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Range Report COP200 Bullets & LilGun

PostPosted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 8:42 pm
by Hoot
I'm having an issue with an 11 year old jug of LilGun I bought back in September which smells like soured milk. It has been producing loads that are way faster than the average for what I used to get with previous bottles of LilGun. So while the velocities and group results listed below will be correct, the charge weights should not be relied upon unless you want your loads to run a lot slower with your LilGun.

OK, with that behind me.

The COP bullets ran pretty good all told. They definitely have a velocity that they excel at as one would expect. They being .452 as opposed to the Barnes 200 XPB being .451, shows up in the one comparison load where I squared them off against each other in terms of velocity. The accuracy edge goes to the Barnes though not by much.

Here's the stats:

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It is important to mention that there is actually a toss-up between 36 and 37gr of LilGun for best group that I got. I did not want to re-do the chart.

Here are the resulting 100yd 5-shot groups done from a bench using a mechanical front rest and filled leather rear bag.

35gr LilGun
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pretty ho-hum results...

36gr LilGun
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big improvement...

37gr LilGun
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not too shabby

38gr LilGun
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starting to spread back out...

38gr LilGun, but with Barnes 200 XPB
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Now were talkin! When that last bit of accuracy matters, you get what you pay for. That having been said, any of the groups beyond 35gr are great choices for minute of deer.

I stopped at 38gr despite being able to load up to 41gr using my last bottle of LilGun using 200gr bullets before seeing pressure signs. Like I said, I have an issue with my recently purchased LilGun. Called Hodgdon about the smell and the friendly fellow I spoke to said nothing wrong with 11 year old LilGun and to disregard the soured milk smell. Sorry but I'm not buying. :| I may take a hopefully brief hiatus to try and find another source of fresh LilGun. It would be nice to borrow a little from another club member if I can find one who has some, just to make sure it's not due to the new barrel I'm using. Sure don't want to have to write off 4lbs of LilGun, given its recent scarcity. :roll:

The COP 200gr HPs look like a good round in terms of accuracy, but the range was crawling with hunters tuning up before Deer Season opener in a couple of weeks. With all the members there, I could not sneak in my water jugs for an expansion test. I have a couple of days off this week and hope to avoid the weekend warriors one of those days to make the expansion test.

Hoot

Re: Range Report COP200 Bullets & LilGun

PostPosted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 9:04 pm
by commander faschisto
Thanks, Hootster, for your usual professional job at the range here! Check your PMs.

Re: Range Report COP200 Bullets & LilGun

PostPosted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 1:43 pm
by Texas Sheepdawg
Thanx Hoot. Now I have to get busy on my batch.

Re: Range Report COP200 Bullets & LilGun

PostPosted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 2:39 pm
by Hoot
Found a source for a single pound of Lil Gun. When it arrives, weather permitting, I will retest and post the results here.

Hoot

Re: Range Report COP200 Bullets & LilGun

PostPosted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 7:28 am
by MOUNTIN DU
good stuff as usual... thanx :)

Re: Range Report COP200 Bullets & LilGun

PostPosted: Thu Nov 06, 2014 10:02 am
by Texas Sheepdawg
The 200 grain COP bullets are back in stock at Midway.. Still $9.49 a bag.

Re: Range Report COP200 Bullets & LilGun

PostPosted: Thu Nov 06, 2014 11:44 am
by Hoot
Hoot wrote:Found a source for a single pound of Lil Gun. When it arrives, weather permitting, I will retest and post the results here.

Hoot


Got my retest loads ready to go just in time for the weather to take a nosedive. I'm off Friday through Tuesday and not one good shooting day forcasted. Either freezing rain, gale force winds, sub-freezing temps or mix and match. :|

Good to see more of the COP 200's in stock at Midway. While they are not Barnes quality, they appear to be a reasonable value in an all copper bullet. You sure can feel the seating resistance go down when you switch from loading the .452 COP's to the .451 diameter Barnes.

Hoot

Re: Range Report COP200 Bullets & LilGun

PostPosted: Thu Nov 06, 2014 9:00 pm
by texrider
Got a notification last night about the COP 275s in stock, but they are gone now.

Re: Range Report COP200 Bullets & LilGun

PostPosted: Sun Nov 09, 2014 9:50 am
by Hoot
Bad news. Major Winter Storm Warning about to hit with high winds. Possible total accumulation of 16" with drifting by the time it moves out. I'm getting wussy as I age and generally do not shoot when I have to shovel snow off of the range tables and chairs. Up here, the first snow going into winter generally lasts until the last snow in the spring as it never gets warm enough again for any of them to melt. So I may not get the opportunity to retest the loads I made up until next spring. There is always a remote possibility of a rogue warming spell, but long range models are calling for a repeat of the record setting winter we had last year. :cry:

Hoot

Re: Range Report COP200 Bullets & LilGun

PostPosted: Sun Nov 09, 2014 10:21 am
by pitted bore
Hoot-
Dittos, in spades!

Amidst the whirling white flakes, I heard the weather gods offering a personal service announcement: "We interrupt your experiments with the 218 Bee, 280 Ross, and 450B 300-grainers to bring you another special winter." Perhaps I can use the snow time to write up some of my stuff for the forum; I'm way behind.
--Bob