Bullets for White
 

I got to the range this week with my new White Lightning. The No Excuses bullets went down the barrel quite easy. My experience is with a crush rib sabot and the harvester 260 scorpion which has to be pushed down the barrel of my Vortex UL with some force. I'm afraid the NEs will fall out of the barrel, or at least come off the powder in a hunting situation. I also tried some FPB 350's that needed a little more pressure to load and seemed to group better. All shots were with 80 grains of Pyrodex RS.

I'm embarrassed to post the target, but my question is related to how much loading pressure I should expect with full bore bullets. I know Sabotloader warned me about these bullets in the .504 barrel. Do I switch to sabot, or keep trying?

Btw, really nice rifle - great trigger and the damn thing is so light. If I can find a load for it, I'm looking forward to carrying it in the woods. Also, this was my first time with loose powder; so much easier to clean than pellets.

You probably need to knurl the bullets with a bastard file. That increases the effective width of them and lets them hold better in the barrel.

I know others with whites are using the Lee 500 S&W bullet paper patched like I do. They seem to like them a lot. Ron

The White Rifle system is a slip fit conical system. They are supposed to load easy. I believe if you held the rifle pointed at the ground and shook it enough you could shake it off the load. Why don't you try by loading it, place a piece of pine board down, and then holding the muzzle end down, LIGHTLY tap the muzzle on the board and see if they come off the charge.

Also something I do when hunting. Is every so often I check the load. No matter what kind of bullet I carry. It takes but a few seconds for a lot of piece of mind to take the ramrod and check the load by making sure it is on the charge.

I use 65 grains of Triple Seven 2f powder and that conical and get excellent accuracy. I have gone as high as 80 grains and still got excellent accuracy. But for deer, 65 grains is plenty of power.

When I had doubts about Bullshop being able to supply me with what I needed I wasn't sure what to do. My solution to getting proper conicals was to start casting my own. You can then size them to whatever size you and your rifle like best. I size mine a little larger than many White shooters. Casting your own also gives you the ability to be very selective on what bullets you shoot. If it doesn't meet your standards just throw it back into the melting pot.

A single layer of white teflon tape will tighten the bullet enough to keep it on the charge without affecting accuracy. The barrel should be clean and dry of oil.

This what I do with my White Bison. The teflon tape mimics shooting with a fouled bore which is what Doc White suggest.

The tape can be skipped on the second or subsequent shots as the barrel becomes fouled with powder residue. All shots should end up withe the same POI.

If your not into casting your own, I would see if NoExcuses can cast you some bullets measuring 505 in diameter and purchase yourself a 505 sizing die from Lyman. Bullets should come out measuring around 504.5 which should be perfect for your White.

Is Bullshop back to making bullets or if not, anyone know if and when?

Thanks, Gentlemen.

What I really needed to know was if the ease with which these things went down the barrel was ok. It sounds like that is the case. I looked into casting my own. And while I love the DIY mentality, I'm not sure I need another hobby at this point. Next range session I'll try tapping the load a la Cayuga and the Teflon tape a la smm.

I'll back down on the powder charge, drift my rear sight (which was needed in my range session) and hopefully have a target worth posting for you guys to see.

This really is the best part of shooting a muzzleloader!