Excess Smoke with Cast Bullets

Ganderite

Ganderite

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Farm south of North Bay
I have often noticed that my pistol handloads are very smokey. Not enough smoke to be an issue, but noticeable. One day I was doing an ammo test in a new gun and happened to have the identical powder charge with the same weight bullet in cast and in plated. It was clear that the plated bullet load had no smoke.

I have been told that the smoke ifs from the bullet lubricant. From this test I am satisfied this is true.

Yesterday I shot a IDPA type 2 gun match that included a lights off stage. We used gun mounted lights on the carbine and hand held lights with the pistols.

I was shocked to discover that the lights lit up the muzzle smoke like a fog and I had to wait a few seconds to see the target for the next shot.

A couple of the shooters then commented that they have made a point of using low smoke, low muzzle flash ammo for this exact reason. Anyone carrying a gun and light for serious reasons would be wise to do the same.

I have a box of those plated bullets. i will load them up for the lights-off shoots.
 
In my experience the hard blue and red bullet lubes are not quite as smoky as the old NRA 50-50 alox lube--it is quite a bit softer and does produce a lot of smoke. Plated bullets eliminate the smoke but may affect the accuracy of the load. I find most of the plated bullets that I have used are undersized and so0metimes take quite a bit of tinkering to get an accep-table load accuracy wise. Generally speaking if you use a powder that is "slow" for the cartridge you are loading you will get more muzzle flash. YMMV, 44Bore
 
Yah I use Felix lube for my .44 mag loads and sometimes get comments about my smoke indicating that i was wasting lots of powder.
I don't even bother trying to educate them anymore.
 
If you load black powder loads you will not even notice the smoke from the lube!!

Seriously though, lube is a major factor, maybe try lee tumble lube if loading mild, works for me!
 
I usually make my own lube. I didn't invent the recipe, I just followed what I have read was used by the old buffalo hunters, a mixture of beef tallow and bees wax.
If it is warm, or hot weather, you use more wax than tallow. In cold weather, more tallow than wax.
I have tried lots of commercial lubes, but as far as I can see, my lube is as good as any of them.
And by the way, the smoke from bullets so lubed, has a very pleasant odor!
 
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