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Old January 14, 2013, 03:17 PM   #1
RANGER94
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Tips Needed for reloading cast bullets

Hello everyone,
I have been reloading on again and off again for about 20 years. For some unknown reason - I have never loaded cast bullets. I am getting ready to load some .44 mag & .45 colt cast bullets which I purchased from King's Shooting Supply, specifically Roger's better bullets. Can you offer some tips or learning experiences? Is there any major difference for assembling cast vs. jacketed?

Thanks!

Ranger94
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Old January 14, 2013, 06:16 PM   #2
grubbylabs
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Unless you are loading max, you should be fine. If they are sized for your barrel and the alloy is right for the speed you are pushing , you won't have any problems.
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Old January 14, 2013, 06:40 PM   #3
Shotgun693
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At times I've had to bell the case mouth just a bit more to seat a cast bullet. The harder the cast bullet the faster you can drive it without leading. Other than that you should have no problems. IF you do have some leading and have trouble cleaning it out push a wad of 0000 steel wool down the barrel.
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Old January 15, 2013, 09:21 AM   #4
reloader28
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Better than steel wool is using Chore Boy. Wrap a little of it around the brush.

You have to make sure the bullet fits the gun. Slug the bore and get bullets that are .002 bigger than the groove dia. The 45 will probly be fine with .452, but you'll probly need .431, maybe .432 for the 44.
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Old January 15, 2013, 09:56 AM   #5
Unclenick
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There is also Sharpshoot'R's Wipe-Out No-Lead. You put it in the bore and let it sit for an hour and it actually reacts with the lead to turn it into a crumbly black substance that patches out with a cloth patch.

To get revolvers to shoot with best accuracy can take a little bit of work. With any cast bullet gun you want to slug the bore to learn its groove diameter. For a revolver you also want to slug every chamber and make sure they are uniform within a half thousandth or so and that they are all at least a thousandth bigger than the groove diameter of your barrel. One and a half thousandths bigger is ideal for commercial cast bullets, which are 0.001" over standard groove diameter. Two and half thousandths bigger is ideal for cast bullets you size 0.002" over groove diameter (most accurate in my revolvers).

If you don't know how to slug a barrel search this site. Ignore the YouTube Commanders who use calipers and get an OD thimble micrometer for this so you can get better precision and resolve tenths of a thousandth. If you have a 5 groove barrel you can send them to Matt Dardas for measuring.

If you have any kind of constriction in your bore (common in revolvers where the barrel screws into the frame), you need to remove it by firelapping or else you at least need to polish the bore well in the constricted area so it can bump back up after passing the constriction without gas bypass. Gas bypass causes leading and bullet base asymmetry which is pretty hard on accuracy. This article is helpful.
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Old January 15, 2013, 10:25 AM   #6
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The LASC link Unclenick posted will get you to their website. Read this while you're there. http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm
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