Hi Guys ,I'm new to the forum so although i'v been shooting and reloading for a long time i hope you will forgive me if i ask some questions that you may think are pretty basic ,I want to learn about breech seating ,and i would really appreciate some help and advice .Also to get a bullet design for my needs so i can have a custom bullet mould made . A bit of background info might help you to see my problem ,about 18 months ago i bought a Pedersoli 1885 hi wall classic model in 38/55 cal 1 in 12 twist cut with a chamber for the longer case and throated to facilitate breech seating [this according to Pedersoli's catalogue ].iI want to use smokeless powder and have been using a RCBS 378/312 bps and a LYMAN 2640674 330 gn bullet both fixed and breech seated .nowadays i'm shooting at 100/200 yds off the bench off a rest using an 8x scope and my groups are about 2 1/2''at 100 yds using an hard cast bullet and various powders .I did several barrel casts and believe the groove diam is  .3805/381 [Pedersoli's stated groove diam  is .378] my moulds cast .378 so i think thats a problem [bullets cast at about 30/1 are not stable and keyhole ] A slug .381  loaded in a case and chambered is i think a little too tight .The above problems have lead me to breech seat the bullets mentioned using a plugged case   ,and have shown a little  improvement, but because the bullets are cylindrical and when cast with a fairly hard alloy only allow engraving the first two driving bands even when pushed in quite hard .This is why i'm thinking about using a tapered bullet and having a custom mould made ,and advice about a bullet design and dimensions would be greatly appreciated .I know i have given you guy's a lot to think about but you have a depth of knowledge that does not exist anywhere else ,,kind regards  Gibbs /40

I breech seat very hard bore riding tapered bullets in my 40-65. Will score 250's loaded that way. Bullets are bore riding with the grease groove half tapered. Takes a stout breech seater to seat the bullets.   

For your rifle I would use Saeco tapered bullets cast 30-1 or 40-1 lead tin. Under size bullets can be very accurate. 

I shoot .376-7 diameter Hoch bullets in a rifle that measures .379.  At the Spokane match this spring put five shots in a nickel size group on one of my bench targets with iron sights. 

        Joe.

If you can give me the bore size to go along with the groove, I'll rework one of my 38 cal, BS designs to fit your barrel.

Frank

Hi Joe and Frank ,thanks for your advice ,Joe i thought like  you that it might be a good idea to try a softer bullet with a fairly quick powder ,but so far they have all resulted in poor accuracy ,i don't think the bullets bump up enough to seal the bore and take the rifling .Groups show a lot of vertical dispersion and some key holeing ,thanks also  for the info about the saeco #571..
Hi Frank ,thanks for your offer to rework one of your 38 cal BS  designs , that would be most helpful , the bore diameter is as near as i can measure it .3745/.375 hope this helps ,
thanks again for your help ,regards ,,   

Gibbs40, around the time when the 12 twist Pedersoli highwalls first came out a review was written in Steve Garbe's publication ( the Black Powder Cartridge News ).  A number of bullets were tried and some excellent results were obtained.  If you like I can find the issue number.  It might help you get that rifle sorted out.

Chris.

Good morning Frank ,thanks for sending me that design for the breech seat bullet ,i intend to do as you advise and send a copy to a custom mould maker , i have a question thats also touched on by Clarence , will i require a mechanical breech seater or do you think  a push seater will do the job ?I have a vintage target scope fitted to my hi wall so there's not much space to work with ,regards  Gibbs 40 .Hi Clarence , good to talk to you ,thanks for your advice about the cerrosafe i have to admit to being a bit windy about making a chamber cast so i have slugged the bore from the breech end with a soft lead slug tapped in and then back out ,i know it doesn't give me the detail of a cast but it has confirmed that when measured it is very similar to my muzzle casts ,also i think the bullet diameter should be closer to .382 .I have considered case neck turning because of the oversize bullets ,but wanted to try breech seating ,,kind regards   Gibbs 40  .Good morning Chris , thanks for your help , if you could send me the issue number of bpcn i would be very grateful ,though i may not have access to all copies of the bpcn on this side of the pond ,also if anyone is interested i am posting a new topic in the general section of the forum asking about other peoples experiences with the 1 in 12 Pedersoli Hi Walls ,to everyone my thanks   ,and keep well    regards   Gibbs 40

Quote:


I believe that you would need a mechanical breech seater for my design unless you rethroat the chamber. Rechambering with a.403 - .404 straight neck and a freebore throat with a long leade would fix all your problems and allow the use of a push seater. Even so, a mechanical BSer won't be a waste.

Frank

I use a 375gn Paul Jones bullet that is the 38001 Creedmore modified in size to a chamber cast of the chamber/throat area that I sent him.

The nose is .371", 1st and 2nd driving band .373", 3rd .377", and the 4th and base are .380", when cast 1:30 alloy.

With this combination the nose rides the top of the lands and because the Hiwall has a camming action, bands 1 & 2 get driven into the rifling. If I load a round and extract it the bullet then needs to be gently tapped out with a soft rod. Cases are not cripmed and are indexed the same for each shot.

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)