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Bullet casting/sizing advice welcome...

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Dogwood said:
The gun: Pedersoli .451 caliber Mortimer-Whitworth. This started me bullet casting, cuz getting the bullets from the only source I could find was a little expensive.

The bullet molds: (1) Lyman .45 cal 450 grain "volunteer" bullet. (2) Lee .452 cal 255 grain conical. Both resized with Lee .451 resizing die.

The problem: constant jamming. (2) is especially difficult. I use plenty of lube in the form of animal fat or fat/beeswax mix, and the first round is usually not a problem. The problem is the second one... and every one after that until the next full cleaning and relube. So the gun is a real pain to take target shooting. I've actually been out there with a metal rod and a hammer, smacking bullets down so I could get off a few more shots off before having to go home. Already broke one wooden rod.

I've ordered another sizing die at .449, so we'll see what putting the bullets through that does. However, at the same time I don't wanna lose accuracy. The gun shoots pretty well. Just a pain to reload. Admittedly my lead is from wheel weights. I've considered buying pure lead.

Advice welcome...
Click to expand...
Dogwood,
I have a Mortimer Whitworth. In my case I have found it to be very forgiving in finding a accurate load.

I shoot four different style bullets out of it at a mix of 40-1. I use the Lee oversized minie (454dia.) the Lyman 450 volunteer, Accurate 451, 500grn and a Accurate 400grn slick which I single wrap. I size all to .448 for target shooting and size to .449 for hunting. (A little tighter fit for walking around.)

I also have the Pedersoli Whitworth (built for Navy Arms) and a Pedersoli Volunteer. The Volunteer has the tightest bore requiring the .448 dia. size. They both shoot the above mentioned bullets plus a Accurate 540grn. slick which is double wrapped.

I have tried different alloys out to 20-1 in the Mortimer but have found it likes a softer mix of 40-1.
I mix my lead in 100lb lots. and shoot the same mix in the other two rifles.

For a wad stack I use a over powder card, followed by a quarter inch lubed felt wad, followed by a thin card. Finally the bullet.

Hope this helps, Kno-ie
 
Appreciate all the feed back, folks. Just by way of update, I did get my order of 99% lead and have already cast some fresh bullets from it. Resized to .449 they go down easily...(maybe a little too easy?). But I haven't had a day at the range yet.

Ultimately, my goal is to work up two different loads for this gun, one for big game (the 450gr bullet) and one for small(er) game (the 255gr). Probably still got plenty of work cut out for me.

Wish me luck. As always, advice welcome.
 
....Oh, and I also polished the bore with 0000 steel wool. Didn't seem like the bore was that rough or leaded, though. But we'll see if this improves performance at the range.

My lube is a homemade mix of leaf lard, pork skin fat and beeswax. Usually use rendered deer lard but ran out of that. Probably gotta find something I can make consistently
 

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