Lead Bullets More Accurate than Jacketed??

[Shane Tuttle]

I read this from a post in another thread and I got me to thinking....

I understood in the past that lead bullets were inherently more accurate. But the reason why I was told was they filled the rifling of the barrel moreso than a copper jacketed bullet. It provided a better sealing from spent gases, therefore making the most out of the propellent.

This is what was told to me years ago as a kid just starting out in the firearms world. I tend to think this is only half-truths. What is the straight story?

My other question: Isn't today's jacketed bullets at least just as accurate, if not, more? I think bullet design alone has come a long way since the '60's.

Surely, the "lead is more accurate" genre is coming to a close....or is it?

 

[HOGGHEAD]

Bullets

I have shot and casted a bunch of bullets.

In a rifle the jacketed bullets are more accurate. Period. It is really what you consider acceptable accuracy, and cost. I can cast and shoot 500 rounds of 45-70, or over 1,000 rounds of 44 mag. for less than $100. You can not do that with jacketed bullets.

A pistol is a different subject. Most of the time the pistol is the limiting factor in accuracy, not the bullets. So a lead bullet can be every bit as accurate as a jacketed bullet. But I would never say that a lead bullet is more accurate. That really depends on the pistol, and not the bullet.

The lead bullet has one advantage in accuracy. If you have a firearm with a weird inside diameter then it is easy to size the bullet to your particular rifle. This can lead to better accuracy in some big bore rifles, or older lever actions. Tom.

 

[Tom2]

Old rifles designed with lead bullets in mind, seem to do fine with them. Look at some of the match grade single shots from the past. They all fired lead, or paper patched lead bullets which were carefully cast and loaded and produce smallish groups at very long ranges, despite the lowish MV. I would say it depends on the quality of the lead bullets, the loads, and the barrel design as to which produces best accuracy. OF course your off the shelf modern rifle is gonna be designed for jacketed bullets so it probably will shoot those better. Lot of lever actions seem to produce nice groups with lead but take a small bore bolt gun and forget it. Any defects in the lead bullet can throw it off balance. Most R and D these days goes into accurate jacketed bullets though, obviously. In something like a revolver, try to match accuracy with a jacketed bullet to a match wadcutter lead bullet load....

 

[BeCoole]

I understood in the past that lead bullets were inherently more accurate. But the reason why I was told was they filled the rifling of the barrel moreso than a copper jacketed bullet. It provided a better sealing from spent gases

That isn't necessarily so.
Number one, you can shoot jacketed bullets out of tight bores as easily as you can lead. In fact, some of the most accurate barrels are 1 thou under bullet diameter. These barrels seem to shoot better for a longer time too.
Number two, lead bullets are more prone to gas cutting than jacketed. Gas cutting can ruin accuracy.