MSD MIke
07-23-2013, 11:46 AM
Since many ask questions regarding leading and how to stop it I thought I would share my experience with one of my guns.
So, I have a Ruger Blackhawk convertible in 45 colt / 45ACP. New out of the box it always leaded badly with any commercially cast bullet of any hardness at any velocity and with all powders and with both cylinders. The leading occurred mostly in the first part of the barrel right after the forcing cone. Very frustrating
Understanding the “fit is king” I measured the throats and slugged the barrel. Barrel was .451 and the throats were .450. Aha, I said and purchased a reamer and proceeded to ream the throats to .452. Now I am loading .452 bullets, shooting through .452 throats and a .451 barrel. Life will be good. Well, not exactly. Life was a bit better but not great. Leading was reduced some and accuracy was improved but even at a reduced level the leading was more than I considered acceptable.
Powders used have been Unique, 231, Red Dot, and Trial Boss with velocities ranging from 750 FPS to 975 FPS. Always leading. So now I decide to cast my own. I have been collecting wheel weights and have a good supply to work with. I purchased a 250 Grain SWC Lee mold and went to town. Bullets fall at about 257 GR with the COWW alloy I’m using. Bullets are sized to .452 and lubed with 50/50.
Now, back at it with the above mentioned powders and velocities but with my own bullets. It seems like I have made some additional progress but I am still experiencing leading at a bothersome level. I decided heck, it leading anyway so I am going to turn up the wick a little bit and I go for 16 grains of 2400 with my home cast 257GR plain base LSWC cast from straight clip on when weights. The load was snappy and accurate and when I get home to clean up my gun is COMPLETLY lead free. I haven’t shot this particular load over a chronograph yet but I think it should exceed 1000FPS. This is great but the load is hotter than I need to pop cans and shoot paper. I now need to find an 800-850 FPS load that doesn’t lead.
My question is what is the lesson here. Have all my alloys been two hard for the lower velocity loads? It seems COWW have been used by many at lower velocities. Should I try casting a softer alloy out of tape on wheel weight or maybe a mix of tape on and clip on. Some say a slower powder starts the bullet more gently into the rifling but I’m not sure I buy it because my slow powder magnum loads in other calibers have higher velocity than my fast powder loads no matter what the barrel length is. I believe they much be going faster when they contact the rifling. The other school of thought is that the higher pressure of the 2400 load slugs up the bullet and seals the bore better. Anyway, I am looking for advice on getting the slower stuff shooting without leading.
Sorry for the long post, here are the cliff notes
Gun-Ruger Blackhawk convertible-45 Colt/45ACP
Reamed throats to .452
Barrel is .451 with no apparent restrictions
Cylinder gap - .005
Commercial Bullets – Numerous manufacturers products used and they all lead.
Powders used
Unique – Loaded from 850-950 FPS.
231 – Loaded from 785 – 875 FPS
Red Dot – Loaded from 750-850 FPS
Trail Boss – 750 FPS
My own 257gr Plain Base LSWC bullet cast from straight COWW
Lubed with 50/50
All the same above loads still lead but not nearly as bad as with commercial cast bullets
Tried the above mentioned load of 16 Grains of 2400 and everything is perfect but just hotter than I like for fun shooting.
Thoughts?
So, I have a Ruger Blackhawk convertible in 45 colt / 45ACP. New out of the box it always leaded badly with any commercially cast bullet of any hardness at any velocity and with all powders and with both cylinders. The leading occurred mostly in the first part of the barrel right after the forcing cone. Very frustrating
Understanding the “fit is king” I measured the throats and slugged the barrel. Barrel was .451 and the throats were .450. Aha, I said and purchased a reamer and proceeded to ream the throats to .452. Now I am loading .452 bullets, shooting through .452 throats and a .451 barrel. Life will be good. Well, not exactly. Life was a bit better but not great. Leading was reduced some and accuracy was improved but even at a reduced level the leading was more than I considered acceptable.
Powders used have been Unique, 231, Red Dot, and Trial Boss with velocities ranging from 750 FPS to 975 FPS. Always leading. So now I decide to cast my own. I have been collecting wheel weights and have a good supply to work with. I purchased a 250 Grain SWC Lee mold and went to town. Bullets fall at about 257 GR with the COWW alloy I’m using. Bullets are sized to .452 and lubed with 50/50.
Now, back at it with the above mentioned powders and velocities but with my own bullets. It seems like I have made some additional progress but I am still experiencing leading at a bothersome level. I decided heck, it leading anyway so I am going to turn up the wick a little bit and I go for 16 grains of 2400 with my home cast 257GR plain base LSWC cast from straight clip on when weights. The load was snappy and accurate and when I get home to clean up my gun is COMPLETLY lead free. I haven’t shot this particular load over a chronograph yet but I think it should exceed 1000FPS. This is great but the load is hotter than I need to pop cans and shoot paper. I now need to find an 800-850 FPS load that doesn’t lead.
My question is what is the lesson here. Have all my alloys been two hard for the lower velocity loads? It seems COWW have been used by many at lower velocities. Should I try casting a softer alloy out of tape on wheel weight or maybe a mix of tape on and clip on. Some say a slower powder starts the bullet more gently into the rifling but I’m not sure I buy it because my slow powder magnum loads in other calibers have higher velocity than my fast powder loads no matter what the barrel length is. I believe they much be going faster when they contact the rifling. The other school of thought is that the higher pressure of the 2400 load slugs up the bullet and seals the bore better. Anyway, I am looking for advice on getting the slower stuff shooting without leading.
Sorry for the long post, here are the cliff notes
Gun-Ruger Blackhawk convertible-45 Colt/45ACP
Reamed throats to .452
Barrel is .451 with no apparent restrictions
Cylinder gap - .005
Commercial Bullets – Numerous manufacturers products used and they all lead.
Powders used
Unique – Loaded from 850-950 FPS.
231 – Loaded from 785 – 875 FPS
Red Dot – Loaded from 750-850 FPS
Trail Boss – 750 FPS
My own 257gr Plain Base LSWC bullet cast from straight COWW
Lubed with 50/50
All the same above loads still lead but not nearly as bad as with commercial cast bullets
Tried the above mentioned load of 16 Grains of 2400 and everything is perfect but just hotter than I like for fun shooting.
Thoughts?