Switch to Lead Bullets - What do I need to know?

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dbarnhart

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I'm thinking to switching to lead bullets for 45ACP.

I've been buying 230gr RN plated or jacketed bullets, but as the price differential between plated/jacketed vs cast lead bullets increases, I'm seriously considering switching to Missouri Bullet Company 230gr LRN.

I've been using 5.5 grains of Unique.

Is there anything I need to know or take into consideration or do differently than I do now?
 
with Lead, you cant shoot in 99% of indoor ranges, you will need to lighten your load up some for the softer lead
 
I don't know about 99%, none of the indoor ranges around here ban lead. In fact, one of them is lead only, no jacked/plated ammo.
 
I was never fond of Unique in .45 as it was dirty by comparison to my favorite powder WST. Other than that you should be good to go.
 
I switched to bulletworks.net 230, before switching back to precision delta. I started with MBG. One thing you deffinately need to know is most LRN has a wide ogive, and will require a shorter OAL in many guns, including all models I have seen. velocity must be kept to low 800's to avoid heavy leading, so stick to fast powders. Leading is not so bad if you use hard cast, as the bulletworks.net claim they use, and they are better than the soft cast ive used, but they still lead up pretty bad. If you don't have the bullets allready order a small amount, and make sure your gun likes the shorter OAL before you make an investment. If it does, precision bullets (not precision delta) makes excellent molycoated, unfortunately my 1911 hates the short cartridgers, but very accurate.
 
I load MBC 230's and Unique by the thousands. I find the new formula or Unique to burn fairly clean. They combo sure shoots nice groups out of my 1911.
 
Jacketed vs. Pb...

D. Barnhart--Jacketed bullets usually require entirely different loads that do lead bullets. Consult any good, up-to-date loading manual, but DO NOT just use your jacketed load behind a lead bullet.

No experience with plated bullets myself, IIRC, they are somewhere in between jacketed and lead. Again, a good loading manual is your surest guide.

As has been pointed out, low velocity is your friend, with soft lead bullets. I use Win 231 behind my lead target bullets in my .45. No problems with leading.
 
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You may want to take a look at Berry's copper plated bullets - they're a little more than lead, but a lot less than jacketed bullets.

Cleanup is easier, and you can load them to the mid-range of jacketed bullets.

berrysmfg.com
 
I have bought quality cast bullets from several suppliers including Mike @ MasterCast in Il and Dardas and have had very good accuracy and no fouling with full power loads. The quality of cast bullet counts. Haven't tried MBC yet.
 
Hard cast is not necessarly the answer to leading problems. Size of bullet and soft enough to fill the bore "oberate" thats as close as I can come to spelling it, is just if not more important.
 
One thing to make sure is that if you are shooting lead you might want to shoot a couple of FMG at the end of your session to help clean out some of the barrel lead. I know this is a no brainer statement but do make sure your barrel stays clean, lead will gunk up a barrel faster than FMJ rounds.
 
Some people will tell you that shootng a couple of FMJ at the end of your session will "iron" down any lead instead of cleaning it out...I don't know either way. I've been shooting lead for years and never had a leading issue.
 
I reloaded lead 230gr for my XD45 with countless different powders loads ect.. I never found one that didn't lead. I think It's just my gun because I have let a freind shoot several of my loads through his 5 inch XD and he had no issues. I would just order a small amount to make sure they dont cause you any problems with leading. It's a huge pain in the but to have to clean out a tone of lead after just a few mags through a gun it takes the fun out of shooting. My 38 on the other hand loves lead and takes no time at all to clean after shooting. Hope you have better luck than me.
 
One thing to make sure is that if you are shooting lead you might want to shoot a couple of FMG at the end of your session to help clean out some of the barrel lead. I know this is a no brainer statement but do make sure your barrel stays clean, lead will gunk up a barrel faster than FMJ rounds.
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Many folks advise doing this but in reality its not a good practice. If you're having leading problems you need to address what the problem is, bullet lead to hard, bullet lead to soft, bullet to small "very common", powder charge to heavy creating to fast a bullet, ect., ect.

Firing a jacketed round in a partially obstructed barrel "say leaded barrel" is just not wise. But do as you wish, and proceed with caution.
 
Only thing of importance to note is that you need to be sure that you are not undersizing your bullets- a Lee factory crimp die, for example, will squeeze down the case and the lead bullet won't spring back. Also you might need to flare your cases a bit more so as to not shave lead off the bullets, or undersize them when you seat. I use the same load for lead, plated and FMJ and it all works fine.
 
Lots of good advice here. I changed over cause our range requires all lead bullets only. I found that the loading was different than with plated or jacketed and had to do complete workups for all the lead bullets. Some lead bullets will not feed reliably in some auto loaders so do not buy 10K of a type before you find out they do work in yours first. Also as mentioned the challenges of finding a good fit between barrel and bullet with the pressures used will be first on the list I would think. The bonus is that they can be had for a lot less than even plated bullets at this point in time.:D

The leading problem is over rated as with the proper load/fit I can shoot 2K or more before cleaning without loosing accuracy.
 
Firing a jacketed round in a partially obstructed barrel "say leaded barrel" is just not wise. But do as you wish, and proceed with caution.
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If the barrel is so leaded you can't fire a jacketed bullet, you would have problems long before then.
 
An old fart once told me to just fire a mag of jacketed bullets every so often if you're shooting a lot of lead. He claimed that will help keep the barrel clean. Seems to work. At least it hasn't been an issue, and seems like a good idea for those extended range outings.
 
The only problem I see is if your shooting indoors or outdoors. Lead is fine outdoors as they'll be a lot more smoke with lead rounds. I've got many guns that I shoot lead only in and find with normal cleaning there is no problem with leading. The LRN 230 gr and LSWC 200 gr are what I shoot the most.
 
I loaded a lot of MBC 230 gr Softball. They work great. I've used Unique, AA#5 and Bullseye. 5.5 gr of Unique should be fine. I run 6.0 now & again, but I use Bullseye most of the time these days. If you haven't already, obtain a couple sources of cast data and have fun. .45 is a great caliber for lead, lower pressures and velocities keep leading down to the point where it's pretty much a non-issue.
 
Make Sure the barrel is spotless clean when switching to lead .

ANY jacket material in the barrel will strip lead and cause problems.

I have a couple 191s that ONLY see lead, and with correct bullet diameter and hardness they have never leaded.
 
In my handguns, I switched to lead years ago, including my Colt Gov't Model. Lead is easy to load for. There's no voodoo or secrets to loading lead. The biggest problem encountered are commercial bullets that are too hard. These WILL cause leading if they're undersized. I cast my own from wheelweights which is a soft alloy.
Any load that is safe with jacketed bullets is safe with lead because lead bullets are much more "flexible" than jacketed bullets and with like weight bullets will always yield lower pressure. If you don't believe me, consult one of the recent Lyman manuals.
If I may suggest, try a 200 gr. SWC. In my experience, these bullets are almost always more accurate than 230 gr. RN's. If you do get a little leading, like someone said, just run a clip of jacketed through and that should pretty much clean out the lead.
35W
 
Buy some copper Chore Boys.

5.5 grains is on the light side for a plated bullet. If you're going to stick with light loads with cast, try the 12 BNH bullets.

I think you'll like Unique + MBC. Out of a Glock 19, I can shoot indoors, and the smoke is barely noticeable.
 
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