I've been thinking about a new mold for my #2 rolling block that was originally .44 rimfire, now converted to centerfire.  The centerfire version is very similar to .44 S&W American, but just a little longer with a case length of .965".  I've been using these three different bullets so far, all outside lube groove heel bullets.  They all work well enough and are in the 208 - 218gr range.  The bullet on the left is a Lyman 427098 that I use the lathe to cut a heel on.  Middle is a Old West .44 S&W American, on the right is a BACO .44 S&WS American.  I'd like a little heavier bullet, maybe up to 250gr. The barrel is .430" groove size with a 1-22 twist.

Browsing the Accurate Molds catalog for ideas, I see a number of heel molds that have a lube groove in the heel, rather than outside.  Here are a couple examples:

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)


(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

I don't know if this is a modern innovation or if this design dates back to the 19th century. Perhaps it was an evolutionary step along the way?  I'm wondering how effective this would be. Assuming a soft alloy, the heel should expand into the grooves. But I have no experience with this design. Has anyone else ?   What do you guys think?

Thanks,
Steve

I once tested a .310 cadet with 120gr heeled bullet and primer only, pretty surprising.  The bullet remained in the barrel, and had a gastight seal, the case popped right out  when opening the breech.  Pushing the bullet out from the muzzle showed that the heel of the bullet had expanded almost completely to groove diameter under primer impulse alone...

MartiniBelgium, what alloy was that? ratseye

Ratseye,

Pretty hard stuff - I believe it was WW with some pure lead added.  I was surprised.

marlinguy wrote on Apr 7^th, 2021 at 9:28am:


Thanks - that's good information. I shoot .32 heel bullets too, Ideal 299153 and Accurate 31-090S, both outside lubed. For smokeless loads I tumble lube with 50/50 Alox/Johnson paste wax. It works fine.  My .44 heel bullets work well with it too. But with 22, maybe 23gr of 3F, I use my BP lube.  There is not a lot of Bang to expand the heel.  I'll probably stick with the outside lube bullets.

ndnchf, John Kort told me the 31-090s was his second attempt at a heel bullet for .32 long in a Marlin levergun. The first had a longer heel with a lube groove and a shorter exposed nose, also with a groove. He did not feel like he got very good results so changed his design to 31-090s which for me has probably been the most accurate bullet on average in the .32's. I know a .32 is not a .46 if it were me and I was going to have a mold made I think I would start by scaling up the 31-090s.
Dennis

I used to lube the heel of my 310 cadet with the RCBS bullet.
They shot well.
I ended up making the heel larger by lathe boring the mold and now just thumb seat the as cast bullet in the cases I made for it and the finger lube the bullet afterwards.

I leaves the case necks cleaner inside than before when I had to wipe them clean.

I don’t have to worry about powder sticking to the bullet base and such.

It shoots about the same as before breach seating but now fixed.
Saves me time lubing the bullets and carting them around safely.
Plenty of lube it seems for the 25 inch barrel with just the little lube groove.
I use a soft lube of 50/50 bees wax ‘vasalene 
Your mileage may vary.

Just an observation.

For smokeless loads I tumble in 50/50 alox/Johnsons paste wax. But for BP, I use SPG or my homebrew lube smeared on. I've also had good luck with the old factory heel bullet lube recounted in a 1943 edition of the American Rifleman.