Another wrapped bullet experiment

[windrider919]

While casting some of the soft nosed bullets I just mentioned in another thread I happened to look over at my tool board where i hang the common stuff. There was a roll of 1" wide Teflon tape on one of the hooks. This tape is not the thin stuff which takes 5 wraps, it is commercial grade that works with just two wraps. So I wrapped 5 bullets with this heavy duty teflon tape. Three wraps add .008 to the bullet and then holding it stretched tight I cut it off even with the start. I used a 90 degree edge not an angle cut. The tape streaches and presses down and stays put.

I put the bullets in an empty can and tumbled them around and the tape did not start to come undone. It looks just like a Paper Patch and I can't wait to see how they load and shoot. The only question I have is how well the tape will come off the bullet after it leaves the muzzle. I thought about making a couple of 3 or 4 pre cuts in the tape to help it 'tear off' while leaving a small uncut band at the forward edge to keep it wrapped. I think the teflon would be better than paper going down the bore since teflon is slicker than any other substance. Looking forwards to my next shooting day, when the primers return for the spring / summer, Ha Ha

[pdawg_shooter]

I have tried teflon tape and had no luck with them. Hope you do better.

[runfiverun]

don't be breathing in any of the residue from the ptfe. while firing it.
floro ethyline turns into flourine when heated.

[windrider919]

Pdawg shooter: When you state you did not have good results with Teflon tape, could you explain a little more? In loading, chambering, or shooting results. I do not want to re-invent the wheel and would like to know how your experiments went

[pdawg_shooter]

NO accuracy, the pits to seat the bullet without messing up the teflon, and a bore filled with strings and smears that took a LOT of work to clean up. Oh, did I mention NO accuracy?

[windrider919]

Gotcha, I do like to follow others experience, If you got bad accuracy then it's a path not to follow. Thanks for the input.

[yeahbub]

Windrider, I've experimented with that in pistols and rifles and got widely varying and unpredictable results. When it worked, it was beautiful. When it didn't, the results were dismal, with leading and, as noted above, no accuracy. The problem seemed to be that the teflon would not reliably remain on the bare lead. A finely stipled surface might have given better purchase to the tape as it became engraved in the rifling, but I didn't go there. I did discover an alternative method that works with great reliability and improved accuracy over plain paper-patched boolits. I combined a plain PP boolit with one layer of teflon tape (1/8" overlap on the ends) and a trip through the size die to bring it all to the desired diameter. The paper is porous enough to grab the tape and give it a mechanical attachment to the paper. They don't seem to part company easily after that. I use a small dab of smeary-soft lube (TC 1000 Plus, Vaseline, Chap-Stick, etc.) to ease the sizing operation and a card wad and lube cookie under the bullet when I load them. They worked well enough when shot as-is, but the card wad/lube cookie improved accuracy quite noticeably. I believe it has to do with leaving a trace of lube in the bore for the next shot. This is done in a lever-action .375 Win with full-power loads. It's a bit of extra work, but the results I get make it worth the trouble. Good luck with your efforts.

[RMulhern]

Lordy Lordy! Well...I've had my grin for the day....so I'll just mosey on off now!

[303Guy]

Been there, done that! No luck either. I tried filling the lube grooves with the tape and simply wrapping the bullet.