This is a first with Game ranger bullets!

desporterizer

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I took yes ol 91/30 sniper to the range today for the first time in quite some time. Fired a few practice groups & then settled down to see how small I could make 'em. I shot the group in the centre. liked it & started to shoot groups in the corners. My normal procedure for such occasions is to shoot the first end & then aim at the bullet hole for the rest. I can usually get some damn small groups doing this but this time I noticed something weird. I saw some strange markings on the paper & I would get two close together & one serious flyer. When I retrieved my target I saw what you see below. Has anybody seen any thing like this before? The load is 35r of h335 under the 174r .311 bullet.


 
There was a thread about his not to long ago but it was happening with pistols. There were several theories proposed but I don't think anyone could confirm what exactly was happening. The most popular theory was that the lead in the base of the bullets was coming apart for some reason and leaving spiral trails of lead dust in the air as it travelled. I think the last thread was about cast lead bullets, not jacketed, but I could be misremembering.
 
I had the same thing happen years ago with a M96 Swede. Bullet was 140 gr Hornady SP. My "comet tail" was not as well defined as those. Another interesting thing is that I had what I thought were high pressure signs ( sticky bolt and flattened primers) with a moderate load that I fired hundreds of in other rifles. The 96 did have a rough bore and I've always wondered whether that was the cause of the problem. Gun was traded off years ago. The group itself was not much more than an inch at 100 yards with open sights. Eyes were 30 years younger then.
 
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I took yes ol 91/30 sniper to the range today for the first time in quite some time. Fired a few practice groups & then settled down to see how small I could make 'em. I shot the group in the centre. liked it & started to shoot groups in the corners. My normal procedure for such occasions is to shoot the first end & then aim at the bullet hole for the rest. I can usually get some damn small groups doing this but this time I noticed something weird. I saw some strange markings on the paper & I would get two close together & one serious flyer. When I retrieved my target I saw what you see below. Has anybody seen any thing like this before? The load is 35r of h335 under the 174r .311 bullet.




. i had the same problem with frontier game ranger 155gr .30cal plated bullets out of my m1 garand, i was using 40gr of H4895. it only swirled when i had a dirty barrel ( as in anything more then 100 rds causes it to behave like that in the picture. but yes that is evident that the copper plating is shearing off due to the lands cutting through the copper plating exposing the lead core and the lead is vaporizing due to the high velocities/centrifugal force exerted upon it.

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