Back from the range with more things to think about. I cast a bunch of 90 gr loverin style bullets and loaded 3 full length and 6 cut back (in the lathe) to about 60 grains. The long ones remain unstable (ie too long) and the short bullets were not very accurate (3" group). I think the reason has to do with my chamber and probably with most chambers. The 25 rimfire shell would appear not to be .25 caliber; the bullet is actually .260 or just under and the shell appears to be close to .280". The significants is that if a home made shell and bullet combination is too short the slug has to jump a far ways through a considerably oversize section of chamber and based on a couple of slugs I picked up from the snow, it is not entering the rifling completely straight on.
I am going to try another batch of shells this time breach seating the slugs in the rifling and putting a case full of powder in the chamber (not loose powder) If that turns out to be an accurate method, perhaps I need to think about rechambering the gun to accept a longer rimfire shell with an inside bullet and loaded in a way that places the bullet touching the rifling.
I am using .22 shells as primers and while they are firing every time, it is only just because the firing pin barely reaches them. Dingus is using a breach seated ball plus a hilti cap but the drawback there is that it requires a bit of jiggery pokery to get them to fire; my gun dents the shells but does not fire them. The solution is probably to make a new extractor with a thinner rim recess because the pin strikes on the extractor. The breach seated ball is probably accurate because being essentially short, it more or less does not leave the barrel on a bit of an angle.
cheers mooncoon
I am going to try another batch of shells this time breach seating the slugs in the rifling and putting a case full of powder in the chamber (not loose powder) If that turns out to be an accurate method, perhaps I need to think about rechambering the gun to accept a longer rimfire shell with an inside bullet and loaded in a way that places the bullet touching the rifling.
I am using .22 shells as primers and while they are firing every time, it is only just because the firing pin barely reaches them. Dingus is using a breach seated ball plus a hilti cap but the drawback there is that it requires a bit of jiggery pokery to get them to fire; my gun dents the shells but does not fire them. The solution is probably to make a new extractor with a thinner rim recess because the pin strikes on the extractor. The breach seated ball is probably accurate because being essentially short, it more or less does not leave the barrel on a bit of an angle.
cheers mooncoon
