Pure lead bullets.

[BBQJOE]

Can someone explain why a .22 bullet made of pure lead, shot at rather high velocities doesn't lead up a gun?
Are they even lubed?
It seems to me that a pure lead bullet would give better a seal and obturation.
I know for some reason this isn't the case, but I'm trying to grasp why .22 works.

[runfiverun]

they aren't pure lead.
they are lubed.
they are heeled and hollow based.
they work because of rule number one.

[BBQJOE]

they aren't pure lead.
they are lubed.
they are heeled and hollow based.
they work because of rule number one.

Well, they sure are soft.

[runfiverun]

they are swaged

[BBQJOE]

Ok. Maybe this was a dumb question.

[R.M.]

Just goes to show that some of our CF boolits don't need to be as hard as we seem to think.

[243winxb]

By the standards on this board, the 22lr does lead the bore, but has no effect on accuracy. Much like cast that leads, but is still accurate. The 22lr may be pure to 2% antinomy. Lube is the key. Just how i see it.

[alfloyd]

Pure lead has a BHN of 5.0 or less.
The reclaimed 22 slugs that I have reclaimed have a BHN of 6.5 to 8.0 tested with my Lee hardness tester.
So they are NOT pure lead bullets.

Lafaun

[ku4hx]

Garden variety .22 ammunition (Short, Long, Long Rifle) is surface lubed with a proprietary "waxy" compound.

[grampa243]

Garden variety .22 ammunition (Short, Long, Long Rifle) is surface lubed with a proprietary "waxy" compound.

i was thinking about wax dipping my loaded 45-70 boolits and then wiping off the exsece to get same efect

[BruceB]

A few years back, I tested some pure-lead bullets in my .416 Rigby.

For this limited trial, I used stick-on alloy (which I treat as pure lead) and cast as-usual in an RCBS 416-350 mould. The bullets were sized (.417") lubed and loaded exactly the same as my regular .416 Rigby "hunting" load, with 55 grains of XMP5744 and a standard CCI 200 primer.

This load travels at 2050fps with clip-on wheelweight bullets, so I expect that the pure-lead bullets were about the same.

Firing 13 rounds through a clean barrel, I found ZERO leading afterwards....none! Accuracy from the bench at 100 yards was slightly "looser" than the WW load delivers, but still highly-usable for a hunting load.... 1.5" for five rounds, repeated twice. (With water-dropped WW, the combo is a 1" rifle...reLiably!)

I defy anyone to tell me that this level of accuracy is insufficient for big game at reasonable ranges. The conclusion I drew was that, at least in THIS rifle, I have a wickedly-effective instrument for anything that walks in North America. I still find a certain attraction to my cast softpoints, though.

[243winxb]

Antimony Coats Many .22 Caliber Bullets http://www.meixatech.com/AntimonyCoa...berBullets.pdf Lube is the Key.

[runfiverun]

I made a waxy lube quite similar to 22 lube by using 3 parts jpw to one part b-wax.
it took 2 weeks to dry but acted very similar once it dried.
I figured out if I cooked the jpw down then added the b-wax it dried in the same day.
it needed to be applied melted to warm boolits then it would dry in about 2 hrs.
it was what lead to the recluse lube working.

[nanuk]

to take BruceB's comments further, I remember reading an article by Layne Simpson about ML boolits, and his suggestion was to never lube the first boolit. I can't remember why, but I for sure don't remember him mentioning any leading issues.

[44man]

I have shot ML's all my life with pure lead boolits like Maxi Balls or Minie' balls.
I also used pure with a little tin for BPCR. NEVER was there leading.
5744 was made to duplicate BP pressure rise and be a smokeless substitute.
Now there is no way I can shoot pure from a revolver and most rifles will not use it either. I would LOVE to hunt with pure lead.
So how much does the powder affect this?
How much does bore diameter and length affect lubes working or failing? When does a lube coat only run out?
Do boolits dipped have enough in grooves to act like a regular lube? Has anyone tried a lube groove free boolit with just a coat?
I tested every lube I could make or buy for many years and although most prevented leading, the accuracy difference can be amazing.
IT IS JUST NOT PREVENTING LEADING ITSELF THAT MAKES A BOOLIT ACCURATE.
You can have a shotgun or a tack driver with just a lube change.
It is why cast is harder to shoot. You have to add alloys and lubes to load workup. Guys work cast like they do jacketed, powder charge and type only. Most never even test a primer.
I really have as many questions myself with no answers I can come up with.
Just why does one thing work for someone and not for another?

[Bigslug]

FWIW, Eley uses a beeswax/tallow blend to lube their Olympic-grade .22.

[Case Stuffer]

What, soft boolits lead,hard boolits lead, sow boolits lead, fast boolits lead,XYL wax lube prevents leading , tsrt liquid lube prevents leading , size mattters, bigger is better as long as it is not to big to get it started.

Each week tens of thousands or more likley millions of cast boolits are fired down range which were cast from to hard of an alloy,lubed with to hard of a wax based lube and szed to small and yet they continue to sold and used.

[44man]

What, soft boolits lead,hard boolits lead, sow boolits lead, fast boolits lead,XYL wax lube prevents leading , tsrt liquid lube prevents leading , size mattters, bigger is better as long as it is not to big to get it started.

Each week tens of thousands or more likley millions of cast boolits are fired down range which were cast from to hard of an alloy,lubed with to hard of a wax based lube and szed to small and yet they continue to sold and used.

There you are! You made a good statement to what we all face.
But we enjoy every second!
I see you were in Nam, you have my hand my friend.

[runfiverun]

big slug.
it wouldn't really be a tallow it would be a refined form of tallow for the sodium stearate, tallow has to be refined or it has glycerol in it and that is too hydrophilic.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I have shot several thousand cast boolits, hard and soft but not pure lead in my 14" TC Contender, and have never seen any evidence of leading in that barrel. I also have owned several 14" 44 mags barrels and all of them lead no matter what size boolits or how hard or soft the alloy is they have all leaded. No problem though, I have always just used the Lewis Lead Remover on them after each shooting session. I probably need to lap the bore with some coated boolits to smooth out the one I have at present.