Important things learned at yesterday's otherwise frustrating range session with the 485g Lee mold "narrow ogive" bullet

[JimGnitecki]

Go into the wifi setting on the camera and see if adhoc is a option? Also look at the ac pack to see if it's outputting 12vdc. Most night vision cameras use 12vdc. If it does not have adhoc option you can use a AP as a repeater to extend the distance.

What is an "adhoc" option??

What is an "AP used as a repeater"? Is it some sort of signal booster?

Jim G

 

[jmorris]

The loads I have tried so far , per the Labradar, formally drop through the 1120 fps local speed of sound at about 125 yards!

Yeah, even a cheap spotting scope will work at that range on that size hole.

I once played with a drone that was destroyed enough it wouldn’t fly but the video connection still did. Set it in front of the target stand on the ground. Let you see bullet holes on your phone.

 

[troy fairweather]

My Siamese shoots that lee bullet pretty good few I've shot, tho that gun shoots everything very good.

 

[JimGnitecki]

Yeah, even a cheap spotting scope will work at that range on that size hole.

I once played with a drone that was destroyed enough it wouldn’t fly but the video connection still did. Set it in front of the target stand on the ground. Let you see bullet holes on your phone.

View attachment 1171826

NOW we are getting creative with possibilities! Keep thinking, jmorris!

Jim G

 

[JimGnitecki]

My Siamese shoots that lee bullet pretty good few I've shot, tho that gun shoots everything very good.

That's encouraging!

Jim G

 

[JimGnitecki]

I received the new Lee 459-500-3R mold on Friday, so on Sunday I melted some more wheelweights, and today I cast some bullets using this new 2-cavity mold.

The new 500g bullet is veyr similar to the older 485g bullet, but is a bit longer in OAL. In this photo, the newer bullet is the uncoated one on the right:



The new mold would not fit under the Lyman Mag 25 furnace spout, because there is a solid plate right behind the mold guidance rails that the mold ran into because it is deeper than the earlier Lee mold and also deeper than the Lyman mold I had tried. I had to lower the guide rails a LOT, cut a piece of 1/8" plywood to make a "platform" on the rails for the mold to sit on instead of hanging between them. I wish Lyman had equipped the Mag 25 with a more "generic" mold platform that would accept non-Lyman molds.

I also discovered that AFTER my casting session that there was a very small nick in the base of some of the bullets cast. I tHINK this was created by either one bullet from the 2-cavity mold sometimes hitting the other bullet after I opened the mold to let the 2 bullets fall out, or the bullet hitting an edge on the mold on its way out. I believe that part of this may be due to the way I hold the mold just before opening it: it's not level, but rather leaned downward, because that is more ergonomic for me. But with the 2-cavity mold, I believe I need to change my hold to keep the mold handles LEVEL when opening the mold, so that each bullet can fall clear of the other, and clear of the 2 mold halves, and so not get damaged! Lesson learned.

But the new mold itself performed GREAT. I had washed it thoroughly with Dawn dish detergent, rinsed it thoroughly, dried it, smoked it lightly with a butane lighter, and lubricated the 2 pins and the sprue plate pivot with Beeswax.

When it got to about 105 to 110C = 221 to 230F, it made very nice bullets and dropped them either with no striking of the handle hinge bolt, or with one light strike.

I did learn today how much better a deadblow hammer works versus a hardwood dowel for striking the sprue plate to open it:



The deadblow hammer needs only an easy light hit to do the job, and also does not spray little pieces of wood onto the cloth layer that the bullets will fall onto!

I am going to weigh a sampling of the new bullets tomorrow, but today I simply weighed 3 of them to find out how close they are to the 500g nominal weight when using my Wheelweight alloy, to which I added only 1% more Tin. It appears that the weight is about 497 grains with this alloy.

I am hoping of course that this bullet will behave better than the prior 2 bullets I have tried (The prior 485g Lee that didn't group after 100 yards, and the Lyman 457125 "Bulbuous" bullet whose fat ogive is TOO fat to work in my Pedersoli).

Jim G

 

[JimGnitecki]

I was actually able to do the statistical weight sampling tonight, using 30 sample bullets. Here are the results from my very first casting using this mold:

I was actually able to do the statistical weight sampling tonight, using 30 sample bullets. Here are the results from my very first casting using this mold:

Average weight = 496.7g
Std Dev = 1.0 (0.2%)
Max = 498.9g
Min = 494.6g
Max minus Min (ES) = 4.3g = 0.9%

This matches or betters the commercial bullets I have been buying (in smaller weight bullets, because no 500g bullets are available to me in Canada). Not bad for my very first casting session with a new mold.

Jim G

 

[jmorris]

The camera idea merits further research to see what is available, at what cost, and what capabilities!

A couple decades ago I picked up this camera TX/RX intended for RC aircraft and model rocketry. The camera and audio/video TX is the device in the middle connected to the 9v Battery. The RX is the white box powered by the 12v deer feeder battery, connected to the broken DVD player via RCA cable, to view.



8 years ago I made A setup where it could look through another optic as well. So it could still be placed far enough away from the intended target, it couldn’t inadvertently become one itself.

I actually made it a remote rifle but the same could be done with just an optic. This is a video of that project.

Remote rifle

www.youtube.com

An old camcorder is better to acquire the video stream than taking a video of a screen, with another device, if you are wanting to show he images to others.

 

[JimGnitecki]

I did some chambering and measuring this morning:

Old Lee bullet was 1.3644" in bullet OAL, and when a cartridge with expanded case but no crimp after expanding was pushed into the chamber, the bullet set back a bit to a cartridge COAL = 2.890".

The same test with the newer 459-500-3R 1.4166" bullet produces a 2.970" COAL.

So the difference BULLET OAL = 1.4166" minus 1.3644" = .0522". But the difference in COAL when the rifle's chamber chooses it is = .080".

So, the 3R bullet ogive goes deeper into the rifling before meeting resistance.

Based on the improved accuracy once I started loading the Old Lee bullet up against the rifling, the new 3R bullet's deeper penetration into the rifling SHOULD help its accuracy.

With BOTH bullets, when the cartridges are handloaded this way, the top groove is fully exposed above the case mouth.

Jim G

 

[JimGnitecki]

A couple decades ago I picked up this camera TX/RX intended for RC aircraft and model rocketry. The camera and audio/video TX is the device in the middle connected to the 9v Battery. The RX is the white box powered by the 12v deer feeder battery, connected to the broken DVD player via RCA cable, to view.

View attachment 1172321

8 years ago I made A setup where it could look through another optic as well. So it could still be placed far enough away from the intended target, it couldn’t inadvertently become one itself.

I actually made it a remote rifle but the same could be done with just an optic. This is a video of that project.

Remote rifle

www.youtube.com

An old camcorder is better to acquire the video stream than taking a video of a screen, with another device, if you are wanting to show he images to others.

I looked at some commercial wireless target camera systems online today. The bets one seems to be the Longshot 3rd version, which has a claimed range of 2 miles, and whose US price is $900 and Canadian price is $1250. A detailed user review said the camera image was fine, but complained about the clunkiness of the app it uses. One thing the reviewer liked a lot was that because of the time lag bewteen firing the shot and impact of the bullet at long ranges, he could see the misses on his tablet as well as the hits, which helped him zero in at 4000 feet.

Jim G

 

[jmorris]

For less than half that you could park a drone downrange with a 4k video camera on it.

Amazon.com

When you get your shot marker, your going to see how cool it is at calling misses, there’s no such thing unless your completely outside the frame.

 

[JimGnitecki]

For less than half that you could park a drone downrange with a 4k video camera on it.

Amazon.com

When you get your shot marker, your going to see how cool it is at calling misses, there’s no such thing unless your completely outside the frame.

Very interestingly, and unusually, the pricing at Amazon CANADA looks better, at least superficially:

Amazon.ca : Bwine F7 GPS Drones with Camera

If it is merely the 4K camera and its signal transmission capability I would need and want, I could ignore the quality of the drone itself, and focus on the camera, signal transmission range and quality, and tablet app used to receive the sginal, right?

This could be another vivid example of how products sold to specific segments of buyers are priced radically different, with, for example, groups like target shooters asked to pay higher prices because they are assumed by definition to be seeking shooting perfection and are willing to pay more. And it's a great reminder that products marketed to an entirely different segment of buyers for an entirely different purpose can be entirely usable and a much better deal, even if you are not even going to use a significant portion of the entire package!

But in the case of these Amazon Canada drones, it looks like all of them integrate the video image into the joystick controller., with a pretty small screen. Are there 4K drones that let you transmit to an iPad?

Jim G

 

[JimGnitecki]

Hmmm, this drone kit:

Amazon.ca

says:
"Take HD pictures and videos, 5GHz FPV transmission and 90° adjustable camera with 130°FOV lens enable wide angle shooting of 380m, which captures high quality videos and clear aerial images. The Real-time transmission FPV system connects FPV drones to your phone and the view is displayed directly on your phone, so enjoy the world over the horizon."

So would this work with an Apple iPad too?

Jim G

 

[jmorris]

If it is merely the 4K camera and its signal transmission capability I would need and want, I could ignore the quality of the drone itself, and focus on the camera, signal transmission range and quality, and tablet app used to receive the sginal, right?

I would think so. The photo I posted earlier was from one, someone’s kid broke and they were going to throw it away. I used it for that until it’s proprietary battery died, just set it out there in front of the target stand.