Lyman 457191 100 Yard Test

[Idaholewis]

I shot the Lyman #457191 292 Grain bullet at a true 100 yards this morning, The lightest bullet i shoot in my Green Mountain .45 LRH 1:30 Twist. I fired 6 shots total, 1st fouler shot went in a Gopher Hole about 20 yards away :lol: I then swabbed and started my 5 Shot Group, I was using 65 Grains of Swiss 3F powder, i was using a Combination of Wads, i prefer to split a nitro card in 3 ways and just use 1 piece per shot (i feel they are to thick whole) then a .45 Cal Wool OP wad on Top of the Nitro card.

Here is the Bullet i shot

Instead of wasting a Brand new Target after only 1 Group i have started repairing them and reusing for a Couple of sessions. After my first 3 shots i like to walk up and see what’s happening, and usually take a picture of the Target. Here are those 3 shots, Clearly my Rifle did NOT like this none to well! The 3 shots were 6 inches or so apart.

On the walk back to my rifle scratching my head as to what was going on? I thought I’ll do away with the piece of Nitro Card and just use The Wool, Wool has ALWAYS been the clear winner for me with Greased Bullets, Tho i have shot some REALLY good groups with the Nitro Card/Wool Combo and i am Confident in it. I loaded back up with a Wool OP Wad only and shot my last 2 Shots. They were near touching eachother, notice how much higher they shot? A guy REALLY needs to play with different Wad types, and Combos PER Bullet, Just because 1 shot very well 1 way, doesn’t mean the other will. I need to get back out soon and Re test this with Wool ONLY and see if my last 2 shots are repeatable? I am Confident they are, and that my Rifle Did not like the piece of Nitro card under the wool for whatever reason? A guy’s gotta let the Gun speak for itself as to what it likes

 

[Idaholewis]

This is a Fun load to shoot, Recoil is Babyish, Which is a welcoming thing after getting pounded on with 500 Plus Grain bullets I need to Chronograph this load and see what I am getting? My standard load in this Rifle is 70 Weight Grains of Swiss 3F, or 80 Weight Grains of Swiss 2F, With this bullet only weighing 292 Grains it should be scooting along pretty darn good with 65 Grains of 3F, I will try and Chronograph this load when i get back out to Retest Repeatability of my last 2 Wool OP Wad only shots

 

[Idaholewis]

I was just digging through my record stuff for this bullet and found where i had shot it the very first time, this was before i started playing around with the Nitro Cards, This Little bullet shot EXTREMELY well at 75 Yards with just 55 Grains of Swiss 3F, And as you can see my OP Wad was Wool Only. The Cards work fine with my PP bullets, but i am leaning farther and farther away from them, Wool works equally well with GG or PP Bullets.

 

[Magnum]

Idaholewis, I shot those 292 gr. Lyman bullets you sent me. I used 70 grns. Swiss 3-F, wool wads. 50 yards wasn’t too bad but at 100 was like 8-10” spread in my 30” 1-22 twist barrel. I could pop them into the muzzle with thumb pressure and went down smooooth but firm enough. Your sizer is perfect for my bore. My rifle loves those heavy submarines!

 

[Idaholewis]

Idaholewis, I shot those 292 gr. Lyman bullets you sent me. I used 70 grns. Swiss 3-F, wool wads. 50 yards wasn’t too bad but at 100 was like 8-10” spread in my 30” 1-22 twist barrel. I could pop them into the muzzle with thumb pressure and went down smooooth but firm enough. Your sizer is perfect for my bore. My rifle loves those heavy submarines!

Glad to hear they loaded good in your rifle! These 292s are just to short to stabilize in that 1:22 Twist, From What I’ve been told if you slow them WAY down they might shoot good? I bet you would need to use about 50 Grains of Powder, and at that point why even bother? My 1:30 shoots them very well, but NOT with a part of a Nitro Card under the Wool.

 

[edmehlig]

Lew, nice shooting! It's amazing how a wad can improve accuracy. While I have not experimented with the different wads. I've been happy with using 50cal Unlubed Felt wads in my 45cal Whites. I feel they provide a tighter seal and help clean a little residue in the bbl.

 

[Idaholewis]

Lew, nice shooting! It's amazing how a wad can improve accuracy. While I have not experimented with the different wads. I've been happy with using 50cal Unlubed Felt wads in my 45cal Whites. I feel they provide a tighter seal and help clean a little residue in the bbl.

It really is amazing how an OP Wad can “Make or Break” a Load, I have several loads that work very well with the Card/Wool Combo (Your Gould being 1 of them!) I had become so confident in the 1/4 Nitro Card/Wool Combo that I figured the Cards could not hurt anything? I feel totally different about that now! I need to go back through my Data and reevaluate a few loads that didn’t perform all that well, 1 being Lyman 457193 420 Grain bullet, That Darn bullet looks to good to not shoot well? I will test it again very soon using a Wool OP Wad ONLY.

If you are having problems getting a bullet to shoot well, DEFINITELY don’t overlook the OP Wad, it can make a HUGE difference! I have had it happen several times now. A guy should try the plain Cards, Card/Wool, and Plain Wool, It is VERY likely you will find 1 of these to outperform the others, And in some cases Quite significantly. With Wool it is also a good idea to try Oversize, i have been doing that from my beginning in these Muzzleloaders. Try a .50 Wool OP Wad in a .45 Cal, a .54 Cal Wool OP Wad in a .50 Cal, With Wool Felt Being easy to work with it is Not hard to load the Oversize Wads, i just pinch them up a little and get them started straight.

 

[MSalyards]

Lewis, would I use a 50, or 54 card wad in my 50 cals? Thanks Mike.

 

[Idaholewis]

Lewis, would I use a 50, or 54 card wad in my 50 cals? Thanks Mike.

If you want try the Cards you DEFINITELY want the correct caliber, they load fairly stiff. The Nitro Cards come in .510 which is just right for .50 Cal (they look like Hard Cardboard, I’m not sure exactly what the Material is?) You can get Vegetable Fibre Card Wads for .50 Cal as well, they come in either .030 or .060 thick, Most of the Competition guy’s i read about, and the few i have personally spoke with seem to prefer the .060, So either 1 .060 Card, or 2 of the .030s if you have them on hand, But try a Group both ways, use 1 .030, then try 1 .060, The Nitro Cards by Circle fly are actually intended for Blackpowder Shotgun, they are REALLY thick, like .135 or so, In my opinion they are to darn thick? But they split apart easily, if you split them evenly in 3 ways that gets you pretty darn close to the .060 Vegetable Fibre Wads. I have shot some DARN good Groups with the Card Wads, They are a Hit and miss deal with me. Wool felt has been the clear winner for me, they work equally well with Grease Groove, or Paper Patched bullets. I feel the Hard Card Wads are a better choice for Cupped base Paper Patch bullets

Wool Felt Wads on the other hand are MUCH more forgiving, With Wool felt you can go oversize if you like (up a caliber) So in a .50 Cal you could either go with the Correct .50s, or step up to the .54s and create a better Gas seal, I have had good luck both ways, i can’t tell much, to any difference between the Stock size, or stepping up a Caliber? Stepping up a Caliber on the Wool makes good sense to me, it seems they should give the best possible Gas seal? I always tell folks to try Both ways, Shoot Groups with Both and see if you can tell a difference or not? Let the Rifle speak for itself as to what it prefers Per Bullet. But i can tell you from LOTS of hands on experience shooting that the OP Wad can make a BIG BIG Difference in accuracy, good or bad