Lyman 450 issues
- Thread starter waco
- Start date
Ian
Notorious member
Those look really good, Walter. Now, will they chamber? Also, might want to check the hardness after baking to see if they softened back to like they were right after you cast them. Make sure your cure time at part metal temperature is accurate and with correct alloy and alloy temper (aged, air-cooled straight wheel weights is about right) you should be good to go to 2200 fps from what others have reported for .30-caliber sans checks. Personally I haven't shot PCd bullets past the speed of sound except by accident, but I got my new .22 can finished and tested with full-house xm-855 ball so that's about to change. Also I have some PC bullets that need to be loaded in my bolt-action .308 and pushed until some sort of failure point is reached.
Ian
Notorious member
One thing to never forget about PC is that while it does add a mild jacket effect, it in no way replaces the need to match the alloy to the job at hand nor does it make up for poor casting quality. You still need to have all those fitment and alloy/powder-matching ducks in a row for it to work.
Speaking of fitment, here's a postulation of mine which has proven true in my tests so far at lower velocity: Size the body of your powder coated bullet a little smaller than you typically would a cast bullet. I'm finding that half a thousandth over groove diameter is quite sufficient for excellent accuracy and zero leading. I'd still recommend sizing a bit larger than that if the throat will accept it easily, but we want to avoid scraping off the jacket on the edge of the throat entrance, and the hard PC coating lets the bullets bounce around and self-center in the throat funnel a little better than bare cast bullets will. We'll see if that's true as the pressure is increased. Bullet fitment to the throat is still important, but that has more to do with nose size and SHAPE than it does with the diameter of the driving bands. I've just scratched the surface of PC with my subsonic rifle and pistol experiments, but what areas I have explored I've explored pretty thoroughly before deciding the system has merit enough to continue experimentation.
Speaking of fitment, here's a postulation of mine which has proven true in my tests so far at lower velocity: Size the body of your powder coated bullet a little smaller than you typically would a cast bullet. I'm finding that half a thousandth over groove diameter is quite sufficient for excellent accuracy and zero leading. I'd still recommend sizing a bit larger than that if the throat will accept it easily, but we want to avoid scraping off the jacket on the edge of the throat entrance, and the hard PC coating lets the bullets bounce around and self-center in the throat funnel a little better than bare cast bullets will. We'll see if that's true as the pressure is increased. Bullet fitment to the throat is still important, but that has more to do with nose size and SHAPE than it does with the diameter of the driving bands. I've just scratched the surface of PC with my subsonic rifle and pistol experiments, but what areas I have explored I've explored pretty thoroughly before deciding the system has merit enough to continue experimentation.
KHornet
Well-Known Member
One thing I have found using a lee push thru, particularly with 22's, and gator checks,
I open the checks with the tool Brad made for me that works super even if it is slow, and
then push the bullet, base and check first, and works fine with flat nose bullets.
Obviously will not work well with pointed bullets. Just can't get PC'ing bullets wrapped
around my old traditional brain.
Paul
I open the checks with the tool Brad made for me that works super even if it is slow, and
then push the bullet, base and check first, and works fine with flat nose bullets.
Obviously will not work well with pointed bullets. Just can't get PC'ing bullets wrapped
around my old traditional brain.
Paul