Man, it's been a long hot Summer and I haven't shot in a quite a while.
Got a chance to sneak in a short range session Saturday afternoon. And even though it was eighty-one degrees with humidity high enough that sweat didn't evaporate I couldn't hold off any longer.
The objective of the session was to try some lead conicals kindly supplied by
edmehlig. Ed sent me two bullet weights, 350 grain hollow points and 465 grain flat points, all pure soft lead and sized to .451.
He sure does a nice casting and sizing job. Here's what they look like.
I intend to try these beauties with sabots in several of my .50 caliber guns. But yesterday's session was devoted to the .45 caliber Green Mountain barreled Renegade.
The bullets are a perfect slip fit in the Renegades 1:30 twist barrel.
I knew the gun was sighted in for dead on at 100 yards with .40 caliber/200 grain XTPs, and had no idea where those heavy leads would hit. So I set up a target at 25 yards and loaded one of the 350's over 65 grains GOEX FFFg with a felt wad under the bullet.
To my surprise, it hit only 3/4" below the left side of the 1" bull. (See shot #1 on target below.)
After adjusting the scope a little bit up and right, I took two more shots with the same load.
That sucker shows promise! Both in the bull 1/2" apart.
Out of curiosity, I tried two shots with the 465 grainers with the same 65 grain load (shots 4 & 5 on the target). Those two had a 1-3/8" spread and may have potential with a heavier powder charge.
I didn't have a lot of time to play, so decided to work with just the 350's. With a target set at the 50 yard mark, I took five shots with the same 65 grain load. The .50 caliber felt wads were a pain to get in the bore without them getting cocked on the side. I can't swear they all went down perfectly flat against the charge.
(Note to self - get some .45 caliber wads.)
Anyway, here's the 50 yard target.
I can tell you, I was pretty darn excited after shot number three. But four and five were a bit deflating.
After changing the adjustment on the powder measure to
75 grains, I tried five more shots at 50 yards.
Here's that target.
Can you say "BIG GRIN"?
Being pressed for time I had to quit for the day. It really stunk to have to leave without trying 75 and 100 yards, and different charges under the 465 grain bullet. But family obligations took precedence. Maybe next weekend?