TW,

I guess I was a bit unclear and not that it matters but the dark part of the bore is in the rear.

Two things I look for when shooting a new rifle is how it cleans and does it have an even star of lube on the muzzle. This one cleaned OK and the star was just as it should be.

The bullets I posted pictures of are the ones I used. All are bore diameter for the first few bands then progressively larger at the back. All are 20-1 lead tin, nothing else is used. Within the first few inches after firing the bullets are full groove diameter.....NO MATTER HOW HARD THE LEAD IS.

The rifles that shoot well for me have the bullets breech-seated in front of the case and only one case is used. I do not use wads with fine grain powder like 42227 or AA #9.

I like the bullets to seat easy into the rifle, ones that I have to hammer in with the heel of my hand don't seem to do well. A lot of folks use a mechanical breech-seater with a lot of leverage, it mush work for them but not for me.

I am going to leave the barrel on this action and fix it up to play with but now I'm back looking for another action.

MP Sadly Deceased as of 2/17/2014