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Post by sixshot on Oct 3, 2018 22:26:56 GMT -5
Since I've bought a lot of Miha moulds in the last few years I've been on a quest to test several different HP's on deer & antelope size game. For about 50 years I've used nothing but cast solids & never had a problem, there have been a very few times I've had game get out of sight before they went down but I could probably count the number on one hand. The only exception to using a HP on bigger game has been the fantastic Miha 385 gr 475/480 bullet & it has been a proven big game killer on bears, elk, moose, bison, large feral hogs, etc with a great track record & as far as I know almost always complete penetration with correct alloy & velocity. In the last 5-6 years I've been stacking up a fair number of deer & antelope with different 41, 44 & 45 caliber HP's & so far they have worked great. Almost always I've used an alloy of 70% wheel weights & 30% lead with maybe a 1/4 lb of linotype thrown in to pick up some tin & then I powder coat everything to anneal the cast slugs. These bullets are working great up to about 1150 fps using a plain base slug with great expansion & penetration. In the last couple of days I've been using a new bullet in my wonderful 41 magnum Bisley that weighs 212 grs that is a LFN style HP with a gas check. Two loads that show promise have been 18 grs of 2400 & 18.5 grs of 2400. I haven't been testing from the bench so the results aren't the very best these loads will do but I like to test from the Keith, reclining position because I use it a lot in the field when hunting & since our regular deer season opens one week from today I need to get things dialed in. I haven't run this load through the clock yet but the heavier load (18.5 grs of 2400) will be going out to 50 & 100 yds tomorrow so that when Tank arrives I'll be ready & waiting. As usual my back up gun will be my scoped 10.5" 357 Maximum with a 180 gr Miha HP. I've already taken one deer a month ago with the 230 gr Keith, a life long favorite so now it's time for this new HP to show me how it holds up in the game fields, I think with the long shank of this LFN it's going to be a dandy & with 18.5 grs of 2400 this bullet is going to be running pretty fast. Target is 7 shots reclining at 25 yds. Dick
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Fowler
.401 Bobcat
Posts: 3,557
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Post by Fowler on Oct 4, 2018 14:12:18 GMT -5
I'm looking forwards to this report...
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Post by squigz on Oct 4, 2018 15:26:25 GMT -5
Oooooo, I'm looking forward to this one as well! Always interested in this stuff.
On a side note, been thinking about picking up either that Bisley 41 or one with a 4 5/8 barrel with the plow. Love your front sight and those grips are beautiful, they have so much character!
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lobo
.327 Meteor
Location: SE Mississippi
Posts: 536
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Post by lobo on Oct 4, 2018 16:24:30 GMT -5
Looking forward to the game report!
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wyo
.30 Stingray
Posts: 103
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Post by wyo on Oct 4, 2018 16:40:08 GMT -5
Can't wait to see the results sixshot! squigz I recently picked up a 41 maggie in a 4 5/8 barrel and the plow handle. It is quickly becoming one of my favorites.
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Post by dougader on Oct 4, 2018 17:01:31 GMT -5
I recently got an OMBH in 41 mag and LOVE it. That hp looks like a keeper, Dick! I'll be waiting here with the others for a field report. Maybe Tank will have a column in a gun mag shortly about the trip, too!
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Post by sixshot on Oct 4, 2018 21:15:30 GMT -5
Today just as a dandy storm was rolling in I set up to shoot at 50 yds with this new 212 gr HP out of my 41 Bisley. I had earlier ran it through the clock & it came up just a bit under 1300 fps. This is going to be a very good load for medium size game & after me & Tank get a couple of days of eating lots of good food under our belts we'll concentrate on hunting muley bucks with six guns, yippee! I had my Bill Fowler 10" steel swinger target set up with a paper backer behind it to catch any misses from my 25 yd zero yesterday. This makes it easy to use the binoculars to see what's going on down range when using iron sights. I was at the end of the shooting range, shooting on an angle so it was safe but kind of tight. I fired 3 rounds & you can see them bunched really tight right at the bottom of the target, all touching. This isn't a real world group for me, the load might be this good but I'm not, this was a fluke. I came up 2 clicks & fired 3 more shots & that's a little closer to my old eyes ability at 50 yds. I drove the truck back to what I figured was 75 yds & shot the target with the range finder & came up with 76 yds, close enough. I came up 2 clicks & fired 5 rounds & knew that 3 of them had missed. You will see them just above the target, they look higher than they actually were, I didn't get down level with my phone to take the photo. They were only slightly high with 2 solid hits. This thing was shooting flat! I took the 2 clicks back off & the rain & sleet was hammering me & then Fermin calls. I waited 30 minutes & I see snow coming my way, time to go. The load is shooting good & hopefully tomorrow I'll dial in tight. You can see the storm that ran me off. Dick
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Post by leftysixgun on Oct 4, 2018 21:57:33 GMT -5
Sixshot, Im enjoying this thread and Im interested in hearing more about the alloy. I see and understand the 70% WW and 30% lead.....but what exactly does the linotype do for the mix? Does it help with expansion with out allowing the nose getting blown off? Ive been casting 50/50 lately and the little testing Ive done shows me that the nose and or pedals (MiHa penta HP) are coming apart. Hahaha, my media may not be the best either......soaking wet cardboards leafs stacked like you were shooting thru a book.
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Post by sixshot on Oct 4, 2018 22:21:14 GMT -5
Linotype contains about 4% tin which helps with mould fill out & when annealed in the toaster oven the bullet softens down to an 8-11 BHN allowing a soft bullet to be driven fast because of the powder coated shell. You can change this if you need to by water quenching right out of the oven & then letting the bullets age harden. I seldom water quench because it's seldom needed with powder coating, especially with a gas check. You would never want to water quench a HP style bullet.
Dick
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Post by leftysixgun on Oct 5, 2018 5:41:56 GMT -5
Thanks Dick, what you said holds true to what Ive learned. I seldom use tin as I dont seem to have an issue with fill out. Annealing them on the other hand, I may have to try. I rarely water quench anymore either. Thanks again
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Post by webber on Oct 5, 2018 6:15:21 GMT -5
I am glad you posted some photos of your bullets that you PCed. Mine look like that and I thought they werent good. Now I feel better about mine. I thought the coating had to be nice and slick.
Thanks
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Post by sixshot on Oct 5, 2018 11:34:33 GMT -5
The coating is slick where the sizer die makes contact but you can't size beyond the ogive so that's what you're seeing in the photo. Even having a bare spot down on the driving bands doesn't seem to make a difference that I've found as long as you don't have a lot of them. I never get any leading or any kind of build up in the barrel other than the normal powder residue that you get from shooting any kind of bullet. Also, in the second photo where I'm shooting at 76 yds you can see the shots are slightly to the left. That storm coming at me was pretty stiff from right to left & I knew it was going to push my shots off a bit, I didn't hold for wind, I wanted to see how much effect it would have on the load at that distance just as a reminder.
Dick
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Post by squigz on Oct 5, 2018 12:14:12 GMT -5
Dick,
I'm studying your picture that you took of your perspective behind the revolver and I have what might be a simple question that could quite possibly turn into a complex answer.
When shooting from a rest, what is the correct way to position your revolver/handgun in the rest? In your picture I see you have your barrel rested between your bog pod Y. Is there any difference, or possibly better results if you rest the frame, below the barrel in front of the trigger guard, inside of the Y rather than the barrel?
I'm asking because when shooting from a bench position I try to leave the barrel "free floating" as much as possible and rest the frame and the butt of the gun on whatever I'm using.
Always look forward to your testing and real world posts!
Bill
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Post by sixshot on Oct 6, 2018 1:32:03 GMT -5
Bill, using the Bog Pod with the PSR rest I've found that this works best BUT you need to put a soft bag under the butt of the gun & rest both of your hands on the bag. If you don't you're going to get vertical stringing. It's very important that only your hands touch the bag & not let the butt of the gun make any contact. If you tried to get the frame up on the I don't think there would be room for your hands to get full support of the grip. What you are looking for is a rest that is consistent & this type of hold will give you consistency. Also if you were to put the frame up on the rest you would have to put something under the frame or you would soon wear out the rest from hot gases coming from the cylinder gap. If you look really close in the photo of me holding the gun you can see part of the small square bag that I always use when shooting, either off the Pod, my back pack or off the bench, it goes with me everywhere, and I have a spare.
Dick
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Post by leftysixgun on Oct 8, 2018 9:47:05 GMT -5
Dick, I wish I asked this earlier but whats your procedure for annealing your HP boolits? Temp? Time in oven? What do you do when the time and temp have been satisfied? Thanks
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