Lubing Lee REALs-what am I doing wrong?

[6thtexas]

I have been trying to pan lube some .45 caliber REALS. The stuff I have used for Minies -1/3 beeswax and 2/3 pure neatsfoot oil-won't adhere to the lube grooves. I have upped the % of beeswax to 65% but that doesn't help either. I ordered a "cookie cutter" but the ID of that is just .462" and the top of the REALS is .464". I have tried pre-heating the pan the REALS sit in but that hasn't helped either. I really do not want to deal with some messy lube in the field. What do you do with REALS?

 

[pooch156]

Just use LEE liquid Alox. Warm your bullets on a cookie sheet in the oven @150 degrees. At the same time warm the your bottle of alox in a pan of hot water. Give them both about 15 minutes to get warm. Put the warm bullets in a square plastic container w/lid ( e.g. Tupperware, Rubbermaid) . Put a couple of squirts of alox (not real big squirts) on the bullets. Put the lid on the container and tumble them over and over until all are coated. Spread out on a sheet of waxed paper. Allow to dry overnight. Warming the bullets and alox will allow the alox to become runny and flow smoothly & evenly. You should wind up with a very thin almost transparent coat of alox on your bullets. A very experienced caster (now passed) over at Cast Bullet Association taught me this.

 

[6thtexas]

I have done that with 1,000s of bullets for other things. I did not know the Alox would work with BP. I usually warm the projectiles with a heat gun. many thanks!

 

[Woody Morgan]

Don't bother with lubing the bullet. I use a lubed felt overpowder wad and that works just fine.

wm

 

[Eterry]

I have used crisco then stored my REAL bullets in a zip lock bag or diabetic test strip container. Not very hc/pc, but it works.

I've used Alox for decades, but never with REALs. I'll have to try it. I still would carry them in some kind of container.

I also am very fond of using an over powder wad with the REAL.

 

[mushka]

I lubed some 500 grn bullets for a 45-100 BPCR with alox and had a terrible fowling problem. 3f
black powder was the charge.

 

[6thtexas]

I have made up some lubed powder wads. I am going to try them with the Alox coated reals and see what happens.

 

[6thtexas]

Just now I tried something different. I heated my lube and using some large tweezers, dipped the reals in 3 times (just one, two , three) and set them to dry. This might work. looks like them lube is setting up well in the grooves. The grooves aren't totally filled, but I think with a lubed wad underneath it ought to work.

 

[Woody Morgan]

The lubed wad will work without hassling with lubing the bullet.
Olive oil on the wad, get it started in the muzzle, top with unlubed bullet and stuff it down. The wad lubricates the bore on the way in and on the way out keeping fouling easy to deal with.

wm

 

[necchi]

What do you do with REALS?

After many years of casting and shooting for target and productive hunting, the best thing I have found to do with REAL's,,
Is throw them back in the pot and cast round ball instead.
It's simple, the Rifling, Engaged, At, Loading, projectile has never really worked well. They are all dimension-ally too small for caliber to function as intended for most current production rifles.
If you want/need heavy hitters for caliber or long range, the REAL is not the best choice.
You will waste time with disappointment and money, trying to get them to function in an accurate and consistent manner.
Good luck friend,,

 

[SPQR70AD]

I have used crisco then stored my REAL bullets in a zip lock bag or diabetic test strip container. Not very hc/pc, but it works.

I've used Alox for decades, but never with REALs. I'll have to try it. I still would carry them in some kind of container.

I also am very fond of using an over powder wad with the REAL.

I just smeared the ribs with crisco. was stunned how accurate they were in a .58 caliber hawken. has a 1/48 twist

 

[Eterry]

After many years of casting and shooting for target and productive hunting, the best thing I have found to do with REAL's,,
Is throw them back in the pot and cast round ball instead.
It's simple, the Rifling, Engaged, At, Loading, projectile has never really worked well. They are all dimension-ally too small for caliber to function as intended for most current production rifles.
If you want/need heavy hitters for caliber or long range, the REAL is not the best choice.
You will waste time with disappointment and money, trying to get them to function in an accurate and consistent manner.
Good luck friend,,

Almost any black powder rifle will easily shoot a round ball into hunting or competition accuracy.

But you really have to enjoy tinkering to get a conical to shoot accurately. It is definitely possible, but if your looking for the easy way out stick to round ball.

The conical doesn't shed energy and velocity like the ball does, which has a terrible ballistic coefficient. This helps the trajectory stay flatter and lends to more terminal energy of the conical.

A quick study of Lyman's ballistic tables show this as true.
Besides, if the round ball was such a great round wouldn't modern ammo be loaded with some variant of it?

For the average hunter and shooter, prb are adequate. But conicals have their advantages.

 

[45man]

I have been trying to pan lube some .45 caliber REALS. The stuff I have used for Minies -1/3 beeswax and 2/3 pure neatsfoot oil-won't adhere to the lube grooves. I have upped the % of beeswax to 65% but that doesn't help either. I ordered a "cookie cutter" but the ID of that is just .462" and the top of the REALS is .464". I have tried pre-heating the pan the REALS sit in but that hasn't helped either. I really do not want to deal with some messy lube in the field. What do you do with REALS?

Alox NO GOOD but your lube needs some lanolin, you can find it online reasonable. I get it by the pound. Put a tablespoon in your lube after melting the wax, you don't want it too hot.

 

[Frontier's]

https://buckskinsbp.blogspot.com/2019/10/muzzleloading-projectiles-lubing-your.html
get rid of the neatsfoot oil. No reason to have that manure in there.

 

[6thtexas]

Pure neatsfoot oil and beeswax is what the original Sharps rifle company used in the cartridges they sold according to Seller's book. That works great on Minies and as a lube "cookie" between a paper patched bullet and the BP. I use pure neatsfoot oil. The "neatsfoot oil compound" many sell is indeed pure dreck.

 

[necchi]

But you really have to enjoy tinkering to get a conical to shoot accurately. It is definitely possible,

Exactly said.
We have but a few members here that have shown that, and shared tremendously their experience and expertise with the casting of and shooting conical.
I'm sure each one would share a story of their beginnings and experiments with the REAL bullet.
The REAL "key-hole" quickly within ballistic range.
"Key-hole" aka canted trajectory, lends the projectile to "travel" on impact instead of direct impact point and penetration.
The REAL "dislodge" from the seating point while in-field,
,,that's just a couple points.

Besides, if the round ball was such a great round wouldn't modern ammo be loaded with some variant of it?

They do.
Different powders, different chambers, different ignition styles, barrels and twist rates,,
, but it's still,, "Ball ammo". (for a reason)
http://www.truthsurvival.com/what-is-ball-ammo/

 

[Eterry]

Exactly said.
We have but a few members here that have shown that, and shared tremendously their experience and expertise with the casting of and shooting conical.
I'm sure each one would share a story of their beginnings and experiments with the REAL bullet.
The REAL "key-hole" quickly within ballistic range.
"Key-hole" aka canted trajectory, lends the projectile to "travel" on impact instead of direct impact point and penetration.
The REAL "dislodge" from the seating point while in-field,
,,that's just a couple points.


They do.
Different powders, different chambers, different ignition styles, barrels and twist rates,,
, but it's still,, "Ball ammo". (for a reason)
http://www.truthsurvival.com/what-is-ball-ammo/

Your kidding right ???
Military "BALL" ammo has Absolutely NOTHING to do with a lead round ball....I suggest you do more research before you embarrass yourself further.

 

[SPQR70AD]

Your kidding right ???
Military "BALL" ammo has Absolutely NOTHING to do with a lead round ball....I suggest you do more research before you embarrass yourself further.

I have read numerous times that military ball ammo is traced back to lead balls. why else is current ammo called ball ammo

 

[Grenadier1758]

You can trace the name, "ball ammo", back to lead round balls, but while military ammo may be called ball ammo, it is no longer related to a round lead ball. The name wasn't changed because tradition is so important to military thinking.

 

[SPQR70AD]

You can trace the name, "ball ammo", back to lead round balls, but while military ammo may be called ball ammo, it is no longer related to a round lead ball. The name wasn't changed because tradition is so important to military thinking.

I understand that current ammo with a bullet is not a ball but just tradition like you said