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Smokecloud

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Oregon
  • Interests
    Shooting, Shooting and maybe a little shooting. Perhaps fast motorcycles a couple times a year.
  • Real Name
    C E

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Looks for Match (2/11)

  1. It’s been a while since I ran the 69s, but when I did load development for my 18” 1-8, I tried varget, 335, RL15, 8208 Xr, TAC and 748. Surprisingly got my best groups with 748. Even better yet, it was very close to my 55gr fmj zero. Later I went to 77s and 8208 became my go to powder. I was digging in the back of one of my cabinets a couple weeks ago and found about 800 of the 69 SMKs I never loaded. I will have to do more digging to locate the charge data.
  2. There is some Tin in wheel weights, enough that I haven't had to add any for my bullets. When I do my smelt, to make ingots from WW, I try to use a large pot. Its around 4 gallons and made of stainless steel. I use it on a Turkey fryer propane cooker outside. The thought is making as large of a batch as possible, so that the batch of alloy is consistent. If I could smelt a 55 gallon barrel of WW to make all my alloy the same across the entire batch, I would. I can usually get all of a 5 gallon bucket of WW into the pot. With lead being phased out all over for WW, its getting harder and harder to find WW that still have lead in them. Current buckets are yielding about 20-25% trash, ie Zinc, Steel, clips, etc. I keep the temps really low for my smelt. I like 600 deg F and try to not let it get over 650 at the most. Zinc melts over 800, so by keeping temps low, the zinc's will simply float on the top and i scoop them off. If I see them, I will pull them, but its so much easier to just scoop off the crud off the top after its up to temp. After shooting LaserCast bullets for years, I like harder bullets, so I water quench all of my pistol bullets. I put the 5 gallon bucket of water under my table, so there is no chance of water splashing up ending in my melting pot. Place an old rag in the bottom of the bucket for two reasons, one to soften the blow to the bullets when they hit the bottom, and 2nd to make retrieval easier when I'm done. I also put an old pillow case over the top of the bucket and cut a hold in the middle. i dump the hot bullets through the hole, but the pillow case also cuts down on splash. Lastly, I have settled on light to moderately frosty bullets for my liking. i find that my bullet weights are more consistent if I run them hot and the powder for powder coating sticks better to the frosty finish than a smooth shiny finish and I usually only have to PC once for a nice coating.
  3. A friend of mine, who is a competent 1911/2011 smith, prefers them and set up my 2011 with one, years ago (2 1/8 lb). i had a 3 pack of them and tried to replicate the bends he had, but I could never get them just right, I gave up and took them to him to tune the extra two Clark 4 finger springs so I had them as backups, he had them both done in under 10 minutes and now I have 3 that work for that gun. Personally though, I can't tune them right, but I have no problem setting up 3 finger springs correctly.
  4. Don't stop at dryfiring outside, take it to the range. First time I tried a dry fire session at the range, I flinched. it really surprised me, I knew the gun was empty, but there was a sense of realism and expectation from having a gun him my hand at the range where I normally shoot. I started doing more dry firing at the range and then set up 6 magazines with dummy rounds and an occasional live round. I shuffled the mags around and loaded one. At the range, with eyes and ears on, sometimes 3 live bullets in a mag, sometimes 6, sometimes 4. It cured the flinch I had developed. This drill is just backwards of the ones I put my trainees through, where we would have a full mag that someone else loaded and on occasion there would be a dummy round, usually 3 to 5 dummy's in each mag.
  5. Any votes for slowest build? So last summer, I completed the rifle and took it to the range without a scope. 6 rds of Nosler 120gr BT (was on sale and on the shelf) and I tuned the gas system in 3 shots, but rechecked it by increasing and decreasing gas settings. Just locks bolt open where its set. I have read that the Noslers are hot in a semi platform, but I did not have any signs of pressure on the fired cases. I attibute this to the +2 gas system and the HP bolt with small firing pin. I took it home and put in in the safe and sold my 300wm over issues with it and ordered a barreled action from Southern Precision Rifle's to build a new 300wm that should shoot. The 300wm became my obsession and ate up my play money for some time. I finally managed to save up and purchased a Vortex Razor AMG and received it a couple weeks ago. I ordered the Seekins MXM 30mm, 20 MOA mount yesterday and should have it sometime by next week and get the scope mounted. I still don't have dies, but after seeing that Prime ammo is running $21 a box for 130 OTM, or Berger ammo at $27 a box, I cant load them that cheap with Lapua brass, Berger bullets, 210m primers and powder, so I may be purchasing some loaded ammo for the same price that I purchased Lapua brass for last year. I sure hope it shoots well and I am excited to play with the new scope. The reticle is pretty much the same as what I'm running on my 300wm (Razor HD2).
  6. Im about to start a new build, I have been playing with a 300wm for over a year and really like it. I recently let my brother take it home though and I have to start over. I looked at a lot of options and have found myself right back at 300wm again. Reloading costs are low, sometimes less than half of 300 Norma and 338 Lapua. According to Brian Litz, the 300wm with the 230 bergers (about .719bc) will outperform a 338 Lapua to 1500 and are within 5% beyond that. I started playing with the 225 gr Hornady ELD-M's, which have a significantly higher bc at .777, when I run them on the calculator, they show supersonic out to 1800 and that was loaded hot, but not max. If you buy factory ammo, its half the price of the larger calibers. I'm looking at trying to put together a defiance action with a bartlein barrel. I kept my AICS stock, so I will put it on that. The 300 Norma is amazing and I have really wanted to build up one of those, but starting completely over with a new caliber is time and money. I have been able to acquire most of my 300wm brass for about a $1.05 a stick, all Nosler or Norma. The 300 Norma will outrun the Win Mag, but recoil is noticeably more and if it costs too much to shoot, then it just sits most of the time like my BMG.
  7. I started using WSF and WST in 40sw with really good results a few years ago. This was back when powder was non existent and I was trying to get my hands on anything that would work since I had burnt up all my TG. I pretty much settled on WSF for Major PF loads in 40 and WST for the light loaded stuff. I then started using both in 9mm. One thing that I found was that the WSF had a pretty wild ES when loaded light. As long as I pushed it hard, it was fine. WST was more consistent on the light side, but showed pressure signs quicker when I started running it on the higher end. Velocity consistency is a variable that has not been discussed much on this topic. That being said, I have yet to go back to TG because I like the way that the WSF feels in my 40.
  8. I installed a JP Gen 2 Silent Captured spring system, then I finally decided on a handguard. Having already went with JP for a good portion of the build, I decided to go with the JP handguard. I picked the MKIII in the XL length, which is 17.25". My Superlative Gas Block shipped after being backordered for over 3 months, its supposed to be in the mail. Now to start saving for a nice scope for it. I am thinking about putting a Vortex Razor HD 5-20x50 on it, which is the same scope that I installed on my 300 Win Mag. Physically, the scope is a tad large, but might look ok on the rifle. I also considered just saving up the extra coin and looking at a Razor HD 2 in 3-18x50, but haven't decided yet. Do you guys have a preference for the scope mounts? my first thought was looking at Warne, but am open to other options.
  9. Wow, where has the year went? To resurrect an old thread, I decided to start focusing on parts again for the .260 Rem. I confirmed my decision and ordered the Hiperfire Eclipse trigger. I installed it with the JP adjustable ambi selector yesterday. I set it up with the heaviest springs it came with, which yields the lightest pull. Wow, what a trigger. Short reset, short pull, what little movement there is in the trigger feels super smooth. The trigger was easily the lightest that I have ever had on an AR of any flavor. I grabbed my trigger gage and smiled a bit as it registered 1 3/4 lb. All of that and it is supposed to have 30% more trigger energy than a standard trigger system. Cant wait to get it out and run it a bit. I am going forward on the Superlative Gas block. My Proof barrel has a single dimple at 6 o'clock, is there any benefits to choosing between the solid block vs the clamp on style of the Superlative? I have not seen any bad press on either style of the Superlative. mine is .875 at the port, which seems to be harder to find than other sizes, but they are available. I'm leaning on staying with the solid style and utilizing the dimple to make alignment easier, unless someone here has a good argument against it.
  10. I went through this same delimma. I have a 50bmg and a 308. I wanted something that would shoot supersonic out to 1800 if possible and still have real energy if I decided to hunt with it. I went with a Rem 5R-Milspec w 24" threaded barrel in 300 Win Mag. Berger 230 gr8 bullets at 2850 are supposed to outperform the 338 Lapua out to 1500 yards according to Brian Litz. I was looking at the 300 RUM seriously as well as the 338 Lapua. Good brass for the WM is half the cost of the RUM and about 4x cheaper than the Lapua. I'm not a huge fan of the belted case but so far I like the 300WM. I put it in a AICS 2.0 chassis. Currently I started playing with the Hornady 225gr ELD-M. It has a listed .777 BC. I run a Rugged Suppresor Surge on it which makes it kick about like my 308 win. I wanted to get some trigger time behind this caliber and setup, and if it does everything I want I will consider having a custom built on a Defiance action. Do a search for the Litz article.
  11. Make sure it's not too long for your setup. Some dedicated pistol buffers are longer than standard carbine buffers and you will run into fit issues. I run an 8 oz heavy carbine buffer in my 10" but it's suppressed. I tune the gas system from there to make it perfect. Without the suppressor it runs best with a H3. Buffer weight is much more important with a non adjustable gas system.
  12. I think you will get a lot of different opinions on the receiver question. It can become a Ford vs. Chevy Debate. Obviously there are some Mercedes out there where you expect to get a lot when you pay a lot. I have been using Aero Precision's stuff since they started. Cheaper priced than most, but they were an aviation parts manufacturer with some high dollar equipment that simply got into the gun making business. They used to have a lot more quality control methods that the standard receiver makers. I have probably built in the neighborhood of 40-50 rifles on Aero's receivers and have never had a bad one yet, the machining is top notch. They are a little more plain than some like. These days there are a lot of very high end manufacturers that produce an outstanding product that anyone would be proud to have, but just expect to pay more, sometimes double the amount or more. JP and Seekins Precision are a couple of those top tier manufacturers, I also really like Mega. They also have a lot more cool features on the receivers. for my AR10 build, I decided that I trusted the machining from Aero enough to build a quality rifle on their receivers, but I also wanted to cut costs somewhere, so that I could splurge in other areas like the JP BCG and the Proof Barrel. I am doubting that I would see an accuracy advantage on the receivers as long as everything was in spec. I think I had $270 into the set of Aero Large Frame Receivers. I really wanted a set of Mega's for a long time, but at $600, I decided that the extra $330 went a long ways towards purchasing a high end barrel that I felt would make a greater improvement. I recently helped one of my brothers build an AR10 on Aero receivers with a Criterion barrel in 308 and a JP BCG. He is ecstatic over the build and it has worked very well for him.
  13. I have had a NF NXS 5.5-22x56 for over a decade. Love it. I also picked up a previously owned, but never mounted 3.5-15x50 NXS for a grand last year at a gun show. Love it. I am in the same boat and looking for new glass for a 300 Win Mag that I'm playing with, but I just cant seem to stomach the ever increasing prices for the Nightforce scopes (was looking at NXS 5.5-22x50). I think my next purchase is to try a Vortex Razor HD Gen 1 5-20x50. I am eligible for one of their discounts and Vortex offers a lot better discount than NF does for the same MSRP scope.
  14. I didn't buy a factory rifle, but I will offer that whatever you decide, your decision should really take into consideration that the rifle have the XL gas system. The +2" (longer than standard rifle length) gas port seems to be magic on either the 6.5 CM or the 260 Rem. I know that JP has been selling theirs in that platform for quite a while, you will have to research the others as I am not that familiar with them. I recently received my barrel and gas tube from Proof Research, well, I ordered it from Stocky's Stock, one of their dealers. The Barrel looks great, now I just have to decide on a handguard. I got stalled on my build because I gave into weakness and allowed another rifle to follow me home from a gun show and have been funneling funds into completing it, so my 260 got sidelined for a bit. I'm still hopeful that I will have it complete with glass by the end of the year, but I want to build it right, so I'm not in a hurry.
  15. 25.0 gr of H335 gave me some early pressure signs in one rifle. I settled on 24.5 for a general all purpose plinker and it works fine in all guns. 748 I used to run around 26.0gr for the same velocity and it seemed to run slightly cooler temps.
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