Max vel. on a copper clad bullet

270 totheend

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GunNutz
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How hard can you push a copper clad bullet before it begins to lead the bore? I am talking about rifle bullets in .30 cal about 150 gr.
I would also like to know if anyone has tried plating their own cast bullets for aditional velocity in rifle?
I have been shooting cast in rifles in .22 .27 & .30 cal for years and always wanted to push them harder. Most of the designs I use are gas checked and I always use the hardest lead mix I can. I have tried tempering them in the oven (made a few lead cookies) and cold quenching them right out of the mould, and tried every type of lube I could find including a few of my own making to prevent leading, but always hit the wall about 2000-2100 fps for leading. So i guess copper plating is the next step. I usually try to do as much for myself as I can in regards to reloading and casting and to that end I am trying to set up a copper plating rig for my own bullets. That is for a future post. This may not be any cheaper but I enjoy the feeling of "I did this" more than "I bought this".
I would like to get a .30 bullet up to about 2500-2600 fps without leading and then I would be in hog heaven for plinking and practice.
Sooo..... who has tried copper plated bullets in a rifle and to what maximum velocity have you taken them?

270 totheend
 
Have you taken a look at some of the cast bullet forums out there? Seems to me that people have pushed cast quite a bit faster than that with the right alloys. Someone here mentioned trying to cast zinc too.

I would guess that it starts to become a whole new science when you try to push the envelope with this kind of thing. Probably rather involved for the casual shooter but a lot of fun if you like a challenge.
 
Paper patch

Research Paper Patching it will allow you to drive the bullet as fast as you want.

Even commercial plated bullets will lead at the speeds that you are looking for.

As suggested before. castboolits.com is the best place on the net for casting info.
 
I have tried paper patching bullets before, when I bought a 8mm mauser and did not have any bullets for it I patched some .308 out to .323 and shot them. I know that it is a big jump from .30 to .32 but I got the idea from an article by Ross Seyfried in G&A some years ago.
I want to try copper plating now and still need to know what is the fastest that you can drive a copper clad bullet out of a rifle without bullet failure and leading. I intend to size as small as possible and build up a copper plate and resize at the desired caliber.

270 totheend
 
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