Looking for a boolit

[GunnyJohn]

I was having a hard time finding a conical that was accurate in my rifle. My brother in law told me about Hornady's great plains bullet. I tried them and they are very accurate in my rifle. I would like to cast my own, so I've been looking around some. What I noticed about the Hornady bullet was that it had a slightly hollow base. I believe that might have helped with the accuracy allowing the bullet to better seal and engage the rifling. I have looked at the Lee REAL boolit, and couldn't see if it had any kind of a hollow base or not, but have heard some say that it is an excellent boolit. Anyhow I'm looking for suggestions, advice, or any info that can be offered. Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge and experience.

[rodwha]

The REAL does not have a hollow base, but it doesn't need one. Unlike many conicals, which are undersized, these are nearly groove sized, which is where they get the name Rifling Engraved At Loading.

Many of the original conicals were undersized to circumvent the powder fouling issues. The hollow base expands to seal the bore upon firing. These scare me though as a projectile not seated on the powder charge becomes a scary issue.

I have a Lyman's .50 cal Deerstalker with the deeper PRB grooves and found the 320 grn REAL does quite well when a felt wad is used. Without it the conical keyholed at 50 yds and was a foot left. With them it was nearly touching just under the bull.

[johnson1942]

i may have missed something but what is your cal. and twist of the rifling? then you can get answers.

[GunnyJohn]

i may have missed something but what is your cal. and twist of the rifling? then you can get answers.I'm sorry, wasn't thinking. I shoot a .54 cal with a 48 twist.

[mooman76]

With that twist and caliber, you should be able to get REALs to shoot reasonably well. Depends also of your definition of accuracy, hunting accuracy or target. Often if you have trouble get a conical to shoot good, a over powder wad helps quite a bit. I could send you some REALs to try if you like. I have both sizes in 54 cal.

[johnson1942]

to shoot that gun of yours very accurately you need a bullet .85 inches long. that maybe what a real bullet is. you could even resize it and paperpatch it. that is the way i would go.

[newton]

I have both Maxiball and MaxiHunter(hollow point) molds for the .54. I found very, very nice, groups with the Maxihunter over the maxiball. But some have the opposite I have heard.

A few years back I sold some on here and most people wanted the maxihunter.

If I were you, that's where I would start. Something about that boolit is just about perfect for a 1:48" 54cal.

[newton]

I just measured the two. The Maxihunter is .808" and the Maxiball is .903"

[725]

I prefer the maxi-ball. Good in every respect. I seriously doubt you would be disappointed.

[OverMax]

If considering to shoot a Maxi. My advice: purchase a TC mold as their Maxi Ball has a large tighter fitting barrel drive band than a Lyman's. {I've have both molds.} A Lyman Maxi requires so little effort in ram rod force to seat it down on top of its charge you'll wonder if it will stay seated long enough to fire it. Its that loose fitting. In my rifle (54 renegade) I have found it necessary to use a over-the-powder felt wad to help a Lyman Maxi get its best accuracy. Thompson's Maxi Ball doesn't require that extra effort of using a felt wad. And it shows darn good accuracy out to 100 yards as is.

[triggerhappy243]

I have never seen a lyman 54 cal. Maxi-ball mould. I have 2 t/c maxi-ball moulds in 54 cal. And 1 in 50 cal.. I find putting lube in only the bottom lube groove to give me the best accuracy.

[GunnyJohn]

After reading the responses last night, I went on line looking for T.C. molds and couldn't find them. Anyone know of a supplier? Also, thanks for the info about only lubing the lower groove. I was lubing the whole thing out of ignorance. I think I still have some Maxi's around, so I'll try them with "proper" lubing. You guys are a wealth of knowledge. Thanks again, and keep the info coming.

[mooman76]

There are no T/C moulds being made any more. You would have to buy a used one unless you just happen to find a new one that wasn't sold yet. Lubing all the grooves isn't really ignorance. There are many ways to go about it. I myself just smear a little lube on with my fingers and it does alright for me. A little messy but works and I don't shoot that many anyway.

[koger]

I have a .54 Hawken 1" barrel, 1-48 twist on a Renegade stock. I glass bedded the whole barrel and tuned the lock and triggers. With a good 4x Leupold scope, gun shoots a cloverleaf at 100yds,give or take, with Hornady Great Plains , 425 HP bullet, TC Maxi Hunter or Lyman 450gr great plains maxi, both with a lubed felt wad or vegetable fiber wad underneath. I shoot 110 grains of 2FFG goex, Shceutzen or Kiks either one. These bullets were made with 1-48 twist in mind.,