Question about blackpowder cartridge shooting

I have, I use 2 paper wads under the bullet. Just clean your barrel good and there's no problem. You still need lube tho, unlike with smokeless.

I shoot Missouri hi-tek coated bullets in my 45-70

many many many do it. have fun.i paperpatch my self with out lube. dry wrap. the bore gets polished with out wear every shot i take. i use black horn 209 powder in my 45/70 or real black with 7 grains of shotgun powder in the base of the case. no wiping when shooting and the bore get polished. hot primers also.

I powder coat for my 1873 trapdoor. With smokeless I shoot as is for Goex I pan lube them.

With Black powder recommend at least finger lubing the powder coated bullet. No need for wads, just remember no air gap. 50/50 beeswax and Crisco works well. Also, try cleaning with brake cleaner to get rid of petroleum based lubricants on firearm to bare metal, then lubing using Ballistol. Its BP friendly.

brake cleaner is a very good idea, thanks for telling every one that. if i powder coated i would finger lube with lee alox. dont know how it works with real black but with blackhorn 209 powder it works great.

I've heard a lot of back and forth on the Alox with black powder argument. Never tried it to see myself. A lot claim that it makes the hard tar-like fouling similar to what petro based products are known for doing. Others have no issues with it.

I think there's a lot of variables like powder, type of bullet/patch used (or lack of) and any other residual cleaners, oils or lubes that are in your barrel.

In the cowboy action shooting world the consensus seems to be that coated bullets are fine with subs like APP and Triple Seven. Most folks shooting real black powder recommend a traditional soft lube on the bullet.

Sorry ... i seem to miss the point .... what has lubing to do with coating ...?

You need a black powder lube (not alox) when shooting black powder to keep fouling soft. Each bullet shot cleans out bore from shot before and leaves a soft fouling behind. It doesn't build up but is one shots worth. Black powder requires a non petroleum based lube to work best and eliminate hard fouling. Some black powder reloaders use coated bullets to reduce lead exposure on their fingers and hands, but still must black powder lube. The coating does not negate the need for lube in black powder. You do not need to have black powder lube but can use Hi tek or regular smokeless lube when using APP or Black MZ or possibly other sub's.

Alox with real BP, very, very BAD idea. It combines with the fouling to make it way harder to clean.

Back to powder coating, I've experimented with it in both modern cartridge guns and muzzleloaders. In regards to the fouling, it does nothing to lessen or soften the fouling. Softening the fouling is a function of the lube and kind of BP. It can help with guns that have leading issues due to pits in the bore. In my guns, both muzzleloaders and cartridge, there were very mixed results in regards to accuracy. Most didn't change much at all. Two shot worse, only one shot better. In the one where it shot better, 1858 Smith, I can only attribute it to the coating bumping up the diameter of the bullet as this bullet is a tad undersized for my bore.

I think you chief benefits in powder coating are reducing leading and allowing for somewhat higher velocities with smokeless powder. The technique does work, just not in every case.

Powder coat and lube ...kind of like Belt and Suspenders !
Tell us how it works out for you .
Gary

If you're shooting BP pressures/velocities -- and (do) have to have an organically/soft-lubed bullet anyway . . .
Why are we coating the bullet at all ?

To make a smooth surface for paper patching, is my guess.

MEHavey said:

If you're shooting BP pressures/velocities -- and (do) have to have an organically/soft-lubed bullet anyway . . .
Why are we coating the bullet at all ?

Click to expand...

I tried it as an experiment to see if it helped any in the accuracy dept. Results were best called mixed. Several guns it was a fail. Several more, meh. Only one showed improvement. In my case, a couple of mine have some pits in the barrels and sometimes need a bit of extra attention. I was hoping that powder coating might help a bit there without being detrimental to accuracy. Didn't work that way. The one gun that showed improvement, I attribute to the coating bumping up the dia of the bullet a couple thou but even then, I'm not sure it's a consistent thing.