Rifling engraved at loading, sounds self explanatory but it was something that didn't occur to me at first reading. What it means is the soft lead cast bullet is cut by the rifling in the barrel. This requires a tight fit, with the bullet contacting the lands and grooves of the barrel with no patch or paper in between. Unfortunately, while researching R.E.A.L bullets no mention was made of use with paper cartridges, I see why. I cast .50 caliber 320 grain R.E.A.L bullets for my New Englander, filled the lube grooves with my own bullet lube, and followed my normal routine for making paper cartridges. The goal was to make loading easier, I didn't achieve that goal, loading was very, very difficult. One of the best things about the black powder community is being able to talk to people that have years of experience. It was suggested to me that, at least for round balls, paper would not be sufficient to provide a tight gas seal. What I discovered, my usual paper cartridge routine using a former and a powder loading block works, for round balls. I use a large cut of coffee filter paper, which allows me to wrap the former 3-4 times. That takes a .006 inch thick piece of filter paper to .024 thickness. With a .495 or .490 diameter round ball the total diameter becomes .519 for the .495 round ball and .514 for the .490 ball. That's overall a larger size than the rifle barrel but the ball and paper engages the rifling and provides a good seal. This was a theory, that I proved today.
Using the same coffee filter paper, powder and felt wad as the round ball, the R.E.A.L bullet has a progressive diameter. From the bottom to the top ring it measures, .502, .507,.512, .517 inches. Using the same math as above, the total paper cartridge would measure .541 inches at the cone. This, of course, was problematic when it came to loading the paper cartridge into the muzzle of my New Englander. At one point, i couldn't get the bullet down the barrel at all. That prompted the range "old timer" to come by and see what I was doing. " How did you get a round ball stuck in the barrel?" He asked me with a slight smile. He knew I was new to this and was trying different things. I explained that I wasn't using round balls thjis time but Lee R.E.A.L bullets and I showed him the paper cartridges you see above. He nodded his head, like he knew exactly what my goal was and left me to beat my range rod with the rubber mallet the range gave to me. Later, the old timer came back and explained to me that those bullets were meant to go down the barrel alone, but if i wanted to use a paper cartridge, i could but without so much paper. For the remainder of my range time, i had to use the mallet, I was able to successfully shoot all 24 paper cartridges, with no duds or throw aways.
These are the two targets from the R.E.A.L bullet range day. On the right, 12 shots 65 grains 3F Swiss. All of the shots hit paper which is more than i can say for the target on the left. As i fired the 65 grain paper cartridges, I realized these bullets make a tight hole and the recoil is not as bad as i expected. I was able to put together a 3 shot group to the left of center, and a 2 shot group towards the bottom. On the left is the 70 grain load, along with 5 shots consisting of .490 roundball and 50 grains of 3F Swiss. So 17 shots but only 14 on paper. The first 3 shot were high, the difference in recoil was like night and day. The 4th shot was on paper but to the far left. I then hit the top of the outer ring. Compensating for the recoil even more, the next 6 shots were too low. The roundball were high at first, but i was able to bring them down with the last shot being in the inner green ring but right of center.
The Lee R.E.A.L bullet was definitely fun to shoot, and a hell of a bullet. I'm going to experiment with the powder loads to get the best shooting load for my eventual hunting trip. I plan to cast .54 caliber Lee bullets for my .54 caliber New Englander as well. As I delve deeper into the conical "section" of percussion firearms, realize the relationship between firearm and projectile is very nuanced. Grain, design, diameter and implementation, all play a vital role in accuracy and ease of shoot. i think in the end this bullet is a great projectile to shoot. My next step is to shoot the conical in a paper cartridge wrapped only 2 times, as well as only bullet and powder in the barrel. This is why i love black powder firearms, there is so much to learn, and even more fun to have!!
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