Peakbagr Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 (edited) Had a conversation with a builder the other day regarding a 38 Super I want to have built. He owns a Super and loves to shoot it, but says he only feeds it jacketed bullets. Said that after 50-60 rounds with lead bullets, the leading is terrible. Can anyone tell me if their experience is similar? I shoot lead RN bullets in my Walther P5C, and LOTS of lead SWCs in my .45 and .38 bullseye guns and never experieced a problem with leading. Is the lack of leading in my guns because they are hard-cast, mild target loads, or am I just lucky? Didn't get the chance to ask if it was just the 38 Super that causes the problem. Edited January 19, 2007 by Peakbagr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihatepickles Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Is your new gun being built with a comp? Comps and lead have issues with lead building up on the ports. 38 Super is a much faster round. I've found the faster you push a bullet the worse the leading becomes. You can run harder and harder alloys to combat this but you'll still be de-leading a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Stearns Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 The problem with lead bullets is velocity. I have shot thousands of .38 super lead bullets over the years. I have had very good luck but learned early on to keep the velocity in the 1100 fps or lower. This means for major in open it requires a heavy bullet such as a 158 or 160 grain. For minor loads, a 115 to 125 grain bullet works just fine. Also, some powders seem to be worse than others. I had to do this due to a limited budget. (I'm a cop) Keeping the velocity around 1100 or less I have found I can fire several hundred without a loss of accuracy due to leading. The biggest problem is a buildup of lead in a compensator (if you are usiong one). Just go out and try different loads and have fun. Dwight Stearns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 forget about the leading, when shooting lead, you look like a friggin freight train going down the tracks. wooh wooo! lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatland Shooter Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 For the economics (and believe it or not, my gunsmith's recommendation) I shot 147 gr TCFP lead bullets at major through my 9x21. I used Kead cast bullets that seemed pretty hard and only lead slightly at 1197 fps. But lead up it did. After several hundred rounds the comp began to fill and it was time to soak in a 50/50 mix of peroxide and vinegar (more info on this elsewhere on the forum). This past summer I started shooting at an indoor range. Lead bullets were a no-no. So I tried some Zero 125 gr JHP. The difference is amazing. Not just the lack of leading, but my comp works so much better. So my 2 cents, yes, you can shoot heavier lead bullets at major PF, but it has its drawbacks. For performance with the added benefit of no leading, consider jacketed. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Had a conversation with a builder the other day regarding a 38 Super I want to have built.He owns a Super and loves to shoot it, but says he only feeds it jacketed bullets. Said that after 50-60 rounds with lead bullets, the leading is terrible. Can anyone tell me if their experience is similar? I shoot lead RN bullets in my Walther P5C, and LOTS of lead SWCs in my .45 and .38 bullseye guns and never experieced a problem with leading. Is the lack of leading in my guns because they are hard-cast, mild target loads, or am I just lucky? Didn't get the chance to ask if it was just the 38 Super that causes the problem. When I was in college and for a while afterwards I couldn't afford to shoot many jacketed bullets so I shot the best hard cast bullets I could find (one company I used and liked were A-Zone bullets, but I don't even know if they still exist) in my 38 Super Open gun. I used several different bullet styles from ranging from about 140gr to 147grs. Back then major required a power factor of 175 so I was pushing those bullets over 1250fps to get 180+ to leave a little margin of error. Leading in the bore wasn't terrible (Bar-Sto) but it did build up after a good practice session...extreme, but noticable. The comp would build up lead as well, but an old dental pic would get it out in a few minutes. The biggest problem was getting junk on the front scope lens....had to wipe it off pretty regularly. My steel match load was much milder...125gr around 1100fps and it didn't lead much at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSeevers Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 As said pushing a lead bullet to 1350+ will change things and is a lot differnet than a 900 fps .45 load. Its also way too smoky. Shoot 5-10 rds in the same area and I can't see anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peakbagr Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 Nope, no compensator. 1911 frame in .38 Super. I'm just used to shooting and loading lead in Bullseye guns. If I have to get jacketed I will. Sounds like light loads will work OK with lead, if I push the velocity, shoot jacketed. Thanks, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipscjoe Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 (edited) Most people just repeat what they hear or they just plain don't know. I've shot lead in my super (with comp) for years.....Here's how I do it: Get an Outers Foul Out machine (nice to have even if you only shoot jacketed). Wrap the comp with a couple layers of teflon plumber's tape (97cents at any hardware store) . Hook up the machine normally and fill the barrell all the way into the comp. It will clean ALL the lead out of the barrell and the comp as well. You only have to do this maybe every 5 to 6 matches to keep up on it. I shot heavier bullets when the PF was 175 and I still do, but I have buddies that shoot as light as 125grns. Also I use "lead out wipes" cut for patches to clean the bore....It cleans the wax. It's not as big a deal as most people think and I've never had SO much smoke that I couldn't see the targets......That's just a plain myth. Joe a27824 Edited January 26, 2007 by ipscjoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Bell Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Nope, no compensator. 1911 frame in .38 Super. I'm just used to shooting and loading lead in Bullseye guns. If I have to get jacketed I will. Sounds like light loads will work OK with lead, if I push the velocity, shoot jacketed. Thanks, guys. You're going to hate the cost of jacketed bullets. One of my good friends is a very experienced reloader. He's casting his own bullets for years and shooting them out of some relatively powerful guns. According to him, leading is not a serious problem until velocities get above about 1,500 fps, faster than most people push even magnum pistol loads. For what it's worth, I'm going to try lead bullets in my new 1911 style .40 using 180 grain bullets at about 950 fps. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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