year old bottleneck cartridge loaded with black powder and paper patch bullets!

[GrumpyBear]

Good looking groups Jim, nice shooting.

[Kurt]

Jim,

Actually both targets look good when you get them in a cluster like that despite the 3" vertical.
I took loads that are less consistent to matches.

I usually get verticals when I start the range session using the same bullet and loads. I call it settling in.
The horizontal when the wind is down I think it comes from not a consistent grip or pull in the shoulder.

I don't like to admit it but when I get verticals it comes from pushing into the buttplate. I caught myself doing this with one of my rifles that has a weak hammer blow that gives a light primer strike and a misfire.
For me the push disappears after a few rounds fired and the verticals are oblique for me right to left and that I call settling in.

Don't get me wrongs I'm not saying that you do this, it's just my problem. I think that started from shooting those heavy 700 gr plus bullets behind 115 grains of powder shooting Calamity the .50-90