Sharps 45-90

[Cottonwood]

Heres the question:  I have plenty of lead bullets to load with, and most of the time I load with BP.  But I have a bunch of the hardcast lead bullets that are lubed for only smokeless powder.

I find good data for just lead bullets, and not a bullet such as the 405-gr JSP, that I think would make a better hunting bullet because of its soft center and expansion for shock value of putting game down.

The powder that I purchased again is XMP 5744.

The load data for XMP 5744 for the (L) 405-gr  calls for 31.5 to 35.0 gr.  If I use the 405-gr JSP would FPS change, case presure as well?

[John Traveler]

The answer is a simple YES, your load pressure curve, muzzle velocity, and accuracy will all be affected by changing to a jacketed bullet of the same/similar weight as the cast lead bullet.

You will find this to be true for almost ALL loads, wether they be handgun, small bore rifle, or large caliber rifle.  The neck tension, hardness, bore friction, lubrication, etc are very different for jacketed vs cast lead bullets.

Generally, it is not dangerous to directly substitute one bullet for another, as long as the weights are the same.

I would use the bottom end powder charges as a starting point when cooking up new accuracy loads using jacketed slugs.

HTH
John

[Cottonwood]

I decided to just use the cast 405-gr FP bullets that I have on hand.  I've got the data for them and there is no second guessing and most of all is the safest way to go  :lol: