Went to the range to try some lead bullets in a .357 that has never seen lead bullets. The first four groups were 4-5" at 25 yards. My revolvers will all shoot 1.5" groups at 25 yards. After four groups the fifth group was good at about 2.0" which is acceptable. I only loaded a box to see if I would get leading which was the purpose of running out to the range. This surprised me because the accuracy was terrible. The last few cylinder fulls grouped well. This is a new problem and would like to know if anybody else has run into this.
Does going from jacketed to lead cause innaccuracy?
- Thread starter warnerwh
- Start date
- Status
When you say "lead bullets" were they soft swaged lead or hard cast? It sounds as if the bullets were not the correct size for your bore. They may be undersized or cast so hard that they won't obturate (swell) and fill the grooves enough to seal off the gas behind it. If the gases are able to push their way around the bullet you'll see leading and poor accuracy.
M2 Carbine
member
Driving lead bullets at .357 Mag velocity has never worked well for me.
I cast a 160 gr SWC Lyman Cast Check bullet that use to shoot better than any jacketed bullet I ever shot.
Haven't shot .357 in a long time now though and couldn't hope to shoot 2 inches at 25 yards any more.
Getting old sucks.
I cast a 160 gr SWC Lyman Cast Check bullet that use to shoot better than any jacketed bullet I ever shot.
Haven't shot .357 in a long time now though and couldn't hope to shoot 2 inches at 25 yards any more.
Getting old sucks.
I should have brought up that these bullets are hard cast and 18 BHN. The load is 158gr SWC over 5.8gr of Unique. Primer is a CCI 550. This load is for general purpose use. Using a magnum primer could have been part of the problem as I'd run into it before. I've got a disproportionate amount of mag primers that need to get used up before I go back to standard primers. I would not try to push cast bullets at magnum velocities.
Confederate
Member
A lead bullet will generally be .358, and a jacketed bullet will be .357. In a .357 revolver, the lead bullets will tend to be a bit more accurate because it will be slightly resized as they go through the chamber and forcing cone throats. But if those throats are .356-.357, it will be the jacketed bullets that fare better.
Try dropping .357 jacketed bullets into the chambers of your gun and see if they stick. If they don't, your gun will likely do better with lead bullets. If they do stick, expect the gun to do better with jacketed. (Make sure you don't push them through, though.)
Try dropping .357 jacketed bullets into the chambers of your gun and see if they stick. If they don't, your gun will likely do better with lead bullets. If they do stick, expect the gun to do better with jacketed. (Make sure you don't push them through, though.)
fireside44
member
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2009
- Messages
- 1,145
I think your load was a little bit hot and you just got a bit of leading. Have you cleaned the gun?
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
You didn't ask about bore leading, so I guess you didn't get any.
Thus, over or under size bullets are not a problem.
Or the answer to your question!
Why your groups got better after shooting a few cylinders full of lead bullets seems to be the question you have.
Yes, it is normal for lead bullets to group worse until the barrel is "seasoned" with a film of lead and bullet lube.
Your groups got better after shooting the first four groups because of that.
You may notice the same effect when you switch back to jacketed bullets.
Barrels shoot best when the same bullet fouling is in place in the bore.
Thats why riflemen take "fouling shots" when starting with a squeeky clean barrel.
rc
You are correct in that I didn't get leading. I cleaned the gun last night and was pleased as I'd like to go to these less expensive bullets. They must shoot at least 2" groups at 25 yards to be satisfactory. I've not tried different primers or powder charges yet either. But when you start out with shotgun groups it's a bit unnerving. It seemed like the groups went from bad to ok rather quickly in stead of gradually but with only 50 rounds I'm not convinced. I've got a box with mag primers and another box with standard primers to try. I will keep close tabs on what happens next.
Today I went and fired the same load with the magnum primer as well as a box loaded with CCI 500's. First group with a very clean barrel was 3". I fired a total of 100 rounds and the groups averaged about 3" with these lead 158swc bullets. In other words nothing changed even with the different primers. I'll try 5.2gr(Lee Disks) of Unique with both primers and if that doesn't work I give up on lead bullets in this gun.
The gun is a Dan Wesson 15-2 with a 6" barrel. It will shoot 1.5" groups consistently. Being a Dan Wesson I expect better accuracy than the mainstream brands. A 2" group will work. I will try again in the next couple day with different loads.
That negates my theory. A 15 should not be spraying lead like that; it should be even more acurate with those lead bullets when the load is right. I would suspect a combination of the powder and the burn characteristic with the magnum primers.
Thank you for your help Oro. In case anyone is interested I tried a different load. The first attempts were using mixed brass I bought recently after reading posts stating that you can't tell the difference. Well I am going to have to say they are wrong. I loaded a box with a CCI 500, 5.3 Unique and a 158gr. SWC and my own Winchester brass. I shot a few groups and at first I thought oh no but by the third group the group got smaller and group 5 smaller still. Group 6 was 1 5/16". Part of the problem with the miscellaneous brass could be I'd been using CCI 550's to get rid of some and changing to a standard primer can be worth 1" in my experience.
[/IMG]
[/IMG]
[/IMG]
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked