Dog Soldier
member
Yes, I also add some Linotype to my WW metal. I am getting more interested in the powdered metal process. Thx for your message.
As you are aware gas cutting is caused by undersized bullets. Cast bullets are poured to the pressures that the load will develop. The bearing surface of the bullet can develop fatigue in a long barrel and fail. I am going to experiment with the powdered coating process. It allows the use of WW alloy in high pressure applications. Harbor Freight has the gun and compounds.
Actually there is more to it than just giving up on cast lubed bullets. Some indoor ranges don't allow exposed lead bullets anymore yet allow coated. Then there is the smoke indoors associated with lubed bullets. Not to mention other advantages already covered in this thread and throughout the cast bullet community.What does that mean? We don't usually know the actual pressure number, and there is no direct correlation that I know of. We could guess based upon velocity ranges maybe. I don't see the science that some want to portray. What I see is people throwing up their hands and going to coatings.
IMO, you are pretty much right on - I may quibble with a few points, but that just makes for a good discussion. I noticed most everybody just ignored you - not surprising; you will never convince 96% of the know-it-alls on these forums. Leading, or the imagined lack there of, is a religious subject. Anyone that actually wants to discuss this subject to LEARN about it is simply ignored, or drowned out if they persist. I once tried to provide similar information, including great amounts of detail and lots of pictures, but the goobers just could not deal with it. It did not take me long to just shake my head and go about my business while they laughed and pointed, secure in their ignorance.I almost hate to say this. USSR is correct. I cast many 100s of thousands of bullets. Many .357s and .44s to specs that were asked for. I always got complaints that they were getting lead in their barrels.
When I would say they should use bullets that were not so hard they all said the same thing. "They are not magnum". Testing hundreds of rounds for accuracy and leading we found that softer bullets were always more accurate and caused less leading. All cast bullets cause leading to some degree. Those who claim not just do not see it or know what it is or looks like. We also should know by now that lead bullets cast or not do not cause high PSI. Lubes can make a difference. Softer lubes do not always mean less leading. The fact that Elmer used softer lead for magnum rounds did not mean he fought with leaded barrels to any serious degree.
The we hear the guy that just tosses a few jacketed rounds down the tube to clean the lead out. OK, That will surely create some PSI.
There is no cure. Coated bullets are not a cure. Proper fit and you will get less leading. By proper fit we can include the base of the bullet being soft enough to expand out to the rifling and create a gas seal which in turn will create less leading and much better accuracy.
Yes we can get too soft. And yes we can get too hard.
It is a fact that bullet companies attempt to convince shooters to buy their extreme hard cast bullets assuming they are just what they need.
The beveled base on those SWC bullets was created for ease of getting them started in your brass at the press. Nothing to do with flight. Some assume they are sort of Boat tail design. Fact is any good flat based bullet is actually capable of much better accuracy. But they are harder to get in the case. The ultimate cast bullet would actually have a concave base to assist in the base expansion. It has been played with but did not release form molds very nice.
The hard cast must be loaded at or near full spec to work correctly. That is what bullet companies assume you are doing. A medium hardness can be played with and still get good results. Stay in the middle with hardness and you can go hot or cold and have way less issues.
More leading is caused by undersized and/or improperly lubed bullets than by bullets being insufficiently hard. The commercial bullet casters have done a great job of convincing novice reloaders that they need the excessively hard bullets they produce. Don[/QUOTE said:True, when I stated casting years ago "hard cast" meant bullets were actually hard and rarely used (most of my cast bullets were 10-12 BHN, even my Magnums). Now all lead bullet that are not swaged are called "hard cast". Today most commercial casters produce bullets that are unnecessarily hard with poor, too hard lube...
What does that mean? We don't usually know the actual pressure number, and there is no direct correlation that I know of. We could guess based upon velocity ranges maybe. I don't see the science that some want to portray. What I see is people throwing up their hands and going to coatings.
The only science I am interested in is what bullets to buy that will work better, seeing through the marketing hyperbole that never seems to prove itself.. I don't cast my own. Most guns I have made their obligatory trip to the gunsmith to address any fit issues.What does it mean? I agree, not well worded.
Some people are giving up and switching, yes, but many, many, people are able to shoot lead with no leading. And some that switch do it for other reasons than leading, one of which was just touched on.
If someone follows your posting, it is very clear you don't see the science behind stopping leading with lead bullets, but the information is out there, and it can be done, it's not voodoo. People over complicate it all the time.