204Shooter--I don't think the test results are going to show a
"significant improvement in velocity between naked and coated bullets" as you mentioned in your last post, if you were thinking the coated bullets would fly faster than the bare bullets. Maybe I don't understand what you meant by the statement below
I will be anxiously awaiting your results. If there is a significant improvement in velocity between naked and coated bullets, that will be good enough for me!
I am quite certain you will find just the opposite. The application of Danzac (WS2 also called tungsten disulphide), IMHO will cause a decrease in velocity if you are using the same powder charge with the coated bullets and the bare bullets. I found that to be true when I did limited testing with moly a long, long, long time ago.
Today, I did a very limited test with some of the 27.8 gr. Hammett bullets I coated for my .17 Remington. My muzzle velocity with these 27.8 gr. Hammett bullets without any coating has been right in the 3,990 to 4,000 fps range. I only had 8 of the coated bullets loaded up for today's test, so it isn't a BIG sampling, but the first four shots (out of a cold, clean barrel that had been treated with a 20% Danzac/80% alcohol wet patch) averaged 3,708 fps at 12 feet from the muzzle. The first shot out of the barrel was WAAAAAY off to the left. Like I said, this is the load I have been shooting prairie dogs with using bare bullets this summer and had the scope set for a tad over 1 inch high at 100 yards. The next three shots came back to the right a bit and were much better for height, but still way left.
To keep this post in the .204 Ruger vein, I let the rifle cool down while I shot some of my 39 gr. Sierra loads from my Savage 12VLP to get my scope adjusted for coyote season. I shot the first four shots, with shot #1 coming from a freshly cleaned and cold barrel. Shots 2, 3, and 4 were a wee bit lower than I like. I prefer my 39 gr. Sierras to hit about 1 inch high at 100 yards, so I cranked up one click on my Leupold VX-III 6.5-20x40mm long range elevation knob and settled in and fired shot #5. It hit just a tad above 1 inch high and pretty close to the money horizontally so I ejected the spent shell, closed the bolt and put the rifle back in the case. I think I ready for coyotes now
The scope I have on my Pac-Nor barreled .17 Remington is a Sightron II 6.5-20x50mm and it has 1/4" adjustment clicks. So, before I shot my last four shots, I did one click down and five clicks right. There was a 10+ mph wind blowing from my left to my right when I shot this last group. My average velocity at 12 feet from the muzzle was up at 3,788 fps when I shot the last four shots of the Danzac coated 27.8 gr. Hammett bullets. Here's the second 4-shot group and YES, I wiggled severly on shot #2, but that's life.
Like I said, this is not a very big sampling, but there definitely was a HUGE difference in velocity noted from what I had been getting with bare bullets and what I was now getting with the Danzac coated bullets using the exact same powder charge. I might add too, that I used the same primers, same seating depth, etc., etc. I will definitely be trying some heavier powder charges with these coated bullets.
As a matter of fact I have a bunch all ready to go right now. Also, I shot five of my 25 gr. Hornady hollowpoint loads with bare bullets after I shot the 8 shots with the Danzac bullets. The 25 gr. Hornady load has been averaging 4,030 fps at 12 feet from the muzzle and today it averaged only 3,902 fps. I think that Dazac is slicker than owl $hit.
The load I was using with the bare 27.8 gr. Hammetts and the coated bullets was 24.8 gr. of N-540. I have loaded up some test loads with N-549 at 25.0 gr., 25.1 gr., 25.2 gr., 25.3 gr., and 25.4 gr. Yes, those are only .1 gr. increments, but I want to go poco a poco and not blow myself up
If the wind ever goes down again, I'll be out at the rifle range doing some more testing.
I have to agree with Rick in Oregon about ease of cleaning the barrel. Yes, I only shot 13 shots before I cleaned, but when I used SLIP 2000 to get the carbon and powder residue out, I did get a wee bit of copper. I got virtually no copper on my patches when I used my copper cleaning solvent. So, I neutralized the bore and ran a patch down the bore using Rick in Oregon's recipe of 20% Danzac and 80% alcohol mixed together to prep the barrel for my next range trip.