100 yard loads

[jonk]

I'm shooting a Fayetteville repro with Hoyt barrel. At 50 yards, the Hodgdon with modified Northeast Trader core pin will basically hit anything I shoot at, assuming I do my part. 48 gr of Goex 3f. I ran 7/10 on the bird board last time, and for my misses, one was a hangfire, and the other two I KNOW that I jerked the trigger. (Hey first shoot of the year, and cold! Gimme a break!) So I'm really happy with this combination.

For 100 I'm on the fence. SOMETIMES I will do pretty well at 100 with it... other times not so much. I just think that the abrupt shoulder of the Hodgdon creates enough drag that it's starting to peter out at that range. What do you think?

I am going to give the 460 gr 575213OS (actually a Rapine copy of it in .580) at the next shoot as it seems to shoot pretty close to the same POA as the Hodgdon. Maybe a smidge lower than the Hodgdon but nothing a 12 o'clock hold won't solve. Has a better BC anyhow.

Buddy of mine swears by the 575213 (new style) but I find it has a lot of drop... hits about 2 feet low for me, plus I'd really need to upgrade to a fatter version if I went that route.

Gun has 1:56 twist.

Whatcha all shooting for the longer range?

[ms3635v]

I am shooting the Moose Wilkinson in my two-band Springfield with 40 grains of 3F GOEX. The Wilkinson is very accurate at both distances. I have been shooting the Wilkinson in my Springfield, Zouave and a .54 caliber Wilkinson in my Mississippi for the past two years and can say that bullet shoots. A team mate was having difficulty working up a load in his Colt two-band with a Hoyt barrel. After tinkering, we loaded his rifle with 40 grains of 3F and that gun was producing excellent results. As for 100 yards, I have had no issues, even on a windy day, the 450 grain Wilkinson holds it own.

[Lou Lou Lou]

Mike
Could you spare a couple of those Wilkinsons for me to try? I will be at Springtown.. Pretty please.

[ms3635v]

Lou, you got it. What size? I have moulds in both .577 and .579.

[Lou Lou Lou]

.577 should be great. Thanks!

[ian45662]

OK I gotta ask. I have seen a lot of talk about the wilk bullets and I borrowed a few from a friend to try and I just wasnt happy with them when compared to the little wadcuters or the big minies. I was shooting them out of a 1:60 3 L&G. I ran them through a sizing die which would bring them down to .001 under and I would dip the base in my lube but I was or at least I thought I was careful not to get lube into the "skinny" part of them.I used charges from 35-45 grains of 3F What size groups are you guys getting with these?

[BobbyHannula8450v]

I have the same basic setup as you Jonk. Mine is a James River Armory Fayetteville. I have been using the new style minie since I purchased the gun and have nothing but success with it. If I miss its cause I did it. (usually deciding to pull the trigger when i'm still moving the barrel into position.)

[Rob FreemanWBR]

Jonk,

Just read with interest your thread.

I too shoot a Fayetteville, Whitacer barrel, 3 lans groves, progressive depth... using a Hodgdon, RCBS lubri-sized to 576.

Using 43 gr 3F Goex, I use the same load at 50 & 100 with great success. The only thing I change are my rear sights.

Despite the "nasty" rumors - I've never had a problem with the Hodgdon in the wind, even @ 100.

As a bonus, with the "shoulder" design of this wonderful projectile, they're especially brutal on stakes, so you get great accuracy with a devastating round on that dreaded event.

Hope this is of some us, albeit dated...

[Maillemaker]

I have seen a lot of talk about the wilk bullets and I borrowed a few from a friend to try and I just wasnt happy with them when compared to the little wadcuters or the big minies.

I have tried them also but have not come up with a load that works as well as the RCBS-Hodgdon in my guns. But I'm using the 580-450 Moose Wilkinson and sizing it to .576 and .578. I should probably try the 577-420. My RCBS-Hodgdon .578 bullets weigh about 419 grains. I would sure love to make the Wilkinson bullet work because it is a dream to cast them and being a double-cavity mold you can really crank them out. They are harder to lube as you have to carefully dip-lube them instead of doing them in a lubrisizer all in one go but I still like them.

I shoot an RCBS-Hodgdon .578 sized to .576 in my Whitacre P53 and Hoyt Richmond Carbine and both work fantastic at 50 yards and pretty well at 100. I think it's me and not the bullet at 100.

Steve

[jonk]

I did some more testing this weekend from a bench.

The RCBS Hodgdon shot about a 4" group at 100. The Rapine 580 OS bullet had a bit of a horizontal string, but all shots were touching.

Now, either should be sufficient to hit a tile, but for target work I think I'd lean toward the 460 gr OS.

I do have to redrill my sights though, as the 100 yard sight hits 4.25" left with the hodgdon and 7" left with the OS bullet.

[Jim Barber]

I shot quite poorly this weekend, but went 2 for 2 on the 100 yd tile shooting the Wilkinson sized .001 under bore (sized at .576), 45g 3F Goex, beeswax and Crisco lube, out of my Springfield 2-bander. I'd'a got a 3rd but I think Greg Ogdan beat me to the last one (hisssssssss)! I'd consider replacing the wadcutter and its lighter load for my 50 yard shooting, but the Wilkinson at 45g packs a bit of a wallop by comparison. We've tried it with lighter loads (like Mike S. has mentioned before, I believe he uses 40g or less) and couldn't get it to group really well. The Moose Wilkinson mould drops beautiful bullets. Very, very easy to cast, even for a klutz like me. If you can borrow some and play around with the charge, lube and sizing til you find the sweet spot, they might make you quite happy-- even when you're sweating over a hot lead pot.

My pitiful $.02 worth.

Jim B.
Grove City, OH

ps: I'd shot so poorly all day, when I hit that 6" tile with my first shot, I jumped up and down, laughed maniacally, and turned to Greg, who was shooting next to me, and shouted "DIE, YOU SON OF A BITCH! DIE!" He had a bemused and shocked expression at that. Looking back, I hope he understands I was referring to the just-obliterated tile.

[ms3635v]

Jim,

You are correct. I use 40 grains of 3F (MCM lube) in my 2 band Springfield (Whitacre barrel) and it performs well at both 50 and 100 yards. A teammate is shooting a Parker and Snow 3 band with a Whitacre barrel and he has to shoot 46 grains, but the groups he is getting are excellent. We have a total of six of our team shooting the Wilkinson in Whitacre, Hoyt, and Zouave barrels, all with different powder charges. I took my time at the range tinkering with powder charges before I determined, for me, that 40 grains produced the best results. All shooters on our team who are using the Wilkinson are sizing .001" under bore size...the fit is very important to the performance of the bullet.

[Maillemaker]

Moose makes two variants of Wilkinson in 58 caliber - which ones are you guys using? I tried the heavier 580-450 and never got anything as good as my RCBS-Hodgdon. Are you guys using the 577-420?

Steve

[ms3635v]

Steve,

I am using the .577" and we have others who are shooting .580". I can hold, on a good day, eight out of ten in the black off-hand at 100 yards. A team mate just won a musket aggregate medal using a .580" Wilkinson. We are all getting our desired results.

[Lou Lou Lou]

Mike
I am all loaded for Sunday. Will keep you posted.

[ms3635v]

Good deal Lou. I just got back from range practice with a teammate.