Followup on the plated bullets in the Carbine report

I tried three loads: a grain below standard and the standard with W296(14.0 and 15.0), and one with 2400(12.0).  As this was mainly a "Do these shoot well for general practice?" tryout, I didn't make sure all cases were the same brand; most were Lake City military, with some Aguila and Federal and Remington mixed in, just as grabbed out of the bag.
I will note that, as suggested by CMP in their M1 Carbine reloading advice, I always measure cases after firing, and when necessary trim them to 1.280" length.

I mentioned my hand trouble before; it not only made handguns nearly impossible to use, it made rifles less than comfortable.  Add to that a so-so rest, and I'm not putting in group measurements; I'll just say that not only did all loads function perfectly, accuracy was right at what I'd expect from standard ball ammo.  I will say that the 2400 load shot very tight; it's going to get further testing.  And it and the 14.0 grain W296 load shot lower than the standard load; next time I can get to the outdoor range I'll not only try them for accuracy at longer range, I'll hopefully be able to get the Chrony set up to check velocity.

I only fired about 25 rounds, so didn't expect the bore to be very dirty, and I was right.  Compared to after firing that number of cast and gas-checked bullets the bore was VERY bright.  Ran a couple of patches wet with the PDB home-brow CLP through, let them sit a few minutes, then a couple of dry patches, and the bore was clean.  Very nice.

So at this point I'd have to say 'Yes' to recommending these bullets.


Other thing I was trying out that day was a brass catcher.  If you're not familiar with the Carbine, it tends to eject both up and forward(at least mine does), with the angle depending on the load, and apparently on how it feels that day.  So a catcher can't just sit on the right like for, say, an AR; oh no, it has to overhang to the left to be fairly sure of keeping the cases from flying out where you either can't retrieve them or have to search through the grass.  So I'd used some electric fence wire I had to make a frame and stuck some netting on it to try.

A: I needed stiffer wire.
B: It needed to be longer.
So today I put this together from a wire clothes hanger:

 This wire is MUCH stiffer, which should help a lot; definitely made it easier to put on.  Right now I've got the two ends held with a wide piece of velcro, with two narrow straps to hold it to the rifle.  Making it longer than the original should help it catch cases better.

And yes, with this on you have to insert a magazine, then reach in with your left hand to charge it..

So, next time I'll see if this works.