686-6 For Bullseye Shooting

[Photochromes]

I bought a 686-6 Competitor and some 12 BHN lead, 158gr swc and 148 DEWC from Missouri Bullet, after trying some Berrys. I have a few relaoding books.

I am older and my eyes are not in the best condition so I put a Ultradot Matchdot II on it.

I am having dismal results off the bench with all rounds tested so far. Really bad.

The 38 specials have 14 twists and the 357mag have 18.75 I think? Should I be moving away from lead bullets and going to jacketed and higher velocities? My Lyman book listed Titegroup as their most accurate powder for the wad cutters, but they are listing a 150gr dewc with a 22BHN, ie Linotype.

It's a brand new gun with less that 200 rounds through it.

If I do move to a jacketed bullet, where should I start? 125gr found nose?

I would like the gun to hit the bull at 50yards from the bench at least, If the revolver can hit it, then I at least have a chance to.

Thanks!

 

[Protocall_Design]

All the S&W barrels have a 1 in 18-3/4 twist. The 45 ACP barrels are 1 in 16. This is too slow for light target loads. Get you DE wadcutters over 900 to 950 FPS and you will be doing a lot better. The factory twist is just too slow to stabilize anything slower out to 50 yards. That's why all PPC guns have a custom 1 in 10 or 1 in 14 barrel.

I have never got Berry's or Ranier copper plated bullets to shoot a group out of any of my guns with any barrel. The same guns will shoot tight groups with jacketed, polymer coated, or cast and lubed lead. I'm getting about inch and a half groups at 50 yards in my 1 in 10 PPC gun with Bayou Bullets poly coated 138 gr. DE wadcutter at around 920 fps. I have not tried them in a factory barrel.

The Ultradot Matchdot II is a very good choice. It's a high quality target scope.

 

[Photochromes]

Excellent info, thanks!

Much appreciated! I will try that.

 

[rockquarry]

Plated bullets aren't the best if you're interested in accuracy. A cast bullet of a soft to moderate alloy that fits your revolver is vastly superior to plated bullets. The S&Ws twist rate may seem a disadvantage, but experiment enough in your load development and you'll find a good, accurate load. Try at least a few powders, Bullseye, Titegroup, WST, etc. Don't waste your time testing closer than twenty-five yards. Good luck-

 

[Photochromes]

Plated bullets aren't the best if you're interested in accuracy. A cast bullet of a soft to moderate alloy that fits your revolver is vastly superior to plated bullets. The S&Ws twist rate may seem a disadvantage, but experiment enough in your load development and you'll find a good, accurate load. Try at least a few powders, Bullseye, Titegroup, WST, etc. Don't waste your time testing closer than twenty-five yards. Good luck-

 

[gwpercle]

You need to establish a baseline .
Buy a box of 148 gr. HBWC Target Ammo and shoot some targets ... first from a good rest . You want to see whats going on ... You have to find out if it's your gun , your reloads or your shooting ability .
A great Target load is 148 gr. HB or SB WC ( I use cast solid base WC's) 38 special case and 2.7 grs Bullseye ... if your 38 will not shoot this load accurately ... something else is wrong !
Good Luck - Load Safe ,
Gary

 

[glenwolde]

First, check your throats. This is best done with inside (or "minus") pin gauges which you can buy individually online. The quick and dirty test is to press one of your Missouri Bullet's through the throat from the front of the cylinder. It should pass through with moderate finger pressure. If it's too tight it is fairly easy to have them opened up. If it's too loose you need to size your bullet to the throat diameter.

I never got commercial hard-cast wadcutters to work without pushing them up into standard service-level velocities, as was previously mentioned above.