Testing the H&G 68 Bullet

Greetings,

Opened up a new 8# keg of Bullseye, lot #BE655, dated 1994.

Cast up some H&G #68 bullets out of Linotype, culled them, and sized them to 0.452" with NRA 50-50 lube. Bullets weigh 192 grains.

Found a stash of REM-UMC once fired brass.

I loaded ten rounds each starting with 3.5 grains up to 4.44 grains. Eleven targets in all.

Primers are Remington Large Pistol #2 1/2.

No crimp, just straightened out the case flare.

All but two targets fired at 50 yards scored 100. Two of the better ones scored 100X10.

I used a Colt Gold Cup barrel mounted in my test fixture.

Here are the two best targets. Although, I will need to retest to verify they are not flukes.

Cheers,

Dave

Nice Dave!
Have you ever tested a S&W MTU barrel?
Jon

Greetings Jon,

Never tested an S&W AMU barrel.

The "barrel tester" came into being back in the 1970's when we were trying to find the most accurate barrel.

What we learned was, all of the 1911 barrels, available to us, machined correctly to the drawings shot equally well.

The "barrel tester" has been renamed "ammo tester".

After much followup testing, it was the quality of the ammo that made the difference.

The most important component was the bullet.

I faintly remember my cohorts testing some Herters .451 185 grain FMJWC bullets that approached 1/2" groups at 50 yards. No idea who made them for Herters...

I have tested Colt, HS, Kart, BarSto, and several of the NM7791414 barrel vendors with the same lot of Remington WadCutter ammo I have and all shot X-ring.

Things that caused problems were rough machining in the throats and chambers not true to the bore. One barrel had a bad crown. Fixing the crown it shot great. Again, I say, barrels machined correctly to the parent drawings shoot well.

My old shooting Pal is sending me another box full of Bullseye stuff. Inside the box are an assortment of barrels. Perhaps one is an S&W AMU.

Cheers,

Dave

Beautiful groups Dave! Two surprises here for me. Straight Lino and no crimp!

Jim

I had used straight lino just once, 20 years ago. at our velocity and pressures, it leaded badly. Now I wonder what was going on back then.

"New" BE? Is it Hercules?  Now there will be a run on old Rem brass too!

Did you make gages to test the bbl dimensions?

Sounds like you wanted the thinwall brass...unlike Federal which l only used for jacketed bullets.

Thanks!

I would love to see pictures, or at least a good description, of these 'barrel testers', or 'fixtures', I've seen mentioned.

Herters... I've long (near 50 years) wondered if they got their brass and bullets from Norma or RWS ... the 'wasp waist' bullets were interesting. I think I have a box or two of ammo somewhere. Maybe some dies ... which I think were a bit rough. And an untouched semi-inletted stock for a Mauser. French red stain, Leige finish, felt polishing pads...

I also would like to see the barrel tester.  I'd be willing to replicate the fixture in cad so you would have drawings to share with people. If they were inclined to build one.

I love H&G 68 bullets. I cast my own with a Magma 185 grain mold which drops closer to your 192 grain weight when using a wheel weight type alloy. I size with a Lee push through sizer and tumble lube. Its really hard to beat this old profile. I shot a 100-8x yesterday with them, short line. Also shot a 93 at the long line which had 7 in the 10 ring then I yanked 2 8's and a 7.

Greetings Bruce,

To answer some of your questions...

Always had good results with Linotype in the 45 ACP.

The powder is Hercules. My old lot was BE669 and the "new" lot is BE655. Made in the same year, 1994, just a few months different. Luckily, it seems to meter the same. I loaded some 32 ammo with both lots to compare velocity and accuracy. Testing to follow...

During the quest for the ultimate barrel, we had access to all the fine gauges the Aerospace company we worked for had in the tool room.

REM-UMC is, indeed, thin-wall brass. About 0.008" wall thickness. I had to dig through my parts box to find a Carbide sizer to suit. Good news, is that it is mostly once fired and easy to distinguish by the uncommon head stamp. It varies in length; but, I sorted out small lots that were close to the same. i.e. 0.885"-0.890" and 0.891"-0.895".

Cheers,

Dave