Pulled the trigger

[Don McDowell]

Hopefully they stretch that match out for enough shooting to make it worth the trip
The way it is right now it would be something along the lines of 50 dollars per record shot by the time you figure travel lodging and entry fee

[Kurt]

Don,

I'm starting to work with my new .40-65, well it's not new anymore it's two years old but it has very few shots fired through since I got it. Well today I started working through some ladder loads with a bullet .395" diameter from a BA mould that came a little large and my bore is a little undersized so I got a bunch of the 55Y and it runs .0015"and this patches it to .401"so I have to run it through a die to get it to .399" and this is a snug fit in my bore.
I have always said that the patch has to be more than the groove is deeper it will smear lead o the sharp land edges. Well today I shot 80 rounds wiping between shots and when the final clean up I kept getting gray streaks on the patch so I got out the Hawkeye bore scope and sure enough I had lead smears on the driving side of the lands.
Do you ever get lead smears when you clean using the 55Y ??

[Don McDowell]

Kurt I don't get any more lead smears with 55y than 9 lb paper mill (the good stuff all cotton). Of the hundred rounds or so I fired this weekend at Byers I didn't get any lead. Some of the vertical; problem I had that wasn't necessarily caused by the wind was traced right back to 8lb paper and no jojoba oil. The 7 lb treated with jojoba held extremely good elevation in all but the switching head and tail winds. ( and there was a couple of targets I did not get my sticks set just the right height.)
The winds would switch from a tail wind to a head wind and the flags would go limp at the targets before the bullet got there. If you got lucky you'll hold a 6 o'clock six, if not you were sending prairie dogs on the scramble. Or you could let one go in a head wind and the switch would happen and the bullet would send chunks out of the top of the target frame. Byers is a very challenging place to shoot.
My thoughts on lead smears is likely a patch that is just a bit short and the bullet bumping up past the patch, but I can't really confirm that. I also think when going with calibers smaller than 45 based on a 45 case the pressure increase by pushing the powder thru the smaller bore can cause you problems with blow by, so going with a bullet closer to bore diameter helps with accuracy first, and the leading thing second.
I also believe the bottle necks suffer from the same problem.
I'm also a huge fan of the Bore Wipers from BACO, and using 7-1 mix of Napa cutting oil and water, I think helps tremendously with fouling control, less tearing on the patch, and a very consistent bore condition.

[Distant Thunder]

Don,
I hear you on the sticks! My first two relays last Saturday I had the same problem. The low end of the 1000 yard line, I was on #3, is slightly up hill. I set my sticks up as usual and they were too high. I lowered them and they were still a bit too high, but I thought I could make it work. Not really. I struggle through that relay and the next to get comfortable in my Hepburn and I could not hold a good sight picture. I thought the first relay was because it was soooo dark and that may not have helped.

By the 3rd relay, with my sticks in the same place, I knew I had to do something after the first couple of shots. I had Brent lower my sticks another inch or so and what a difference. I started shooting 10s and even a few Xs, ending up with my highest score of the day and climbing into 3rd place. I believe those were my only Xs all day, a few more and I would have finished in second.

Something so simple and it messed me up big time!

I have always used a oil and water mix for wiping and it seems to work for me.

[Don McDowell]

That stick thing is part of what gave the Tollefson gun so much trouble, the firing pin and block being wore out didn't help,, But in those grass roots you guys shoot in there, these square bottoms sticks we drive into sand and rocks wouldn't stay put. .
Really hoping scheduling works to get there next year.