Keeping the lead out?

[Service Desk]

Clays is a very fast powder that builds pressure in a non-linear manner, I have burned up plenty of it since it first hit the market. It will cause pressure leading far more easily than Bullseye, WST or VV310. Leading in the first inch of barrel is normally caused by the issues that Warren has so eloquently highlighted. Leading in the last inch of barrel is normally caused by poor bullet lube.

My guess is is that you have a "hot" load that may be causing pressure leading. By hot I mean that the flame temperature and working pressure have exceeded the lead alloy strength. This condition is not a sign of poor bullet manufacture or sub- standard alloy, it is just an indicator that you need to do something the manage the condition. Jacketed projectiles, gas checks, longer OAL, reduced powder load, slower powders are all alternate solutions.

I use 3.5 gns of Clays behind a 135 gn wadcutter in my Bianchi revolver and have a similar issue, so I brush the barrel every 48 shots to remove leading. Oddly enough it will still hold an inch and a half at 50 yards without brushing.

YMMV

[captain037]

Back in the days of PPC, I shot with many other high masters that never put anything down the barrel except Federal 148 grn hbwc. When i bought a new Davis gun I did the same. Mine has probably 50,000 through it and never cleaned the barrel. Ran a brush through the cylinders and cleaned the face of the cylinder . Gun will shoot inside the X ring of a B27 to this day. When you get your reloading issues ironed out test clean and dirty, it may not matter. I've seen ppc guns with lube hanging 1/2 inch out of the barrel.

[ed_henry]

I think you will find the Federal 148 grain HBWC only run 500-700 FPS. in most guns. They will generally not lead. If you push the HBWC up to 800-900 FPS they may/will give you fairly heavy leading. If you use a 158 grain bullet and just make minor you will need a velocity of 791 FPS minimum. Generally 840-860 would be considered reasonable for competition to make minor with a sufficient reserve.

[captain037]

Good point ed, I'll have to dig it out of the safe and take a close look.

[NuJudge]

If you are using a really tight case size die before loading, or a Lee factory crimp die after loading, these have the reputation of sizing down soft bullets during loading, and sometimes causing a lot of Leading. I cast virtually all the cast bullets I shoot, and I intentionally make them very hard, and frequently add a gas check on a compatible mold, to combat this.

Describe your loading process, particularly whether you use a Lee factory crimp die.

There are some pistols where the groove diameter is larger than the cylinder throat diameter. If you have that situation, you are stuck with jacketed bullets. As noted above, there are some revolvers where the threading of the outside rear of the barrel causes the groove diameter in the rear of the barrel to shrink, causing a lot of Leading in the throat and just forward of it. I have this problem with a Ruger Security Six.

Poor lube quality causes Leading generally toward the muzzle, and you seem not to have that.