R E A L bullets

[vtflatlander]

I am planning to try some 320 grain R E A L bullets in my 50 cal side lock Hawken rifle. I have never used these before. What is the proper procedure. Do I lube the lands on the bullet first or load without lube. If lube what lube is reccomended and how do I apply it to the bullet?
All help is well appreciated.
Thanks
Fred

 

[fire-n-brimstone]

the only times i have used them i lubed them with borebutter and then loaded them seemed to work fine YMMV.

andy

 

[paulvallandigham]

If you are looking for " Clean " and " Neat", you are in the wrong sport.

If you are only going to " Try a few " in your gun, then use bore butter( wonderlube) to lube the grooves, manually, before loading the bullet in your barrel. Excess lube can be wiped off with leaves, or a rag, or paper towel. You should take a clean rag, or paper towels with you every time you shoot BP, so you can wash your hands, and minimize the transfer of of crud from the gun to your clothes.

If you decide you want to shoot these bullets on a regular basis, you can use one of the commercial hard lubes( SPG lube is well liked by the BPCR shooters), melt it, put the bullets in some kind of flat container, nose up, and pour in the melted lube, enough to cover the grease grooves, and let it cool. Then use a caliber size punch or tube to " cut" the bullets free of the lube " Cake". There used to be a " Cake Cutter " sold for this kind of work, but I have not seen the product in years. Not new.

I once met a shooter who shot conicals who actually had a bullet BLOCK he made in which he places his lubed conicals, similar to what we do with a ball block, to hold PRBs. I don't remember how many bullets he had in that block, but it weighed a lot. He did not carry that block around his neck on a string!

He claimed the main advantage to using the block was it kept the bullets STRAIGHT as he drove them into his barrel, much as a " false Muzzle " does for slug gun shooters. Since his bullets were sized .001" smaller than his bore diameter, I could not see the necessity or advantage.

I did think such a " bullet block" would tend to keep lint, dirt, and debris out of the lubed grease groove better than just putting the bullets in a box. :thumbsup:

 

[jtmattison]

In my opinion REAL bullets are hard to lube due to the shallow grooves. I tumble lube mine with Lee Liquid Alox. It leaves a varnish like coating on the bullet. I use a lubed felt wad between bullet and powder to help with fouling and improve accuracy. I have tried other methods of lubing REAL's such as applying paste lube with my fingers right before shooting, dipping cold bullets in melted lube...etc. The Alox is the easiest and produces best accuracy for me.


HD

 

[rafterob]

TC makes (or made) an attachment for the bore butter tube for lubing conicals. There are some on ebay right now-look under black powder.

 

[BrownBear]

I've used the tube-style bore butter, and whoooeee what a mess, especially in warm weather. It functions well in preventing leading, but I end up wearing as much as I get on the bullet. I sure wouldn't want to prelube a bunch using it, cuzz it would be all over whatever you stored the bullets in.

The stiff variety that comes in tubs works better, but if the weather is a little cool you need to warm it up to apply it. Up side is that it's easier to control in prelubes.

Best is Alox liquid as noted, or some other stiff lube. I've had good luck with my own concoction using the cookie cutter app method and storing the lubed bullets in tubes or old bullet boxes.

I'd have to shoot more guns to think this was a rule, but in mine the larger the caliber, the less need for the lubed felts between the bullet and powder. I heartily recommend it for 50 cal and the heavier (380 grain) 54 cal, but haven't needed them in four 58 caliber rifles I've tried, and my hunting pard has had the same experience in his two, I think.

 

[cowpoke1955]

I use a mixture of 3 parts Bore Butter and 1 part bees wax. Melt then together in a muffin pan. Dip chilled REALs in it so the lube grooves are covered and place on a sheet of wax paper. After setting for about 30 minutes, place them in a Tupper Ware type container and you're ready for the range. For field work, I cut a sheet of wax paper into smaller strips. Place an Ox-Yoke Wonder Wad (lubed) on the bottom of the REAL and roll them up in the strips of wax paper. Twist on both ends and you have a REAL Tootsie Roll. Place a handful of these rolls in your bag and you're good to go :thumbsup:

 

[Rogue River]

Look in the classifieds on this forum under accessories! :v

 

[Bretwalda]

Shucks :redface: ...thats a REAL good recommendation Cowpoke :thumbsup: ...just don't give one to the grand kids :nono: ...I don't think they would appreciate it as much as you or I would :rotf: ...but I really like your idea!!! :applause:

 

[vtflatlander]

Thanks everyone for your knowledge. Not sure what I will do but wil keep in mind what you all said. Maybe I will stick to round balls.
Fred

 

[tg]

"Maybe I will stick to round balls."

One can never go wrong doing that if game and distance/caliber are correct, it's a lot more like real MLing also.

 

[DrLaw]

I also use the Alox on my R.E.A.L. bullets and the accuracy was really decent (considering I am a newbie at this) and consistent. Did not have anything between the bullet and the powder though, and will probably try that (eventually).

I did not have any problem loading them in a .54. Slipped right in to the second ring, where finger pressure got it in and then grabbed on the last ring, where the short starter came into play.

I also use Alox on round balls that I cast for pistols, without any adverse effect.

The Doc is out now. :v

 

[gunman1876]

I agree hard to hard lube them and if you have any excess on them, they are hard to get started.