Perhaps a stupid question: can conicals be patched like round ball & shot effectively? I'm thinking of something along the lines of the PA conical. If I get a mould made to a roundball diameter, like .440, and then patch it when loading, would it still shoot well?
Long story short, while it seems like an off-the-wall question, it's a legit one. I'm continuing my experiment in casting .45 conicals with the Rotometals Bi alloy (CA hunting rules). The Lee REAL bullet and that alloy aren't a good combo for this rifle. The alloy chips while loading in the bore & needs a mallet on the short starter to actually get it in (not something I can do in the backcountry). I may see about adding more tin to reduce the expansion during cooling and increase the malleability. But it would certainly be easier to just make a reduced-diameter bullet & then patch it.
Long story short, while it seems like an off-the-wall question, it's a legit one. I'm continuing my experiment in casting .45 conicals with the Rotometals Bi alloy (CA hunting rules). The Lee REAL bullet and that alloy aren't a good combo for this rifle. The alloy chips while loading in the bore & needs a mallet on the short starter to actually get it in (not something I can do in the backcountry). I may see about adding more tin to reduce the expansion during cooling and increase the malleability. But it would certainly be easier to just make a reduced-diameter bullet & then patch it.