While I do not have as much experience with no-lube cart bullet shooting as Norm Johnson I have had some success with this type of shooting.
Following some of Norm's advice on Charles Hamilton's CB-L at Yahoo groups, my father and I tried some no-lube cast bullets. Our test rifles were Winchester Model 94AE's in 357 Magnum.
Shooting “normal” SWC and round nose bullets with no lubrication in these rifles resulted in lead from throat to muzzle. We could not come up with the correct diameter and seating depth. Norm was very patient in his explanation of how to shoot no-lube bullets and after leading us “by-the-hand”, we finally achieved success using ONE bullet.
Our success was with the NEI No. 161A 190-grain bullet. We cast this bullet rather soft - 12 to 14 BHN as measured by a Lee hardness tester and seated the bullet as cast in 357 magnum cases.
Our best loads in the Winchester trapper were:
13.0 grains of Hodgdon Group for 1669 fps.
13.0 grains of Hodgdon Universal for 1,571 fps.
15.0 grains of IMR 4227 we did not chronograph this load.
These three loads, tested in two Winchester rifles gave us accuracy equal to that of lubricated cast bullets at 50- and 75-yards with three shot groups averaging less than 2 ½ inches as measured on the RCBS Load program Target Tool. We were using a Williams receiver sight and the issue post front sight. The light was at our back and the target was clearly illuminated. While not bolt-action quality, we considered this good shooting for these rifles with cast bullets.
The important issue is the happy circumstance of ideal bullet fit in the throat. The weight forward design on the NEI bullet is similar to, but not as ideal as the true LBT style bullet. For our rifles, there was enough bullet to fill the throat with the bullet seated to the crimp groove and a heavy roll crimp applied by the Lyman seat die.
We have a quantity of 180-grain LBT bullets with a wider nose and slightly greater length of bullet out of the case. We believe this bullet may shoot better than the NEI but have not tested the theory in no-lube shooting.
I wish we could have found a Marlin 1894 in 357 Magnum to test side by side with the Winchesters but we could not.
I believe no-lube cast bullets are - for most of us, a stunt, and while I cannot contribute a great deal in the discussion of no-lube shooting, I believe I can say the NEI 190-grain bullet in the 357 Magnum Winchester Trapper is a good place to start. I also believe Norm Johnson has as much experience as anyone shooting no-lube bullets.
The link is to a picture of the 180-grain LBT and the 190-gr NEI bullets.
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd384/selsnslim/a-2.jpg>http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd384/selsnslim/a-2.jpg