Bullet to Bore Question

[birdog]

I'm shooting Parker BE 275 with no sabot and bullet on top of powder. Groups are very tight with absolutely no fliers. I'm also sizing my bullets to .45225, sized to .4525 they get pretty stiff and I have to put significant pressure on the ramrod to get them down the barrel. How tight is too tight?

So like I said the guns shooting very well now with 70 degree weather however I got to thinking about December weather. If gun is shooting well now without a wad can I expect it to shoot just as well without a wad in December? I'm not sure how much colder weather will affect my current load or if I could have ignition issues without a wad.

 

[D55]

A couple of 10 thousandths in size can be the difference in the extreme tight loading. I would myself try a smidge smaller as getting one stuck is a pia. As far as a wad usually for me certain bullets want a wad and others don't. I have had no issues with ignition due to weather but I am in Oh. and don't see the brutal cold temps that some do in the northern midwest states. I also now only shoot smokeless and when bullets are too loose without a wad then no bang.

 

[ENCORE50A]

I'm shooting Parker BE 275 with no sabot and bullet on top of powder. Groups are very tight with absolutely no fliers. I'm also sizing my bullets to .45225, sized to .4525 they get pretty stiff and I have to put significant pressure on the ramrod to get them down the barrel. How tight is too tight?

So like I said the guns shooting very well now with 70 degree weather however I got to thinking about December weather. If gun is shooting well now without a wad can I expect it to shoot just as well without a wad in December? I'm not sure how much colder weather will affect my current load or if I could have ignition issues without a wad.

My 2¢..............
Use a wad.
Sizing to 15 to 20# in a clean barrel is about average. However.... some, including myself, size to around 10# in a clean barrel.

 

[birdog]

I was hoping I could skip the wad just to eliminate one more step. I know, it's not that big a deal so why worry about. I think for me it's because I'm in the beginning stages of figuring things out and I wanted to keep things as simple as I could. I have found that as I get more into ML the more comfortable I get with it all and the deeper I want to go.

The wad issue is one of those things. I'm starting to come around and realize just do what ENCORE said and use a wad. Thanks guy's.

 

[bestill]

Use a wad and about 20# loading force.
Guaranteed cold ignition.
Bullet to bore exposes your powder to the atmosphere via the rifling grooves.
So wad will eliminate this aswell