By Jeff Brown
By way of a deceased estate I recently had the opportunity to cast off a large number of bullets from a Lee 311-93-1R 6 cavity mould. The mould is designed for use in .32 cal handgun rounds the likes of .32S&W, .32ACP, 7.62X25 TOK and .32-20 and in my nominal 40-1 alloy drops a bullet at 91gr neat and .312 inch on the driving bands. Being a round nose bullet I have no use for it for small game as past experience with my Martini .32-20 had shown RN projectiles at rimfire velocity not be convincing rabbit and hare stoppers however it is a nice light bullet that only sips at the lead pot and would be suitable for informal shooting/plinking in .30 and .31cal rifle. In my colleciton of moulds I have the big brother of this bullet that produces a 120gr bullet that has proved its worth for plinking previously in my since retired SMLE so it seemed logical to run up some loads for the lighter bullet just for fun at the range.
By way of a deceased estate I recently had the opportunity to cast off a large number of bullets from a Lee 311-93-1R 6 cavity mould. The mould is designed for use in .32 cal handgun rounds the likes of .32S&W, .32ACP, 7.62X25 TOK and .32-20 and in my nominal 40-1 alloy drops a bullet at 91gr neat and .312 inch on the driving bands. Being a round nose bullet I have no use for it for small game as past experience with my Martini .32-20 had shown RN projectiles at rimfire velocity not be convincing rabbit and hare stoppers however it is a nice light bullet that only sips at the lead pot and would be suitable for informal shooting/plinking in .30 and .31cal rifle. In my colleciton of moulds I have the big brother of this bullet that produces a 120gr bullet that has proved its worth for plinking previously in my since retired SMLE so it seemed logical to run up some loads for the lighter bullet just for fun at the range.
Ed Harris and the late Frank Marshall have both written about gallery loads; handloads assembled for very short range shooting in both indoor and outdoor facilities. Ed favours fast powders like Alliant (formerly Hercules) Bullseye in very small amounts for loads up to and matching rimfire velocities. Having a near full canister of Bullseye on hand and my Husqvarna .30/30 bolt action seeing little use of late it seemed rude not to put some loads together to see what fun I could have.
The first step with the shiney new 40-1 (7.8 BHN) bullets was to decide to lube or poly coat. Fired, unsized cases for my .30/30 accept and hold snuggly .312 diameter bullets so logically tumble lubing and shooting as cast was one easy solution however having both Lee and Lyman sizing dies in .312 and the possibillity of also using the bullets in .303 British requiring slight more girth for best results I elected to poly coat. One coat of Eastwoods vermillion (orange) increased the diameter of the bullets to .315 inch very suitable for the .303 and for loading in the .30/30 a one way trip through the Lee nose first sizing die was required. Tumble loading, especially with hybrid blends utilising floor wax, make for very good results but right now I am focused on poly coating the finished result of which is less messy.
The first step with the shiney new 40-1 (7.8 BHN) bullets was to decide to lube or poly coat. Fired, unsized cases for my .30/30 accept and hold snuggly .312 diameter bullets so logically tumble lubing and shooting as cast was one easy solution however having both Lee and Lyman sizing dies in .312 and the possibillity of also using the bullets in .303 British requiring slight more girth for best results I elected to poly coat. One coat of Eastwoods vermillion (orange) increased the diameter of the bullets to .315 inch very suitable for the .303 and for loading in the .30/30 a one way trip through the Lee nose first sizing die was required. Tumble loading, especially with hybrid blends utilising floor wax, make for very good results but right now I am focused on poly coating the finished result of which is less messy.
Ed suggests from 4.0gr of Bullseye for gallery loads and checking my Lee Autodisc cart I found that the 0.46 hole throws that exact amount with the 0.49 and 0.53 metering out 4.3gr and 4.6gr. Dealing in measures of 0.3gr of a grain of powder in such a large case seemed needless to me so test rounds were assembled charging Winchester large rifle primed R-P brass with 4.0gr and 4.6gr respectively. Initial groups shot at only 25m showed tremendous promise producing clusters of bullet holes measuring no more than an inch. Subsequent testing at 50m returned groups averaging in the region of 1.5 inches; more than accurate enough for informal shooting.
Both loads, yet to be put over the chronograph, produce a sonic crack though the lesser load of 4.0gr does sometimes drop a subsonic shot suggesting that powder load is producing transonic velocities. I suspect the 4.6gr load is matching HV .22LR ammo speeds. Of course velocity is not the goal with such loads but it is always interesting to note the speeds and consistency of handloads as a point of note. Moreover it is staggering to realise that from a 26 inch barrel such a pinch of powder can push a 91gr bullet to supersonic speeds.
