lead

[little joe]

We  all have openions on powder, charge, patching ball size,ect. My question is has anyone sat down with a proven rifle and tryed shooting hard lead vs. soft lead say at 50 yd. rest, and noted the differance.

[Mike Brooks]

I tried wheel weights once. Hard to load and accuracy sucked. But I didn't mess with it very much.

[smylee grouch]

I have shot WW lead too and found it not as accurate as my pure lead but that was with my pure lead load (powder/patch combo), it might have been better with more testing. It was a little harder to load and cast also.

[Old Ford2]

This among other things, size does matter!
Hard lead from a mold will often be larger than soft lead???
Hence loading will be difficult, and getting the ball to expand in firing to take the rifling won't happen as well.
In a smooth bore if it fits and snugly patched all should be well. Good luck with a rifled barrel.
If the ball and patch do not seal on ignition you can kiss accuracy goodbye.
That is my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
Have a great day! Eh?? ( Canadian )
Fred

[OldMtnMan]

Pure lead loads easy, and expands in the bore when shot for better contact with the rifling. Easy loading and more accurate. Plus, it expands better in the game. Why use anything else.

I always forget how to spell the word for expanding in the bore when shot. Senior moment.

[WadePatton]

obturate

obturation.

yo. 

Softer lead is less likely to fragment inside game as well.  Turns out that some people have been eating lead in game flesh (or it appears so).  Not good. 

[SCLoyalist]

In a .36, 44" long Rice barrel I can't tell any noticeable difference between shooting a .350 cast roundball and a 000 Hornady swaged (.350, but as of last year Hornady seems to be alloying their 000 shot ), although I have had to adjust the patching and lube.  In a .36 pistol, I don't even think about putting the Hornady ball down the bore.

[OldMtnMan]

obturate

obturation.

yo. 

Softer lead is less likely to fragment inside game as well.  Turns out that some people have been eating lead in game flesh (or it appears so).  Not good. 

I need to write that down. I'll forget it for sure.

[Old Ford2]

I need to write that down. I'll forget it for sure.
[/quote]

After I write it down......I forget where I put it
Fred

[OldMtnMan]

Isn't old age fun? 

[smylee grouch]

Obturate yes, but some people use bump up and that might be more easy to remember for the memory challenged.   

[OldMtnMan]

I remembered "expand" pretty good.

[oldtravler61]

Getting old isn't for sissys. Lol

[hanshi]

Hard lead is "obdurate" and will not "obturate".   

I've shot a few rounds in a couple of rifles and saw no difference in loading or performance.  I'm talking .36 & .40; that means the dia increase is insignificant.  never tried it in larger rifles.  I do prefer WW in my smoothbore; they shoot better "bare ball" than comparable soft lead.  THis is one case where the size increase IS significant and makes for a tighter ball.

[Daryl]

I now use a 15 bore ball (.677") in my .69 when shooting WW balls. When using pure lead, .684 shoots best - better than the undersized WW balls, but the difference is really not significant.
I use a .030" denim patch (12ounce) with the WW balls, same patch with the larger pure lead balls.

[michaelB.]

I prefer soft lead.  think it performs much better and is easier to cast

[Daryl]

Pure lead balls do perform on game well, however if there is heavy bone, a hardened ball resists excessive expansion and for that reason, some fellows hunting moose and elk prefer a hardened ball.

In countries where dangerous game is high on the list of desirability, hardened balls were the requisite projectile.  In order to be accurate, elongated balls needed to be of pure lead, to 'take' the rifling. If pure, they failed to penetrate as well as a hardened spherical ball.  For this reason, elongated balls (bullets) did not gain popularity until self-contained projectiles along with breech loading mechanisms for large and powerful rifles were developed.  Thus, in a self-contained ctg. loaded at the breech, the hardened elongated projectile could be larger than the groove diameter and thus engage the rifling, producing the required accuracy.

I don't find WW alloys to be any more difficult to cast than pure lead. If indeed, it is not casting well, the addition of a small amount of tin will help.

[WadePatton]

Yes, a bruiser buck around here is 200+ rarely any better than 250#.  No heavy bones in them-relative to their Northern counterparts and bigger game-MUCH bigger game.

[ddoyle]

Turns out that some people have been eating lead in game flesh (or it appears so).

People might be getting heavy metals in their game meat but you will notice that the reports of such occurrence do not contemplate the fact that the metals were there before the animal was shot.

Around about 2005ish there was a Health Canada/Indian and Northern Affairs report that made it to the draft stage in NE B.C. Lot of moose/elk parts were tested. Huge soup of heavy metals. I had a copy. Then the report--------record of funding for the study and the R.P bio who was lead author all disappeared off the face of the earth. ( I am sure she is doing well in her new life and better off then most biologists).
I tried to track down the full story and met with a pretty thick wall of silence and suspicion except from the native hunters who did the harvesting. decided I did not much care.
I mean heck we quit testing for environmental lead exposure in kids 20 some years ago (even down wind of lead smelters) so it cannot be that big a deal right?

I for one would not worry about swallowing a hunk of roundball and $#@* it out the next day when putting it in perspective of the available slurry of metals that our meat can contain.

[Daryl]

Years ago (55?) when hunting squirrels with a .177 air rifle, I used to "carry" them in my mouth. I know for a fact I swallowed them, time to time.  I've eaten shotgun killed ducks since I was a little boy & know for a fact, I learned to chew with care and know for a fact, I ate lead shot.
 I'm still here.
Most of the lead ingestion argument is smoke and mirrors - anti-gun politics - out and out lies with the intention to limit and prevent hunting. This post is not to start a political argument, only to spell out the 'drive' and intention' behind ALL of the LEAD FRIGHT, world wide.

That is why the report ddoyle spoke of disappeared. There was no just cause - so the reports disappeared - no longer on the radar as the results did not show what they were supposed to show.  This is all obvious to ANYONE who looks closely and this ALL goes back to the original lead shot ban & the phony tests & doctor'd photos used.  That is/was when Photo-Shopping was born.

[hanshi]

Hands down, for rifles I prefer soft lead as it's accuracy is a given and it expands wonderfully.  WWs are the cat's PJs in my smoothbore.  The lead scare is, of course, 99.9% political.  A danger?  Yep, for young children and pregnant moms.

[ddoyle]

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