Any oldtimers ever heard of Taurus (lead) bullets? Check this out.

[TexasSeaRay]

Was doing some smelting this afternoon and rummaging through my lead stockpile. I found these two boxes of Taurus 44 bullets my dad gave me a little while back. He doesn't shoot or load 44 anymore and had no use for them. Said he thought he bought them way back in the early '70s not long after he started reloading.

These are 215 grain Lead Wadcutter bullets. In the third frame, note that there are no grooves for lube. Instead, the entire bullet is covered in what feels like a mix between light alox, dried parrafin and powdered sugar. Weirdest thing.

They also have a semi-hollow base.







They are SOFT, however. I smelted one box and saved the other. I may tinker around and load a few up just to see how they shoot.

Anyone ever seen these before? I been handloading since the mid-eighties, but these are new to me.

Jeff

 

[joneb]

They also have a semi-hollow base.

I wish I could find cast bullets of that fashion. thanks for sharing

 

[Jim Watson]

I remember them; I still have a few of their Scheutzenplinker swaged rifle bullets meant for very light loads.

The South American gun company complained at the use of the brand name "Taurus" so the bulletmaker changed to the owners name and you will see some boxes labeled "Alberts" bullets.

 

[73-Captain]

I still have several boxes of both "Taurus" and "Alberts" bullets in .45 and .38.

Although very soft they shot very well with no leading.

They made a 146g hollow point wadcutter that had the "post" in the hollow point like Hydra-Shock bullets. I still load a few every year for a 2" barrel Colt.

Expansion at very low velocities was great out of the 2' barrel and unbelievable out of a 4' barrel! But the same load shot out of a 6" barrel blew the nose off and the base over penetrated.

C.

 

[Travis Two]

I can't remember if it was Alberts first and then Taurus but either way they are swaged bullets. The white coating is probably motor mica which was very popular in its day. The bullets are strictly low velocity use typical of most soft swagged bullets. Accuracy as I remember was supposed to be pretty good.

 

[TexasSeaRay]

Mica would make perfect sense--and given the "speckled" look to these bullets, I'd bet you're right.

My only concern is how soft they are--but lead will soften with age, and these are definitely old--probably thirty years or older. I'm waiting on my lead hardness tester to come in (backordered), but I'll guess that these bullets have a BHN of between 2 and 4--with 4 being the absolute max.

The more I look at these things, the more I can see how they should've been accurate. Semi-hollow base, and no lube grooves resulting in a solid base filling the lans and grooves of the barrel rifling--nothing but lead making contact with the barrel.

I've got a Model 29 I use for hunting with a longer barrel that I've lapped and polished. I may work up a few very low velocity loads and try a few out.

Or, maybe I ought to go over to Ebay and auction them as "incredibly rare, collectible bullets" and start the bidding at $25 per bullet?

(Just kidding--but you know SOME idiot would pay that . . . )

Jeff

 

[Mike Irwin]

If I remember correctly, they were not cast...

They were swaged and are DEAD soft.

 

[The Tourist]

I have a box of Hornady bullets there are swaged and lubed in the same fashion.

And who exactly are you calling "old"?

 

[kpmariner]

Alberts/ Taurus Bullets

To all,
The bullets were swagged from a coil of lead wire.
I know this as I received a tour of the plant back in 1982.
Mr. Albert himself was my tourguide.
What the composition of the white lubricating powder was I cannot say.
I used his bullets for all my team's competition shooting in the NY/NJ area.