Here's a few levers

[Dan]

Don, I haven't gone there yet, but intend to with the Model 94 Win. in .30-30 soon as I can get a proper mould. I have also been running a .44 mag rifle with paper patch for about 13-14 years now and it is reliable in shooting sub 1.25" groups at 100 yards. 300 grain pure lead of my design that looks like this, before and after hog collision:



I do have a buddy that did that with a Marlin 1895 CB rifle in .45-70 and it shot remarkably well with 510 grain bullets from Montana Precision Swagging.
Berm recovery here:



My knowledge deficit with this idea stems from not having done it with BP save for a slug rifle using cross strip patches. As always, success will be found in mating dimensions properly. Probably I'll continue using smokeless in the .30-30 because it will continue as a primary deer rifle.

My perspective on patched lead in smokeless guns is not so much historical as practical. It provides a way to get high velocity with pure or soft lead alloys w/o leading the bore. The .44 runs close to 1600 fps and the friends .45-70 hovers around 1800 fps with the aforementioned bullet. Apparently they do not disintegrate....period. They tend to drop critters in a pile if shot placement is reasonably good.

The .44 bullet above broke both forelegs, 3 ribs and cut the top off the heart of a doe of about 160#. Another shot on a hog broke the shoulder with a raking shot, half a dozen ribs, 5 vertebrae and the left hip. They shoot well from revolvers as well, but I'd think there needs to be harmony between throat and bore dims for that to work.

Doing this with BP cartridges is down the road a piece but I'll get there soon enough. The senior Harsh Brother knows more than I ever will on that topic. I don't have enough experience with this to say so definitively, but I doubt there is an accuracy advantage between PP vs. GG bullets, assuming the dims are correct. It one likes running soft bullets faster than normal, PP is the way to go.

I ponder the wisdom of wrapping 1/4 bore bullets in paper for the Marlin.....