Lee REAL in slow twist barrels

[triggerhappy243]

educate me about this felt wad. what are they and where do i find them?

[fouronesix]

Most use a "hard" felt of about 1/8". Then get a punch @ bore diameter or slightly larger. Use a mallet arch punch or rotary punch or press mounted punch.

Link to bulk felt that many shooters use Durofelt... (good "Mom and Pop" company): http://www.durofelt.com/image_26.html

[MarkP]

The 54 REAL's shot fairly well in my slow twist 54 cal.

[AviatorTroy]

I realize this is a very old thread but I’ve been experimenting so hopefully a data point is helpful…

I wanted to take my .45 cal on a mule deer hunt this fall, but Colorado has some specific projectile requirements, off the top of my head it’s .45 cal minimum and 180 gr minimum which obviously would require a conical bullet in .45. My rifle is 1:66 twist and shoots patched round balls great. I decided to try to work up a load for the Lee 200gr real bullet. Results were as follows..

40-60gr of Schutzen FFFG, the lower charges were accurate with a caveat, above about 55gr the accuracy started to rapidly deteriorate.

About 50gr seemed to be the best, but results were really strange. Out to 50 yards, I could get 3 shot cloverleaf groups nearly every time up to 55gr of charge. But, at 75 yards, the groups were more like a foot and usually not even on the paper. Clearly this bullet is very marginally stabilized at this twist rate.

All loads were shot with a felt wad or a wad punched out of milk carton cardboard, no discernible difference between the 2 in terms of accuracy

I ended up not taking this rifle hunting this year which saddened me, but I am going to build a Colorado specific muzzleloader for next fall. Id like it to be .54 caliber with a fairly tight twist so I can shoot as heavy a conical as I want and not worry about stability. Looks like many more barrel choices in .50 caliber, we shall see where this project takes me.

[triggerhappy243]

i realize this is a very old thread but i’ve been experimenting so hopefully a data point is helpful…

i wanted to take my .45 cal on a mule deer hunt this fall, but colorado has some specific projectile requirements, off the top of my head it’s .45 cal minimum and 180 gr minimum which obviously would require a conical bullet in .45. My rifle is 1:66 twist and shoots patched round balls great. I decided to try to work up a load for the lee 200gr real bullet. Results were as follows..

40-60gr of schutzen fffg, the lower charges were accurate with a caveat, above about 55gr the accuracy started to rapidly deteriorate.

About 50gr seemed to be the best, but results were really strange. Out to 50 yards, i could get 3 shot cloverleaf groups nearly every time up to 55gr of charge. But, at 75 yards, the groups were more like a foot and usually not even on the paper. Clearly this bullet is very marginally stabilized at this twist rate.

All loads were shot with a felt wad or a wad punched out of milk carton cardboard, no discernible difference between the 2 in terms of accuracy

i ended up not taking this rifle hunting this year which saddened me, but i am going to build a colorado specific muzzleloader for next fall. Id like it to be .54 caliber with a fairly tight twist so i can shoot as heavy a conical as i want and not worry about stability. Looks like many more barrel choices in .50 caliber, we shall see where this project takes me.

yes, colo. Has really given the muzzleloader guys the chingas. With that being said, the 54 cal. Would be a perfect choice. See attached picture. This is 3 shots from my t/c renegade. 435 gr. Hand cast t/c maxi-balls on top of 90 gr. Pyrodex, shot off a bench at 100 yards. Iron sights.

[gumbo333]

TH243 do you lube those bad looking puppies? Use a wad under them? Peep sight? Mighty impressive I have to say, great shooting. I love it when somebody does something really right!

[LAGS]

I no longer have my .54 R.E.A.L bullet mold.
I sold it with a rifle that I had.
It shot as good as the Maxi Balls you used.
But only if well lubed and with an over powder wad.
But I only tested them out to 50 yards.

[triggerhappy243]

TH243 do you lube those bad looking puppies? Use a wad under them? Peep sight? Mighty impressive I have to say, great shooting. I love it when somebody does something really right!

I do lube them with bore butter. No wad underneath, but I did experiment with what groove i placed the lube. the sights were stock t/c bead style iron sights,