Shiloh Rifle Forums

I melted mine and made pistol bullets....those worked great!

First off, thank you to all who replied / commented. I'll try to answer as best I can.

These are plain-based bullets, with no gas checks.

The 45 x 2-7/8 loads were using GOEX ffg, (I believe 105 grains), with a cardboard over-powder wad.

The 45-70 loads were using IMR 4198, (I forget the charge weight), and no over-powder wad.

It appears from what I have experienced, and that of many who replied, my best bet is to melt these down and cast them for handgun loads. Or, possibly the best suggestion came from Kurt; use them for fishing weights. (What size blue gill)?

I have very recently retired from a colorful law enforcement career, and now may have some time for load development. Over the years I have pretty well got my handloads figured out for my smokeless cartridges, (much easier), but my interest in coming up with an accurate black powder load for my Sharps has risen to the top. I will continue to read through the numerous posts regarding this activity, and draw on the experience and advice given by the lot of you. Again, many thanks to you fine folks.

There is a bunch of the problem. Smokeless lube and b p dont work too well

That is quite true of smokeless lube not working well with BP however the reverse is not always true. I started making my own Mathews Lube about 15 years ago for all BP cartridge use but have found it seems to work equally well with smokeless and dulplex loads. I have been using LBT soft blue for my hand guns for years but based on what I'm seeing using smokeless in bang and clang lead loads I'm going to give it a try in heavy revolver loads I carry into the brush.
I've used SPG and it works well too but when it gets hot the lube melts off my bullets if not kept in the shade or a cooler. That can easily be remedied but if you have to leave a round chambered while waiting out a condition I don't want the lube melting in the chamber.
I suppose one could leave the load out and only load quickly after the condition changes to your liking but I've never seen any one do that.

I forgot to add I just made a new batch of Mathews lube last week and in place of the Neatsfoot oil which I ran out of I substituted rendered bear grease so am anxious to see how well that works. Ned Roberts claims there is nothing better for black powder use.

Ya gotta watch bear grease. . Them old timers always said it would leach tbrough a barrel.

What does "leach" through a barrel mean ? Roberts was and authority on all things percussion orientated with BP propellant and says their was nothing better for patch lube or preserving a barrel in that era.
Some muzzle loader folks still swear by it when they can get some.

Well mike,
That saying predates Roberts by a couple hundred years. It references how good bear grease is

Had the exact same problem. Simply put: They are too hard! Melted them down, and used them in my 44 MAG. Worked fine.