Nickel Plated Buckshot in 30 cal loads

[Arkie55]

Hey Gang,

Been reloading a while but new to this forum. I'd like to make some low power 30 cal loads (30-30 and 30-06) using buck shot. I've read lots of the posts and have some recipe ideas. My big question here is - has anybody used Ballistic Products NICKEL plated buck shot for this? They describe it as copper washed and nickel plated. They make a #1 1/2 buck shot which is 0.310 diameter. Sounds perfect for this but I am nervous about what the nickel plating will do in a barrel as far as fouling. Not looking for high velocity - just say around 1200 fps.

Your thoughts?
thanks

 

[Blue68f100]

I would not put Ni down the barrel for it will damage the rifling. Ni is hard and I would not do it. If you could find the hardness of the Ni would help to determine this. Even with a soft core, the NI will definitely wear a barrel faster.

 

[hartcreek]

Besides...you know that it is going to keyhole so what is the point?

 

[Swampman]

Besides...you know that it is going to keyhole so what is the point?

How can a spherical projectile keyhole?

 

[blarby]

Not nickel plated- which im assuming you got from BPI ? But I've shot plenty of the .311 buckshot balls down 30 cal bores, and they worked just fine for plinkin.

Granted, nickel is harder than lead, but if they are plated like the rest of the plated shot i've used- its just a little thinner than actual plated bullets- I'm not sure what effect that would have on your rifling. IF you did a few too test, I doubt it would do any serious damage. You are going to have to use a bit of flare on your casemouths, otherwise i'm fairly certain you'd shave the plating right off the sphere.

Whats hard is getting the crimp right, if yer into that sorta thing.

IF you like them, lee makes a .311 roundball mould for cheap, or I hear some guys trade cast little pellets........ They make a great buckshot load, btw.

Besides...you know that it is going to keyhole so what is the point?

I assume this is a laugh moment? Even if it did destabilize- its still pretty round, lol. Lots of roundballs shot through rifled bores for a long time now, and I don't think any of them "keyhole" per se.


Welcome to THR !

And welcome to the reloading section, of the best gunsite on the webz

 

[Kernel]

Weren't copper-nickel jacketed bullets used back in the day? Those old barrels were pretty soft compared to today's steels.

 

[hartcreek]

He wants to take a round ball and use it in a 30-30 and or 30-06. To do this he is going to have to center the RB in the case mouth and crimp the RB in place SO it aint gonna be round no more.

 

[Arkie55]

Thanks gang for the responses. I am still unclear whether to give it a try or not. Here is the response I got from Ballistic Products when I asked if they of anyone using their shot for this.

"We only develop and test in shotgun applications, so I do not have a direct answer to your question.
In a shotgun application, the nickel will slow the build-up of lead residue; however nickel is still a very soft metal (soft enough to be dented with a fingernail). Regular, thorough cleanings are still needed."

I've only reloaded bird shot but in that you only have the plastic wad cup touching the barrel. If that is also the case with buck shot, their reply doesn't make much sense. On the other hand they do indicate it is a soft coating.

Anyhoo - the big driver is cost. I can get soft lead bullets 130 grain or so for around 8 - 10 cents each and load those (Meister, Missouri Bullet Co, Acme, etc). These BP nickel plated buck shot are around $48 (including shipping) for 8 lb containers that have 1200 shot of this size. Puts us down around 4 cents each. Now we are getting into the price range of current 22 LR to reload 30 cal (4cents ball, 4 cents primer, 3-4 cents for a dab of powder).

Anybody know a source of inexpensive plain lead round balls. What I have been able to find are all actually more expensive than buying actual cast bullets. I guess they are a "specialty item".

Not ready to get into casting yet - maybe in a year or so.

 

[Swampman]

I used to load Hornady #1 buckshot (.300 diameter) in .308 Winchester.
The shot was heavily lubed with liquid Alox, enough so that the shot was "glued" into the sized, unbelled case mouth.
Power was provided by a magnum rifle primer

Round balls don't require much spin to stabilize, "skidding" down the lands gave them enough so that they were good for squirrels out to about 50 or 60 feet.

Ensure that your bore is VERY clean and lightly lubed before you try this and run a couple patches every 4 or 5 rounds to keep primer residue from building up.

Check your bore for obstructions after every shot, at least until you're sure of how this load behaves in YOUR rifle.

Even though these loads are very quiet, treat them with the same respect as full power ammo, within their limited range they are capable of seriously injuring or killing a human. They are also prone to ricochet.

 

[Salmoneye]

He wants to take a round ball and use it in a 30-30 and or 30-06. To do this he is going to have to center the RB in the case mouth and crimp the RB in place SO it aint gonna be round no more

.

Don't tell my Marlin 1893 about this, cuz it just loves a .310" round ball over 2.1gr of Red Dot...

And no crimping is required...Heck...I don't even resize the cases; just decap and reprime...Smallest Lee dipper charge, tap the ball flush sprue up, and slather on some LLA...

60 yards on a 9" skillet all day long...

ADDING:

OOPS!...Forgot...I also load .30-06 this way, but with 3gr of Red Dot...

BTW.....Ballistic Products produces plain lead buckshot also, so I am wondering why you were fixated on their plated stuff:

http://www.ballisticproducts.com/Lead-Buckshot/products/65/

 

[Arkie55]

Salmoneye,

The Super Buck you linked to is exactly what I was looking at. For some reason I thought this was their plated stuff. Now that I look again at the description, it says nothing about nickel plating. Duh! Their 0.310 size looks like just the ticket. Will have to give it a whirl.

Thanks for straightening me out.

 

[Arkie55]

Swampman - if you are looking for 7.62 boxer primed check out 300aacbrass.com I have not ordered anything fro these folks so can't vouch. But their pricing looks pretty dang good.