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Posted: 12/24/2009 9:38:49 AM EDT
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I've been loading only jacketed or copper plated bullets.
My brother who loads .45 auto swears by http://precisionbullets.com So I'm going to give them a try. USPS just delivered a couple boxes of Precision's black bullets in 200gr. RN and 200gr. SWC for .45 Auto. Powders I have on hand are: Winchester 231, Winchester 296, Hodgdon Universal, Blue Dot and I don't have any on hand but I use H. Titegroup for jacketed .45 Auto and will get more. Can you recommend loads/powder charges useing any of the above powders with the 200grain Precision bullets that won't lead up the barrel? BTW, Last year I loaded ordinary uncoated lead bullets but in .38 Special for my revolvers. The bullets had blue colored lube. They leaded up the barrel and forcing cone to the point where lead was flaking. This was hard to clean. I don't want that again. Thanks For Your Time and Be Safe During the Holidays. -VonBarky- Edit to say, I have no idea why my hot links don't work. Sorry for that. |
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Last year I loaded ordinary uncoated lead bullets but in .38 Special for my revolvers. The bullets had blue colored lube. They leaded up the barrel and forcing cone to the point where lead was flaking. This was hard to clean.
Most people think leading of the barrel is a function of higher velocity but that is not necessarily the case in all circumstances. You also should remember that eventually you will get some leading that needs to be cleaned out. However you should be able to run several boxes thru your pistol with only the most minor of buildup if all is right. If you shoot a box of 50 and accuracy goes out the window at the end and the barrel is heavily leaded, then something is wrong. Commercial hard cast bullets often use a lube that is designed more to stay on the bullet during shipment and not make a mess than to actually lube the bullet as it is fired down the barrel and prevent leading. To do this they make it hard. That is what you encountered with those .38 Special bullets. In addition, most commercial lead bullets are cast very hard and have a bevel base. Unfortunately the .38 Special is a rather low pressure round and fails to obturate or "bump up" the base of the bullet on firing to make a good seal. This poor seal results in flame cutting of the sides of the bullet - also depositing lead in your barrel. The bevel base certainly doesn't help at all here and probably hinders. It is there for easy seating. So you can see how a combination of events can make your load lead your barrel. And yes, some guns have barrels a bit rough and are prone to leading because of that. Use a soft swaged lead bullet in your .38 Special and your problems will greatly diminish and often you will get better accuracy. I just use bulk Speer swaged 158-gr LSWC-HPs in my .38 Special loads and that was a major improvement over the hard cast/hard lube type. Your .45 Auto is a bit more unique in that they usually have rather shallow rifling and somewhat harder bullets do better with that type. Velocity is already limited in the .45, so just stay with standard loads and see if other factors cause leading. You don't want to get too slow/light and hinder pistol function and not obturate the bullet base. Lead bullet loads will usually be a bit faster than the same load using a jacketed bullet. I certainly would give those Precision bullets a try. I think that you should get good results with either W-231, Universal, or Titegroup. All are proven performers. It may pay to do a workup with each. Also that way if one powder is not available (like we all have experienced in the last year!) you will have an alternative. |
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I've been running Precision Bullets for many, many years, including 230 gr over 4.3 grain of TG, and have never had a problem with leading in 1911 45's. In fact, I have been using the bullets long before I ever used TG and never knew it was not a recommended powder until now. That doesn't mean you won't have leading, esecially if you are running higher pressure loads with TG. I did have some leading in 9mm using VV powder but I strongly suspect that was due to the case mouth scraping off some of the polymer during bullet seating. The bullets are very consistent and quite accurate (for action shooting). They are the only bullets I buy for 45 and 9.
Larry |
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Quoted:
I've been loading only jacketed or copper plated bullets. My brother who loads .45 auto swears by http://precisionbullets.com So I'm going to give them a try. USPS just delivered a couple boxes of Precision's black bullets in 200gr. RN and 200gr. SWC for .45 Auto. Powders I have on hand are: Winchester 231, Winchester 296, Hodgdon Universal, Blue Dot and I don't have any on hand but I use H. Titegroup for jacketed .45 Auto and will get more. Can you recommend loads/powder charges useing any of the above powders with the 200grain Precision bullets that won't lead up the barrel? BTW, Last year I loaded ordinary uncoated lead bullets but in .38 Special for my revolvers. The bullets had blue colored lube. They leaded up the barrel and forcing cone to the point where lead was flaking. This was hard to clean. I don't want that again. Thanks For Your Time and Be Safe During the Holidays. -VonBarky- Edit to say, I have no idea why my hot links don't work. Sorry for that. Ok, I tried the Precision black coated .451" bullets for .45 auto. Loads were: 200gr.SWC with 4.9gr of Win. 231 and 200gr RN with 5.1gr Win 231. I was shooting at a poorly lit, unheated indoor range. This was the first time I shot a SWC and they were very accurate. The RN were not as accurate as the SWC. There was some smoke that I don't see with jacketed bullets and the smoke smelled kinda nasty. I guess they're ok but not enuff, not cheap enuff for me to switch from jacketed bullets. What is the black coating? Thanks for all the input. -VonBarky- |
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