Increasing the diameter of a copper bullet

[joshb]

The rifle is a T99 Arisaka and I want an accurate CA hunting round for it. Heavier Hornady bullets group well through it. Boy, those Hammer Bullets are expensive. I forced a lead slug through the barrel and measured it from groove to groove with a Harbor Freight micrometer as .3115". My initial test load was with R19 and I plan to retest using R15 next time. But, the bullet diameter is like the Speer 150-.311 bullets which didn't group well through this rifle either.

OK. I’ll take a stab at some constructive advice. You “want”to shoot a REALLY OLD MILITARY RIFLE . You have to use solid copper? bullets because you live in California. ( my memory thinks they make bismuth bullets? I’ll research that) Anyway, I think you’re stuck between your “wants and haves”.
I have quite a few old military rifles. I try some load development with them and after some testing, I figure that that’s the best they’re gonna do. Some are 4 MOA. Some are 1-2 MOA. I’m doin a dance when I get 1 to 2!!!

 

[CNC-Dude]

Something you may not be aware of with monolithic solids is that they are purposely smaller diameter on some portions of their diameter compared to traditional lead core bullets. So you may be unengineering things that allow them to function by trying to increase their diameter.

 

[kiwijohn]

Heres a bit of fun with a 'three oh'

3000 yds volley sights

 

[BJung]

OK. I’ll take a stab at some constructive advice. You “want”to shoot a REALLY OLD MILITARY RIFLE . You have to use solid copper? bullets because you live in California. ( my memory thinks they make bismuth bullets? I’ll research that) Anyway, I think you’re stuck between your “wants and haves”.
I have quite a few old military rifles. I try some load development with them and after some testing, I figure that that’s the best they’re gonna do. Some are 4 MOA. Some are 1-2 MOA. I’m doin a dance when I get 1 to 2!!!

I am assuming that the copper bullets should be .001" larger than bore. If so, someone has recommended peregrine bullets. I won't need a lot of them for hunting so a purchase of 15 will work for me. Thanks for your suggestion

 

[dhagerty40]

I am assuming that the copper bullets should be .001" larger than bore. If so, someone has recommended peregrine bullets. I won't need a lot of them for hunting so a purchase of 15 will work for me. Thanks for your suggestion

ok, I really need to ask! What Caliber is this rifle in? The T99 Arisaka will be found in 3 Calibers:

1. 7.7×58mm Arisaka (7.7 Japanese) this uses a .311-.312" bullet
2. 7.92×57mm Mauser (8mm Mauser) This uses a 8mm (.323") bullet
3. 30-06 Springfield (we pretty well eliminated this with your slugging of Barrel)

Right now, I suspect the 7.7 Japanese.

I already know you have a worn throat in this rifle when you said you could not touch Lands, But what is the condition of the rifling? with the age of this gun, it should have a lot of wear!

and Now, CA Hunting laws just state that you can only hunt with a "Lead Free Bullet". it does not have to be solid copper!

I suspect you have a badly worn barrel in this rifle.

nevermind. I just saw in your other thread that it is the 7.7x58.