Considering a move to smokeless

[ChrisA]

I went with smooth sizing. Didn’t want to mess with the indexing and many seem to have gone away from that. Arrowhead isn’t offering NSR’s for the 40’s though. Sizing even .0001” differently can definitely cause large ish pressure/velocity changes. These things are picky. For long range you need to size consistently to keep from having drop changes at longer ranges.

I would go with the smooth form die if I had to do it over and didn't have the NSR option. I figured engraving the actual lands of the barrel on the bullet would be most accurate but I can't shoot the difference. The bullets in the group I posted were sized with a chunk of the barrel off my first build and not the actual barrel of my newest build.

I believe the smaller diameter and softer jacket of the. 451" Fury bullets is letting the bullet obturate and fill the bore, somewhat negating the need for precise sizing and loading pressure. I think correct sizing mattered more when I was running .452 Hornady bullets that had harder jackets and terrible springback.

But I agree, consistency and repeatability are key in shooting tiny groups and predictably hitting at distance.

 

[BBob]

I initially thought a long range hot rod bolt action smokeless would be fun and easy peasy. Nope, way more involved than a centerfire

 

[travh879]

I’ve killed a half or so dozen deer with my Cva optima now and honestly have fallen in love with the absolute dumping effect I’ve had with a ML so far….

That said - I’m kicking the tires on a move to smokeless and 45 cal. That said - I’m not looking to build some 6k custom on a bolt action. I’d love an encore with a smokeless conversion but it’s still gonna be $2500ish for something like this.

I know there is the 45/70 conversion option or CVA Endura are the more “economical” options but am I missing other options?

I had a CVA Scout 45-70 converted and it's amazing for the cost. Hankins Custom Rifles did mine and he has plenty of videos on the utube.