Random stuff you have made

[thor447]

I made some .303 Ammunition.

Several weeks ago I bought a Martini Sporting rifle in .303 caliber.

The rifle arrived and it is clearly marked for .303 Ammunition using Smokeless powder.

This gun was made somewhere around 1890.

I took the rifle out to the range, got out some factory.303 British and fired it, and got a big surprise.

Excessive pressure.

I slugged the bore and found Metford rifling measuring .304".

A bit of research revealed that 1887-1890 the Brits were working on developing the smokeless powder cartridge for their rifles. The were working with the Swiss Rubin cartridge which use .298" bore-.304 bullets. The story of the development is interesting in itself. The were using the Rubin bullets initially and in the end settled on the .311 for the .303 British. The .303 coming from the bore measurement, groove being .311. Much like our .30 cals, .30 bore and .308 Groove.

It is pretty apparent this rifle is not a .303 British rather an earlier form of the cartridge for the early days of it development. The body of the cartridge is the same as the body of the .303 British. The necks are smaller.

In order to fire this gun I needed to make my own ammo.

First find some bullets. Hawk bullets has custom bullets for the Swiss Scmidt Rubin rifle. I ordered some 180 grain bullets.

Next problem was reducing the neck. Resizing the brass in a standard .303 British die is fine for the body of the Cartridge. But the neck is not sized small enough to hold the .304 Bullet. I ordered in a Bushing die from CH4D. I bought an insert to reduce the .303 British neck down hold a .304 diameter bullet.

With bullets and dies on hand I loaded up 3 rounds using the Sierra starting load data for .180 grain .311 bullet.

I went out to the range this afternoon and fired 3 test rounds. The round fired perfectly. No head stretch, no protruding pierced primers.

Now I can start working on this gun, developing loads to get it ready for deer season next year using the obsolete ammo I make my self.

This is awesome! Thanks for posting!

 

[Perplexed]

Three or four coats of clear?? Jeepers, this guy lays on WAY more paint than I do. But his emphasis on air temperature was educational. I’m probably shooting paint when it’s too cool for the “medium” hardener I’ve been using. Thanks for posting.

 

[Snattlerake]

Three or four coats of clear?? Jeepers, this guy lays on WAY more paint than I do. But his emphasis on air temperature was educational. I’m probably shooting paint when it’s too cool for the “medium” hardener I’ve been using. Thanks for posting.

I remember a few years ago I was looking at a brand new Corvette on the showroom floor. It was a $70K car and had orange peel all over it. I would have been pissed if I was a dealer and got that POS paint job in.

 

[MacFromOK]

I still need to work on my HVLP “skills” since I can’t seem to get away from orange peel no matter how much air pressure and/or paint I feed through the sprayer

Orange peel is cause by the paint being too thick. A tip for using thinner paint is to spray a "tack coat" on first (don't try to get 100% coverage). This somewhat splotchy coat will dry enough to give the next coat (or two) something to adhere to and help prevent runs.

Did a bit of sandblasting and painting many years ago.

 

[MacFromOK]

Also... a viscosity cup is great (almost a necessity) for duplicating results. It lets you mix paint the same thickness every time.

FWIW, I used the one made by DuPont.

 

[Perplexed]

Orange peel is cause by the paint being too thick. A tip for using thinner paint is to spray a "tack coat" on first (don't try to get 100% coverage). This somewhat splotchy coat will dry enough to give the next coat (or two) something to adhere to and help prevent runs.

Did a bit of sandblasting and painting many years ago.

I’ve tried the tack coat trick. Didn’t work. I’m thinking the nozzle size on my spray gun might be wrong, though it’s meant for a range of paints across the middle of the spectrum. 1.3mm, IIRC.

 

[Perplexed]

Also... a viscosity cup is great (almost a necessity) for duplicating results. It lets you mix paint the same thickness every time.

FWIW, I used the one made by DuPont.

I’ve been using a large measuring spoon, since the amounts I use aren’t that big (less than half a pint at a time). Should be accurate enough, I’d think.

 

[MacFromOK]

What PSI are you running at the gun?

My best paint gun was actually a knockoff of a Binks model #7 (IIRC?). It would take a regular Binks rebuild kit. Still have it, and (I think?) it's still connected to a paint pot.

 

[MacFromOK]

I’ve been using a large measuring spoon, since the amounts I use aren’t that big (less than half a pint at a time). Should be accurate enough, I’d think.

If you get the right results, you might get by with that using the exact same ingredients. But temp, humidity, different paint brands, and the thinner itself will all make a difference.

I had to use a colder thinner when temps were above 90F, or the paint would be dry when I began the second coat on large stuff like vehicles or stock trailers.

 

[Perplexed]

What PSI are you running at the gun?

My best paint gun was actually a knockoff of a Binks model #7 (IIRC?). It would take a regular Binks rebuild kit. Still have it, and (I think?) it's still connected to a paint pot.

The Fuji semi-pro gravity sprayer has its own air compressor, with an adjustable air flow. 5 PSI:

https://www.fujispray.com/the-diy-series