SmallCaliberCentral

Hey guys,

As you can remember on my last post, I was concerned at the groups I was getting with my Kimber. So I
got out to the range yesterday (Friday), with my Kimber and some new handloads with H4895 powder. However, I still had 20 rounds of factory Hornady 32gr fodder, so I decided to shoot this off, to hopefully run my barrel in finally.

Well, I'm now happy to report that everything turned out perfectly. After firing 125 rounds down the barrel, I fired a 5 shot group that looked like this:



The squares are 1/4 inch btw

Gets much better though, I then started on my handloads. I started off with 27.1grs of H4895 and the 39gr Sierra Blitzking and worked up to the book maximum which is 27.7grs H4895. Please note that this is the book maximum load but was safe in my rifle. Now according to Hodgon data, from a 24 inch barrel this gives 3774fps, but in my 22 inch barrel I hit 3910fps!



Runout on these loads could still be much better, as it is still well over .005, the problem is my Lee shell holder not aligning the cases properly in my die, so when I seat the bullets, the neck is being noticibly bent.


Regards,

Michael.

Nice shooting Michael, it looks like you got evey thing comeing to gether with your load. as long as you know where your run out is comeing from you can take care of that as will. Nice going!

Kiwi

Heres a possible solution to your Lee shell holder problem.

Not sure what type of press you use. Most presses have a C-clip on the ram which retains the shell holder.
Try removing it and sizing/seating without it. Its a bit of a pain as you need to make sure your finger keeps it pushed on for every round but you'll adapt quickly.
I always noticed my cartridges were entering/exiting the dies at an angle. I tried filing the ram top flat to the die threads. Seemed to help a little but not much. Then I remembered reading this tip on a forum somewhere, maybe here.
I tried it and it made a huge difference. No more wobbling rounds or brass.
You can use an O ring to help retain the shell holder but I just go without.

If you try this and it helps run-out let me know. I still do not have a run out gauge.