Vince ,,,I was referring more too the .303 group,,,,,

Just trying to get things straight in my mind ,,,, My barrel really likes the .312 dia bullets ,as most of the .311 bullets I've tried the groups run about 1-1/2" to 2" at 100 yards .,

Aloys.....that going to sleep after 300yards thing...has been bandied around for some time...a rifle that is doing 1.5" at 100 yards is never going to be able to do less than 4" at 300 yards no matter what the projectile does...it cant.the dispertion from desired point of impact is a cone and they dont shrink.
its more than likely that folk aim smaller at longer range.

pete4d wrote:

Vince ,,,I was referring more too the .303 group,,,,, Just trying to get things straight in my mind ,,,, My barrel really likes the .312 dia bullets ,as most of the .311 bullets I've tried the groups run about 1-1/2" to 2" at 100 yards .,

I had two different powders loaded to try on the day mate. The idea was to get an idea on pressure signs and to see which load put me in the ballpark so I could do some fine tuning type load development. As it turned out I struck oil pretty quickly.

The first lot of rounds I fired were loaded with AR2208 (Varget) and I found that they were more like a shotgun pattern...they were all over the target, so much so that I didn’t even bother a second look at the target. Also, the recoil was nasty to say the least, plus I was a bit wary of pressure because I started to get some “primer flow” around the firing pin and into its recess. Strange that I didn’t get any excessively flattened primers though. These shots took care of fouling the bore for me before I swapped over to the AR2206H (4895) loads.

The two different powder loads were like cheese and chalk. The AR2206H loads were pleasant to shoot, showed no obvious signs of pressure and were more accurate insomuch as they shot, within reason, to POA, culminating in the group you can see above.. Of course, like all of us shooters, I am not satisfied and intend to do more load development.

2206 is a really good powder.....it must be pretty close to win 748 as it works in the same cases with SIMILAR levels of powder....

Vince,,, I got what your saying there . One of the reasons I like the IMR-4895 is how it fills out the case , it more a shove than a kick on the old shoulder .

No sure how much your chamber throat may eroded Another simple trick you may want too try is the over-all-length ,,,, take one of your fired cases and insert a bullet into the case leaving it long , then inserting into the chamber . measure the length for the OAL , just make sure the cartridge will load into the magazine.

I measure the maximum over all length in another way. Close the bolt, put a cleaning rod down the barrel till it touches the bolt and mark the cleaning rod on the muzzle end of the barrel.
Now remove the bolt, put your bullet inside the chamber and push it forward with another piece of cleaning rod till it blocks.
Put that marked first cleaning rod down the barrel till it touches the top of the bullet and mark the cleaning rod again. The distance between the 2 marks on the cleaning rod is the MAXIMUM OAL.

When you use a device you can clamp on the cleaning rod, you don't have to mark it. Just put your clamp on when the cleaning rod is touching the bolt. Remove the bolt, put the bullet inside the chamber and push it forwards, push the first cleaning rod till it touches the top of the bullet and measure the distance between the barrel and the clamp.
This is going very fast and easy, so you can do lots of different bullets in a short period of time as long as the clamp stays put.

Aloysius wrote:

I measure the maximum over all length in another way. Close the bolt, put a cleaning rod down the barrel till it touches the bolt and mark the cleaning rod on the muzzle end of the barrel. Now remove the bolt, put your bullet inside the chamber and push it forward with another piece of cleaning rod till it blocks. Put that marked first cleaning rod down the barrel till it touches the top of the bullet and mark the cleaning rod again. The distance between the 2 marks on the cleaning rod is the MAXIMUM OAL. When you use a device you can clamp on the cleaning rod, you don't have to mark it. Just put your clamp on when the cleaning rod is touching the bolt. Remove the bolt, put the bullet inside the chamber and push it forwards, push the first cleaning rod till it touches the top of the bullet and measure the distance between the barrel and the clamp. This is going very fast and easy, so you can do lots of different bullets in a short period of time as long as the clamp stays put.

One reason I use a fired case for the measurement , is the case is at the maximum head space length . think I stated that right,

I have case length gauges that I use sometimes just to check behind myself..

I haven’t put a borescope into the barrel...I don’t have one, yet...but this barrel appears to have had very little use, so I am assuming the throat isn’t “shot out” yet. Just out of curiosity sake, I may measure the OAL to see the condition of the throat.

Pumpkinslinger wrote:

Vince, can we ship bullets from the US to there reasonably? Midway has the Hornady RN for $30 US/box.

I picked up a box of the Hornady Interlock Bullets in .312 diameter today for my Jungle Carbine. They were a little expensive at AUD$58 (US$39.88), but if they work well I can live with that.

Interesting that the guy behind the counter st the gun shop said his JC always shot tighter groups with the 150gr bullet. Some food for thought there.

Congratulations on the score ,Vince , even here in the states thats not as bad as some prices I've seen .

mate all 303s prefer one weight over another by large margin at times..... I believe its to do with what projectile they were built around eg the earlier ones wouldve been a 200 grn projectile so prefer the 180s and later ones a 174grn with long pointy end so the 150 sporting will be closer in shape.interesting you have a 174grn round nose.......sort of a boot in both camps.
as said ealier some of them will poke 123grn projectiles close enough to be of use..... and they are dirt cheap too Mate....would almost be worth buying a box or hornady 7.62x39mm and pulling projectiles is you cant get a sample pack.

Elvis wrote:

as said ealier some of them will poke 123grn projectiles close enough to be of use..... and they are dirt cheap too Mate....would almost be worth buying a box or hornady 7.62x39mm and pulling projectiles is you cant get a sample pack.

tip: I can use the 7.62x39 cases in my CZ...

And Elvis is right, they are cheap and work real good on short distances.

Elvis wrote:

mate all 303s prefer one weight over another by large margin at times..... I believe its to do with what projectile they were built around eg the earlier ones wouldve been a 200 grn projectile so prefer the 180s and later ones a 174grn with long pointy end so the 150 sporting will be closer in shape.interesting you have a 174grn round nose.......sort of a boot in both camps. as said ealier some of them will poke 123grn projectiles close enough to be of use..... and they are dirt cheap too Mate....would almost be worth buying a box or hornady 7.62x39mm and pulling projectiles is you cant get a sample pack.

I saw a YouTube video on handloading for the JC and this Hornady 174gr RN performed very well, so I thought I’d give them a go...nothing to loose, everything to gain. Apparently this RN is also a good performer as a heavy and dangerous game hunting round. Early rounds for the SMLE were loaded with a RN projectile, although they were 220gn from memory...I have some factory rounds from 1917 in my collection.

I intend loading up a number of rounds with these projectiles using AR2206H and see how they perform. Hopefully I can hit the range within the next couple of weeks to get some recoil therapy and do some load development. One thing I am very disappointed about though is my shooting buddy can’t shoot at the moment because he had an infection in his jaw bone that erode the bone away badly and the bone graft he had has failed, so the Dr said no shooting because the recoil can cause bigger problems.

hope your buddy comes right soon....naasty infections anywhere in mouth....been there n done that and it nearly killed me.
anyway...the hornady should be good...funny you say dangerous game as the 180grn rn hornady I use in the .308 has reputation for being rather soft,thus why I chose them.....nearest thing I can find to winchester 180grn power points.
the 2 animals shot with them so far make me think its a good choice.

Vince ,,, Sorry to hear about your buddy ,,, Of-course you can always use a good spotter on the firing line.