Is my bullet size OK.

[flip180]

I've started loading .45 colt and have noticed a little bit of leading. Not much but some in the forcing cone and up to an inch in the barrel. I'm using Meister 250 gr. bullets that I measured at .452 inch. I slugged my barrel at .451 and cylinder at .452. My load consisted of 5.6 gr. of titegroup with winchester large pistol primers and cases. I measeure my velocity at.

Hi= 752 Lo=701 Avg=736 Es=51 Sd=15

Do I need to push the bullets faster or go to a bigger bullet?

Thanks, Flip.

 

[Grump]

In general, yes. The "standard" is to have lead bullets sized .001 over the bore size.

The leading you describe doesn't *sound* that bad. I've never been able to get away from the forcing cone stuff. It appears to be blast-melt deposited there, as the hardest part to clean is where the cone is WAY larger than the bullet diameter.

Some people have reported to me in years past that *some* guns will lead less with bullets either .0005 over bore size, or even .0015 (maybe even .002?). I guess it depends on your bore and the alloy and the lube.

IME, the lube makes the biggest difference in leading. In .357, I've shot bullets with BHN of only 12-13 that leaded LESS than one batch of BHN 22+ slugs I bought in a plastic bucket. Same company's .40 bullets hardly lead though!

 

[HSMITH]

Switch to Unique and I'll buy a beer if that leading doesn't decrease by 90%......

 

[Father Knows Best]

Some revolvers are gonna lead at the forcing cone no matter what you do. It's caused by loose/sloppy forcing cones and poor barrel/cylinder alignment.

It sounds to me like you're using the right sizes. You MIGHT try going up .001 in the bullet and at the same time, switching to a softer alloy like 20:1 or 30:1 (I'm guessing you're using hardcast). The softer alloys obturate the seal the bore better, and also have higher melting points which better resist burning of the bullet base.

Try a few different powders, too. If all else fails, use gas checks!

 

[flip180]

Father Knows Best,

This is a brand new Beretta Stampede so, I hope there aren't malalligned issues. When I slugged the barrel, I noticed it shaved off a circular ring almost as if I was seating a ball in a black powder revolver. Could that ring be whats collecting at the forcing cone or, is the forcing come supposed to alleviate that?

Flip.

 

[Father Knows Best]

Due to manufacturing tolerance issues, you will never get a cylinder to drop into a frame and have the throats lined up absolutely perfectly with the bore. A lot of the cost of a fine revolver is the hand work that goes into fitting and "timing" it precisely. Because production revolvers don't have a lot of hand work (or they wouldn't be affordable), they are rarely in absolutely perfect alignment. In addition, there may be a slight bit of play at lockup that can affect alignment. The whole point of the forcing "cone" is to catch a bullet that is jumping across the barrel/cylinder gap and guide it into the bore of the barrel.

Really expensive custom revolvers have cylinders that are bored only after fitting them to the frame and barrel. That way, each chamber/throat can be lined up almost perfectly with the bore. The result is that much less of a "cone" is needed, because the bullet emerges from the cylinder throat almost perfectly in line with the bore, already. A standard forcing cone on a production revolver may be 11 degrees, for instance, whereas a forcing cone on a custom (or well fitted and timed) revolver may be as tight as 2 or 3 degrees.