[snuffy]

dahermit is exactly correct. So is Lee, as to how that conical bullet is made to work.

Your bullets have some tin and antimony in them or they would load with little or no pressure required to seat them. A soft rap with the short starter, then the slow push with the long starter is all that should be required.

Of course you have to have the REAL smeared pretty well with lube, or you would have a much harder time ramming them.

In my 50 cal. Hawken, or my Ruger 50 MZ they shoot real well. They also load like I said above, but I KNOW my lead is pure, I got it from midway, it's 99.2% certified pure lead. I use it strictly for my smoke poles.

The theory is that the lee REAL has the four driving bands that get progressively larger from the base to the point. Each band is made to progressively engage the rifling a little deeper. This helps center the bullet in the barrel, and helps guide it when fired.

Now, when it's fired, the back of the bullet compresses to obturate or fill the rifling tighter. But to do that, it must be dead soft, pure lead.

If your lead has anything like tin, arsenic or antimony in it, then you water drop them, you're heat treating/hardening them.

If you can find some stick-on wheel weights, those are rumored to be nearly pure lead. Cat and then air cooled they should work well.