Oregon Trail Laser-Cast Bullets

[38-55]

Has anyone tried these silver alloy bullets yet? I bought some from Cabelas and have loaded some in 38 special; 158 gr SWC, 2.8 gr. of Clays, CCI 500 primer. I am having trouble getting these loads to group. They are all over the paper in both my Model 10 4" and my 6.5 " Blackhawk at 25 yards.

2.8 gr is the starting load from Hodgdon and the maximum load is 3.1 gr. Not much room to work with. I am wondering if these "Laser Cast" bullets are too hard? Or do they need to used at higher speeds. According to the Hodgdon data, 2.8 gr of Clays should produce about 812 fps and 3.1 gr should be around 871 fps. Anyone have any ideas? Both guns were grouping well with light loads of Bullseye or Unique last fall using Speer 158 gr LSWC bullets.

Thanks for the help
-Rick

[cp1969]

Load up some more of the loads that worked well and shoot them, to rule out the gun.

I would not use Clays. Not enough room to play with. If the above test rules out the gun, try Unique, Bullseye, or HP38.

edit: Make sure your gun isn't leaded, too.

[matsu]

OREGON TRAILS has their own loading manual my advice is buy it

[robertrwalsh]

I have fired several thousand of those bullets in about 5 different calibers and never had any trouble with them.

[K.38]

I've shot lots of those bullets and never had an issue. Never used the clays though always used 231 or Unique. Lazer cast makes some very nice bullets.

[Dragon88]

These bullets are hard cast and bevel based, so if you shoot them real slow they may not group well. You will probably have better results with a slower powder and higher velocity. Unique works best for me with this bullet in 38 and 357.

[shovelwrench]

I too have not had any issues with Oregon Trails bullets (except their climbing prices). Shot a lot of 200gr 45, and 158LSWC in .38, also 255gr in my .45LC (@1400fps).

Both guns were grouping well with light loads of Bullseye or Unique last fall using Speer 158 gr LSWC bullets

I think you answered your own question here.... Why are you running Clays?

[nitesite]

Hard Cast vs soft swaged bullet.
Bevel base vs. flat base

Seems like a good idea to me that upping the pressure would be a place to start. But I wouldn't choose Clays to do that with.

Lazer Cast makes very good (but quite hard) bullets. They run very well in my .38 and .357 revolvers when pushed to upper-end velocities.

[semperfi71]

In my experience, the lack of accuracy is from not finding the correct powder. Most commercial, well cast bullets will shoot into 2 inches or less at 25 yards if the proper powder is found.

There's a lot of powders out there for standard power .38 loads. You just have to find the right one for your pistol.

Your "next" pistol might require a different powder.

I have had good accuracy with the Oregon Trail bullets, but I had to try several powders before I found the most accurate.

Good luck.

[btruman]

I've had very good results with Oregon Trail bullets in full power .45 Colt loads with Unique and reduced .44 mag loads with Universal clays. By reduced I mean around 1000 fps.

[505Gibbs]

Originally Posted by matsu

OREGON TRAILS has their own loading manual my advice is buy it

Unless something has changed within the last three weeks their reloading manual was not shown as being available on their site.
I have one but its atleast 8 years old.

[Pigirondan]

I've used the 158 grain SWC over Unique. From 4.7 grains to 5.+ grains. Accuracy has been excellent in both my Model 10 and Model 15. In fact, the "hotter" loads were most accurate.

[growr]

I have used literally thousands of the Laser cast bullets in Cowboy Action, IDPA, USPSA, ICORE , and just recreational shooting and have had fabulous success. I use the 158 SWC and the 158 RNL's with 4 gr. of Unique (.38 Spl load). The load is accurate in all of my revolvers. Might work well for you as well.
Randy

[nitesite]

Originally Posted by Pigirondan

I've used the 158 grain SWC over Unique. From 4.7 grains to 5.+ grains. Accuracy has been excellent in both my Model 10 and Model 15. In fact, the "hotter" loads were most accurate.

Agree 100%

Slowing them down to light load levels is not as good as going up.

[m657]

I used Laser Cast for several years for 45 LC cowboy matches. They worked good at 850-900 fps with Unique & several other powders I was using at the time.

I turned to other local casters due to the ever upward march of their prices.

[Paul5388]

I have had the same problem as the OP. However, I have a picture of the group (?) at 25 yards.



The key holes were shot out of a .357 Mag Handi rifle w/22" barrel. The others were shot with a different gun.

The moral of the group is: hard cast may not always be good, bullet fit is more important than hardness and there needs to be enough rifling depth to properly engrave the bullets.

[38-55]

Thanks for all the replies. I started using Clays in my .40 M&P because of advice received on another forum. When I bought the Clays from a local gun shop they told me Clays is excellent for light .38 loads. I did have better groups using a softer lead bullet so it sounds like the Laser cast likes higher velocities. I'll try going back to Unique and push them a little faster. I really did like the Clays because it is cleaner burning. My can of Unique is old and is very dirty burning. Somewhere I read that the Unique made today is a little cleaner. Is that true?

[Maddog 521]

Call OT and they will send you load data for what you are loading. I like their bullets but they priced me out.

[matsu]

I have oregon trail load manual sitting on my bench, couple of years old ?????????? don't see o their website call??????

[pownal55]

I had the same problem with 4.5 grs of unique with that same bullet. In 44 cal 240gr swc i got excellent accuracy in light and heavy loads. I use the 158's in 357 magnum with good results.

[coltchris]

Oregon Trail's load manual is no longer available; but as already mentioned, contact them and they will supply data for caliber requested.

[Peter M. Eick]

Push them for a version 2 of the manual. That manual is one of the better I have read.

Also I use a lot of lasercasts. Probably 20,000 of them a year but the rising prices have forced me to try alternatives. So far I have not found anything that is exceptionally better.

[bronco45]

I use 4.5grains of Universal by Hodgson over their 158grain LSWC and it works well in all my 38s. I just load one load for my colts, J frames, k frames.

But informal target and small game is all I use these bullets for. I've miked them before and they are consistent for diameter and weight.

[38-55]

I emailed Oregon Trail and they are sending me the load data they have for 38 special. I spent some time on the range tonight and Speer lead semi wad cutters with 2.8 gr of Clays group a lot tighter than the Laser Cast swc
with the same loading of Clays. It will be interesting to see what they have for load data.

[pownal55]

I switched to the same speer lswc with 4.5grs of unique in my model 14. 25yd groups went from 10" to 3-4". The oregon trail bullets shot much better at magnum velocities in two different model 27's.

[Wee Hooker]

Originally Posted by 38-55

I emailed Oregon Trail and they are sending me the load data they have for 38 special. I spent some time on the range tonight and Speer lead semi wad cutters with 2.8 gr of Clays group a lot tighter than the Laser Cast swc
with the same loading of Clays. It will be interesting to see what they have for load data.

3.0 gr of clays is my go to load for ANY 158 gr cast SWC in ANY of my 38/357 wheelguns. Try stepping them up just a tad.