lead ammo questions!

[SoCalShooter]

Shooter503 you are completely correct, I had some SWC 200 grainers that were jammin and I did not have the bullet seated far enough in the casing turns out my bullet seating die on my press was set to high.

Here are my SWC specs for .45acp target

Redline 200gr SWC
4.5gr of Bullseye
mixed brass
winchester large pistol primers

They are only target loads, I am trying to reduce the recoil and they are great match rounds.

 

[shooter503]

Good on the recoil. I am sure you have this covered but you will need an effective crimp on your ammo to prevent the bullets being shoved back into the case under recoil or feeding. Potential Kaboom.

Never tried this with 45 ammo but copper gas checks work well on 38. Keep the leading down too. Just a real pain to fit. Gas checks not so useful on target loads.

 

[Sunray]

Leading in any firearm is caused by excessive velocity not the hardness of the bullet.

 

[danang]

After only about 60,000 rounds of cast lead bullets...beginning back in 1956 or so, I really don't believe some of the posts I find. However, the Cast Bullet Association has made some concrete suggestions. 1. Cast bullet bores need to have all, repeat all, copper/gilding metal removed. The gilding metal fouling strips lead from the bullet and compounds the felony, as it were. 2. Tailor the lead hardness to the bullet speed. Pure lead at 4 or 5 BHN is fine for muzzle loaders. Bullseye pistol, probably 10 to 13 is fine. Hivel pistol to 1600 fps, use linotype or wheelweights hardened to 19 to 20 BHN. Rifle to full speed...i.e. 2900 fps, you gotta harden to 28 to 30 BHN with heat treatment. Now, with resolvers and pistols, you are dealing with another animal...gotta match the bore diameters to the bullet. Throats on the revolvers gotta match the bore diameters. If you wish to learn more, join the Cast Bullet Association, get their magazine, and, if possible buy their back issues. They are shooting almost one hole groups with lead. Basically...hardness ain't everything, nomatter what she told you. Size matters...to the thousandth. So...clean the bore before you shoot lead. Surgically clean. Match the size of the bullet to the bore. Use the lubricant that works best (many arguments on that...soft to hard, alox or not) and don't use an alloy too hard for the speed. Of course the quality of the barrel matters also. So many variables. So few bullets. Keep trying. Cast bullets will work in any firearm. Just gotta determine what parameters you need to emphasize.. JMHO
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[shooter503]

Target shooters were performing almost unbelievable feats of accuracy with Schuetzen type rifles, lead bullets, black powder and non-telescopic sights in - the 1920's. They had learned what Danang referred to, perfectly lapped barrels, good bullet lubricant, perfect bullet sizing and the correct lead. We sort of lost all of these tricks when we went to jacketed bullets and we have had to relearn these secrets again. There are still techniques that were used by the Schuetzen shooters that we do not understand because the individuals kept their personal winning techniques secret.

Successfully loading a lead bulleted cartridge for true target work is a far more complicated act than loading a jacketed round. In fact, the early shooters did not even load a cartridge. They pushed the bullet into the chamber and then put a case loaded with powder behind it. The bullet was never secured in the case. Wouldn't work too well with an auto, of course.

 

[M2 Carbine]

I've loaded and shot untold numbers of lead bullets in everything from 32ACP to 30-06 since 1962.
I have also made it a practice of "shooting the lead out" with a few jacketed bullets.
Never had the first sign of a problem.
But properly hardened, lubed and loaded lead bullets will lead a barrel very little in the first place.

One reason I won't own a Glock is the probition against shooting lead bullets.

 

[g56]

There's also the old trick of occasionally sending a few jacketed bullets downrange to scrape out the lead.

Never fails to amaze me that people keep repeating that old wives tale, don't shoot jacketed bullets after lead, period. The barrel needs to be cleaned of any lead residue before shooting jacketed bullets, shooting jacketed bullets in a badly leaded barrel can lead to excessive pressures, and just makes it that much harder to clean the barrel properly later.

To remove lead residue from a barrel, get a COPPER Chore Boy, cut a patch and wrap it around a bore brush, and clean with a good solvent, this is the best method to remove leading from a barrel that exists today. I'd used the Lewis Lead Remover for years before I found out about the Copper Chore Boy method, it beats the Lewis Lead Remover hands down!

 

[M2 Carbine]

g56
Senior Member



Join Date: 01-17-04
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 663 Quote:
There's also the old trick of occasionally sending a few jacketed bullets downrange to scrape out the lead.

Never fails to amaze me that people keep repeating that old wives tale, don't shoot jacketed bullets after lead, period. The barrel needs to be cleaned of any lead residue before shooting jacketed bullets, shooting jacketed bullets in a badly leaded barrel can lead to excessive pressures, and just makes it that much harder to clean the barrel properly later.

To remove lead residue from a barrel, get a COPPER Chore Boy, cut a patch and wrap it around a bore brush, and clean with a good solvent, this is the best method to remove leading from a barrel that exists today. I'd used the Lewis Lead Remover for years before I found out about the Copper Chore Boy method, it beats the Lewis Lead Remover hands down!
__________________

This is the qualifier.
"a badly leaded barrel can lead to excessive pressures"

Shooting ANY bullets in a BADLY leaded barrel is creating excessive pressure and probably terrible accuracy.
If the lead bullets that you are shooting, in a particulat gun, are leading the barrel EXCESSIVELY then you shouldn't be shooting them in the first place.

 

[.38 Special]

Never fails to amaze me that people keep repeating that old wives tale, don't shoot jacketed bullets after lead, period. The barrel needs to be cleaned of any lead residue before shooting jacketed bullets, shooting jacketed bullets in a badly leaded barrel can lead to excessive pressures, and just makes it that much harder to clean the barrel properly later.

Seems to me that "Never shoot jacketed bullets after lead" is as at least as much of an "old wive's tale", especially considering how many folks actually do it with fine success.

I guess I'm asking for proof of blown-up guns, and/or proof of lead being "ironed" into the barrel.

I can't believe such an innocent subject is cause of such ardent disagreement.

 

[JohnKSa]

...considering how many folks actually do it with fine success.

Yup, I've done it myself in the deep, dark distant past before I knew it wasn't a good idea. As with any caution, it's not to be confused with a promise that a single iteration will automatically and instantly result in a catastrophic incident. I've seen lots of smokers live to old age without getting cancer but that doesn't mean that lung cancer from smoking is an old wives' tale.

I've looked for the Glock 19 blowup post, but it's been a long time since I saw it--I don't even remember what forum it was posted on anymore.

If you want proof and Beretta's warning is insufficient then you're probably going to be disappointed. That's because the main source of information about gun blowups is the people who blow up guns. Unfortunately, people rarely tell the whole truth about the circumstances surrounding the situation. As I like to say, it's common for such incidents to leave a person uninjured but with a severe case of "ammunition amnesia".