Lee "real" bullets

[VEARL]

Bought a cva optima in-line rifle. Been shooting sabot bullets over 2 f black powder.
I have other 50 cal. Side locks that i shoot the lee "real" bullet in. They do pretty good.
Was wondering if i can shoot the lee bullet in my cva in-line rifle. I would use a fiber wad between powder and lubed bullet.
The lee real bullet is a 340 gr.

[charlie b]

Yes you could.

It probably has a faster twist so could shoot heavier bullets as well. Hornady Great Plains for example.

Or you can go a bit 'wild' and shoot something like the Lee .500S&W bullet (450gn). Or even learn to paper patch bullets

[John McCorkle]

100%

I found a used Remington genesis for a whopping 25$ a couple years ago....cast up some Lee 320 REALs and put a felt wad from durofelt under it (give them a call they will send you a yard and that should keep you occupied for a while)

I have mine over a load of 95 grains of Pyrex RS select and boy is it a tack driver!!! Very accurate with this set up. I will say accuracy was not impressive without a felt wad but the felt wad was the ticket to good accuracy for me. The gun has a 1:28 twist



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[rodwha]

In my rifle accuracy was absent without a wad too, which I figure was due to the wider grooves.

[megasupermagnum]

I tried MANY different loads in my TC Impact 1:28" twist with the 320 gr REAL. This is a scoped gun that will shoot good loads into 2" at 100 yards, often better. The REAL's were never better than 2-3" at 50 yards. Felt or card wads didn't make the slightest bit of difference.

[Hellgate]

You have to carefully and fully cast the R.E.A.L. bullets to completely fill out the sharp edges of the driving bands or there will be inconsistency in how much of the bullet engages the rifling. They are not reliable in a revolver unless well cast or they migrate forward on the chambers under recoil. I would not use them in a double rifle unless they were quite snug fitting.

[Good Cheer]

The drive bands on REALs are of diameters to give some accuracy in some rifles and good accuracy in some. Just depends on how the bore and groove diameters match up to the drive bands.

[megasupermagnum]

The drive bands on REALs are of diameters to give some accuracy in some rifles and good accuracy in some. Just depends on how the bore and groove diameters match up to the drive bands.

While I'm sure there are some tight bore rifles that will shoot a REAL well, I'm 0-6 on all of the guns I've tried them in. They are consistently the worst shooting.

My advice is to not waste your time, go to a maxi ball or great plains bullet.

[John McCorkle]

While I'm sure there are some tight bore rifles that will shoot a REAL well, I'm 0-6 on all of the guns I've tried them in. They are consistently the worst shooting.

My advice is to not waste your time, go to a maxi ball or great plains bullet.

I'd like someone at some point to do some testing to see what variables cause such a wide range of experience. I would expect to see a range of experience based on differing variables but it seems to be black or white, all in or not at all with Lee REALs. I was genuinely and pleasantly surprised on the accuracy I got...but I don't know why it works for me and not for you. I believe you that none of your guns like them...but they work great for me. I sure would like to understand what is causing that

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[megasupermagnum]

My best guess is REALs need a tight bore. 4 of the ones I tried were TC 1:48" twists, one was a TC impact with 1:28" twist, and one an H&R with 1:35" twist. All of them have consistent, and standard sized bores, with shallow grooves. I also tried them in my TC scout pistol with 1:20" twist, and they did ok, but not great in that.

It takes too long to type everything I've tried, and it has been numerous. Just know I cast them with absolute perfection, every single one weighted and measured for diameter. I tried multiple alloys (inluding pure lead), and multiple wads, multiple lubes. I even tried beagling the mold for an extra .002" diameter.

In all 6 rifles, I can start a pure lead REAL with nothing but my thumb, and they will fall down the bore by the weight of the ramrod alone. They simply are not big enough. That is what I believe the difference is, the guys who get them to shoot, have tight bores.

I've never heard of anyone not getting a maxiball to shoot at least half decent, many times it's the best they ever tried.

[Good Cheer]

They should not start that easy.
No wonder you got no bueno.

[rking22]

Could it be the differences in the Lee molds? Curious about cast diameters. I am a round ball shooter, so the interest is academic only

[megasupermagnum]

Could it be the differences in the Lee molds? Curious about cast diameters. I am a round ball shooter, so the interest is academic only

I can't remember off the top of my head, but I had both the 320 grain 50 caliber and the 380 grain 54 caliber. Both cast the top band to pretty much the same size as what others reported online. I even tried beagling the mold so that they cast about .002" oversize. I seem to remember .517" top band for the 50 caliber, and .557" for the 54 caliber. That's the top band only, they are tapered, and the driving bands are knife edges. For reference, the groove diameter on my TC renegade 54 caliber is about .550 and my TC Impact 50 caliber is about .510"

[tomme boy]

You cant run them as fast as other bullets. They just do not have enough bearing surface to grab the riling.

[megasupermagnum]

You cant run them as fast as other bullets. They just do not have enough bearing surface to grab the riling.

I tried them anywhere from 40 to 120 grains of blackpowder or Blackhorn 209. Nothing made a big difference, but it seemed around 100 grains was as good as it got.

[centershot]

I'm toying with the idea of buying a mould for my .50 cal. Genesis and casting up a bunch of these out of 94-3-3 alloy. Yes, I know, they'll be way hard but the 3% antimony will also make them bigger. The 94-3-3 runs 12 BHN, I'm thinking a short starter will pop them into the bore nicely, might even be hard enough so they don't strip the rifling.....could always water drop them........I needed another project.....where's my pencil?

[charlie b]

If you want some more fun try paper patching. There is a good sticky on this up above.

[mooman76]

Top band on the Lees run .017 over the size on all my calibers, 45, 50 and 54 so .517 is right on.
I did Lees with alloy. Not real hard but somewhere in between soft and WW lead. I was using range lead. It worked, just got to give it a real good wack to start. Hurts the palm after a while. A mallet would help or at least have a short starter that is wide like a door knob.

[megasupermagnum]

I'm toying with the idea of buying a mould for my .50 cal. Genesis and casting up a bunch of these out of 94-3-3 alloy. Yes, I know, they'll be way hard but the 3% antimony will also make them bigger. The 94-3-3 runs 12 BHN, I'm thinking a short starter will pop them into the bore nicely, might even be hard enough so they don't strip the rifling.....could always water drop them........I needed another project.....where's my pencil?

That's about what clip on wheel weights run. I tried them, and it's not good. The driving bands are too brittle, and chip, rather than form to the rifling. 20:1 alloy made them seat harder than pure lead, but they shot no better.

[tomme boy]

I tried them anywhere from 40 to 120 grains of blackpowder or Blackhorn 209. Nothing made a big difference, but it seemed around 100 grains was as good as it got.

Thats the thing with TC rifles. It seems the inlines are about a .51cal. My side hammer NewEnglanders shoot them perfectly. The older one that does not have the false muzzle is a tack driver. The other one is good but not as good as the normal muzzle. I also have a TC System1 50cal. It does not like anything other than sobots from Precesion Extreme or they used to be called that. Then it would do a 2" group at 200yds. Everything else was a scattergun