Found the Holy Grail.....

[Cuts Crooked]

...at least fer my Roller!

The load: 400 gr Big Lube bullet (actually drops at around 395) unsized & pan lubed with 50/50, Remington cases, Federal Large Rifle primers, and 68 grains of.....<drum roll>...KIK 3F

250 yards, temps in the mid 40s, late morning, no wind, no overcast......PERFECT light conditions fer my old eyes! , bench rested with heavy sand bags!

I shot several of these 10 shot groups. Every single time I shot after wiping the barrel the first one went high and right. The rest would drop into the nicest groups I've been able to get in the past few years! 

[Paladin UK]

  WOW!!

Cuts, that is a mighty group, how much rest did ya take between shots ?

I wonder WHY that first rd goes high?    Funny enough I have found over the years that the first rd from a few of my smokepoles have had a mind of their own!

There must be someone out there who could tell us why

Paladin (What lurvs his `Roller` too ) UK

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Great groups, Cuts!

I can't say why ('cause I'm iggnerant) but I've heard that the 1st shot is often called "the fouling shot."  Well, I've always ASSUMED that they didn't mean "the fowling shot" , but with fliers, it's hard ta tell!

Sorry ... I couldn't hep m'self!!!!

[Cuts Crooked]

Well I gotta tell ya, I wuz surprized! I have a freind who is a much better shot than I am and he's been able to wring groups out of my Roller that amaze me! But I NEVER expected to get those kinds of groups using KIK powder!

The pattern on that target is pretty typical of what the other groups I shot this AM were like..the first shot would go high and right, the next three or four would cluster right around the bulls eye, then it would start to group the rest a bit to the left and very tight! I think I can attribute the shift to the barrel heating up after four shots or so. (That's a lot of pretty heavy barrel so it heats up slower than some of the guns I've shot over the years) The first shot going high is not what I'd call normal! Normally I see a low strike from a first shot in a clean barrel, due to less "dwell time".

At any rate, I'm HAPPY!

[Dick Dastardly]

If I were huntin' with yer gun and ammo, I'd shoot one round into the snowbank at the beginnin' of season and carry 'er "fouled".  I've got a 25 Gibbs like that.  First shot goes . . . . somewhere, the rest all run together two inches above the bullseye at 100 yards.

I'm thinkn' that the load likes yer rifle.  Thanks for the fine report.

DD-DLoS

[john boy]

Cuts, real nice to hear that other Pards are shooting the 400 grainer and publishing their results.  Nice pattern.
Here's some test 5 shot strings groups at 50 yd results using 60 gr H777 with different cast ratios - wads-OAL's.  All were shot with my 45-70 Buffalo Classic:
0.856"
0.215 (3 shots)
0.993
1.522
1.230
Best groups were in the 1380 - 1410 fps range

Back in the summer, using the BC - 5 shots using H777 and the Twin Groove 500gr at 600 yards:
2.4" (3 shot cloverleaf)
1 hole to the left of the clover leaf - 3"
1 hole to the right of the clover leaf - 4"

Waiting for the Twin Groove Mark II to see how this bullet flies

[Dick Dastardly]

FWIW, Orders continue to arrive for the two new Big Lube^tm rifle bullets.  The new 38-55 design is based on the existing DD/PRS 45-70.  So Cuts, that report is encouraging.

Thanks,

DD-DLoS