Question for lawdog

[oso45-70]

I just came back from the shooing range with head full of questions. I just picked up another marlin 95 gg-45-70 and had some loads that i have used in many different guns and it has worked fine in all of them. The gun is new unfired in box. OK what happened was it scattered 405 lead bullets
like exlax from a wild man. I micked the bullets and they check out fine at 458-9 none that i checked were under sized. I had run a cleaning patch through the the tube a few times to make sure there wern't any burrs.  tomarrow i'm going to take three more out and see if there is any thing wrong with the loads. Each round was weighed the cases were trimmed and like i said it's a load that i have used many times over the years. The load is,,,,, 405 lead bul. 42.5 grs IMR 4198. I guess its my turn in the barrel----- Beats me. any idea's ?  Thanks I A  Joe

[Yukon Jack]

You might try slugging the barrel to see exactly what the throat and groove diameters are.  If the throat is tight or where the site dovetail is tight, or if the groove diameter is a little greater, you might benefit from either fire lapping or a slightly larger bullet (depending on your rifle's problem).

[oso45-70]

Youkon Jack,
Thank you sir, I'll give it a go tomorrow, Rite now my head is so rattled
i can't think clear. Nothing like this has never happened that i couldent figger out. I looked in the bore tonite and it looks like the bullets were
skidding the last 4 or 5 inches. That don't make any sence since i have used this same load in more than one rifle, but what you said makes i will give it a good going over tomorrow. Thanks again. Joe

[Yukon Jack]

If you have a tight constriction mid barrel, say under the rear sight or someplace, it could "swaging" your bullets at that point, then as the barrel opens up, it partially "loses it grip" so to speak to the bore.  Slug it, see if you can find any constrictions, if you can, firelapping may help.  If you don't have any constrictions, it could be a bit oversized bore and using cast bullets of a little larger diameter might help.  Something around .001 or .002" over groove size might work also.

[Lawdog]

oso45-70,

Sounds to me like 'Yukon Jack' has you on the right track.  Let us know how things work out for you.  Lawdog
 

[oso45-70]

Thank you Yukon Jack and Lawdog for taking the time to answer my call of distress. But we all had it wrong. My little leupold went ace deuce,
Belly up, I've have a weaver 3 power i'm going to put on it manana.
The thing had me worried cause i have used that load in other rifles with no problem. Thanks Again. Joe

[CEJ1895]

oso45-70 - I don't use cast bullets but from what I've read at the other forums is that the cast bullets should be oversized .002" like Yukon Jack said. Undersized bullets will not stabilize well and therefore very in-accurate. Good luck... CEJ...

[oso45-70]

CEJ1895.
Thanks for the reply, I've about made up my mind to use jacketed bullets
in my 95s and shoot the lead in my Ruger # 1 it seems to do a good job
with the 405 gr lead. I loaded some 300 & 350 gr. jacketed for the Marlin
and am on the way to the range now to test them. The Leupold messing up threw me for a loop and coused me a lot wasted time. Oh Well, In a perfect world that wouldent have happened. Thanks to all who responded.
Best wishes.    Joe