Some warm weather groups.....

[Richard]

Today dawned warm and foggy.........which turned into hot and hazy and then sunny and hot ;D Not much wind activity.
By the way, today marked the 100th. range trip since getting my first .45 Pac-nor. 59 sessions with the 23" barrel and 41 with the 26 incher. At an average of around 35 shots per session, this comes out to some 3500 firings. At 5 shots per group, thats some 700 groups
So, today the first four groups I shot were with the same powder charge: Duplex.....10/60----4750/H-322.
Group #1 I used the 200 gr. Nosler
" #2 the 200 gr. XTP
" #3 the 200 SST
" #4 the 195 Barnes
The best of the four was the SST
Group #5 was a duplex from last week with H-335 Ball powder that was tweaked up from 61 to 62 gr. This would have been one super group if shot #4 had not moved out #5 moved right back in
I then took this load out to 200 yards. Shot #1 went high were it should have.............then I got interrupted by a new perspective club member and we got to jawin' and I showed him my Lead Sled and in fact, removed it and the 16 lb. shot bag from the base. When we finished and I put the sled back, I forgot to put the shot bag on So, shot #2 found a new POI . Upon putting the shot bag on, #3 went up with #1. Since I wanted to produce a "five in a row" group, I had to shoot SEVEN shots. While this is not a super group, five in 2.9" I thought was respectable and with the first shot included, it was still 2.9" Under 90* conditions. Of course when November rolls around, this should shrink to about 1" .............................
Richard

[Deleted]

good info as usual Richard. stay at it.

[ET]

Richard

Even though I don’t comment much lately I still enjoy following your weekly groups.
Your #5 group really got my attention.
What I found interesting is following the shot position as velocity changed. #4 shot being slowest hit highest and #5 being fastest hit lowest. This group definitely reflects some principles that have been discussed about POI vs velocity and ES.

Group #3 is impressive also.



Ed

[dennis31]

Nice shooting Richard. That 15/62 load looks promising, those Noslers seem to like that one.10/60, as always when the XTPS/Noslers dont group throw in some SSTs or Barnes and that should keep ya smiling.

[Richard]

Next week I plan on doing a similar test with the Ball powder load that shot well. What I am trying to point out here, is that it is not the hot weather that makes groups bigger or smaller.........it is the load itself! These groups were all shot with with the barrel pretty close to the same temperature. Usually, if I have been BS'in' a bit between groups and the barrel has a little longer to cool, I can fire the first two shots without using the cool rod. All subsequent shots have had the rod in for maybe 30 to 45 sec. I can feel by hand, when the "warm" dissipates. Here are four different bullets shot with the same powder charge. The first two were just OK? but the second two wanted to really tighten up. The weather conditions did not change, it was still overcase.........The sun had not come out yet? Do I really think dropping the temperature outside 40* is going to shrink those groups? Definitely not! That is my opinion based on the amount of shots I have sent down range during hot and cold weather. From checking my old load sheets, I see no significant difference in groups sizes in cold vs. warm weather. I had considered trying to keep the sabots in a cooler but..............it would only take a very, very short time once you physically handled the sabot, got it seated and actually fired it, for that thin flimsy piece of plastic to become ambient temperature? There is no stress on the bases of these sabots when examined? The petals are not twisted or distorted that I can visually see? So I don't see trying to cool the sabots as a way to improve groups?
Richard

[jeremylong]

Richard what procedure are you going through between shots? Dirty, swabbing, cleaning?

[Richard]

Jeremy....................
Fire the shot............get up from the bench pull out my cool rod, wipe it off with a towel and then a paper towel. Insert in the bore for 30 to 45 sec. Remove.............use a patch that has four small dots of Rem. clean applied. Push in and out...........then a clean patch in and out. Pour in powder, insert bullet/sabot return to bench and fire! Thats it. I re-use those two patches FIVE time for the group. I just keep turning them over after each shot. Then for my next group I start with two new patches. Thats it. It takes me literally two to three minutes between shots. By using the cool rod just about every time, the barrel does not get "hot?", just "warm!" So, you need very little cool rod time.
Richard

[gunny]

As usual Rich you do the foot work. Now if i could get this garage roughed in i can start shooting again

[Richard]

Getscha a nail gun and you will be done before you know it? This way you can SHOOT and WORK at the same time ;D Duplex nails and keep that gun COOL!
Richard