Bullet falling out of barrel in cold conditions

[Mathews Diehard]

I've been thinking about getting away from sabots and switching to a bullet to bore load with my muzzleloader. My brother attempted this a few years ago using Thor bullets, and all seemed to be well until the mercury dropped below 20°. It seems once cold enough the bullet was contracting more than the barrel and his loads would literally slide out the muzzle. Is this an issue anyone else has run into? Is it not an issue using say Pittman or parker bullets? Would a wad hold the bullet in? Thanks for any input

 

[26Reload]

Well obviously a wad(sabot) would hold the bullet in place better....but if that bullet falls out of the barrel at 20 degrees..its barely touching at any temperature....
Does he resize the bullets before using them....did he get an accurate measurement of his bore size to bullet diameter.....
I myself shoot paperpatched lead bullets..make my own..and resize bullets to be wrapped before use...

Seems your brother may have to start knurling his bullets to make them just a touch wider to remain in the barrel....videos on it.....

 

[Mathews Diehard]

Maybe it was less than 20°, I know for sure they were falling out around zero but thought he had issues before it even got that cold.

He had a sizing kit from Thor and picked the one that fit the best. He did try knurling some after the first issue, but still happened.

 

[26Reload]

Mathews Diehard......bowhunter..
If he size matched he obviously went to the easier one...
Was he able to get optimum fps for his load....
Loose bullets tend to allow blow-by...losing power...did he measure the actual bore diameter or the lands..before deciding on final bullet size......
Only sabot bullets I shoot thru my 50ultralite knight are 45 cal....even then you want to have a 'snug fitting' sabot....too stiff and troubles loading..too lite and bullet will slide out.....you do want the sabot to grab the grooves like a c.f. rifle..not a smooth barrel like shotgun....
Otherwise your lobbing a chunk of a projectile that is failing to fly like a bullet.....
I woukd really doubt a correctly sized bullet will shrink so much to fall out of a barrel...
My paperpatched bullets are resized to drop thru my barrel....then I wrap them with 'onion paper's to regain the correct diameter.....first shot no biggie..but second shot I tend to have to tear a little paper off to get thru the 'crud ring'.....but 2nd and 3rd shoot right where they should....

 

[Mathews Diehard]

Yes, bowhunter. I guess that means I know zero about rifles

Thank you for your input, but I'm not interested in shooting a paperpatched bullet and I already shoot sabots. What I was referring to was a wool or veggie wad.

Maybe there is more to the story than my brother insisted, maybe he didn't choose the correct bullet size, but I thought I would see if anyone else had ever heard of it occurring before I came to that conclusion.

 

[26Reload]

Not trying to talk you into using pp..
Example....i reduce lead bullet diameter then build up with pp..fir a very snug fit.....enough so the pp sets into the lands while being pushed into the barrel....a clean barrel...
Wool and veggie wads separate the powder from the bullet...they don't hold a bullet inside...
Good luck

 

[ENCORE]

A wool or veggie wad won't help and only create a seal and do not hold the bullet. Wads do not work with hollow base bullets such as a Thor.
If the bullets are falling from the barrel, bottom line is, they're sized wrong.

 

[Mathews Diehard]

Ok thank you both, I actually wasn't planning on the thors for myself, was thinking I'd start with the Pittman and a bullet sizing die. Just didn't want to get too far into it and start having issues when it got cold in late season. Sounds like you both agree my brother started with the wrong size to begin with.

 

[ENCORE]

Note that the Pittman bullets will have some spring back.

 

[26Reload]

You can learn a lot on
Modern Muzzleloader...
I did....
Encore is there too.....

 

[just_jon]

I tend to think he may have ordered the wrong bullet for his barrel. Thor sells sizing packs with four bullets (.500", .501", 502"and .503" for $4. Check out the video to determine what how to select the appropriate size.



I have talked with guys who bought the .500 of the shelf and had accuracy issues because it was not engaging the rifling. I quick check would be to seat and then pull one of the bullets. If it is not engraved by the rifling, he needs a larger size. I have hunted with .502 Thors in much colder weather and never had an issue.

 

[rsbhunter]

I shoot Thor's out of my CVA Accura from the start.....it is possible to use the smallest bullet thinking that loading them is easy...but you want a bullet diameter that still takes a "fair" amount of force on the ramrod to load....these aren't like the bore fill Bullets that have a plastic skirt, or collar that forces the base of the bullet base to expand to seal the bullet in bore. Thor's require the forces of powder expansion to expand the copper base to expand and seal the bore.....have him buy another trial pack and go up .001 in size, it "should" fix his problem.rsbhunter

 

[Ninering62]

You can learn a lot on
Modern Muzzleloader...
I did....
Encore is there too.....

Me to.

 

[Ninering62]

I shoot Thor's out of my CVA Accura from the start.....it is possible to use the smallest bullet thinking that loading them is easy...but you want a bullet diameter that still takes a "fair" amount of force on the ramrod to load....these aren't like the bore fill Bullets that have a plastic skirt, or collar that forces the base of the bullet base to expand to seal the bullet in bore. Thor's require the forces of powder expansion to expand the copper base to expand and seal the bore.....have him buy another trial pack and go up .001 in size, it "should" fix his problem.rsbhunter

I love my Accura V2 .45. If I still shot a .50 1:28 Thor bullets would be one I'd heavily look into using. I started out shooting Fury STB .453 bullets out of it. I moved from central east coast to north Fl a few yrs ago, the temps swing consistently wildly along with humidity levels. I at the time of getting the Accura I was new to shooting sized bullets & got quite the surprise & education when bullets that fit as they should down the bore @ 55* in the morning, but will fall down and - right out after a few groups are shot in rapid reloading succession, which BH 209 afford one to do. Or just when the ambient temps rise from mid 50's to upper 80's & mid to high 90's too. Learning to adjust their size to balance that out & still load & shoot accurately, was abit & still is abit tricky. I shoot strictly sized bore rider bullets in my Paramount, but I switched to exclusively .40/.45 bullet/sabots in my Accura last yr before hunting season started. I only use 220gr Dead Center .40 bullets & they only shoot well in Harvester light blue crush rib sabots. Under MOA from 50-200yds