Cast Bullets For High Power Rifles.
Shooting
and Fishing, vol 39 No. 14 page 291 – Jan 11 1906
In SHOOTING AND FISHING, issue of Dec. 7, I noticed an article by
Chesapeake,
on Hunting Rifle Loads, and I heartily agree with him in the
matter. We
certainly ought to have some smokeless loads with cast bullets
worked up for
such high power hunting rifles as the .25-35, .30-30, .32-40 high
power, .32
Winchester Special, and .38-55 high power. The fact that we have
such a variety
of cast bullet loads for the Krag (.30-40) rifle, that give fine
shooting at
all distances from the shortest gallery ranges up to 500 or 600
yards, shows
conclusively that similar loads that would give satisfactory
results could easily
be worked out for the hunting rifles above named.
For the past six months I have been experimenting along this line,
trying to
find a load for the .32 Winchester Special, that would give good
results at
ranges from 50 to 200 or 250 yards. My first trials were with 8 to
14 grains
Laflin & Rand Infallible smokeless and the Ideal bullet No.
321232, cast
from Dr, Hudson's 80 lead, 10 tin, 10 antimony alloy.
With 8, 9, or 10 grains Infallible and the above bullet, 170
grains weight, I
obtained good accuracy at 50 to 125 yards; but it required too
much elevation
of the sight to suit me. With 12 to 14 grains of Infallible the
velocity was
higher, the trajectory flatter, but accuracy was not generally
satisfactory,
there being many wild or unaccountable shots.
I then tried 14 or 15 grains Marksman smokeless and the 170-grain
bullet No.
321232, but found the results very unsatisfactory at any range.
The load seemed
to give fair velocity, but shot very irregularly. At 100 yards,
shooting in the
prone position with a sand bag rest. using a Remington Lee
sporting rifle, .32
Winchester Special cartridge, telescope sights, many shots that
were held for
bullseyes struck in the six or even five or four ring of the
100-yard Standard
American target. I was unable to find the cause of the poor
shooting with this
powder and therefore abandoned the load.
My next experiments were with Sharpshooter smokeless. I tried 12,
13, 14, 15,
and 16-grain charges of this powder with the bullet used in the
preceding
trials. The 13 and 14-grain loads gave very good results from 50
to 150 yards,
and sometimes did well at 200 yards, but was generally
unsatisfactory at 200
yards. At 50 and 100 yards, with this load, shooting in the prone
position with
a rest, I found it possible to keep ten shots in the bullseye of
the Standard
American target for the respective distances.
As I was not fully satisfied with the Sharpshooter load, I next
tried Du Pont
Smokeless Rifle No. 1 in charges from 16 to 19 grains, with the
170grain No.
321232 bullet.
The best load that I found is 18 grains Du Pont Smokeless Rifle
No. 1 and the
above bullet. It is certainly a fine, accurate shooting load for
the .32
Winchester Special. The gas formed from this powder does not
appear to be so
very hot as that produced by the Laflin & Rand powders;
therefore, a softer
bullet can be used and fine shooting obtained. I first tried the
80-10-10
alloy, and the 86-7-7; then bullets 1 part tin, 10 of lead, 1 to
13, 1 to 15,
and 1 to 16, all of which shot fine. There was but little
difference in the
shooting of the 1 to 10, 1 to 13, 1 to 15, and the 86-7-7 bullets.
The load
shoots close at 50 to 250 or 300 yards; the velocity is good and
the trajectory
low.
At 50 yards, shooting in the prone position with rest, using this
load, it was
easy to place ten shots in the bull of the Standard American
50—yard target,
and I could often place the ten shots in the nine ring of this
target at this
distance. At 100 and 200 yards this load will place ten shot
groups in the nine
ring of the target for these ranges, and a good portion of the ten
shots will
be in the ten ring. At 300 yards, under favorable weather
conditions, I have
frequently placed ten-shot groups in the bull of the 200-yard
Standard American
target, when shooting in the prone position with a rest. The only
objection to
this load is the high cost of the Du Pont No. 1 Smokeless Rifle
powder.
Therefore, I endeavored to find a cheaper powder that would shoot
as accurately
as the Du Pont No. 1 Rifle Smokeless, and the fine shooting
obtained with
Hazard Blue Ribbon smokeless in the Krag rifle induced me to try
it in the .32
Winchester Special.
After trying various charges of Blue Ribbon smokeless I have found
that the
best results were obtained with 17 grains weight of that powder,
with 9 grains
of the cereal cream of wheat over the powder, and the 170-grain
No. 321232
bullet, cast from Dr, Hudson's 86-7-7 alloy, and lubricated with
Kephart‘s
lubricant. While this combination does not give as close groups as
obtained
with the Du Pont No. 1 Smokeless Rifle, it will shoot close enough
to place
ten-shot strings in the bull of the 50 and l00-yard Standard
American targets
at those ranges, shooting from a rest, or in the prone position.
At 200 yards
it will shoot ten shot groups in a six-inch ring, when there is
not too much
wind; but wind seems to affect the bullet greatly at 200 yards or
more. I have
tried this load on woodchucks and find it shoots close enough to
use in such
hunting, and it kills well if placed in the right spot.
However, for woodchucks I found a better killing load by using a
hollow point. 150-grain
No. 321265 bullet, cast from 1 to 10 lead and tin, or the 86-7-7
alloy. The
hollow point, even in these hard bullets, greatly increases the
killing power
and with this load a woodchuck hit in most any part of his anatomy
is at once
put out of business. I think this load would be effective on deer
at ranges up
to 150 yards, possibly farther.
Another load that gave excellent shooting is 18 or 19 grains of
Hazard No. 1
Smokeless Rifle powder and the 170-grain No. 321232 bullet or the
I50-grain No.
321265 bullet cast from 1 to 16 lead and tin, or harder. This load
gave me even
better results than the Du Pont No. 1 Rifle Smokeless load; but it
costs the
same as Du Pont, and cannot be obtained outside of the large
cities. The gas
from this powder seems to be cooler than that produced by any
other smokeless
powder that I have yet tried, and I believe this is one of the
reasons why it
shoots so well.
Briefly, the results of my experience thus far show that the best
load I have
found is the Hazard No. 1 Smokeless Rifle powder and the bullets
above named.
The second best results were obtained with Du Pont No. 1 Smokeless
Rifle powder
and the same bullets. The third best load is the Hazard Blue
Ribbon smokeless,
17 grains weight (40 grains bulk) of powder with 9 or 10 grains
bulk of cream
of wheat and No. 321232 bullet, 170 grains, or No. 321265 bullet,
150 grains,
cast from the 86-7-7 alloy.
The Hazard No. 1 and Du Pont N0. 1 Smokeless Rifle cost about
twice as much per
load as the Blue Ribbon smokeless load. The latter will shoot as
close as most
men can hold, and will be found satisfactory for woodchuck hunting
and similar
game at distances up to 200 yards. I believe it would prove all
right for deer
also; but I cannot state from experience, as I have not had a
chance to try it
on deer.
In these trials I have used two different rifles for the .32
Winchester Special
cartridge—my own Remington-Lee sporting rifle, twenty-eight-inch
barrel, Mogg 6
power telescope sight on the side and Lyman sights on the barrel;
and a
Winchester repeater owned by a friend, twenty-six-inch barrel,
half magazine,
open sights. The trials were made first with my own rifle and
later verified
with the Winchester repeater, careful record being made of each
experiment. I
believe the three loads here recommended are about as good as any
we can have,
except by the use of the now copper base bullets recently brought
out by the
Ideal Mfg. Co., for the .30-30, .303, .32-40 high power, and .32
Winchester
Special rifles.
These copper base bullets with a proper charge of Lightning
smokeless will,
doubtless, prove superior to the loads here given; but, of course,
it will
entail extra labor to make these new soft point, copper base
bullets. However,
they may shoot enough better to pay for the extra trouble. But if
the rifleman
does not wish to go to the expense of getting new molds for the
copper base
bullets and soft tips and to put in the extra labor necessary to
make such bullets,
he will find, probably, that some of the loads here recommended
will suit him.
N. H. R
‘We understand that the manufacture of Hazard No. 1 Smokeless Rifle powder hits been discontinued, though orders may still be filled from stock on hand.