Maven
Well-Known Member
Last week I took my Ruger BH to the range for a bit of recreation, but was unpleasantly surprised when I examined my targets: I could have done better with a shotgun! The bullet was the RCBS 158gr. Keith copy (plain base), sized to .359" over 5.8gr. of Unique. Half of the loads were taper crimped; half were roll crimped, which wasn't easy given the narrow crimp groove on that CB (more on taper crimping below). After factoring in the poor lighting conditions (sun directly on and later, to the right of the front sight)*, and not having fired the BH for awhile, I wondered whether those CB's were a tad undersized. (Btw, they are very accurate when sized to .358" in my S & W Mod. 10 over 4.4gr. of Unique.) When I got home I slugged the cylinder throats and forcing cone and was surprised to learn that they accepted .359" CB's with minimal - moderate effort. As I happened to have a NIB .360" H & I die, I thought I would at least give the larger diameter, .360", a try.
Fast forward to a few days ago. Having cast and sized the new lot of Keiths to .360" (tumble lubed them), I trimmed the brass to a uniform length (1.27"), and reloaded them with 5.8gr. of Unique, taper crimping half and roll crimping the other half as before. I'm happy to report that the BH was much happier with the .360" dia. CB's than the slightly smaller, .359" ones. In addition, and this may be contrary to revolver reloading wisdom, the taper crimped loads grouped more consistently and more accurately than their roll crimped counterparts. There was no sign of bullet movement with the taper crimped rounds either.
I should add that all shooting (92 rounds/session) was done at 25 yd. with the revolver butt rested on my [rear] rifle bag, which is how I always shoot handguns. The target was a 3" x 3" square set at 45 deg. with 3/8" wide black sides. The primers were small pistol Mag Tech, seated with a Lee hand primer. Lastly, the somewhat odd charge of Unique, 5.8gr., is what my Lyman pistol powder measure rotor consistently throws.
Although the RCBS 158gr. Keith mold casts beautifully, it is only a 2 cavity and is heavy to boot. I.e., it takes awhile (and a tired left arm!) to amass a large enough pile of CB's to feed the BH. OTOH, I have a Lee .358-TL SWC 6 banger, which weighs less than the RCBS mold, casts easily, but the CB's are only .358" in diameter: The S & W Mod. 10 loves them, but they're too narrow for the Ruger. I was looking around on E-Bay, Arsenal Molds, and NOE for a suitable mold, i.e.., one which drops a .360" or slightly larger CB when it occurred to me that I could "beagle" the Lee 6 cavity SWC mold. I beagled both sides of the mold and was soon rewarded with .363" - .364" dia. CB's. When they cooled, I promptly sized them to .360", and a few to .358" and am happy to report they look great. I.e., the "micro bands" although reduced, were neither smeared nor eliminated. In fact, they've been tumble lubed and are now drying and look "normal." The proof will be in the shooting, but I won't get to that for several weeks.
Thought you'd like to know.
*Our bermes and firing line are oriented so that we shoot to the southeast, which means into the sun at certain times of day and in mid autumn - early spring. While the warm sun is a blessing on the colder days, it makes shooting with open sights quite difficult.
Fast forward to a few days ago. Having cast and sized the new lot of Keiths to .360" (tumble lubed them), I trimmed the brass to a uniform length (1.27"), and reloaded them with 5.8gr. of Unique, taper crimping half and roll crimping the other half as before. I'm happy to report that the BH was much happier with the .360" dia. CB's than the slightly smaller, .359" ones. In addition, and this may be contrary to revolver reloading wisdom, the taper crimped loads grouped more consistently and more accurately than their roll crimped counterparts. There was no sign of bullet movement with the taper crimped rounds either.
I should add that all shooting (92 rounds/session) was done at 25 yd. with the revolver butt rested on my [rear] rifle bag, which is how I always shoot handguns. The target was a 3" x 3" square set at 45 deg. with 3/8" wide black sides. The primers were small pistol Mag Tech, seated with a Lee hand primer. Lastly, the somewhat odd charge of Unique, 5.8gr., is what my Lyman pistol powder measure rotor consistently throws.
Although the RCBS 158gr. Keith mold casts beautifully, it is only a 2 cavity and is heavy to boot. I.e., it takes awhile (and a tired left arm!) to amass a large enough pile of CB's to feed the BH. OTOH, I have a Lee .358-TL SWC 6 banger, which weighs less than the RCBS mold, casts easily, but the CB's are only .358" in diameter: The S & W Mod. 10 loves them, but they're too narrow for the Ruger. I was looking around on E-Bay, Arsenal Molds, and NOE for a suitable mold, i.e.., one which drops a .360" or slightly larger CB when it occurred to me that I could "beagle" the Lee 6 cavity SWC mold. I beagled both sides of the mold and was soon rewarded with .363" - .364" dia. CB's. When they cooled, I promptly sized them to .360", and a few to .358" and am happy to report they look great. I.e., the "micro bands" although reduced, were neither smeared nor eliminated. In fact, they've been tumble lubed and are now drying and look "normal." The proof will be in the shooting, but I won't get to that for several weeks.
Thought you'd like to know.
*Our bermes and firing line are oriented so that we shoot to the southeast, which means into the sun at certain times of day and in mid autumn - early spring. While the warm sun is a blessing on the colder days, it makes shooting with open sights quite difficult.
