Ouch! I've done "dumb" again

[earlmck]

Don't you hate it when you do something dumb, and it is something you knew better than to do in the first place?

Almost all my shooting is with cast bullets, which I've lubed/sized, or tumble-lubed not sized if possible, in about every way popularly done over the past 50 years. So lately I've tried some powder coating of the cast bullets. Naturally a fellow wants to know which method -- powder coat vs. conventional lube -- gives the most accurate results. So I've proceeded to load up a batch done both ways and go out and shoot them and record velocities and group size. The normal stuff you do when investigating different loads.

And in every case but one the conventional lube has been the most accurate way to go (or so it appeared from my group sizes). Then today it finally occurred to me that it is dumb to assume that switching from regular lube to the pc won't be adverse to the pc loads being fired just after the regular. I had fired a group with conventional lubed bullets. I had 10 loads powder coated and shot 5 at one bull and then the next 5 at a different bull. Whoa! there was a big difference in grouping. It turns out that the powder coated bullets take a while to forgive you for shooting regular lubed bullets. So many of my powder coat bullet tests were wasted because I was often shooting first conventional and then the pc. Yeah, I had originally worried that shooting regular lubed bullets after the pc bullets would take some extra shots to "settle down" but when I tested that way it didn't seem to matter. Nope, it is the pc'd bullets that take a number of shots (at least 6 I think) to "settle down".

When I redo my tests I'm going to clean the rifle between the different techniques.

[yooper2]

I've found the same in regards to needing to get all the regular bullet lube out of a barrel before PC bullets start to perform to their potential. Many loads (certainly not all) have shown a substantial improvement by switching to PC. My K31 has shown the best improvement so far and I intend to start shooting PC in the CBA military benchrest matches once I go back home.

At least you have plenty of shooting to keep you busy!


Eric

[JohndeFresno]

I'm wondering if a quick squirt of Wipe-Out foam, then sitting a few minutes, and then a bore swab, would help you to make a quick transition?

[earlmck]

I'm wondering if a quick squirt of Wipe-Out foam, then sitting a few minutes, and then a bore swab, would help you to make a quick transition?

Yep, that's my normal method John. Don't tell these other guys on the forum -- they like to do the scrubbing thing.

[JohndeFresno]

[Bill in Oregon]

Earl if anyone ever deserved the honorific title "certified rifle crank," it is you!