.257 GOODNESS!
It finally all came together today, and Woo-Hoo!!!
I was having problems with accuracy and ofcourse neglegted the obvious area to look first. I talked to RC, and we both though it was probably a leading issue, but happily “NOT”!
My LDC has been very effective for my .25 with Kings, but was loud with the .257 barrel. Than, and I had each chamber wrapped with white scrubby pad type material to asorb a bit of the noise. But— The .257 blew it all to Hell! 😯 And was causing major clipping. We have all heard of the issues clipping causes, and yet, In my excitement, I never thought to check the LDC. 😳
Well, I did check it this morning, and it was a frigg’n Mess!
I re-did every thing, and took out all the stuff’ns. Which increased the interior volume. It was a lot quieter. NOt Doug’s LDC quiet, or Tonys Talon Tune Quiet, but not a big “KER_BOOM!
Now here’s the good part. She started shooting like a laser at the 80 yard range I had set up. And I do mean like a LASER!!!
I am going to try to post a few pic’s of the results. Note, the target shows the hits with the F’d up LDC and the final results with everything set-up right.
Let me know what you thinK!http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r294/mlovett_photo/08-DSC01921_zps48cd05ab.jpghttp://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r294/mlovett_photo/08-DSC01921_zps48cd05ab.jpg
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This pic is 10d bullets fired into a stump at 60 yards. This is what we called Stacked!LOL!
This is how every thing arrived from Doug, (Dyotat100)
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Every one was excited to see what was in the Tube!
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Even Foxy came out woke up to see what all the excitemet was all about!
And of course tried to Hog the bench! Grrrr! Final results were .313 at 80 yards with 5 shots of the .257420 Hollow Points that RoachCreek cast up. Woo-Hoo!!!
Fi
wasyto
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Looks awesome nice job on the bullets!
I am awaiting one of Dougs guns and have begun making ingots and waiting on my mold. Is tin something I should definitely get ordered? I hope my first rounds turn out half as good as yours.
Finally got PhotoPhucket to work. Kinda! Grrrr. Just had computer worked on and ALL my photos are gone. Both in the hard drive, Photobucket as well as Picassa! WTF!!!!!!
Any Way, even though this is short range for the .257, here are some results of the barrel laping. These were the first three shots, cold bbl. before setting the scope. AND—–these were my first half way decent bullets I cast myself from 20/1 lead tin in the Lyman 257420 mold. Woo-Hoo!!! Looks like she is gonna be a shooter!
Knife 
Sorry it took a while to get back to you. My puter was down. Grrrrr!
I just tried the 20-1 mix RJ is talking about a few days ago, and it really helped the bullets fill out crisp and good looking. Also, the weight variances were very, very small. But the biggest plus was the accuracy was very much more predictable. For me at least. No more fliers! At least that day. Fingers crossed! Woo-Hoo!!! :8:
Two days ago, in testing, the .257 shot a 50 yard, (Yeah, I know, only 50 yard 😆 ). of .165″ CTC. This in a 15-20 mph SE Wind. DAYUM! 😯 Thats Three in one slightly widened hole boys!, In the Wind! 😯 😀 Ya Gotta love the Higher BC of Bullets compaired to pellets here in the Texas Wind. 😉 And there is somthing about the DYI of making your own that just has the cool factor. 😀
Will Post Pic’s shortly!
KnifeMaker
Proto metals has this and so does eBay. 20lbs lead 1ld tin and u have 20 to 1mix. Just try different mixes till u find what ur gun likes.
KNIFE/ RC,
Catching on slowky… Vita B- Flux, Midway USA said the B stands for Blue color and is the same as the Vita N-Flux that I ordered. The ” N” they say indicates White color flux. Duh…I shoulda known 😳
Anyway, if you don’t mind a couple more dumb questions…my brain resists change but I need to know :banghead:
I bought 20lb. pure lead but besides fluxing the impurities out, I’m getting the idea that for a .257 bullet ❓ to be used in a 1-10 twist Airgun, IT NEEDS SOME TIN ❓
What should I look for in Tin ❓ Anything special way to mix it ❓
RC, package arrived in good order. Ingots look to be about 1.6 lbs. Sound about right? Had solder for probably over 40 years. 😆
KnifeMaker
Tof,
I will PM you my address and you send me 50 lbs of tin and your favorite mold, I will cast up ten of and send it to you. 😎
RC
RC,
I’ve contemplated making a few PURE TIN bullets in any caliber to see what it will do as far as accuracy.
Have you thought of the same idea? Wanna do it for me? LOL!
That is such an expensive way to add tin guys. A lb of tin is expensive enough, 20 bucks, you need one pound of tin and 20 lbs of lead for 21 lbs of 20-1.
Tin is going for around 20 bucks, I don’t know how much your paying for that solder, if you have it sitting around and will never use it is one thing, but if you go buy it you will go broke trying to make 20-1 post haste.
That tin I sent you Mike was part of 5 lbs I ordered from Rotometals.com.
RC
yep, you’re right RC, I look for fault before fault finds me 😆
25-30 years ago I had a reloading setup and reloaded thousands of .38 & ,357 Max safe loads per Speer Volume 10. I learned the difference between a pop of a .38 practice load and the BANG of the .357 Max loads that numbed my thumb. Moulten lead is new to me so I prefer to know what to expect. So, thanks to this forum and you guys, I get the feedback info that takes the edge off the numbing pain.
Knife,
The only solder I have is rosen core circuit board solder from an earlier hobby of building amateur radio equipment. Old call letters WB8TEX ❗ Damn, I think I’ve lived at least 4 different lives already. There’s no telling how many more I’ll live by the time I turn 120. That is if I don’t accidentally due myself in or get shot by a jealous husband (referring to the husband of a horny beautiful woman of course) 😀
Lurker,
You need to rleax, Vita B is the same stuff I have used for years,I doubt there is much difference between Vita B and vita A, I have used both and many others, I have a unopened canisterof vita B right now beside my bed waiting to use when the next one is empty, they by the way last for years, there is not enough magic or difference in fluxes to matter, shit I used ponderosa pine pitch for years.
Thing is your trying to find fault where there is none, there is no conspiracy here, the gouge in your lead pot would make no difference either, if it was in your mold yeah that would be a problem. Thing is lead pots get dirty and stained and disgusting from everyday use.
Right now your a person looking at your first time to ever get behind the wheel of a car and your wondering why the background of your learners permit is off color.
Concentrate on getting your mold clean, shoot your bullets after inspecting them for wrinkles and rounded bases, but shoot rounded bases to see what they do opposed to sharp bases in your rifle. Later you can weigh them, but for now just make bullets and enjoy the process.
The thing is, shoot your bullets perfect or not, the world will not come to an end, nobody is going to look over your shoulder and say, “what the fuck have you done that bullet is not perfect.”
What I am saying is until you learn what your doing, don’t try to find fault in what you don’t know fully how to do or do not understand.
Relax enough to enjoy the smell of the roses. Concentrate on cleaning your molds and finding a way to fill those molds consistently.
Remember people used to do this shit over a camp fire in the dark and won wars with the product.
RC
Ah shit ❗
New pot from lee is perfect. No inch+ gouge in the bottom and no ripples inthe sides. Golley, this is what I paid for.
-_BUT-
I just noticed my supplier sent a substitute flux ❓ ❓ ❓
I ordered Vita-N-Flux and received Vita B-Flux 👿
No explaination…Not listed ❓ & I couldn’t find info that would put me at ease to put it in moulten lead 👿
So now I wait til Monday to hear if I got an inferior product for my $25.
But thanks to Lee’s customer service, I have a pretty melting pot waiting to get used.
😆 😉
KnifeMaker
Knife,
I received a box from MidwayUSA a few minutes ago that should contain the Vita flux, American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) Video “Super Tuning the Factory Rifle” DVD, and a couple Hogue AR-15 grips (on clearence) 😀
I checked USPS tracking and the replacement Melter pot part is in town, out for delivery ❗
Grand son and I got the last of 4 patio doors installed yesterday but the Henry .22 LR lever action rifle we bought is calling to have it’s first 3-5 rounds and 4-5 repeated shootings/cleanings to break it in. Oh, back to sleep now until the cute mail-lady brings the melter part around noonish.
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Well, I tried it with tin, and without. The all lead bullets looked just ok. For instance the front driving bands were slightly rounded, and the bases were also slightly rounded. RC told me that the bases in particular needed to be crisp and well defined for best accuracy. I went to several casting sights, and they all said the same thing. Add tin for well filled out castiings. So——- 😉 RC sugest a 20/1 mix. I noticed that Roto Metals sells ingots in different mixes. Along with pure lead, and tin.
RJ Porter also sells pure lead. And cast some pretty damed good bullets!
KnifeMaker