Beteen the light through the North window and the cloudy day, the color was way off. The bullets are actually just gray lead, the 22 LR actually has a gold colored bullet.
The base is not rebated on either. They both measure .456 out of the molds with pure lead. When I load them up, the middle one seems to have a just slightly rounded corner at the base. It fits sort of like a press fit, like a primer going into a centerfire cartridge base, but with a bit less effort. The one of the right has an even more pronounced rounded corner, both at the base and around the top ring, so it starts even easier. I think you can see the shadow around the base and the rounded corner around the top ring in the picture. I have the load written down somewhere and will have to find it. I grease the bullets with my fingers using a mixture of cheese wax and shortening. (The red wax that covers Gouda and Edam cheese)
It seems with a round ball, there is more room in the chamber for powder, more felt recoil, which I take to mean more pressure, velocity and at least for the short run, higher energy.
I have loaded both in 45-70 cartridges with full loads of black powder behind them. The one on the right punches very clean holes even at 100 yds. Beyond that the bullets start to pitch and yawl too much.
I think the one on the right, without the high protruding cone would make a great wad cutter for the ROA and still leave as much room as a round ball for powder in the chamber.
