For those that shoot conicals made of pure lead........

[ETipp]

I make my own Maxi Balls that are hard cast. I have no issues with them whatsoever other than they do not expand. Never lost a critter with them as a result, however, the thought of a conical expanding is always welcome.

With that said, I have shot .45 caliber pistol (1911) bullets casted from soft lead by others and they definitely leaded up the barrel. My own .45 hard casted bullets leaded up the barrel little, if any. I did, however, coat the bullets with Alox, which made a huge difference. I am not sure if the speed difference between those rounds and Maxi Ball(s) speed. I know speed can make a difference when shooting lead and leading up a barrel.

Do any of you experience barrels being leaded up from shooting pure lead conicals? If so, what do you use to remove it from the barrel?

Considering the conical must engage the riflings, surely lubing the grooves in the conical will not prevent lead build up in the barrel.

I assume you all coat the conicals with something likin to Alox to help reduce barrel leading?

 

[edmehlig]

I just lube the conicals and keep my Muzzle Velocity under 1400FPS. With 65-70gr of 777-3F I'm around 1300fps.

 

[10gaugemag]

Does/would an over powder wad help with leading?

 

[michiganmuzzy]

I dont think a wool wad will help with leading but a poly wad may help a little.
Polishing, or lapping, the bore will help reduce it. A tiny bit of tin in lead and a better lube will make a difference. I use IdahoLewis’s recipe for lube that calls for mixing Husqvarna synthetic 2 stroke oil into some NASA bullet lube. I shoot a 40:1 lead:tin conicals, or pure lead, on 80 gr volume bh209, with that lube, and get no leading in my Knight or CVA. Sometimes i use a wool wad and sometimes i use a cutoff sabot base as a wad.

 

[ETipp]

I just lube the conicals and keep my Muzzle Velocity under 1400FPS. With 65-70gr of 777-3F I'm around 1300fps.

What conical and what caliber/rifle?

 

[snapbang]

I need to kill a deer with a PRB then Im going to get out some conicals.

 

[Bad Karma]

I dont think a wool wad will help with leading but a poly wad may help a little.
Polishing, or lapping, the bore will help reduce it. A tiny bit of tin in lead and a better lube will make a difference. I use IdahoLewis’s recipe for lube that calls for mixing Husqvarna synthetic 2 stroke oil into some NASA bullet lube. I shoot a 40:1 lead:tin conicals, or pure lead, on 80 gr volume bh209, with that lube, and get no leading in my Knight or CVA. Sometimes i use a wool wad and sometimes i use a cutoff sabot base as a wad.

Lewis claimed to be able to shoot bullets over 1700 fps without leading using that lube. I made up a batch of the SPG based version and haven’t seen leading in anything I shoot, pure or alloyed.

 

[4stringdude]

I lube with Wonder Lube 1000, or something like it. I always shoot pure lead. I have not had a problem with leading. I would say that it's because the MV is well below a speed where leading occurs. I don't have a chronograph, so I can't confirm my speeds. I'm just basing it on printed charts.

 

[Deersknot]

I use heavy felt lubed wads between powder and bullet, never any leading to worry about. The wad acts like a gas seal, and protects the base of the bullet, helping with accuracy. Many of the bullets I shoot are a medium slip fit, I'm sure they would lead without the felt wad in the load.

 

[dbowling]

Same as Ed use Eds or Bullshop conicals, 75 gr 777 2f and 460 gr conical. No leading.

 

[deermanok]

I shoot a lot of those Hornady PA conicals in my sidehammer guns. No problems with lead in the barrel. I don't shoot heavy powder charges. 80 grains max.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Definitely use a wad. Don't over lube. Just the bottom groove on Maxi Balls. It makes a big difference.
I lube with straight SPG and have excellent results in my Firehawk, Hawken, Renegade and promising results in my Pennsylvania Hunter using a Lee 250 grain REAL.
In the Hawken, no wad and I get little flakes of lead on patches. With the wad, zero.
In my .50 caliber Firehawk, 70 grains of 3f Swiss, and an Ox Yoke pre lubed .54 wad ( go up one caliber on the wad) gives a 400 grain Lyman Plains conical 1350 fps. Duplicates the 50-70 quite nicely.

 

[idahoron]

I use paper patched bullets. I don't have the inconsistencies of unknown amount of lead residue.

 

[drpatton]

I make my own Maxi Balls that are hard cast. I have no issues with them whatsoever other than they do not expand. Never lost a critter with them as a result, however, the thought of a conical expanding is always welcome.

With that said, I have shot .45 caliber pistol (1911) bullets casted from soft lead by others and they definitely leaded up the barrel. My own .45 hard casted bullets leaded up the barrel little, if any. I did, however, coat the bullets with Alox, which made a huge difference. I am not sure if the speed difference between those rounds and Maxi Ball(s) speed. I know speed can make a difference when shooting lead and leading up a barrel.

Do any of you experience barrels being leaded up from shooting pure lead conicals? If so, what do you use to remove it from the barrel?

Considering the conical must engage the riflings, surely lubing the grooves in the conical will not prevent lead build up in the barrel.

I assume you all coat the conicals with something likin to Alox to help reduce barrel leading?

I do not cast my own, but I do shoot pure lead. After a heavy day of shooting, I hit the bore with a brass bore brush and detergent/water mix. The job of the bullet and or patch lube, is in part, to keep the lead soft, so it can be removed with a brush.

If I feel the bore needs more than that, I apply KG-2. It is a "1200-1400grit soft compound to remove copper and lead." I also use KG-2 to polish my bores.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...irmation&utm_content=product-description-link

 

[Greg_E]

Powder coat them, let the lube deal with keeping the fouling soft.

 

[drpatton]

I use paper patched bullets. I don't have the inconsistencies of unknown amount of lead residue.

Don't you also use BP? Have you tried using triple 7 with a paper patched bullet?

 

[snapbang]

I make my own Maxi Balls that are hard cast. I have no issues with them whatsoever other than they do not expand. Never lost a critter with them as a result, however,

I have used round balls made from wheel weights. I dont think they expand but do leave a long deep hole. I agree, never lost a critter critter cause of the hard ball.

 

[ETipp]

I have used round balls made from wheel weights. I dont think they expand but do leave a long deep hole. I agree, never lost a critter critter cause of the hard ball.

I know, right? I cannot explain it but so far so good. I will say that I will change to something else in a heart beat if I begin to experience problems. I take my hunting very serious.

 

[idahoron]

Don't you also use BP? Have you tried using triple 7 with a paper patched bullet?

I use Pyrodex P. Back when I tested T7 I didn't have good luck with it. Looking back I'm pretty sure I know the problem. The paper patched Lee 500S&W bullet doesn't like to be pushed much past 1350 fps. That speed is 80 gr of pyrodex P. I'm sure I was faster with the T7.
I do what I call torture tests. Where I shoot and not clean until I can no longer predict where the bullet will hit. That gives me a baseline of what to expect. With pyrodex P I can shoot at least to 10 shots. With T7 I never felt like the load was consistent enough to even start the test. But there again I did not know the speed of the load I was using

 

[snapbang]

I know, right? I cannot explain it but so far so good. I will say that I will change to something else in a heart beat if I begin to experience problems. I take my hunting very serious.

Agreed, I got 90 pounds of wheel weights from a gas station years ago. Gave them to a friend who casts. Told him I better not run out of round balls. Killed a lot of deer and frankly cant tell the difference.