Bullet coating?

[laowho]

Hi Guys,

Just finished casting some Saeco 645s and Lyman 132s. Lubed with DGL then sized w/ a Lee .458 sizer. (Interestingly I got it from TOW w/o knowing the brand, and at the Lee site they only offer it in .457) Before I load them I wanna ask whether you coat the bullets? I had purchased some from Lee way back and wonder whether it's useful or even desirable? Thanks

[laowho]

Shoulda mentioned that it's Alox, wh/ I've since read is pretty harmless. But w/ the excess DGL lube already wiped on the bullets, just gonna forego this and start loading. Thx.

[Nuclearcricket]

I have never coated any of my bullets. If you are going to be shooting black, stay away from the Alox, there is a very good chance that it will make a nasty gooey mess inside the barrel. You have your bullets cast, lubed and sized, just load them and shoot them.
Something you might want to try is to load an unsized bullet into an empty case and see if it chambers ok, if it does then I would skip the sizeing step. I am guessing from the fact that they were lubed before sizing, that you are pan lubing them. That is a very popular method of lubing. Some of the bullets that I have must be pan lubed as they are tapered bullets. I do find pan lubing a little bit of a pain but all in all I don't think it is any slower than running them through a luber/sizer and you will not have any chance of damaging the bullets.
I know that one of my luber/sizers has some alignment problems and has produced bullets of poor quality and dismal accuracy. One bullet that I pan lubed and just tossed a load of powder behind it seemed to shoot surprisingly well from the get to.
Just seems to me that there are a lot of things I need to learn and unfortunately I seem to learn some of these things very slowly.
Sam

[laowho]

Thanks Nuke,

I pan lubed then sized. Wasn't gonna get the sizer but am glad I did. (2-step process for my economy set up). I had bought the Alox when I first began ordering supplies in anticipation of the rifle, but I'll steer clear of it for DIY lube recipes. Researchin these now. Tryin to understand what makes DGL the highest recommended by Shiloh, but it does seem superior to whatever my pre-cast came with. Nice and sticky. Cheers, Doug

[Gunlaker]

Doug i would definitely advise staying away from home brew lubes. There is a lot to learn getting these rifles to shoot well, and starting with a proven lube will shorten the learning curve. Once yo have everything working really really well then you might get something from a different lube, but probably not.

Have you tried to chamber those bullets unsized? My Shiloh's work pretty well with as cast Saeco bullets.

Happy shooting!

Chris.

[laowho]

Hi Chris, No I haven't and I'm still green at this. To wit, the Saecos didn't really take any sizing--and a few passed straight thru--but the Lyman 132s were so tight to the brass after sizing that I'm glad I had the sizer. In fact, the first two bulged the brass neck, so I tried compressing the powder further which necessitated seating the bullet further as well , which backed the bullet off the lands by 1/16" but it worked. (Doesn't necessarily make sense, I know. But maybe it made me more precise w/ my second measurements and I minimized the amount I was compressing w/ bullet/powder contact? But that doesn't make sense either--the brass neck of the first 2 was positively ribbed at every driving band. I dunno.)

So yeah, the Saecos can probably go unsized, but also figured that as a 2-cavity mould the sizing would gimme better consistency. Really think these are gonna be my go-to bullet and now I want the 745. With any luck we'll be shooting tomorrow if the weather holds. Cheers, Doug

[bruce moulds]

iaowho,
long bore riding noses can benefit from some coating of lube on the nose.
this is because the noses often bump up into the rifling and leave lead which hurts accuracy, particularly at longer ranges.
tallow or standard bullet lube are good for such use.
when you light the fire, not only do long noses bump up, but so does the bearing surface.
while good for smokeless ammo, this is why sizing bullets for bpcr being beneficial is an urban myth.
before that bullet starts to move, it is the diameter of the inside of the obturated case.
thus a mould that will cast a bullet of that diameter is optimum.
the added benefit of this is that no case sizing is necessary, and nor is a seating die,
keep safe,
bruce.

[laowho]

Thanks Bruce,

I had thought that for the riding noses I'd use 18:1 to help compensate for bumping up so that's what I used, 20:1 for the others. But good for the lube on the nose then, understanding that BP prefers animal and veggie fats. Thx. As for the sizing, well I'd thought the Shilohs are a bit tight (.450-.457), and that as long as I was .001-.002 over groove dia. I'd be ok, so I got the .458 sizing die. And if I hadn't, dunno that they woulda fit the S'line even after annealing. Figured I'm still getting an obturated seal and not bulging the cases as I had in the beginning when I seat. Moreover, as for the seating die, that's absolutely necessary. Otherwise I'm misunderstanding you and should be using a .457 mould, but that just sounds contrary to everything I've read, maybe b/c others aren't giving the obturation effect its full due? And my casting temps are correct acc. to the finish of the bullet, neither frosting nor shining, if that has any effect on the final bullet dia. Cheers, Doug

[bruce moulds]

doug,
what would be the biggest bullet you can seat in a case and still chamber a round?
that is the goal.
keep safe,
bruce.

[laowho]

Well Bruce,

I just wrote back to MontanaBulletWorks--is this you by any chance? Seems I'd requested bullets in 3 of the 4 moulds I'm using, and wanted them in .458. So I'll have these to compare dia. with what I've dropped. But I'm still thinkin that this thick-walled S'line isn't going to allow anything even marginally larger, and I also know that the Shiloh won't allow any deviation. My next step is to order some Rem. brass from Shiloh and see about the possibility of loading w/o a seating die. Cheers, Doug