Lubed Some Long Bullets

[Winter Hawk]

I'm going to try Lee R.E.A.L. bullets in the Hodgepodge Rifle.  I had some I made several years ago but never shot.  They were not lubricated, so I put them in a plastic bag, squirted some Lee Alox on them and squoze them around until they were nicely covered.  They are on a piece of waxed paper on the workbench now, drying.  Hope that does the trick and keeps the leading to a minimum.  Any suggestions for a better lube?  It doesn't have to be PC, as R.E.A.L. bullets aren't PC either, except for the period we are presently in....

~Kees~

[Bigsmoke]

Hi Kees,
As far as leading goes, you might try using a lubed wad between the powder and the bullet.
I don't recollect the caliber of your Hodgepodge rifle, but if it is .54, maybe a 28 ga lubed cushion wad would work.
John

[Winter Hawk]

Thanks john I may try that.  I imagine that the wad would keep the heat from the burning powder contained so it wouldn't melt the base of the bullet?  But I thought that leading comes from the bullet being in contact with the bore and heat from friction causing the lead to deposits itself in the rifling, in which case I don't see how a wad would help.  I'll try it anyway, just to see if it works.

And dyslexia strikes again - it's .45, not .54.... 

~Kees~

[Bigsmoke]

Thanks john I may try that.  I imagine that the wad would keep the heat from the burning powder contained so it wouldn't melt the base of the bullet?  But I thought that leading comes from the bullet being in contact with the bore and heat from friction causing the lead to deposits itself in the rifling, in which case I don't see how a wad would help.  I'll try it anyway, just to see if it works.

And dyslexia strikes again - it's .45, not .54.... 

~Kees~

OK, I could be wrong on that, as I don't recall having shot a long bullet since the early 1970's in my first Renegade.
But I have shot a bunch of round ball with monster charges and I know the wad keeps the heat away from the patched ball, as the patches all came out looking as if they could be used again.
So, the thought is that if there is not enough heat to even slightly singe the patch, there would not be enough heat to soften the bullet, meaning it would not have a tendency to lead the barrel.  I think.
As far as dyslexia goes, I have never noticed it before, but maybe nobody ever told me I was doing it backwards.
John

[doggoner]

Winter Hawk

I seem to recall that keeping the velocity in the 1600-1800 fps range for a pure lead projectile will keep the leading down. This from my shooting cast boolets in several of those other things that are called rifles too. Of course, those boolets were lubed with several types of lube goo. Just gob some solid lube on the R.E.A.L. grooves and shoot a couple for effect.  Who knows, you may be pleased with the results.

doggoner

[Winter Hawk]

Thanks Dennis, I surely do hope to be pleased with the results!  I believe someone shot the 100 yard challenge with a .45 REAL bullet with excellent results.  Years ago I had a .50 rifle with 1 in 66" twist, and the 250 grain REAL bullets hit the same POI at 100 yards as patched round ball, while carrying a lot further.  I think that the REAL bullet was about as long as its diameter, just like a round ball so should give about the same results per the Greenhill formula.  The .45 REAL bullet is longer than the round ball so may not stabilize the same.

~Kees~