Yes it's a work in progress situation with that rifle
It's now in pieces pending me making a new properly fitted firing pin
But when its all back together I will keep experimenting to find a load and bullet lube that is more sustainable
At least I know it is sub moa for at least the first hand full of shots
Powder coating is an obvious next thing to try
I use Black Widow 405 grain powder coated bullets in my 1885 45-70 and there are no issues with fouling
But to be fair it's a peep tang sighted hunting rifle and hard to realistically tell whats happening after the shoulder is softened up
Whereas the Stevens 44 1/2 38-55 was a proper target rifle in its day and deserves to be sorted to see what its capable of
I have a Saeco #311 bullet mold due to arrive any time now
It's a 308 cal 165 grain bore rider gas check bullet
These will be my test bullets for powder coating
I'm hoping that if i cast them medium hard, powder coat and size / crimp on the gas check that these should be a great cheap effective bullet in my 30-30 single shots
And maybe with the powder coating I can leave them reasonably soft and they will be ideal for the 30-30 out to 200m which is about the limit of what that caliber should realistically be used at
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