Powder/Poly Coated Cast Bullets

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Some time ago, I cast up a heap of bullets for my .375 H&H and .404 Jeffery rifles.
I intended to try and develop some reduced loads, to save costs and still get more "Trigger Therapy", with these rifles.
Since then, I purchased some Powder Coating powder (various colours), and Googled up some You Tube video's on applying this material to bullets.

Here are some images of the outcome of this, with my .404 Jeff.
First, I made a rack to place the cast bullets on.
Here you can see the "As Cast" bullets, some "Coated" bullets and some "Coated-Sized and Gas Checked" bullets.


Here I'm sizing and attaching the .44 Caliber Gas Checks.
The bullets ended up weighing 367grain, with the Gas Check crimped in place.


Here is the die box (Simplex brand), a loaded .404 Jeff round and a .308Win cartridge for comparison.


FYI, a mate of mine in New Zealand (Von Gruff), gave me a heap of loading details and data, for cast bullets in the .404Jeff.
So with this info in hand, I assembled some loads and went bush last weekend to do some field testing.
After firing two rounds at a recently cut down Gum tree stump (that completely penetrated 8" or 200mm), another shot was put into the thicker base of this same stump. I then got into the stump, with a Tomahawk.



Here is an image of the same recovered bullet, after stopping 5 1/2" into the stump. the recovered bullet weighed 252 grains (including the Gas Check (and minus some lead from me getting to close with the Tomahawk....Ooops!)


Hope that is of some interest.

Doh!
Homer

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Again,

I forgot to mention, please see how the Poly Coating has maintained it's adherence to the cast bullet, despite its journey down the bore of the rifle, and then it's subsequent contact with the fairly hard Gum tree.

Here are some additional images.

A loaded round in the rifles magazine.


Some additional .404 Jeffery (0.422" & 0.423" diameter) bullets.


Also, here is an 8 minute "How To" video on this subject.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRqKGBpqVjc

Doh!
Homer

 

[desertcj]

All I have to say is that's a he'll of a blade for a leatherman...lol. That's not a knief....this is a knief...lol. Sorry but it's true, American multi tools come with weak blades.

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Yes Desertcj, there not the best blades on the planet but their a very handy bit of kit, to have on your hip.
Luckily, I did have a Tomahawk with me, so I didn't have to rely on this Leatherman.

I got out to the range this morning, for a bit of target shooting (at 50 meters).

It was quite a bright sunny day, so I used a Black marker pen to paint the Poly bullet Black.
I learnt that by doing this (especially on small .17 and .22 jacketed bullets), it actually helps the skyscreen to see the bullets.


This and the occasional cloud floating by, aided in me getting some "confirmed" reading on the Oehler chrono.
So just as some of "Von Gruff's" 340grn cast and conventionally lubed .404 (0.424" diameter) bullets previously chrono, these came in at just over 1600fps.

Here are all the gory details.


Here are some other images.



And finally, here is a group I shot with this same load (at 50 meters).
The first shot (from a clean barrel) went straight thru the 3/4" black patch (thats what I use to aim at), and subsequent bullets went Up and to the Right.
I'm happy with the group size, especially as I'm no Bench Rest shooter (and I flinch like a Bastard).


So I'll now look at increasing the velocity of these loads, and hope the accuracy is maintained and the Poly coating stays intact.

Hope that helps

Doh!
Homer

 

[Dwh7271]

That's pretty cool work and experimenting you've done. Good shooting also.
And in the fwiw column, no wonder you flinch a little after 10 or 15 from a cannon. :grin:

 

[Guy Miner]

Very interesting!

You know... A 367 gr bullet at 1600+ fps is very similar to some of the 45/70 cartridges I loaded, and also very similar to some of the traditional .50 cal muzzle loader I used for mule deer years ago...

Not real rough on the shoulder, and should still be quite effective on game at reasonable ranges.

You're right - it adds another dimension of fun to our loading & shooting. I have some cast bullets for my 375, but haven't ever powder coated any of them. Interesting thought. I imagine that cuts down on the lube mess, though I've never found that very objectionable anyway.

Regards, Guy

 

[Partisan]

I load my 45-70 with cast and coated 405gr. bullets. Great loads and you can tailor the power from easy to eye-opening. I also load revolvers with cast and coated bullets. IMHO coated cast bullets are the way to go nowadays if you are shooting lead.