Tested the CJ on pigs
Posted: 17 Aug 2017 01:14
Ok it's been a while since my last post , but for good reason. TRYING TO NUT THIS CJ OUT .
A few months back I noticed that sized 452 cast bullets would free fall through the cylinder. So I ordered a mitutoyo dial calliper & 0-1" mit micrometer, from the dial calliper I measured the cylinder from 454 - 456. So I ordered a .454 Lee hollow base muzzle loading mini ball & a cbe ( Aus ) custom over sized Colt 455 mould. After working out my alloy mix @ 10.5 bhn my Lee mini mould dropped at .456 & my 3 cavity cbe mould dropped 2@ .457 & the hp cavity @ .4585" . Then I removed the cylinder & slugged all 5 chambers 3 @ .456 & two @ .455 . THEN I COULDN'T REFIT THE CYLINDER!!! After cleaning & lubing I was able to tap it shut . ( thinking it would leave a mark or marks to work from ) instead it locked up solid. I mean 100% solid, couldn't COCK the hammer or pull the trigger couldn't budge the cylinder . So I pulled the whole action apart ( I had less than 5 days till my annual pig hunting trip ) found a YouTube video called Taurus judge part 1 & 2. That was exactly what I needed . While it was 100% stripped I polished everything & deburred just about every part that needed some hand finishing clipped 1&1/2 coils from the hammer & trigger Spring , & finally tapped out the cylinder . The problem was the bottom left side of the frame was to large & I tapped two grooves into the cylinder & that must of put side loading on the cylinder guide pin , that jammed the spring loaded plunger up & jammed the cylinder stop thingy. After grinding the frame everything went back smoothly. Well after all that I ran out of time to stuff about with sizing & coating cast bullets. So I bought 100 star- line cases & 100 225gr hornady ftx bullets & loaded them up with 8.5 gr of adi ap70n powder & then ran into bullet seating issues with my Lee 45 Colt dies . While trying to crimp them some of the tips were squishing a bit & they were fine but others were seating to deep. Even after backing the die out the same thing happened . So I just batched them as long & short seated.
Well on test firing I found they really sounded weak ! They grouped about 6" off hand @ 40' yards.
I loaded 3 45' ftx & 2 federal 3" 000 buck & set off. 1st large boar about 160lbs maybey 180lbs was about 40 & running away yards I fired 2x 000 buck rounds & 2 45 ftx rounds . The boar showed no sign of a hit no blood found. I may not have hit the boar but I'll never know. Next was a small boar of only 20-25lbs @ 40 yards Texas heart shot. Fired 1 x 000 buck round & 1 pellet struck just left of its anus & exited it's under belly then my dog grabbed it. Next was a 80lbs boar running right to left at 25-30 yards, fired both 000 buck rounds with no signs of a hit & one ftx round right through the left shoulder & heart , it instantly skidded up on its nosed followed close behind by my dog. It bleed out in around 35-40 seconds. The ftx penetrated the lower chest completely .
I then swapped the CJ for my 454 casull for the rest of the trip.
My thoughts I believe there is a lot of bleeding off going on in the very oversized chambers, the cases were blackened with soot , so power is right down with .452 bullets. The 000 buck seem to be doing there job but the ranges I'm shooting at is at the extreme range limit of these shells. But the action is fast & running pigs can get out of range fast. My hunting with the CJ is far from over , but much tweeking needs to be done. I didn't use any win pdx1 rounds because of the dogs . The CJ really throws those no.4 Bucks all over the place.
A few months back I noticed that sized 452 cast bullets would free fall through the cylinder. So I ordered a mitutoyo dial calliper & 0-1" mit micrometer, from the dial calliper I measured the cylinder from 454 - 456. So I ordered a .454 Lee hollow base muzzle loading mini ball & a cbe ( Aus ) custom over sized Colt 455 mould. After working out my alloy mix @ 10.5 bhn my Lee mini mould dropped at .456 & my 3 cavity cbe mould dropped 2@ .457 & the hp cavity @ .4585" . Then I removed the cylinder & slugged all 5 chambers 3 @ .456 & two @ .455 . THEN I COULDN'T REFIT THE CYLINDER!!! After cleaning & lubing I was able to tap it shut . ( thinking it would leave a mark or marks to work from ) instead it locked up solid. I mean 100% solid, couldn't COCK the hammer or pull the trigger couldn't budge the cylinder . So I pulled the whole action apart ( I had less than 5 days till my annual pig hunting trip ) found a YouTube video called Taurus judge part 1 & 2. That was exactly what I needed . While it was 100% stripped I polished everything & deburred just about every part that needed some hand finishing clipped 1&1/2 coils from the hammer & trigger Spring , & finally tapped out the cylinder . The problem was the bottom left side of the frame was to large & I tapped two grooves into the cylinder & that must of put side loading on the cylinder guide pin , that jammed the spring loaded plunger up & jammed the cylinder stop thingy. After grinding the frame everything went back smoothly. Well after all that I ran out of time to stuff about with sizing & coating cast bullets. So I bought 100 star- line cases & 100 225gr hornady ftx bullets & loaded them up with 8.5 gr of adi ap70n powder & then ran into bullet seating issues with my Lee 45 Colt dies . While trying to crimp them some of the tips were squishing a bit & they were fine but others were seating to deep. Even after backing the die out the same thing happened . So I just batched them as long & short seated.
Well on test firing I found they really sounded weak ! They grouped about 6" off hand @ 40' yards.
I loaded 3 45' ftx & 2 federal 3" 000 buck & set off. 1st large boar about 160lbs maybey 180lbs was about 40 & running away yards I fired 2x 000 buck rounds & 2 45 ftx rounds . The boar showed no sign of a hit no blood found. I may not have hit the boar but I'll never know. Next was a small boar of only 20-25lbs @ 40 yards Texas heart shot. Fired 1 x 000 buck round & 1 pellet struck just left of its anus & exited it's under belly then my dog grabbed it. Next was a 80lbs boar running right to left at 25-30 yards, fired both 000 buck rounds with no signs of a hit & one ftx round right through the left shoulder & heart , it instantly skidded up on its nosed followed close behind by my dog. It bleed out in around 35-40 seconds. The ftx penetrated the lower chest completely .
I then swapped the CJ for my 454 casull for the rest of the trip.
My thoughts I believe there is a lot of bleeding off going on in the very oversized chambers, the cases were blackened with soot , so power is right down with .452 bullets. The 000 buck seem to be doing there job but the ranges I'm shooting at is at the extreme range limit of these shells. But the action is fast & running pigs can get out of range fast. My hunting with the CJ is far from over , but much tweeking needs to be done. I didn't use any win pdx1 rounds because of the dogs . The CJ really throws those no.4 Bucks all over the place.