boolit design, or mould flaw? Lee 459-500 3R

[dexterblack]

Hi All:

I bought a Lee 459-500-3R mould and cast up some acww boolits to try in my Pedersoli 1874 (45-70). The results were remarkably uniform and concentric, so I loaded ten of them as cast with 26gr of 5744, lubed with spg (the nearby indoor range is "smokeless only"). Granted, this boolit looks to be for BP, and I intend to use it primarily for that application. But I doubt this load drove these boolits much over 1200 fps, and they were pretty accurate -- but the amount of leading was alarming;not flecks, but big compacted "hairs" of lead from 10 rounds. (It is a 34" bbl, and there was not much lube at the muzzle, but the lube grooves are very large on this boolit.)

Then I realized something. When I calipered the boolits, the driving band diameter gets bigger, sequentially, as you work from the bottom of the Boolit up, with the .4595 band being the TOP (the band with a crimping shoulder), rather than at the base. Isn't that back-aswards?, or at least counter to many other BP boolits?

I would think this kind of "reverse taper", if you will, would promote cutting -- but I'm pretty new to casting. Is it designed this way, or did I get a defective mould? Comments appreciated!

Regards,

Dexter

[MT Chambers]

sounds all wrong, is the design supposed to be a strait design or tapered? What is the diameter at the base?
It may not matter as much with BP as bullets tend to bump up better and not "lead" as much.

[44man]

Cast from 20 or 30 to 1, pure lead and tin. It seems the BP rifles don't take kindly to hard boolits.
Dump the SPG and make a good lube SPG always fouled and leaded the last 10" of my barrels. I had to work soaked patches through.

[dexterblack]

No mention of taper in the Literature, MT. I would think it's supposed to have equal driving bands. In actuality, they are .457, .458, .459, and .4595, going from the base toward the nose. Very nice looking bullet, though -- as if aesthetics had anything to do with it!