Lead and Molly coated bullets

[KRob]

Alright guys help me here, I never really thought about this until know when I over heard someone at the local gun shop. Do lead bullets do anything to the rifles barrel? Additionally molly coated round?
I am going to be putting done some real money (for a college kid) on a rifle soon and I was curious so I don't screw up the barrel. I do not have the funds to get my self set up for reloading that is hopefully in the near future.

 

[James Jones]

Well it depends on gun your having built , with a high velocity round you don't want to shoot strait lead bullets as they will deposit in your barrel realy quick but if you shooting somthing like a 45-70 or somthing of that nature then the pressures and velocity don't cause nearly the problem.
As for moly , I shoot it in a couple of my guns one is a factory Rem 700 in 25-06 and the other is a Douglas barreled 22-250 , both guns foul faster than I like with the regular uncoated bullets so I gain a little extra shooting time between cleanings with the moly.
If your gonna spend the money for one of the better barrels out their then I woulden't worry with the moly bullets as it sould clean up pretty easy after a proper break-in

What is it your looking to build?

 

[KRob]

What would be the effect of swapping back and forth between moly coated and not? Do rounds with lead cores have any effect on the barrel or is the lead incased and there for expansion reasons?
Coming out of a winchester 30-30 do i need to be worrying about if the round is lead or not?

 

[James Jones]

Well , most of the 30-30 factory ammo I've seen has a good bit of exposed lead on the nose , I know that is hotter rounds like the 30-06 this lead melts away pretty quick mostly outside of the barrel due to the heat caused from the bullet having friction with the air and other factors.
with most hunting bullets their is a lead alloy core which is a little harder than pure lead but still softer than the copper jacket. the lead is left exposed to help aid expansion , basicaly if the same lead alloy and copper jacked is used to make three differant bullets , one with a fully procected by copper point one with a small amout of lead exposed and one with say half the bullet exposed the latter bullet will expand faster then the second and lastly the first assuming that the bullets are all the same shape only differance is the amout of exposed lead.
As for switching between the moly and the non coated bullets I realy can't comment as I have never had a reason to do it , with my guns I figure out what they like to eat and thats about all their fed from then on out.
Pardon my having nose trouble but may I ask whay your going the route of the lever action gun and that caliber? not that their is anything wrong with that combo just wondering if their was some particular reason

 

[Mysticplayer]

As a rule, cast bullet shooting is a low pressure, low barrel wear way to shoot. From your 30-30, it will work wonderfully with cast bullets. After all, that is how it was designed.

In case, you have a barrel that is less then match smooth, you may get leading when speeds get close to factory levels. Using a gas check pretty much allows lead bullets to run at jacketed velocites (moderately slow in a 30-30 anyways). Just keep to the heaviest RNFP you feel comfortable shooting.

You must use a lube. The easiest to use and quite effective is the Lee alox liquid lube. Just follow the instructions and leading is basically not an issue.

There is no shortage of cast bullet loads and cast bullet forums to help. Powders like H4895 is ideal. Hodgdon has lots of info and great load info too.

Size the brass as little as possible. I would suggest the Lee collet neck die after fireforming with a normal smokeless load. Just fire some factory ammo and load that brass. A bushing die that will leave a .309 neck would be ideal.

Enjoy shooting cast bullets. Barrel wear is pretty much zip. There is little need to use moly. At these pressures and velocity levels, moly has no benefit. The Alox and other cast bullet lubes are all you need.

Wheel weights make ideal alloy and there are lots of off the shelf equipment from Lee, RCBS, Lyman to do everything you need.

Have fun...

Jerry

 

[KRob]

Should have explained my self better. The lever gun is the rifle, that mainly travels around with me while I am running around on work. I am looking at buying a factory 300 win mag. I don't do as extreme long range work as you guys do. Right know my rifles, I use for throwing food on the table, taking care of pests, and protection.
My other rifle besides an assortment of .22s is a savage accu-trigger .223, which I absolutely adore, I have it zeroed pretty well and am trying to figure out what it likes the best but I don't have a lot of the equipment I need to really do any good testing.
The more I read the more I am becoming aware of trying to watch what I shoot down the barrel of my rifles so they will last longer. Thus all the questions thanks for the advice and knowlege so far; any other suggestions would be appriciated.

 

[James Jones]

Well if your semi handy with some basic hand tools and have access to a bench vise you can change the caliber for your Savage for alot less than the cost of a new gun. as for the caliber choice , unless your shooting at some big critters or a real long way and need heavy bullets then you realy don't need a 300 magnum , a good 308 will shoot out to 700yds easly with several factory ammo's that are on the market and its all the gun you need for deer out to that range. You get all the good suff with out all the fuss
recoil,barrel wear,ammo cost and recoil , oh and the 308 kicks alot less to!
The Savage barrel swap is an easy process that can be done in just a few min.

 

[KRob]

I am going into the military after college i am on a ROTC scolarship. I thought i would go with a 300 win mag becasue i could buy light grain rounds for deer and heavier stuff for elk, but if i ever got stationed up to alaska or some place where the game is a liitle bigger then i wouldn't have to be buying another rifle...but i guess whats the fun in that.
From what i know a 308 doesn't have as much power behind the bullet as say a 30-06 but it is more accurate, is that correct?
Whats the Barrel wear on a 300 win mag?

 

[James Jones]

Your right in that the 308 has less power than the 30-06 and 300Win mag and in most cases it's a little more accurate in factory guns with factory ammo but all three have won 1000yd matchs so the potential is their , if your gonna be doing a fair amout of hunting for bigger game than deer then I'd say the 300mag is a good choice