Lets start with my .357 Maxi. On my first range trip I had problems getting any kind of grouping at all using various .357 mag. loads, including factory 158gr. I removed the forend and then the forend spacer and relieved the tension between the hinge and the forend bolt by sanding a bit of wood off the hinge end of the forend. I also used a bit of PC-7 in the barrel channel of the forend, between the forend screw hole and the forend spacer, to float the forend. Back to the range today and it was shooting the .357 mag. ammo better, but still shooting in 4" groups at 50 yards. I only had three .357 Maxi loads with me and in the end figured I would try those before packing it up and all of a sudden I had two bullets in one hole with a third about an inch away. I was using 187gr. Cast Performance bullets over 20.0gr. of Lil' Gun powder. I guess it either likes .357 Maxi loads better or maybe it's just that it prefers the heavier 187gr. bullets. I'll have to load some more of them and get it back to the range.
My .45 Colt carbine was also shooting all over the place today, that is until I used some of my acquired knowledge from this forum and removed the forend and shot off of the receiver. After removing the forend, I put three 250gr. LSWC bullets into one slightly clover leafed hole. The forend seems to have the same problem as the .357 Maxi in that it is tight between the hinge and the bolt. I used the same process I had with the Maxi and will have to see how much it helps on my next range trip.
I already had a great load for my 45/70 using 405gr. Rem. bullets over 48.1gr. of IMR3031, but I have a heavy cast load that worked great in my Marlin 1895 and I wanted to try them in this rifle. The load uses 460gr. Cast Performance bullets over 38.0gr. of Alliant's RL-7(WARNING!! Not to be confused with Accurate No. 7!!). At 50 yards these shot well, but not great. I got a three shot group measuring 2" and running horizontally. The first shot was at the left end of the group, the second to the far right and the third in the middle of the first two. The accuracy of this load may not be ideal, but without a doubt it's still good enough that it would drop anything in N. America.
I also shot my 5.56x45 M4 carbine for the first time since building it. I built it more as a defensive weapon than a varmint rifle, I have a .223 Handi and a .22 Mag. Handi for that purpose. This M4 has a Vortex 4 MOA 1X red dot scope and after firing 8 shots to get the scope set up, I was able to shoot a 12 shot rapid fire group at 50 yards into a 4" group. That should suffice for my intended purpose.
Don
