Hard enough?

[paul45120]

I cast my first boolits last week. I wanted to let them set awhile before loading them.
These are Lee 45 cal 230gn RN TL.
Checking them with the Lee tester I get a hardness of 9.5. They are cast from WW at a temp of 775- 800 deg. This was nessary to get good fill out. I lubed them with Rooster jacket, sized, and them relubed.
Will these be hard enough to shoot at 750FPS without leading. My store bought bullets tested at 17.2
I'll be running these in my match pistol and don't really want to lead the barrel up alot.

Thanks

[sagacious]

Harder does not mean less leading, especially in 45ACP.

Sizing is critical. You do not mention sizing. If you believe that hardness is the end of the story as concerns leading, you may be in for considerable chagrin.

WW alloy is plenty hard enough for the 45ACP. That part should not be any problem at all.

What does your barrel slug at? What was the sizing of the copmmercial bullets? What is the sizing of your cast TL bullets?

[BABore]

Nobody can truthfully tell you except for Dr. Gun.

Boolit size, fit, lube, load, and bbl all play a part along with the alloy and hardness. All that said, your about right IMO. I shoot a similar hardness in full power 44 Mag and 480 Ruger loads.

[paul45120]

The barrel slugs at .4496 and .4438 across the lands.
Boolits are sized to .452

[sagacious]

The barrel slugs at .4496 and .4438 across the lands.
Boolits are sized to .452

Seems like you're set for success. :drinks:

[ANeat]

Most 45acps Ive seen can shoot pure lead without leading if the size is right. I usually shoot lead/ww mixed 50/50 and get no leading.

I think those tumble lubed RN's will work great

[paul45120]

Thanks for the help guys.
I just shot 20 rnds. Seems pretty accurate. Definitly a low pressure round. No leading. Very dirty though. I'm using 4.6grns of HP38. This powder was burning pretty clean in "hot" loads. Any sugestions for a cleaner powder at low pressures/velosities?

[ANeat]

Clays is real nice in 45acp. Lots of good choices really. I use Bullseye mostly but Clays has a reputatuion for being one of the cleaner burning options

[MtGun44]

We are trying to stamp out the misinformation that the way to stop leading is
to have a boolit that is "hard enough". It is not even remotely this simple.

It is perhaps too strong to say that there is "NO" connection between hardness and leading,
but there are a whole bunch of things in line ahead of hardness on the 'cause of leading'
list.

Fit is number one and you are in good shape based on your reported groove
diam and sizing diam. Not everyone likes the hard lubes, I have had decent results
in .45 ACP on commercial boolits, so it will probably work. If you get any leading
the first next thing to do is to try a soft lube like NRA formula 50-50 alox-beeswax.

By the way, there are almost certainly more cases of TOO HARD causing leading than
the other way around.

Bill

[RobS]

This is my opinion to order:
-Bullet fit--you are there
-Bore condition--smooth bore without restrictions
-Bullet Lube--hard maybe ok in 45 auto, personally I use a softer lube for all my applications
-Powder selection--faster powders have the ability to deform the bullet quicker from the start as they will produce peak pressures at the beginning of the barrel vs slower powder selections that gradually produce pressures throughout the length of the barrel
-Bullet hardness--what you have (10 BHN) should work and does for most individuals; this is a debate that fills the threads of the forum from time to time.

It sounds like you should be good to go, although like has been said your gun will let you know if it likes what you have for a reload.

Rob

[44man]

You can shoot all kinds of lead in many guns. It is the revolver that has special needs that will change for every load, powder and boolit weight and shape.
I say go for it and shoot the boolits to see what you get.

[mroliver77]

Looks like all is set for success. Can you increase the powder or are you looking for this speed (750fps)? I would say your alloy will stand a much stouter load to reduce unburnt powder. I used to burn a lot of Clays as it was clean and cheap. I have been using Titewad recently and it is very clean,tame and cheap. I size my .45 Auto to .452 and it just works in all I have fiddled with.
Jay