44-70-380 test

[Denali]

Went to the range this morning to try my tapered gibbs bullet in the
44-2 1/4 business rifle with semibuckhorn. I set the mold to drop about 380 and ended up with 385 gr (50:1). With a clean barrel and 70gr KIK 2F I ended up with a group like this: First shot going high I believe. The second group was about 3". I had difficulty holding the center with the sun in my eyes and the lower contrast green target. I used a .030 wad-3/16 lube cookie sandwich between the bullet and powder.




I tried 75 grains KIK 2F and both groups were about 6". I was able to fire the first 15 without blowtubing or wiping, but decided to clean after the first 75gr load shot so bad. The next 5 shot group was the same 6".

Here is the ammo:



The last 10 round were my own .425 405 gr round nose hunting bullets (Accurate molds). These require thick paper. A close up of the bullet is here:



With the short nose and long parallel shank they are a little tough when fully wrapped to stuff in the chamber when it is fouled (however KIK 2F will allow me to shoot 5 or so without much breathing down the tube - im not blowtubing). Since the bullet is so much "under bore" I just had to give a "partial wrap" a try to make it easier to chamber when fouled. I figured if I wrap the bullet only 2/3 the way to the start of the ogive then maybe the new longer "effective nose" would still not touch the barrel and be easy to chamber.

Sure enough it worked. The five were easy to chamber and did not require any breathing down the barrel: 6 o-cklock hold. Not too bad just over 2".



The last 5 were wrapped full shank and did pretty good with the exception of a flyer.



Guess I have more things to fine tune. No evidence of any leading when I cleaned the rifle. I dont like these green targets as Im having a bad time getting a good sight picture. I'll try black next time.


Mike

[Dave Roelle]

Nice shootin Sir------------------betcha that slug will make a great huntin bullet

any idea of velocity

Keep well and stay safe

Dave

[Kurt]

Mike,

What is the naked diameter of that round nose?
With that short curve of the round nose and long bearing surface I would pick a paper that will give you a of .436 or .435 even with your alloy your using instead of partially wrapping the bullet using the thicker paper. You dont need to have that bullet getting pushed out of shape into that thin gap.
I dont know what the distance you shot at those targets but they sure show promise.

Kurt

[Denali]

Mike,

What is the naked diameter of that round nose?
With that short curve of the round nose and long bearing surface I would pick a paper that will give you a of .436 or .435 even with your alloy your using instead of partially wrapping the bullet using the thicker paper. You dont need to have that bullet getting pushed out of shape into that thin gap.
I dont know what the distance you shot at those targets but they sure show promise.

Kurt

Kurt,

The naked diameter of the round nose is .425". I wrapped it normally with thick paper to get a diameter of about .436-.437". I wrapped up the base only 2/3 the way to the start of the ogive so less paper is in the bore section. It's a tight fit in the case with baco brass and full sized with a 43 Spanish die. 100 yards. My tapered Gibbs dropped at .4325 but I sized it to .429 and wrapped it with baco paper to get a good fit. Having done that I checked the same bullet unsized and over wrapped by 1/4" will fit snugly in fired baco brass with no resizing (something I'll have to try next time as they still drop in the chamber nicely). I really would like something that is a tight fit, maybe tapered, for hunting that does not require any resizing. At 380 grains, so little paper is ahead of the case that it chambers well even though it might be slightly over bore. I'll have to test repeated shots next time hoping the "overwrap" isn't detrimental. Or I just need a little thicker paper.

Dave,

No idea of the velocity.

Mike

[Don McDowell]

You might want to try leaving the Gibbs bullet as cast, and then wrapping it with the 9lb paper.

[Denali]

You might want to try leaving the Gibbs bullet as cast, and then wrapping it with the 9lb paper.

Yep. That's what I'll try Don. It's a nice slip fit with the 9# new baco paper. Not tight enough for a hunting round. I'll do a comparison with a perfect wrapped slip fit unresized round and a 1/4" overwrapped round (little tighter in case) to see how much detriment there is to it being a tiny bit lopsided in the barrel.

Is there any stuff a tiny bit thicker than the new 9# baco?

Love this 44! I only have the 50 baco brass from last year when I got the rifle. I'm hoping Jamison will make some again. I dont want to buy more baco unless I have to. I think the rim thickness varies a bit and some really stick in the shell holder.

My gun has a tight chamber and ultimately I want a wrapped bullet I can shoot over and over without blow tubing or wiping, with unresized cases. I just don't know which brand case I'll ultimately have to work with.

My .425" 405 grainer takes a good push to slug up and the 1.5 and 1f don't work at all. The 2f works well though. Just not match accuracy (at .425 may never be match accurate). My .430 500 grainer does way better with 9# for accuracy (1 1/4" or so with buckhorn sights) but forget chambering that one in a could chamber! At least with the loads I tested and the fragile new Baco 9#.

Take care

Mike

[Don McDowell]

My rifle shoots the .432 bullets alright, but anything smaller and it'll tumble one every once in awhile. It really likes .434 and 435. It's also really picky on the length, 1.1 or 1.35 everything else it'll just spit like a modified choke.
I talked to Jamison the other day, and it'll be a few month yet before they run the good brass, they're so swamped with backorders on the junk stuff right now.

[Denali]

My rifle shoots the .432 bullets alright, but anything smaller and it'll tumble one every once in awhile. It really likes .434 and 435. It's also really picky on the length, 1.1 or 1.35 everything else it'll just spit like a modified choke.
I talked to Jamison the other day, and it'll be a few month yet before they run the good brass, they're so swamped with backorders on the junk stuff right now.

I Appreciate the info Don!

Mike

[Don McDowell]

Glad to share Mike.
Keep us up to speed with your trials and tribulations with your rifle.

[Kurt]

Mike,

Resizing a bullet does not do it much good as far as accuracy goes. .432 is a good diameter for the .44.
I would do some home work and take a Mic to a Office supply store and get some onion skin paper or find some on the net. .0016-.002 thick paper will work very good with that .432 bullet.
The undersized RN will give you a lot of leeway with different paper thicknesses. I use a bullet that is undersized for one of my rifles and I give it three complete wraps and the patch shreds just fine and accuracy is also good with the three complete wraps.
Office supply, Walmart, and staples has translucent paper that will run .0016 to .0018. some is a vellum paper that is soft but it would be my last choice but will work. Roselle portfolio series Item #50123 is about the thinnest paper I have found local in Staples Store that is a very good thin paper that is .0016 and Acid and Lignin free.
Walmart sells Binfang that is a 25# paper that is .0019"

Kurt