Hey!Hey!

[Kurt]

I got the call from CPA last week asking if I wanted to make any last minute changes on my .44-75 Ballard and .22 rim fire combination. I said no and Gail said you should have it by your Birthday the end of the month. man those 19 days waiting will be a long time coming
So today I went out in the shop and put a bandage on my lathe and made the sizing die and sized down some .45-90 Bell brass I had in a box under the bench. They are a little short for the 2.5" deep chamber but with the lead it has it will work just fine. So I loaded 50 rounds with three different bullets I will shoot in this rifle.
I hope I can go and pick it up when I get the call, but FedX knows where I live if not

[bruce moulds]

kurt,
you have an interesting selection of bullets there.
having tried a bullet like the one on the right, I am coming to the conclusion that the middle one might need less comeups at longer ranges.
my 2 flattest shooting bullets are both elliptical and not really sharp pointed.
it will be interesting to hear your findings on this.
keep safe,
bruce.

[Nuclearcricket]

Kurt, I ment to ask you this earlier but kept forgetting to. I am curious as to what lever you ordered on your rifle. I have one and have the ball and spur lever. Nice for shooting off hand but for me it throws my wrist into a bad position when shooting prone. Some day i would like to swap it our for the lever style lever, I think that would be much better for prone shooting.
Sam

[Kurt]

Bruce.

The bullet on the right is a 473 gr .433" diameter 1.460"long 473 prolate bullet cast from a Brooks mould.
The center is a 507 gr .431 dia. .1.461' long elliptical bullet cast from a KAL base pour mould.
The left is a clone of a Sharps bullet cast from a Brooks adjustable mould set at 1.330" long and it is .431" in Di. and 480 gr.

The two Elliptical I shoot in the .44-100 straight with a 1/17 ROT. They shoot extremely well in this rifle. But the prolate gets a little squirrely showing slightly oval holes at 1000 yards. The Elliptical has the advantage over the prolate at 1K. I use it for the creedmoor matches.
Now the sight settings between those two bullets with the same powder type and charge is the same at 1023 yards with 84 gr of 2F KIK with a sight setting of 180 pt. That is 130 PT above my 200 yd setting.
The Sharps bullet I use mostly in the .44-77 and the .44-90 bns It will outshoot all of my bullets I have for the .44's with the 1/19 ROT.
I don't have the range books here in the house handy but in the .44-2-5/8 BN with 100 gr of 2F KIK the sight setting is 182pt. Yes it takes a little more powder but I have found nothing that will out shoot it in the 1/19 ROT. I have not yet used it in the 1/17 ROT .44-100 at long range so I cant say what it will do in that rifle past 1K.

It will be interesting to see what that Prolate will do in my new .44-75 with a 1/16 ROT.

Kurt

Edit, I might add that the prolate bullet is the most consistently shooting bullet at 200 yards. I have put 5 through the paper at 200 that a quarter will cover with room to spare.

[Kurt]

Sam.

I ordered the loop lever with out the finger spur, like the Winchester lever rifle.

Kurt

[bruce moulds]

kurt,
interesting those 2 bullets have the same sight setting with the same charge.
the kal bullet is quite a bit heavier, so would probably start slower.
this suggests it must have a higher b.c. than the prolate.
whether this is due to increased weight, or lower nose drag is an interesting question.
I suspect nose drag has something to do with it, as it is surprisingly the prolate that is less stable, suggesting its centre of pressure is further forward.
this mirrors my findings with similar profiles in 40 cal.
keep safe,
bruce.

[Kurt]

Bruce.

That KAL is one fine shooting bullet in the 17 twist and it is marginal at the 1K in the 19 twist .44-90bn but it hits more then it misses on the 4' square iron. The big .44 will drive that bullet right at 1450 fps. and that might be enough to keep it stable at extended ranges.
I have shot that bullet in the .44-77 but only to 200 yds and it does ok at that range, but that rifle only has the barrel sights on it.

[Don McDowell]

Looks Good!