MBC Quality

[blarby]

So, I got my 500 165gr whitetails from MBC today !

Ended up with 504, bonus

Expertly sized to .311- they all passed...exactly.

Weight breakdown :

168 gr : 99

167 gr : 47

166 gr : 187

165 gr : 167

164 gr : 3

163 gr : 1

I didn't split hairs on tenth grains, and just lumped em into a whole grain weight category. If we exclude the 4 bonus bullets from the group- we'd end up with only four weight categories.

Lubing on the bullets was of great quality and uniformly applied....what the USPS knocked askew, I was able to roll back into the grooves easily- the lube was in the box, so i do blame USPS/ normal transit. I've seen a lot of thin/thick lube jobs from competitors at friends benches....these don't suffer that malady.

The bullet lengths are extremely uniform divided amongst the weight gradients: 0.934 inches for the heaviest, down to 0.925 for the lightest. There were very few exceptions to the weight/length correlation within the measured 1 grain intervals.

Concentric measurement was also VERY good, I'm sure no doubt due to the sizing process, but the measurement along the bullet ogive was very regular and consistent.

Very good casting technique evident solely based on uniformity of finished shape, and weight spread deviation.


Very high marks from me, you folks do an excellent job over there.

As soon as I can, I look forward to ordering more in all the calibers I shoot.

 

[ljnowell]

You have discovered the magic that is MoBullet. They somehow manage to provide that quality without giving you year long delays like other bullet casters who wont be named. They also come through with thier promises. You wont see long threads about people not getting what they paid for like with others.

You are now hooked, like many of us.

 

[blarby]

Indeed I have.

 

[gacajun]

+1 on MBC quality. I've ordered from them 3 times in the last 2 months and they have been prompt and the bullets weighed uniformly. They even let us know that a price increase was coming so we could order before price increases.

 

[blarby]

And, they have allowed me to produce these first 50 beauties.

First lead from MBC, looks good to me !

 

[capreppy]

Every order has shipped within 24 hours of order (even those placed late at night on a Friday). The quality of the bullets is great. I won't go anywhere else.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I was also very happy at how well those 165gr 30-30 bullets shot. They are extremely accurate.

blarby,
What powder and charge weight did you settle on? My first batch was with 21.0gr H4895. The velocity from a Marlin Carbine was 1340 which is a little low.

 

[blarby]

I pressed 50 of the 7.2 gr uniques.

Gonna try those out @ the range this weekend, see how they do.

Hopefully I'll have a little more brass after that trip for experimenting, as that was the last 50 I had !

I'm going to start at 22 or 23 grains h4895, and see what shakes loose on the next batch. I know in regards to pressure I'm good clear up to the low 30 mark, its just going to be an accuracy and leading issue at that point.

If the 7.2 gr load Jech cooked up works as well in my rifle as It did in his, I may just leave well enough alone..... they only cost me about 14 cents a piece that way

One thing I was impressed with : (weird, but bear with me) I tumble after assembly, and usually I'm a shiny guy. The smooth,flat lead on that shiny shiny brass just looks monolithic- and lethally cool. They look accurate standing still !

 

[Lead Head]

What are you guys doing about the barrel leading? This can also be a reason for bullet weight variations since the leading is different from box to box meaning the alloys are varying which would have an influence on bullet weight. I go from bullets that lead up the barrel to the point that it take the better part of an hour to clean it to ones that lead noticeably less. Those kinds of inconsistencies are hard to swallow for me, doesn't it affect you or don't you pay attention to leading?

I went back to Penn Bullets and ALL my leading problems went away. As far as weight I can buy my .45's guaranteed to withing 7 tents of a grain from Bob with no leading. I don't have time to scrape lead out. Once your barrel gets laded up, your accuracy goes out the window it gets so bad with MB's.

 

[Jech]

What are you guys doing about the barrel leading?

Leading? What leading? xD

This load/charge combo doesn't lead up at all in my Marlin 336. Now, if I pushed it a lot hotter to the 10gr range well beyond the pressure/velocity recommendations for a bevel based rifle bullet...well that's another story!

I stick to RanchDog's gas checked 165gr flat point for my full power stuff.

 

[Lead Head]

Leading? What leading? xD

If I had any more to shoot I'd say stop by and I'll show you what leading looks like. My new 9MM leaded up so bad you almost couldn't see the rifling in places, I exaggerate not, just about an hour and many different devices to get it out. The lead they are casting is inconsistent, maybe you've been lucky so far.

I experience extreme leading in more than 50 under 100 rounds. There's no way I could use those bullets for my steel target shooting. I wouldn't make it to the end of the shoot and as I said, accuracy goes out the window as the barrel gets blocked. One time it was actually so bad I feared barrel failure as you are warned not to fire lead through a Glock.

Now I bought some .38's to get me through a tough time and they aren't as bad but we're still talking needing to make 100 passes with a metal bore brush verses 20 passes with Penn Bullets (I do 20 passes cleaning up after a jacketed shoot). I just found I couldn't trust the alloy they are casting.

I'll add: and these I had leading problems with are target loads, very light loads some under recommended minimum.

 

[jerkface11]

Blarby have you tried trailboss yet?

 

[blarby]

Nay, I haven't yet.

If I hadn't justed stocked up on unique and h4895, I might be inclined to try it

Maybe after the move !

 

[Sin City Shootist]

What are you guys doing about the barrel leading?

A strip of Chore Boy wrapped around an old brush makes quick work on a leaded barrel. Any chance you're using a Lee FCD? My barrels used to lead really bad till I quit using the FCD. I'm assuming it was shaving the bullets on the way out and leaving deposits for the next round to embed deeper in the barrel.

 

[Lead Head]

A strip of Chore Boy wrapped around an old brush makes quick work on a leaded barrel. Any chance you're using a Lee FCD? My barrels used to lead really bad till I quit using the FCD. I'm assuming it was shaving the bullets on the way out and leaving deposits for the next round to embed deeper in the barrel.

To get it cleaned I would use a metal bore brush, Lewis Lead Remover, Led Away wrapped round an old .45 brush. But until the heavy deposits that are so thick they blur the rifling, Lead Away doesn't hardly tough it; that's more for getting the last traces of it out. Do that for about an hour and it's finally clean.

I use a FCD and with Penn Bullets have no problem with lead in any of my guns. The FC die doesn't "shave lead off", it final sizes the cartridge.

 

[blarby]

Hoppes elite before.....

Hoppes elite after.......



Comes off "like butta"

 

[Lead Head]

No it doesn't...common.

You're telling me I need 50 or more strokes with a Lewis Lead Remover to get the bulk out so I can get it better with a hundred or so strokes with a old .45 brush in a 9 mm then with Lead Away patch wrapped around it for another 25 to 50 strokes and all I have to do is run a patch of Hoppies and I'm done? LMAO

If I had more of those bullets to fire I'd love to have you come over and show me this magic trick.

Look if you don't like/want the bad press quit telling me I'm wrong so I don't feel I need to respond. I'm not here with any bone to pick with anybody nor do I have a beef with MB personally; I'm just tellin it like it is for the bullets I had. Don't forget I had some MB .38's which weren't nearly as bad as the 9's but I'll still stick with my dependable Penn Bullets and NO leading. I know what I experienced and it wasn't fun. First tie in over 30 years of loading I ever had a problem that bad.

 

[Travis Two]

I never had a lube issue with lube coming off the bullets with Penn despite the rough handling some of the boxes had undergone. Despite the fact that some of the interior boxes broke; the bullets were still intact with the lube in place. The exterior of the box was heavily reinforced so I never lost any bullets despite some of the gorillas the USPS has working for them.
Most of my boxes come intact with no damage.

 

[MissouriBullet]

Hey Travis, what took you so long?

 

[GLOOB]

I'll add: and these I had leading problems with are target loads, very light loads some under recommended minimum.

You can't load high BH bullets under minimum starting loads and not expect leading. If you need light target loads, buy the appropriate bullets. Sounds like Penn does better for your load.

Hard bullets need more pressure to seal. Your leading probably came from gas cutting from that long Glock throat with a bullet that was not obturated. You were melting your bullets.

I haven't tried mine, yet, but I expect MBC luger "small ball" BH18 bullets to work best at or near max lead load info.

 

[wcavasos]

About what Gloob said. Iv'e read exactly that in what i think was my speer reloading manual. There might be something to that, gotta have enough pressure to create that concave shape on the aft end of the bullet to create a good bullet to barrel seal. Anyhow my experiance has been great with mbc loading within the speer recommendations for lrn and swc bullets, COL doesn't match cause the bullet crimp groove must be positioned differently on speer bullets than on the mbc type. But no matter I started at the min and worked my way up until my accuracy was consistant w/o signs of pressure on the cases. NO LEADING at all...none. I have been expecting it but I think I found the right recipe. It's a beautiful thing when everything just works out perfect. I wish you luck with Penn, but I will stick with mbc until I get results that are unacceptable. I don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

[Travis Two]

Hey Travis, what took you so long?

Range day. weathers breaking and its time to start tuning up for the matches.

 

[Travis Two]

About what Gloob said. Iv'e read exactly that in what i think was my speer reloading manual. There might be something to that, gotta have enough pressure to create that concave shape on the aft end of the bullet to create a good bullet to barrel seal. Anyhow my experiance has been great with mbc loading within the speer recommendations for lrn and swc bullets, COL doesn't match cause the bullet crimp groove must be positioned differently on speer bullets than on the mbc type. But no matter I started at the min and worked my way up until my accuracy was consistant w/o signs of pressure on the cases. NO LEADING at all...none. I have been expecting it but I think I found the right recipe. It's a beautiful thing when everything just works out perfect. I wish you luck with Penn, but I will stick with mbc until I get results that are unacceptable. I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Obturation isn't needed if the bullets fit right as they seal from the get go. As long as the alloy and lube are up to the demands of what you are doing then it all works. My experiance is the same as LH with a a wide range of loadings and no leading issues to deal with.
The weight deviations on the bullets are the lowest I found and the accuracy is the best I found to date with Penn.
Use what works best for you. I know what works for me.

 

[Hondo 60]

I've seen a tiny, tiny bit of leading.
Curable just by brushing 20 strokes or so with Hoppe's #9.

MBC are some GREAT folks to deal with.
if they make a mistake, they jump on it immediately.

I've ordered 5 or 6 times & will be ordering again soon.
Currently have 3 boxes of CB #11 & 2 #4s.

Will probably be a month or so til I order again.

 

[LiveLife]

Hmmmm.... interesting how the thread went from the OP "MBC Quality" to this ...

I got my various 9mm/40S&W/40ACP loads running from start to mid-high range load data with no leading or very little leading (essentially fouling/lead smear at the chamber/leade end of the barrel) that comes clean with Hoppe's #9 and copper scrubber wrapped bore brush (back and forth several times is all that's required for shiny clean barrels).

As to leading in general and discussion specific to Missouri Bullets in relation to 10/12/15/18 BHN bullets they offer, here's the thread - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=575244


Here are some excerpts:

A Few Comments on Cast Bullet Alloys by Glen E. Fryxell

Cast bullet hardness, specifically the hardness of the various alloys used to make cast bullets, has raised a lot of questions and confusion lately. A very common misconception is that leading is caused by the bullet being too soft and the lead gets stripped off or abraded away from the bullet's bearing surface as it passes down the bore. This misguided belief leads many new bullet casters to turn to expensive alloys like linotype, and/or elaborate heat treating methods to harden their bullets, thinking that this is the only way to prevent leading.

There are very, very few revolver applications that require a BHN of over 20. In my experience, revolver leading can almost always be traced to some other factor (inadequate lubrication, improper sizing, barrel/frame constriction, etc.). Only very rarely is barrel leading caused by the bullet being too soft. In support of this claim, let me point out that many muzzle loaders prefer bullets cast from 30-to-1 alloy (which is quite soft, BHN of about 9) and these smokepole slugs are routinely driven to 1300-1400 fps. In addition, high-velocity .22 Long Rifle ammo uses an even softer bullet at over 1200 fps (and if a .22 leads, it's a gun problem, not an ammo problem). Elmer Keith's favorite cast bullet alloy was 16-to-1 lead/tin, which has a BHN of only 11. This is the alloy that gave a roaring birth to the .44 Magnum using plain-based cast bullets loaded to 1400+ fps. Properly loaded and lubed, Elmer's alloy will leave a magnum revolver barrel shiny and clean after a long day shooting.

Cast Bullet Alloys and Obturation - http://www.lasc.us/FryxellCBAlloyObturation.htm

Cast Bullets Articles of Glen E. Fryxell - http://www.lasc.us/ArticlesFryxell.htm

LASC Cast Bullet Notes Page (lead bullet compositions and hardness testing) - http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm