Boyd Allen
Active member
This will make you do it by the book guys cringe, but the other day I used a new Lapua 6.5x47 case, with its head covered with blue masking tape to "headspace" an aftermarket barrel, using a nut. I was a little apprehensive about being able to bump shoulders with an unmodified shell holder, but I needn't have worried. Tonight I sized a once fired case Redding S type FL ), as a test (reasonably stout load) with the shell holder lightly felt against the bottom of the die. It moved the shoulder .002, back to where it started. I don't think that it will hurt that case any, but for the rest of the once fired cases, I will try putting their shoulders where they were when they came out of the rifle. The barrel was a McGowan, that came prechambered , and although it needed a little JB in the throat to smooth out the angle on the ends of the lands, I think that it will break in just fine in a few more rounds, so now I am on to chronograph and tuning work, with a shorter cleaning interval for the next hundred rounds or so. Today, with a home brewed guess load, the last three shots went into .225, which given the non benchrest stock it is in, I take to be a good sign. The action is a Bighorn, the stock an old 40X RF with pillars, and the trigger my Jewel. Now that I have gotten it to the point where the break-in looks like it will work out OK (just 28 rounds on the barrel) and I have a load that shows promise, I am having fun. One the other hand, It seems to like H4350, and unless I can find a similar powder that throws a lot better, I am going to be stuck hauling my scale and wind box to the range.
