Hollow base boolits

[Bob in Revelstoke]

I have a couple of CVA .45 cal muzzle loaders. I have always shot patched round ball in them. I recently aquired a single cavity RCBS 45-280-M mould. My question is: do I have to put anything into the hollow in the base of the boolit so there is no airspace? Or, is is ok to shoot them as is. I have homemade boolit lube made from beeswax and crisco.

Any information would much appreciated.

[Boz330]

I doubt that lack of lube in the base will make much difference, the powder will fill it. If they are a round ball twist then that boolit probably isn't going to shoot that accurately. You won't be able to spin it fast enough to get much accuracy from it. One of the Lee REALs would probably shoot better. If it shoots good with a RB just use that.

Bob

[johnson1942]

i shoot hollowbased bullets in my 2 .45 cal/s and 3 .50 cals. in the .45/s i use a 60 thousands thick wad that is used in 45/70/s behind the hollow base bullet. the same with my 50/s only the wad measures .512. the purpose is no blow by and when the wad pushes or slams against the base that hollow base shortens up some and the bullet really grips the lands and grooves.you dont have to fill the hollow base with gas to expand that kind of bullet. the wad does a better job of it and with the wad their is no overexpansion of the base of the bullet when it leaves the muzzle. i shot 250 grain hollow base bullets in a 1/48 twist 45 cal and they were very very accurate way past 100 yards. have fun

[Southron]

Generally, Mini Rifles use shallow grooves while round ball rifles use deeper grooves. However, as Johnosn1942 notes, using a good wad will make shooting hollow base bullets in your rifle work fine.

For best "Match Accuracy" highly recommend that you weigh all of your cast bullets and sorting them into Plus or Minus 1 Grain Lots. The too light bullets go back into the casting pot because they have hidden air bubbles in them. Slze your bullets to no smaller than 2 Thou of an Inch under your bore diameter. Generally, moderate loads between 40 and 55 Grains of FFFg provide the best accuracy.

GOODS LUCK!

[Good Cheer]

I have a couple of CVA .45 cal muzzle loaders. I have always shot patched round ball in them. I recently aquired a single cavity RCBS 45-280-M mould. My question is: do I have to put anything into the hollow in the base of the boolit so there is no airspace? Or, is is ok to shoot them as is. I have homemade boolit lube made from beeswax and crisco.

Any information would much appreciated.

Won't know for sure 'til you try. Something an experienced barrel maker told me was that deep groove barrels can shoot minies and flat based bullets as well as shallow groove barrels do.

It's all a matter of taking the time to find out what your barrel likes and how to work with it to do what you want.

[fouronesix]

Just smear some Crisco or whatever soft BP lube on, load with a low-medium charge of BP and shoot. You can put some lube in the base and try it. The rifle will tell you what works. I'm guessing the PRB shoots much better, but there's only one way to find out and that's not on the internet or computer.

As to how well they'll shoot?? that's the $64k question. Never tried that bullet in any 45 cal. But, I did try the very similar Lee 45 cal Imp. Minié in a 48" twist T/C. Tried every possible combination of load and technique. Accuracy at 50 yards was only fair at best with one combination, all other loads were not good at all. The T/C maxiball outshot the Minié in that 45 cal rifle by a large margin.