Resized Soft Lead Bullet Lost Lube Grooves

I just ran the bullets between 2 files, wow, that was easy. I only had 11 sized and brought in, I will be testing the lube holding power by just rolling them in the 50/50 lube and seeing what I get.

The Chronograph is coming in this week, I think a test this weekend is necessary to determine how well this works and how it compares to the old ammo.

Thanks for the tip yomamma.
 
You can also tumble lube using BP lube.

get some BP lube or make your own. Dissolve the lube in isopropyl alcohol, and then tumble lube. Let it dry for a day or two. This will work best if you have some grooves left, even if they aren't large.
 
Ok, so I did the unthinkable, I pulled apart an original round to see what it was actually made of.

This was a short, they cost about $1.50 each at gun shows, easier to find than the longs and they all used the same bullet. This one was stamped with a D, so Dominion ammo, the US stamped one I am not cutting apart.

The original bullet weighs in at 65gr, the powder really looks to be BP, I have not shot any of these yet but I have BP and this looks like BP, just a cake of BP that comes apart as dust, hence why I think FFFg may be too coarse but that is for a different section. The bullet measures out at .254 with the lube and .251 when I scrape the lube off. The lube grooves exist, there are 3, they look like cannelures as opposed to lube grooves, not deep at all, maybe 10 thou. I measured the bullets that I just knurled, they came out at .254 to the high points, most likely .251 at the low points still, very similar to the original with a little less depth on the groove.

The cast bullets as I have them are .259, way too large for that bore, the sized bullets are .250-.251 and do not fall into the bore, with the knurled bullets at .254 and able to take lube I think I will be ok.

I tried rolling the bullets into the lube, it works, I can smear it on as well before I load, the 50/50 mix is a hard lube but so is the original, either that or it dried out.

Hopefully this week I can shoot a few original Longs, Shorts and my loads, it will be interesting to see what velocity I run into.

I will have a pretty detailed thread in the rimfire section and probably link to it in the reloading section if I have some success, maybe help a few guys get their old 25 Stevens running again.
 
leebuilder said:
Maybe tumble lube them with alox. Some lube is better than none.
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This.

You're sizing bullets with lube grooves designed to hold adequate lube at 0.257" down to 0.251", and not only are you losing lube groove depth, you're pushing lead from the bullet body into the grooves that are left. I've done this sizing down 0.458" bullets to 0.448" for the 43 Mauser , 0.358" to 0.352" for the 351 WSL, and several others with the same effect.

Lube, size, then tumble in Alox.
 
Andy said:
This.

You're sizing bullets with lube grooves designed to hold adequate lube at 0.257" down to 0.251", and not only are you losing lube groove depth, you're pushing lead from the bullet body into the grooves that are left. I've done this sizing down 0.458" bullets to 0.448" for the 43 Mauser , 0.358" to 0.352" for the 351 WSL, and several others with the same effect.

Lube, size, then tumble in Alox.
Click to expand...

Everything I have read about Alox is that it is horrible with Black Powder.

I am going to try the knurled and lubed and go from there.

The bullet that I am using is designed for a 25-20 at around 2000fps, the round I will be using them for will produce around 1000fps if I am lucky.

As I said, when I pulled apart the old one the lube grooves are not actually grooves as we think of a lube groove but rather something that looks more like a cannelure and not very deep at all, I am sure that the knurling will hold enough lube, it will hold more than the original bullet that is for sure.
 
577/450 said:
In my experience alox and b/p is not a good mix. Whe I tried it the fouling was unbelievable. Went with a mix of beeswax, Crisco and veg oil
Click to expand...

Once I took apart that original round I am not as worried, there was not a lot of space in there for lube, anything I can get in there should work out just fine, it is a slow bullet, we shall see how it works out.
 
Knurled worked, I rolled the bullets in lube and loaded like that.

I shot a few rounds and the end of the barrel had a perfect ring of lube, from what I read that is good. These are loaded with black, so it is messy as heck, but when the powder residue is cleaned up (Boiling water, Hoppes #9, CLP, and a crap ton of patches in between) the rifling is still crisp, it does not seem leaded up.

I am going to work up a detailed write up on this setup, just not for a few days at least, keep your eyes on the Rimfire Forum if you are interested, I call this round the 25 Stevens Intermediate.
 
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