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Unjacketed Lead Bullets for the 450

PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 11:25 pm
by Jim in Houston
I have found a nearby ranch on which to hunt hogs, but they prohibit jacketed rounds. Has anyone reloaded for the 450 with a lead bullet? There are several made by Hornady and others sold by Midway - http://www.midwayusa.com/Search/#45 cal bullets____-_1-2-4_8-16-32_3_16_Demand desc - which would appear to be compatible with the 450 brass.

Anyone know why the jacketed rounds would not be allowed? I assume the lead has more stopping power than a jacketed round, which might go cleanly through the animal without killing it, but in the case of the Hornady round with its "plastic" nose, is this a valid concern?

Are there any serious downsides to shooting unjacketed bullets in the 450 - fouling the barrel with lead residue, for example? Would this be any more of a problem in the 450 than in any other rifle?

Re: Unjacketed Lead Bullets for the 450

PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 11:33 pm
by Texas Sheepdawg
Hmm. So... If you were shooting Barnes solids with no lead, wouldn't
that be considered a "Jacketless" bullet?

Re: Unjacketed Lead Bullets for the 450

PostPosted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 6:18 am
by pitted bore
Jim in Houston wrote:I have found a nearby ranch on which to hunt hogs, but they prohibit jacketed rounds. Has anyone reloaded for the 450 with a lead bullet?

Jim-
Some of the forum members have worked with lead bullets. Here are links to some of the threads:
Jim in Houston wrote:There are several made by Hornady and others sold by Midway - http://www.midwayusa.com/Search/#45 cal bullets____-_1-2-4_8-16-32_3_16_Demand desc - which would appear to be compatible with the 450 brass.

Your link to a Midway search doesn't work on my browser. Typing in "45 cal bullets" does produce a list of 10 pages, and includes a lot of cast lead .451 and .452 bullets.

Jim in Houston wrote:Anyone know why the jacketed rounds would not be allowed? I assume the lead has more stopping power than a jacketed round, which might go cleanly through the animal without killing it, but in the case of the Hornady round with its "plastic" nose, is this a valid concern?

Is there any chance of some confusion between "full metal jacketed bullets" and "jacketed bullets" between yourself and the ranch people? While all FMJ bullets are jacketed, not all jacketed bullets are FMJs.

I'd work on clarifying what the ranch people think is unacceptable and acceptable. I suspect they're worried about FMJs coming out of the typical 5.56/223 AR rifle. Did you ask whether "soft lead pointed bullets" are OK?

As an aside: I'm pretty sure that your assumption that "lead has more stopping power than a jacketed round" is incorrect as a generalization. Comparisons between various lead bullets, jacketed expanding bullets, and FMJs will lead to a pretty thick book of conflicting opinions. Lead bullets come in different weights, alloys, and shapes; jacketed expanding bullets come in dozens of different weights and configurations; FMJs come in different weights, and shapes. There's a wide range of effectiveness among the different types.

Jim in Houston wrote:Are there any serious downsides to shooting unjacketed bullets in the 450 - fouling the barrel with lead residue, for example? Would this be any more of a problem in the 450 than in any other rifle?

Check the links listed above, to see whether they answer your questions about lead bullets in the 450B.

Let us know how things work out.

--Bob