I have a big box of non gas-checked .459 350gr lead bullets from Oregon Trail. They shoot fine in my 458 lott No.1, as long as the velocity is less than 1600 fps. After that, they won't even hit paper at 50yds.

I should have gotten the gas checked ones. Question- can paper patches be a good substitute for gas checks?

the paper is .006-.008" thick and you will need two laps. That would make the wrapped diameter about right for a 470NE.

Rich
DRSS

Yes you can paper patch modern lead bullets, but they will grow in diameter. If you have the right size and type of sizing die, you can squeeze them back to an acceptable diameter.

That will help with your problem, but a good card wad and maybe a grease cookie are probably better bets.

Brent

Paul Matthew's book "The Paper Jacket" is a great resource for patch info. IIRC, his prefered formula is a smooth sided bullet as soft as possible to upset and fill the barrel, at a starting diameter that's the same as land diameter, and a paper that when dried, shrunk, and fitted, amounts to not much over groove diameter.

In my experience, he's spot on.

You can patch a grooved bullet but just wrapping it in paper doesn't always perform that well. I've had difficulties with sizing bullets not meant for patching, both before and after patching, my guess being that they were too hard and ended up stripping.

You'll know it when a patch fails, the barrel will be painted with lead near the muzzle and I've even had them go buzzing off into the ether. (One even buzzed right into my chronograph one time! )

PP bullets are a lot of fun though, especially when you can do things like throw 670 grains of pure lead at 1800fps out of a Lott!

I'd try Brent's suggestion for your bullets first.

Good Luck!

PWS

The card wad and grease cookie sound like good suggestions. I'm going to try it out, and I will report my results. Thanks guys.

If you've got a .458 you will need a .452 bullet then patch it out to .459. You can't patch a .459 and shoot it in a .458. Big bang ,lottsa pain!-Rob

The correct wax card wad on the base of the bullet will allow you to get 1900fps. After that you need hardened bullets (dropped into water when cast) Special lube etc.