Cast Bullet Association Blog Rss Feedhttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/Rss2_.aspxRss 2.0 for the user blogs.en-usFri, 25 Sep 2026 12:09:57 GMTCast Bullet Associationchefreiss@gmail.com(Cast Bullet Association)info@morganids.com (Richard Morgan)360Adventures of PB Kasterhttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2017/2/47/adventures-of-pb-kaster Deer Glenn,Well I finshed the first yarn, Ima thinkin its going to be as painfull to read as a mofth full of root canils chewin on bird shot, but youens askeded for it. I am sorrie for all mispeled ....
Deer Glenn,

Well I finshed the first yarn, Ima thinkin its going to be as painfull to read as a mofth full of root canils chewin on bird shot, but youens askeded for it. I am sorrie for all mispeled words. I tryed to use a diksunairy, but cudnint finda lot of words init. I think it was a pre civil war modell and just didnint have all the new modurn words we use now. Awlso some of the letters rara a missin bekause I used it as a target a time or to. I will right soon bout my first lernin bout castin bullits for that genuwine Britsh Endfield. Not sure bout includin picktures of some of myin burns

I got when I was a strartin. They coud be usefull from a safety way of thinking cause yous shoudint cast while neked. Whatin do you think? I also got a new sekret inventsun. I almost have it finish. It is myin on ideer, connecking a castin mold to a handylubsizer. Ittle size them suckers as they fall outa the mold, all in one flik of yourin rist. Justa waitin on 19 more springs and 6 skrews Id ordered from Brownnells. Wenst theyra instaled, "pow ya", shesa redy for a migty casting sessun.

If yous see John befor I do, let him knowin that spring Id borreded from is competisun rifle didint work on myin inventsun, thats if he sayes sumpton bout it. Otherwise (whew big wurd) don't say nuthin. I'll put it back when I sees him agin. He may not be a knowin I borroaded (another one) it.

Yourin best shootin partnir,

P.B. Kaster

"Adventures with P.B. Kaster"

I must tell ya something bout myself, so you knows I am not just a BSer and knows my stuff. Being a bonifired CBA member, I noed that they woudint let me in if I'd didint nowed what I'm talkin bout. Hell, the other day at a shootin match, ole CBA Pres John and fowlin shot ritter, Glenn says to me, "Ole P.B., you shud start rittin some artickles for the fowlin shot." I says, I anit got no rittin in me, hell I didint go past the 8th grade. They sais, "yued know alot bout shuttin, so share some with the other CBA members". I says, I just didint think it was a good idea. That when Glenn says he will just put it in the blog or blob to start, or some cumputin noncents. I says I don't have a cumputer, but Glenn says to mail it to him and he'll do the puttin. Well, what the hell, can't be any worsed than losin a turkey shoot with your'n special rifle. So theys says to just start in the beginnin when I was a youngin. So here it is.

When I was about 8, mine grandpapa started me to a shootin with crooked barrel ole .22 rifle. I knows that old rifle's barrul was croked, because it cudnint hit a sqrill no matter how much I tried. Hell, once I was shootin ata dear down in the bean patch and shot one of my pappa's cows, boy was she mad. That durned cow chased me every time she seedme, that's how mad I knewd she was mad ata me. But I sweart that dear was in front of me and that cow was a backin of me. I think the onliest reason my grandpapa giva me that there rifle to get a startin with was cause he couldint sell nor trade it.

Anyway, when I was bout 12, I gots'me a real WWI surplus Britsh Endfield rifle, .303 caliber and all. I traded that croked barrel .22 & some beef from another cow I shot that got kilt, but I'l have to tell that one later. But I will tell you that my pappa was mad this time, same reason I knowt, he chased me for a month every time he seed me. He'd told my momma not to feed me supper and that I'd coud just go and chew on that kilt cow. I thot'boutit, but just didint coudint get past her eyes, justa starin at me. She was a purty cow. I did get a box surplus shells with the swap, so I didint have to bothur or get close to him for that month. I think he wasunt so mad when I brung in two dead crows with that box of shells. I figured theyed went a long ways to make up for that kilt cow. But now I think momma was mad, causin she said those crows werent fit for even a sandwitch and gave me'd that "not on this Sunday" kinda look. Now I was mad atmyself, I was out of shells!

But back to the rilfe and how'd I swap'd for it. You seed, my papa sent me to Mergatrioded's Mercantill and tolt me to take some of that kilt cow meat and seed if I couldint swap if for a list of surpleyes he gaved me. It was usulls such as turpentin, cofe, sugar, chewin tobaca, flower, and other use less stuff. No ammo, no powder, no primers, no nuttin, just stufff. You seed, Mr. Merg, was a onest trader. He nevered tried to cheat any one in a swap, you seed, his bruther was the Babtist precher and I think he kept'd a eye on Mr. Merg. Well, we was a dun tradin, he said that I had a dollar and 43 cents left over. Since I thout I had dun such bang uped job at a swapin, I deserved the left overs. Heck I got every thing on the list my pappa give'd me, so I urn't it.

Now was'n my turnt to start swapin. Now, you'ed need to knowed that Mr. Merg was a sharp swapper to. My pappa always sayed, "Mr. Merg never got rich by fallin of the turnup truck". I didnint know exzackly what that ment cause he drove a 39 ford pikup and he didnint limp or own a turnup truck, by I did noed it me he was a good swapper. Well I spied that genuwine Britsh Endfield rifle, .303 calibur in all in the longarm rack. It was even purdier than that cow I kilt, purdier than Penellopie Marie, Mr. Merg's 14 year olt dauter, and shed was dam purdy. But bein onlinest 12, I wusn't sure why she was so purdy, but I knew why that Britsh Endfield was purdy, so I desided to swap for it. But, there was a swappin problum. You see that genuwine Britsh Endfield was $2.00 hole dollars and I ontly had $1.40. On top of that deal, the shells were another hole .50 cents. Now by my sifering, that was about $2.50 or close enuf for govrment work. After bout an hour more of sifering, I figured I wus bout $1.20 cents short or close enuf for govrment work. Bout 3 hours later, somethun in the supplies was startin to smell like my uncle Ralph. He had sumkinda religon that said he coudint take baths exceptin on the 5th Sunday of the munth. Momma said it was cuss pappa's brother was just weird. I am still not sure, but it was so bad, he coudint hunt. They'd said that the critters knew him by name.

Anyways time was runnin out and I had to make a move, checkers lingo for, "get off the pot". Then I sided to draw my ace in the hole, Mr. Merg had a thing for momma's strawberrie jam. So that's when I made my move. I says, " Mr, Merg", with a grown uped voice like my pappa ust when he newed momma's was mad bout suppin. I says, "Mr. Merg, I would like to trade & swap for that there genuwine Britsh Endfield rifle, .303 calibur in all and a box of real .303 calibur shells." He says, "P.B., what do you have to trade". I says "I have that $1.40 youed gived me back" and then I choaked up for a moment like the preacher, when someone says, "Damit" outlowd, when there kid wont quit bein onery in church. Mr. Merg say's "P.B., I need more pig in the poke". Right then and there I nued I just had to have that genuwine Britsh Endfield, .303 calibur in all, with shells. So I just threw down the promiss of some of momma's strawberrie jam, 4 pints to be sure. Mr. Merg says, "Deal sun" but asked me when he would be a gittin the jam. Without hesitatin, I said next week. The swap was dun and so was I. I didint have nothin to swap momma for the strawberrie jam. But that thout soon left my head as I headed home with that genuwine Britsh Endfield and all throwed over my sholder.

Yourin trueley,

P.B. Kaster


]]>Fri, 24 Feb 2017 05:49:39 GMThttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2017/2/47/adventures-of-pb-kasterSizing - How Much is Possible?http://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2017/2/46/sizing---how-much-is-possible? Sizing - How Much Is Possible?by CBA member, Jeff Brown, Christchurch, NZ.A few months back I happened upon a second hand, double cavity, Lyman 280468S, a Loverin pattern mould original cut for the....


Sizing - How Much Is Possible?

by CBA member, Jeff Brown, Christchurch, NZ.

A few months back I happened upon a second hand, double cavity, Lyman 280468S, a Loverin pattern mould original cut for the .270 Winchester. At 110 gr nominal weight it must have been a great bullet for small game


Modified Lee crimping die.

in the .270 Win and would be perfect for the new 6.8 SPC; neither of which I own but not one to pass up a bargain I bought the mould based on my hopes that it would be possible to size the bullets to .269 for my FAT 41 6.5X52 Carcano. 0.280 down to 0.269? How so? In recent times many very favourable reports have been posted involving substantial diameter reduction when nose first sizing of cast lead alloy projectiles in Lee push through style dies. Bullets designed for the 8X57mm (.323-.325 inch) are being successfully sized to .314 and shooting well, something that is in stark contrast to any of the historical readings suggested that even minimal sizing will be detrimental to accuracy. Traditionally the best accuracy is achieved from bullets cast as close to throat diameter as possible that require little or no sizing as the more a lead alloy bullet is handled the more likely it is to become damaged or distorted. In fairness the accuracy reports are not coming from winning targets at CBA matches and indeed until such material appears I will reserve judgement on primo accuracy however the vast majority of cast bullet shooters are not trying to achieve match winning results as much as field accuracy or groups to match jacketed ammo at least. Back to my new 280468S. The first order of work was to make a push through, press mounted sizing die. This I did matching it to the die body of a Lee factory crimp die I had on hand not being used. The sizing die fits snuggled into the FLC die body and is held neatly by an ‘O’ ring. Next a push rod was fashioned to fit in the spent primer hole of a case holder mounted on the press ram in similar fashion to the Lee system. The sizing die worked perfectly and sizing even heat treated alloy at near 20 BHN was easy enough.

L to R: 280468S base first sized .269 Lyman 4500,
 push through sized .269, PRELUBED push through
sized .269 (lube removed for photo), as cast .2805.

From the outset the 280468S, sized 0.269 for the Carcano, showed potential but groups were not stella and tended to be inconsistent. Not until a fellow cast bullet chucker stopped in home for a chinwag did the situation remedy itself when he reminded me to completely fill the grease grooves on the bullet BEFORE sizing. The purpose of pre-lubing was to maintain the structure of the bullet as the lube is non compressible and as the bullet is squeezed down 0.011 from 0.280 to 0.269 the grooves remain fairly unchanged whilst the bullet length increases due to the displacement of the metal.

The displacement and growth is very controlled thanks to the lube and this control was the difference between average, inconsistent groups and primo results. The Carcano rifle is open sight equipped only but with a correctly sized bullet accuracy of around 1 inch at 50m is being achieved reliably. After 20 odd years of cast bullet shooting I thought I was a dedicated Lyman lube sizer fan but I can now see the benefit of the push through style dies. What this exercise has taught me is it’s not how MUCH you size but HOW you size. Anyone who has based first sized long bullets the likes of the 6.5mm Cruise Missile will know it is possible to bend a bullet in the process. Further, bullets with long bore riding noses can be and often are ‘bumped’ during sizing base first where the unsupported nose of the projectile squashes slightly during sizing and increases in diameter.



This ‘bumping’ is dependent on the amount of inertia present during the process. Inertia is created by factors such as an oversized gas check requiring swaging down onto a bullet shank and/or oversized moderately hard bullets; the more you have to lean on that press handle the more the chance of ‘bumping’ that nose. In contrast, nose first sizing puts all the force, square and plumb on the base of the bullet without stressing the top end of the projectile. Food for thought ah?

Keep your powder dry. Jeff.



The load is 14 gr of Alliant 2400, air cooled wheel weight alloy, over a CCI large rifle primer and a crimp into the third grease groove. Velocity is 1750 fps and the gas check is made from rather hard 0.010 aluminium formed in a Freechex III die.

]]>Sat, 18 Feb 2017 01:52:49 GMThttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2017/2/46/sizing---how-much-is-possible?Speaking Frankly by Frank Marshall Jrhttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2017/2/45/speaking-frankly-by-frank-marshall-jrAdventures on a Chicken Farm or Cast Bullets Out of the Wind (Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in The Fouling Shot No. 27, August 1980. It introduces what Frank referred to in many of ....Adventures on a Chicken Farm or Cast Bullets Out of the Wind
(Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in The Fouling Shot No. 27, August 1980. It introduces what Frank referred to in many of his subsequent writings as the "coops” range.)

During my formative years, a fellow with a chicken farm sold out to my Uncle Will. Will didn’t give hoot about chickens, but he’d dreamed of a 100-yard indoor range, which those level sheds next to the woods would be. Also, Will would rather shoot than eat, given a choice.

With the partitions in the ends of the buildings removed and a stout steel plate put up on a 45-degree angle into a sandbox in the end of the last shed, voila, we had our indoor range! Will didn’t know it then, but we were about to learn the true accuracy of cast bullet loads and all other manner of things which you could only see when shooting out of the wind.

Besides the obvious novelty, we found we could shoot in bad weather, and at night, with the help of a few lanterns, since this location was quite remote. The fun ended when the hurricane of ‘38 swept up past Long Island Sound, wrecking its havoc on the Utopia which was Massachusetts, and our rifle range in a chicken coop was no more.

While it lasted, the famous chicken coop range confirmed the credibility of the legends of the schuetzen era, and left a less known legacy of its own. The most notable impression indoors was the fantastic accuracy of the common 1400 f.p.s. plain-based load. At the same time doubts were raised about certain dogma and rules which had arisen with black powder, which had somehow survived into the smokeless powder era. These we later found out were not suited to modern bolt action rifles shooting lead bullets with smokeless powder.

As to conditions contributing to success with smokeless loads in "modern” rifles such as the ‘03 Springfield and Winchester M-54 bolt guns, the primary rule was a close bullet fit, regardless of groove diameter, and a snug necked chamber for abrupt leade cone rifles, such as the .30-30, .32-40, .38-55, etc.

Many lead load notables avowed that the "no throat” chamber system was the most accurate. It may have been under the breech-seat system, since the bullet was not then dependent on the chamber or case concentricity for a perfect launch. When seated normally, with the front driving band pressed snug against the lead-cone, and with a neck which fit snug when combined with a bullet .001” over groove diameter, it was a very accurate combination. This system also 164-5 works with fixed ammo when the above requirements are met.

However, I was, and still am, convinced that a throat diameter of .001” over groove diameter and a case neck .001” under chamber diameter, is the ideal set-up for fixed load accuracy. This neck size lets the bullet leave the case without having to squeeze it down, but it is uniform as the case expands the .001” or so allowed with a bullet .0005” under throat diameter. This actually gives a very close fit, though not quite the CBC (cast bullet chamber) approach, since you must size the case neck. This close fit, however, does give a positive gas seal, which I feel is essential since if any gas can get by the bullet in the throat, you can’t depend on the bullet’s not being gas cut or deformed during the initial acceleration. This also gives a tight enough assembly that the bullet isn’t easily pressed back into the neck upon chambering when seated out to engrave on a fixed load, per CBA rules.

The throat being .001” over groove size leaves only the lands full height for the bullet to engage with a gentle leade cone, no sharper than 6° as in standard .30-’06 chambers. The difference in accuracy is obtained mainly by uniform release of the bullet by the close neck and throat and gentle swage down action of the leade.

Will found in his experiments in the chicken coop that the close neck, proper throat fit was the main element, and was indeed part of Harry Pope’s technique of using one case, repeatedly reloaded, for his best fixed ammo, cast bullet work.

Some allowance for neck expansion when combined with the close throat out shot the tight neck, no throat rifles in Will’s experience, and I think would still be true today. Why not allow some neck expansion in the no throat type chamber you ask? Simply because no perfect coaxial support exists other than the case body with the chamber, which is asking a lot. The idea is to eliminate the variable of bore/chamber/bullet alignment. Even with coaxial throat support, the case must also be concentric, and this dual assurance of a concentric launch gave this system the edge, or so we thought.

It was this controversy that led Will to build his .32-40 bolt gun with a special chambering consisting of a modern style throat of groove diameter with a heavy bull barrel fitted onto a Winchester Model 54 .30-30 action. The standard throat for the .32-40 then, and today, is simply a 15° leade taken from the chamber mouth diameter, with no throat just as are the .38-55 and .30-30 factory throats. Will’s cohorts at that time thought the "no throat” system had proven itself with the .32-40 and .38-55 cases, and that further experimenting was futile. Of course, none of them had ever tried out Will’s idea in a bolt gun, and all their experience was based on single-shot rifles with all their inherent quirks, two-piece stocks, light striker fall, etc. Will’s contention was that since his objective was fixed cartridge accuracy, the .32-40 had never been exploited to that end with a properly throated rifle, so he’d simply go do it the way he felt right, to see if indeed it worked. Of course, I’ve reported his results before in FS No. 19 in April 1979, but recounting that issue, he had an easy minute-of-angle outfit, using the Ideal 319247 cast of 1:20 alloy, with 12 grains of SR-80, giving perhaps 1450 f.p.s. in his 28” barrel with a 16” twist.

These results reported in FS 19 were all obtained only on calm evenings, or in the chicken coop, out of the wind, but in doing this, it was possible to evaluate small changes in loading technique as they affected accuracy, since wind was no longer a factor. Although Will tried slightly over-sized bullets just over throat size, then deep seated, these were not as accurate as a throat/groove size bullet allowing adequate neck release without any swaging down of the bullet upon entering the leade. When seated to give best accuracy, the #319247 bullet had two bands out of the case neck, just pressing the front one into the leade.

The significance of the chicken coop shooting was that outdoors we never would have realized the clear superiority of the bolt gun over the falling block single-shot, the accuracy difference was so slight. This wasn’t based on eyeballing just a few shots, but in comparing hundreds of groups shot with both types of rifles.

The memorable lesson I learned in the chicken house was that less than perfect bullets would shoot well if carefully weighed and indexed. This lesson has paid off even to this day. I accept the fact that my #311284 mould isn’t perfect, nor is my old Winchester Model 70, but I did pretty well with that outfit for some time. It has only been recently that Bob Sears, Sid Musselman and some of the other Fairfax crowd have come far enough to better what I did with that rifle. Sears has done especially well, which speaks well for the excellent rifle he has, his good eye and the quality of bullets from Sid’s new mould.

Cast bullet loading at present is a compromise condition of using average rifles and imperfect bullets, but now that we are beginning to learn, and take care to make perfect, concentric chambers and exercise care to get good round bullets which aren’t deformed by excessive sizing, our accuracy level will take a grand leap forward. That Bob is getting the truly outstanding results he has is of no surprise to me whatever. It was inevitable, since he has a good rifle, a good eye and a good mould.

Getting back to the old days, I’d hesitate to quote the sizes of groups we obtained, since the targets didn’t survive and there’s no documentation to support them. I can distinctly remember matches in the chicken coop being tied with several one-holer groups for first place. We didn’t have any Sweeny calipers to measure them, but they would be good by today’s standard. The notable thing was that these exceptional groups which were so uncommon outdoors, could be done with relative ease out of the wind.

Of course, outdoors it was a different situation entirely. We didn’t think of the 1100-1800 muzzle velocity as wind blown, only as accurate, but we did a lot of shooting of our "good” loads outdoors to see how much we had to favor the wind. We did find that loads in the 1000-1100 f.p.s. area were markedly less wind sensitive than those up around 1400 f.p.s. with plain based bullets. We didn’t know why then, but of course, we do know now, since Bill Davis explained the intricacies of drag in FS No. 13.

Most of our accurate 1000 f.p.s. loads were cartridges using heavy bullets with a good ratio of length to diameter in calibers from .25-20 up through the .30-30, .32-40, .38-55 and .45-70. The 405-grain .45-70 does very well at around 1000-1050 f.p.s. with light loads approximating the old 55-grain black powder carbine charge, but we used only smokeless. Today you could do well with 18-21 grains of SR-4759, 22-24 grains of IMR-4198, 29-32 grains of RL-7, or 33-36 grains of IMR- 3031 or 4895. Any of these charges will give about 1000 f.p.s. with a 410-grain bullet in the .45-70 with any of these powders other than 4759. These loads would all be OK in older rifles such as the trapdoor Springfield.

We attributed the good accuracy of our light loads to the ability of the heavy bullet as a wind bucker, though now we realize that the subsonic velocity was probably the dominant factor. The 405-grain bore-ride nose bullet 457193 for the Marlin rifles was more accurate than the undersized nose 457124.

We shot a lot of subsonic loads using unmentionable fast pistol powders in our attempts to get uniform ignition and minimum fouling to get the optimum accuracy with these subsonic loads. If a suitable powder existed today this might have promise. Robert Burmeister’s trials with 700X parallel what we did years ago, but very fast powders are something you must use with great caution. Their pressure peaks very, very fast and it’s easy to get into trouble. You should start with a very light load, perhaps even one which sticks a bullet in the barrel, which you can drive out easily enough. Then work up with a chronograph carefully and don’t go over 1050 f.p.s.

Our best results in the chicken coop were obtained with the longest, heaviest bullet, which would be stable in a particular rifle at moderate velocities, with a proper fit as described. Still, the single-shot shooters wouldn’t believe the inherent superiority of the bolt gun until they were shown. Even after they were beat they still believed Will had something else going which he hadn’t revealed to them. He silenced the skeptics, but they still wouldn’t believe what they saw.

I’ll long remember the pleasant days in that shooting house. By opening a backdoor of the shooting shed and a skylight at the target end, a soft draft was created that wafted the smoke and light fumes down the sheds, which was quite comfortable. During the long New England winters we used a potbelly stove to break the chill, and put up a new partition in front of the bench with a foot-square hole to shoot through. Will used to use swimmer’s earplugs then, even with the light loads it got noisy in there, but from outside you could hardly tell what was going on. It was heaven for a gun-crazy kid.

We might have to go to this type of range eventually to eliminate noise pollution and to keep on shooting in urban areas. Personally, I’d sure like to see a 100- yard indoor range someplace so we could test some of our good modern guns out of the wind. It’s interesting to speculate what our really good rifles of today would have done in the coop, with no wind, and nobody to blame but yourself for a blown shot...

As ever ---------
Frank Marshall Jr.

]]>Wed, 22 Feb 2017 06:47:43 GMThttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2017/2/45/speaking-frankly-by-frank-marshall-jrCast Bullet Use In The SKShttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2017/2/44/cast-bullet-use-in-the-sks This article originally appeared in the July/Aug 2006 #182 issue of the Fouling Shot and was written by Paul Brasky Kingston, NY Brief History and Variants The SKS or more properly the 7.62 Si....
This article originally appeared in the July/Aug 2006 #182 issue of the Fouling Shot and was written by Paul Brasky Kingston, NY

Brief History and Variants

The SKS or more properly the 7.62 Simonov System Self-Loading Carbine, Model 1945, was designed by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov, a Senior Master Gunsmith whose specialty was semi-automatic weapons using the 7.62x39mm (M43) cartridge. In the Soviet Union, the AK-47 replaced the SKS as the primary military arm in the 1950’s, but Russia continued to produce the latter for export until the late 1960’s. Some of the major differences between SKS 45 variants are summarized below:

Albania - Produced approximately 17,000 rifles between the1960’s and 1979 at the Umgramsh Arsenal. However, as many as 2/3 were destroyed or given away. These differed from the Model 1945 in that milled steel components were used. The stock was lengthened as was the hand guard, which is also distinguished by three vents on the bottom. Other differences include an AK-47 style bolt knob, a butt plate with two "doors,” a rear sling swivel located on the left side of the stock rather than the bottom, a different magazine profile as well as a spike bayonet.

China - The Type 56 SKS was developed in the mid-1950’s and manufactured on Soviet-supplied equipment in China until 1971. Those with serial numbers of 9,000,000 and higher had spike bayonets; lower serial numbered rifles have blade bayonets. Barrels are pinned rather than threaded.

Romania - Produced between 1956 and 1962 in Cugir, Romania and distinguished by shallow cut-outs on the hand guard and a blade bayonet.

Yugoslavia - The SKS M 59 and 66A1 was manufactured by the Zastava Ordnance/Red Banner Works between 1967 and 1970. The M 59 and M 59/66 were clones of the Type 45. Most had beech wood stocks, but those exported to Africa had teakwood stocks. Nevertheless, there were significant differences between the Yugoslav products and those made in the Soviet Union. To wit, the former didn’t have chrome-lined barrels as there was no chromium in Yugoslavia and it was difficult to obtain from Russia given the political differences between the two nations. The M 59’s and 66’s also had stronger, heavier actions since Yugoslavian M43 ammunition was loaded to a higher pressure than its Soviet counterpart. In addition, the A1 was fitted with tritium sights, both front and rear. Lastly, Yugoslavian made rifles have a gas cut-off valve at the front of the gas tube, whereas other SKS variants do not.

Ballistics and the 7.62x39mm - (M43) Cartridge There is some debate as to what the 7.62x39mm cartridge is capable of. Can it be safely loaded to equal the ballistics of the venerable .30-30 Win. for example? Let’s look at what various reloading manuals have to say about this controversy. The fourth edition of Hornady’s "Handbook of Cartridge Reloading, Vol. 1 (1996)” states, "In factory or military form, it offers a 123 gr. FMJ bullet at 2,300fps. Reloaders can easily equal this, but it is difficult to substantially surpass due to limited powder
capacity.” (p. 379) Hodgdon’s "Data Manual #26 (1993)” says substantially the same thing (p. 383). The late Frank C. Barnes in Cartridges of the World 7th Edition,” added somewhat confusingly, "…the M43 can be loaded to nearly duplicate the .30-30 with most bullet weights up to about 150 grains. However this is only possible in a strong single shot or bolt-action rifle. Semiauto (sic) rifles must stick to the original ballistics, which are marginal at best for deer-size animals.” (p. 272, italics mine) To reiterate Barnes’ statement, the SKS wasn’t
designed to handle the pressure of the .30-30 Win. For safety’s sake, don’t even think about making yours into something it’s not!

Reloading - Reloading for the 7.62x39mm is straightforward and full-length resizing dies are available from all of the major manufacturers as are shell holders (#6, Hornady; #12,
Lee; #3 Lyman; #12 Redding and #32, RCBS). Be advised that FL die sets come with two expander balls, one for .308” bullets and one for .311” bullets. If you’re loading cast bullets, use the .311” expander. You’ll also need some means of flaring the case mouth so those cast bullets can be seated without shaving lead, which isn’t conducive to accuracy. The Lyman M-die, specifically M 1 C 91, works perfectly and won’t overwork your case mouths when properly adjusted.

Cast Bullets and the SKS

One of the myths surrounding cast bullets is that they can’t be used successfully in semi-automatic rifles because they are inaccurate, will leave lead in the bore or will render the gas operating system inoperative because of lead fouling there. While it’s true that you must not exceed the port pressure for a gas-operated semi-automatic rifle with jacketed or cast bullets, that doesn’t mean you can’t obtain excellent results with the latter. Certainly one of the main determinants of cast bullet accuracy is how well the bullet fits the bore and throat
of the rifle. (Barrel quality and condition are also important.) Bullet fit is at least as important as bullet design (shape), perhaps more so, since poorly fitted bullets are notoriously inaccurate. On the other hand, properly fitted [cast] bullets are likely to be accurate ones. These principles apply single shot, bolt-action as well as gas-operated rifles and carbines, including the SKS.

When you consider that the SKS was produced by at least five nations over a period of thirty-four years, variations in bore dimensions will come as no surprise. Therefore, before you purchase a particular bullet mold hoping that it will fit your SKS, slug your bore, breech and muzzle (i.e., two slugs). Both should measure about the same, with a slightly larger breech slug being ideal. This will tell you the minimum dimension a cast bullet must be to fit the bore. Generally the cast bullet is sized from .001” to .003” larger than that minimum. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be in a better position to determine which mold and/or bullet design will fit your rifle (carbine). Unfortunately there aren’t a plethora of mold choices available, which, to view it in a more positive light, eases the burden of choosing the "right” mold. However, the SKS tolerates a wide variety of cast bullet designs and weights, so long as they fit the bore and throat and can be loaded so that they can feed from the magazine. On the other hand, very long cast bullets and overall lengths necessitate single loading: Simply place them in the follower and release the bolt.

A personal example may help illustrate the above. I purchased my Type 56 around the time C.E. Harris developed and published his cast bullet design for the SKS in the pages of "The American Rifleman.” Lee Precision, Lyman, and LBT later produced it. After slugging my bore and studying the published dimensions of the Lee and Lyman molds (.312”), I knew that neither would fit my rifle. Somewhat reluctantly (because of the price, not the quality or service) I sent those slugs to Veral Smith/Lead Bullets Technology so that he could cut a mold whose bullets would fit my SKS. In brief, they do (sized to .314”) and shoot into 2 minutes of angle from an "as issued” Type 56 purchased new.

Which cast bullets are appropriate for the SKS? So long as you achieve a proper fit in both bore and throat, many cast bullet designs will suffice if not excel. Don’t overlook the following molds: Lee’s C.E. Harris-designed C312-155-2R or CTL312-160-2R (tumble lube) or Lyman‘s #311410. Also, if you have Lyman #311291 or #311041 and if they cast large enough, try them by all means. If you don’t mind single loading (because the OAL exceeds the length of the magazine), Lyman #314299 will give 3 to 4 minutes of angle accuracy. Lastly, even the very old Lyman #321232, a plain-base, flat-nosed, tapered Loverin (tapers from .319” on forward band to .322” at the rear), which was made for an entirely different rifle (.32-40), shoots surprising well from the SKS because it can be sized to fit the rifle.

Maintenance

Making sure the rifle is unloaded, I remove the bolt cover, spring and bolt assembly every time I fire my SKS, not because such maintenance is required, but so that I can clean the barrel from the breech rather than the muzzle. I also check the gas piston for lead, which will be deposited on its face. While you may not be able to entirely prevent lead deposition, you can make any accumulation easier remove by coating the piston rod, especially its face, with white lithium grease. Clean and regrease the bolt assembly and put things back together in reverse order and you’re ready for another session. Cycle the action manually to make sure all is correct.

Powders

Consult several reloading manuals for appropriate powders and powder charges. Lyman’s "Reloading Handbook, 48th Edition” (2002) is recommended because of the variety of cast bullet loading combinations it contains. Having written this, I must confess to having tried only a few powders, mostly because I was rewarded with immediate success when using them. I must also say that I use my SKS strictly for informal target shooting so I have no need for high pressure/high velocity loads. With the C.E. Harris-designed, but LBT produced, bullet mold (145 gr. gas check bullet) I’ve basically used only two powders, namely Alliant 2400 and military surplus WC 820 (burning rate similar to Accurate Arms #9, but different lots may be faster or slower than AA #9). In either instance, 14 gr. gives excellent accuracy, reasonably clean burning and reliable ejection. Velocity hovers around 1,550 fps. incidentally, Alliant 2400 burns much cleaner in rifles than it does in revolvers and no crimp is needed either.

Chronograph Data

I used my Shooting Chrony Model F-1 to test the LBT 145 gr. bullet as well as the venerable Lyman #321232 (175 gr.). The load was 14 gr. WC 820 in once-fired Winchester brass atop Winchester Large Rifle primers. Ambient temperature was 25 degrees [Fahrenheit] and the chronograph was 15 feet from the muzzle. Velocity Std. Dev. E. S. LBT Bullet, OAL = 2.125” 1,514fps 40fps 137fps #321232, OAL = 2.19” 1,473fps 29fps 107fps Note: Seating #321232 to 2.10" will boost velocity by 50 - 60fps.

Conclusion

The SKS is a robust, fast-handling rifle, which can shoot cast bullets to a high degree of accuracy if the owner takes the time to assess its requirements. Happily, hose are few and easily mastered. Primary among them is fitting the cast bullet to its throat and bore and not trying to turn it into a "short magnum” variant of the .30-30Win. Keeping an eye on the gas piston and removing any lead deposits that accumulate there and in the barrel will go along way to insure that your SKS remains trouble-free and a joy to shoot.

REFERENCES

Frank C. Barnes, Cartridges of the World, 7th Edition.
Edited by Mike Bussard. DBI Books, 1993.

Hodgdon Data Manual No. 26, Tom Shepherd, Editor.
Hodgdon Powder Company, 1993.

Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading, Vol. 1, Todd
Georgi, Editor. Hornady Manufacturing Company, Inc.,
1996.

Michael E. Kreka, "7.62 Simonov Self-Loading Carbine,
Model 1945” at Jamie Mangrum’s site, (no longer online)


]]>Mon, 13 Feb 2017 01:16:06 GMThttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2017/2/44/cast-bullet-use-in-the-sksTales from the Back Creek Diaryhttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2017/2/43/tales-from-the-back-creek-diary This article was written by By C. E. “Ed” HarrisAnnandale, VA and appeared in issue #187, May-June 2007 of the Fouling Shot. The .32 S&W Long “The sweetest shooting revolver…I have ever handled…....
This article was written by By C. E. “Ed” HarrisAnnandale, VA and appeared in issue #187, May-June 2007 of the Fouling Shot.

The .32 S&W Long


“The sweetest shooting revolver…I have ever handled…”Julian S. Hatcher, Textbook of Pistols and Revolvers, (1935)

The black powder version of the .32 Smith & Wesson Long was introduced in 1896 and was followed by a smokeless version in 1903 for the Model I, Hand Ejector revolver, adopted by the New York City Police Department. The Regulation Police, as it was also known, was the first service revolver standardized by the NYPD. Until the 1930s when law enforcement officers were faced with heavily armed criminals driving metal automobiles, the .32 S&W Long was the smallest revolver then deemed adequate for police use.

Old references give differing accounts as to its ballistics,due to use of various barrel lengths, and listed catalog velocities being obtained from solid test barrels,rather than revolvers, or vented test barrels, as are used today. Hatcher’s Textbook of Pistols and Revolvers(1935) stated the original charge as 13 grains of blackpowder for 790 f.p.s. from a 4-1/4 inch barrel. Hatcher said that the .32 Hand Ejector was “the sweetest shooting revolver at fifty yards I have ever handled,” and that it was the “ideal home defense gun for women.” Which …“should be used when possible with the flat-point .32 Colt New Police, which nearly doubles its stopping power.”


A Western Cartridge Company catalog table in Sixguns by Keith (1955) shows the smokeless powder 98-grain. Lubaloy roundnose at 820 f.p.s. from a 4” barrel,the 100 grain flat nosed .32 Colt New Police at 795 f.p.s. and a wadcutter at 770 f.p.s. from a 6” barrel. Keith said, “of the .32s only the Smith & Wesson Long and the.32-20 are worthy of mention.” Of the S&W Long Keith said, “the #313445 with 4 grains of Unique is a wonderful small game cartridge…it works nicely with solid bullets on small game, but lacks killing power on anything larger.”





Gun Digest article several years ago (Gun Digest No. 49, 1995, pg. 47) I have obtained several small frame S&W .32 revolvers, which seem ideal for the recreational “kit gun” role. I shoot mostly.32 S&W Long ammo in my Ruger Single Six to simplify ammunition supply. In about 30 years of playing with the .32s I feel it is a much more effective small game load than the .22 LR, especially since I now have a handy single shot rifle too (the subject of a future article).

In fixed sight guns zero is affected more by bullet weight than velocity. Lighter bullets shoot low, and heavier bullets shoot high. Most fixed sight .32 Long revolvers shoot close to point of aim at practical small game ranges from 50 feet to about 25 yards with 85 to 100 grain bullets. The heavier 115-120 grain .32-20 slugs shoot about 3”high at 25 yards, enable a 6 o’clock hold at fifty yards and shoot “on” to point of aim at 100 yards.

In the pre-1957 S&W revolvers which don’t have the model number stamped in the yoke cut, don’t attempt to load over 850 f.p.s. with a 98-grain lead bullet. This provides a useful, but modest improvement in performance over the factory loads,and has ample penetration for small game.



I prefer the Saeco #325 98-gr. SWC for hunting because it has the largest meplat to best let the air out of bunny wabbits.But for pure recreation the Meister 94-grain .312” diameter LFNs are an excellent choice. The bullets are available directly




fromMeister (http://www.meisterbullets.com/). The moulds to cast this bullet are available from Magma Engineering (http://www.magmaengineering.com/). The Meister is a dead ringer in shape for the factory flat nosed bullets once loaded in the .32 Colt New Police.

The Meister is a dead ringer in shape for the factoryflatnosed bullets once loaded in the .32 Colt New Police.It has a long ogival nose compared to the Saeco #325’sshort SWC and leaves more airspace in the case, whencrimped in the crimp groove. Therefore, it takes about one-half grain more Bullseye powder with the Meister to reach the same velocity obtained with the Saeco #325seated deeper in its crimp groove. For older S&W “I”frames, good loads are 2 grains of Bullseye with the Saeco #325 and 2.4 grains with the Meister.

For longer range plinking I use the heavier 120-gr.Saeco #322 LFN .32-20 bullet. I do not use this bullet in the older S&W “Eye” frames. In the Ruger Single Six and modern post-war.32s I use 2 grains of Bullseye and seat the bullet out, crimping it in the lubricating groove. Its 1.35” cartridge length protrudesout the front of older “Eye” frame cylinders,preventing you from doing something stupid.It gives about 720 f.p.s. from a 4-inch revolver and is nearly silent at 850 f.p.s. from my 26” H&R custom rook rifle. This overall cartridge length, the same as .32 H&R Magnum ammunition, works fine in S&W J and K frames,as well as the Ruger Single Six. It also feeds from the Marlin 1894 Cowboy, which steadfastly refuses to feed.32 Longs.

Somewhat heavier field loads are useable in the stronger S&W Models 30 or 31 and post war Colt D frames.A charge of 2.5 grains of Bullseye with the Saeco #325 or 3 grains with either the Meister 94-grain LFN, or Hornady 85-gr. XTP provide about 900 f.p.s. and shoot flatter to 50 yards or more. This is my standard working load in my Ruger Single Six, being just below .32 H&R Magnum levels. Cylinder gaps vary in old revolvers and have a dramatic effect upon velocities obtained.

]]>Wed, 22 Feb 2017 06:49:41 GMThttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2017/2/43/tales-from-the-back-creek-diaryMr. Peabody and Mehttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2017/2/41/mr.-peabody-and-meThe article was written by John Morgan of Arco, ID and published in the Sept./Oct. 2001 #151 issue of the Fouling Shot. I found my Peabody rifle while attending the Sahara gun show in 1989 in Las V....The article was written by John Morgan of Arco, ID and published in the Sept./Oct. 2001 #151 issue of the Fouling Shot.
I found my Peabody rifle while attending the Sahara gun show in 1989 in Las Vegas, Nevada. I thought I paid a very high price at the time, but I had only seen two others in my life, and having a bad case of "gotta have”, I purchased it. It has increased in value to about four times what I paid for it, so it has been a good investment, at least that’s what I tell my wife.
The gun was in very good shape, but little did I know just what a gem I had acquired. Upon cleaning a hundred and thirty years of grime, a new gun in unfired condition came to light. The stock, action, and lock were coated with cosmoline, with a tar like consistency from drying on the parts. As I slowly dissolved the gum with lots of Hoppe’s No. 9, the color case hardening saw the first light of day since it was made. The parts were almost breathtaking in their quality and finish. It surpassed anything in modern mass-produced arms of today. As I cleaned the pieces I wondered how a gun like this, even a military arm could escape any use and survive intact until this time.
In my search for information on Peabody a pair of publications were discovered in the Dixie Gun Works catalog. In the Providence Tool Co. Military Arms by Edward A Hull, I discovered my gun to be a Spanish Model, made for France during the Franco-Prussian war of 1871. Mine has a 70,000 serial number found under the forearm, and was part of a contract order being sent to France when the hostilities ceased. The contract for the rest of the rifles was then canceled. The rifles in transit were then stored somewhere in Europe and forgottenfor over fifty years. Around 1925 Frances Bannerman advertised "Brand New Peabody Rifles,” still packed in their original zinc lined cases, for military collectors. By this time no ammunition was available, as all stocks of the obsolete cartridges were long gone.
I made a chamber cast, and found the chamber didn’t match any known cartridges that I could find listed. I checked Nonte’s Cartridge Conversions, Hoffman’s Reloading Notes, and the Handloading Manual of Cartridge Conversions, by J. Donnelly. The .43 Remington was the closest match. I obtained a box of Bell brass, and made a mold to cast a .439” diameter bullet weighing 370 grains. I fire formed three of these, and didn’t like what l saw! There was about .012” expansion ahead of the web, and it looked like a snake had swallowed a pickle. This wasn’t any good at all and the neck had expanded to .447” inside. The barrel has three lands and grooves and appears to be around .446” or .447". I
needed to do something a heck of a lot better than this.
After looking at all the modem cases the .348 Winchester was the only one that came close, but its case head in front of the rim was .018” larger than my chamber. It also looked to be about .050” short, but I could live with that.
The first problem was the rim in the chamber. It was cut .100” deep, indicating a Mauser "A” base thick style of rim. The head measured .527”/.528”. I made a brass washer in the lathe to match the rim dimensions in the chamber, and parted it off at .030” thick. I cleaned the rim relief with a stainless steel brush and acetone, and soldered the brass ring into the rim recess with low melting temperature silver tin solder that melts at around 600 degrees. Then I cut the extractor groove through the brass ring. This left me with a rim counter bore that would match modem rims.
I then set about making a swaging die in the lathe to reduce the head of the cases. I ordered a hundred cases from Midway Arms, and when they arrived I was ready to start. I lubed the cases, and with a large press, I ran each case into the die, but found I couldn’t swage clear to the rim. The die stopped about a sixteenth in front of the rim, leaving behind a nice radius. In sectioning one of the cases, I could see I had moved the web over, but the solid head stopped my die. I then realized I could remove material from the radius to the head with a lathe tool.
I made a fixture for turning the cases by turning a piece of material with a button the size of a primer. The fixture was held in the lathe with a three-jaw chuck. The button went into the primer pocket, and a tight fitting rod went through the case neck and pushed on the case head from the inside. A live center was used to push on the rod, the cases were turned in the lathe, and the head was reduced to .001 smaller than the chamber. The next step was to expand the case mouths to .446”. I made up expander buttons that would screw on a decapping stem in a universal die. I made a .375”, a .410” and a .446”. I annealed the cases between each expansion, and it paid off, as I lost only one case in the first hundred. I chucked each case in a collet, and using a round nose tool, I removed the Winchester logo from the case head. This left the heads
with a "bulls-eye” contour that is very distinctive. I then sized the cases in a .43 Spanish die until I could close the breech. The cases were fire formed with 20 grains of 2400 and a 385 grain paper patch bullet. The case mouths were then squared up, using the shortest case as my standard
length. I now had good strong cases to shoot, great! Does anyone have a clue to what this round might be? The rim is .610”, base .527”/.528”, shoulder .515”, neck OD .468”, case length 2.250”? I would sure like to know what the original round was.
I made up a number of molds for the Peabody, and am still playing around with loads. One of my most successful loads is a 385-grain pure lead slug, paper-patched with 100% rag bond paper and loaded with 28 grains of IMR 4198. In working up loads, I used .45/70 information as a guide, as the case holds about seven grains more black powder than the .45/70, but I think the pressure range should be held to the black powder
pressure levels, not to the loads designed for the later and stronger guns like the 86 Winchester. I use 100% rag bond paper measuring .002”
thick. The paper is soaked in water to expand the patch, and it is then rolled twice around a .440” pure lead bullet. The tail is twisted tightly around the base. They are then placed in a cartridge block, tail down, the weight of the bullet keeping the tail from unwinding.

After drying for twenty-four hours, the tail is clipped off as close to the base as possible. I then run the bullets through a .447” sizing die which irons the patch smooth. I tried dipping the paper-patched bullets in lube, but quit when I found some recovered rounds with the paper still glued to the base. I want to try automatic transmission fluid on the patch, as a substitute for the sperm oil that was used in the last century. I killed a
fork-horn buck with this load two years ago, after missing another buck earlier in the season. I misjudged the range and shot right over his back and he didn’t give me another chance. The one I shot was only about a hundred yards from my house. The bullet went through both
shoulder blades and wasn’t recovered. The buck went down at the shot, but regained his feet and ran about twenty yards before going down for good.

Like most rifles made for the military in the 1800s, this rifle is sighted to hit on at about 200 yards with the lowest sight setting. This puts the impact around eight inches high at 50 and 100 yards. That makes it hard to hit anything, at least for me.
Dixie Gun Works came to the rescue. I was able to purchase an original rear sight, mainspring, tumbler, firing pin, sear, and a few screws. I took the replacement rear sight, and milled as much material as I could from the bottom of the sight. By shorting the screws, and doing a little filing, I had a sight that hit dead on at fifty and one hundred yards.
My best loads shoot around two inches at one hundred yards. The fire formed cases are not resized, but merely decapped and primed and loaded with 4198 or SR4759. The bullets are started by hand and finish seated with a .43 Spanish die.
My Peabody has given me many hours of pleasure, and I hope it will for my son and grandson, when I pass it on the next generation of shooters.

]]>Thu, 02 Feb 2017 12:29:47 GMThttp://castbulletassoc.org/blog/article/2017/2/41/mr.-peabody-and-me