It's not fun anymore!

[De41mag]

Took the Ultra to the range today;

Tried to shoot jacketed bullets in the 44mag barrel one last time but to no avail. Groups around 5" w/ a 4X Leupold scope.  :x
It will group cast bullets at 2.5 to 3 inches. GC's or plain base reduced loads. I'm tired of trying to load a jacketed bullet that would work for deer hunting.
The orginal 223 bull barrel that came with the rifle wont shoot worth a hoot either but I never tried handloading for the 223. Wanted something cheap to shoot, Wrong.......... can't shoot military ammo out of a Handi. I give up.
So.... it's time to sell the Ultra Varmit w/ an additional 44mag. barrel. I much rather be shootin than reloadin.
Somebody tell me can you sell a rifle on this forum??
I don't want to get in trouble or get kicked off.
I'm just not having fun with it.  
Dennis.

[Coltrane]

Post it for sale in the classifieds forum (its at the bottom of the forum list)

Just for the record, what do you want for it? And are you looking for a trade on something?

Send me a PM if you have something in mind.

Coltrane

[Mac11700]

DE41Mag:

Did you slug the barrel to see what the diameter is...this could tell you what size of cast bullets to use


Mac

[De41mag]

Mac;

It shot cast bullets good. It's the jacketed ones that wont shoot.


Coltrane you've got a PM.

[JPH45]

De41Mag. there were several shooters it sounds that turned in 44 targets in the match, I hope you wait to see how everyone did. I shot a cast bullet load for the match and I bet that at 100 yards it won't shoot any better than yours. Mine will put four shots practically on top of one another at 50 yards and always lets shot 2 or 3, usually 3 stray down and away from the group, I have never tried to solve this, I got the rifle mainly for a plinker and short range woods rifle. In reality, I bet that 2-3" groups from most 44 rifles with cast is about the norm, I cannot speak to the velocity other brand rifles may drice them at.

The last jacketed load I tried was Hornadys 300 XTP, it shot well enough, but not as well as the Speer 270. I bought a different primer, Federals Large Pistol Magnum. I had been using Winchesters Large Pistol for standard or magnum loads. That primer seemed to be very consistent and I got very good groups from it. I have ten left. I am going to load 10 rounds of the 270 GD, 5 using the Win primer and 5 using the Federal, and see what happens, I suspect at this moment that the Federal doesn't shoot quite as tight.

I'm sorry to hear that you are having a hard time with your rifle. I wish I could buy it but am not in a position to do so. That the rifle shoots poorly with both barrels suggests to me that there is a fit up problem of some kind going on.

I know what it is like though to have had enough......

[De41mag]

JPH;

I tried some Hornady 265grs. if I remember correctly, A friend had a partial box left  so he gave them to me. They shot ok, maybe close to the cast bullets but not real consistent. You know, with that slow 1 in 38" twist it looks like the lighter bullets would shoot good but not so. I've tried Sierra and Speer with H-110, W296, AA#9, and 2400, and Factory loads, even tried the new Winchester Platinum Tip 250gr. Nothing as far as groups go. Done spent way to much money on bullets and powder and time. I'm BURNT OUT on trying to find a match. And I've got too many other rifles I could be shooting.
Heck...My Marlin 1894FG 41mag will group just as well and I only have factory iron sights on it. Now that is a shooter.
Dennis

[handirifle]

de41mag
Sounds to me like you have a receiver problem, if neither barrel will shoot.  Maybe too much headspace?  Never had a 44 so not sure.

[Paul5388]

de41mag,

Before you give up, take a load that you have shot some groups with and know what the groups would be.  Then load the same load with the same powder and everything, but don't use a  roll crimp.  Just crimp enough to take the flare/bell out of the case.  My .357 went from 5" groups to 2" groups, just by changing to a rifle type crimp instead of a pistol type crimp.  You don't need a crimp in a single shot anyway.  I check each load to see if it will eject.  If not, I take a little more flare out until it will eject a loaded round.

The next thing would be to use a 12 gauge shotgun forearm.  That should float any barrel you put in it.

[Haywire Haywood]

The vital area on a deer is about an 8" circle so you have deer medicine as it is without messing with it at all.  :grin:

Ian

[Big Blue]

The vital area on a deer is about an 8" circle so you have deer medicine as it is without messing with it at all.  :grin:

Ian

Ian,
  Well said!
Dennis,
Most of us bought these rifles to hunt with, not shoot in target matches. They fill the bill just fine if we don't loose sight of their purpose. Sometimes our quest for perfection can overide our common sense, and I'm speaking from experience on that, not criticism of you. A .44 mag. shooting 2.5-3" groups at 100 yards is more than exceptable for deer and if a rifle shoots cast bullets best, why not use them? I love and use cast .44 mag. bullets with good success on deer. As for your .223, I spent a lot of time trying to find the best handload for it, to no avail. The best load for my .223 was posted here on this forum all along. The Winchester white box ammo from Wally World. Once I played with the trigger, and floated the forearm, these cheap bullets shot great groups right out of the box. Spending the time to find the right combinations, while may be frustrating at times, is half the fun of shooting these rifles. I know I get bored unless I have something to play with on these guns. I hope you'll reconcider and give them another chance.
Don

[handirifle]

paul5388
What you say is partly true.  The rifle/cartridge might NOT like the crimp.  I found my 45-70 BC much PREFERRED the cases to be crimped.  It's not always a function of just keeping the bullet from sliding back into the case but one of controlling the powder burn as well.  Much depends on the powder/bullet combination.

I wasn't crimping my loads and none of my 400gr loads shot worth beans.  I'm talking 4-5" groups at 100yds, until I crimped them.  Then things started looking WAY up.  I finished with consistant 3/4" loads with Speer 400gr bullets.  I was going by data from Sharps shooters before.

Like I said, depends on the load.

[Paul5388]

handirifle,

It may be that your .45-70 likes a crimp.  However, I was assuming the norm for a .44 Mag was with a pistol type roll crimp, just like a .357 Mag.  Therefore, all I was suggesting was a reversal of the norm, since it seems pretty obvious that the rifle in question doesn't like what was being used.

One doesn't have to throw out the baby with the bath water, just because the water isn't usable anymore.  Just change the water and the baby can be bathed the next time.

[handirifle]

Paul
Not disputing your claim just letting you know when you said these handis didn't need the crimp, that it depends on the rifle.  Yep, some like it some don't