Recovered bullets, gas cutting?

[Wolfmanjack]

I’m casting from an accurate mold for my 45-70. Alloy shot is water quenched wheel weights. The bullets drop from the mold at .4615 according to my digital calipers. Lube is 50/50 beeswax and olive oil. Load is 12 grains of tightgroup. Accuracy is 2moa at 100 yards. Is this erosion at the bullet base normal? I get very slight leading with this load that cleans up easily.

[lonecat]

Ever thought about PC?

[Walter Laich]

I try to shoot .458-.459 diameter ones out of my 45-70

[Grmps]

lonecat, welcome to CB. Not sure PC would prevent that, PC is more like a lube than a protective coating.

Walt, that all depends on the bore diameter

[waco]

I would think water dropped WW alloy is too hard for a load that light. Try the same load with 50/50 ww/pure.
Your boolit might be too hard and is not obtruding like it needs to in order to seal the bore.

[Oily]

Really good pics. Only gas cutting I have seen leaves a trail up much farther than your example so I am no help. Can someone tell me what the angled bottom of the driving bands is about ? The angle of the erosion or missing alloy is forward instead of rearward as I have observed on my recovered 45/70 slugs. My slugs have the bands pushed rearward by the rifling and or bore.

[tazman]

Do these boolits do the same thing with a different powder or just with Titegroup?
The reason I ask is Titegroup has a reputation for burning hotter temperature wise than other powders. Another powder may not do that.

[Wolfmanjack]

I have tried air cooled wheel weight which is definitely softer than wc and my accuracy falls apart. I have also tried reloader 7 but again couldn’t get the accuracy I wanted. The 12 gr of tightgroup shoots pretty good. These are the only bullets I’ve recovered.

[Gtek]

Are you crimping? Maybe load a dummy or two and inertia out and mic to eliminate sizing during load.

[Larry Gibson]

Could you measure the recovered diameter of the bullets?

[popper]

Only thing I see is some wrinkling at the edge of the base. Could be the 'tail' of lead being hammered by pressure. Lead being pushed to the rear by the bore (like you see in the l.g.s) occurs at the base edge. Some may be broken off and end up with slight leading in the bore. You alloy seems to be just right, it flows into the grooves (not 'cut') and can appear to have moved forward. Gas cutting normally shows as grooves going through the drive bands. The grooves appear to not be uniform depth which could be cutting by lube or gas but my guess it's lube - edges of the lands have highest pressure that gets the lube to flow.

[Dieselhorses]

I cast my 500's the same way (water quenched clip on ww) and ended up with some lead in barrel. Couldn't recover bullets but there was obvious gas cutting. I then did alloy 5-1 (stick on ww/clip on) and 2% tin GC'd. This mix gets me 17 BHN. All my bullets get powder coated regardless. Anyway the latter solved my problem.

[waksupi]

Are you getting a good fill on your pour?

I would try a card wad under the bullet, see what happens. Can't complain about your accuracy too much.

[Wolfmanjack]

Recovered bullet diameter is .4575. The erosion is only at the base of the bullet. It does not in fact occur around the entire base. It occurs approximately from the “10 to 2 o’clock” position. I would assume that this uneven base would be affecting my accuracy? I’m new to this cast boolit game and seeking advice of the experts. Hunting accuracy is more than acceptable to me. My shots are usually less than 100 yards. I took a doe with this boolit a few weeks ago. I obviously get no expansion. I started with the lee 405 gr flat point boolit. My accuracy with that boolit was slightly better but the leading was worse. I tried powder coating the Lee boolit but still got the leading. I figured it was undersized. That boolit also shot best with 12 gr of tightgroup? The harder alloy also shot better than the soft alloy. So many variables to this cast game.

[Wolfmanjack]

Yes I get great fill out with the accurate mold. Any imperfection gets tossed back in the pot.

[Wolfmanjack]

The 12 gr of tightgroup doesn’t come close to filling the case. I don’t know how the wad would affect pressure and if it would come out of the case square(?).

[popper]

Powder laying at the bottom of the case. Try some dacron filler to keep position.

[44MAG#1]

"I’m casting from an accurate mold for my 45-70. Alloy shot is water quenched wheel weights. The bullets drop from the mold at .4615 according to my digital calipers. Lube is 50/50 beeswax and olive oil. Load is 12 grains of tightgroup. Accuracy is 2moa at 100 yards. Is this erosion at the bullet base normal? I get very slight leading with this load that cleans up easily."
"Recovered bullet diameter is .4575. The erosion is only at the base of the bullet. It does not in fact occur around the entire base. It occurs approximately from the “10 to 2 o’clock” position. I would assume that this uneven base would be affecting my accuracy? I’m new to this cast boolit game and seeking advice of the experts. Hunting accuracy is more than acceptable to me. My shots are usually less than 100 yards. I took a doe with this boolit a few weeks ago. I obviously get no expansion. I started with the lee 405 gr flat point boolit. My accuracy with that boolit was slightly better but the leading was worse. I tried powder coating the Lee boolit but still got the leading. I figured it was undersized. That boolit also shot best with 12 gr of tightgroup? The harder alloy also shot better than the soft alloy. So many variables to this cast game."

Now what did you say the problem is????


Again I mean no hurt, harm, anguish or turmoil by my post I have posted on this posted subject. I am not baiting, trolling or calling out anyone. I am making a post based on my experience, knowledge and/or belief or opinion. That is all.

[Wolfmanjack]

Well maybe there is no problem? From everything I’ve read the consensus seems to be proper fill out and square bases are what we strive for. It seems that square base is needed for accuracy. I want accuracy in my loads. Isn’t that what we are all experimenting for? If I can shrink my groups to 1 moa that would be awesome, no?

[44MAG#1]

"My shots are usually less than 100 yards. I took a doe with this boolit a few weeks ago."

No trouble getting the deer? How much experimenting are you willing to do to gain more accuracy to use at generally less than 100 yards.
Try a filler, will protect the bases to a degree.
It is your call. Do you really need a benchrest accuracy load to do what you want?
Much game is harvested each year that is shot with loads no more accurate than yours. If you are the type that likes to continuously experiment and piddle I say go for it. At least it keeps one from dwelling on their problems in other things. Kinda refreshes the mind so to speak.

Again I mean no hurt, harm, anguish or turmoil by my post I have posted on this posted subject. I am not baiting, trolling or calling out anyone. I am making a post based on my experience, knowledge and/or belief or opinion. That is all.