Plated Bullets - Question

[Werewolf]

In general I use lead bullets for my Cowboy Action guns and jacketed for all the rest. Lately though with the cost of jacketed going up I considered going with lead for my 45 ACP and 44 Mag guns.

Lead doesn't seem to be an issue in my 45's - works fine in 'em - but in my 44 it does not. Even downloaded to a 1250 FPS with a 240gr bullet I get severe leading around the forcing cone. I've measured the bullets and they are in spec.

So I'm considering using plated bullets (JK has some good deals on plated bullets). My concern is am I going to swap "leading" with "copper fouling"?

Comments? Suggestions?

 

[okietom]

There are cleaning solvents that will dissolve copper fouling and leading can be removed too. I have Lewis Lead removers for all the pistols I shoot lead in. It works great.

I would try the plated bullets in the .44 to see if there is less fouling.

 

[acp]

Just a question. Are the lead bullets you are using from J&K? I use them in my 41 mag at full magnum loads without issue.

 

[Werewolf]

Just a question. Are the lead bullets you are using from J&K? I use them in my 41 mag at full magnum loads without issue.

They are from some outfit in Kansas that is no longer in business. I bought a couple of thousand 2 or 3 years ago. Don't shoot my 44 much but have gotten a hankerin' to lately.

 

[Werewolf]

There are cleaning solvents that will dissolve copper fouling and leading can be removed too. I have Lewis Lead removers for all the pistols I shoot lead in. It works great.

I would try the plated bullets in the .44 to see if there is less fouling.

I too use the Lewis lead removers as well as store bought copper solvents. I try to avoid lead solvents as they are extremely toxic to the best of my knowledge.

I believe I will try some plated bullets for my .44. A guy at work told me I can get the same bullet JK sells for cheaper by buying directly from Berrie. That said when/if I buy I probably will get 'em from JK as his shop is located just 3 or 4 miles from where I live and I should be able to just go and pick 'em up and thus avoid shipping charges from Berries bullets.

 

[acp]

Hmmm, not sure that Berries are the same as J&K. I will let Mitch comment on that one. I can say that the first time I met Mitch he told me that his bullets were fine in my 41 mag. I kind of muttered BS under my breath. He gave me some samples.. I tried them. I can vouch for them in my 41mag. I won't buy anything else now. I have no reason to doubt that you would not get the same results as I did. Perhaps it's just me, but when I find something that works I don't mess around with it. I have no leading issues in any of my pistols with J&K bullets and after I spent the time working up loads for my pistols I can tell you that they are way more accurate than white box jacketed ammo, and that is really really true in my 9mm semi auto. I wish J&K was a few miles from house. If I want to be cheap I get to wait till the Wannemacher show here in Tulsa to buy them to avoid shipping charges. Hell, he will even give you load data for his bullets, or at least what he uses. I think he is hard to beat on price and service and quality. Just my .02 worth.

 

[dennishoddy]

Most lead bullet manufacturers say to stay below 1000fps to reduce leading.
Velocities above that, use gas checks.

 

[okietom]

I would load the cast bullets at a lower velocity in order to use them up. You can load reduced loads in .44magnum brass.
Load them to .44 special velocities and use them up.

I have cast and shot gass check bullets to high velocities in a .44 mag and had loads that were low cost and accurate.

 

[Shadowrider]

I'm pretty sure that Mitch is selling Extreme plated bullets which are better than Berrys.

Big +1 to what Dennis said.

Plated bullets only have about .006" thick plating. Below that they are pure lead so you still need to use lead bullet data even with plated.

Perhaps the biggest things are that you need to use a generous bell on your case to keep from stripping the plating off the bullet as you seat it in the case and use an extremely light taper crimp with plated. You really only want to de-bell the round and not have much of an actual crimp at all. It's very easy to push the edge of the case through the plating and when that happens you are likely to have tumbling bullets and extreme leading. This is not a good combo for full house .44 mag loads. Download to .44 Special levels and they will probably work good as long as you load them right. They are so clean it's almost to the point that I won't run lead bullets anymore. Only coated or plated, but I'll never say never in these times...

 

[Blitzfike]

If you are getting severe leading from a revolver, you need to have the chamber throats checked for diameter, they should be matched to the bore diameter. There have been several studies done on leading in revolvers and the most common cause is a mismatch of bullet diameter to chamber throat. Find a gunsmith or machinist who has the set of measuring inserts for measuring hole diameters and see if they are all one size or of varying sizes. If they are all one size, match your sized bullet to the chamber throat and you will probably find that your leading is greatly reduced. For a number of years I believed that the harder the bullet the less leading you would experience, but tests show that is not necessarily true. I have shot some pretty soft bullets with the proper lube and sized to the throat of the chamber and had very little leading even at higher speeds, and had some bullets cast so hard that they disintegrated on impact even at slower speeds that leaded badly. Lots of neat things to experiment with here..