Hard lead

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I've never had an entire bullet come back at me, but I've felt fragments.  I finally figured out that the I-beams the range was using for target platforms have a radius between the vertical and horizontal part of the I.  The bullets would splatter on the flat, but then the splatter would spray out towards that radius and then come back. 

The same can happen when a bullet puts a crater in steel.  The crater can have a radius that will send spray from the next bullet back at you.  Hardness of lead, hardness of the steel target, and impact velocity all play into whether a crater forms.  I've seen WW make craters where even jacketed bullets don't.

[OldMtnMan]

I shot CAS for decades. We couldn't use anything but pure lead bullets because of bounce back.

[Daryl]

Much also depends on velocity.  I've cut bolts off with my .40 - that my .69 shooting 5 times more weight in pure lead - did no more than bounce off or flow around it.  That's the difference between 2,000fps and 1,150fps impact speed.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Our silhouette range uses railroad rails for target stands.  We were required, by the Chief Firearms Officer of the Province of British Columbia to clad the rails with wood, to discourage ricochets. 

[TMerkley]

For what its worth, I live and hunt in California where we have a lead ban for all hunting-- both ball and shot... (target shooting we can use lead).

I have experimented with harder than lead projectiles a bit. Those ml hunters with fast twist barrels predominantly use all copper conical bullets with plastic sabots etc. and they don't harm the barrels as far as I know.. As a traditional slow twist patched roundball shooter, I have a couple options I use that are quite a bit harder than linotype lead ---and they don't harm the barrels of my rifle or smoothbore either.

I am pretty confident that linotype lead will not harm a barrel.

As for accuracy? well... lets just say I can achieve ok hunting accuracy with harder than lead projectiles at shorter than 100 yard ranges, but for target shooting? harder than lead is not very good.

This has been my experiences. Others might have experienced other results.



By chance, what are you shooting, pure copper, tin, etc...
Frangible bullets pulled from cartridges? Just Curiosity.  I remember one fellar talking about marbles once...
Thanks

[Daryl]

Linotype metal at brinel of 22 (21 for reclaimed lino) nor Monotype metal at a brinel of 24, will not harm your bore, not even a 12L14 bore.  Hardened WW metal at a brinel of 30 to 33 will not harm your bore as the cloth patch will protect it. Indeed, even if it scrubbed your bore full length, it would not harm the bore.  Dead soft copper has a brinel of 34/35 & it will quite likely not harm your bore, either. 

Powder gas blow-by, however, is harmful due to the flame running at cutting speed past the patched ball.  This powder gasses flame "cutting"also happens in modern barrels with undersized projectiles.

Indeed, cloth or paper patching is likely more wearing to your bore, than is lead of any hardness.