Well the jury is in. My Hawken likes patched round balls. The 1:48 is supposed to be a "universal" twist favoring neither round balls & patches nor bullets, so I tried a side by side comparison of the two.
Ignoring the sighting in target on the bottom right the PRBs did 5 rounds in 1/2 a paper plate (that's a double hole on the far left) & the 2 different loads of REAL bullets couldn't break 12" @ 50 yds!
Some impressions on the Lee REAL:
Loading is "different". I found the best technique was to lightly lube the grooved portion with your preferred poison. It both starts & rams differently, you just insert it into the muzzle for the first 1/4", then place the short starter over the nose & give it a sharp tap or two (instead of steady pressure as I do with a PRB) to engrave the driving bands. Then you use the long rod of the short starter & ram normally to seat it.
It feels easier (less pressure needed) than a PRB, but its "grittier" not as smooth as a lubed patch is. It IS faster to load assuming you have a pre-lubed one handy. Probably because there's no fiddling with centering a patch, you just drop the base in & seat/ram. Recoil is noticeably heavier than with a PRB, not surprising as the REAL is double the weight. I can run a PRB up to 95 Gr of FFg, but even at 70 with the REAL its harder recoiling.
SELF-CLEANING, shoot all day because the scraping action cleans for every shot: err, a myth, sorry. After 11 rounds the bore was heavily caked & I had difficulty ramming the REAL home so I stopped & cleaned.
Ignoring the sighting in target on the bottom right the PRBs did 5 rounds in 1/2 a paper plate (that's a double hole on the far left) & the 2 different loads of REAL bullets couldn't break 12" @ 50 yds!
Some impressions on the Lee REAL:
Loading is "different". I found the best technique was to lightly lube the grooved portion with your preferred poison. It both starts & rams differently, you just insert it into the muzzle for the first 1/4", then place the short starter over the nose & give it a sharp tap or two (instead of steady pressure as I do with a PRB) to engrave the driving bands. Then you use the long rod of the short starter & ram normally to seat it.
It feels easier (less pressure needed) than a PRB, but its "grittier" not as smooth as a lubed patch is. It IS faster to load assuming you have a pre-lubed one handy. Probably because there's no fiddling with centering a patch, you just drop the base in & seat/ram. Recoil is noticeably heavier than with a PRB, not surprising as the REAL is double the weight. I can run a PRB up to 95 Gr of FFg, but even at 70 with the REAL its harder recoiling.
SELF-CLEANING, shoot all day because the scraping action cleans for every shot: err, a myth, sorry. After 11 rounds the bore was heavily caked & I had difficulty ramming the REAL home so I stopped & cleaned.