Filling the base????

[Little Wattsy]

I am shooting the Hornady GP HPHB connical and have been filling the base with bore butter so that the OP wad wad does NOT get pushed up inside the hollow base....I do NOT like the mess the bore butter makes EXPECIALLY when it get warm, very greasy. I am wondering: What about using beeswax, parifin, or a combo of the two to fill the hollow base? Any experiance or opinions on this?

No, "shoot roundballs" is not the awnser im looking for. :haha: :haha: :haha:

 

[BrownBear]

Opinion yes, but experience, no.

I'm wondering how necessary it is to fill the base.

But along the lines of what you're thinking, have you considered a switch to the bore butter that comes in a tub rather than the tube variety? Warm it and it's soft enough to apply easily, but once it cools again it's a whole bunch stiffer than the variety that comes in a tube.

 

[gjkershul]

Having dealt with bore butter mess myself in the warmth of Southern Idaho I make my own lube based on the old US Ordinace formula. 9 parts beeswax to one part olive oil. ( The orignal was one part beef tallow) It is a hard lube that does not run even in 100 degree temps. However, you do have to melt it then dip the projectile in the hot lube.

 

[Little Wattsy]

Having dealt with bore butter mess myself in the warmth of Southern Idaho I make my own lube based on the old US Ordinace formula. 9 parts beeswax to one part olive oil. ( The orignal was one part beef tallow) It is a hard lube that does not run even in 100 degree temps. However, you do have to melt it then dip the projectile in the hot lube.

Sounds good :hmm: :hmm: :hmm:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I haven't tryed the Hornady slug but did try the Lee mold Mini hollow base.
I filled the base with a stiff mix of my makeing and used an overpowder felt. I also tryed loading the Mini slug over the powder - just greased the sides.
I never could get any good groups with it so I tryed the Lee REAL slug which does well loaded over felt atop powder. well greased of course.
this is in a 1-48 twist .50 cal. and 70gr 3F charge.
I've seen other fellas shoot the Lee Mini out of .50's and they weren't doing well either.

 

[ResearchPress]

....OP wad wad does NOT get pushed up inside the hollow base....

I am not familiar with this bullet at all, but do shoot a lot of Minie bullets. One thing I am curious about is why use an over powder wad with a hollow base bullet?

If it works on the same principle as a Minie then do away with the wad and the base lube. I just use lube in the bullet grooves and can fire a match (13 shots + 1 'fouler') without cleaning and get good results.

David

 

[Idaho Ron]

Wattsy, I agree with David. I have shot the 410's enough to say the Hornady bullet doesn't need a over powder wad. I am shooting a 410 with 100 gr of Pyrodex RS Select. I get great groups and I don't use a wad. I shot the 385's for a while but I did get better groups fromt he 410's but the 385's shot very good.
If you must fill the bottom with lube the "white lable lube for BPCR" is a lube that is not messy I use it on REALS. Ron

 

[Russianblood]

I don't see a need for an overpowder wad with Minie or a need for lube in the hollow base. I hand dip my Lee .575-500 Minies in a bee's wax/olive oil mix up to the top of the grease grooves.

 

[rebel727]

I use beeswax and crisco I just lube the grooves, not coat the whole thing.

 

[Tumblernotch]

I agree. I use the original formula (substituting Crisco for the tallow), and what I do is run the bullet through a sizer the same diameter as the bullet. This removes all the excess lube, leaving only what's in the grooves. If you leave all that extra lube on, it just gets raked off as you put it in the muzzle and you waste a lot of it, plus there's a mess. Lube in the cavity serves no purpose and if it is soft and damp it can only damage the powder if not fired immediately.
:thumbsup:

 

[Little Wattsy]

sooooo Why not just straight beeswax? VS a wax / oil mix?
Obviously I havnt tried any of this yet (have 2.5# of bees wax in the mail)

 

[poordevil]

the bees wax stiffens the softer lube, like oil or tallow , crisco, etc. and allows it to stay on the patch or in the bullet groves. Just bees wax is very hard and will not keep the fouling soft, which is why you use lube in the first place.

P.

 

[Tumblernotch]

Right! Beeswax will crumble and not stick to the bullet as well, especially in cold weather.
:thumbsup: