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Old June 27, 2010, 09:33 PM   #1
BarbreJ
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Use of Lead Bullets

I just checked the Penn website and 1000 .40 bullets seems like a good price. I just dont know anything about lead bulletes other then my book says to buy .401 and I have to watch for leading.

What would be reasons that I would not want to buy lead bulletes?

Obviously I am fairly new to reloading, and I do not have access to my manuals for the next couple fo days. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,
John
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Old June 27, 2010, 09:35 PM   #2
DiscoRacing
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Nothing wrong with lead bullets.. primarily for target practice.. I use em all the time... saves alot of money for sure.
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Old June 27, 2010, 09:58 PM   #3
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I can't think of a single reason you would not want to use lead bullets for general shooting such as targets. I use them extensively. The truth be known I even use them for hunting since I have a muzzle-loader.

Lead build up can happen but it has never been a problem for me. I just clean the barrel after every use so it has been fine. I currently shoot lead out of several different brands of hand guns and rifles, though I have never shot them in my AR.

I even use them with my Glock though just to easy my mind I use an after market barrel.

Some perceptions you might want to consider is washing your hands after touch lead bullets during reloading.

Just remember lead has been going down barrels for a few hundred years with some pretty good results.

BTW I like and use Penn Bullets.
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Old June 27, 2010, 10:18 PM   #4
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I just bought my first 250 and got them loaded up. Testing with them went really well.
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Old June 27, 2010, 10:44 PM   #5
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I shoot cast bullets in almost everything. However, in Glocks I do change the barrel if I plan to shoot lead. The Polygonal rifling in Glocks causes excessive leading which can cause pressures to rise.
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Old June 27, 2010, 11:23 PM   #6
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Sweet!

Thanks guys, My .40 has standard rifling so I dont have the polygonal issue. I will order a batch this week and give them a go.
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Old June 28, 2010, 08:11 AM   #7
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You might have to bell the case mouth a little more to seat cast bullets, you don't want to shave lead in the seating process. Use load data for cast bullets, not jacketed. Ask your questions here. I hardly ever fire jacketed bullets in my handguns.
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Old June 28, 2010, 08:25 AM   #8
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Some negatives are.
Some indoor ranges won't let you shoot lead bullets. Might not be a problem for you though.

For fast shooting multiple shot competition the extra smoke they put out can be a problem for last shots of a stage. I don't know my self cuzz I don't do any competion yet.

You are supposed to push lead a little slower than a jacketed bullet.

If you are going to shoot them in a semi auto you might look at using a lead round nose for better feeding. I have never loaded anything but lead round nose in a semi auto so I have not experienced the feeding problem some describe.

Except for the indoor shooting range and possible feeding with certain shape bullets in a semi auto they should do just fine.
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Old June 28, 2010, 08:34 AM   #9
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+1 for Missouri bullets. Excellent service, great product. some really great people run that company.

Roger
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Old June 28, 2010, 04:34 PM   #10
AlaskaMike
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Quote:
You are supposed to push lead a little slower than a jacketed bullet.
This is a common misconception. Any commercial cast bullet on the market can be pushed to jacketed speeds (and do so with less pressure) with little to no leading at all, assuming proper bullet fit and that there's not a problem with the bore.

Mike
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Old June 28, 2010, 05:59 PM   #11
MO. Shootin
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Thanks for clearing that up Alaskamike. I am kind of new to the lead bullet game and just read that a lot. I noticed I could shoot a load in my S&W but they lead the heck out of the barrel with my Beretta with the same load.

So what I probably should have said was you need to slug the barrel and order the correct diameter bullet for your specific gun. Does that sound right?

Kind of new, I have shot over 600 of them I reloaded. Never stop learning on here.
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Old June 28, 2010, 06:35 PM   #12
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I had one lead bullet load that leaded my pistol BAD.

It was .45acp, with Laser Cast 200gr. bullet, using TiteGroup as powder. My understanding is TiteGroup is among the hottest powders, and that may have contributed to the problem.

I switched to plated (not jacketed) bullets and have not had a problem since.
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Old June 28, 2010, 10:06 PM   #13
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Go to this site and check out the bullet hardness info http://www.missouribullet.com/technical.php

A lot of your loading manuals will tell you what the expected velocity is and you can choose a bullet with the correct hardness.

Also, I'll give another plug for the Missouri Bullet Co., I have seven boxes of their bullets here waiting to be loaded.
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Old June 29, 2010, 12:33 AM   #14
BarbreJ
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Missouri Bullet Company

Any company that puts this in the FAQ is screaming for my business!

"It is possible that you are an idiot ..." This is an answer for somebody that might order lead bullets thinking they were buying Ammo.

In the PC world of today I think that is great. Plus, I am sure the current market allows them to get away with that kind of boldness.
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Old June 29, 2010, 07:45 AM   #15
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Quote:
Quote:
You are supposed to push lead a little slower than a jacketed bullet.

This is a common misconception. Any commercial cast bullet on the market can be pushed to jacketed speeds (and do so with less pressure) with little to no leading at all, assuming proper bullet fit and that there's not a problem with the bore.

Mike
Mike is right on. If I were you I would slug your barrel. Generally speaking, you want to buy lead bullets .001-.002" over your groove diameter. Take a soft piece of lead slightly larger than your bore and pund it thru with a hammer and dowel rod. Then measure the lead slug (the high spots). Being that I cast my own, I can control alloy. You can't if you are buying them. I would order a small amount first and see how your gun likes them before ordering thousands.... . BTW, I guess I better slow down my 454 casull loads.... I am pushing a 220 grn gas checked LEAD bullet over 2100 FPS with no leading . It is all about bullet fit, bullet hardness (harder is NOT always better)/alloy, and having a quality lube (again, harder lubes are not always better, especially for lower velocity loads). Good luck!
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Old June 29, 2010, 08:41 AM   #16
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Hang on a second here -

Mr. Two, I understand that you like Penn Bullets and that is fine. They're fine bullets and Mr. Palermo deservedly has a lot of fans.

However, you can tout a product without slamming another. We have many, many satisfied customers. Any problems that our customers have encountered have been handled once they notified us of the problem.

I invite anyone to do a web search on us and read what people who have actually used our products have to say and not rely on Internet hearsay.

This isn't intended to start a fight with anyone, rather, it is a response to a statement that seems designed to damage us from someone who prefers another vendor's products. So folks are invited to do their own research on us and make up their own minds.

Thank you.

Brad
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Old June 29, 2010, 09:30 AM   #17
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Huh? I'm responsible for what?

I have never slammed Penn and never will. If you think that I have any control over what other people choose to do, then we are not on the same wavelength.

I am not anybody's enemy. I am astonished that you apparently believe that I am responsible in any way for someone else's opinions on anything. Really, do you believe that?

I know that anyone can find a negative thread about any firearms-related item out there. The test, though, might be to weigh the preponderance of opinions from many sources and go from there? Any problems that have been brought to my attention have been addressed as best I can.

As a side point, I'll mention that we shipped over 12 million bullets last year and 7.5 million so far this year. That's a lot of bullets for being in our 4th year of business. We supply Graf and Sons (they gave us a full page in their current catalog), many gunstores around the nation, 85 gun clubs, a host of FFL06's, and 2 months ago we shipped 62,000 bullets to Nighthawk Customs in Berryville. We are their exclusive supplier of bullets for use in testing their high-end 1911's.

Do you think that we could do this volume to this quality of customer base if we didn't pay attention to our products?

Say what you will about us in your attempt to damage my business, Mr. Two. I believe that anyone curious about us will do their own research and make their own conclusions.

Take care.

Brad
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Old June 29, 2010, 09:35 AM   #18
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Huh? I'm responsible for what?

Duped. Deleted.
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Old June 29, 2010, 10:17 AM   #19
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Amazing.

You seem to have me confused with someone who is in charge of telling people what to say about other manufacturers. I'm not that someone.

I don't tell other people what to do, think, or say on internet forums.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. No one has the right to require otherwise.

Our product and our success stands on its own and we don't need to disparage other manufacturers. That isn't our style, anyhow, and have enough respect for peoples' intelligence that we know that wouldn't work even if we tried.

So, how about this: Anybody who wants to can buy Penn and anybody who wants to buy ours, can buy ours.

How's that work for you?
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Old June 29, 2010, 11:49 AM   #20
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Travis T, do you actually work for Penn Bullets? The reason I ask is I just looked up your posting history and almost every single message is about pennbullets.com
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Old June 29, 2010, 11:53 AM   #21
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Scheduling

Nick, we do try to keep all items in stock, trying to keep production as pro-active as possible. Otherwise, when orders come in for bullets that we don't have, we make them. Case in point - at the moment, we are sold out of the #1 Buffalo .45-70 bullet and just now got an order for one box of them. So, since our 5 Magma Mark 7's (well, four 7's and one newer 8, actually) are already running other bullets today, we'll switch one of them over this evening and run ten thousand of that bullet on night shift. We'll start sizing them in the morning and have some ready to ship by 0930. The mail truck doesn't arrive until 1525, so that order will be strapped to the outgoing pallet and the customer will have his .45-70's within 72 hours of his order, most likely, given the normal 2-day USPS Priority shipping time.

So in a nutshell, when we don't have them, usual practice is that we make them that day or the next.

I never saw the need to do any fancy production scheduling or periodic runs of bullets that we don't normally stock, as we have the equipment and manpower to run 100,000 bullets per day without any particular strain. We have nearly 60 bullets in the line, so we try to run quite a few of whatever we're making for stocking purposes. On average, probably we rotate every bullet through production every 10-14 days and that seems to work pretty well for us.

This is just how we do it. Nothing special about it at all. It seems to work for us at the moment and if it stops working, we'll change things around.

Brad
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Old June 29, 2010, 02:04 PM   #22
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I think we need an unbiased opinion here. Since I have not used either of these products I'm a good candidate. I'm in the market for some 148g BB wadcutters for my 4" GP-100. I'll gladly load both companies offerings and post the results. All I need is the bullets.

Peace


RJ
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Old June 29, 2010, 02:10 PM   #23
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Gentleman, take a deep breath.
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Old June 29, 2010, 02:22 PM   #24
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Getting back to the original thread: You may experience more smoke and soot when using lead bullets. This is caused by the wax lube used by some casters. I played with gradually increasing my powder charge (while staying within published load data)until the problem went away. But even if your gun gets dirty faster with lead bullets, just clean it at the end of the day. Also, some powders seem to shoot lead cleaner than others. I use AA#2 and AA#5 Good luck.

Last edited by Blue Grass; June 29, 2010 at 02:38 PM.
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Old June 29, 2010, 02:50 PM   #25
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Greetings, HeavyHitter and welcome aboard,

Thanks for your fine first posting. I don't have a dog in this fight, but it's obvious Penn and Missouri have some staunch supporters. I much prefer your rational approach to that of Travis Two.

Rather that feed the fires of my caster is better than your caster, I would like to mention home casting. If the OP finds using cast bullets satisfies his needs, then he might consider another of shooting's sub-activities, casting. I make my own bullets in .38, .44 and .45 and find it an enjoyable past time (and I save a little money). Marksmanship like HeavyHitter's is a rewarding experience and exhibits Penn quality. Someone may post similar support for Missouri. For me, I find more self satisfaction knowing that I'm using my own bullets.
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