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

[Distant Thunder]

The .44 2 1/4 has got all the powder capacity I want and a little bit more. That is of course when loaded with a paper patch bullet.

I have a 6X Leatherwood scope on my .44 and I have a 5X MVA on my .22. I find 6x to be all the magnification I need.

I have not yet figured out how or with what to scope my Hepburn.

[Kurt]

I like my MVA 5X B-5 with the #2 mount and it's on my .22. The grass hopper spring it has has given me a problem but I keep an eye on it.
The only reason I got this A scope is they had it in stock at the time and the B5 would take 12 weeks or more. I needed the scope right the way so I got it.
I don't know what the Win scope would do for barrel shadow because of it's shortness.

[Don McDowell]

Jim you might want to think about a DZ on that Hepburn, and if you do order one ask him to put the finer crosshairs in it .

[JKR]

Jim,
Is the long barrel on the Hepburn a problem when setting up a scope for long range?

I’ve had thoughts of scoping my rifle but have been wondering how it would go with the 32” barrel.

I wish we were allowed a half power lens in the front sight like we used in High Power competition. I could get by nicely with that.

Jim

[Kurt]

Jim,

With the DZ scope I see a lot of barrel shadow at the 1K line with a 32" barrel but I took off the front sight and it's not much of a problem.
On one rifle I put some high blocks on my DZ 30" Hepburn and it's fine with the front globe on it.
With the MVA B-5 Win scope on my CPA 40-65 it is great for midrange but I never have set the sight for long range.
I also have a MVA 3000 series scope that is a long scope and I see barrel shadow with it at the 1K line so I think you will see it with all except with the full length scope.
But all the scope I have collect in the last few years I like the DZ the best. Cross hairs I feel are ideal for me seeing them on black with dim light and they will not cover a 1 MOA dot. You can still get a good sight picture. I think it covers about a 1/2 MOA but I'm not sure. They might be about like a #10 or #11 spider

[Distant Thunder]

The 34 inch barrel of my Hepburn is a problem beyond 800 yards with the bases I have on the rifle. That's with my 17 inch Leatherwood scope.

The same scope and bases are not a problem on my 30 inch Shiloh. I do see the front sight globe at 1000 yards, but it does seem to be a problem.

The cross hairs in my Leatherwood are heavy, but I never have trouble seeing them. My B-5 I've never used beyond 220 yards. I like both scopes for different reasons.

[Distant Thunder]

My new Brooks mold showed up Friday the 27th and Steve did an excellent job following the drawing and samples I set him and delivery was right on the 3 weeks promised.

Steve emailed me after he cut the mold and expressed concern that the bullet only weighed 490 grains. I told him I wasn't concerned at all about the weight as long as the nose profile and OAL were to my drawing. Do I wish it weighed 500 grains? Yea, but how much can 10 grains matter. I will be finding out just how little that 10 grains matters later this summer.

I cast the first 50 bullets with this new mold yesterday morning. Typical of Steve's molds the bullets just about fly out of the mold when it's opened. Unlike my other Brooks molds this one I had to run hotter than any of the others. The mold just wouldn't heat up and cast wrinkle free bullets until I kicked the heat up a bit from what I would call "normal". Once I did that it started dropping good looking bullets by the 4th or 5th one.

I cast 50 and then weighed them. The first one I kept was 489.9 grains, 39 were 490.3 to 490.9 with the last 10 in the low 491 grain range. The diameter is .434". I had told Steve .433 -.434". The length is 1.396", pretty close to 1.400" I asked for. The nose profile very closely follows the elliptical form of my .45 caliber bullet that I use for Creedmoor match in my .45-70. I had sent Steve 2 of my .45 caliber bullets for reference.

I patched 6 of the 50 with my 9# 100% cotton onionskin paper from THE PAPPER MILL (sadly no long made) and ran them through my .4375" sizing die. That made them a nice, consistent push fit into the bore of my 17-twist Krieger barrel.

For a starting load I always like to go back to what has worked well in whatever rifle I'm working with now. This .44-77 likes 86 grains of 1 1/2 Swiss. Because I had only 0ne pound of the 2016 lot that was hooting pretty well I had to shift over the 2013 lot I have now. That lot has given other shooters horrible accuracy problems. Two years ago I bought a pound of this 2013 lot from a very good shooter who could not make it work in any of his rifles. I loaded some in my .40-65 using 3/16 compression that was recommended by someone else and it shot extremely well in that rifle.

I was a little concerned how this powder was going to do in the .44 bottleneck. With the 2016 lot I was using very little compression, .050-.060" and that was working well with 2 other bullets. The 2013 lot is a little fluffier than the 2016, I had to increase the volume 1 grain over the 2016 lot to get a weighed 86 grains of the 2013. I don't think that is much difference and it didn't add much to the compression since I left my compression die set the same. No where near the recommended 3/16" that worked in my .40-65.

This is the load I put together yesterday and shot today.

Shiloh .44-77 (standard GG chamber) with a 17-twist 30" Krieger barrel.
Brooks custom 490 grain elliptical.
(1) .060" LDPE wad.
86.0 grains of Swiss 1 1/2 lot number 210.113, .060-.070" compression.
BACO converted .50-110 Starline brass.
Remington 2 1/2 large pistol primers.
C.O.A.L. 3.500".

I shot from my bench using a Leatherwood 6X scope in DZ mounts resting the barrel on a forward rest and with a shooting bag at the rear and my left resting on it while holding the toe of the buttstock. I do this bench resting for load development to try and remove as much shooter error as possible. Even then my breaks are only so good, +/- 1/4 to 1/2 MOA. At least that's the way it looks to me through the scope.

The attached target was the result. There are 2 holes in the target from another load that I used to get on paper and then 6 from this new 490 grain bullet. The 6 shot group is 2 5/8" ctc with 5 of the 6 in a nice tight 1 3/4". Now I'll have to put some thought into what to do next in an effort to improve the accuracy some, but this is not bad first the first group with a new bullet.

This bullet design has been the best I have used in .45 caliber for BPTR and holds up very well to 1000 yards. My hope is that it proves to be as good in .44 caliber. It looks like the accuracy is going to be there.

[beltfed]

Hey,Jim,
Good start with the new bullet
Arnie

[Distant Thunder]

Arnie,

How are you doing? Well I hope.

What does the BPCR schedule look like for Rapids? Are you going to be able to have some matches this summer? All I have is a note on my calendar for July 16th.
I've been so busy I may have missed any schedules you posted or emailed.

I've got all my machines moved in but not wired up yet. The Power Company screwed up my 3-phase and they just got that fixed last week.

I still have loads of small stuff to move. I hate moving. Many more loads of junk to haul away too. Then the final clean up and I'll be a free man! I'll be looking for matches to go to and with the cost of gas going up every day the closer the better. $4.75 a gallon here yesterday! That's $150 to fill my tank!

I have high hopes for this bullet for long-range shooting. Time and the targets will tell.

[Don McDowell]

Jim that bullet is sure showing that it's going to shoot.
I got my new bullet from BACO, have tested it a bit at 600 and it's looking very good. Almost loaded some to take to Worland but chickened out as the loads I have already shoot so very well. I want to tweet things just a bit before I commit it to a match.