During the research and writing of my new book The Golden Age of the American Schuetzefest, I became heavily involved in duplicating the old Schuetzen loading methods using straight black powder and duplex. The goal was to equal or better the old accuracy standards. My results of those tests stand on their own. One issue that plagued my shooting was that persistent “off shot” even when range conditions were good. Not always but randomly I had a shot or two go astray from a group that defied the prevailing range conditions nor was it gun handling. My written note next to each of those holes in the target was WTF. What was going on?
Looking for answers, over the past month or so I have been re-reading and studying Dr FW Mann’s 1909 book “The Bullets Flight from Powder to Target”. In his findings I thought there might be some facts directly applicable to today’s Schuetzen and BPCR shooting. His tests dealing with lead bullets having their bases upset out of square with the bullet body on firing, struck me as a possible cause of inaccuracy for today’s shooters. Taken from various parts of his book are the following examples. Tests are purposely in several separate posts to make it clear they are not part of single test event. These tests were shot at 100 yards.

June 11, 1903 (page 57) two normal groups (5-shots each) were fired with his Pope “Bumblebee” (exceptionally accurate .32-40) rifle. These groups were .87 and .75 inch respectively. Then one group was made with the same rifle and load, 4 shots using lead bullets swaged with .006 inch oblique bases, each breech seated so that it emerged from muzzle with the oblique base on one of the quarters (12, 3, 6, 9 o’clock). Group size was 1.75 inches. Another 4-shot group with .012-inch oblique bases, also breech seated on the quarters, gave 2.25 inches. Bullets with oblique bases obviously didn’t group as tightly.