Leading Question

[azcoyhunter]

I finally had the time to shoot a new load in my 45 LC.

Lee 300 GR cast (Clint special alloy)

My question is I shot 6 shots,

I saw some of what looked like lead in the barell, but it cleaned fine, now it is sparkling again.

How many shots should I shoot before I can declare the load good and not leading?

Clint

[454PB]

If you saw leading in only 6 shots, it's probably not going to improve. We need more information.....what is "Clint special" alloy, what lube, what size diameter, what powder, what velocity, did you use a gas check, have you slugged the bore and cylinder throats?

I use this same boolit at 1500 fps. in four different .454 Casulls without any leading.

[Bass Ackward]

How many shots should I shoot before I can declare the load good and not leading?

Clint

Clint,

What do you want from the gun?

If you won't shoot more than six at a time, then your there.

There is no magic number, But I would think that you would want at least 200 and maybe 2000 if you were a competitor.

[azcoyhunter]

If you saw leading in only 6 shots, it's probably not going to improve. We need more information.....what is "Clint special" alloy, what lube, what size diameter, what powder, what velocity, did you use a gas check, have you slugged the bore and cylinder throats?

I use this same boolit at 1500 fps. in four different .454 Casulls without any leading.

Sir,

Clint's Special alloy, is just what I call What I smelt and cast, it is just what ever I can mix up, (mix of WW and lead, some TIN Solder threw in)

I use Lee Liquid Alox

I use TiteGroup

Diameter of the Boolit? Whatever gets threw by my mould ( No way to measure)

Velocity (good kick)

No GasCheck used.

I have not slugged the barell, or the cylinder throats.

I am not sure it is leading, it looked like powder (stain for lack of better word)

I am hoping to just get a simple load that I can carry when I ride with my hounds.

Clint

[azcoyhunter]

Clint,

What do you want from the gun?

If you won't shoot more than six at a time, then your there.

There is no magic number, But I would think that you would want at least 200 and maybe 2000 if you were a competitor.

Sir,

I just want to be able to shoot mabey 50 rounds,between cleanings and not ruin my Ruger,

I love realoading for my Ruger, it is a real hoot to shoot.

But at over $700, I do not want to ruin it, and Then I would cry

[Bob Jones]

I haven't found Titegroup to be the best powder for cast boolits, I seemed to end up with more leading problems for some reason. You might try some loads with other powders and see if you get any improvement.

Oh, and lead won't ruin a gun. Worst case scenario is time spent cleaning.

[454PB]

Do some more shooting, Clint. You might already have everything right and not know it. If leading and degrading accuracy becomes a problem, some of the previously asked questions may need to be addressed. Like Bob said, leading is an annoyance, not damaging to the gun. If it gets really bad, fire a mildly loaded jacketed bullet or a few gas checked boolits and push out the bulk of the leading.

[azcoyhunter]

Thanks,

I think I will just keep shooting ( ow no, not again, that means that I get to cast more

Thanks for all the info.

I will let the board know how it turns out.

Thanks again, for helping a *** Caster.


Clint

[shooting on a shoestring]

I suggest a good pair of dial calipers, Brown and Sharpe or Starrett are great and are worth their price, but at least Mititoyo, cheaper but still workable. Then you can know your boolit diameters and throats, and groove diameters.

The redneck route is to push a fresh boolit through each throat. The boolits should be polished where they contact the throats, and the contact should be all the way around the boolit and should offer some resistance. Then use a sharpie and color the polished areas of the boolits black. Use a mallet and wooden dowel to drive the colored boolits down the bore. If the boolits show they reach to the bottoms of the gooves, then all is well. If the boolits show they don't drag the bottoms of the grooves, then your boolits are too small coming out of the throats, may need to increase throat diameters (provided the boolits are larger than the throats).

Bass Ackwards is right. I used to carry .38 spl with pure lead wadcutters driven about 850 fps. They leaded sure, but they expanded well and were used for defense, so if needed would never fire more than a handful and leading simply didn't matter.

I've never seen revolver that would not shed its lead to 50 strokes with a stiff bronze bore brush, usually 25 does the job, only takes a minute. Leading is not a big deal to me. I usually find several loads that will lead before I work out the bugs. Felix lube has really taken a bite out of my leading. I find LLA usually leads at around 900 fps in 38s and .357s.

[Three44s]

I have had good luck with Titegroup at moderate velocities.

For even better revo/lead experiences ........ I prefer Unique and HS-6 .......... medium loads and still heavier loadings ........

For still more power I then switch to 2400 .........

(All in .44 mag ....... so you would need to refer to published manuals for info pertinent to the 45 LC in a Ruger)

AND ....... as to slugging bores, chambers and polishing and even cleaning ........... :

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/bulletselect/index.htm

Go to the left bar and click on "book" .............. at fourteen bucks postage paid ......... IT'S A STEAL!!!!!!!!!

Three 44s

[azcoyhunter]

I will shoot more this weekend, and I will report back with my results

Thanks for all the info

Clint

[azcoyhunter]

I took my grandson out and I shot my 45 LC

I shot 40 rounds

I went home, and found the same amout of leading as when I shot 6 shots.

I crimped harder since the last time.

I am happy with the pistol and the round.

Thanks for all the info.


Clint

[MtGun44]

If the lead is not building up and accy is good, you are home
free. If the accuracy is less than desired, you will need to do
some testing.

Fitting the boolit to the revolver is important for best accuracy,
and for this you must be able to measure. Go read the sticky on
basic revolver accuracy, it explains a whole lot.

You can get a decent dial caliper from Enco for well under $20, and it is
really an important tool for reloading.

Go to http://www.use-enco.com and put 610-5026 in the "Find it" box
at the top center of the page and click on "go".

This is a good caliper for $13.95, add shipping and it should run about $20
or so. This is a lifetime tool investment and if you take care of it, your
kids can use it.

Bill