Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
That seems like a perfectly good reason to do something like that. I would guess that many of us (reloader/shooters) do similar things.
And, of course, with cast bullets... whether they were regular soft-cast or #2 alloy ("hard cast") cast bullet, you almost HAD to shoot "mid-range" loads to keep from "leading" the bore.
Did you ever try the half-jackets on those cast bullets?
Did you ever develop a "favorite" wildcat? Do you have a favorite cartridge case you used for the majority of your wildcats?
Me? I'm an "accuracy-nut". I've worked up accuracy loads in every caliber... and every rifle I've ever owned... including the .22 rimfire. I even got a little "crazy" and bought a CZ453 "Varmint" model with a heavy barrel and the factory single-set trigger to find "THE" greatest accuracy in a .22 rimfire.
I had my gunsmith pillar-bed the action screws in the CZ. I tightened the front screw to 22 lb/inches and tightened the rear screw to 25 lb/inches. I also had him glas-bed the receiver and re-float the heavy barrel. Then I bought over 30 different brands/types of .22 rimfire ammo and bench-rested them using 5-shot groups at 50 yards to find "
THE" most accurate rimfire ammo.
I also bought a "gauge" that attaches to my digital calipers to measure the thickness of the .22 rimfire cartridges' rims plus I weighed out each individual cartridge and put them into "groups" of similar rim-thickness and overall weight.
I was surprised at the difference in accuracy or lack thereof of this wide array of .22 rimfire cartridges (over 30 different brands/types). Some shot fine in my Ruger 10/22 and an old Remington bolt-action rifle, but wouldn't shoot all that well in the CZ... and visa-versa! But frankly, the CZ was more accurate with a wider variety of different cartridges than was the other two .22's I have. This "accuracy test" took over 2 years to do shooting once or twice a week at my club.
Yes... the measuring and weighing took LOTTSA time-consuming labor and a lotta work at home prior to going to the rifle range... but I found that my CZ loves "Wolf Match Target" ammo and shoots smallish "one-hole-5-shot-groups" at 50 yards with it and does almost as well with some older "Aguila SE Super Extra" cartridges I found that a shooting buddy had. His target rifle didn't do all that well with the Aguila SE, so I bought all of it from him that he had (2 "bricks")... 1,000 rounds altogether.
With either cartridge, I've managed to keep myself in "free" soft drinks at the rifle range with "bets" with my shooting buddies who buy me those "freebie soft drinks" when they try to beat the CZ's accuracy using the two above cartridges. That single-set trigger helps... for SURE... and the pillar bedding doesn't hurt either!
Sometimes, with a few center-fire rifles, it has taken a couple of
years of shooting just one particular rifle with different powder/bullet/primer combinations to "satisfy" my need to find "
THE" powder (and "THE" amount of same), "THE" bullet, "THE" seating depth, "THE" primer and with some cartridge, even "THE" brand of cartridge case to find "THE" most accurate load.
My only real "disappointment" was with the .44 magnum using my old-style Ruger semi-auto carbine. Regardless of the load, bullet weight, etc... that ol' Ruger shoots 2 to 2�-inch+ groups (or larger) at 100 yards. I could never find any load that shot smaller 3-shot groups. I'm guessing the inaccuracy is in the rifle rather than the cartridge since the same cartridge with the same loads shoot very accurately through my Ruger Super BlackHawk with a 7�-inch barrel.
But then, I've never seen or heard anyone claim truly fine accuracy out of the old-style Ruger .44 magnum semi-auto carbine. But then, it's a "perfect match" for my ol' Ruger 10/22 semi-auto carbine, serial number 9xx" (Yep... one of the first thousand made).
Of course, with the heavy-barreled Sako in .222 Remington, I used 5-shot groups since the cartridge is a truly accurate one which, with the Sako, could and did put 3 bullets through the same .224-inch sized hole fairly often using the 24X scope.
And so, my friend... I'd say that most of us have some crazy things we do or like with our rifles and cartridges, n'est pas?
Strength & Honor...
Ron T.
