Powders Easiest on Lead Bullets

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black mamba

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I am loading for 41 and 44 magnums and 45 Colts.

• In the velocity range of 1,000 to 1,150 fps, which powders are easiest on plain based lead bullets?
• Which powders have the lowest flame temps and cause the least amount of leading in the barrel?

I know that matching bullet sizing to cylinder throats is the best way to limit leading, but want to understand more about powder effects as well. THANK YOU!
 
I’ve been using Titegroup for my lead .41 Mag (more like .41 Special) loads, not seeing problems with leading. But, my loads are more in the 900 FPS range. Anything hotter and I go to jacketed bullets.
 
I've shot several powders in .357 and .44 low velocity and wide open, almost 100% hard cast bullets(lino). Unique, Blue Dot, 296/H110, 2400 and prolly something else. If the bullet is too small it's lead no matter what you do. Had a .45 Blackhawk with oversize throats, it was a lost cause. If one powder burns hotter than another I can't tell.
 
2400 is probably a good powder for what you want. Just use a very firm roll crimp to give it adequate start pressure. If you find a lot of unburned flakes or poor velocity consistently, then try a magnum primer or a stiffer crimp.
 
I would probably try Unique or BE-86 for those velocities in those cartridges. If I didn't have those, I might try CFE Pistol or HS-6. Faster powders might work also, but will be closer to max charges to reach those velocities.
 
HS6 wouldn't be a good cast bullet powder since it is in its prime when loaded in the upper pressure ranges.

Like Unclenick said, I always have good luck with AA 2400 using cast bullets.

The worst powder I have tried with the calibers you listed was Blue Dot.

I have been shooting cast bullets a long time, and have determined that "hardcast" is a bunch of marketing BS, and bullet lube comes second only to bullet fit
 
Leading in the barrel has nothing to do with the powder or "matching bullet sizing to cylinder throats." It's caused by trying to drive a cast bullet too fast. With there being no formula for telling how fast that is.
"...flame temps..." That isn't a criteria for reloading. Highly unlikely to ever be measured by any powder maker either.
Hodgdon shows lots of cast bullet data(Lil gun is not suggested for cast bullets at all) for all three. So does Alliant.
 
I've had great success with various Vihtavuori handgun powders in 9mm, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, and.45 ACP with my home cast bullets. They meter well, they're clean burning and between N320 and N340 you've got everything from target loads to magnum level loads covered. I imagine they'd work well in the calibers you listed. however VV doesn't have much for .41 Mag data.

FWIW I've found matching bullet size to cylinder throat to be very helpful for reduced leading and achieving the best accuracy. You can easily get leading with a undersized bullet in target loads of .38 Specials. You can also push the same lead alloy to 1,500 FPS in 460 S&W and get no leading with the correctly sized and lubed bullet.
 
IMR 4227 gave me less leading and better accuracy in .44 Magnum than 2400.
Velocity was lower and there was more powder fouling, though.
 
I have had good results shooting lead with Unique in .357 mag, .41 mag, .44 mag and 45 Colt. I have also seen that Hodgdon Universal works well too.
 
Posted by TO'Heir
Leading in the barrel has nothing to do with the powder or "matching bullet sizing to cylinder throats." It's caused by trying to drive a cast bullet too fast. With there being no formula for telling how fast that is.
Click to expand...

As Col. Potter used to say "horse hockey".

A member on another forum was doing a test on multitudes of cast bullet lube to see what would work on rifle loads at over 3000 fps. There were a few that virtually eliminated leading at velocities close to 3200 fps using bullets made of wheel weights. Some of the lubes were made by White Label Lubes and they performed very nicely.

If I remember correctly, the member was using either a 7mmTCU or a 7MMPPC cartridge.
 
It isn't the velocity, either. It's peak pressure that distorts a bullet. And there is a formula. Richard Lee pointed out that you can use BHN hardness to determine what pressure will start to distort a bullet base. If the peak pressure stays under 1280 psi/BHN it is fine. Just multiply the BHN times 1280 and you have a very safe pressure for best accuracy. You can, of course, drive them a lot faster, but they won't typically group as well.
 
Back in the 1980's I started handloading. I was reading lots of Elmer Keith books so I naturally started with 2400 powder. As time went on I tried various other brands of powder. For the 45 Colt I tried Unique and was very impressed. I ended up buying what is likely a lifetime supply of Unique when Hercules (or maybe their successor Alliant?) announced they were changing the formula. I am still happy with that decision. Unique is a great powder for what you want to do. Having appropriate lube is important for unplated lead bullets, as is the appropriate hardness of the lead.
 
I don't have any Unique, but I do have and use Herco. It seems to be very similar to Unique, but takes about 5-8% more powder to achieve the same velocities. I've heard it's a good cast bullet powder.
 
Leading in the barrel has nothing to do with the powder or "matching bullet sizing to cylinder throats."
Click to expand...

Won't undersized to bore cause blow by, which causes gas cutting of the lead?
 
Quote:
Leading in the barrel has nothing to do with the powder or "matching bullet sizing to cylinder throats."

Won't undersized to bore cause blow by, which causes gas cutting of the lead?
Click to expand...

Yes, but only south of the 49th parallel. It appears that north of the 49th parallel things are different.;)

Don
 
Matching bullet size to cylinder throats is pretty universally recognized to produce the best accuracy. The fit to the bore is a different thing. If your cylinder throats are smaller than your bore groove diameter (it has happened), you tend to get both terrible accuracy and terrible leading. But if your throats are reamed uniformly to about +0.002" over the barrel groove diameter and you match your bullet diameter to them, then you have a condition where the size of the bullets is both best for accuracy and also best to obturate the bore properly to prevent gas blowby anywhere except in the barrel/cylinder gap as the bullet base passes through it. Even though +0.001" is traditional lead bullet bore interference sizing, in revolvers and some lever guns I've found +0.002" more often produces smaller groups and less leading. In self-loading pistols, the extra thousandth can cause feed reliability issues and can shave lead in the headspacing shoulder, so you have to try bullet size to see what works best in your weapon.

Where revolver throats are bigger than +0.002", it still seems to be true that fitting bullets to the throats produces the best accuracy with any bullet type, including jacketed bullet accuracy. But jacketed bullets don't need to fit the throat like lead bullets do, as the gilding metal doesn't gas cut like lead.
 
As a gross oversimplification, I would say any shotgun powder will be good. I really like Herco (kinda slow powder) and Green Dot (kinda fast powder). Titegroup is *not* good with cast bullets; it burns too hot or something. It might be okay for plated bullets.
 
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