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Oregon Trail Laser-Cast Bullets

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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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
Click to expand...

I think you answered your own question here.... Why are you running Clays?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.:)
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
I have had the same problem as the OP. However, I have a picture of the group (?) at 25 yards.

abp.jpg


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.
 
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?
 
Call OT and they will send you load data for what you are loading. I like their bullets but they priced me out.
 
I have oregon trail load manual sitting on my bench, couple of years old ?????????? don't see o their website call??????
 
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.
 
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