Lube or alloy problem

[USAFrox]

Are you making sure that your sized bullet isn't being sized even smaller by the case itself when you seat it? You might want to pull a seated bullet and check its diameter, to see if your cases are sizing your bullets smaller in the seating operation. If so, you'd be shooting bullets that are undersized for your bore, which could cause leading. Just a thought.

[glockky]

I looked up this mold on the Lee web site, nice design that I don't think should ever lead.

So I'll make a few suggestions on things I'd check on if this was my issue.

First I think I'd look at the how much crimp your using and, more importantly, if it is being completely ironed out upon firing.

A check of fired case's should give you the answers to that.

in either case you need to check that and to see if the case tension is actually shaving the boolit as it is seated, in either case the lube could be scraped from the boolit or the boolit could be undersized when fired.

Next I'd look at the boolit base, if it's not perfect you may be getting a little gas cutting . a problem with base's that are not perfect and a major reason many caster dislike large bevel base boolits.

here's the senario as I see it: base isn't perfect but your using a slow pistol powder load, by the time the powder charge builds enough pressure / temp to override the lube the boolit is half way down the barrel and makes it look like a lube failure!

Suggest taking a good hard look at your as cast boolit base's under a strong magnifiying glass any or all of these suggestions may turn out to be your problem.

I was crimping them pretty heavy I will back off the crimp and try that today

[Forrest r]

I would also try putting more lube on your already lubed bullets. Size/lube them like you normally would then lube them with lla, jp wax, anything (50/50 crisco/wax) that will get more wax/lube on the bullet. Put it on the sides of the bullet by hand, it doen't matter as long as the bullets are lubed.

Only change/try 1 thing @ a time, it makes it easier to chase down any problem.

[41 mag fan]

I was crimping them pretty heavy I will back off the crimp and try that today

That might be the culprit right there...you're heavy crimp is swaging the boolits down.
Are you crimping with a Lee factory crimp die or using your seater die to seat and crimp at the same time?

[Edubya]

Pull a couple of those loaded boolits and measure them. You're probably over-crimping.

EW

[HollowPoint]

These kinds of post always leave me kind of stumped because I've never used any other kind of lube other than alox in my pistols or rifles. This included velocities from 850-2200 fps. This lube generally came with the cheap molds I started out with.

Initially this was because as a newbie bullet caster I didn't know any better but, once I learned a little more about bullet casting and the various alloys and lubes available I had more choices.

I noticed the OP mentioned he's using stick-on wheel weights. That's what I started casting with at first. I used to get them by the bucket-full for free so that's what I used. The Stick-On wheel weights are close enough to pure lead that in my first casting and shooting sessions, I found that this was the cause of the small amounts of leading I'd get from my 1911.

Once I learned about mixing my alloys I was able to rid myself of any leading in my barrels; provided my bullets were sized correctly.

HollowPoint

[NSP64]

water drop them boolits.
Harder is better when it comes to magnum loads, and less likely to swage down when seating boolit.
If you slug the barrel, does it get harder to push through when you get to the barrel/frame juncture?

[HeavyMetal]

Crimp is very subjective in every pistol but easier to deal with in a revolver round.

In this case, as an experiment, I'd seperate my brass by headstamp and color ( nickel and brass) and then set up a trim to length measurement and then trim them.

I might go as far as not crimping any of the loaded rounds but take my press and crimp die to the range with me and do 6 shot test groups as I applied crimp, taking notes on improvements, or not, as I went.

Casae prep is a huge deal for me but might not be for everyone else, LOL! I do wierd things like ream primer pockets, deburr flash holes trim to length and deburr the inside of the case mouth with Lyman 11 degree tool.

My thought is the case is like a engine block: if you want the best performance you have to have a core worth building on!

When I first started my case prep routine I saw much tighter, and more uniform group size's develop. Nothing earth shattering but real visual changes that could be seen with the naked eye.

I will also suggest a change of powder, if it's available for you: WW 296. Never had much luck with 2400 in my 44 mag, shot well enough just couldn't get over having to shake all the left over powder out of the gun each time I wanted to reload it!

296 burns cleaner, for me, generates good performance and is easy to meter as well.

Hope to see a post soon saying you've figured out you problem

[glockky]

Well after trying a max load of 2400 and a starting load of 2400 with no change I switched to AA#9. A max load of AA#9 left very little leading. I have to cast some more bullets to try some more load development. This is the first time I have ever shot non commercially cast bullets and I have noticed that the leading I get is a lot different that I have ever had before.

The leading is so easily removed. 5 or 6 swipes with bore brush and a dry patch and its all gone. thanks for all the info.

[geargnasher]

You did not have a lube or alloy failure. ACWW and BAC with the loads you used is spot-on, I've shot buckets of WW using similar methods. That alloy takes a week or two to reach full hardness, but should still shoot fine the day you cast it with the loads you were using. What you have is either a loading technique or a gun problem. Read some of the above posts with that in mind to sort it out, it's all been covered, except for thread choke or copper fouling.

Don't clear out your sizer, I guarantee you that's barking up the wrong tree.

Gear

[Harry O]

I have had problems with a lot of Lee moulds. In looking at them closely, I believe that they have two problems designed into them. One is size. Lyman is usually 0.002" or 0.003" over the listed diameter. They size well. Lee is 0.000" to 0.001" over the listed diameter. When sizing them, there are frequently parts of the bullet that are not sized. That means undersized to me and undersized (even part of the bullet) is the kiss of death for cast bullets.

The other problem is lack of lube groove area (since you indicate this is not a tumble lube). The lube grooves in Lee moulds are very shallow when compared to Keith designed moulds. When there is any sizing at all, there is virtually nothing left to fill with lube. Rather than a failure of lube, it sounds like the lube did great until it ran out. Unfortunately, it ran out 1-1/2" from the muzzle.

I do not agree at all that the mix is too hard. You are shooting very near full power .357 Magnum pressures. Straight WW is not good enough for that. At least drop them in water. That is why I went to gas checks for my Magnums. I use gas checks with a Lyman 358156 with just a little more 2400 than you do (13.5gr). I have never had problems with that combination and it is accurate no matter how much I shoot.

[geargnasher]

The lube didn't "run out". That is a very common myth, especially when considering a revolver.

Gear

[Larry Gibson]

Nothing wrong with the load and the BAC lube did not "run out" as gear said. However all batches of WWs are not created equal. Antimonal wash has become more common with the very low % of tin in WWs the last 20 or so years. Probably why the OP is still getting "very little leading" also. Adding the 2% tin to his "batch" of WWs would have been probably the solution and probably still is.

Larry Gibson