A while back I decided to try and find a slug that is heavier than the Totem Pole (177gr) but still shoots well from the Prairie 3. I don't have any problems with the slugs I have mind you, I just want to experiment a bit. The Cans (115gr) are very accurate out of this gun but when I hit a target out at 175 yards and it just wobbles, well, it's time to move up in power. Otherwise Gary and Jim will knock all the targets down...

I have another 200+gr slug that has done OK but I thought I might do better with another design. So, a while back, I bought a Hoch Molds 200gr .322 nose pour mold. It was out of stock for a long time but just came in the other day. Fortunately, Timmy has been keeping the pot hot lately and let me slip in for a quick casting session.

The Hoch nose pour mold is an interesting bit of gear. The first thing I noticed when looking at it was that the cavity is bored all the way through the small block. It has a base plate that is attached to the sprue plate and both move together when the sprue is knocked off. The base plate is just flat steel that rides against the open bottom/base and the sprue plate is at the nose of the flat tip conical slug. Interesting. The next thing I noticed was that because of the mechanism to tie the base and sprue plate together, the mold would not fit into any handle I had and actually work. A few minutes with a dremel tool and some Lee handles were suitably modified!

If anyone ever gets one of these Hoch molds, here's a tip; get it good and hot before you start. I read a review where a guy with 10 years experience casting and his friend with 30 years experience could not get decent slugs out of this mold. Hogwash! Use a torch and get it nice and hot and the sprue plate too and the slugs will turn out great. A fast pour helps too.

Here's a picture of some slugs:

Naturally, the one dead center in the picture might be the worst one cast with that nasty wrinkle in it... If you look carefully, you might notice that these slugs have been sized. They have actually been sized twice; first to .318 and then to .316. It turns out that they shoot much better and more efficiently at .316 than the normal .318 for this gun. I've noticed this before as longer slugs don't need the rifling to cut as deep given that more gets cut. If you look even closer, you might notice that the sizing marks are much more obvious on the base and last couple rings. The slug is clearly a tapered design. I don't really like tapered designs but the sizing appears to have taken almost all the taper out allowing the slug to align properly. At least there is enough slug of consistent size to properly align. It loads nice and smooth with no excess pressure.

In case you forgot, here's the Prairie 3:

Nice gun.

You may have noticed the Chrony in the picture. Yes, I did check. The 212gr slug flew at 740 - 760 FPS depending on the pressure I used. Today's shots were at 260 FPE. I think I can drop the pressure a bit and get another 20 FPE and/or I can run more hammer distance and get another 20 FPE pretty easy. The gun uses a lot of air at this power and the power is pretty darn high as is but the next sunny day, I'll have to wring out every drop of power out of it!

Here's a view to the target:

I didn't get the camera in just the right spot but you get the idea...

Here's the collection of shots from the early look yesterday through today's test.

There are shots there from when I only sized to .318 and also from the later shots after the second sizing. I had to do a bit of sighting in as well. Along with the slug experiment, I adjusted the scope rings so they don't have quiet as much drop compensation as they did before. I found that I could not shoot at high power at 43 Yards because of excessive hold-under required and could barely get the scope dialed in at low power. I moved the rear ring back one notch in the rail and that dropped the drop compensation down a bit. The lines drawn on the target are pefectly horizontal and vertical. I used a level to draw them and then got the gun level with the attached level. Then, all I had to do was rotate the scope so the cross hairs lined up with the target lines and tighten everything up.

After all the preliminary work it was time to see if these slugs would be worth a hoot.

That was the 2nd to last group shot (5 shots). That told me the slugs had promise.

Last group:

#$@@^%#$&&$ flyers! I expect I had a slug with an air bubble in it or a lapse of skill... Anyway, I think these slugs have a good chance of knocking down those heavy targets at 150 yards plus that Gary and Jim usually hog with the .45s and up!

The slugs look nice and deadly, with 260fpe, it will penetrate like there's no tomorrow due to excellent sectional density. It makes me want to buy a .30 gun! The Prarie looks beautiful, oh, and the scope wheel looks bigger than the gun he..he.. Nice combo. Good job Jerry!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2009 10:59PM by peter-n.

Jerry,
Fine shooting with the new slug. Jim and Gary don't stand a chance now. Those will be interesting slugs to see after they hit some steel. Those things look to be 2in in length. That will carry plenty of energy down range. Have you run it thu any ballistic programs to predict energy at the target?

I assume you had a talk with Gary about breech pressures and the like before cramming all that lead thru the barrel? I had my discussion after breaking a hammer cocking stud. My experiment wasn't quite so well controlled as yours however.

Hey - if you love them, you have to have "the talk" sooner or later.

No Kent ... actually, Jerry just went "to the gutter" and bought this slug mold. Years of education ... ignored. (Sometimes, you just have to let them see the error of their ways ... though it's painful to watch .....



Gary

Kent,

I tried to have the talk with Gary but he's just too busy making stuff for OTHER people!

Actually, at 212gr this slug is 1gr less than the Torpedo slug that made 280 FPE in initial testing. Unfortunately, the P3 does not like that slug very much. I'll have to get this slug out to the range to see if it works at longer ranges. It shows some promise but only long range shooting will tell.

If the slug is no good at distance, this will have been a complete waste. I'd offer them for sale to the public but nobody actually shoots .32s. There are guns out there labled ".32" but they are all (as far as I can tell) actually running .310 - .312 at best. We actually have folks buying ammo for .308s and .32s that are cast in the same molds. It all goes back to that crazy standard ammo thing...

Don't forget ...

The British .303 is listed as .... ah .... .312" Might be useful for your "other" customes

Gary

Jerry,

Nice groups! That slug is a monster!

Those look promising at this point Jerry. I tried some similar looking long ribbed HP's weighing around 162 grains in my .308 (that's about as heavy as I will shoot given the power of the gun) and at 100 yards they sprayed all over the place! Hope yours pass the long distance test
Cheers
Neil

Thanks Neil, I hope they do well also. I happen to like having a bunch of choices with ammo. It does tend to drive some people nuts though...

Gary, I forgaot all about the .303! What genius bores a barrel to .312 and decides to call it a .303? Really, can that be an innocent mistake or what? Anyway, if some enterprising airgunner buys a ".303" barrel and needs .312 slugs for it...

Jerry i could use a gross of these, but i'll have to lop off about four in of compensator so i can muzzle load kell's victory.

kent