http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=37563
After thinning the Bertram Brass case mouths from .014" to .010" I was able to chamber a .379" diameter bullet that was closer to the barrel's .381 bore size. Turning another thousandth off allowed an easy fit of a .380" bullet, and I could even chamber a .381" bullet without too much effort. Surprisingly these larger bullets just did not shoot as well as the RCBS 37-250-FN gas checked bullets I had previously sized at .379.
The mould I have for this bullet is very old, and the bullets tend to be egg-shaped, but I went ahead and ran a few through a .381" bullet sizer die, which lubed the bullet without sizing it. I used an RCBS Case Master Concentricity Gauging Tool to check the outside case neck diameter before and after seating a bullet. That bullet put the case neck .005" out-of-round, but they did chamber OK.
I had benchrest fired many test loads with various powders, primers, and bullets, and was having some success working up a load with the RCBS bullet, Federal large rifle primer, and IMR 4198 powder, but unfortunately I ran out of 4198, so I switched to Reloader 7. This proved to be as good or even better than the 4198! A charge of 26 grains gave 1,390 FPS. Addition of a filler consisting of one square of single-ply toilet paper boosted velocity to 1,527 FPS and I finally got the accuracy I was looking for. Pictured is a white target fired at 50 yards and an orange target fired at 100 yards. Four out of five shots under an inch at 50 yards, and three out of five into 1 1/8" at 100 yards. That's as good as I can shoot barrel sights.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/hsoGt7i.jpg)
Now I'm going to go enjoy a few sips of Johnny Walker Black Label.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
SHASTA