Got severe leading...is this normal...?

[Stargazer]

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I had ordered myself some cast bullets, 325 grain WLN LBT design from Montana Bullet Works. I asked them to be sized to .451" as my cylinder throats measure this size. Hardness was supposed to be around 22. I loaded these with 10.5 grains of Unique which is a stout load but this is a RedHawk so it is supposed to eat these loads all day long. No problem with the load charge wise but man did it ever leave some lead in that barrel. I used the Chore Boy method and got it all out of there with numerous scrubbings but look at these two piles of lead below, each is about the size of a dime. Is this normal?

 

[Ksmoker]

lead

I shoot lead in my G32 but I slow them down a little & don't have anything like that. I have some right now from Missouri bullet. I'm no authority but maybe you're loading them hot enough to do that, let us know how it goes.

 

[salvadore]

I wonder what your groove diameter is. Did you clean any copper fouling out prior to shooting the lead? i dont have any load data with me, but unique peaks pretty quick. What do your primers look like?

 

[Stargazer]

I did remove all copper fouling from the barrel. I have not slugged the barrel yet but did measure the cylinder throats. They were .451". Primers and cases look fine. It does appear the barrel and throat size is more appealing to jacketed rounds from the factory.

 

[jhenry]

First off, that does appear to be an excessive amount of lead. The next thing to do is to slug the barrel and determine if you need to have the throats opened up. Also look for a constriction at the junction of barrel and frame. Many Rugers have this issue, which can be solved by lapping the barrel. I would also back off on that load. Down to 8 or 9 and see what result that has. I prefer 2400 for more oomph as opposed to overloads of a real fast powder like Unique. I shoot 20.5 grains of 2400 in my Ruger SBH under a 240 grain LSWC for an average of 1,382 fps (at last chrono run anyway), with very minimal leading. Just some smears really. Superb accuracy.

 

[velocette]

With respect, I suggest that you re-lubricate your bullets with Lee liquid Alox.
I have used the stuff for several years and it has never failed to either completely eliminate bore leading in my handguns or diminish it to a non event.

I have used it with .45 Colt, .45 ACP, .40 S&W, .357, .38, thus far with excellent results.

Roger

 

[Dfariswheel]

Some revolvers will lead up for a number of reasons, or for no detectable reason at all.

Could be the bullet alloy is to soft, could be the gun's fault, could be your load is too hot.

Possible fixes include testing the lead for hardness with a special tester device, having the gun checked, trying a different load, or using gas checks on the bullets.

 

[WVfishguy]

The problem may not be related to velocity.

I had leading similar to yours with a .38 load chronyed at 680 fps. That's not a typo - 680 fps.

My 'smith thinks the bullets were out of round, or so small they "skipped" down the barrel like a flat rock on water, leaving lead behind.

When I pulled the remaining bullets, they appeared to have no lubrication. I reloaded the same cases with different bullets with no problem, so it was bullet related.

I agree with Dfariswheel that gas checked bullets will help. I use gas checked 180 grain bullets at 1,200 fps in my .357 mags, never have leading.

I also would never use Unique for heavy loads. I always use 2400 or H110, or some other slow burning powder. You get more FPS with slow burners, and it's too easy to double charge fast burning powders.

 

[Paul105]

I think Jhenry hit the nail on the head. It's most likely undersized throats, and possibly some constriction under the barrel threads. Commercial cast bullets don't get any better than Montana Bullet Works and they use LBT blue lube, so that shouldn't be a problem. The gas checked version of this bullet will most likely cure the problem. Also, I'm not a big fan of unique under heavy weight bullets, but it shouldn't be a problem in the Redhawk.

I have a Freedom Arms M97 .44 special that has .4295 throats and .431 groves. There was no discernable thread constriction when I slugged the bore. I've encountered fairly heavy leading with all plain based bullets I've tried (.429 thru .432 and different hardnesses). Gas checks don't leave any significant lead in the bore and will clean out most of the lead left by the plain based bullets. When I do my part, this gun will shoot clover leaf groups at 25 yards with jacketed bullets.

 

[Stargazer]

I actually prefer jacketed bullets but was having issues trying to get any speed with a 300 grain bullet out of this 4" 45 Colt barrel. Loads I use in the Blackhawk that get decent speeds are just very lacking in the 4". I wanted to try some lead ones to see if the speed would improve some. Cheaper too! I have come to these conclusions: the bullet was too small for the bore, the bullet was too hard for the speed even though it was a heavy load, and if I desire to shoot lead bullets accurately I will have to get the cylinder throats reamed. Thanks guys for all the suggestions. I will back down some on the Unique.

 

[TheotherMikeG]

Velocette speaks the truth. Lee liquid alox did the trick for me in my Colt Commander. Before using it, I had adjusted my loads up and down, adjusted the crimp lighter to heavier and back again, adjusted bullet seating, slugged my barrel and made sure I had the correctly sized bullet, and the correct hardness, and and and... The alox fixed it. I can now shoot hard-cast lead from 800 fps up to 970 fps with little to no leading.

Thanks Lee!