Old/New rifle , Dad's stuff .
Posted: 11 Nov 2020 23:18
Seems like about 100 yr ago now .......
I had talked with Dad about all of the successes with cast and we talked about getting some good cast loads together for a number of different guns . I don't know if he really believed me or not .
I woke up today a little sullen , just dumpy really . Maybe it's Vetrans day , I maybe I'm thinking too much , or just sleep deprived . In any case I decided Dad's 25-06' had been Grunge Queen of the safe long enough . Bore brush , patches , oil as needed , bolt gets a bath etc . Well if you're going that far you may as well shoot it . Right ?
It's a 1972 built Rem 700 BDL Varmint 25-06' . Walnut , ebony tips , 1.20 tapered to .890 barrel , factory target trigger , 4-12x40 Japanese Tasco circa June 72' . It has a few character lines but for a hunted rifle nearly 50 yr old it's in pretty good shape .
I had a bunch of 257312s I cast probably 3-4 yr ago for the 257 Roberts and never got around to it either . So I got them checked an lubed , an 80gr FP that looks like a SWC and tips in 85 gr dressed up to load . The first problem I discovered was that the brass is apparently in that rogue can with the calipers , Herters case trimmer , 25-06' dies , and about a dozen other things I've needed about 46 times . No biggie I have lots 270 and no 270 to feed , I'll just run some .....of ...that .......um , right , where are the dies .......? No biggie 06' for the body and a use for the 6.5-257 AI set for a neck die and seater . It doesn't even matter that it leaves the neck ID at .257 , that's just right for the .260 dia cast .
Brass that fits ? Check .
Bullets that fit ? Well mostly . If only I had a .260 bullet sizing die ....... Well I have a .265 and it is just enough to get the gas checks tight , so I guess that a check .
Primers ? Yep and in 3 flavors , some of Dad's stuff and mine .
Unique is my favorite to start with and there's a bunch on hand . The measure was set at 9.0 so that's where I started . It was a good choice .
I haven't shot this rifle in most of 40 years , and it's been 5 ish since it was fired at all . It's never had a cast bullet in it . I set it jam seating and it's about perfect for fire forming .
Now I have to say as far as first loads go this one wasn't bad , it's not great but it's not bad .
The first 5 were a little wild and stringy . I take the blame . But the next 5 closed up to about 2" .
I switched bullets there , to a Herters 25-80 aka 257388 Lyman a pointy 80 gr which shot 2" for 5" , all 3 at 50 yd off the bench mostly field supported .
For grins just to see what would happen I loaded a start load of H4831 . With an 85 gn bullet that's reported to be 3100 fps ..... Which would explain a cast bullet breaking up , I'm told 220,000 top will do that to one .
Inspired and having spent the day full filling a promise and getting a little trigger time with Dad , in spite of his time having run out going on 3 yr now , I returned home an dug out some 120s to try .
I had talked with Dad about all of the successes with cast and we talked about getting some good cast loads together for a number of different guns . I don't know if he really believed me or not .
I woke up today a little sullen , just dumpy really . Maybe it's Vetrans day , I maybe I'm thinking too much , or just sleep deprived . In any case I decided Dad's 25-06' had been Grunge Queen of the safe long enough . Bore brush , patches , oil as needed , bolt gets a bath etc . Well if you're going that far you may as well shoot it . Right ?
It's a 1972 built Rem 700 BDL Varmint 25-06' . Walnut , ebony tips , 1.20 tapered to .890 barrel , factory target trigger , 4-12x40 Japanese Tasco circa June 72' . It has a few character lines but for a hunted rifle nearly 50 yr old it's in pretty good shape .
I had a bunch of 257312s I cast probably 3-4 yr ago for the 257 Roberts and never got around to it either . So I got them checked an lubed , an 80gr FP that looks like a SWC and tips in 85 gr dressed up to load . The first problem I discovered was that the brass is apparently in that rogue can with the calipers , Herters case trimmer , 25-06' dies , and about a dozen other things I've needed about 46 times . No biggie I have lots 270 and no 270 to feed , I'll just run some .....of ...that .......um , right , where are the dies .......? No biggie 06' for the body and a use for the 6.5-257 AI set for a neck die and seater . It doesn't even matter that it leaves the neck ID at .257 , that's just right for the .260 dia cast .
Brass that fits ? Check .
Bullets that fit ? Well mostly . If only I had a .260 bullet sizing die ....... Well I have a .265 and it is just enough to get the gas checks tight , so I guess that a check .
Primers ? Yep and in 3 flavors , some of Dad's stuff and mine .
Unique is my favorite to start with and there's a bunch on hand . The measure was set at 9.0 so that's where I started . It was a good choice .
I haven't shot this rifle in most of 40 years , and it's been 5 ish since it was fired at all . It's never had a cast bullet in it . I set it jam seating and it's about perfect for fire forming .
Now I have to say as far as first loads go this one wasn't bad , it's not great but it's not bad .
The first 5 were a little wild and stringy . I take the blame . But the next 5 closed up to about 2" .
I switched bullets there , to a Herters 25-80 aka 257388 Lyman a pointy 80 gr which shot 2" for 5" , all 3 at 50 yd off the bench mostly field supported .
For grins just to see what would happen I loaded a start load of H4831 . With an 85 gn bullet that's reported to be 3100 fps ..... Which would explain a cast bullet breaking up , I'm told 220,000 top will do that to one .
Inspired and having spent the day full filling a promise and getting a little trigger time with Dad , in spite of his time having run out going on 3 yr now , I returned home an dug out some 120s to try .