Bullet style and weight, coated ? Lubed ?

[Toby Two Mules]

Whats your preference on bullet weight and style for both smokeless and black powder ? 

[Branchwater Jack SASS #88854]

For us, this is what we do for our .38s

 

Smokeless:

125 TC coated in Rifle

125 TC hard lubed in pistol

 

Black Powder

130 RNFP soft lube for all. Recipe contains bees wax, Crisco, and a bit of canola oil.

 

We use different bullet styles to add a second layer to easily differentiate between black and smokeless. Nothing worse than having a couple of boxes of bullets spill out and not know what you have where. Ask me how I know!

 

We also do the same for our smokeless. Rifle uses new or once fired brass. Using the coated bullets, we know which ones are rifle pretty easily!

 

Probably a little more than some folks will do, but it works for us!

[Eyesa Horg]

125TC for 38, rifle and pistol.

200 RNFP for 45c rifle

160 RNFP & C45S brass for pistol. Smokeless for above.

[Shooting Bull]

I shoot 38s.  I use a 125 grain Truncated Cone Flat Points with Hi Tek coating. I get them from a variety of vendors.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

As Exampled by Branchwater Jack, the "Same" bullet doesn't necessarily work for both Black Powder and Smokeless.  Smokeless uses a hard crayon sort of lube and Black Powder uses a soft formulation.  BP also likes LOTS of lube, especially for rifles.  "Big Lube" bullets for BP are the best.

 

Then there are those of us who shoot APP as our propellant in pistols and rifles.  APP doesn't care about lube.  Doesn't even require lube.  Makes its own lube so it's not an issue.  For my .45 pistols I shoot Cowboy 45 Special cases and Barnstormer 130Gr bullets.  For .45 Rifles, I shoot Schofield cases W/180Gr bullets except for the Henry.  In the Henry I shoot C45S cases with 180Gr bullets.

 

I don't much like coated bullets for anything and coated bullets don't much like Black Powder.  Have Fun

[Choctaw Jack]

45 Colt- 200 gr. RNFP Cast , powder coated, and sized by me

C45S- 160 gr RN also cast, pwder coated and sized by me

Smokeless, dont do the smoky stuff.

[Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971]

I prefer RNFP bullets because they feed well in my rifles and are safe in the magazine.  For smokeless loads I use coated bullets.  For real black powder, SPG-lubed cast bullets.  For BP subs plain cast bullets with any lube.  Bullets weights vary since my family shoots .32s, .38s and .44s.  Additionally, I use nickle-plated brass for revolvers and unplated brass for rifles.

[Imis Twohofon,SASS # 46646]

125 gr RNFP in .38/.357 and 9mm. 200 gr RNFP in .44sp/Mag. all on top of Cleanshot. No BP for me now

 

Imis

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

all cast and powder coated by me

 

.45 Colt pistol:  175 SWC   (found the 150 RN bullets won't go in straight and had all sorts of problems with crimp)

.45 Colt Rifle:  200 RNFP

.38 Sp/.357:  125 RNFP

.45 Schofield:  175 SWC (just used in pistol)

.32 H&R Mag:  125  RNFP

[Jimmy6]

I just ordered some 38spl 105gr from scarlett due to they are suppose to run really well in an 1873. Why is no one using this weight?

[Flinthills Dawg]

20 minutes ago, Jimmy6 said:

I just ordered some 38spl 105gr from scarlett due to they are suppose to run really well in an 1873. Why is no one using this weight?

some do use 105 in the rifle, they work just fine in the revolvers. YMMV

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

Use Truncated Cone bullets in most of my light bullet loads, as the nose in front of the crimp is longer, letting a light bullet be loaded to a longer overall cartridge length.  And TCs feed just a little more smoothly than most RNFP designs.  Just make sure to avoid Semiwad Cutter designs in lever rifles.  Longer noses are especially important when loading for .38 special cartridges in lever guns.   Use truncated cone bullets in my 1911 guns because with the short throat of the barrel, it is much easier to get a cartridge OAL that will chamber freely and not jam into the rifling.

 

Use softish alloy home cast bullets (9 BNH) because they are the most accurate and best suited to the low pressures and velocities we use in Cowboy and Wild Bunch.  And cheaper.  Conventional beeswax+grease bullet lube (homemade to keep costs minimal for me).  No polymer coating bullets - too much variability and work for me.  Bullets sized to 0.001" over groove diameter of barrel.   A flat base bullet gives me better accuracy.   With my stock of lead and molds and beeswax, I NEVER have to worry if I need to make another batch of ammunition.  Even during pandemics.

 

Weights - in the lower third of the conventional range of cast bullets for the chambering.   Like 125 grain for .38s, and 200 for .45 Colt.

 

There really is no magic bullet weight.  We really don't need "magical" accuracy.  There is magic in a bullet and load that leaves NO lead in the barrel, though.  And that feeds/fires perfectly in each gun.

 

good luck, GJ

[Go West]

TCFP coated- 125 gr. for .38 and 100 gr. for .32

185 gr. RNFP coated for .45

.38 Special and .45 Colt are loaded long, behind the crimp groove for better function in Lightning rifles

.38 pistols don't care what length they are and .45 pistols are loaded with Schofield brass using the crimp groove

 

One bonus for using coated bullets is that they don't clog your dies.

[Creeker, SASS #43022]

1 hour ago, Jimmy6 said:

I just ordered some 38spl 105gr from scarlett due to they are suppose to run really well in an 1873. Why is no one using this weight?

I use 105gr coated bullets - rifle and pistol.

158gr coated bullets in my knockdown rounds.

Same powder charge for both.

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

I've had the experience that if you have a consistent difference in accuracy or speed (for Cowboy matches) using a 105 bullet instead of a 125 grain bullet in a .38 special in a lever rifle, then you are not holding the rifle firmly enough against your shoulder and cheek.  Almost everyone can fully control a 125 grain bullet fired at 750 FPS (93 PF), with suitable amount of practice.

 

It's usually the revolvers where some folks may not have as good of control and speed with the heavier of those two bullet weights.

 

One drawback to the lighter bullet is that the 105 grain bullet is shorter, meaning it makes a shorter round, and to feed that in a toggle link gun requires special shaping of the carrier block, and some folks do not want to learn to do that or seek a smith who can do that work.  So they stick with the 125 grain slug.

 

Like many things in cowboy shooting, a new shooter doesn't need every single speed up trick in the book to start out, and if they get good enough to need some of those tricks, they will understand how much some of those tricks might improve their game and whether they are worth it to them.

 

good luck, GJ

[Griff]

.375 round balls over a wonder wad & 3F in revolvers... RCBS 45-225-CAV in rifle over Goex "Cartridge" lubed w/SPG.   I won't encourage you by giving my recipe for the fad powder when I get lazy.  

[Abe E.S. Corpus SASS #87667]

For .38 Special smokeless ammo I use TCFP bullets, mostly the uncoated ones, either 105, 110 or 125 grain.

 

For Frontier Cartridge I use APP powder under a 158 grain RNFP bullet.  Coated or uncoated, whichever is available.

 

I have a .44-40 rifle; I use the same 200 grain RNFP bullet for both types of ammo so if available I use an uncoated bullet for Frontier Cartridge ammo and a coated bullet for smokeless.  That way I should be able to identify a loose round.

[Col. Cornelius Gilliam, SASS#5875TG]

I shoot Frontier Cartridge 99% of the time.

 

For CAS Matches:

 

38-40 in Pistol and Rifle, same load, 180gr RNFP, Lyman mold 401043 w/ 2-lube grooves, over a full case of FFg black powder.

 

For practice:

 

38-40 in Pistol and Rifle, same load, 180gr RNFP, Magma mold w/ crimp groove, Red Dot powder

Pistol - 860 fps, Rifle - 1,090 fps.

 

[Cool Name TBD]

On 5/11/2023 at 9:23 AM, Shooting Bull said:

I shoot 38s.  I use a 125 grain Truncated Cone Flat Points with Hi Tek coating. I get them from a variety of vendors.

 

@Shooting Bull  have you had better luck with one vendor over the other, like do you have a preferred brand or are the all pretty much the same?  

[Dantankerous]

Most people are after the light cowboy loads in this game.  Probably some very good suggestions to that end in the above replies.

 

Some of us however don't care about light loads and we giggle with 200 grain, 240 grain, and 250 grain slugs topping a full case of black powder or black powder substitute. RNFP bullets work A-OK.  I try to use coated for substitutes and SPG lubed for real black powder.

 

 I spent about 13 years shooting both 2 handed and one handed trying to find not light but manageable loads for my 45 Colt revolvers. I finally decided more smoke and flame is much more better so off to the big heavy stuff I went and don't see me looking back.

 

 

[Tequila Shooter]

On 6/3/2023 at 11:42 AM, Dantankerous said:

Most people are after the light cowboy loads in this game.  Probably some very good suggestions to that end in the above replies.

 

Some of us however don't care about light loads and we giggle with 200 grain, 240 grain, and 250 grain slugs topping a full case of black powder or black powder substitute. RNFP bullets work A-OK.  I try to use coated for substitutes and SPG lubed for real black powder.

 

 I spent about 13 years shooting both 2 handed and one handed trying to find not light but manageable loads for my 45 Colt revolvers. I finally decided more smoke and flame is much more better so off to the big heavy stuff I went and don't see me looking back.

 

 

 

I’m with you

[Dusty Devil Dale]

Rifle (Uberti-Beretta 1873 in .38/.357 21" barrel)

Badman Bullets 130g RNFP ring-waxed lead at 1.545" COAL.

 

Pistols (.38/.357 5" barrels) 

Badman Bullets 105g TCFP ring-waxed lead at 1.41" COAL.   I use the shorter, tapered Pistol rounds for rifle top reloads.  They feed more smoothly but they are too short to cycle in the rifle action.

 

Load is 3.3g Titegroup in Starline cases for both Rifle and Pistols. 

No leading or residue issues.  

PF Rifle = +- 68

PF Pistols =+- 64

 

Hope this is helpful. 

[Shooting Bull]

On 6/2/2023 at 5:38 PM, Cool Name TBD said:

 

@Shooting Bull  have you had better luck with one vendor over the other, like do you have a preferred brand or are the all pretty much the same?  

 

Nope. Over the years I've gotten these bullets from over half a dozen different vendors and I haven't noticed any difference at all.