MSD MIke
02-14-2016, 12:30 PM
For what its worth, my little journey with a Ruger Blackhawk 45 Colt/ACP convertible.
Stage One (Not a caster at this point) - Bought gun and went shooting. Jacketed are OK (not great). Lead = Leading.
Shot a bunch of 230 grain Jacketed 45 ACP to break in. Cleaned really well and tried lead again. Lot of leading.
Leading was worst right after the forcing cone with some following the rifling down the barrel.
Loads
Bullet- All were the standard bevel base, hard lead, hard lube 250GR SWC style bullets available from several commercial casters. All were .452.
45 Colt Lead Loads
1st 6gr Red Dot
2nd 8gr Unique
3rd 16gr 2400
4th 17gr 2400
230 LRN - Commercial cast, hard lead, hard lube & BB
45ACP
4gr Bullseye
5gr Bullseye
All loads leaded badly in 15-20 rounds
Stage Two - Getting irritated and tired of cleaning lead out. So I start doing some research and find out its common on Blackhawks due to undersized cyl throats. Do a little more research (Mostly on this site) and find out about "Fit is King".
Stage Three - I bought pin gauges and measured the throats and sure enough, both cylinders are ranging from .450 to .451.
Stage Four - Buy .452 reamer and pilots and ream throats in both cylinders. Measure again and I have happy .452 throats all the way around.
Stage Five - I'm all excited thinking I have solved my problem so I go out and shoot some more (Same Loads). To my disappointment the leading is not as bad but it is still beyond acceptable.
Stage Five - Order a lee pot, .452 push through sizer, a lee 452-252 SWC mold and some 50/50 lube.
Stage Six - Learned to cast bullets, a little bit of a learning curve but not to bad. Alloy was air cooled clip on wheel weights. After getting some acceptable looking bullets, pan lubing them and using a push through sizer I was ready to rock and roll again.
Stage Seven - load new ammo and started shooting.
Same Loads but with my wheel weight bullets (Shot over chronograph this time)
45 Colt
My bullets dropped at 260 gr
Results
6 gr Red Dot - Ave 835 Fps Small amount of leading right after the forcing cone. Good accuracy
8gr Unique - Ave 935 fps - Very Tiny bit of leading just after the forcing cone and good accuracy.
16 gr 2400 - Ave 950 fps - Absolutely no leading and great accuracy. Some unburned powder but who cares
17 gr 2400 - Ave 1050fps - absolutely no leading and accuracy is great Also some unburned powder left over.
Conclusion -That Ruger Blackhawk sure taught me a lot and turned me into a caster. Of course now I have lots of molds for different calibers and the equipment keeps stacking up.
Mike
Stage One (Not a caster at this point) - Bought gun and went shooting. Jacketed are OK (not great). Lead = Leading.
Shot a bunch of 230 grain Jacketed 45 ACP to break in. Cleaned really well and tried lead again. Lot of leading.
Leading was worst right after the forcing cone with some following the rifling down the barrel.
Loads
Bullet- All were the standard bevel base, hard lead, hard lube 250GR SWC style bullets available from several commercial casters. All were .452.
45 Colt Lead Loads
1st 6gr Red Dot
2nd 8gr Unique
3rd 16gr 2400
4th 17gr 2400
230 LRN - Commercial cast, hard lead, hard lube & BB
45ACP
4gr Bullseye
5gr Bullseye
All loads leaded badly in 15-20 rounds
Stage Two - Getting irritated and tired of cleaning lead out. So I start doing some research and find out its common on Blackhawks due to undersized cyl throats. Do a little more research (Mostly on this site) and find out about "Fit is King".
Stage Three - I bought pin gauges and measured the throats and sure enough, both cylinders are ranging from .450 to .451.
Stage Four - Buy .452 reamer and pilots and ream throats in both cylinders. Measure again and I have happy .452 throats all the way around.
Stage Five - I'm all excited thinking I have solved my problem so I go out and shoot some more (Same Loads). To my disappointment the leading is not as bad but it is still beyond acceptable.
Stage Five - Order a lee pot, .452 push through sizer, a lee 452-252 SWC mold and some 50/50 lube.
Stage Six - Learned to cast bullets, a little bit of a learning curve but not to bad. Alloy was air cooled clip on wheel weights. After getting some acceptable looking bullets, pan lubing them and using a push through sizer I was ready to rock and roll again.
Stage Seven - load new ammo and started shooting.
Same Loads but with my wheel weight bullets (Shot over chronograph this time)
45 Colt
My bullets dropped at 260 gr
Results
6 gr Red Dot - Ave 835 Fps Small amount of leading right after the forcing cone. Good accuracy
8gr Unique - Ave 935 fps - Very Tiny bit of leading just after the forcing cone and good accuracy.
16 gr 2400 - Ave 950 fps - Absolutely no leading and great accuracy. Some unburned powder but who cares
17 gr 2400 - Ave 1050fps - absolutely no leading and accuracy is great Also some unburned powder left over.
Conclusion -That Ruger Blackhawk sure taught me a lot and turned me into a caster. Of course now I have lots of molds for different calibers and the equipment keeps stacking up.
Mike