Switching from lead to copper???

22 Long Rifle ammo is finicky. Tell us all about it here.
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21step
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Switching from lead to copper???

Post by 21step »

I'm sure this has been discussed but I cannot find anything in the last 10 years of posts.

I want to test some different ammos to find out what Hank wants (Henry) and I was told by someone one time that it takes a good 30 rounds plus for the gun to settle into the new ammo when making a change from lead to copper washed bullets.

I've alway shot the cheap Federal Wally world stuff and shot into Master class fairly quickly in SBCLA. I went to shooting more expensive ammo and it seems like my scores have gone down. Now there are other factors there but I don't have the confidence once the hammer drops like I used to.

I need to find my way back and I want to do some paper time but I am concerned about not getting true data. Should I clean before switching to another bullet? Would a pull through with the bore snake suffice?

Also, what is a good practical range to test groups using a marbles peep and lyman globe. I can't see a 2" dot at 100m when I'm behind the peep.

Adam
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Jason
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Re: Switching from lead to copper???

Post by Jason »

I usually test ammo off the bench with a scope mounted because my eyes aren't good enough to do quality testing with the sights that we're allowed to use in cowboy lever action matches. When I do try to test with iron sights and when I'm trying to refine my sight settings, I use targets much larger than 2" in diameter. I have had very good luck with using these 4" x 6" (vaguely ram-shaped) white stick-on labels stuck on some sort of dark background like a big pistol or high power rifle target.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006S ... UTF8&psc=1

I draw a little dot with a sharpie marker right in the center as a reference point to see if I need to adjust my sight settings, but I can't see the dot through the sights. I shoot a 5-shot or 10-shot group without looking through the spotting scope or binoculars (to keep from subconsciously trying to aim differently to hit the center dot I drew) as a basis for group testing. I then measure the group and take a picture of the group or write it down, and then stick another sticker over the top of the previous one. If any of the holes are not in the white sticker, I paste over them with paster spots from highpower matches, some other black stickers or just pieces of electrical tape.

Between ammo types, I pull a boresnake through twice and shoot five shots of the new type of ammo before group testing. When doing this, I sometimes use a different target by the first just to see how the new type of ammo settles in so I can note it for future reference. For my smallbore cowboy guns, once I settle on a particular brand/type/lot of ammo, I use only that ammo until I am getting close to running out and have to do more testing. I'm almost out of the CCI Tactical that I'm using now, so it won't be long before more testing has to happen. Hopefully the weather will be better by then, though. :)
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