Grooves on cast lead bullets.

[Mikeinkaty]

Showing my ignorance but what is the purpose of the circular grooves on the bottom of cast bullets? For holding lubrication?

IF that is the case, then are they necessary if one powder coats? I've watched dozens of videos on YouTube but none that I've seen have explained the purpose of the grooves.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[arjay]

Yep,they are for the old fashioned lube

 

[novalty]

There are two different grooves available on cast bullets:crimp groove & lube groove. The lube groove is not necessary if powder coating--some mold makers are making molds for powder coating without the lube groove. Think the verdict is still out on whether the lack of lube groove makes the bullet more stable and/or accurate.

 

[Mikeinkaty]

There are two different grooves available on cast bullets:crimp groove & lube groove. The lube groove is not necessary if powder coating--some mold makers are making molds for powder coating without the lube groove. Think the verdict is still out on whether the lack of lube groove makes the bullet more stable and/or accurate.

I've seen some pretty convincing videos where they have run tests on the firing range comparing lubed to powder coated bullets. In all cases i've seen the powder coated ones had a higher velocity, better accuracy, and resulted in virtually spotless bores. Now, I don't know, I'm just repeating what I saw in these few videos. Some of these guys have highly refined and simplified the powder coating process. There are dozens of videos on the subject of powder coating lead bullets on YouTube.

Mike

 

[twodog max]

The grooves are for lube. The latest Handloader had an article comparing bullet coatings versus conventional lubed bullets. I will let the article speak for itself. For me the additional cost of coated bullets is not worth it. Through smart shopping I so far can buy jacketed bullets for less than coated. I also recently lucked into a lifetime supply of cast bullet material for no cost. I think I will stick with conventional cast bullets.

 

[mikld]

Yep, as stated above, grooves in cast bullets are for wax based lube and crimping. I'm a confirmed "tinkerer" and have tried coated and powder coating bullets. I've had good results from PCed bullets, both in slightly increased velocity and clean shooting. I've purchased Hy-Tek coated bullets and all I've tried were excellent (about 1,000 from Precision Bullets in 45 ACP and 9mm). For just about anything you'd want to know about coating bulets; Coatings and Alternatives

Some info on all aspects of reloading and components read "The ABCs of Reloading". For cast bullet info try "Lyman's 4th Edition Cast Bullet Handbook".

 

[Mikeinkaty]

I just purchased 1000 Hi Tek coated bullets from Missouri Bullet Company for $86, which included shipping. This will put my out of pocket cost at about 13 cents for each round reloaded. These were 125 grain .358 lead cast and coated bullets. I'll be loading these in 357 mag brass using 4 grains of Trail Boss powder.

Oh yeah, they have ungrooved bullets, just not in 125 grain.

 

[mtgianni]

I've seen some pretty convincing videos where they have run tests on the firing range comparing lubed to powder coated bullets. In all cases i've seen the powder coated ones had a higher velocity, better accuracy, and resulted in virtually spotless bores. Now, I don't know, I'm just repeating what I saw in these few videos. Some of these guys have highly refined and simplified the powder coating process. There are dozens of videos on the subject of powder coating lead bullets on YouTube.

Mike

As a former member of the Cast Bullet Association and one who still views their magazine "The Fouling Shot" I have yet to see a top ten finisher in a national or regional match with coated bullets. The substances are not banned nor are the top shooters foolish. I have yet to see coated that stands up to accuracy levels of good lube.

 

[USSR]

Originally Posted by Mikeinkaty View Post
I've seen some pretty convincing videos where they have run tests on the firing range comparing lubed to powder coated bullets. In all cases i've seen the powder coated ones had a higher velocity, better accuracy, and resulted in virtually spotless bores. Now, I don't know, I'm just repeating what I saw in these few videos. Some of these guys have highly refined and simplified the powder coating process. There are dozens of videos on the subject of powder coating lead bullets on YouTube.

Mike

As a former member of the Cast Bullet Association and one who still views their magazine "The Fouling Shot" I have yet to see a top ten finisher in a national or regional match with coated bullets. The substances are not banned nor are the top shooters foolish. I have yet to see coated that stands up to accuracy levels of good lube.

Reminds me of about 16 years ago, when I was just getting into long range shooting and Moly coating bullets was the latest thing. So, I talked to the experienced long range shooters at the local range and they said "Yeah, we all tried it when it first came out, but then we started getting unexplained flyers and everybody went back to bare bullets". Moral of the story, just because something is new doesn't make it better. As for me, I fill those grooves with the lube that was intended to be put there and suffer no bad effects.

Don

 

[Qc Pistolero]

For anything shot below 1100FPS,I surface lube with White Lab liquid Alox;50% are shot without sizing.Those who are receive a first coating(takes less than 5 minutes for 500 bullets),wait 24 hours,get sized and receive their second treatment.After 24 hours,baby powder them so as to remove the stickyness.My barrels come out shiny like,well,a baby's behind!
For rounds from 1100 to 2300FPS,I lube with my own bullet lube.Coating is too time consuming for the quantity I shoot.But like they say,different strokes for different folks!
Qc

 

[mikld]

FWIW; Powder coating and Hi-Tek coating has been around for many years (I believe it has been popular in Australia(?) for 20+ years, but I could be wrong.). The coatings used today are different from the "moly coating" used a few years back. Moly is a coating normally impregnated into jacketed bullets and powder coating and Hi-Tek coatings are sorta "painted on".

I've tried mebbe 2,500 PCed bullets but I have more or less gone back to plain lead. I worked out the "normal" cast bullet problems a few years ago and I'm happy with my old school cast bullets...

 

[BC38]

I haven't tried coated yet - but I'm about to.

I'm going to do a test on Saturday. I've loaded up some 44 specials - 50 each of 3 types of 240 grain SWC bullets - lubed lead, coated, and plated, all with a 4.3gr charge AA#2.

We'll see how it goes....

 

[fredj338]

As a former member of the Cast Bullet Association and one who still views their magazine "The Fouling Shot" I have yet to see a top ten finisher in a national or regional match with coated bullets. The substances are not banned nor are the top shooters foolish. I have yet to see coated that stands up to accuracy levels of good lube.

What kind of match? I won my division at idpa workd with my own coated bullets. My best loads in my 1911, 9 or 45, will do 2" at 25yds, same as my conv lubed. I Was slow to coated but i get better accuracy than with most plated, equal to my best convlubed, but i get a cleaner gun & a lot less smoke. Reasons enough for me to switch.

 

[mtgianni]

What kind of match? I won my division at idpa workd with my own coated bullets. My best loads in my 1911, 9 or 45, will do 2" at 25yds, same as my conv lubed. I Was slow to coated but i get better accuracy than with most plated, equal to my best convlubed, but i get a cleaner gun & a lot less smoke. Reasons enough for me to switch.

100 yard rifle matches. If your lube is smoking your doing it wrong with todays micro waxes.

 

[GWW]

Showing my ignorance but what is the purpose of the circular grooves on the bottom of cast bullets? For holding lubrication?

IF that is the case, then are they necessary if one powder coats? I've watched dozens of videos on YouTube but none that I've seen have explained the purpose of the grooves.

Thanks,
Mike

Are you talking about a grove on the very base of the bullet? If so, that's a bullet meant for gas checks.

 

[Leadcaster357]

I know I'm not a veteran of this site yet, however I do have a lengthy experience in both traditional lube and P/C bullets. My opinion from personal experience in handgun only is P/C is more accurate with less smoke and after the learning curve I find it to be far easier to produce mass amounts of bullets quicker. When I started out I swore that I wasn't going to switch from traditional lube but was just going to experiment with two moulds that I found to be slightly undersized just to see if it would make a difference in accuracy. In the last month I PCed around 60lbs of 38 caliber 150 grain R/N to feed my old model 66. There is 6 of us that shoot together and out of that group 4 are 80%+ PC guys, One is a die hard plated guy and another that will shoot anything that is cheap. I'm not trying to sell anyone on PCing but when asked I like to say I'm quite convinced with the results.
Again this is only handgun information.
Leadcaster357

 

[gwpercle]

Pick up a copy of Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook 4th Edition , tons of great information that you will never see on U-Tube video's.
Answers in there to questions you didn't know needed answering.
Powder coating is just another method of keeping the cast bullet from leading the bore. They're all good....use what method you think would suit your needs.
Gary