Shooting a Mono bullet from an older rifle

[Zellhouse]

Anyone have problems fouling up a barrel after after switching to a mono bullet in an older rifle? Recently inherited a Winchester Model 70 in .270 caliber that was manufactured in the mid 1950's. Am interested in building a load up for this rifle & thought I'd make the switch over to a non-leaded bullet. The last thing I want to do is damage the barrel, or do something that would affect accuracy. The rifle is in good shape, primarily shot with factory ammo. It was used, but not shot a lot over the years...

 

[std7mag]

Going to a mono shouldn't hurt the barrel one little bit.

Are you reloading, or shooting factory ammo?

Use a lighter weight for monos, as bullets are long for weight.
If reloading, monos like a jump. Usually start at 0.050" off the lands.

 

[Dougfirtree]

That's a valuable rifle! Monos shouldn't damage the barrel at all. You may find that they foul quicker (or slower) but they'll work fine.

 

[Ben Lamb]

I've got a 1950's M70 in 06 that shoots monos extremely well. Sounds like the rifles are in about the same condition. Go for it.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

One thing to keep in mind is a copper bullet will be longer than a lead bullet at the same weight so twist rates will be different. Probably will need to shoot a slightly lighter bullet.

 

[1_pointer]

I'd have no problem shooting a mono in that rifle. I would take the time to try to clean it to bare metal first through.

 

[Don Fischer]

Seems I remember when TSX first came out there was problems with fouling in barrels. Think I read that it was fixed by putting a couple groves in the bullet. How that stopped it I have no idea but that was the claim. Something about Barnes bullet's, even the old cup and core bullet's had jacket's made of pretty close to pure copper, jacket's were copper tubing. Everybody else's bullet's were made of stuff called gilding metal, no clue what that means. But even gilding metal leaves copper fouling in barrels to some degree and sounded like pure copper even more. I know that you clean all the copper fouling out of a barrel, you have to fire a couple fouling shots to get the gun shooting right again! I think that the mono bullet's will do no more damage to the Mod 70 barrel than any other bullet. What might cause a problem is not cleaning the barrel at all. I recall an article Steve Timm did in Varmint Hunter Magazine years ago. He'd got a rifle from a friend and it didn't shoot real well but still wasn't bad. Well he decided to clean it and seems he spent almost a whole day getting out the copper fouling. After that the rifle shot very well! I would think that fouling caused by mono bullet's would only be a problem if you didn't keep most the fouling out to begin with. I'm guessing that the copper in TSX bullet's may be softer than in gilding metal bullet's and could foul faster. But can't see how that could ruin the barrel. Clean it well after use! Or if you don't like that idea, don't shoot mono bullet's in it, stick to cup and core. Either way now and then the copper fouling will need cleaned out!

 

[Zellhouse]

Anyone have problems fouling up a barrel after after switching to a mono bullet in an older rifle? Recently inherited a Winchester Model 70 in .270 caliber that was manufactured in the mid 1950's. Am interested in building a load up for this rifle & thought I'd make the switch over to a non-leaded bullet. The last thing I want to do is damage the barrel, or do something that would affect accuracy. The rifle is in good shape, primarily shot with factory ammo. It was used, but not shot a lot over the years...

Reloading... have gotten excellent performance from E-Tips

 

[Zellhouse]

Seems I remember when TSX first came out there was problems with fouling in barrels. Think I read that it was fixed by putting a couple groves in the bullet. How that stopped it I have no idea but that was the claim. Something about Barnes bullet's, even the old cup and core bullet's had jacket's made of pretty close to pure copper, jacket's were copper tubing. Everybody else's bullet's were made of stuff called gilding metal, no clue what that means. But even gilding metal leaves copper fouling in barrels to some degree and sounded like pure copper even more. I know that you clean all the copper fouling out of a barrel, you have to fire a couple fouling shots to get the gun shooting right again! I think that the mono bullet's will do no more damage to the Mod 70 barrel than any other bullet. What might cause a problem is not cleaning the barrel at all. I recall an article Steve Timm did in Varmint Hunter Magazine years ago. He'd got a rifle from a friend and it didn't shoot real well but still wasn't bad. Well he decided to clean it and seems he spent almost a whole day getting out the copper fouling. After that the rifle shot very well! I would think that fouling caused by mono bullet's would only be a problem if you didn't keep most the fouling out to begin with. I'm guessing that the copper in TSX bullet's may be softer than in gilding metal bullet's and could foul faster. But can't see how that could ruin the barrel. Clean it well after use! Or if you don't like that idea, don't shoot mono bullet's in it, stick to cup and core. Either way now and then the copper fouling will need cleaned out!

Thanks for the input. Believe I've seen the same data regarding the groves in the first mono's on market. You've helped verify some of my thoughts on the subject.

 

[Zellhouse]

One thing to keep in mind is a copper bullet will be longer than a lead bullet at the same weight so twist rates will be different. Probably will need to shoot a slightly lighter bullet.

thanks for the tip....

 

[Zellhouse]

Going to a mono shouldn't hurt the barrel one little bit.

Are you reloading, or shooting factory ammo?

Use a lighter weight for monos, as bullets are long for weight.
If reloading, monos like a jump. Usually start at 0.050" off the lands.

excellent.... thanks for the tip!

 

[Zellhouse]

Going to a mono shouldn't hurt the barrel one little bit.

Are you reloading, or shooting factory ammo?

Use a lighter weight for monos, as bullets are long for weight.
If reloading, monos like a jump. Usually start at 0.050" off the lands.

Reloading...