Bullet: RCBS plain base, 188 grain lubed and sized
Loads:
16 grains of 5744, bullet sized to .401 .... 1,146 fps, E.S.= 33 fps, S.D. = 14 fps.
16 grains of 5744, bullet unsized at .404 .... 1.146 fps
20 grains of IMR 4198, bullet sized to .401 ... 1,322 fps, E.S.= 93 fps, S.D.= 35 fps
14 grains of 2400, bullet sized to .401 ... 1,200 fps, E.S.= 40 fps, S.D.= 14 fps
Note: after more than 50 rounds between my two visits to the range, there is no trace of leading. Bore is shiny with strong, sharp rifling.
Range and Rest: All targets were shot at 100 yards, resting my rifle on my shooting bag on a bench. Open iron sights.
RESULTS:
16 grains of 5744, bullet sized to .401: With a 5-shot group of 4 & 3/8" at 100 yards, this wasn't the tightest group I've ever seen in my life, but considering that this rifle would be used for Whitetail Deer at ranges of 100 yards or less, it would certainly get the bullets into the boiler room. However, I want at least 1,300 fps for a hunting load. Here's the target ...
16 grains of 5744, bullet unsized at .404: I wanted to see what a larger diameter bullet would do with the same load as above, so I hand-lubed 5 of them and let 'er rip downrange. This gave me a 5-shot group at 100 yards of 3 & 1/2". Not bad, but not good enough yet to do brain surgery at 100 yards. Here's the target ....
20 grains of IMR 4198, bullet sized to .401: Like I said, I'd like somewhere between 1,350 and 1,400 fps for my deer load, so I figured I'd try IMR 4198. The thinking on this one was that the bullet would get a bit gentler send-off for the same muzzle velocity. I took a shot and couldn't see it on the paper with my little binoculars, so I took a stroll down and saw that it was on target. I marked it and you can see it in the photo below (fastest bullet). I then went back and took the remaining four shots. I was surprised at the E.S. of 93 fps; I don't normally get that kind of E.S. with IMR 4198. It turned out that my first shot was the fastest, 55 fps faster than average and 93 fps faster than the slowest shot. The horizontal spread was only 2 & 7/16", and I strongly suspect that the larger vertical spread is due to the 93 fps extreme spread, especially since I confirmed that the highest hole was also the fastest velocity. I have to say that I'm pleased with this, considering the 1,322 fps average velocity and that all bullets would be in the vitals for a deer broadside. Now I just got to get that E.S. down and maybe I'll have a vertical spread of only 2 & 1/2". There are two ways to do this. One is to use a bit of toilet paper filler and reduce the charge slightly. That never fails to give more consistent burning and a much lower E.S. The second option is to increase the load another grain or two. I also might want to try IMR 3031 for a capacity load. Anyway, here's the target ....
14 grains of 2400, bullet sized to .401: Finally, I figured I'd try 2400. The thinking behind this one is that it is faster than 5744, so it might bump up the bullet a bit better and improve accuracy. When the smoke had cleared and I saw my target, four shots were within 1 & 13/16" and the fifth shot widened the group to 3 & 1/2" at 100 yards. This is definitely encouraging and warrants further experimentation with 2400. Still, the velocity is only 1,200 fps, but I'm going to try a bit more 2400 to see how it does at higher velocities. 2400 just might turn out to be the cat's whiskers for this bullet and rifle. Here's the photo of the target ....
I don't plan to use this old classic Winchester this year for deer (I'm using a Winchester 30-30 carbine made in 1954, named 'Old Savage' for deer this year), but I just couldn't wait to see how this old Winchester would do. For those of you who haven't seen my old rifle, she's an honest rifle that's earned its keep over the past 95 years. Here she is ....
A good' ole original Lyman #1 w an ivory front bead and those deer would be inthe freezer like a piece of cake
