Who is using the le REAL bullet?

[samwithacolt]

I just bought my 1st inline after foolishly selling my flintlock. I moved house and find myself in an area with a muzzleloader season.
I bought a CVA wolf .50 and ordered a lee 320 gr mold. I already have FFG and 209's.
Anyone here have experience shooting the real? Using a felt wad or card?
I can't decide if I should order some felt wads or buy a punch and make cards. I like to make anything that I can and want this to be shot for pennies. I don't like relying on stores as I don't have a good local gunstore and by the time I pay shipping and taxes, even wads start to add up.
So share your experience with the REAL, esp the .50 320gr. What works or does'nt for you?
Edit- I think my gun is 1/28 twist.

[bubba.50]

Lee real's are some of my favorite bullets for muzzleloaders. I've used them in my 1 in 60 twist Great Plains, numerous T/C's with the 1 in 48 twist, and a White Mountain Carbine & a Thunder hawk both of which have about the same fast twist as your gun. they've been acceptably accurate for me in all of these. most calibers of the real molds come in 2 weights. I used the lighter weights(shorter bullet) in roundball guns with good results & the heavier version in the faster twists. can't comment on wads & cards 'cause I never saw the need to use them.

[waarp8nt]

I've had good luck with the 250 grain Lee REAL mold using 75 grains of Goex and no wad. I have a picture of the initial test target and it shows great potential. I plan to shoot more from a bench to further verify this load, but have yet to have time to cast the boolits. Here is a link to a thread about it, some others here on the forum offered advise that might be useful to you too; http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?276566-3-round-balls-5-R-E-A-L-and-some-bore-butter

141282

[samwithacolt]

Thanks guys, Hoping I can get good accuracy without a wad too. Looking forward to getting my mold.

[rodwha]

My Lyman Deerstalker (1:48" twist) requires a felt wad. At 50 yds it keyholed without one, but this may be due to the deeper PRB grooves.

With a wad the next two shots were nearly touching. After that I knew I needed to buy a mold (I bought a few cast just to see what they were like).

[Lever-man]

I have the Lee 250 gr REAL for hunting I use 80 gr triple 7. In a TC Hawkin 1 in 48 using a fiber card under the bullet groups tighter but not enough to make it an issue at 100 yds or less.

[curator]

I have a CVA Wolf and a T/C Encore 209/50. Both shoot the Lee REAL 320 slug quite accurately with either a .50 card or felt wad. The wad is not necessary if you keep the powder charge down around 50-60 grains (FFg or 777) for really accurate target shooting. If you want accuracy and higher velocity, the wad appears to be necessary. Circle Fly makes inexpensive .50 caliber 1/8 card wads. I make my own "durafelt" wads using a press-mounted punch. Loading 2 triple seven 50-grain pellets, two card or felt wads give slightly better accuracy. I am lubing with a 50/50 bee's wax/lard mix which allows for easy reloading for several shots without wiping the bore.

[Good Cheer]

When I'm driving through farm country looking at the building I always wonder if that's where the inspiration for the REAL came from.
And yep, I like them too. If the bore diameter is in the ballpark it's likely you can find a way to make them shoot. If the bore is too big to engage the bands enough it's just no bueno por nuthin.

[mooman76]

What about tumble lube bullets?

[crossxsticks]

got a question about the real bullet , will it shoot a 50 and 2 or 3 X'es @ 50 yds off a bench rest or sticks consistent ? if it will i got to get me a mold and try-er

[koger]

2 of my neighbors have the wolf ML, they both shoot the real 300gr well, the Hornady GP factory or Lyman GP mold and the TC Maxi hunter extremely well, one ragged hole at 50 yds with 90gr 2ffg!

[Good Cheer]

got a question about the real bullet , will it shoot a 50 and 2 or 3 X'es @ 50 yds off a bench rest or sticks consistent ? if it will i got to get me a mold and try-er

How well your bore fits the engraving bands on the REAL will be a biggie. If it doesn't engrave well it just won't work out well. I have a .58 that is way, way too big for the REAL.

[rsrocket1]

You can try an overpowder card or felt wad with little to no money expended. Get a 1/2" pipe nipple and sharpen it, then use a mallot to punch the cards out of a cardboard cereal box or something similar. You can do the same thing with felt purchased at Walmart and soaked in your favorite lube. I use 2:1 Beeswax/Vaseline.

My 250g Lee REALS work best in my CVA Optimas with the overpowder card. The picture shows a hammer, but the 3# HF plastic mallot does a better job at not smashing the top of the pipe section.

141406

[Good Cheer]

Anybody have some they could measure and post the lands' diameters?
Might help him figger out if purchasing a mold would be worthwhile.

[rodwha]

Mine, using pure lead, measure 0.513" across the widest band.

I have suffered from incomplete fill with my pistol bullets. Not sure if my measurement is 100% accurate but it shouldn't be too far off.

[Southron]

Dear rodwha:

Head down to your local hardware store and pick up a spool of 50/50 lead/tin wire solder. Just get the solid wire and not with the rosin flux.

The melt the lead in your lead pot and put in 8 or 10 inches of the wire in the melted lead and stir.

The Tin will make your bullets "brighter" but will also make them fill out the mould much, much better IF your lead is at the proper casting temperature.

That small amount Tin will not make your bullets appreciably harder but make your cast bullets much, much better.

For Samwithacolt:

As for the accuracy of the REAL bullet design, my son made up a bullet mould that was a copy of the REAL bullet in .517 and the bullet is a "Tack Driver" in his replica Smith Carbine. He slugged his bore and found it to be .515" diameter.

I have never understood the appeal of the Inlines. With a replica British Naval Rifle in .577 caliber and using made up cartridges and accoutrements, I can be reloaded for another shot in 15 seconds...believe me, a fast reload can come in pretty handy when deer hunting.

[samwithacolt]

Southron, I prefer more traditional guns but right now I needed
something cheap and simple. I get very little time to cast and shoot
so the CVA wolf will have to be my muzzleloader for this seasom.
I never thought I'd buy an inline, at least I have'nt bought a Glock yet!

[rodwha]

Southron: I have considered buying the 2.5% tin bars from Rotometals for consistency, but I want my lead pistol bullets to easily expand, which may be as slow as 900 fps. I've been told that pure lead has the capability of expanding around 800 fps, but have seen several instances in which a ball was traveling much faster and looked almost pristine. If pure lead is around 5 BHN I'm not sure I'd want 8 in a pistol bullet. If I had a way to test it I'd be all over it though.

[samwithacolt]

I tried the 1/2 pipe today, not a success. I ground it gently, kept dipping it in a bucket of water so it never got hot. 1st attempt it lost it's edge right away, second attempt I deliberately did'nt make it as sharp but then it would'nt cut at all. I might order a proper 1/2 punch as it'll cost very little more than 100 wads. The mold still has'nt turned up yet, hoping it'll show on monday.

[idahoron]

Did you sharpen the threads? I use a pipe nipple but you can't sharpen the threads they are too weak. I cut the threads off and then sharpen. I have done thousands like that.

[fiberoptik]

Dude! Harbor Freight! They have a punch set includes 1/2", has like 5 punches in the box not much bigger than a pack of cigarettes. Cheap!

[nagantguy]

I have a CVA Wolf and a T/C Encore 209/50. Both shoot the Lee REAL 320 slug quite accurately with either a .50 card or felt wad. The wad is not necessary if you keep the powder charge down around 50-60 grains (FFg or 777) for really accurate target shooting. If you want accuracy and higher velocity, the wad appears to be necessary. Circle Fly makes inexpensive .50 caliber 1/8 card wads. I make my own "durafelt" wads using a press-mounted punch. Loading 2 triple seven 50-grain pellets, two card or felt wads give slightly better accuracy. I am lubing with a 50/50 bee's wax/lard mix which allows for easy reloading for several shots without wiping the bore.some time ago I went on a accuracy quest for my encore 209x50 the 320 real was a serious contender, after playing with powder coating and curling them between two flat files they are hand down the most accurate ml boolit or bullet I've ever used

[rodwha]

I bought a cheap set of Harbor Freight punches. It wouldn't even cut through the 1/8" felt! Waste of $$$!

[idahoron]

I like my wads to be .62" for a 50. I have yet to see a cutter that will do that. I heard of one but the guys has not sent me a link.

[johnson1942]

ive got three wad punches from buffalo arms. .451 .458 .50. they are slightly larger but i punch 60 thousands wads all the time perfectly. thet are costly but last forever.

[fiberoptik]

Just remembered my punch made for my 5/8" blowgun...... .625"! Duh!

[Motor]

I have the 250 and the 320. I admit I don't use the 320 yet but the 250 has been awesome. I don't use and wadd with the 250 but I only use 50 to 70 grains of Pyrodex RS depending on if I'm hunting squirrel or if both squirrel and deer are in season.

I can tell you the 250 is VERY accurate. I'm sure the 320 will be as well. Going by my experience with FFg 777 you may want a wadd with any charges 80gr and up.

Motor

[idahoron]

I got a punch for my 50. I got the link from a man that said they were at least .62 so I ordered this one. I haven't used it yet but I think it will work.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004T7WB?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

[rsrocket1]

The initial grinding was on a wheel grinder. I touch up the sharpening with a Dremel whenever it needs it. I use a 2x4 wood backing and make sure I don't pound real hard. The important thing to do is to ensure the sharp part is even and parallel to the wood when you punch. I may eventually buy a punch but so far for several hundred cards, this has held up surprisingly well. I'm only target shooting but that means I typically shoot about 15-25 shots per outing so I go through quite a few.