Lee REAL bullets

I had very good results with the 250gr REAL bullets lubed with liquid alox from Lee when I still had the InvestArms 120A Hawken rifle, .45 caliber; 1/48 twist; 28" length barrel. I used a pre-lubed felt wad over 90gr of Goex 3Fg. The results were not as good with the 240gr T/C Maxi-Ball lubed with BoreButter.


I was quenching the bullets in water as I dropped them from the mold.


I had some new old stock Maxi-Balls that needed lubrication.


What really helped was removing the factory adjustable open rear sight and installing the Lyman 57 GPR sights.  

Using the 90gr fffg Goex, I got 1800fps on my buddy's chrono. The sound was a crack rather than the low boom I am used to getting from ML rifles.

As for group size, the 2" group was so much better than the wandering zero I was getting from the old factory sights. Now I am embarrassed as I now know what kind of accuracy these rifles are capable of. I will be spending more time at the range to do better. I had given that rifle to a friend to get him started in traditional ML rifles. I will have to get him to the range in spring when the weather gets warm.

I also used the 250gr REAL bullet in the pistol, but with 40gr of FFFG which equals the original service load of the .45 Colt cartridge. It was very accurate in that pistol, I was hitting the bullseye at 10 yard distance.

How are you guys lubing the REAL bullets?

Has anybody tried the 320gr in a 50 cal yet, as well as the 380gr 54 cal? I’d be interested to know the muzzle velocity, accuracy and powder charges that was the most accurate. I have both molds but I’ve never used them and I don’t have a chrono

I had poor luck with Lee R.E.A.L. Bullets, I had a bunch of them in .50 Cal 250 Grain that i Cast, I couldn’t get them to shoot in anything i had, I tried them in my 1:48 Twist TC’s, and my 1:28 Twist Green Mountain LRH Barrels, They shot Pie Plate size Groups for me, I gave up on them and melted what i had back down. I use to have a 380 Grain .54 Cal R.E.A.L. Mold, I ended up getting rid of it as well.

I have not tried the larger caliber REAL bullets. I had been using 250gr .45 caliber, which matches the bullet weight used in the .45 Long Colt cartridge and I think it may be why I had good results.

That 250gr weight .45 caliber is essentially a pistol bullet was one of the reasons why I gave that rifle and bullet mold away to a friend as I assumed the 1/48 twist was going to give poor performance with the heavier 405gr and 500gr bullets used in the .45-70 rifle cartridge. Why else would T/C make a 240gr Maxi-Ball for use with their factory .45 caliber, 1/48 twist barrelled rifles? I was thinking that I needed a much faster rifle twist to get accuracy with heavier bullets suitable for elk and other large game. I was dissatisfied with a rifle that could only shoot pistol bullets at small to medium game.





As for the question about lubricant, I used the Lee liquid alox on the REAL bullet. I just added a hyperlink below where it is for sale at MidwayUSA.  

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101020682

Ivan Wagurak wrote:Has anybody tried the 320gr in a 50 cal yet, as well as the 380gr 54 cal? I’d be interested to know the muzzle velocity, accuracy and powder charges that was the most accurate. I have both molds but I’ve never used them and I don’t have a chrono

Try them in your rifle and get back to us with the your results.

I advise using Lee liquid alox for lubricating the REAL bullets, also use the pre-lubricated felt wads.

I'm glad Alox works for you , Most folks will never use it as it reacts poorly with black powder . In fact a big no-no ,rather like using smokeless cleaning methods and avoiding water /perhaps a little (Dawn ) for bp which works . Alox is right up there with (chapstik) bore butter /Ed

I'm with Lewis on the 320 gr REAL 50 cal bullets. I could not get them to shoot very well. The 250 grainers shoot pretty good out of my Pedersoli .50 cal Frontier Rifle. About the same as a PRB but quicker and easier to load.

I use the 445gr Lee Real bullets in my .58 Double Pedersoli Kodiak cast at 8.5 Water quenched. Ghost ring and Lyman front sight-white bead.

Standing with a shooting stick- 80yards 1.5” -2” Honest Groups From Each Barrel… 50
point of impact regulation. 80 yards just few inches low. I used 75 powder measured grains of 2F,Goex.Same with a 280gr 8Bhn round ball, .018 Wonder Lube Ox yoke patches. No swabbing between shots- ran about 4 shots through each barrel with each projectile. Accuracy was stellar and surprisingly the Patch Ball impacted Exactly the same as the Real. Past 80 yards will be next with the Express sights I can see over the Ghost ring… I’m sure the Real Bullet will drop quickly. I’m aware this is uncommon and Unusual,Yet it’s very cool!!!

I'm wondering about those felt wads do they need to be lubed or do you use them dry?