LBT 25 caliber mold update
I am pleased.
I have been on this 25 Condor cast bullet quest for several months now. I have gone thru 4 molds, a RCBS 25 acp 52 grain rn, a Lyman 65 grain swc, a Lee/Ranchdog 56 grain swc and finally the LBT mold that I had Veral Smith custom make for me, a 57 grain two band LFN bullet.
I am using a 24 inch LW barrel that mikes .2549/.251 for the bore/choke. I have opened the lead in that I can seat with firm thumb pressure a 57 grain bullet sized to .255 that had cast out to .2565 from 20-1 alloy.
I have tried two lubes with this bullet, ATF and Spray Moly. And Spray Moly is the hands down favorite with this bullet.
My Condor is set up with a 2×7 Burris FUllfield shotgun scope set on 3 power to alleviate as much Parallax error as I can at the range I am testing, 30 yards. I have it sighted in at 1.3 iches high at that range, but more on that later. I used this scope because the rifle combination is dedicated to these slugs and it is to be used on smaller animals like coyotes and coons, definately not the top of the Doug Fir starling gun.
I am using a heavier spring, the next wire size up, .80 that I obtained from a Airarcher kit and a Airarcher hammer, valve spring and valve retainer all from Airarcher. The spring I altered to fit the PW and shortened it to the length of the standard Condor/Talon spring.
Using a PW setting of 0 and a Top Hat setting of .13 and a 3200 PSI fill the rifle does not give a bathtub ballistic curve, the velocity goes straight downhill. With the chrony at 15 feet the first 5 shots are 1033,1022,1011,1011, 1004. That is 130 FPE. The next 5 are 999.981,971,964,960, which is 120 FPE.
Prelimitary testing seems to show that 120FPE seems to be a bit more accurate than the 130FPE, going into .75 and the 130FPE at 1 inch.
However there are two factors in accuracy here, #1, I have not sorted these bullets, I cast 270, I found two glaring defective bullets while sizing, sprayed them with Moly and shot them from the can. I weighed one bullet to see how heavy the alloy cast and that was it. This is not quality casting here for shooting groups, nor is using a 3 power scope, so they are probably capable of far better accuracy.
Now the lower level of 120 FPE or 975 FPS with a 85 yard zero this is the bullet path:
30 yards + 1.3″,
40 yards +2″,
50 yards +2.3″,
60 yards +2.2″,
70 yards +1.6″,
80 yards +.65″
85 yards Zeroed,
90 yards-.76,
100 yards -2.5″ where it retains 99 FPE.
As I say, I am pleased.
My 58 Merdedes 220S bench rest.
120 FPE group
Regards,
Roachcreek
All Replies
guilty as charged… 😎
its all about the love, man… :hug:
Yeah, well group hugs like that, dude I am not in on LOL… That is just total BS if he wasn’t just kidding Jerry… I hope I mis-read that and I will be glad to tell everyone affected from my post I am sorry, if the case!!!
Moneyshot, your a dawg 😛 😛 😛
See this is how you kid someone so there is no mis-reading your post LOL… Your still a Dawwwwgggggg LOL
Jerry,
I got so side tracked above I forgot all about what I wanted to say to you man LOL… Thanks a ton for being so honest here… One of the many reasons I will buy form you dude… Quality that is in such short supply.
You get things right and you tell it like it is for all of us… Heck if they are that much a problem for you guys, I will not even make an order of them LOL…
Besides I am still working on my Condor that I will be want ting to shoot the slugs from anyway. I will be trying to get your 6 rings running better I guess, till you come out with something smaller that shoots well.
The 6 rings I have of yours right now are in the 61gr. area if I remember right… Just a little larger than I need really, that is not a big problem to have though LOL…
Thanks again for being who you are man!!! Say hey to Timmy for me and you guys have a great holiday season coming up!!!
rowdy,
its all about the love, man… :hug:
You have got to be kidding me dude!!! Offering advice to help some of out that can use it and need it is one thing, this ain’t the way!!!
Further more just being an a$$ about something like this, you can develope one thing really well for sure. If you was to come out with the best slugs on the market, as such a “magic slug”, you want even give me any for free when you develope the discipline like this…
You got to be joking I hope for your sake???
Thanks so much Marvin! I’m always amazed by the skills you’ve developed with range lead and in the short time you’ve been casting. Feel free to corner the market on these particular bullets, we’re much happier casting the custom slugs designed for airguns anyhow.
And Jerry if that does not do it for you . Both you and your son can come watch me cast out of the same mold or bring yours if you like and I will show you both how too use that mold to produce sell able bullets .Marvin
8 -12 BHN and you are done .Marvin
Rowdy,
The 52gr round nose are such a PIA to make that Timmy won’t take an order for more than 100 at a time! We both cast and recast to fill the original paid orders but we’d rather just use the mold as a sinker than take orders. The mold is well made as it is cut nice and all the parts fit great but it’s damn near imnpossible to go more than a few pours before the bases come out rounded. Rounded parts on the base will cause inaccuracy so that bullet is instantly headed back to the pot. Being tiny, the flaw is not instantly seen and that means more inspection time while casting and after. We probably cast 300+ for every 100 that got bagged and shipped.
I’d like to get a 50ish grain version of the ring slugs but my mold maker is a very busy guy…
Damn it it Roach,
You got me all fired up on slugs now.
Order pending with Jerry..all your fault, damn it!
Heck though, can’t you go back and re-choke the barrel again??? I was thinking you could…
The barrel I am messing around with as time allows now in .25 is a good shooter, if I can do my part on this crappy trigger, I just don’t have the ability to push the slugs like I want just yet…
I get fed up with the trigger after a while and set the Condor in the safe and forget about again, pickup my Rapid MKII and ask myself why I even fool with it LOL…
Jerry,
How is your 50 grainer slugs doing anyway, have not visited with you about these in a while. Mainly wondering what you think of them so far and what do you think the over all length will end up???
RJ,
Who lost the ability to shoot other pellets to his standards? I heard someone predict that but never got word that it happened from any owner.
I just ordered 2 unchoked barrels from LW. They don’t normally carry them so they will come from Germany. Going to make my .25 a slug gun and build up another frame and make that my Reg gun. That way I’m not hitting a 1500 psi reg with a 108 gr hammer pushed with a stiffer spring. Probably make the reg gun a side cocker.
Thats odd. I removed my choke and everything shoots better thru the barrel. Its a one-holer at 50 yards with Benji’s and JSBs, and shoots much better than it used to with EJs and Kodiaks.
Maybe I just got lucky, but damn son this barrel is superb compared to when it was choked.
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Rowdy,
Jerry is a nice guy, just don’t trust him around your woman if she is under 80 years of age and 300 lbs, especially if she drinks and wants to join the mile high club.
Other than that he is trustworthy. Although he has yet to figure out the need for rifling and is still shooting a smoothbore, he bought the smoothbore because he didn’t want to wait for a rifled one and it was dirt cheap, once you throw away the elk horn.
Like he says, “I don’t need no fucking rifling.”
Marvin has been teaching Jerry about casting, he was Jerry’s professor at Penn State. Although they did not make the football team, they were on the Penn State football team shower detail together.
So now that you know what is going on, you don’t need to worry.
Like Moneyshot said, it is all about the love.
Regards,
Roachcreek