First Cast Bullets

[BlueNorther]

Finally after weeks of researching and gathering equipment and supplies, I cast my first bullets today. These are 405gr bullets for my 45/70. I used a Lyman 457193 mold. With the alloy I used they dropped at .458/.459. I've got to work on my timing but I made 25 usable bullets in less than 10 minutes. This is going to be fun, wished I'd got into this years ago.

[Gonehuntin']

I know what you mean. I just got my first used casting setup, did my first batch on my own the other day. It's a good feeling! A lot to know, but it seems like a great way to spend some time. Your results look pretty good.I've got that same mould. I'm still waiting for my order of lube to come in, so I can load my finished products up and test them out.I found a place that sells different types of lubes for around $2-$2.50 per stick online, and they're Canadian. Come on Canada Post!Bring that package.

[Huntsman]

Nice! I started loading for my 45-70 too, $50 bucks for a 20 rounds..no thanks!
I'm loading a 405gr Lee hollow base boolit. Tomorrow I',m trying them out.
I've been casting for the last four years now..started with shotgun slugs then moved to round balls and conicals for my bp guns. For the 45-70 what r u using for powder? IMR 3031 4 me.
I'd like to start casting for my 30-30 as well.

[Dean2]

Nice looking job of casing those. Do you guys have any idea what it costs you to cast bullets. Curious because I can buy 500 commercial cast and lubed for the 45-70 for about $60 or 12 cents a bullet. Way cheaper than buying jacketed, but was curious what doing them at home worked out to. Also, do any of you know of guys casting in the Calgary area for resale and any idea of price. Want to see if it is worth inhaling those nice lead fumes my self. Thanks

[Richard B.]

Those are nice looking bullets and 25 good ones in an hour is pretty good. Bigger bullets are more difficult to cast than smallet boolets

If Huntin is refering to Dragon Lube I just got a shipment last week and have just tried their liquid tumble lube. It looks like very good stuff.

I am glad to see that others are casting bullets. I cast for .30 cal, .32 WS, .32-20 and .35 Rem.

[junkdude]

I just started casting a few weeks ago for the 45-70. I used the Lee 450gr double cavity mold. From the looks of it I think the bullets are better from the Lyman mold, the lube groves look deeper than what comes out of the lee mold, I'll have to measure the depth. Then the bullets went through the lee sizing die, which works pretty good after polishing the inside with jewelers rouge.

I mixed up my own lube and it seems to work good also. No leading problems so far, but then only plinking with cowboy loads, lots of fun just like a gigantic .22

Does anybody know of a source anywhere for gas checks?

[Huntsman]

P&D has some, I bought some beginning of May from there.
Dean2, for cost wise...no idea? I use wheel weights (free) and usually smelt them with other leads (range scrounge). I have no hardener tester but when I "mike" them they measure .457. I then pan lube with Liquid Alox.
If my results from this morning are decent, I'll post em up

Huntsman

[foothillsman]

I've been casting for 20 years and must say that it gives you flexability to do things that are not normally done with jacketed bullets. Reduced loads can be made to whatever power level you so desire. Toxic to work with is the only draw back. Check out the Cast Bullet Assn. Exellent place for info.


http://www.castbulletassoc.org/

[switchsl]

I cast alot of stuff at one time, watch out for those fumes. To wheel weight users and scrounged lead (or anybody) I did this alot for my BP roundball and me and dad for the 45 70, works well. Some of that stuff they say is hard on the bore, but I wont confirm or deny that. Be very leary of moisture and contaminants on the scrounged stuff, as the first time you have a pot of lead go boom it may be your last. I have a lyman 292gr (457191cw)cheap if anybodys interested.

[Gonehuntin']

Originally Posted by junkdude

I just started casting a few weeks ago for the 45-70. I used the Lee 450gr double cavity mold. From the looks of it I think the bullets are better from the Lyman mold, the lube groves look deeper than what comes out of the lee mold, I'll have to measure the depth. Then the bullets went through the lee sizing die, which works pretty good after polishing the inside with jewelers rouge.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't most Lee moulds (bullets) designed to be used with liquid Alox and tumble lubing? I think this is why you see the difference in grease groove depths. I' m using a .312 160 gr, Lee, and the rings are small and shallow.
Does anybody know of a source anywhere for gas checks?

I've heard from a long time casting buddy that Buffalo Arms out of Montana is a really well priced, great selection, good business to deal with.They've got Gas checks. I checked out their site- tons of stuff, good prices. Supposedly fast shipping too. I think they'll get my business.

[junkdude]

Originally Posted by Gonehuntin'

I've heard from a long time casting buddy that Buffalo Arms out of Montana is a really well priced, great selection, good business to deal with.They've got Gas checks. I checked out their site- tons of stuff, good prices. Supposedly fast shipping too. I think they'll get my business.

Thanks for the info on bufallo arms, looks like they have lots gas checks, question is if they will ship to Canada as not sure if gas checks are classified by the US BATF as ammunition.

The lee bullets do use the ALOX liquid lube. They bullets are coated with the lube (a old peanut butter container works good) before they are forced through the sizing die. IMHO, the tumble lube does not fill the grooves very well and it seems that it really only prevents leading of the sizing die. After sizing I set them in a baking dish and pour in the liquid lube (wax, vasaline, stp oil treament, 4lbs of lube cost about $4) to solidify and fill the grooves properly. I don't know if this makes any difference or not, but this seems to be a common method described on many sites... it's very inexpensive so I went with it.

[Huntsman]

When I cast in my garage I have a fan blowing with main door & side door opened..lottsa ventilation. For the scrounged lead, its been quite dry,,and dirty but thats easy to skim off.
I tried my loads today, 40.7grs IMR 3031, .457 cast 405gr HB.
At 25 & 50 yds they shot average. Way too windy (25+km/hr) today for any 100yd groupings. Still working on a load. BTW I'm shooting a Marlin 1895 with Micro Groove barrel.
I'll give my shoulder a rest for now.
As for casting in general It certainly pays off especially when 50 bullets cost close to $50 not including gas $$.
Anyone have any 300-350gr cast boolits they've tried?

[Dean2]

If you want to try some accurate plinking loads that are cheap to shoot with cast bullets, and way easier on you shoulder try some with Trail Boss powder. There are loads at this site under the trap door rifle section.

http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp


Also, 4895 can be loaded at 70% of the starting load with no problems. That is also on the Hogdon site under the youth load section. Lyman publishes a great book on shooting cast bullets and it has a whole raft of good loading info plus cast bullet info. Makes entertaining reading for anyone interested in guns.

With your Micr-goove barrel you may want to try cast swaged at .460. Modern 45-70s use a .458 jacketed bullet, and a cast bullet a couple thou oversize will engage the rifling better. Most of the cowboy shooting guns are now being made by Marlin with the Ballard rifling to shoot cast because it is cut quite a bit deeper and imprints on the lead bullets very well, but your micro-groove will work too, mine shoots cast just fine. Best of luck.

[Gonehuntin']

Another good load I use in my Marlin 1895 Cowboy is one of those .458 cast boolits (plain base), large rifle primer, IMR SR4759 (I use 20.0 gr.) covered by a florist's foam 1/8" overpowder wad. A great longe range accuracy load (My .45-70 is set up for BPCR longe range silhouette). Also a low recoil plinker load.Pretty economical too. 350 loads per lb. of powder.

Also- Buffalo Arms does ship Gas Checks and moulds, etc. to Canada without issue.

[Tracker34]

Have any of you fella's shot big game with your cast bullets? I think it would be interesting to see how they would perform. I would think they would need to be loaded down so the bullet wouldn't desinegrate. Just asking. Don't know much about cast bullets.
Richard, I see you cast for 32 WS. I'd like to try cast 32's on deer. Close range of course. How do you think they would work?

Tim

[foothillsman]

Have any of you fella's shot big game with your cast bullets? I think it would be interesting to see how they would perform. I would think they would need to be loaded down so the bullet wouldn't desinegrate

Some guys make hunting bullets by using antimony for the bearing surface and a softer lead alloy for the nose so that the bullet expands a bit easier. Nose pour moulds work best for that. Infact I believe them to be a superior mould compared to base pour.

The downside is that the nose can slump causing inaccuracy, nose seperation can occur if the nose is poured too cold or is not poured immediately after the antimony. It's all in the timing.

[BlueNorther]

Originally Posted by Huntsman

Nice! I started loading for my 45-70 too, $50 bucks for a 20 rounds..no thanks!
I'm loading a 405gr Lee hollow base boolit. Tomorrow I',m trying them out.
I've been casting for the last four years now..started with shotgun slugs then moved to round balls and conicals for my bp guns. For the 45-70 what r u using for powder? IMR 3031 4 me.
I'd like to start casting for my 30-30 as well.

Huntsman, That's the first mold I bought, ( Lee HB ) and I took it right back, it was a mess. It was missing more than half of the vent grooves on one side of the mold and there was a deep scratch across 8 grooves on the other half. Looks to me like someone had damaged it and took it back to the store, who in turn put it back in stock and resold it to me.

As for loads I've only loaded for the 45/70 once so far. 37gr IMR 4198 under a 405 plain base. It shot well but I didn't really get to put this load through its paces.

[Richard B.]

Tim

I bought the .32WS with the idea of turning it into a cast boolit rifle for deer hunting but I am having a little difficulty finding the right mould. I have an old Ideal mould for a 151 grain plain base boolit but would like a heavier gas check mould so that I can get a little higher velocity.

Both Lee and RCBS make good moulds but I cannot find anyone who stocks them. I will keep haunting the gunshows unti something suitable shows up.

But I just bought a .308 and a Lee 170 grain GC mould so that may be a possibility.

Richard

[Dean2]

Richard B

At least RCBS for sure will ship molds direct, because I asked them when I was thinking of getting into casting bullets. They aren't on the restricted export list.

As far as shooting stuff with cast, the only big animal I have shot with them is Black Bears. Used lots of 405 grain cast bullets, with no gas checks, out of a Marlin Lever 45-70 when shooting bear control. Shot many many bears with them. Don't know how they expand as never recovered one, but one shot usually killed bear dead. Ninety percent of shots were under 100 yards and half of those would have been 40 to fifty yards, so 1,600-1,700 fps was lots fast enough to get the job done. See no reason they wouldn't work on deer and moose to.

Lots of Buffalo and other big game died from cast bullets, not all that many years ago, and most of those were only going 1,200 fps.

[gorf]

Hi Richard B
I use NEI handtools mould and I shoot lots of 308 Win with cast bullets. I use the 189GC double cavity which cast 204 gr with wheelweight. That seem to be the most accurate at 100M and 200M if the condition permits. Check there internet site, I also ordered a 154 GC for the 7MM08 this week. The Lee moulds are OK I have one foe the 45/70.

Rod

[quasi]

lead and lead alloys (wheel weights) do not give off lead fumes until the lead comes to a boil, electric casting pots are purposely designed with a thermostat that will not let the lead get that hot.

If you are casting or melting down lead or wheelweights with a gas burner you can get the lead hot enough to vaporize , so get a thermometer.

If you want to learn about bullet casting, go to the castboolits website.

[junkdude]

Originally Posted by quasi

lead and lead alloys (wheel weights) do not give off lead fumes until the lead comes to a boil, electric casting pots are purposely designed with a thermostat that will not let the lead get that hot.

If you are casting or melting down lead or wheelweights with a gas burner you can get the lead hot enough to vaporize , so get a thermometer.

If you want to learn about bullet casting, go to the castboolits website.

I hope it's not suggested a good ventilation isn't required if you are using a thermostatic controlled pot.

Any liquid below the boiling point still gives off vapours, it's just not liberated at the same rate as if it were boiling. If this were not the case, a pan of water left out would never evaporate.

IMHO, I'd suggest using a good ventilation system otherwise a person will get heavy metal poisoning over the long term. Also be careful with the little metal clips recovered from the tire weights, the give off lots of fine dust when banged about. Use a good dust mask too.