I was browsing through a few sites the other night and I came across an article that talked about using a filler media to make full loads when making lighter loads, such as with cast bullets. I found the article very interesting and I did go ahead and buy some of this filler media and intend to use it in some 454 Casull loads with Lazer Cast bullets. These bullets shoot very good out of my Encore, but man do they lead up the barrel, fast! I can't get much over 1100 fps or the lead just starts "creosoting" the barrel.

I was wondering if any of the other posters here had seen this product or used it. I will give the link to the article and to the product. The media that is discussed is Precision Spherical Buffer (PSB). It is sold, exclusively I suppose, by Precicion Reloading, Inc. It was originally designed to be used with shotgun shells and Bismuth shot. Somehow they found that it can be loaded directly as a buffer between powder and bullet in other cartridges, especially pistol rounds.

Check out the info and I would appreciate any comments or experiences you may have had with this product. I hope to load some rounds this weekend, and would like to know if you have any suggestions.

Thanks, In advance.

Article Link
http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/castfiller/index.asp

Buffer Link
http://www.precisionreloading.com/buffer.htm

I use Cream of Wheat in my Contenders when it comes to straight-wall cases if I use Unique.

What I hear is that Trail Boss will solve this problem. I was going to get some at the last gunshow, but the relaoding supply dealers sold out of this stuff in short order...before I even got in.

Leading occurs due to a few reasons....first is the actual Brinell hardness of the material...softer the material, the easier it is to lead up your barrel. second is that your bore has some copper fouling...lead will stick to copper easier than it will to steel....third is the velocity your pushing your bullets to....slow it down and your leading will decrease...lastly is your powder selection...powders like unique will burn "hotter" causing gas jetting around the base of the bullet...and thus causing leading...and almost forgot...you have to make sure that the lead slugs are "sized" to your bore...say you have a 453 dia bore, using 451 dia lead slugs will cause leading in a heartbeat...

Now..the stuff your talking about is similar to Grex...somthing Winchester and IIRC other shotshell manuf. used in their shotgun loads...some have actually made the case that this stuff "scours" the barrel when you fire acting like plastic bead blasting media...I have no experience with this...however I DO know that any kind of buffer, whether it be Grex, PSB or CoW it will keep the majority of the heat, and thus gas-jetting, away from the base of the bullet...but you will still have some of the other issues to deal with. Lazercast bullets, when I used them in my Model 94 30 WCF...they leaded up the barrel rather badly...I turned them over to a bullet caster and he proceeded to melt them down and mix with Linotype and other materials to make a good alloy...I am getting ready to try that alloy in some bullets he cast for 38/357 pistol...

Hope this helps alittle, Bigbore.

D

I was browsing through a few sites the other night and I came across an article that talked about using a filler media to make full loads when making lighter loads, such as with cast bullets. I found the article very interesting and I did go ahead and buy some of this filler media and intend to use it in some 454 Casull loads with Lazer Cast bullets. These bullets shoot very good out of my Encore, but man do they lead up the barrel, fast! I can't get much over 1100 fps or the lead just starts "creosoting" the barrel.

I was wondering if any of the other posters here had seen this product or used it. I will give the link to the article and to the product. The media that is discussed is Precision Spherical Buffer (PSB). It is sold, exclusively I suppose, by Precicion Reloading, Inc. It was originally designed to be used with shotgun shells and Bismuth shot. Somehow they found that it can be loaded directly as a buffer between powder and bullet in other cartridges, especially pistol rounds.

Check out the info and I would appreciate any comments or experiences you may have had with this product. I hope to load some rounds this weekend, and would like to know if you have any suggestions.

Thanks, In advance.

Article Link
http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/castfiller/index.asp

Buffer Link
http://www.precisionreloading.com/buffer.htm
Hello,
Buffer cannot cause leading in the barrel except if it raises the velocity just enough to the point where it causes leading.
I started using Cream of wheat as a filler around 1950,and used many other cereals,as well;even found a use for grits.
Today,you can get PufFlon,a fine powder designed just for filling cartridge cases.It works better then any 'powdery' filler that I ever tried,but is expensive.
I still use Dacron for all my developement and practice and target rounds.I only use the PufFlon for hunting rounds.
Frank

Cookiemonster pretty well spells out the probable causes of leading, but I'd add one more.

A rough bore will strip lead like peeling a banana!

Get a fire lapping kit and smooth that bore down to a mirror shine. Then, watch the brinell hardness of the slugs, the lube that is used (some just doesn't stand up very well) and take care not to push the slugs too fast. Gas checks will be of great help, also. If using a rounded base, gas can cut around the base and assist with the leading problem.

Thanks for the comments. I just couldn't wait until this weekend to try out the PSB. I loaded 10 rounds for the 454 Casull with the PSB buffer added to take up the slack room in the casing. The load is as follows:

19.7 gr LiL' Gun
7 gr PSB Filler
CCI 400 primer
250 gr Lazer Cast Lead bullet
OAL = 1.715, crimped with Lee Factory Crimp
454 Casull, 12" , T/C Encore

Results:
AWESOME!! The PSB Filler material made a huge difference in accuracy and velocity. The loads without the PSB must have been affected by pressure blowing past the bullet in the barrel. I received NO barrel fouling from any of the 10 rounds, except a few grains of powder, which you will get with just about any load.

I shot 10 rounds of the same loading, minus the 7 gr of PSB Filler. Results were as expected and now my barrel is leaded up again. Now I know the cause of my leading problem in the barrel. All future loads with lead will be made with PSB Buffer.

My velocity average for 5 shot without buffer = 1205 fps.
Extreme Spread for these 5 shots = 162 fps.

My velocity average for 5 shot with buffer = 1383 fps.
Extreme spread for these 5 shots = 20 fps.

My 5 shot group with the buffer was about 1" at 25 yds. Kinda hard to be sure, cause it was one big ragged hole and I forgot my calipers. The 5 shot group without the buffer was about 2.5" at 25 yds. I have never really thought that "freeboard" really made such a difference. But, my range tests today have made me a believer! I think I may really like shooting cast bullets now. I bought the lazer cast bullets because they advertise that they can be loaded "close" to jacketed bullet pressure. I couldn't get anywhere close to even minimum loadings for the Casull book, and I was about half way on the .45 Colt pressures.

Give this stuff a try. It ain't that expensive and a little goes a long way!

Thanks for the comments. I just couldn't wait until this weekend to try out the PSB. I loaded 10 rounds for the 454 Casull with the PSB buffer added to take up the slack room in the casing. The load is as follows:

19.7 gr LiL' Gun
7 gr PSB Filler
CCI 400 primer
250 gr Lazer Cast Lead bullet
OAL = 1.715, crimped with Lee Factory Crimp
454 Casull, 12" , T/C Encore

Results:
AWESOME!! The PSB Filler material made a huge difference in accuracy and velocity. The loads without the PSB must have been affected by pressure blowing past the bullet in the barrel. I received NO barrel fouling from any of the 10 rounds, except a few grains of powder, which you will get with just about any load.

I shot 10 rounds of the same loading, minus the 7 gr of PSB Filler. Results were as expected and now my barrel is leaded up again. Now I know the cause of my leading problem in the barrel. All future loads with lead will be made with PSB Buffer.

My velocity average for 5 shot without buffer = 1205 fps.
Extreme Spread for these 5 shots = 162 fps.

My velocity average for 5 shot with buffer = 1383 fps.
Extreme spread for these 5 shots = 20 fps.

My 5 shot group with the buffer was about 1" at 25 yds. Kinda hard to be sure, cause it was one big ragged hole and I forgot my calipers. The 5 shot group without the buffer was about 2.5" at 25 yds. I have never really thought that "freeboard" really made such a difference. But, my range tests today have made me a believer! I think I may really like shooting cast bullets now. I bought the lazer cast bullets because they advertise that they can be loaded "close" to jacketed bullet pressure. I couldn't get anywhere close to even minimum loadings for the Casull book, and I was about half way on the .45 Colt pressures.

Give this stuff a try. It ain't that expensive and a little goes a long way!
VA Bigbore
I liked what I read in the articles you attached and I like what you have shared concerning your results. I just ordered some of the PSB myself to give a try with my lead bullets. Thanks for sharing the information with us.
Cary

VA Bigbore
I liked what I read in the articles you attached and I like what you have shared concerning your results. I just ordered some of the PSB myself to give a try with my lead bullets. Thanks for sharing the information with us.
Cary

I'm glad you found the information useful, that was my intent. I hope you are as happy with your results as I am. What really excites me is that the PSB does exactly what the article said it would do; It coated the barrel and kept the lead off the rifling. It did appear that there was a coating on the inside of the barrel. The first round I fired from the loads with no PSB removed the coating. The second round left very faint evidence of lead streaks, and it went downhill from there. Best of Luck to you. Let me know how it works for you.

VA Bigbore
I liked what I read in the articles you attached and I like what you have shared concerning your results. I just ordered some of the PSB myself to give a try with my lead bullets. Thanks for sharing the information with us.
Cary

CTURPIN,
I was wondering if you had tried the PSB? I would like to know the results you had with it.

CTURPIN,
I was wondering if you had tried the PSB? I would like to know the results you had with it.
I loaded up 20 rounds and was able to get out last Friday and try them out. I am using it in my 30-30 Win load for the 170 Gr. Lee RNF bullet I shoot in my Marlin 336C. The bullet is also gas checked. I found the pressure was higher with this load as my point of impact was alot higher than it was when shooting the same load without the PSP. From what I could tell from the cases and the spent primer condition I don't think it was too much pressure. The accuracy was about the same between the loads with and the loads without the PSP. I plan on reducing my powder charge some and increasing the PSP. Correct me if I am wrong but shouldn't this bring the pressure down? As far as leading goes I wasn't having a problem with leading before I started using the PSP. My goal is to see if I can improve on my accuracy by using the PSP. This is an interesting project for me. Thanks for your help.

If the 'creosoting' is black gunk it could be from using a reduced powder load with a powder tha should not be reduced. (I got that from reduced loads with W296.) Most cast bullets that are not specifically hardened for hi power loads will cause excessive leading at 1100 fps, regardless if filler is used. If your loads are intended for plinking or practice in your 454C. you could skip the use of a filler entirely by using 45 Colt loads.

Correct me if I am wrong but shouldn't this bring the pressure down? As far as leading goes I wasn't having a problem with leading before I started using the PSP. My goal is to see if I can improve on my accuracy by using the PSP. This is an interesting project for me. Thanks for your help.

I am probably not the most knowledged on this, so others are welcome to jump in here. I am sure that pressures may be lowered some, but velocity would be affected more quickly. By increasing the amount of PSB, you will be adding more weight to push down the barrel, so pressures may not be reduced as much as you think. Velocities will be reduced because of the reduction of energy source.

My main problem originally was the leading factor. That is why I found this product so useful. I don't have the leading problem anymore. My next box of lead cast will be sized .454 and may do away with my leading problem anyway. The bullets I currently have are .452 and I was having a gas bypass problem which was causing the leading. Hope you find it works out as well for you.

BTW, I thought it was a no-no to shoot lead out of micro-grooved barrels? Marlins are micro-grooved barrels are they not?

If the 'creosoting' is black gunk it could be from using a reduced powder load with a powder tha should not be reduced. (I got that from reduced loads with W296.) Most cast bullets that are not specifically hardened for hi power loads will cause excessive leading at 1100 fps, regardless if filler is used. If your loads are intended for plinking or practice in your 454C. you could skip the use of a filler entirely by using 45 Colt loads.

Cossack,
Thanks for the thought. My description of "creosoting" may not have been the correct term. I was using a metaphor. What I should have said was that the lead bullets were causing a constant coating of lead in the barrel. It was not from the powder, it was lead. But thanks for the help.

Since using the PSB, I have had no leading problems and I am now up to around 1400 fps. Originally I was getting leading in the barrel at around 1100 fps. Originally I was planning on just plinking with these loads, but since I have found I can "speed" things up and have good accuracy, I am planning on trying them out on some deer this year. I did download to 45LC, but it didn't give me what I wanted. I can get the velocities/recoil I am looking for with lead cast by using the PSB.