Lee Navy Hunting Report

[KenK]

Had a chance last weekend to shoot a small Mule deer doe with the 95 Lee my friend bought two weeks ago. 175 yards with Buffalo Arms brass, a Hornady 100gr round nose bullet and 34 grains of IMR 4895 powder. Hit through the lungs it went 10 yards. Inch and a half exit hole. Bevel the bases of these cases like the origional round and they load better in the magazine

[Griff Murphey]

Good shooting!

[jmoore]

Thanks for sharing! Missed out on a Winchester Lee a while back, but its on the list of things to try.

[rayg]

Nice shooting. Could you explain what you mean by beveling the case base?

Check out my post with the problems I had with fully loaded rds from Buffalo Arms having cracked necks. I have fired their new unprimed case with no problems though.

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?t=140649

[KenK]

I'm in Missoula, Mt right now. Wife is having gall bladder surgery. Will take a picture of an origional Winchester round and post it in a couple of days. Two of the Buffalo cases had lube dents in the shoulder from forming. Only lasted for 2 loads apiece. We necked up one 220 Swift case. It functioned fine. Think this is a less expensive way to go.

[rayg]

I have 50 new 220 cases I can use. I tried a couple of them out, seated the bullet long and they worked fine. The 220 Swift's cartridge is just a 6mm Lee Navy with a shorter neck, Ray

[Hip's Ax]

"Buffalo Arms brass, a Hornady 100gr round nose bullet and 34 grains of IMR 4895 powder"

How did this load feel? Light, medium or heavy? Do you know the headspace condition of your rifle? How is the bore?

Nice work Sir!!!

[jon_norstog]

Guys,
This is not a load that will mess up a Lee rifle. It's gonna run 2700-2800 fps, maybe low 40's for psi. I would call it a great deer load. If you can keep the rifle sighted in you probably can count on 1 shot = 1 deer for as long as you have the energy to go out hunting.

Ken, good luck in the field!

jn

[KenK]

The load used on the deer has no recoil. Neat rifle. It went back to Nevada so I wo'nt be playing with it. Need to find one for me. I could'nt afford this one at this time so my friend grabbed it. This one has good headspace looking at the cases. Surprisingly, it has a mint bore. Only other one I've seen around here looked like a smooth bore. The picture shows the bevel on the rim of an origional Winchester round. Not to good a picture but it shows how it is beveled. Friend called tonight and has loaded some 220 Swift cases and will give them a trial. Anyone else playing with one keep us posted. Happy hunting.

[rayg]

Thanks for the photo of the bevel Ken. My rifle loaded okay with both the 25/06 and the 220 cases with out the bevel though. I think after firing my Lee, it moved to the front of the line as one of my most favorite rifles to shoot. Everything about it feels right. The stock fit with the pistol grip, the action is smooth, the sights are good and the recoil is light and it sounds different when fired probably because of the long barrel and small caliber. Of course I've only been shooting light loads of 28 grs of 3031 powder with the 100 grainers and I measured the powder in the Buffalo Arms cases and it looks like 31 grs of I-4598 powder. Also a light load. As I wouldn't be using it for hunting, I don't need a heavier load.

Gene Myszkowski, in his book on the Win Lee Navy, states that most of the bolts were taken out and upgraded, I believe to have the gas shield installed and no effort was made to replace them in the same rifles. So it's a good idea to check the head space.
Also anyone having one of the rifles or thinking about getting one, should get the book. It's not expensive.

And just a side note, the gentleman who purchased the rds from Buffalo Arms contacted them about the cracked necks and he said they would like to see the photos I took and that it appeared they would make good on the purchase. I will forward the photos to them. Ray

[rayg]

I sent the photos to Buffalo arms and followed up with a phone call and explained the situation. They said they would get back to me. When they called back, they asked how they could satisfy me. I could have another box, credit, or whatever. Apparently they must have checked some of the same loads of that ammo which probably showed the same problem. Anyway I still had the bullets, powder and primers I removed from the cases so I said to just send me 20 new cases and I'll load them up. Ray

[zullo74]

Quickload shows your load as 2783 FPS with 42728 PSI chamber pressure.

[KenK]

Quickload shows your load as 2783 FPS with 42728 PSI chamber pressure.

Thank you for the info.