I was casting some .457 HP bullets the other day and i noticed that my mold seemed to not be closing fully. I had not paid attention to it when i made my last batch of bullets or the ones before that. The gap was a very little hair line gap between mold cavities. So upon cleaning and a closer inspection, there was no lead clogging any parts of the mold that would impede the mold from closing. To make a long story short, i fixed the problem (again, another factory issue...why me?) So now that the 2 halves of the mold lined up perfectly now, i began casting a NEW batch of .457 HP slugs. And of course, i took the previously made HP's and threw them into the pot to remelt them and start all over. So now, i cast about 100 NEW hp's but i left 6 of them UNSIZED. This would allow me to find out what my gun liked better, unsized .458-.459" slugs or, the sized .457 slugs. I also did the same thing with my RCBS 320 gr. FP slugs. I cast 100 FP's but left like 6 of them unsized.

So now, off i head to the woods to do some target shooting. After setting up everything including my targets/backer at 55 yrds, i filled my gun to 3500 psi as this outing was my second outing on the same tank without getting a TOP OFF. The first bullet up to bat was the unsized 458-459/305+ gr HP bullets. They did pretty good (I will save the details for the video). I would only shoot a 3 shot/55 yard group for each bullet as i was trying to conserve air for the rest of the day. Next up was the sized .457 HP/305 gr HP bullets and, they did darned good as well. Next up to bat were the unsized .459"/320 gr FP bullets. Now, this is were it got a little interesting cause, these bullets simply sucked as far as grouping goes. There were 2 bullets on paper about 2" apart and the last bullet went about 3" high dead center. Those bullets made a triangle and the 3rd bullet was not even on paper. It went high and hit the wood backer. Needless to say, that group did not make the video but, i think i gave ya a good visual...lol. Last but not least were the sized .457"/320 gr FP's and i was a little nervous after witnessing what they did while unsized. So, here we go, another 3 shot group, and this time, the group was super tight.

In all honesty, i got half of what i expected and half of what i did not expect. By that i mean, i did not expect the 2 versions of the HP's to shoot about the same group size, and i expected to get the results of all bullets by what the FP's did. In other words, i kinda expected all unsized bullets to not shoot so great and the sized bullets to shoot very well. But only the FP's did what i expected. But i did not expect the unsized FP's to group so bad. And yes, i repeated the process with the FP's and pretty much got the same results. So this just goes to show how much testing can be involved in finding the right bullet. It takes a lot of air, a lot of time, and a lot of target backers...LOL. But goosh darned, it sure is fun to TEST.

Enough of my yappin'...here's the video:

Funny how testing reveals that the results won't allways be "expected!" The one slug does OK unsized and another slug the same diameter does not do OK at all unless it is sized. This is the kind of testing more of our internet experts ought to do before they make their pronouncements!

Having done a good bit of testing and watched or read about more...I have fewer solid "rule" in mind than before I started! I've even found that barrels sometime like slugs sized to different sizes depending on length...

Hi Cedric,

Great video my friend! Very fine.

Great shooting too. All of those were excellent.

Man ... wish more of us could get together and shoot. That would be great.

Hey - the rest of ya ... doesn't this stuff look enjoyable? You need to get your guns out and shoot.

Gary

Thanx Jerry and GB. You guys comments and compliments are always greatly appreciated. I honestly had a ton of fun and really wished i simply had more AIR. Or even 2 CF tanks at least. Gonna have to buy another CF tank one day or a compressor.

Jerry, yeah, so far, i have selected 3 molds to own and cast with and luckily they have always been very good bullet designs not only for a gun but, they worked perfect for my gun. I more than likely will stick with just the 3 bullets that i make as they have proven to all shot under 1" at 50-55 yrds. But, i've always wondered, how would these bullets of mine shoot UNSIZED vs SIZED as i've always sized mine cause i know the sizer die is more accurate than the mold by itself. And since my barrel is .457", i always wondered if .458-459 would be better or worse than the .457" in that particular gun. I find that Airguns tend to be a LOT ALIKE powder burners in the fact that, to get the best in an airgun, its the same as getting the best out of your powder burner. Just that the 2 have different ways of propelling a projectile. But bullet weight, speed, and length are critical in finding the utmost accuracy in both type guns (PB or Air Gun).

(So test we must and test i've done...it was sooooo much fun.)roll

GB......How'd ya like that ripple effect in the end of the video? That one was honestly for you. Just something new i found in one of the editing programs i use. You can also add the amount of RIPPLES to use. In that one i think i choose either 1 or 2 ripples but, i had like 5-6 ripples going and you can go up to 10 i believe. So i choose to have less.

GB, yeah, maybe more sooner than later we could set something up. When the money is right, i would love to come to you and Jerry's neck of the woods for a shoot and photo session. What fun that would truly be. I have had only one opportunity to hunt/shoot with guys from another forum (air gun advice) and it was simply the best time i've ever had on a hunt. Well, except for my very first deer hunt....NOTHING BETTER THAN THE FIRST TIME. But it was so much fun to actually take off of work for a week, then drive 1600 miles with my buddy Paul and meet up with like 7-8 other guys to hunt. TOO MUCH FUN. And i know our adventures would be just as fun. COME ONNNNNNN LOTTERY...lol



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/2010 08:25PM by Tofazfou.

I'm going to go out and buy some tickets too...

yep, bought mine. I buy 5 on Saturdays and 1 on Wednesdays. GOOD LUCK JERRY to both of us. The sooner one us wins, the sooner we can get together for a shoot. I PROMISE!

Check your PM's dude.

Gary

Sent you a reply GB via PM

Nice work Tofaz. Don't ya just love the testing! You never quite know what is going to work or not. Your video skills are amazing, keep it up
Cheers
Neil

Thanx Neil. I really appreciate it as within the last couple of years, i have really fallen in love with video taping and editing and photography.

And ohhhh yeah, testing is definitely very fun and relaxing. More 100 yards stuff coming soon.