The Bullet Barn .44 Russian ammo

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detonator

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Does anyone have experience shooting .44 Russian ammo from The Bullet Barn in their antique handguns? Is it okay to shoot their ammo in antiques? I had one person tell me not to use their stuff because the lead they use is too hard and it's hard on the bore.

What say you?
 
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I can tell you that I've dealt with 100's of retailers that deal in firearms or reloading supplies, and the Bullet Barn are amoung my favourite people. Give Lois a call and inquire first.
 
JBD said:
lead is not harder than steel
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No; it's not, but some bores like PL because it will ' Bump up ' & seal properly.
I've a 'sewer piped, looking bore' on an old Win 94 ( 38-55 ) that just won't shoot worth squat without a fast burning powder and PL.
But the BB bullets sure won't hurt your bbl IMO
 
Tossing in some info that could provide a little better accuracy is "value added". Nothing wrong with that.

Lois and Andy at the BB are cowboy action shooters. And a few of those folks use original antique guns. So send them an email or call and mention what you're doing. More likely than not you'll get your answer more directly.

I know from talking with Andy that he selects his alloys to suit the intended use of the bullets. So rifle bullets are a harder grade than those intended for lower velocity cowboy action or otherwise lower pressure rounds such as .44Russian.

And if you are worried about it the lube he uses is also BP and sub friendly. So you would have the option of reloading your own ammo with BP or Pyrodex.
 
BCRider said:
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And if you are worried about it the lube he uses is also BP and sub friendly. So you would have the option of reloading your own ammo with BP or Pyrodex.
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Is that new? I've asked them about that before, they offered to sell me unlubed bullets (which was nice of 'em) but they couldn't tell me if the lube was BP friendly. Is it for all the loads or only CAS-popular boolits?
 
Bullet Barn's bullets are cast at 25 BHN, check the site to be sure. That's to hard for pistol rounds, some where between 12 to 18 is all most pistols need. Even at 25 the bullets will not damage the barrel, usually what you'll get is streaking along the rifling.
If you're not casting your own look at Hornady's swagged lead bullets. Also check with Henry at Budget he gets Missouri lead bullets that are 12 and 18 BHN.
 
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NorthCoastBigBore said:
Is that new? I've asked them about that before, they offered to sell me unlubed bullets (which was nice of 'em) but they couldn't tell me if the lube was BP friendly. Is it for all the loads or only CAS-popular boolits?
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I asked Andy about the lube and he replied that he shot it in Frontier Cartridge for a few years without issue. I took that as being good enough to consider it as BP friendly. He did say he never really tested it other than directly by using it. So he doesn't really want to say one way or the other.

I've shot quite a few "BP" rifle rounds loaded with Pyrodex using BB bullets without any gumming up issue either. The Pyrodex is used up and the next batch will be regular Goex.
 
I've shot thousands of their hard-cast pistol bullets without so much as a lead streak in any barrel...might be just lucky I guess. I have no fear of using them in any vintage of barrel from 1863 to modern steel.

The issue with their lube for BP isn't that the lube doesn't do it's intended job (keeping leading to a minimum, in my case non-existent) in either BP or smokeless...it does...the issue is the fowling left behind from BP will be a lot "crustier" and require more work to clean with just the hard wax lube than a traditional "non-petroleum based" BP lube. I do use their hard wax lubed bullets on occasion but use a BP lube cookie between powder and bullet to help soften up the fowling.

it is BP "friendly"...won't hurt a thing, just won't do everything a conventional lube will.
 
I've tried BP with Bullet Barn bullets and it's not a good combo. OMA bullets at the 108 Mile offers softer lead bullets for BP. I use them in my 44-40s with BP. I buy them unlubed and run then through my sizer with SPG.

Andy used Pyrodex as he caused a fire at a CAS event in Alberta using BP. Ask him for the details .....
 
I was very much involved in that fire and don't think it was Andy that caused it (it was a BC shooter but not Andy that I remember) but you are right it was a partially burned Pyrodex powder pellet that did start the fire.
 
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