I was chatting with a fellow CGN'er about casting lead bullets for antique firearms, and something occurred to me. Please bear in mind that I don't personally cast bullets or own any antique firearms. I'm wondering if it would be possible to moly coat commercial copper jacketed bullets to reduce the pressure curve and thereby duplicate the performance of lead bullets. As an example, would .45 jacketed bullets be compatible with a .455 antique if they were moly coated to reduce friction? As I understand it, lead bullets are required in older pistols because current production jacketed bullets may produce too much chamber pressure. If any of you gentlemen who are knowledgeable about such things would chime in, I'd appreciate the input and the benefit of your experience and wisdom.
Moly coating jacketed bullets instead of cast lead?
- Thread starter LawrenceN
- Start date
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
The trouble with using jacketed bullets in black powder firearms is that bore diameters were not uniform, and the jacketed bullet doesn't obturate to fit the bore diameter like a soft lead bullet does. If your jacketed bullet is over sized for the bore, pressure will be dangerous, and if undersized, the gas is not sealed behind the bullet, so velocity and accuracy will suffer.
