laser cast bullets

Two Gun Dutch · Post by **Two Gun Dutch** » Mon Dec 29, 2003 5:36 pm

I messed up and order Oregon Trail laser cast bullets from Cabela's. It must have been too late at night I thaught I was ordering bullets with SPG lube. My question is can I use these bullets with black powder. I've been using smokeless but I wanted to get into black powder so I ordered their drop tube, vege. wads, and these bullets. I hate sending things back. I called Oregon trail and the lady I spoke with was not sure if I could use them.

Jim Watson · Post by **Jim Watson** » Mon Dec 29, 2003 5:53 pm

No.
They are too hard cast for best shooting with black and the lube will not keep black powder fouling soft. There might be a way to salvage them for use with black but I am too new at BPCR to know one.
However, I DO have some Laser Cast .38-55s that I load over smokeless for plinking and offhand practice. They are ok for that, no need to send them back.

Maj Bob Lee · Post by **Maj Bob Lee** » Mon Dec 29, 2003 7:37 pm

I have in a pinch removed smokless lube from bullets and replaced with SPG for blackpowder use. This wasn't in a large rifle bullet it was for the 38-40. I put the bullets in the freezer and let freeze solid. It was then fairly easy to use a toothpick and pop the smokless lube out of the grease grooves. It is a bit tedious and you may have to refreeze a couple of times to complete the task. I really don't recommend this for a large quantity of bullets but for 50 or so it works. I then ran the bullets through my luber-sizer with a die at bullet diameter so it just filled the grease grooves with SPG (or other BP lube). You could also pan lube if you don't have a luber-sizer. You don't say what bullets you have. Some bullets made for use with smokeless powder don't have enough or big enough grease grooves to carry enough lube for BP use but they may be OK for fun plinking or to fire form brass to your chamber. As to the hardness I don't know about that. I believe Laser-Cast are pretty hard. From my limited experience it seems that softer bullets are prefered but I have read on this forum and others about harder alloys being used successfully. I am using 30 to 1 alloy and this is much softer. Hope this helped

Maj Bob Lee
NRA
NMLRA
SASS

Omaha Poke · Post by **Omaha Poke** » Mon Dec 29, 2003 7:43 pm

Two Gun, put the bullets on a pie tin in the oven at two hundred degrees and check them every ten minutes or so untill all the lube has melted out of the groves. Since tin doesn't melt until 400+ and lead 600+ you are not in any danger of melting your bullets. Laser cast bullets are hard though, and you will want to either make or order bullets of 20-1, 30-1, or some other similar alloy of lead to tin for BP shooting. Randy

Maj Bob Lee · Post by **Maj Bob Lee** » Mon Dec 29, 2003 7:48 pm

Omaha Poke's way sounds better and quicker than my suggestion. I'd go with that!

Bob Lee

Trigger Dr · Post by **Trigger Dr** » Mon Dec 29, 2003 10:05 pm

When Keith first stareted casting bullets for 45/70 at lazer cast, I did some testing for him. They shot well in my 45/90 86 Win, with 3031, and fair in my Farmingdale 45/70 with black. With Black, rather than cleaning out the lube, I used a 60/1000 Paul Matthews lube cookie. The foiuling stayed fairly soft, and there was no leading.
The bullets performed in two ways. They fragmented in wet newspaper at 75 yds, but penetrated about 8" - 9 " At 150 yds, they did not fragment, but did not expand either.
I reported to Keith my results and suggested a softer bullet, but he was resistant to the change.
Trigger Dr

Omaha Poke · Post by **Omaha Poke** » Tue Dec 30, 2003 2:45 am

Trigger Dr, that sounds like another good way to go

I never thought of using a lube cookie to compensate for the hard lube in the lazer cast bullets

Might work just dandy.

Lead Pot · Post by **Lead Pot** » Tue Dec 30, 2003 8:13 am

Two Gun, put them in a pot of boiling water and let themset for a bit.The lube will float to the top let it cool and you can lift the floading solid lube off the water.

Kurt.

Lead Pot · Post by **Lead Pot** » Tue Dec 30, 2003 8:20 am

By the way.The heat treaded,or water quenched bullets will soften in time,or when you keep them in a hot enviroment for a time.

Kurt

Two Gun Dutch · Post by **Two Gun Dutch** » Tue Dec 30, 2003 5:16 pm

Thanks for all the advice! the boiling water sounds like the way to go to remove the lube. I'm going to call the tech. at Oregon Trail tomarrow and see what he says. If I do remove the lube and want to relube what is a good lube? I've heard talk about a 50-50 mix of Bees wax and Crisco. Is this a decent formula or is there something better? I would like to pan lube.

Maj Bob Lee · Post by **Maj Bob Lee** » Wed Dec 31, 2003 8:51 am

I use a lube of 60% beeswax and 40% Crisco in a .58 caliber Enfield two band muzzleloader to dip lube the minnie balls and it works very well in that rifle. You have to use a double boiler to melt it though so it won't burn. I have not tried it in my BP cartridge loads. I have only used SPG for them. I saw posted somewhere but can't remember where it was, a BPCR lube formula that consisted of 50% beeswax, 40% Crisco and 10% Mobil 1. I'm sure others here with more experience can give you more help on this.

Maj Bob Lee
NRA
NMLRA
SASS