Need lube stick for pure lead?

[geoff rodger]

Hi all.
Just wondering if anybody can help me out. I,ve had good luck with a Lyman 158665 mould that i had hollow pointed, using Lyman L2 and 4grains of tightgroup out of my marlin 1894 for a round about 1050 fps.
I have just cast a hole heap of these out of pure lead ,just to see if I can really get that hollow point to open up. I don,t mind dropping the velocity a we bit to help stop leading, but I was wondering what would be the best lube to use in my lube sizer or does it really matter? I can shoot these cheaper than a 22. love cast! thanks

[btroj]

Pure lead is going to be very difficult to get accuracy with. 20-1 or 16-1 lead/tin would be a much better choice.
Fit is going to be critical and a softer lube would help. Felox lube would be a good choice.

[OLPDon]

I agree with btroj.

However.........

If speed is what you need, to open up the hollow pt and avoid leading, afraid lube ant going to do it. You will have to IMO to do the paper patch thing.

You can push them as fast as needed and no leading. If you read the post "Extreme" boolit lube, The Quest... you can see it just ant that easy.

Don

[44man]

Yes, add some tin. It will also help stop corrosion of the lead.
I would try a soft lube, Felix or 50-50.
Those things will SPAT but I don't know if I would shoot a deer with them. You might not get enough penetration. I would look for more controlled expansion for deer.
Now for water jugs!

[geargnasher]

Add 5% tin and recast them, paper-patch them, or use a compacting buffer between powder and boolit.

Gear

[Larry Gibson]

I would add 2 1/2 % tin for a 40-1 alloy. I would use a good 50/50 NRA lube like Lars or Lyman's. Actually I have done just that with the 358477 HP'd with the Forster 1/8" drill. I loaded them over 5.5 gr Unique to duplicate the WW "FBI" 38 SPL load. The run right at 1000 fps out of my 5" M15 and after 50 rounds there will be a slight grey wash the last bit of the bore, the same as with the WW factory ammo. Both easily cleaned out. Expansion was/is the same as with the WW or Fed FBI load.

Larry Gibson

[runfiverun]

i'd lube some with what you have and try shooting them.
1,000 fps isn't all that strenous of a load from a levergun.
you could also add a coat of tumble lube on top of your regular.
going to the 40-1 alloy would maybe help some, but why not try them first.

[geoff rodger]

I'm surprised by 6 reply!. I didn't expect so many!
Lots of great info to digest. I,ll try some pure lead just to see what happens, as Ive nothing to lose, I only use this light load to shoot rabbits etc, A lot more fun when that big 357 hits the dirt than a 22 at least you can see you shots! . I also have a cupboard full of wheel wights and, Linotype., should I be mixing maybe a small amount of these two with my pure lead to come up with something sightly harder, or would I be better off with a wee bit of solder(tin). Just A bit worried about cleaning out any leading. Is it OK to wrap some fine steel wool around the copper bore brush, as it seem to intertwine with the brush well. and run this back ward and forward from the receiver end. Is it OK if the brush exist the muzzle! as wont the steel wool were the crown. also do I need a bore cleaner as well. Thanks guys for any help.

[btroj]

If the steel wool exits the crown it is fine, I like to have about 1/2 or the brush out of the muzzle. I will say that I find far more lead in the breach in most cases than anywhere else. A brush and steel wool will make very short work of leading.
I always run my brush/steel wool dry. I run a couple wet patches then a dry one. That is when I look down the bore to see if lead is present. If lead is there, I brush it away. I then run a couple more wet patches then dry the bore with a few dry patches.

Shouldn't take more than a few minutes.

[fredj338]

I cast a lot of LHP, I think 1000fps is about the limit for pure lead regardless of lube. Even a small amount of tin, 30-1, helps quite a bit. Something like BAC would be my lube choice.
I am not a fan of steel wool or brushes in a bbl. I know some do it, just creeps me out. ChoreBoy copper wool is a better tool IMO.

[dominicfortune00]

4 ought steel wool will polish glass without scratching.

[geoff rodger]

Will be quite interesting to see if I can indeed shoot pure lead at 1000 fps, as I find the p lead seems to fill out the mould nicely, So doe,s tin hard-ed things up A wee bit! . would my best source be solder!
Sorry for all the questions, So much to learn still!

[btroj]

Solder is an excellent source of tin. Search here about pewter found at thrift stores. Just make sure it is actual pewter, not pewter wanna bees.

[H.Callahan]

If you really want to play around, you could cast tips out of pure lead and then use a harder alloy for the bearing surface. Takes longer and some playing around to get it right, but it might be just the ticket.

[John Boy]

So, for routine sixgunning applications what do we want from our cast bullet alloy? In the 800-1000 fps range we should probably keep the alloy at a BHN of 12 or below. From 1000-1400 fps, 12 to 16 is a very useful range of hardness. For velocities of 1400 to 1700 fps, this window slides up to 14 to 20. Above 1700, linotype at a BHN of 22 is an excellent choice.

http://www.sixguns.com/crew/castbullet.htm
A Few Comments on Cast Bullet Alloys by Glen E. Fryxell

Use clip on WW's that are usually Bhn of 13.4 ... listed in the references as Bhn 12
With tin at $15 - 20 a pound, alloying the Pb with Sn would be the last thing I would do!

[fredj338]

4 ought steel wool will polish glass without scratching.

You can clean as you like, but I am not putting steel cleaning stuff in my bbls. If 0000 steel wool isn't that aggressive, what makes one think it will effectively remove lead?

[btroj]

When you blue a barrel and want to polish the finish you use steel wool.
Steel wool effectively removes lead because it has lots of little edges and surface area to grab the lead and pull it from the barrel. A cleaning patch won't work because it just compresses and slides over the lead.
Do as you wish but 4 aught steel wool on a worn brush is a great lead remover.

[km101]

I have used 0000 steel wool for years on my Shilen-barreled .240Wby rifle. The dimensions of the bore are almost eactly the same as when it came from Shilen's shop. (except for the throat, which has seen a fair amount of flame cutting) I don't like or use stainless steel brushes as I do feel that they are too aggressive, but the 0000 steel wool is made from a mild alloy that has not scratched my barrels.

[wgr]

i may be off base here. but i shoot maxie. ball lubed with crisco without leading my muzzle loaders. i would say im pushing 11/1200fps.