Sunday, December 02, 2007

I realize not much posted the last bit,

very little gun stuff and just some general posts otherwise. Combination of things.

Shift change came around, and while the sleep hours aren't that much different, I guess it's harder to deal with than it used to be(again, aging sucks). Weather has made it harder to get outside and do some things: not much bad weather, but my hands stiffen worse in cold weather than they used to, and I've gotten a bit concerned about using power tools and sharp tools at times like that.

So I haven't made much progress on the project 1911 since the last post, about the only thing has been starting to open up the mouth of the mag well a bit. Due to some things coming up, getting a barrel or other parts will have to wait a bit. I did put another 50 rounds through it, all feeding and going bang as they should.

One thing I was able to try: some cast bullet loads in 7.62x54r. A while back at the range I picked up almost a box worth of new brass, either Hotshot or Wolf Gold, that's reloadable. My M39 bore slugs at .310, so- not having a mold for .311 or .312 bullets, I took some of the .309 flat-nose gas-check bullets I originally started casting for .30-30 and loaded them up over a charge of 2400 powder. At 30 yards on the rifle side at H&H they gave about 1.25" groups off a moderately-steady rest; nice clean round holes with no sign of keyholing. So I'll reload these and try them at 50 & 100 yards next time I can get to the outdoor range.

One thing I'll add: RCBS dies for this cartridge come with two expander balls: one for .308 bullets and one for .311, so you can use the one that best fits the bore of your rifle. A very nice touch.

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