New to shooting lead, what is this?

[Echo]

If I knew what I was talking about, I would say the bullets are undersized for the cylinder throats - but I'm a noobie. What I'm looking at seems to be mild splatter, or melted bits, cast off the bullet as it leaves the cylinder and gets deposited around the bbl...

[Gohon]

The OP stated the BHN was 12, that's not a overly hard cast. He also said they were .452 size which most likely is to small in size. He also mentioned the bullets had been sitting around for 3 years. With the cheap lube some casters use these days there seems to be a good chance the lube had dried to a hardness beyond use. Off hand I'd say undersized and no/bad lube was the culprit, especially since this occurred in two different guns.

[Stopsign32v]

Could a few thick coats of ALOX fix this possibly?

[Dusty Bannister]

Could a few thick coats of ALOX fix this possibly?

THIN coats not thick coats. Thick coats will just gum things up and make even a worse mess than you already have.

[Stopsign32v]

THIN coats not thick coats. Thick coats will just gum things up and make even a worse mess than you already have.

Ok I'll try some of that this evening. Going to go shooting again tomorrow so I'll take the cleaned revolver and run about 30 rounds through it and report tomorrow.

[fredj338]

Try some of the Brinell 18 bullets from the Missouri website.

Harder isn't going to help if the bullets are undersize.
Are you shooting 0.452"? What are the cyl throat in size? A good chance the cyl throats are on the small side & sizing the bullet down & it is getting gas cutting. Trying pushing a new bullet thru each cyl throat. If it doesn't fall thru or push thru with a tiny bit of effort, the throats are probably too small.

[Stopsign32v]

Harder isn't going to help if the bullets are undersize.
Are you shooting 0.452"? What are the cyl throat in size? A good chance the cyl throats are on the small side & sizing the bullet down & it is getting gas cutting. Trying pushing a new bullet thru each cyl throat. If it doesn't fall thru or push thru with a tiny bit of effort, the throats are probably too small.

You cannot physically push a bullet through any of the cylinders by hand with a pencil, no matter the force you apply. The bullets are .452

[Stopsign32v]

So shooting tomorrow morning I made up 50 with some ALOX. Couldn't let them sit overnight so I popped them in the oven @ 220*. Well that melted all of the blue lube from Missouri Bullet Co. Not sure if they are usable or not? They are coated with ALOX now but no blue groove lube.

[tazman]

Not a problem. Go ahead and shoot them. The Alox by itself should be enough.

[Beagle333]

The Alox will work.

[Stopsign32v]

Well for anyone that cares I heated the same bullets which in turn melted the blue Missouri Co lube, oops. But I coated the bullets in 2 coats of ALOX and then loaded them up with 2.5cc of Black MZ.

Here is the result after 50 rounds!

[Dusty Bannister]

Why change from the powder that you had been using? Source of your reloading data?

[Dusty Bannister]

Please delete, double post.

[Stopsign32v]

Why change from the powder that you had been using? Source of your reloading data?

I use a range of loads for 45 Colt. I was in the mood for smoke today.

Edit: I just got your PM Dusty and thanks but you are a bit incorrect about this. All black powder subtitles do not require black powder lube. In this case what I am using is non corrosive and uses smokeless lube. Also Black MZ is not air pocket sensitive however I did load these cases up for a slight compression which is still perfectly safe.

[Dusty Bannister]

When I looked at the powder warnings, it did say that the bullet should be seated on the powder. But I was not able to access any data for handguns. SO, since you are new to cast bullets, it was a significant concern when you suddenly changed the whole subject from a known powder to something totally away from the original cartridge in the same thread. At least put out better information when you make these changes and it would always be nice to refer to the data source, just in case something is being overlooked. Thank you for clearing up why you are using a smokeless powder lube. Dusty

[KenH]

Isn't that a tad better than before? That has 50 shots while the first photo you posted had around 20 shots (I think you said?). It seems like the first photo might be a "little" worse lead deposit than this photo with 50 shots. I'm not at all sure.

You've confirmed the cylinder is not over sized for the bullets you're shooting at .452". I'm not sure if they're too large since you can't push them thru. Maybe you could "knock" a bullet thru and mic the "sized" bullet?

These other folks are MUCH more the expert than me, just tossing out some ideas.

edit: Oops, ya'll posted while I was typing up my thoughts.

[Stopsign32v]

I think it obviously was the lube to blame. This time there was no lead buildup. What you see above is what is left that I couldn't remove from the first trip. No lead with the ALOX, I might be using that from now on. Or that 45/45/10 I keep reading about

[KenH]

That's great news - it sounds like you've solved the problem now. I've used Alox since the '70s and always felt it was the best lube by far. Now I use Smoke's Clear powder coat. I like clear so the bullet still looks like a bullet, and with PC there's no worry about leading.

[Beagle333]

Congrats on getting it shooting again! Scanning back through the thread, it looks like Stephen Cohen had the correct answer.
Happy shooting!

[murf205]

Stopsign, go to Meyer Gage Company's web page and look at the individual pin gage prices. You can buy what you are looking for @ $3.36 per gage and believe me, it's well worth the $ to know exactly what your revolvers throats measure. I start small, .450 and go up in 1 1/000 increments to .456 and it's only $23.52 + shipping, which is usual a small amount for only 7 pins. You will never regret buying them. As far as buying a pot and starting to cast your own, get to it brother. You will never be a slave to boolit shortages or availability and you will know exactly what you are feeding your guns. Besides you have access to some of the most eager and helpful casters right here on this site that will help you down the trail.