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Trying out Lee real 360gr cast lead bullets for the first time

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I'm assuming it's rested? for 50 yards, it shows some promise, but then again many loadings, even less than ideal ones look ok at 50 yards. You'll need to back off to 100 or more to really see what it's doing (minutes of angle are tiny changes in trajectory, and those translate into inches when you start extend the range).

As for rodwha's reply: bullets don't need to be perfect groove to groove to be bumped up into the bore lol. As long as your rifling is not more than .007" deep (.005-.002 is ideal, in my experience with non-cloth patched projectiles), and your bullet is at least touching the lands, you're good... so long as you use a suitable charge (no mouse-fart stuff for land-riders). Even fairly hard lead bullets can be deformed by you stepping on them on concrete, what do you think will happen when it's hit with 20,000 psi + almost instantaneously? If they needed to be perfectly groove sized, paper patched bullets wouldn't work in ML rifles.

Some people like the REAL's, and have good success with them; but I have a 320gr REAL mold for .50... I played with it for a bit, and never was impressed with them. I felt that I was having to deform the bullet entirely too much to get them down. Accuracy was poor (As I recall, roughly 6" at 100 yards from a rest was the best I could get... my smoothbore (with sights) with a tight fitted pp ball and a musket charge from a rest runs around 9" at that distance...lol). That rifle was a 1:48 twist rifle with a .502 bore and .003 grooves. Couldn't push the Lee Minie's hard enough to flatten the trajectory the way I wanted, without the skirt blowing out, so I eventually went back to cloth patched Round ball for that rifle and had hunting worthy groups (this was before I went of the deep end in paper patching and playing with a lot of bullets).

A couple years ago, I want to play with a ball gun again, so I picked that rifle back up and switched to paper patching and weighing charges, and my groups shrank by a lot. I use printer paper for targets (and patching), and it figures, now that I want to measure the group again, they seem to have been "cleaned up"; but looking in my google sheets, my 5 shot groups last range session with that rifle at 100 yards averaged out to 1.78" (1.7MOA) (from a caldwell fieldpod), the sights were the stock (read: poor and oversized) tradition's fiber sights. In my opinion, there are far better bullets/molds out there for accuracy (I like NOE and Accurate Molds). I don't know what your rifle is twisted at, but an AM50-300B would be a good PP bullet for at least a 1:50 (so long as you got it up to 1600fps); If you have a faster twist, Am makes longer versions of that bullet, plus NOE has a bullet similar to the original .50-70 bullet (424gr with the cup-base) and a 404gr bullet for the Smith Carbine. AM will make your mold to the size/alloy you want, with NOE molds, you'll have to size them (if you were doing competitive rifle shooting, you probably have a press, and lee makes affordable sizing dies).

I live in OH, and we have quite a bit of heat in summer, and it can get pretty cold at times in the winter, so my lube has to handle that. My lube that I use is, by weight (roughly): 3 paraffin, 1 crisco, .15 Diesel Anti-gel (keeps it from cracking in winter). Heat this mixture until it melts together, and then lower the temp until it is almost starting to solidify again. Now quickly dip the shot end of your cartridge into the mixture up to the top of the shot (not the powder). It should cool and solidify very rapidly, this is key to making sure the lube doesn't soak in and stick the paper to the shot. If not, your lube is too hot, and it needs to cool.
 
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I shooting standing off a tripod, pretty close to the way that i'd be shooting it while hunting. The sights that are on my rifle are a bit of a limiting factor, they make it difficult to be ultra precise on the aiming point, they aren't like a magnified optic that makes it very easy to break the shot on nearly the same exact point shot after shot. I'm sure if I invested a very nice peep sight and front sight, I could do a bit better, but this is what I have on the hunting rifle.

Branden
 
Hi REAL shooters. I'm a newby to this forum, so if I'm making any errors with this post please let me know. I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but I'm having difficulty locating a source for Lee 250 gr. REAL bullets. These REAL bullets shoot really well--pun intended--in both my T/C Hawken (.50 cal, 1:48) and Lyman Great PLains (.50 cal., 1:66) rifles. I do not have the equipment to cast my own, so I need to find a source where I can purchase some cast using pure lead. I got some online a couple of years ago, but they must not have been cast using pure lead because I really had to hammer them down the barrels of both rifles. The first REALs I ever shot were wonderful, and loaded very easily.

I will be happy to purchase from someone and will be happy to swap some of the ones that are so hard to load for some that I purchase.

Thanks in advance for reading my post! Please respond however you wish, either directly in this forum or feel free to send me a PM.

Jayhawkdan
 
I am new here also and new to casting bullets. In the grand scheme of things, it was pretty easy and not so much $$$ to get setup. Now I did have to go the extra mile on where I setup. I installed a ventilation system over the pot, built a PID for control and a powder coating setup. Bought a lot of different molds to try.

Frankly, I could have bought a Lee 20# pot ($90), Mold ($30) and some pure lead ($30/10#) and be good to go. Cast outside and scavenge a few house hold items.

Less than $200 to get rolling? 10#s will get you well over 200 bullets. Cost wise you will be way ahead of the game. Plus its a lot of fun and when you hit what your aiming at you can say "I did this".

I am just a rookie so I am not looking to sell/trade any.
 
This thread prompted me to enjoy a long range outing on Saturday morning with my Rocky Mountain Hawken (Pedersoli). I fired about 50 of my 250-grain .50 REAL bullets, SPG lubed, and had a grand old time. At 75 yds. 8 of my first 10 rounds of the day were ten-ring and just at 2".
 
Is it possible that is not a REAL, but a Lee Improved Minie Ball ? I just cast these.
View attachment 88447

The REAL does not have a hollow base.

As Mr Mitchell mentioned, it is really important to have pure lead. Also may want to experiment on the powder charge. I don't plan on hot rodding any of these bullets, but I will not softball them either.

The inline's twist may not agree so much with the long and heavy profile of the 360 minie.

Rhett

Yes, those are them. They have a hollow base. They dont shoot at all in my Encore or my Impact. How do they shoot for you?
 
Yes, those are them. They have a hollow base. They dont shoot at all in my Encore or my Impact. How do they shoot for you?
Sir: I believe that the inline rifling is very shallow with fast twist. Does not work well with REAL bullets. Try a rifle with 48" twist and built for patched round ball, they work very well. I use mine TC with a over powder wad and at 50 yds will pretty much cut one hole if I'm on.
Good luck David.
 
Not to contradict you David, but some conicals are very accurate in fast twist bbl's. commonly found on those (unmentionable) rifles. The trick is to find one that is large enough to fit the bore, even if it means paper patching. Moreover, the old T/C brand of Maxi-Ball moulds are superior to the Lyman brand with respect to consistent dimensions. (The latter varied too widely for my taste.) Powder granulation also makes a difference or it does with my gun so I try to stick with 80gr. Pyrodex RS or, better 80gr. FFg.
 
Sir: I believe that the inline rifling is very shallow with fast twist. Does not work well with REAL bullets. Try a rifle with 48" twist and built for patched round ball, they work very well. I use mine TC with a over powder wad and at 50 yds will pretty much cut one hole if I'm on.
Good luck David.

Thanks Stronics , I have a few 1/48" twists. I will give it a try.
 
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