LEE R.E.A.L. Boolits

[Knarley]

Tried some of those LEE R.E.A.L. Boolits today with dismal results.
TC Hawken, 70 gr. Goex FFFG, SPG lube.
The gun has always shot straight with patched round ball, and did well with the Lyman Maxi.
They don't seem to do well out of any of the rifles I've tried them in, or are they more for the inline guns? I don't have any in-lines.

Knarley

[bubba.50]

they've always shot good in my guns. most calibers of the Lee R.E.A.L. molds come in two weights. I use the lighter weight in roundball twist guns & the heavier weight in my T/C's with the 1 in 48 twist. luck to ya & have a good'en, bubba.

[triggerhappy243]

were you shooting pure-pure lead? SPG LUBE? WHATS THAT? What about a wad between the powder and bullet?

[fouronesix]

Knarley, you're not alone.
I've tried the Lee REAL in a couple of 48" twist T/Cs in 45 and 50 caliber. I tried them with a base wad of felt and a base wad of fiber card. I even tried them in a 28" twist 50 cal inline I used to own. They were supposed to compete with the original T/C Maxiball conical. They were usually much more difficult to start straight into the muzzle than a comparable Maxiball- even thought their "theory of operation" was supposed to be similar to that of the original T/C Maxiball. They never shot as well as a T/C Maxiball in any of the guns or loads I tried. So my inexpensive (cheap) Lee REAL molds will forever be lonely and unused (by me) just sitting in their boxes awaiting passage to someone else. :)

[docone31]

You used too much powder, and there was no wad between the base of the REAL, and powder.
You should start around 50gns.
Mine were awful the first shooting sessions. 10 ft or more groups at 100yds. Then I backed way down on powder. I did find my load. Start low and work up.

[GabbyM]

What is your caliber and weight of bullet?
I just shoot the 45 caliber and Lee makes two different weight bullets. Short 200 grain is for round ball twist guns in 45 caliber as it's about one caliber in length.

[rodwha]

A lot of unknown info such as twist rate, groove depth, powder charge, which conical...

I bought some cast 320 grn .50 cal REALs to try through my Lyman Deerstalker (1:48" twist) with deeper (~.520" grooved) barrel. I lubed them with Gatofeo's #1 lube and tried my typical 70 grns of 3F Olde Eynsford black powder and noted that it was about a foot left and low, and had keyholed. Having been told these may require a felt wad I punched and brought some. The next two shots were nearly touching and just below the bull at 50 yds.

I bought a mold after that!

[Fly]

I agree with some of the above. I like REALs but start with lighter loads with a felt wad & work up.
There are many people that have great success with them.

Fly

[tomme boy]

5 shots 100 yds with the 250 gr LEE with felt wad and 90 gr Diamondback real black powder.

I think this is really good for iron sights. This was out of my T/C Newenglander.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/tommeboy/muzzleloader.png (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tommeboy/media/muzzleloader.png.html)

[mooman76]

Allot of people seem to have trouble getting good fill out in the bands for some reason. That would effect accuracy allot.

[Fly]

Lead must not be hot enough. Mine are fine, that bullet is a great design.

Fly

[Tackleberry41]

I may have to try some sort of wad. I finally got around to trying some REAL bullets recently. They didn't shoot groups, it was more of well hopefully it will hit the paper somewhere. 70grs in a modern gun didn't seem excessive. I used pure lead in mine, but sat a while, over a year so hardened up some. They were brutal to get started, broke my short starting rod, and bent the aluminum rod that came with the rifle. Once started went down real easy, it was getting the rifling to cut that band. I can't imagine beating on them as it required did anything for accuracy.

Lee might want to try some helpful instructions with that mold, like they need a wad and a lighter charge to hit anything.

[tomme boy]

If they hardened then they were not pure lead at all. Pure will not harden

[nagantguy]

Knarley, you're not alone.
I've tried the Lee REAL in a couple of 48" twist T/Cs in 45 and 50 caliber. I tried them with a base wad of felt and a base wad of fiber card. I even tried them in a 28" twist 50 cal inline I used to own. They were supposed to compete with the original T/C Maxiball conical. They were usually much more difficult to start straight into the muzzle than a comparable Maxiball- even thought their "theory of operation" was supposed to be similar to that of the original T/C Maxiball. They never shot as well as a T/C Maxiball in any of the guns or loads I tried. So my inexpensive (cheap) Lee REAL molds will forever be lonely and unused (by me) just sitting in their boxes awaiting passage to someone else. :)

Pm me sir, I will take that REAL mold if it's 320 and in good shape. Let me k ow what you want for it.

[nagantguy]

They take some work, but the reals have shot real good,pun intended. In every front stuffer I've tried them in. As was said, a wad between boolit and powder, also I've found lube to he critical in fast twist muzzle loaders. I've settled on pc.

[Knarley]

I cast them out of pure lead. They are the 320 gr. 50 cal boolits. No, I did not use a wad under the boolit.
I believe the TC Hawken has a 1:48 twist. The SPG Lube is what I use for my 45-70, perhaps it is too stiff?
The TC Maxi is the same as the Lyman, but I don't have that mould, and yes I was casting hot, but pure lead doesn't fill a cavity like an alloy of lead/tin. An alloy would really be a bear to get started.
I'll try a wad, and dropping the powder charge, one at a time of course to see what happens.
Thanks for the input.........
Knarley

[LAGS]

An Alloy of up to 1/3 works pretty good and is not that hard to get started.
Even a .5 /1 ratio will give you better Fill out, and not be too hard.
Heck, even pure Lead with 1% Tin will do fine for the Fill out, and you can skip the Antimony that makes most of the Hardness.

[Good Cheer]

The bands on all REAL's aren't always the same from mold to mold and the bore diameters on all rifles in any given caliber just aren't the same. The REAL's and rifle in hand either work or they don't.
Lapping out a REAL mold to fit a larger bore is easy but the other way around...
Maybe could size the first couple of bands to fit your bore? :confused:

[Good Cheer]

Hey, that reminds me, got a .582 bore to try to lap out a REAL mold to fit, uh, someday.:p

Wouldn't it be fun to have something for the .62 flinter!

[rodwha]

Accurate Molds would hook you up!

[Good Cheer]

32" Green Mountain barrel on the TC Hawken.
That could be a screamin' cannon.

[Tackleberry41]

It is a bit of an issue with muzzle loaders, no real standards on measurements. Some are tight some aren't. Everything I read about the REAL is your gun will shoot them good with little effort, some can fiddle with them to get them to work, and others just won't shoot them at all. I will mess with mine when I get a chance, try some wads, different charge weight, doesn't improve just stick with the sabots it does like. It drilled those 300gr shockwaves.

[Knarley]

Back from the range. That gun just don't like them boolits. Can't keep 'em on a sheet of typing paper @ 50 yrds.
Patched RB shoots a nice little group...........
I'll be hunting with them

Knarley

[mooman76]

Can you measure the REALs you have? If it's 50 cal the upper band should measure about .517.

[LAGS]

I took out three of my T/C's today, and fired the R.E.A.L. bullets in both .45 and .50 cal's
The .45 was the 200 gr, and the .50 was the 320 gr.
, Both shot with 50 gr of RS at 25 and 50 Yards.
All bullets, (once I got the sights adjusted), hit in the center of a 12" target.
I was shooting off my elbows resting on a bench, and there was a stiff wind in the afternoon.
They both shot better than 3" groups with open Factory sights.
With the RB both rifles were shooting where one ball touched the other hole and the third shot was about 2" away on several groups.
I blame that pattern on ME, not the rifle or load.
I am going to try the same load with a Wad next time and see if it helps.
The Slugs were cast out of Lead, some out of Lead with 1% Tin Added, and some out of a 1/3 Tin/ Antimony blend.
They all shot the same.
Oh, For the Lube, I just used straight Crisco, and the barrel was damp patch swabed between shots.

[tomme boy]

Mine shoots WAY better if using real black powder. They hate the Pyrorust powder. Shrunk my groups in half by switching powder.

[LAGS]

I shot some more R.E.A.L. bullets out of my T/C .45 and .50 today at 50 Yards.
200 gr REAL with 43 gr of RS in the .45 and 51 gr of RS for the .50 under a 320 gr REAL .
Shot with out a wad, they had two shots touching each other, and one about 1.5" to 2" away on a three shot group.
Then I did not have wads, so I balled up a 1"x1" 1/4' square of dacron fiberfill and stuffed it in over the powder.
The rifle Kicked a little more, but the groups were about the same and not much smaller.
I lubed the slugs with straight Crisco.
I seem to have a flyer on all of my groups, be it with a BP or centerfire smokeless rifle, so I am not blaming the load.
I will do the same test at 100 yards in weeks to come, and I will get some proper wads and see if that helps or hurts.
But , Two shots touching at 50 yards, and being known to shoot a third shot flyer, I think they did pretty good in both rifles with a 1/48 twist.
BTW
One thing I forgot to mention.
On both rifles, the REAL slug shot Lower than the same load used in a Patched Round ball.
5.5" for the .45 and 7.5 for the .50 cal.
The RB loads grouped exactly the same at 50 yards.

[triggerhappy243]

I can see the r.e.a.l.'s grouping lower... they weigh more. are you weighing the RS on a scale? or loading volume? just a little confused.

[LAGS]

I used a measure that I had checked with a scale.