Grooved Bullets

[Castaway]

I've done it in the past, but how many of you patch a grooved bullet?  Are you sizing beforehand, or using a bullet of smaller diameter?

[wgr]

i use alot of long colt bullets sized to 452 nice to shoot and hard on deer at 100 yards

[Japlmg]

Yes, you can paper patch grease grooved bullets.
But bullets with out lube in the grooves patch better.
Gregg

[Lead pot]

If you patch a GG bullet that is already groove diameter then expand the case enough to seat that bullet You will now have a case that is to wide in diameter to seat that round into the chamber.
None of my rifle chambers anyway.
Take a bullet that is cast at groove diameter .458 now wrap two turns of .0017 the thinnest onion skin paper I can find, or .002+ paper on it you will have a bullet diameter of .464+ to .466+. The chamber in my .45-90 will not except a case that has a .460 diameter bullet in it.
And if you have a chamber that is very liberal in size and you bell that case out enough to seat that bullet, it would have to be seated very deep in the case that just the radius of the ogive touches the lands and the patch would be a mess when you fire it.
But to answer the question can you patch a grease groove bullet the answer is yes if you for instance use a .428 GG bullet for a .44 mag or a .444 marlin and patch it to .437 it would work very good in a .44-77 Sharps or .44-100 Remington.
The Sharps rifle co. used to make a PP mould that had several very shallow grooves, I have a copy of one and it shoots very good.
I have patched GG bullets that are .446 for my .44-90 SBN Sharps and patched them .454 and shot them in the .45-70.

Kurt

[Castaway]

The question wasn't can you do it.  I've done it myself.  I was wondering how many of you have patched grooved bullets and whether you started out with undersized bullets or did you size a correct for caliber bullet down and then patch.

[Chris Potts]

I have a mold that Veral Smith cut for me.  It drops the bullet undersize and then I patch it up to the desired size.  I have been busy so I haven't been able to work with it as much as I would like.  But it shows great deal of potential so far.

Chris

[Lead pot]

The question wasn't can you do it.  I've done it myself.  I was wondering how many of you have patched grooved bullets and whether you started out with undersized bullets or did you size a correct for caliber bullet down and then patch.

Castaway.
If you are responding to my post I will say again.
Yes I have tried to patch a GG bullet that was groove diameter and patched it, it would not chamber, so no I dont use a GG bullet cast at groove diameter.
Yes I have taken a .446 diameter GG bullet made for a .44 and patched it and it will work just fine. Than I do use a GG bullet that is under size.
So I do patch a GG bullet and use it as is and it works just fine also.
Kinda Confusing aint it.

LP

[Japlmg]

You did not state exactly what cartridge/rifle you were talking about.
If you are asking about a trapdoor 45-70, then paper patching up a .457 diameter cast bullet might work, and on the other hand it might end up too large to chamber in your rifle.
Paper patching normally adds .006 to .008 to the diameter of the bullet.
One Model 1873 Trapdoor I have loves .457's patched up to .464, but the 1888 will not chamber the cartridge, as it has a tighter throat than the 1873.
You can run soft lead cast .457's through a .451 or a .452 diameter sizer, and they will paper patch and normally work ok in a tighter throated 45-70.
Still to answer your question, you will have to tell us what cartridge and rifle combo you are talking about.
Gregg

[Castaway]

The question is one of generality; a 270 to a 7mm, a .308 to 0.312, a 45 Spanish to a 0.452, or starting with a 0.458 bullet, sizing down to 0.452 and patching back up.