Hollow Base

[161]

Looking at the Lee catalog for a 45-70 mold. Some are hollow based. What propose do hollow bases offer? I'll be shooting them in a 32 inch 1874 Pedersoli Sharps at trapdoor FPS with smokeless. And plan on tumble lubing them unless someone tells me thats a bad idea.
Thanks
Warren

[Larry Gibson]

Hollow based bullets can have one of 3 purposes or a combination of them;

The HB allows the skirt to expand readily sealing the bore with undersize bullets that are not of groove depth, ala Minie style bullets for muzzle loaders.

The HB shifts the center of gravity forward to increase stability in lower velocity bullets. The .38 HBWC is an example.

The HB serves primarily to lengthen or maintain the bullets bearing surface and overall length to provide a consistent bullet profile. The Lee .45 cal 405HB, a replicant of the M1873 45-70 service bullet, is an example.

Larry Gibson

[EDK]

LLA with smokeless is ok...not with black powder. Horror stories about ALOX and black powder abound on various forums. Harlan Sage at SageOutfitters.com has some formula developed for blackpowder, but I have not used it myself. (Harlan is a top rated black powder shooter, so his product has had plenty of development work and testing before he would market it. First class guy to deal with also.)

:cbpour::redneck::Fire:

[161]

The HB shifts the center of gravity forward to increase stability in lower velocity bullets. The .38 HBWC is an example.

So it might be a good choice @ trapdoor FPS in a Sharps?