Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
A little background info first.
We are shooting Springfield '03's out to 500 yds. My friend and shooting partner, who is serious rifle shooter (Camp Perry, Palma, Military Team and now Class F) is my shooting partner and other than shooting BPCR about 15 years ago and muzzleloaders prior to that, is not much of a lead bullet guy. So, when he started out, he bought some 170gr. powder coated bullets. He put 18 gr of 2400 behind them and with a 10X Unertl on the rifle, he could not get those bullets to shoot worth a damn. He's 86 and my first thought was he's either not seeing well or making rookie mistakes because of his age. I was hesitant to coach him because he's forgotten more about rifle shooting than I'll ever know. We thought it might be his rifle, an 03A3 which has a 2 groove barrel. But none of us have ever seen an 03 or 03A3 with a good original barrel that would not shoot. So, we started with the basics. We gave him the bullet we were using, a 315 SAECO from Meisters. That made the difference. When he does his part and I do mine in reading the wind and mirage, the bullet finds it's mark and all my concerns went away.
We were talking a few weeks later and he said that he later put those PC bullets over a chronograph after that first day and said he was seeing very high velocities. I want to say he said 2700 fps, but he might have said 2400 and my memory is screwing with me. Regardless, 18 gr. of 2400 is pretty much a 1700 fps load in my 03 and anyone else's 03 that is shooting that bullet and powder charge.
So, he gave me some of those PC bullets and I plan to work up some loads and put them over the chrono. Before I do, since I have zero experience with PC bullets, is an increase in velocity between lubed lead and PC bullets normal as reported by my friend? I'm asking because I may start with a significantly reduced load as a starting point if that is the case.
Thanks,
We are shooting Springfield '03's out to 500 yds. My friend and shooting partner, who is serious rifle shooter (Camp Perry, Palma, Military Team and now Class F) is my shooting partner and other than shooting BPCR about 15 years ago and muzzleloaders prior to that, is not much of a lead bullet guy. So, when he started out, he bought some 170gr. powder coated bullets. He put 18 gr of 2400 behind them and with a 10X Unertl on the rifle, he could not get those bullets to shoot worth a damn. He's 86 and my first thought was he's either not seeing well or making rookie mistakes because of his age. I was hesitant to coach him because he's forgotten more about rifle shooting than I'll ever know. We thought it might be his rifle, an 03A3 which has a 2 groove barrel. But none of us have ever seen an 03 or 03A3 with a good original barrel that would not shoot. So, we started with the basics. We gave him the bullet we were using, a 315 SAECO from Meisters. That made the difference. When he does his part and I do mine in reading the wind and mirage, the bullet finds it's mark and all my concerns went away.
We were talking a few weeks later and he said that he later put those PC bullets over a chronograph after that first day and said he was seeing very high velocities. I want to say he said 2700 fps, but he might have said 2400 and my memory is screwing with me. Regardless, 18 gr. of 2400 is pretty much a 1700 fps load in my 03 and anyone else's 03 that is shooting that bullet and powder charge.
So, he gave me some of those PC bullets and I plan to work up some loads and put them over the chrono. Before I do, since I have zero experience with PC bullets, is an increase in velocity between lubed lead and PC bullets normal as reported by my friend? I'm asking because I may start with a significantly reduced load as a starting point if that is the case.
Thanks,