A bit cold, but I dressed warm and went to the range. Had a space heater sitting on the bench.
First up my 45/70 reloads with 11.5gr Swedish wooden bullet blank powder (my best loading for the blank powder so far for my 45/70). Didn't put them on paper (too windy to hold paper targets still), but on freshly painted steel, aiming for the same point every shot. Prior to shooting, I did put the loaded rounds in front of my space heater to better simulate warmer Florida temps to get them up to room temperature. They shot fine, and I'll be loading more of that load. Yes, that powder leaves unburnt grains in the bore (in about the first 12" in front of the chamber), in brass and some falls into the receiver when ejecting the fired cases, but it didn't seem to cause problems. Success...another use for that pulled powder. Doesn't stink like 7383, but does seem to have its own smell.
Next was trying 7.62x39 flat nose reloads via AR 7.62x39 mags in the RARR, loading 5 rounds in each mag. About 25-30% failure to feed into the chamber unless the front of the mag was slightly tilted up. As the round count went down in the mag, the feeding improved. Next was seeing how pointed 7.62x39 bullets feed...100% success feeding. I guess in fairness 7.62x39 ammo is typically pointed and the plated flat nose bullets do result in a shorter oal than pointy bullets. No idea of how round nose 7.62x39 ammo would feed.
First up my 45/70 reloads with 11.5gr Swedish wooden bullet blank powder (my best loading for the blank powder so far for my 45/70). Didn't put them on paper (too windy to hold paper targets still), but on freshly painted steel, aiming for the same point every shot. Prior to shooting, I did put the loaded rounds in front of my space heater to better simulate warmer Florida temps to get them up to room temperature. They shot fine, and I'll be loading more of that load. Yes, that powder leaves unburnt grains in the bore (in about the first 12" in front of the chamber), in brass and some falls into the receiver when ejecting the fired cases, but it didn't seem to cause problems. Success...another use for that pulled powder. Doesn't stink like 7383, but does seem to have its own smell.
Next was trying 7.62x39 flat nose reloads via AR 7.62x39 mags in the RARR, loading 5 rounds in each mag. About 25-30% failure to feed into the chamber unless the front of the mag was slightly tilted up. As the round count went down in the mag, the feeding improved. Next was seeing how pointed 7.62x39 bullets feed...100% success feeding. I guess in fairness 7.62x39 ammo is typically pointed and the plated flat nose bullets do result in a shorter oal than pointy bullets. No idea of how round nose 7.62x39 ammo would feed.
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