Leading Problems

[deerslayer]

This was the first shooting session right from the box. Heres the deal. Loaded up some ammo tonight. No JPW so I did 3 different loads

1) Poorly pan lubed (Lube wouldnt stay in the groves) with a light coat of LLA
2) Well done pan lubed boolits using 50/50 lube
3)Heavily lubed (Shown above in large pic a few posts ago) Alox boolits.

I have some that I water quenched but I ran out of casings...so I will try these and pick up some JPW while I am out and let you guys know how it goes!

I will try to get out tuesday maybe

_Dave

Dave what kind of 1911 is it as others may be able to give more insight on a type or brand specific problem.

Make sure when you make changes as said above change one thing at a time so you know what resolved it.
Also if first shooting session straight from box i would get a few jacketed bullets (atleast a box of 50) and just shoot them to help smooth barrel inconsistencies out. Then I would start all over with the lead and lube you tried originally.

[Lavid2002]

The gun is a Springfield Armory Mil-Spec
I think I am only changing one thing at a time right? With the exception of dropping .5 grains of powder I am only changing the amount of lube used.

Thanks for all the help guys!

[Doble Troble]

The loads sound like they should work. Is the barrel rough? Maybe a hundred stroke with JB bore paste are called for?

[Lavid2002]

It was a brand new barrel...think I should take it into work this afternoon and hit it with the flitz?

[MtGun44]

More lube, just dip the base into the lube. Two or three coats. Soft alloy is just fine
for .45 ACP with a good boolit design and a good lube.

This is at best a band aid for what is basically a crappy lube.

Also, be sure you are .001 larger than groove diam. Remove the barrel and drive a
lightly oiled slug thru the barrel with a brass rod and hammer. Measure the slug and
you should be larger than this.

For minimum effort just triple lube some AS CAST and try them. Larger is almost always
in the direction of less leading.

Also, try some real lube like NRA 50-50 or LBT soft blue or any of a lot of the ones sold
here by Lars and others. Not a big fan of LLA.

Bill

[Lavid2002]

Ill try these, and if the LLA doesnt work out ill give another tumble lube a shot. : )

No pun intended

[243winxb]

For your soft alloy, reduce load to 5.0gr Unique. size to .451" LLA looks OK. Do not water drop. If you want to load the 6.0gr of Unique, add tin to your alloy.

[Doby45]

Pan lube Carnuba Red. Get you a cutter from Buckshot. I run the 200gr SWC 6 banger from Lee through my Rock Island and I have ZERO leading. Sized to a standard .452, bore is shiney like new money. These are straight clip on WW.

[Lavid2002]

Terrible, terrible experience with pan lubing... Lol


I think I would be willing to give it a shot later on if I had a cutter and a different boolit mold. I think the lube grooves in this one are too thin to hold the lube.

[Wally]

I have had this happen---especially with Lee bullets, as the lube grooves are so small. What you can do is to add more grease to the lube; they will better fill & stick to the lube grooves. Also, If only a few aren't filled in--you can hand apply to fill the gove with a dab of lube, using your bare finger.

There's no doubt that a bullet with a larger grease groove will be easier to lubricate.

[Lavid2002]

Too much work to hand lube :P I will tumble lube these, and if I want to pan lube I will switch over to a different style. Hopefully I will have a range report for you guys tomorrow.

: )
-Dave

[Doby45]

Your boolits were cold. Thats why your bands are not filled out. I place my boolits in the oven on 200 for approx 5min while the lube melts in my little coffee pitcher. Then I pull the boolits outta the oven and pour my lube in. Let it sit on the counter for a while and it will solidify, then you can either push them out or cut them out. Cutting is much better in my case.

[Lavid2002]

I put them in the oven at 250 for a lot longer than 5 minutes.... I tried various methods and none yielded satisfactory results.

[Doby45]

Dang.. I would suggest a cutter then.

[Lavid2002]

I think a cutter would have helped a lot... I spent too much money trying different things I am going to try these methods now, and I will get back to pan lubing sometime down the road.

[Edubya]

Just go to the local golf shop and ask them for an old metallic golf shaft that they have replaced. They usually just throw them into the garbage anyway. Drop a boolit in the tapered shaft and run a dowel down to find where the boolit stopped. Mark your dowel with a knife to give you an exact location. Now use that dowel to mark the outside of the shaft and add the length of your boolit, except the ojive. Cut it off there and use your homemade cookie cutter. You can run a mess of boolits in there before you have to unload them.

EW

[Lavid2002]

Crafty, thanks for the tip : )

[Lavid2002]

Had an eventfull day at the range today I forgot to crimp all my pistol rounds. I loaded up the pan lubed bullets first, the round literally popped out of the gun. It went to the cardboard target and bounced off it LOL! I guess since it wasnt crimped it couldnt build up adequate pressure. I tried 3 more rounds with the same result and then packed those rounds away.

The next ones (The heavy LLAed ones) shot great even without being crimped. I had the occasional out of battery closing but that was negligible since I didnt crimp the rounds. These shot great. I checked them often and they didnt lead at all.

After that I shot the lubed rounds that had a little LLA on them. They shot good too and had no leading. Good day to the range and I am happy I found out what the problem was : )

You guys are the best!!

-Dave

[MtGun44]

OK, let's cut to the chase here. You are succeeding and I am very happy for you!

BUT here is a simple plan:
Buy a lubrisizer and stop fooling with these crappy lubes and inferior, inconvenient
ways of lubing boolits. I pan lubed the wonderful little Lee 358-105 SWC for a
couple years before I tired of the fun and moved on and up.

I know they cost money, but the fact that most people have lubrisizers should tell
you something. If you are still enjoying "the hunt", have at it. When you tire of the LLA
goop chase, purchase a Lyman or RCBS and get a good boolit mold like 452374 to replace that
shallow lube groove marginal Lee design, use a real lube and never look back.

Some Lee designs are great (356-124TC conventional lube & the above 105SWC come to
mind) and some are not so good. I think you have a marginal design and a marginal lube
and marginal methods to apply it. . . . . . .

All adds up to PITA and a lot of work to have success. .45 ACP is considered one of the
really easy calibers to cast for, too.

Bill

[Lavid2002]

Sorry dude, but I really cant spare the cash right now. I blew my car up today. Its on the jack stands and I spent my whole afternoon tearing it apart.
(Ironically it happened while I was on my way to the range, I was 3 miles away !!! Thats like 9/10ths of the way there >: | )
Anyways, I thought it would be an easy fix with the thermostat, but I took that out and it is legit working just fine. I dont think the engine was hot for a long time but I could have fried the headgaskets. I have to check the radiator and the water pump tomorrow, which means the timing belt has to come off

***


-Dave