Finally getting a .257 build started!

the numbers look pretty good to me, but I am not familiar with the 257, if I was going to try anything at the point it is shooting , I would try dropping the spring tension just alittle bit, maybe just one thumb-flick.

Ok, I got to shoot alot of bullets today!!! Here’s some pics of the range, the bench, the gun, the targets and some numbers. Today was not as fast through the chrony as last week… but for 88grcast bullets I wont mind avg of about 900 fps!

Today was kinda hit and miss… ha ha!
Seriously, it took quite a bit of work getting this gun tamed today. Everyday it seems to shoot different. Sometimes I can get it onto the paper and dialed in right away and only shoot a dozen sighters. Other days (like today) it might take a third of my shooting session and a hundred rnds before I get it consistiently back onto the paper….
The point being that it is never set and forget… maybe my Inexpensive BSA scope , but I doubt it… Once I get it dialed I can pretty much hit anything, but it takes very much effort. This gun doesnt shoot itself. By the end of the day after closing hours, one of the range personel and I had some fun plinking. He would call out a specific piece of downrange debris and I find it in the scope and fire at it. We would continue this until a miss and then I would call out debris for him. We would go six or seven shots deep nailing chips of clay pigeon or various shotgun hulls all well past 90 or so yrds.
This gun is capable but it isnt too instinctive. It requires a lot of attentiveness, technique, and finesse. It isnt comfortable or a natural ergonomic shoot itself. I am still unsure exactly what my technique is but it is likely similiar to what I hate to say is that much overrated “artillery hold”. I would say that it makes sense in a way because this thing is somewhat of a magnum hybrid springer with the big ass spring and fat hammer. There is a certain hookup time before the bullet departs the barrel. I ordered 300 rounds of RJ ‘s 88gr Spitzer and have already shot almost all of them today. I shot a few of the 257420 bullets today too. They shoot a little flatter but only only about 40fps faster. Man I really dig those 88gr spitzers best, however had a couple flyers and noticed two keyholed the target at 98yrds.????? Dunno what that was all about…. I lobbed a shot at a ground squirrel with one of the sample 100 gr hollow points but my holdover was just bit shy but sure shocked the shit out of him with a spray of vaporous lead. He did a incredibly high spin and backflip almost three feet in the air and shot off like a rocket once his feet hit the ground. His lucky day!
Hey RJ, if ya are reading this,,, go ahead and get your furnace blasting and warm up that 88gr spitzer mold, I am going to be ordering more!!!

Hey guys, its been a bit since I last checked in….
MAN THAT IS A BIG TIME BUMMER WE HAVENT HEARD ANYTHING GETTING BETTER WITH RC!
I just learned that an old friend my age just had a stroke too. Sure makes me grateful for my health but scary reminder that I am not a kid anymore, no matter how much I try to act like it.
Glad to hear you are getting it all together Ray. It isnt all that difficult as it sounds in some ways, but is certainly a bit more dedication in other ways! Definately there is a certain amount of patience required. If it was too simple, woman and children would be doing it.
My biggest improvement and greatest gain so far… and when it finally just got there, was after having much trouble trying to get the barrel to print a decent slug,,, I threw caution to the wind and decided to do my own shadetree lap job to the barrel. Nothing too fancy or technical, mostly wreckless abandon. I gave the barrel a good cleaning and the barrel started slug better. So I really gave it a good swab with a bronze brush and liquid wrench silicon spray lube. Next I took a felt bore brush and lubed this up with some permatex valve lapping compound. Man my butt cheeks got real tense because it appeared that I might of just poo poo’d my barrel. That stuff is really coarse! I gave it about a dozen passes with the silicon and lapping compound and it started feeling less gritty as I diluted with the spray. I cleaned it with cotton patch on a jag. Washed the lapping compound from the felt and soaked it with mothers metal polish. The mothers was working real good . I cleaned the bore again and started slugging the barrel and got nice reliefs imprinted upon a variety of slugs with nice sharp grooves. I did notive a couple spots along my barrel that were kinda restricted and extra tight. The mothers wasnt going to help here and I was apprehensive of the valve lapping compound. What I did was made my own special sauce of silicon spray, mothers and lapping compound. I worked this stuff keeping it really wet and not letting dry for about 100 or so strokes on a cotton patch and cleaning jag. I cleaned the bore and ran another slug,,,, ah yes felt good! So I did a final polish with mothers and buffed out with more cotton patches . Took everything apart and cleaned up the gun lubed with moly , put back together and went shooting. MAN THIS GUN CAME INTO ITS OWN… FINALLY! The next day I discovered the 88gr spitzers that RJ sent as a bonus to try out with my last order of lyman 257420. I am so glad he did because they kickass and are better than the Lyman. Unfortunately the mould Iis somewhat ultra rare and hard to get. I really want that mould for redundancy! However, RJ is a very dependable and experienced caster, I doubt that I could do better myself. I know that these are going to work and I am going stick with these for the distance. They fit my lead just fine and he is sizing them perfectly at .25736 my barrel after my agressive caveman lap job is slugging exactly at .25700 I am going to go shooting right now and will post some pics tonite! :4: