Max Velocity For Bare Lead Bullet

I've shot bullet barn 450 grain plain base bullets at 1550fps in my guide gun (BB says you can run their plain base bullets up to 1600fps). There was a bit of leading, but nothing a few jacketed cast rounds didn't dislodge. By the time I cleaned the barrel after shooting 30-50 cast rounds and running 4 or 5 jacketed bullets through the barrel, there was hardly any lead left in there. They are a very hard bullet though. Conversely, I used to cast Lee 405 grain hollow base bullets out of softer wheel weight alloy and load them to 1300fps. They leaded the barrel more. Bottom line is, with the right bullet and lube combo, you can run them pretty fast!

B
 
Of cource too much can lead to hydro shock with in the barrel and cause accuracy and barrel troubles. This is most offten incountered when the noses of the bullets have lube on them....so don't grease the noses.[/QUOTE]

So this would imply that the lube on the nose of the bullet is turning to liquid and then being forced back between the bullet and the bore?....or what exactly is this referring to?.. new one for me
 
I have purposely lubed the noses of #311299 bullets for years. The bore riding portion of this bullet is around .2995" average from my mould (with my alloy). I tested my best loads with and without lubricated noses. The lubricared noses always faired better on the target. Not by much mind you.

I personally feel that with such a snug fit between the bullet nose and the bore is complimented by the lube on the nose. As I cam the bolt closed, I can feel distinct resistance. The lube simply flows from the tightest tolerance positions on the nose to the largest gaps between the nose and bore. Sort of hydraulicly centering the nose.

There isnt anything more effective than hydraulic action for support! As long as the lubrication is able to purge/release as it leaves the bore, there should be no issues. My personal rifle shoots very well this way! I have shot More than 1500 rounds this way (from this rifle).

The amount of lubrication I am talking about isnt all that much. As you can see in the picture the bullet nose is just lightly coated.


This mule deer doe was shot at 250 yards. As you can see by the second picture, the bullet tracked extreamly straight, and directly to my aiming point. I couldnt be happier with the performance of this load!


It doesnt appear to me that lubricated noses on cast bullets creates any negative issues. At least in this case.
 
I shoot a fair amount of cast in my 38-55, which is a 1979 reproduction Rifle from Winchester.
Slugging the bore got me .3768", so I am shooting mostly .379/.380 bullets, some are bare [lubed] and some GC.

I consistently get my best accuracy [surprisingly good, BTW] with the bare bullets around 1600, and the GC ones around 1850.
I took my best Whitetail buck to date with this rifle, but was not shooting cast at the time. Had I been, I am sure the results would have been similar.

Those cast bullets penetrate very well indeed.

Regards, Dave
 
ciphery said:
For the 45-70gvt in question I would suggest you keep the velocity down arround 1500fps.
Click to expand...

My best .45/70 cast load is Lyman 405's @ 1900... very accurate load and at 2 thou over bore I have seen no leading at all... I don't think an arbitrary velocity number can be applied to the OP's question... there are many factors that come into play, not the least of which are bore diameter and design of the bullet base.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom