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Posted: 12/6/2012 4:26:51 PM EDT
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So I had my j-frame out shooting some reloads of 158gr SWC over 3.0gr of bullseye. I've been shooting this for years. When I went to clean the j-frame I started notcing leading on the front of the cylinder and around the throat of the barrel.
I was reloading the same last night and started noticing something strange. Bullets with bright red lube worked fine. Bell and charge, bullet seat then FCD. Definite engagement on the FCD. Bullets with a darker color lube didn't touch the FCD at all. This got my attention. History: the bullets in question are all from the same "batch" purchased, literally, 20 years ago. Pretty sure 1992 when I bought my S&W model 66 4" for $225.... 
So it is possible the bullets can shrink over 20 years? I went down just before typing this and started measuring. Seems the bright red bullets measure .358-.3585-.359. The dull lube color (remember this was all the same color when I purchased them) measured .357-.3575-.358 with even some .356 measurements on turning the bullets in the calipers. I mean it's possible they were always undersized and I just didn't know better I guess. |
| They were most likely small when you got them. If you have a 9mm you may be able to use them in it or if you have some Lee A-Lox you can tumble lube them and that may help. Your other option would be to melt them down and re-cast them. 3gr Bullseye? Is this a 38 spl? |
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Quoted:
Yes, 38spl Is the handgun you are shooting them from also a 38 spl? The reason I ask is: If it is a .357 you may find that they will work better in .357 cases. The reason I say this is the bullet will have a .100" shorter jump to the forcing cone which will give it less time for hot gasses to flow by. Just a thought. 
I'm only suggesting this because of your bullet size. I had to state that so I don't get a bunch of flack. I know proper diameter bullets work fine in .357 guns using 38 spl brass. |
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These bullets are obviously from two different batches, the different color lube is the tip off on that part. I'm thinking the bullet caster used a different sizer die in batch 1 than he used on batch 2, he might have had a customer that preferred different sizing from what he normally used, and you ended up with some of those bullets. As the bullets cool after casting they shrink, and different alloys can shrink different amounts, HOWEVER, that small difference would go away when the bullets are run through the sizer/lubricator, so that's probably not a good explanation in this instance, and they wouldn't shrink any more over the following years. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Yes, 38spl Is the handgun you are shooting them from also a 38 spl? The reason I ask is: If it is a .357 you may find that they will work better in .357 cases. The reason I say this is the bullet will have a .100" shorter jump to the forcing cone which will give it less time for hot gasses to flow by. Just a thought.
I'm only suggesting this because of your bullet size. I had to state that so I don't get a bunch of flack. I know proper diameter bullets work fine in .357 guns using 38 spl brass. That's actually a decent idea, and yes I would be capable of keeping track of which is which. |
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Quoted:
These bullets are obviously from two different batches, the different color lube is the tip off on that part. I'm thinking the bullet caster used a different sizer die in batch 1 than he used on batch 2, he might have had a customer that preferred different sizing from what he normally used, and you ended up with some of those bullets. As the bullets cool after casting they shrink, and different alloys can shrink different amounts, HOWEVER, that small difference would go away when the bullets are run through the sizer/lubricator, so that's probably not a good explanation in this instance, and they wouldn't shrink any more over the following years. It must be something along these lines. The bullets were purchased in two boxes of 500, and were either combined (or not) into glad containers sometime in the last 10 years. They were all stored in the same conditions (bad) for a long time which made me think the lube could have reacted differently. I guess I will need to decide if I want to use them, or if I will just melt the darker ones and mold them into something else. |
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I can't imagine a .001 difference causing much of a problem. Are you putting a very slight crimp with the FCD ?
If so, I would just put a little more crimp on them and run them all the same. A heavier crimp may help by holding the bullet a bit longer allowing more complete powder ignition. Or you could separate them and screw the crimp die down more on the smaller ones. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Yes, 38spl Is the handgun you are shooting them from also a 38 spl? The reason I ask is: If it is a .357 you may find that they will work better in .357 cases. The reason I say this is the bullet will have a .100" shorter jump to the forcing cone which will give it less time for hot gasses to flow by. Just a thought.
I'm only suggesting this because of your bullet size. I had to state that so I don't get a bunch of flack. I know proper diameter bullets work fine in .357 guns using 38 spl brass. That's actually a decent idea, and yes I would be capable of keeping track of which is which. I have successfully used 8bhn (home cast) 158's in my .357 Granted they are unsized which makes them .358+ but 8bhn is very soft. The load is 4.5gr Bullseye in .357 brass. It would help to know the hardness of you undersized bullets. I have HARD cast 41's that will lead at low velocity (low pressure) and not at high because the hard bullet need the high pressure to ""obstruate"" and fill the bore.""(sorry for the spellin, most of the time I can't even remember that word)"" 
If your bullets hard cast they may still lead no matter what you do. BUT: Like some of the other guy stated .001 under is not bad. You may want to try some with a magnum load. You never know until you try. They may be like my 210gr Penn Bullet 41's and need to be pushed hard. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Yes, 38spl Is the handgun you are shooting them from also a 38 spl? The reason I ask is: If it is a .357 you may find that they will work better in .357 cases. The reason I say this is the bullet will have a .100" shorter jump to the forcing cone which will give it less time for hot gasses to flow by. Just a thought.
I'm only suggesting this because of your bullet size. I had to state that so I don't get a bunch of flack. I know proper diameter bullets work fine in .357 guns using 38 spl brass. That's actually a decent idea, and yes I would be capable of keeping track of which is which. I have successfully used 8bhn (home cast) 158's in my .357 Granted they are unsized which makes them .358+ but 8bhn is very soft. The load is 4.5gr Bullseye in .357 brass. It would help to know the hardness of you undersized bullets. I have HARD cast 41's that will lead at low velocity (low pressure) and not at high because the hard bullet need the high pressure to ""obstruate"" and fill the bore.""(sorry for the spellin, most of the time I can't even remember that word)""
If your bullets hard cast they may still lead no matter what you do. BUT: Like some of the other guy stated .001 under is not bad. You may want to try some with a magnum load. You never know until you try. They may be like my 210gr Penn Bullet 41's and need to be pushed hard. Unfortunately I have no way of measuring BHN, it would help me with a lot of questions about this and other things. 4.5gr of bullseye is in the .357 mag range isn't it? Might be fun to try and I have some 357 brass primed from years ago.... Really i think my current idea of melting them down as filler for some WW alloy I picked up today is probably the way to go. |
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