cast W/O lube gruve

[bigdog454]

If you cast a slug without lube groove and then pc it, would you be able to shoot it like a jacketed bullet?
Would you have to cast it soft, or could you cast them at 12 bhn?
BD

[Burnt Fingers]

It's still a lead boolit. Use lead data.

But the PC does act as a sort of jacket.

[bangerjim]

Agree. Use the data. I cast grooved and NLG boolits at 9-12 hardness and treat them all the same with PC.

[Conditor22]

With a properly PC'd boolit, you can go several BHN less than you would with a lubed/alox'd boolit

[phidelt208]

I PC or Hi-Tech coat and both ways I like my bullets to be at least BHN of 13. It's my experience that I get less leading and see to be very consistent in weight. Super soft bullets never really work well for me.

[kayala]

I've used low jacketed charge with MP 125 gr no lube groove, PC-ed with Smoke's powder in 357 Sig (only did 4 charge ladder). They went higher FPS than in the manual (well into 1400 area); one of the charges gave me 8 SD. Primer shoulders were looking nice and round, I know it's not real indicator of pressure in a semi-auto but that's only instruments available to me - primer inspection, chrono and perceived recoil. Barrel was clean as a whistle.

EDIT: forgot to add alloy was "hardball" from Rotometal, air cooled both after casting and after PC. Didn't check actual hardness (no tester).