BPCR-why NOT pure lead?

[madcaster]

I think I understand the part on a mix of 1 part tin to 20 parts soft lead,but other than casting better,and not so much difference in velocity spreads,is there any other reason why I can't use pure lead?
I have a Remington Rolling block,and it has a Numrich "Buffalo" barrel on it.Still haven't checked the twist....anyone know right off the bat what twist these were?The barrel is nice and heavy,but not too long.
Thank you all,
Jeff

[iron mule]

hello madcaster other than the problem of casting with pure lead the only other things i can think of that may cause you some trouble would be a rough bore/shallow rifling/or your barrel may just not like a diet of pure lead// as to the rate of twist you did not state the caliber you had so gonna guess here 45-70 //1 in 18 to 1in 16 /////50-70// 1in17 to 1in20// these are just guesses but should be close////////mule

[Bullshop]

I am perty sure that barrel is 1/20" twist guessing it to be 45/70. Most everything I have read about the buff hunters says they used the softest lead they could find. Reason being so they wouldnt shoot through and they could recover the expanded boolit under the hide on the off side. Wernt too many places about to resupply in a hurry.
I sell and shoot lots of pure lead boolits for ML and they can do some awfuly impresive work up to about 1500 fps. I have been so impressed with results with conicles in ML I have started using pure lead for lots of other stuff too. A pure lead boolit with a gas check in a mag hand gun can be driven quite hard, will expand readily, and retain nearly all its weight,and can be very accurate.
Pure lead is not at all hard to cast if your mold is well vented. Give it a try, I predict good things will come of it.
BIC/BS

[crossfireoops]

UMmmmmm......,

A tight patched jag, a tape measure and a bit of masking , or electrical tape will tell you your twist rate.....

The Numrichs ran slower twist, ...IIRC, but gosh, it's almost TOO EASY to nail that yerself .

If you can cast good clean sharp edged boolits outta' pure, .....you won't notice any differance from anything leaner than 25 / 1.

My $.02

GTC

[Buckshot]

...............If those were the barrels NUmrich was offeirng along with the 444 Marlin to screw onto the big #1 RB actions it's either 20" or 22". IIRC it was 20.

...............Buckshot

[NickSS]

I have used soft lead for MLs for years without a problem but have not used it in breach loaders. However, I use an aloy of 30 to 1 for all my hunting bullets. They cast good slugs at lower temperatures and expand really well on critters. I shot a wild pig last season with my 45 colt lever action and soft lead flat point round nosed 250 gr slug (mor like 264 gr with my aloy). The slug went in the chest and went lengthwise to its rear hip wear I found the expanded bullet. It still held 98% of its original weight.

[KCSO]

Pure lead works, but is some hard to cast exactly right. The small amount of tin was just to help the moulds fill out. If yo do cast pure lead you need a really hot mould and a full dipper ever bullet and you will still throw back 20-30%.

[Springfield]

My normal BP bullets are about 60/1. I run them in everything from 38 sp. to 45-70. I recently cast up some 45 bullets in pure lead for some air gun guys, worked fine for huntng, they hunt rams and pigs with them. A little harder to get fillout but just run hot and they are fine. I think the harder bullets have been over rated all these years.

[RBak]

I recently cast up some 45 bullets in pure lead for some air gun guys, worked fine for huntng, they hunt rams and pigs with them.

Springfield....I don't want you to misunderstand what I saying, but would you be so kind as to elaborate a bit on this?
Is that rams and pigs as in Sillywet, or the kind with real blood & bone?
And "air gun guys", what kind of air gun are we talking about?

I think I'm missing something. Nahhhh...make that missing a whole lot!:roll:

Russ..

[Springfield]

Real pigs and Rams, using a 45 caliber air rifle. Don't know nothin' about air rifles myself, just selling them the bullets and they are experimenting as to what works the best. I cast th Big Lube(tm) bullets and the lower surface area combined with pure lead bullets seems to work well. Bullets are also sans lube. Just gums up the air rifle. Pretty amazing guns, had no idea they were this advanced.

[Dale53]

Frank Mayer, one of the most successful of all of the buffalo hunters, used Sharps paper patched bullets at 16/1 lead/tin. His book is one of the most detailed of all accounts of the buffalo "runners".

I shot BPCR Silhouette for 15 years and used 30/1 lead/tin with excellent results.

Dale53

[Nrut]

A friend of mine shot a bull moose this fall using a pure lead,380gr. gc boolit at 1400fps in his Shilo 74 Sharps....Duplex load,broadside shot complete pass thru....Moose tipped over after a few steps IIRC....He said he doesn't get enough leading to worry about and the load is accurate...:)

[CATNIP-45]

As Nrut said no problem with pure lead. I size to.459 in a 458 bore lube with home brew of xxx virgin olive oil an Bees wax. I can shoot 40 plus rounds with hardly a trace of lead. Kill's realy quick. complete pass through on a feral Cat at 35 yds.

[Boz330]

As Nrut said no problem with pure lead. I size to.459 in a 458 bore lube with home brew of xxx virgin olive oil an Bees wax. I can shoot 40 plus rounds with hardly a trace of lead. Kill's realy quick. complete pass through on a feral Cat at 35 yds.

You think you have enough gun for that?:roll:

Russ, I have seen those big bore air guns advertised, just didn't know they were that powerful. IIRC they were pretty expensive as well. Big bore airguns are nothing new though, Lewis and Clark had a 50cal I think when the crossed the nation. Apparently the Indians were real impressed by it.

Bob

[Boz330]

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[RBak]

Thanks Bob, I was somewhat aware of that particular one. Even air rifles going back to 1760 in Europe...But when we are talking about "Pigs and Rams" in a .45 cal, we are talking about a pretty darn serious air-rifle IMO.
I don't want to get away from the topic of this thread, but if anyone has any more information about these air-rifles, or has a link to anything like this, I would certainly appreciate the opportunity to learn a little more about these things.

Russ...

[RBak]

Oooops! You type to fast!

Thanks!

Russ...