Lead Bullet Hardness

Over the years I have read a lot of opinions on lead bullet hardness for 45 acp bullets.  Warnings of shooting too hard of bullet that will not obturate and seal the bore.  It seems to me if your bullet is sized .001" or more larger than the groove diameter, shooting bullets toward the hard end of the range would only be beneficial due to lack of deformation when nose hits the feed ramp as well as less damage during shipping.  I am interested in hearing from what you guys that have tested this have to say.  Thanks, Steve

As long as it’s sufficiently oversized, I don’t believe it makes much difference in BE.

Many shoot soft swaged, many shoot hard cast.

All shoot x-ring if you’ve done your job using a quality bullet.

All shoot x-ring if you’ve done your job using a quality bullet.

-Chapman

Greetings,

My friend and I cast our own bullets with SAECO #69 moulds. (SWC Flat Base)

He uses recycled .22 Indoor Range Lead with 5% Tin added.

I use straight LinoType.

Via the Barrel Tester, we both get X-ring groups at 50 yards. (ten shots)

The 45 ACP is very forgiving.

Cheers,

Dave

My good friend Dave makes a great point. I would also point out regarding bullet hardness... copper jacketed bullets aren't going to obturate like lead and they also shoot x ring.

With regard to Commercial bullets. Factory Zero SWC swaged bullets will also shoot xring at 50yards if you sort out the ones that get dinged up in shipping and handling. So will the Zero JHP.

I prefer to "cast my own" but in a pinch I know I can load up some other stuff and still be confident in the ammo.

FC60 has spoken.  Listen and read carefully.  I’ve been casting for almost 50 years and he makes me look like a complete novice.  I’ve had the good fortune to sit and listen to his wisdom on cast bullets on several occasions….very enlightening.

To soft and bullet nose hangs up on feed ramp.  Harder is better.

Have tested Rotometal linotype, sized correctly. No issues. 

Factory, Colt GC 70S 45acp. Holds 10 ring from rest @ 50.  Lyman 200BB & 3.8 Bullseye, Starline, WLP.

I looked at bullets under a microscope for 31 years as part of my job.   I have seen situations where gas blows by the bullet.  That cuts the lead leaving an eroded surface.  The vaporized lead is then deposit on the bore.  You then have a leaded bore.  Hard and soft bullets can do this, particularly in higher pressure revolver loads. If you get it just right the right hardness of bullet slugs up but does not strip on the rifling.  

In revolvers, lead bullets can take most of the length of the bullet to engage the rifling and spin up.  You get two tracks from the lands in the form of a "V".  They are called skid marks.  The jump from the case mouth the forcing cone is responsible. 

I have a Colt Officers model that is out of time.  IT leads quickly regardless of bullet hardness.  Accuracy is very good for about 12-shots.  Then it goes bad.  Despite being a very expensive gun it is useless for target shooting.  

In my 1911s I have not had an issue.  The lead bullet is oversized relative to the bore so, the seal is good.  Bullet to  bore alignment is assured.  The pressure is very low with target loads.  I have never had a leading problem with a 1911.

Id like to hear more from Dave (FC60) on casting…There’s always more to learn. I preheat my moulds on a stove to around 400 degrees. I work 2 or 3 moulds at a time to allow cooling but not too much. I like to open as soon as the color changes. Open too soon and you’re missing the final interstitial suck up of tin. I’ve been sizing in a Star unit nose down. Comments

11-13 BH is all you need. Also, all I need for 44 Mag.
Fit: bullet almost always needs to be 0.001" over actual barrel groove diameter. Must use good bullet lube.
For my rifle loads, the same hardness works as long as I use gas checks and molds made for them
Coated bullets, including LLA from Lee, gets rid of leading if you can't control bullet diameter.
Sometime in late '70s I stopped sizing my lead bullets

bruce martindale wrote:Id like to hear more from Dave (FC60) on casting…There’s always more to learn. I preheat my moulds on a stove to around 400 degrees. I work 2 or 3 moulds at a time to allow cooling but not too much. I like to open as soon as the color changes. Open too soon and you’re missing the final interstitial suck up of tin. I’ve been sizing in a Star unit nose down. Comments

If you are sizing a plain base bullet you are better off sizing base first.  If it's a bevel base bullet it doesn't matter.   Why?   For a plain base bullet if there is any flashing at the base of the bullet when it's dropped from the mold, sizing base first will take care of it.   With a bevel base bullet sizing base first won't touch the base of the bullet.