I made some Excellent 250gn 50cal Muzzleloader Bullets

[MaverickNH]

... and totally buggered up the Hi-Tek Supercoat coating on them. They shot all over the range at 100yd. Four group touching and others shot 8+ inches away.

Sadly, I double-coated them without baking the first coat and they had a thick and uneven coating - I could feel the difference as I rammed them down the barrel. That said, I learned to make checklists and labels for bullets. I already do that for brass-cased cartridges as I have so many different loads in process. Live and learn!

You know ... I probably won’t coat pure led muzzleloader bullets. Seemed like the thing to try but maybe not.

 

[mac1911]

Just the difference in ram resistance can be enough to toss your groups.
What bullet are you casting

 

[MaverickNH]

I was using a 2 bullet Lee REAL 250gn mold. I had ~50% yield of good bullets. My new Lee 20-4 pot was running way hot - on setting 5 it ran 850-900F with pure lead while my other pot ran 700-750F on setting 7 with alloy. I kept my mold on a 400F hotplate but it got too hot too often.

I’m assembling a PID controller that might help.

 

[HorizontalHunter]

I’m looking forward to some pictures of your final castings.

FWIW:
An OP (Over Powder) wad will often tighten your groups. I have used them with maxi balls, and ballets.

Bob

 

[mac1911]

I really like rhe Lee REAL slug in my 50 cal Omega.
i cant see waisting time coating them. i use either tripple 7 pellets or blackhorn209 . I cant tell you what temp i cast them at. I run my pot hot though. As far as how hot my mold is? i can feel the heat through the handles with gloves on?
i also cast lee 1oz shot gun slugs.

 

[MaverickNH]

Here’s almost 200 bullets, sorted good and bad, with 20 of the coated ones. They failed the smash test and flaked coating. It was an experiment I won’t repeat - pure uncoated lead will suffice.

I shot 8 bullets over 75gn Alliant Black ML with two veggie wads in between with a dab of bore butter on the bullet. The barrel was really clean with the BML Powder - the ramming issues were the coating. With 2x50gn Triple 7 pellets and 250gn T/C Superglide 50cal bullets I have to clean every round or the bullet won’t ram.

 

[HorizontalHunter]

Very nice. You have been busy. Are you lubing the bullet grooves?

Bob

 

[MaverickNH]

Just a dab of T/C Bore Butter on the rear of the bullet is what some advise on CastBoolits forum. When I make some new ones w/o coating I’ll see if lube helps. Alliant says if it doesn’t promote a dirty bore it’s OK.

 

[HorizontalHunter]

I used to use Alox IIRC. The factory maxi-balls are lubed with bore butter.

Bob

 

[mac1911]

i like bacon grease....
i tossed mine in Lee Alox and went back to shortening .

 

[MaverickNH]

This time around, I started the lead pot on 4 and gradually increased to almost 5 to hit 750-800F pure lead. I also cleaned my Lee 250gn 50cal REAL mold with Hoppes and MEK, preheating on a hotplate to 400F. My yield was much better with most bullets dropped after the first dozen really nice. I'll get them to the range with my rifle and try to chrono and sight in again using 75 gn Alliant Black ML, 2 veggie wads and a dab or bore butter, as one advocate on CastBoolits recommends. And report back.

 

[mac1911]

This time around, I started the lead pot on 4 and gradually increased to almost 5 to hit 750-800F pure lead. I also cleaned my Lee 250gn 50cal REAL mold with Hoppes and MEK, preheating on a hotplate to 400F. My yield was much better with most bullets dropped after the first dozen really nice. I'll get them to the range with my rifle and try to chrono and sight in again using 75 gn Alliant Black ML, 2 veggie wads and a dab or bore butter, as one advocate on CastBoolits recommends. And report back.

The basic idea of the lee real bullet was to be able to ditch the wad and patch, also it is supposed to "self clean" the bore.

 

[HorizontalHunter]

The basic idea of the lee real bullet was to be able to ditch the wad and patch, also it is supposed to "self clean" the bore.

True but in my experience the OP wad tightened my groups further after working up a load.

Bob

 

[76Too]

i like bacon grease....
i tossed mine in Lee Alox and went back to shortening .

mac, you are truly a renaissance man.