.458 bulging Starline

[Lumpy Grits]

Doug-I'm squishing 2F OE .350" for my Shiloh .45-90, shoot'n a 540 PJ Creedmoor bullet.
So go ahead and add some powder.
Just make sure the case's mouth is no more the .479" dia after seating the bullet.
Gary

[laowho]

Thanks All,

I had pre-poured 20 @ 68, 20 @ 69 and 20 @ 70 gr. with .060" wads. The bullet profile is such that the case has to touch the 1st driving band, and on the shortest banded RN (415 gr), seating depth is 9/16" Had to compress the 68 gr over .030" just to get a chamber-able cartridge, and that was after swapping out the .060 for the .030 wads. Think yer right Bob, at least for these. Gonna load these 20 w/ the 415 gr RN but then I'm removin some powder from the other 40 so I can load the 500 gr which seats 5/8" deep. Can't believe it's taken me all night to dial everything in, but it's been good gettin to know the rifle, dies, and all of it.

[Don McDowell]

Doug don't do that. It doesn't hurt a darn thing to compress powder. I won the sharpshooter class in the midrange position match at the nationals this year shooting 70 grains of Eynsford 2 f under a .060 wad and a 518 gr money bullet seated to the driving band. That load is compressed almost a 1/2 inch.

[Lumpy Grits]

X2 on 'do not remove powder'
Don't be afraid to go up to .350"+ in compression.
BTW: Confirm you 'weights' for powder come from a scale thrown amount, and NOT a bulk type hand-held BP measure.
Gary

[laowho]

Wow. Haven't come across that before Don. Now I understand better what at first seemed a cavalier, "Just load 'em and compress." And now Lumpy has put up a warning not to remove powder, but I already have. They'd already been compressed previously, but I was meticulous to only scrape off (w/ a shishkabob stick) 1 gr from the 40 cases. These all then had to be re-compressed further to accommodate the 530 gr bullets and usin my dowel gage. And yes, these were all originally scale thrown and drop tubed. (Can't imagine how much less powder I'd get in there if not drop tubed.) And for good contact the bullets compressed the powder another 1/32" to 1/16"

Well, got back at it 6:30 this morning and had to tweak some final things, and finally got everything dialed in. WOW. What tolerances, but what machining magic. Seems the moving parts are every bit as well-fitting as are the wood-to-metal. A properly loaded cartridge--no crimping--goes in and out like velvet steel. In the words of Van Morrison, "And it stoned me." Sublime really.

Wound up w/ the following:

20 bullets @ 512 gr over 68 gr OE compressed @ .25"
20 @ 530 gr 69 gr @ .25"
20 @ 530 gr 69 gr @ .30"

Next time I load these I'll probably load lighter, w/ .060 wads and lower compressions. But after what Don and Lumpy have said, I'll also try higher compressions for a full 70 gr load. All these combined will gimme a decent spread to see what she likes. All subject to change of course. Can't wait to shoot and start takin notes. Thanks for yer help!

[Lumpy Grits]

Why load lighter?
What are you do'n for fouling control?
What 500gn bullet are you using? What alloy?
Gary

[laowho]

No specific reason other than that I've read that OE likes lighter compression--until Don of course! But I wanna cover as wide a range as possible. Still have another 140 bullets.
For foulin have heard that OE maybe fouls a lil softer and is more amenable to blow tube which I'd like to do if possible. Figure it mite be sumthin of an art? Am equally prepared to wipe of course. Guess just water for that, and if lite enuf no dry wipe behind it?
The bullets are from Chey Cast Bullets, 20:1 @ 11BHN. They look Postell-like?.

oops...530 gr, and they are Postell

http://www.cheycastbullets.com/Black-Pow..._c_11.html

I'm an idiot. What I thought were 415 gr RN are actually 512 Gr. Well good for me. Keep hearin that the 45-70 prefers such. They measure .458 on the nose and received them in 3 days.

[Don McDowell]

Cheycast makes good bullets. That 512 gr bullet you have is a "government" bullet. OE does foul much softer than other powders, but it will get hard on you in hot and dry conditions. Can't get lazy with the fouling control.

[laowho]

Well, guess I've also read a water/RV anti-freeze solution for wiping? What's special about RV? BTW, mite be a good time to bring up Slip 2000. It's what I'll be cleanin with, but can I use a solution of it for wiping too? And am I aiming for leavin a lite fouling residue during shooting? If I wipe it'll be w/ an undersized vinyl brush under cloth. I read about it here

https://www.slip2000.com/blog/precision-...-magazine/

and ordered mine f/ BACO.

[Don McDowell]

Best wiping solution is 7 parts water and 1 part Napa water soluble cutting oil. It also does a decent job of cleaning the gun, then finish the cleaning process with a good bore solvent to remove any carbon fouling and any lead that might be left in there. The oil the bore. I'm a big fan of the Montana Extreme accuracy oil for the final oiled patch down the bore.