Author Topic: I shot the PRS bullet today (Read 1132 times)

107ch · « **on:** February 28, 2003, 04:07:39 PM »

Hi,
I was at the range today and shot about 250 of the PRS bullets. 1.9 cc Lee dipper (about 27 gr) with a .7 dipper of grits on top of that. They shot very well in the pistols One I ran over 100 throough with no slowing down. The gun functioned perfectly. The rifle fired 100 or more without cleaning but the group at 50yds. was no better than 10 or 12 inches. I am shooting a PUMA 92 lever action. Have any of you used this bullet in this gun?? Perhaps I need a full power load for the rifle?? Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated. By the way all bullets were ran through a .454 sizer. Thanks for your help.
Dennis

Greybeard · « **Reply #1 on:** February 28, 2003, 08:40:01 PM »

I'll try to get some loaded up next week and see how they do in my Rossi made EMF Hartford 92. Should be basically the same rifle. Won't be using BP tho. I'm a smokeless man myself. :eek:

GB

Pigeonroost Slim · « **Reply #2 on:** March 01, 2003, 05:39:03 AM »

Hey Ho 107ch!

Dang that is poor! I hope it is something you can resolve. What bullets have shot better in it? Does the bullet your mold toss look identical to the nice pics posted by Marshall GB? Were ya using a BP lube? I have only shot filler loads through the derringer with this bullet. All my rifle and revolter shooting with the PRS has been done with 2.2cc Elephant ffg or fffg and at 50 yards I can destroy 12oz pop cans consistently and I'm near blind.

BTW: My latest derringer loads are 7.2grains by weight ffg, a .03 fiber card, coffee ground filler to allow moderate compression, a 250 grain bullet, and CCI-300 primer. That is about as low as I can go using a Lee Pro-auto disc feeder to supply the coffee grounds unless I out fit it with a double disc kit because I am using the largest single disk to drop that much filler --- but I could go double disk is I want to go lower. I will shoot some of these today and maybe over the chrony.

Hey Ho GB!

I have not shot any heathern smokieless under the PRS. Give us a report when ya do, please!

Black Jaque Janaviac · « **Reply #3 on:** March 03, 2003, 04:52:32 AM »

Hi 107ch,

I had a good time out at the range. We'll hafta do it agin!

Examine that spent bullet of yours that I found. I realize most of it was chewed up, but part of the shank was intact. As I recall, the rifling wasn't all that clearly marked.

It may be that the fouling clogged the rifling. Maybe the grits bound up with the lube to make it too pasty?

Rather than a liquified "star" at the muzzle, do you remember the ring that was protruding from the bore? The fouling and lube was building up instead of spraying off to the sides.

Just for PRS's curiosity you might want to compare the lube groove from the recovered bullet to a new bullet. He may be interested to see how much that "wasp-waste" compressed.

107ch · « **Reply #4 on:** March 05, 2003, 03:44:41 AM »

With the exception of a couple of days of overtime, I am on vacation for a couple of weeks. I will be loading some full power loads for the rifle with the PRS bullet. I have been using FED 150 primers and I will try A couple of other brands as well. In previous attempts to get the gun to shoot ,it did better with 200 gr bullets. I suspect it would be the increased velocity. I will let you know how they work with a full load.
Dennis

Black Jaque Janaviac · « **Reply #5 on:** March 06, 2003, 07:45:45 AM »

Generally, shorter bullets need less "spin". Longer bullets need more spin to stabilize.

So, it stands to reason that it's easier to get the necessary spin for a shorter bullet. Longer bullets may need more velocity and/or faster rifling pitch (which is not easily changed in a given gun) :wink: .

When's the next range meetin'?

Pigeonroost Slim · « **Reply #6 on:** March 07, 2003, 03:01:14 AM »

Mine seem to be stabilized in the Marlin CB which has very slow rate of twist -- one in 30+"? I ferget exactly how slow, but slow. Why did they do that?

Black Jaque Janaviac · « **Reply #7 on:** March 11, 2003, 05:01:04 AM »

The short answer is "I don't know". Of course I don't have a crystal ball to look into the minds of the Marlin folks.

Sometimes they don't engineer things and they just "borrow" an idea from another application. I suspect Thompson Center did this when they made .45 caliber Encores with a 1:20" pitch. The 20" pitch was used in .45 caliber 19th century muzzle loaders. Back then they shot a 500 grain slug at 1200 fps or so. The mistake was thinking the 20" pitch would be good for pushing a .357 saboted bullet at 2400 fps or so. Very different applications.

It's possible that Marlin either figured people would shoot high velocity loads, or low velocity/light bullets. High velocity doesn't make sense for a CAS gun. But the latter reasoning fits.

Also, 30" pitch isn't that unusual for a .45 caliber rifle. It's "slow" compared to a .45-70, and "slow" compared to a .45 revolver. But it's right on the mark for .50 caliber in-lines which are intended to shoot .45 caliber pistol bullets at around 2000 fps.

Sometimes you don't notice a problem with rifling pitch until you increase the shot distance. Sometimes the bullet flies perfect, but only for a certain distance, then it tumbles.