Please identify these bullets and the cast bullet's mold

[Naphtali]

I just bought a Freedom Arms .475 Linebaugh. Accompanying the revolver were two buckets of bullets. The Seller could not identify either bullet. Seller said he got the plain-base cast bullets from a friend in Billings, Montana.

My scale has gone heels down. I cannot furnish bullet weights. Here are their physical dimensions as best I can. Jacketed bullet on left has a concave base that I do not show.

1. Overall length of jacketed bullet is about .928 inch; cast bullet is about .933 inch.

2. O.D. of both bullets is about .475 inch.

3. Meplat of jacketed bullet is about .327 inch; cast bullet is about .395 inch.

4. Length from crimp to nose is about .355 inch for both bullets.
***
After comparing online graphics with bullet, I believe the cast bullet is not Lee .475/400 grain, or RCBS .476/400/SWC.

The cast bullet is impressive to examine. I do not know whether it will function satisfactorily and accurately in my Model 83, or .480 Ruger SRH. I am uncertain the lubrication grooves are sufficient for their job -- I understand, for example, Lee's 475/400 plain-base bullet has lubrication grooves that are right on the edge of being inadequate.
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One last thing, What is the best currently manufactured balance beam reloading scale? The best is always less expensive in the long run.

[GSPKurt]

I can't help you on the boolits. Sorry. I have never heard of a scale going TU before. I use an RCBS 5-0-5, and am quite satisfied with it. If your's is an RCBS also, send it back to them for a refurb.

[madcaster]

The one on the right is awfully familiar to an LBT bullet...

[felix]

That boolit is very typical of the LBT WFN series. Lube should be sufficient because there are three grooves. His lube groove(s) depth is not deep to help maintain the balance of the boolit towards the base, which is required to offset the wind friction. ... felix

[blackthorn]

No help on the bullets--sorry. I have used an RCBS 10/10 scale for over 30 years with no trouble whatsoever so I can highly recomend getting one of those.

[DLCTEX]

On scales, I have used my RCBS 505 since 1980 with completely satisfactory reslts, my Lyman Pro 1000 is 5 yrs. old and is great, the Lee safety scale is ok, it works, just different. I have other scales I bought because the price was right, but I don't use them. Dale

[jtaylor1960]

I'm fairly sure the jacketed bullet is a Speer Gold Dot.If you look closely you see the gold dot in the meplat.After expansion you can see the dot more clearly.I'm not sure on the weight but can check and see what is available.Checked at Midway and they show a 400gr Gold Dot that looks like a match.

[dubber123]

400 gr. Gold Dot, and an LBT WFN, or a copy thereof. If they are really .475" thats probably a little smaller than ideal, but only shooting will tell.

[The Nyack Kid]

it looks like a Cast Proformance ,LBT WFN rip-off exept for the color of the lube which IIRC is blue . also IIRF a true LBT boolit should have many more lube groves.
How hard is the lead alloy ? is it D*mn hard or "just hard" or "kinda sorta soft" ?

[Pepe Ray]

No company or brand is immune from making a lemon now and then. All the scales do there job. My concern would be, if you intend to use this until your eyesight begins to diminish, look carefully at how clearly the numbers and hash marks are displayed.
Pepe Ray

[Lloyd Smale]

by looking at the lube grove spacing id guess its a bullet out of a ballistic cast mold. The nose looks alot like the 420 wfngc mold i have.

[Naphtali]

I queried LBT. Mr. Smith replied, then replied a second time to request I post his reply. He had login problems. Here it is complete except for salutation and closing.
***
The Bullet is my LFN nose profile, and is available in any weight you want, plain base, bevel base or gas checked, with any nose length asked for, any diameter you ask for. Nose length on the pictured bullet appears to be quite a bit under .4, which I make on request, but a .4 nose is right for Linebaugh guns, and I believe FA revolvers, but measure the distance from end of cylinder to the end of a crimped empty case and you'll know for sure what your gun will handle. Seating them out allows more powder and power, but even seated deep the gun is too powerful for most shooters to handle. Maybe even all shooters would be more accurate. A 400 gr LFN fired at 1000 fps is sweet to shoot and will take any US game with authority. 385 gr bullets are the most popular weight as recoil is most controllable with fairly stout loads. Top accuracy will be obtained with 440 gr.

For your interest, I developed this line of bullets when the Linebaugh was first introduced, specifically for it, and nothing has matched the LBT performance since, in it or any of the newer similar cartridges from Ruger, Taurus, FA.

[felix]

From LBT: LFN boolits have a 70 percent meplat; WFN boolits have a 80 percent meplat. Yours is definitely a WFN, and might not be a genuine LBT. Like Lloyd said, it could be a knock-off by Ballicast. Revolters always shoot more accurately with LONG boolits because that cylinder-barrel gap must be overcome using a full caliber bridged boolit design. By the way, real Keith boolits have a 62 percent meplat. ... felix

[Naphtali]

Yours is definitely a WFN, and might not be a genuine LBT. Like Lloyd said, it could be a knock-off by Ballicast.

After Mr. Smale's reply, I also queried Ballisti-Cast. No reply yet.

When you mention "knock-off," should I infer the design is a near copy of a previous LBT design, or should I also include "inferior" with near copy?

The reasons I am interested in the bullet include the following:
1. Since it accompanied the revolver, and the seller is a shooter rather than a wannabe, these bullets almost certainly function correctly and accurately.

2. Plain base.

3. I accept that wide meplats on otherwise accurately shooting bullets yield improved destruction of the target when compared with other cast bullet shapes.

4. If I measured the crimp-to-nose distance correctly, .355 inch will load to acceptable overall lengths in .475 Linebaugh cases and .480 Ruger's.

5. While I own neither manufacturers' molds, LBT and Ballisti-Cast have excellent reputations. It's unlikely a mold from either will cast unsatisfactory (inaccurate) bullets if I do my part. Having contradicted what I asked Felix about earlier, I'm wondering if I should just send each manufacturer a few bullets and let them take care of the rest?

[44man]

I will beat on you for that Felix. Some of my most accurate boolits are WFN designs that need a running start to the forcing cone. I also like the WLN boolits but I never have detected a difference in accuracy between them.
My 45-70 BFR has a mile to go to reach the end of the cylinder with any boolit but it has put the WFN's into an inch at 100 yd's. I have totally quit believing in that old story.

[Blammer]

jacketed one is speer gold dot. the 'concave' base is a give away.

[Naphtali]

jacketed one is speer gold dot. the 'concave' base is a give away.

From its dimensions, would you concur that it is a 400-grain Gold Dot?

And if this is correct, the cast bullet would be some 420-440-grain behemoth?

In the grand scheme of things, why would I want to use these Gold Dots rather than the cast bullet? I don't mean because I have them. I can sell them easily enough, I would think. Is there some advantage to this particular bullet that I should become aware of?

[dubber123]

I had some left over 400 gr. Gold Dots. Mine measure .928", so they are definately 400 grainers. They were good bullets, and shot fine, but they were consistantly slower than XTP's. I noticed this in another load manual, they just don't go as fast even though they are the same weight. 25 grains of H-110 didn't even break 1,200 fps. The same powder charge will send a 440 gr. cast over 1,300.

I would guess the cast boolit to be closer to 400 than 440. I have an LBT 440 gr. WFN mould, and that boolit is .980" long.

In my opinion, there is no advantage to using a jacketed bullet over a wide nosed cast boolit.

[JohnSmiles]

If you want to know the exact weights of these, send me a PM and I will give you my address to send a couple samples to and I will gladly weigh them for you.
As for what scale. I too have been using an rcbs 5-0-5 scale since the early 80's, and have no complaints.