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Post by mnimrod45 on Feb 26, 2017 23:49:21 GMT -5
Hey guy,
About 20 ago before I knew much about such things, I bought thousands of the Oregon Trail Laser Cast bullets for reloading. Mostly .44 240 grain, .45 255 and 300 grain and .32 115 grainers. I know they are not bad bullets but the bevel base they come with to ease loading can cause leading and accuracy issues if pushed too much. How fast do you guys typically push these bullets to get good performance with the bevel base?
I bought them years ago and really have only shot a few hundred of them and want to finally try to burn them up. I did get bad leading but I was pushing them pretty hard. I'm going to tone them down a bit and see what happens.
Any suggestions for loads in .44 special for the 240 grainers that you have had good luck with these bullets?
How about .45 Colt or .32 H&R or .327 Federal loads with these specific bevel base bullets?
Thanks in advance,
Mark
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Post by magnumwheelman on Feb 27, 2017 7:20:44 GMT -5
I've used the 45's for CAS shooting, & they work well, without have to shorten my case life by over belling the cases... just the slightest flair with the bevel bases are all that's needed... for my cowboy loads, I load to mid level loads in the manuals, mostly with Trailboss & have never had leading issues...
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jd
.30 Stingray
Posts: 204
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Post by jd on Mar 2, 2017 16:43:24 GMT -5
Try tumble lubing them with Lee Liquid Alox. I've found that with the additional liquid alox, the leading pretty much goes away and I can drive them fairly fast (1200 - 1300 fps). The liquid alox seems to protect the bullet a bit from the powder gasses. Anyway, it does work for me....
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Post by mnimrod45 on Mar 3, 2017 21:06:53 GMT -5
Thanks for the responses guys. I just have so many of them sitting around I need to use them up.
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Post by sixshot on Mar 4, 2017 13:56:04 GMT -5
It's a two edged problem with them though. You have a very hard bullet & shooting them at slow or mid range velocity's can (maybe not) cause gas cutting. Laser Cast bullets are really hard so it depends on bullet fit, etc. Many guys shoot them with great success, your mileage may differ. If I had to buy commercial cast bullets (and I don't) Laser Cast would be one of the last I would buy because of the bevel base & the extreme hardness. Other casters like MBW's, etc. will usually cast a softer alloy for mid range loads and/or flat bases that are better suited to the sixgunner. But again, nothing wrong with the quality of Laser Cast, just depends on your use.
Dick
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Post by rjm52 on Mar 5, 2017 6:52:46 GMT -5
Had a box of their .41s and just loaded it with my standard accuracy load of 8.0 grains of Unique. It will run in the mid-900s from a 4" barrel. Didn't notice any accuracy or leading problems...
Over the years I have shot .41s I've burned up a lot of powder with the machine cast 210-220 grain BB SWCs but have never pushed that bullet very hard. I've usually used a Keith or LBT for high velocity stuff...
In a .44 Magnum I've used 9.0 grains of Unique or 8.0 of 231/HP38 for about the same velocity and I think the same for the 250 grain .45 Colt. No experience with the 300s or .32s.
Bob
Bob
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Post by mnimrod45 on Mar 5, 2017 15:56:25 GMT -5
It's a two edged problem with them though. You have a very hard bullet & shooting them at slow or mid range velocity's can (maybe not) cause gas cutting. Laser Cast bullets are really hard so it depends on bullet fit, etc. Many guys shoot them with great success, your mileage may differ. If I had to buy commercial cast bullets (and I don't) Laser Cast would be one of the last I would buy because of the bevel base & the extreme hardness. Other casters like MBW's, etc. will usually cast a softer alloy for mid range loads and/or flat bases that are better suited to the sixgunner. But again, nothing wrong with the quality of Laser Cast, just depends on your use. Dick Yeah like I said, I bought these before I knew a lot about cast bullets (I guess I still don't..) I haven't bought laser cast since and buy from others because I still haven't gotten geared up to cast myself. I have always hoped to someday but at the rate I'm going I'm lucky to load ammo anymore. I buy from a few other makers now but have so many of these I want to load them up and get rid of them. Thanks everyone for the replies. I'll try some loads with Unique since that's what I was kind of thinking too and see how they do. |
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Post by sixshot on Mar 5, 2017 19:05:40 GMT -5
I shoot pretty much the same thing rjm52 suggests in my 41's & they've been happy for 50 years using Unique & later 231. Mine are flat base & about 9-12 BHN most times & no problems ever. When elk are bugling & the bucks are jumping then the hardness goes up a tick & I switch to 2400 & eat backstraps every year.
Dick
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Post by bradshaw on Mar 5, 2017 20:15:29 GMT -5
mnimrod45.... re-read the words of sixshot, a.k.a. Dick Thompson, an old salt, beaucoup gunfire under his belt, tunes his violin on the loading bench, plays it up close and far against steel & meat.
There is no shortcut to shooting straight CONSISTENTLY. The cast bullet tightens the string to our ancestors. Our ancestors would advise to lightly pinch the bullet in the grooves and, if that cannot be done, to shoot them anyway. Buried in a pile of cast bullets that didn’t quite fit, I would load ‘em light----hold ‘em around 800 fps----throw plinking to the wind and drive marksmanship out of sight.
David Bradshaw
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