Cast some REALS today

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

Made a bunch of the 250gr REALs today. I need to buy some felt and punch out some wads. Right now I am using lubed Veg wads which do wonderful, but wanting to experiment with different wadding. I also made some with hard lead which I got from melting down 25lbs of chilled lead bird shot. I am hoping that over time the bullets will swell up and fit a little more snug in the bore. Not 100% I feel confident enough that they will stay on the powder charge while hunting. I'll give these a couple days to set up and then pan lube them.
https://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/18/40/56/85/100_1219.jpg (https://servimg.com/view/18405685/681)
https://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/18/40/56/85/100_1220.jpg (https://servimg.com/view/18405685/682)
https://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/18/40/56/85/100_1221.jpg (https://servimg.com/view/18405685/683)

[Outer Rondacker]

Looking good. I have the same mold. It always drops nice fat bullets.

[GARD72977]

Nice looking boolits. I assume they are 50 cal. What twist is your gun?

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

Yes 50cal and a 1:48 twist.

[Saxtonyoung]

You posted some nice groups with this 250 REAL bullet for 50 Caliber with 1-48" twist in another thread recently. I'm curious if you have any experience with the 320 REAL using this same caliber/twist combination.

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

No not yet, I need to order that mold to try out.

[725]

Nice job casting. Should shoot well for you.

[Saxtonyoung]

I have a 320 on order so I'll give a report as soon as possible.

Looking forward to your results with the harder lead. I'm thinking they maybe slightly harder to load but do well with a stiffer charge of powder.

[mooman76]

I shot them a few years back with a CVA Frontier Carbine and they shot very well. It had a 24" barrel and 1/48 twist. It also shot RBs very well. Wish I still had that rifle.

[dsayer]

Let us know how the harder lead works out. I've had the same thought about the REALs staying put on the powder charge while hiking around the mountains. Seem to load real easy, almost too easy...

[mooman76]

You may not be getting proper fill out if they load real easy. They shouldn't be all that hard to load either but not easy. I have to give my starter a good wack with the palm of my hand to start. After that they go in fairly easy because they have engraved to the rifling. I have used harder lead with them and they shot good. Not real hard but between soft and WW hardness.

[dsayer]

You may not be getting proper fill out if they load real easy. They shouldn't be all that hard to load either but not easy. I have to give my starter a good wack with the palm of my hand to start. After that they go in fairly easy because they have engraved to the rifling. I have used harder lead with them and they shot good. Not real hard but between soft and WW hardness.

That sounds like what I'm experiencing, so maybe they're fine. Takes a pretty decent effort from my starter to get them in but then they go down smooth.

[GARD72977]

Is the 250 real mold made for the 1/48? I have not seen any other short 50cal conicals. I need to buy a mold but my bank account is in terrible shape from all my recent gun purchases!

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

Yes it will stabilize in a 148 twist perfectly.

[Harleysboss]

Be very careful Frontier... it's a slippery slope shooting bullets. The next thing you know and you'll be paper patching for your guns. Once you patch you'll never go back!

[Maven]

FM, I too had diameter problems with both the 250gr. & 320gr. .50cal, [Lee] REAL molds. What may work for you is either paper patching or, given the length of the 250gr., beagling the mold.

[triggerhappy243]

i have one of these real molds in 250 50 cal, i can tinker with. Gotta keep up with the Jones ya know...........

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

These should turn out very nice! I always add a little extra lube over the bullet for shrinkage as the lube cools and hardens. Next time I need to cast more to fill up that entire pan. Took almost a full pound! I did top off any other lube containers I had open so there was no waste.
https://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/18/40/56/85/100_1223.jpg (https://servimg.com/view/18405685/685)
https://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/18/40/56/85/100_1222.jpg (https://servimg.com/view/18405685/684)

[Fastleo]

Beautiful

[dondiego]

How do you extract the REALs from the lube?

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

TC speed loader. Just put the speed loader over the bullet, wipe excess lube off and push the bullet out.
https://s5.postimg.org/z4bhudkuf/IMG_9694.jpg
https://s5.postimg.org/wmzqn3t87/IMG_9709.jpg

[dondiego]

Looks like a good result!

[triggerhappy243]

i poured these maybe 6 months ago.

[dsayer]

How do you extract the REALs from the lube?

I'm going to give FM's speed loader method a try, but here is a link to SPG's website and there is a downloadable PDF article on pan lubing at the bottom of the page that I found very helpful. Basically just remove the hardened lube from the pan and push the boolits out point first.

http://www.blackpowderspg.com/spglube.html

[Harleysboss]

I have used both methods, cutting and pushing through. Push through was a whole lot less mess for me.

[dsayer]

TC speed loader. Just put the speed loader over the bullet, wipe excess lube off and push the bullet out.
https://s5.postimg.org/z4bhudkuf/IMG_9694.jpg
https://s5.postimg.org/wmzqn3t87/IMG_9709.jpg

Reviving an old thread...
I happen to have broken the lid on one of my t/c speed loaders. It's found a new purpose! Used this method to extract a set of REALs and also some old Maxi Balls. They are ancient (from when T/C still made them for the masses in 54cal) and the bore butter was junk.
Thanks for the idea FM!

[triggerhappy243]

Jon........................... did you shoot the harder REALS yes?

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

Yes they loaded a lot more snug in the bore and shot 3 shots into a ragged hole at 50 yards, open sights.

[rsrocket1]

I got felt from Walmart and soaked them in 2:1 Beeswax/vaseline. When the felt hardened, I punched the wads out with a sharpened piece of pipe (sharpened first with a motorized grindstone then later periodically sharpened with a Dremmel). I use the same punch for overpowder cards made from cereal boxes.

https://images2.imgbox.com/dc/3c/I1zZvAar_o.jpg

And the same lube to put into the REAL lube grooves. It is flexible in cold weather and holds up nicely in hot weather too.

https://images2.imgbox.com/55/69/oliUvYnL_o.jpg

CVA Optimal Pro with Alliant Black MZ. Yeah, it's not a 'real' muzzleloader or a 'real' BP, but it's fun to load and shoot.
https://images2.imgbox.com/db/17/C8HdG5aB_o.png

[dsayer]

Yes they loaded a lot more snug in the bore and shot 3 shots into a ragged hole at 50 yards, open sights.

Just how hard is chilled lead shot? Sounds like this is an option worth pursuing because I also feel like REALs cast from pure lead are a little small for my bore.

[jmort]

Chilled shot is around 2 to 3 percent antimony
Probably has some arsenic
Add 2 to 3 percent tin and you would be around 8 BHN

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

These bullets were cast with old lead pipe.

Check out the performance!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raQZEcdXXUo&t=2s

[jim 44-40]

Didn't have a lot of time,but I did get to shoot my 54cal TC on Sat. The 300gREAL bullet with homemade lube did good with 50gr of FFFg
Will report back with group size one day.also I used TC wad too

[mooman76]

Did you mean 300gr? They don't make a 200 for the 54. They do make a 300 and a 380gr though.

[jim 44-40]

Yes 300gr