How much lead??
- Thread starter Mitty38
- Start date
Mitty38
Well-Known Member
Wow close to 98 lbs a year. About 5 times what I shoot !
Wear out many barrels ???
richhodg66
Well-Known Member
Is it really even possible to wear out a barrel with cast bullets?
JWFilips
Well-Known Member
When my Buddy Ed and I are shooting pistol we Pretty much recover 95% of the lead we shoot that day as long as the range doesn't get busy which is seldom from 8 am to 9am
Low Load rifle is a bit different: The backstops are more sloping so more go up into where I don't know. So I would say only 50% each time we shoot. If we get there before shooting hours we can pick the backstops of all types of projectiles. These I will sort out into commercial cast bullets and Jacketed!
So A wild guess would be we reclaim 75% shot projectiles along what we shoot!
Low Load rifle is a bit different: The backstops are more sloping so more go up into where I don't know. So I would say only 50% each time we shoot. If we get there before shooting hours we can pick the backstops of all types of projectiles. These I will sort out into commercial cast bullets and Jacketed!
So A wild guess would be we reclaim 75% shot projectiles along what we shoot!
462
California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
Averaging the different bullet weights, whether shooting handguns (more rounds per session) or rifles (fewer rounds per session), and factoring in the number of weeks the range is closed, I shoot 90-pounds per year. Berm mining is not allowed, so those pounds are lost forever. My clip-on ingot stash has dwindled to 600-pounds and just less than 300-pounds of stick-on ingots remain. But, there must be over 400-pounds of bullets that are stored in Costco three-pound coffee cans. If my memory count of USPS flat rate boxes is correct, I've given away or traded over 200-pounds of ingots.
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
One of the best CBA military shooters has a documented 25,000 linotype rounds through a used 1903 barrel. Cartridge overall length has increased almost .250" to just touch the rifling. Fiver has a good handle on the issue.
richhodg66
Well-Known Member
I doubt I'll ever be able to afford that many primers again, but it would be fun trying to wear one out. Any idea what kind of load with those linotype bullets did it? I tend to load things very mild most of the time.
dannyd
Well-Known Member
I don't think anyone could if the GP100 was taken care and only shot cast
bullets. But I have 5 GP's and I am trying.
burbank.jung
Active Member
I don't have much time to shoot nor money to buy loaded ammo. My goal is to cast enough bullets to have reloaded for family and friends to have a good time in one day shooting. After that, I want enough cast bullets on hand to reload than have to buy ammunition. Then after this, I am building a stack of ingots from various sources like jacketed, .22lr, etc. And last, I have range lead that has been cleaned up, separated, and bagged so I can cast ingots on my free time.
RBHarter
West Central AR
It seems like there is/was maybe a sticky over there about something like 25000 WC through a M29 and counting. I read part of it up to having broken 30k . That was several years ago.
The point in barrel wear that everyone agrees with is the cause of throat erosion which is where the real wear happens . It's not bullets it's the hot high pressure gas and possibly enhanced by the action of the powder abrasion .
In the 30's .......er.....1930s a test was run that placed the life of a 1903 Springfield barrel at 30 seconds and 10,000 rounds . I'm sure the mercuric primers and rate of fire didn't help . A modern sporting rifle should last at least that long .
With low node and even some of the more enthusiastic small game loads 90% of the powder burned before the bullet base makes it out of the leade . So you hot gas but at much lower pressures and little none bouncing around vs say a case full of 4350 or 4831 that has 1/3 of the charge shoved out of the case still burning 6" into the barrel . There are 9 kernels of 4350 per 1/10 gr thats a lot of impact abrasion compared to 50 flakes of Unique.
I've heard and read about shotguns being shot loose and having worn locking parts and the resulting head space . I've never once read about or heard of one with the throat or choke shot out of it .
I've read about 30-30s being worn out but with the millions of ACP family guns out there nobody has ever said "I had to drop off my P35 and 1911 , the barrel was shot out " . It's always slide and locking parts .
The point in barrel wear that everyone agrees with is the cause of throat erosion which is where the real wear happens . It's not bullets it's the hot high pressure gas and possibly enhanced by the action of the powder abrasion .
In the 30's .......er.....1930s a test was run that placed the life of a 1903 Springfield barrel at 30 seconds and 10,000 rounds . I'm sure the mercuric primers and rate of fire didn't help . A modern sporting rifle should last at least that long .
With low node and even some of the more enthusiastic small game loads 90% of the powder burned before the bullet base makes it out of the leade . So you hot gas but at much lower pressures and little none bouncing around vs say a case full of 4350 or 4831 that has 1/3 of the charge shoved out of the case still burning 6" into the barrel . There are 9 kernels of 4350 per 1/10 gr thats a lot of impact abrasion compared to 50 flakes of Unique.
I've heard and read about shotguns being shot loose and having worn locking parts and the resulting head space . I've never once read about or heard of one with the throat or choke shot out of it .
I've read about 30-30s being worn out but with the millions of ACP family guns out there nobody has ever said "I had to drop off my P35 and 1911 , the barrel was shot out " . It's always slide and locking parts .
richhodg66
Well-Known Member
I think you would wear out every moving part of any decent revolver shooting it long before you'd have noticeable barrel wear shooting mid range wadcutter loads.
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
I believe he always used 22 grains of 5744 with a 200 grain bullet. MV was 1600 f/s.
Using a 230 gr RN or TC, pushed by 5.5gr WW231, a barrel lasts about 50k rounds. In the course of shooting out several barrels, I replaced a couple of firing pin springs, an extractor, the thumb safety, maybe 1-2 other small parts. I had a Dwyer Group-Gripper in the gun, running a heavy recoil spring. I replaced the buffers and recoil springs periodically.
The gun was a 1911, vintage of 1917, chromed by some idiot in the '40s-'50s. When I got it I had the chrome stripped, replaced the front sight/all springs, and had it hot-blued. The slide stop notch did peen out after about 10 k rounds; I punched it back and had the notch hardened--no further problems.
Still trying to figure how much lead I'll probably shoot this year, and how much I'll recover.
burbank.jung
Active Member
I don't shoot that much and am wearing out faster than my guns