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Post by leftysixgun on Apr 18, 2023 12:10:16 GMT -5
I recently bought an Alaskan in 454. The cylinder throats measure (with gage pins) .4535”. The bore, a .442” gage pin slips the length of the barrel. Unfortunately I didnt order a .443” pin. Groove dia. on a driven slug measures .4522”
After shooting 6 rds the barrel is leaded half the length. Ive tried bumping the bullet dia. to .454 also, still leads. My alloy is clip on wheel weights. Powder charges are on the light side for 454, 12 and 13gr of Power Pistol and 300gr and 265gr (respectively) cast.
What else could be causing this leading? Initially I thought for sure is was slight crush at the forcing cone, but I think Im wrong.
Does one go ahead and fire lap say 50rds to maybe smooth stuff out?
Im open to other ideas.
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Post by boolitdesigner on Apr 18, 2023 13:47:15 GMT -5
Speculation on some of these thoughts..... A leaded barrel usually indicates too soft an alloy or some "other" things. What were the bullets sized to first? What mold was it? How long did the cast bullets set (in days) BEFORE you shot them? Were they water dropped or air cooled? Did you see if the bore was smooth or rough? I would wait on fire lapping until you find what the problem is...................
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Post by leftysixgun on Apr 18, 2023 13:55:03 GMT -5
Size wise Ive tried .4535” and .4545”
All were air cooled clip on wheel weight alloy. These same bullets dont give problems in other 45s
The two molds used are MiHa 454-640 and MiHa 454-308K (310gr Kieth). Im not tunning at 454 pressures or velocity.
All bullets have been sitting for a long while now after casting.
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Post by boolitdesigner on Apr 18, 2023 14:04:39 GMT -5
Air cooled bullets setting a long while. How long? A clip on wheel weight alloy can have some nasty things in it these days (some of it is ruinous).... and it takes antimony at least two weeks to get hard enough to be stabile (in a water dropped situation, longer if air cooled and that depends on the antimony concentration) and not antimony lead the barrel. I would try a 0.452 to 0.453 bullet and see what it does. I would investigate how smooth or rough the bore is too.
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Post by leftysixgun on Apr 18, 2023 15:02:14 GMT -5
These bullets have been aging for months, not days or weeks.
I will investigate the condition of the bore.
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gnappi
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,599
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Post by gnappi on Apr 18, 2023 20:20:50 GMT -5
OP, are you using a bullet lube you have had luck with previously?
Back when I used wax lube I got a batch that leaded my .45 Colt and ACP barrels. A local commercial reloader suggested a new lube and I changed to a hard lube (necessitating a heated base) and the problem went away. I used that soft lube up for fluxing metal. Now that I powder coat, I use ALL my stash of lube for flux!
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Post by leftysixgun on Apr 18, 2023 21:09:41 GMT -5
My lube is a known good lube that hasnt given problems in my other 45s....aka”Simple Lube” home spun/made.
I appreciate all the help and suggestions.
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Post by magpouch on Apr 18, 2023 22:56:12 GMT -5
I have had good luck with a bit slower powder. I like 2400 or 296. Also, I would firelap a bit as I have had excellent results in Ruger revolvers. This is half the fun, figuring it out.
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Post by messybear on Apr 19, 2023 14:24:33 GMT -5
Hey Steve
Have you any 4227 or 2400? Maybe try something different before lapping?
Also which half of it is leaded?
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Post by leftysixgun on Apr 19, 2023 15:33:58 GMT -5
Hey Steve Have you any 4227 or 2400? Maybe try something different before lapping? Also which half of it is leaded? I have a little of both those powders. The leading is in the first half of the barrel length, right after the forcing cone. |
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Post by leftysixgun on Apr 19, 2023 15:37:41 GMT -5
I took the Alaskan to range today specifically to see how bad the recoil is with HEAVY H110 45 colt loads. The recoil was very tolerable. Theses loads were 24.0 & 24.5gr H110 with the long RUGER ONLY bullet. The other load was 23.5gr H110 with a 454-308K cast bullet. Again, this was only to feel the recoil of the small gun. BUT to my surprise, there was ZERO leading!
Also, I cant see any roughness in the barrel.
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Post by Encore64 on Apr 19, 2023 15:44:37 GMT -5
A lot of times just shooting some jacketed bullets help smooth things out.
If not, polishing usually helps. There's several compounds that work great.
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gregs
.327 Meteor
Posts: 523 
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Post by gregs on Apr 23, 2023 1:23:16 GMT -5
New gun? If so, new bores tend to lead couple hundred -800 or so until they are smoothed out abit. Try 100 jacketed bullets to burnish the bore. JB bore paste helps too for cleaning and smoothing out sharp edges. Have the same problem with Kart 1911 barrels.
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Post by wheelnut on Apr 24, 2023 13:19:36 GMT -5
A lot of times just shooting some jacketed bullets help smooth things out. I've had 3 guns that gave me issues with leading that shooting jacketed cleared up. |
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Post by leftysixgun on Apr 24, 2023 16:21:43 GMT -5
Gregs and Wheelnut, Ill give the jacketed a try. Im quite sure I have a couple hundered on hand.
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