aluminum foil patching, why not?

[Desertbuck]

I have been thinking for some time that if we can make aluminum gas checks work why not patching a boolit with aluminum foil? I did a search here and could find a little on the subject it had been mentioned but not pursued. So tonight I just did a rough try on a single boolit to see for myself,the specimen is wrapped so that the rifling would keep it tight till it left the barrel. The lube groove have a good hold on the aluminum foil in the base is well protected there's also just enough room to inject a little bit of lube in the grooves themselves. I need some thoughts from other individuals before I proceed with trying these, what do you guys think?114272

[Beagle333]

'Handy idea. But how you gonna wrap it tight enough to withstand sizing and/or loading? Paper shrinks when it dries.

[Desertbuck]

oh I'm sorry I forgot to mention I had already ran it through my Lyman 450 lube sizer,the foil is squeezed on very tight. No tearing of the foil but it did stretch. I can't twist the aluminum foil and boolit separately with my fingers so it's on there tight! lube has already been placed in the grooves as well. As you can see from the picture it's hard to tell which part is boolit and aluminum foil. They're bonded pretty good!

[Desertbuck]

114280114281

Here are some better pictures.

[leadman]

Post your results after you shoot them. I have thought of using that aluminum duct tape as it is thicker and has an adhesive on it. Might be good for increasing the diameter of a boolit for an old Mli-Surp gun.

I have used plumbers teflon tape and it works well but my hands are so arthritic now it is hard for me to wrap it. Harbor freight has some that is about 5/8" wide and works good on large boolits.

[smokesahoy]

that teflon tape idea is interesting, thanks!

[HollowPoint]

If this method of patching gave you any problems at all I think it would be that the bullets would tend to hang on to the foil rather than shedding it as soon as it left the barrel.

Best way to tell for sure is to give it a try. Please post your results. If teflon tape works then there's no reason why aluminum foil couldn't work either.

HollowPoint

[Bullwolf]

that teflon tape idea is interesting, thanks!

I gave the teflon tape lube a try once. Worked fine for me at the time.

I was trying to "bulk" up the diameter of some boolits for a Rossi 44 Mag rifle at the time.

I did not use a gas check with this mild load - A 240gr hp .431 boolit over 10.0 grains of Unique.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52389&thumb=1&d=1403145388

If memory serves, I used 3-4 wraps of Teflon tape to build up the outer diameter. I also remember pulling a boolit to measure it, and being surprised at how the Teflon tape had sort of swaged itself into the lube grooves.
(sure wish I had taken a picture of that now)

I only shot 10 of the wrapped Teflon tape boolits through the rifle, not very scientific I know but it worked out decently enough. Accuracy was as good if not better than the J-word fodder that I shot alongside of it for comparison. There was no leading, or any fouling in the rifle bore after shooting the Teflon tape patched boolits.

I only tried wrapping Teflon tape around boolits one time, and on a small quantity of low velocity pistol boolits at that. I wanted to try it out after reading about others doing so successfully, and because I was curious. I found no pieces of Teflon tape residue after my test shots...

I also should mention that I used a Bic Lighter to lightly flame the Teflon tape on the boolits before loading them. I read about someone else doing the same thing to keep them from unraveling during loading or firing. I can't begin to guess how Teflon tape would behave with rifle calibers, or at higher velocities, not having tried it myself.

This wasn't exactly a high stress application. I have had similar results with 44 Special using dry Molly coatings at these pressures and velocities. Like others here, I have tinkered around with dry lubes, spray paint, and even powder coating. I will mention that the dry lubes were not good performers. Some of the dry Molly coatings also stink pretty badly when fired. The Teflon dry coatings I tried did not work very well (poor accuracy and leading, gave high velocities though) and that's before even considering any potential health hazards.

Take my experiment with a grain of salt, and for what it really was. - Me taking the lazy way out of beagling a 44 mould. Of course if you don't try new things, who knows what you will miss out on. In my case it seemed to work decently. It was also way more hassle than it was worth, compared to simply tumble lubing boolits.



- Bullwolf

[mdi]

Going along with the Teflon Hijack; Bullwolf, was there any residue left in the barrel after shooting? I believe there was talk around here about Teflon tape a year or so ago, and the results/reports were dismal; black goo fouling...

[Bullwolf]

Going along with the Teflon Hijack; Bullwolf, was there any residue left in the barrel after shooting? I believe there was talk around here about Teflon tape a year or so ago, and the results/reports were dismal; black goo fouling...

No residue what so ever. It worked quite well in that application for me, and was accurate too. As I said though it was a very limited test in only 1 firearm, and for just 10 rounds.

I've heard of others having good results, and some with terrible results.

I'd do it again with 44 special, or 44 magnum in a heart beat.



- Bullwolf

[Janoosh]

I thought the patching was to be cut by the barrel lands to release the patch.
How does this happen with aluminum foil. ?
How does this happen with the Teflon tape. ?
I can see both products increasing boolit diameter but I can't picture the patching releasing.

[leeggen]

One would think that without any lube on the outside of the alum rap it would stick to the barrel as lead would do without lube. One would need to do a good test and see I guess. like it has been said "try it you might like it".
CD

[Bullwolf]

I thought the patching was to be cut by the barrel lands to release the patch.
How does this happen with aluminum foil. ?
How does this happen with the Teflon tape. ?
I can see both products increasing boolit diameter but I can't picture the patching releasing.

In my case the Teflon tape was definitely not a paper patch. When you wrap a boolit in 3 wraps or so of Teflon tape, (I also flamed it some with a lighter) seat, and then pull a boolit... It looks like you swaged Teflon tape into the lube grooves. It worked well for me with low velocity non checked 44 Magnum. Quite well actually, it out performed the jacketed loads I was shooting alongside for comparison.

Will it work in all calibers, or in more demanding applications? I dunno.

The Teflon tape has very little bulk and in this case was not acting like a shotgun wad or a paper patch, it acted more like a bullet lube, or a coating.

Odd I know, because I have tried Teflon, Moly sprays, and other dry lubricants before, and in general they all made terrible boolit lubes. Yet the Teflon tape thing worked pretty well for me in this application - in an oversize Rossi 44 Magnum lever rifle.

I had heard of others doing it with mixed results both good and bad, so I tried it out. It may have more merit than some thought. I'd say that it's worth experimenting with at least.


- Bullwolf

[RP]

I have been told tin fold is very abrasive to the point you can sharpen a knife with it. That being said I wonder if it may be a case of fire lapping your barrel. Note this is what I was told I do not know for a fact

[Jaymo]

A late friend of mine pulled some Winchester .44 Special Silvertip bullets and loaded them in .444 Marlin ammo.
The soft aluminum jackets gave his barrel a nice coating of aluminum fouling.
He never tried it again.

THAT SAID, his loads were running well over 2,300 fps.
Velocity caused his issues.
That and, possibly, the Micro-Groove barrel.

I'll probably try it and teflon tape, both, in non magnum pistol rounds.

[Desertbuck]

well guys I chickened out, it looked like a good idea but after giving it some more thought I decided its could possibly do some kind of damage to my rifle, not going to do it.

[rhead]

I have tried both Teflon and AF. I was never satisfied with the technique of wrapping the AF. your pics confirm that that problem was me. the Teflon worked great in both my 270 and 30 30 except for the occasional really wild flyer. A 9 shot group in the 1 MOA range and the tenth four or five inches out. Maybe one in twenty. I would guess dropping the wrapping in flight.

IMO it is not worth the effort unless there is a specific problem you cannot sole any other safe way. (The abatement of both boredom and curiosity are valid reasons if it can be done safely.)

[Ido356]

I don't know any thing about wrapping, but on my first batch of PC boolits I baked them on aluminum foil (the cheap stuff) and the boolits all stuck.
Now I was thinking, if you made a cutter and cut these out larger than the boolit, you could size them and have GC bonded to the boolits.