Originally Posted by
Char-Gar
I don't think it is any deep dark secret, particularly to us grey heads, that Elmer Keith used a binary alloy of 1-16 (tin to lead) for his magnum sixgun bullets and the good old sticky Lyman/Ideal black bullet lube.
1-16 has a Brinell hardness of about eleven which is close to what I get with my batch of crimp on wheelweights. I still use a soft and sticky lube that requires no heater.
But the question was not what did Keith do, but about the rounds vs. flat bottom grease groove and is their any clear evidence on if better than another. I don't think that has been answered.
I have fired many Keith bullets including 358429. 452423, 454424 and 429421 of the original design coming from old unvented mold bocks as well as 358429, 452423 and 429421 late 60's vintage round groove molds. I have fired them from 1-16 and ACWW and lubed them with a variety of soft lubes including black sticky Lyman/Ideal of which I still have a goodly supply. This is pretty much an apples and apples comparison real Keith bullets, alloy and lube.
The bottom line is I have yet to detect any real, repeatable differences in lube groove design based on my shooting over 50 years with these bullets.
For the record: I cast my first Keith bullet (452423) in 1959, read everything Keith wrote, corresponded with him and even had the pleasure of spending a couple hours with him, Bill Jordon and a couple of others around a table drinking whisky and telling gun stories.
I don't think all of us are as ignorant, inexperienced and generally in the dark on the subject at hand, as some would make it seem.