Lee R.E.A.L. bullets undersized ?

[kyron4]

I got a Lee mold with for 50 cal. 320 gr REAL bullets. Using 100% pure lead I poured five rounds to test out in my Traditions Hawkens style rifle. I set one in the muzzle to test fit and it dropped in all the way to the top "ring". The other "rings" never touched the riflings. I wasn't shooting today due to the rain, just dry fitting the rounds. I measured the rings and got.485"- .490" on the bottom , ..485-.490"" on the middle lower.490" -, .495" middle upper and.505"- .510" on the top. They all measured this way. Is this normal ? I can't imagine this soup can shaped bullet will stabilize and be accurate barely grabbing one ring. Same results with my Traditions Kentuckey rifle and a CVA unmentionable. Any thoughts or opinions ? -Thanks

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

Normal. Soft lead will "bump up" (obturate) to fit upon firing.

ADK Bigfoot

 

[Grenadier1758]

@kyron4, both the Lee REAL and the T/C Maxi-ball are designed so only the top band engraves on the lands during loading. @ADK Bigfoot is correct. Pure soft lead will bump up or obturate when fired to expand the other rings into the grooves and spin the bullet for stabilization. It is important that the top ban fills the grooves and the base bands ride or gently engrave on the lands to align the bullet with the bore. In some cases, the 250 grain REAL bullet performs better in slow twist barrels than the 320 grain REAL

 

[leadhoarder]

I have never used them but I do know from reading about them that is the correct way or them to work.

 

[Old Hawkeye]

I got a Lee mold with for 50 cal. 320 gr REAL bullets. Using 100% pure lead I poured five rounds to test out in my Traditions Hawkens style rifle. I set one in the muzzle to test fit and it dropped in all the way to the top "ring". The other "rings" never touched the riflings. I wasn't shooting today due to the rain, just dry fitting the rounds. I measured the rings and got.485"- .490" on the bottom , ..485-.490"" on the middle lower.490" -, .495" middle upper and.505"- .510" on the top. They all measured this way. Is this normal ? I can't imagine this soup can shaped bullet will stabilize and be accurate barely grabbing one ring. Same results with my Traditions Kentuckey rifle and a CVA unmentionable. Any thoughts or opinions ? -Thanks

That's exactly how they are supposed to fit.

 

[10_point]

I casted up some 54 cal 300 grain and shot them from a hoyt rebore, i recovrered them from the back stop and could not believe the base of the bullet was pushed in almost half round , these flattened out like a silver dollar size. and it loaded the way you were talking about. dont worry they will be ok

 

[kyron4]

Good to know, plan to try them out some time this week. How much lube is needed ? Will a little lard smeared in the grooves work ?

 

[gunpa]

Get yourself a bottle of Lee liquid alox. Read up on it. Easy peasy and works great. I've used it on Lee REALS for years. Love it.

 

[GrandLakeHunter]

Lard and several lard combos work great. One thing I have found that helps accuracy in my particular long guns is to use a tight felt over powder wad.

 

[kyron4]

Well , got out and tested the REAL bullets today. Less than satisfied. Loading them once started had little to no resistance, the weight of the ramrod dropped them down to the charge. I would not feel comfortable hunting with these as I can see where they can slide forward off the powder. Two out of five shots keyholed, 12" low and the other about 18" low and right at 50 yds. One went dead center bullseye, with the other two, one high and left. the other low and right. I'm sure felt wads may make a difference, and maybe in some barrels they preform well, but for me I think I'll move on the other options for a conical load. I can get 2" groups at 50 yards all day with PRB , so I'll stick with that for now.

 

[Grenadier1758]

@kyron4, I would suggest that the 50 caliber patched round ball would be more than adequate for hunting and far more accurate on target than the conical bullets. You get good performance with the patched round ball. Stay with the PRB.

You may try the smaller REAL, but it is designed to the same diameters. I doubt that there would be much improvement in accuracy. You will have the same fit issues with regards to possible moving away from the breech during carry.

Your rifle has a slow twist and unless you are really filling out the bore on firing, you will have stabilization issues, gas cutting and tumbling.

 

[Old Hawkeye]

Well , got out and tested the REAL bullets today. Less than satisfied. Loading them once started had little to no resistance, the weight of the ramrod dropped them down to the charge. I would not feel comfortable hunting with these as I can see where they can slide forward off the powder. Two out of five shots keyholed, 12" low and the other about 18" low and right at 50 yds. One went dead center bullseye, with the other two, one high and left. the other low and right. I'm sure felt wads may make a difference, and maybe in some barrels they preform well, but for me I think I'll move on the other options for a conical load. I can get 2" groups at 50 yards all day with PRB , so I'll stick with that for now.

My experience is that conicals need heavier charges than PRBs to obturate & grab the rifling. Combined with the extra weight this makes for more recoil than most want unless hunting big, tough game. If your bore is just a thousandth or 2 fat or your not pouring pure lead you can also have "fit" problems. Just an FYI in case you "need" to shoot a conical in the future. They can take a lot of "experimenting"!

 

[ohio ramrod]

Lard and several lard combos work great. One thing I have found that helps accuracy in my particular long guns is to use a tight felt over powder wad.

I have used over powder leather wads for many years with 50/50 beeswax lard lube on my mini's

 

[tomme boy]

Add some tin to the lead. That may increase the diameter a little. Or you can do what is called "beagling" the mold. You take aluminum tape and place it on one half of the mold. You need to cut the tape so it does not intrude into the mold cavities. It will give you whatever thickness of the tape is in diameter. Or you can lap the cavities to the diameter you want.

 

[THE_LAST_WORD]

@kyron4, I would suggest that the 50 caliber patched round ball would be more than adequate for hunting and far more accurate on target than the conical bullets. You get good performance with the patched round ball. Stay with the PRB.

You may try the smaller REAL, but it is designed to the same diameters. I doubt that there would be much improvement in accuracy. You will have the same fit issues with regards to possible moving away from the breech during carry.

Your rifle has a slow twist and unless you are really filling out the bore on firing, you will have stabilization issues, gas cutting and tumbling.

ive got a .495 aea challenger air rifle, will that 320 real bullet work for me? also is there a link to the 250gr mold yall talking about cause the one i found is way too big caliber yall talkin about a smaller 250grain mold . heck id love any .495 mold that is not round ball, i have a 1to 19 twist on the rifling and a 235 gr sluug moves at 1066 fps out of the air rifle yes please help me find decent slug molds.

 

[SmokepoleSam]

This is a muzzleloading forum we don't discuss other types of guns.

 

[Howie1968]

Get yourself a bottle of Lee liquid alox. Read up on it. Easy peasy and works great. I've used it on Lee REALS for years. Love it.

or go to ebay and buy xlox same stuff but way cheaper i tumble lube mine. it doesnt take alot of it either i use a gallon size ziplock a few tablespoons is all you need when all covered put on wax paper standing up. i was double coating them but i didnt see any amount of improvement to justify double coat the single coat helped with no lead as well

 

[thepalmhq]

@kyron4, I know this thread is a bit cold, but I thought I'd throw in a few data points, for those who like me will stumble onto this thread looking for more information on the REALs. I too had very loose fitting REALs until I followed the advice of the tech at Lee and ran both my lead and my mold very hot. When cast like that the mold fills out better and the resulting bullets end up requiring a few pretty hefty whacks on the bullet starter, but then their bands are beautifully engraved by the rifling and they shoot way better. And like quite a few others I have found that a thick felt wad between the powder and the bullet helps accuracy considerably.

 

[JohnnM257]

ive got a .495 aea challenger air rifle, will that 320 real bullet work for me? also is there a link to the 250gr mold yall talking about cause the one i found is way too big caliber yall talkin about a smaller 250grain mold . heck id love any .495 mold that is not round ball, i have a 1to 19 twist on the rifling and a 235 gr sluug moves at 1066 fps out of the air rifle yes please help me find decent slug molds.

I have several AEA Challengers, AEA Challenger PRO 30cal,,, 32" barrel 30cal Challenger, 357cal Challenger SL, 24" barrel, & a Big 9 357 side lever Challenger. All are great hunting air rifles. I hope you find a good mould for it. I've bought several HP moulds for my AIR rifles from NOE moulds. They make excellent moulds.

 

[GrandLakeHunter]

ive got a .495 aea challenger air rifle, will that 320 real bullet work for me? also is there a link to the 250gr mold yall talking about cause the one i found is way too big caliber yall talkin about a smaller 250grain mold . heck id love any .495 mold that is not round ball, i have a 1to 19 twist on the rifling and a 235 gr sluug moves at 1066 fps out of the air rifle yes please help me find decent slug molds.

(LEE PRECISION 50Cal-250 Double Cavity Mold) on Amazon​