Soft Cast .45 bullets?

[James P]

Does anyone know where I can get some cheap softcast 250 gr. bullets for .45 Colt? I'm just starting to get into loading blackpowder cartridges for my New Vaquero. I'd like the bullets to have a large lube groove and I could lube them myself. All the prices I've seen for soft lead/large lube groove bullets are twice as much as normal hardcast bullets? Why such a big difference in price? Thanks for any help.

[Johnch]

Not sure how much Hornady charges for their 255 gr , .454 lead bullets .
They are soft , but lubed with a wax like lube ........so they don't have a real lube grove .

I had a few hundred given to me , no leading problems at 800 fps

Hornady 255 gr bullet (https://www.hornady.com/shop/?ps_session=5982eee3d401ffaea9506e91b3d66553&page=shop%2Fbrowse&category_id=e8bd82ecfa8727f9a585944e0d538aeb)

Johnch

[Ross]

My local baitshop carries these:

Remington Bulk Pistol Bullets
22897 - .45 Colt Cal - 250.-LD - 1000 - $57.35

They have a slight cup base and are quite soft. They behave well in my Colt New Service, Woblys, .45-70 Ruger #3, but less well in the Trapdoor and Martini-Henrys.

[WBH]

The reason that soft-cast bullets are more expensive than hard-cast is the cost of the TIN. Tin has become verry expensive over the past few years. Soft-cast bullets (20:1 etc.) are just lead and tin, nothing else. So the two main ingredients are getting expensive. It may get to a point where the public won't even be able to buy lead. Stock up boys. What is your point of shooting the Black in the Ruger?

[mooman76]

I think the cost is due to price and demand. Not as many people want the softer bullets.

[Larry Gibson]

Does anyone know where I can get some cheap softcast 250 gr. bullets for .45 Colt? I'm just starting to get into loading blackpowder cartridges for my New Vaquero. I'd like the bullets to have a large lube groove and I could lube them myself. All the prices I've seen for soft lead/large lube groove bullets are twice as much as normal hardcast bullets? Why such a big difference in price? Thanks for any help.

I also think it is supply and demand for the difference in cost. Most commercial casters use the hard alloys so it takes set up time to change alloys in their large commercial casting machine. If they cast them by hand as we do the you are certainly paying more than minimum wage. I'd cast you some but the shipping from Washington (the State) to your location would be expensive also.

Why don't you cast your own? A 1-40 or 1-30 tin - lead alloy would work best for your revolver loads.

Larry Gibson

[Dick Dastardly]

Howdy,

I sell a line of bullet molds by the trademark Big Lube™. The bullet that fills your bill is the PRS, the J/P 45-200 or the new EPP-UG. For your use I advise the PRS. It's a 250 grain bullet and was developed specifically for continuous shooting of black powder without foul out problems.

Send me an email and I'll get you in touch with Mason Stillwell. He casts great Big Lube™ bullets for resale.

rrhody@spwl.net

DD-DLoS

[WBH]

Contact Dan at the BullShop. Maybe he can hook you up with some that he casts.
He is in AK

[James P]

Thanks for all the help everyone! Last weekend I shot 12 rounds of .45 Colt loaded with 34 grains of 3F blackpowder, by volume. It was a LOT of fun! I used Northeast hardcast/hardlubed bullets, and the gun didn't bind up too bad but there was some fouling from the hard lube that took awhile to clean out of the barrel. I put some Crisco over every other chamber.

I've had a cap and ball revolver for a few years and I enjoy shooting that, so I wanted to give it a try with the .45 Colt too, and I'm glad I did! But I know softer bullets with enough of the proper lube would work better, and I've now found a supplier for the bullets I need. I've also looked here http://www.whyteleatherworks.com at the Big Lube bullets, and I'll buy some of them sometime too!

I do want to get into casting my own eventually, but I live in an apartment and it wouldn't be convenient to cast my own right now. I know my New Vaquero is probably not ideal for shooting blackpowder because of the small cylinder/barrel gap, and I plan to get another revolver eventually that I'll use strictly for blackpowder cartridges. I'm going to continue shooting mostly smokeless loads in the New Vaquero, but I'll do some blackpowder sometimes too. :)

[44man]

Make sure you remove the smokeless lube and replace it with a good BP lube like Lar 45 sells.
I heard the price of all metals is going out of sight because China is buying it up so fast it can't be produced fast enough. Supply and demand to make smelters and the middle man rich fast. We should have invested in tin stock.

[Springfield]

Part of the reason softer BP bullets cost more is that the bullets have to be put in styrofoam trays one at a time instead of just dumped into a box and shipped. Plus the volume is not as great. Plus the softer lube must be treated nicer or it gets everywhere, not like crayon lube. And some bullets, like the Big Lube(tm) bullets that I sell must be hand cast as Lee is the only one making moulds for them. It's got nothing to do with the cost of tin, most softer BP bullets have less tin in them than regular bullets. And less antimony too. That's why they are "soft".

[Dale53]

James P,
The Ruger Vaquero is perfect for black powder. You just need to learn how to manage black (it is not just a bit different from smokeless, it is a totally different animal altogether). However, it is NOT less than smokeless, just different.

Use a bullet (I like 25/1 lead/tin) with an adequate grease groove (I like Lyman's Cowboy Bullet) and I use Emmert's Home Mix lube (50% pure natural beeswax, 40% Crisco, and 10% Canola Oil. Melt and mix the lube in a double boiler so as to not overheat it (overheating ruins it). 2F will give you less recoil and velocity. Standard pistol primers are just fine. I treat the cylinder pin with a generous coat of Rig.

I have won a number of Cowboy matches with this combination and it'll shoot under 2" at 25 yards. I can also shoot 75 shots before cleaning using Pyrodex Pistol. Each pistol is a law unto itself regarding "how many shots". My best effort with this in competition was a black powder cartridge score match on NRA targets. I shot a 92 at fifty yards with this. I have cleaned the timed fire target. All with a Ruger Vaquero or Bisley Vaquero.

These revolvers are REAL! They are not posers but actually perform extremely well. On top of that they are extremely reliable.

Cleaning them is discussion for another post.

Dale53

[Bad Flynch]

Try www.cowboybullets.com (http://www.cowboybullets.com) . I have good luck with their products.

[ELFEGO BACA]

My experience with black powder tells me that the lube is a critical factor and not the bullet alloy.

I use a hard cast 245 grain BIG LUBE bullet in my 45 Colt Vaqueros as mentioned by Dick Dastardly.

Home made Emmerts lube as descibed by Dale53 is my lube of choice.

[shooter575]

Like the others said"Lube is it!" I make my own Emmerts varation.I use 50% beeswax 25-30% neetsfoot oil and the balance is lanolin. I have shot 75 rounds before running a patch down the bore and that was just because I ran out of ammo.And that is with dirty old Goex in a long barreled Henry.
I have also taken commerical hard cast and removed the lube by boiling in a pot,then re lubing.These pills did not have big lube grooves.I just did this as I had a bunch given to me.The lube the comerical guy used would foul up real quick with black.

[John Boy]

I'd like the bullets to have a large lube groove and I could lube them myself.
Paul, take a look at the PRS bullet on the right ...
http://www.theopenrange.net/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=15.0;attach=2;imag e

Is the lube groove large enough? It is called the Pigeon Roost Slim (PRS) Black Powder bullet. A goodly number of CAS BP shooters use them, including myself ... 250gr - 454's

After hundreds of pounds of them that I have cast and shot out of my workhorses (RVSSBH revolvers) ... they are the cat's nuts and will give you a star on the muzzle every shot for handguns and rifles.

You can order the bullets already lubed with BP lube from Mason Stillwell. He uses Thompson BP lube (folks in TX). I vouch for Mason having shot a couple thousand rounds of his bullets (we did a swap one time for leather that I had and got the bullets in exchange)

Mason can be contacted at ... schofield45@hotmail.com