Casting your own boolits for 7.62x39

xsquidgator · October 10, 2008, 07:14 AM

I've been doing this for a while and was wondering what other people who do it think and what they get out of it. In my case I get the lead for free (scrap from a hospital) so excluding my hobbyist time it takes to cast and reload, it costs me maybe 8 or 9 cents per round of rifle ammo, just the powder and primers.

Couple of things make shooting my cast lead rounds different from handloaded FMJs or JSPs. By trial and error I found I had to reduce the loads a fair amount so as to allow the softer lead bullets to stabilize, down to about 1300 or 1400 fps. I use cream of wheat filler on top of the reduced load, and this has kept my bores totally lead free and clean, and at these slower speeds accuracy isn't too bad. Certainly good enough to hit COM at 50 yards, and good enough to raise hell on soda cans at 25 yards.

I like being able to make my own for not much $, and I like that I can't run out of ammo for my rifles that shoot 7.62x39, well not until I eventually lose or run out of reloadable brass. The ballistics of these lead rounds are different from the typical 125 grain FMJ rounds one finds, but for up close shooting, plinking, and practice I don't think it matters. In the unlikely event of using these rounds for say home defense, downloading these cast bullets to 1400 fps (160 to 170 grains) makes them nothing to sneeze at, that's somewhere in the ballpark of .357 magnum or .30 carbine territory performancewise, isn't it?

Anyway, what do YOU get out of casting for 7.62x39? Just cheap practice ammo, or a little more?

Tommy Vercetti · October 10, 2008, 07:43 AM

bullets

lotech · October 10, 2008, 08:34 AM

If you can locate it, there is an extensive article in the October-November 1995 (#177) edition of HANDLOADER magazine entitled "Cast Bullets in the 7.62x39 Ruger Mark II". Included are a number of loads using bullets ranging in weight from about 160 grains to 220 grains.

sundog · October 10, 2008, 08:41 AM

if you cast'em yerself, it's "boolits."

No 7.62x39 here, but I cast for everything else except 7 mag (I've even tried that, too, but it kinda defeats the purpose for that one). It's very satisfying when you walk down range for score and the guy next to you who is shooting expensive match ammo admires your target and just can't get over the idea that homemade "boolits" can shoot that well. Besides, you don't have to beat yourself half to death with recoil.

snuffy · October 10, 2008, 12:29 PM

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

45nut, the owner of the cast boolits website says it like this, in his signature;

Boolits= as God laid it into the soil,,grand old Galena,the Silver Stream graciously hand poured into molds for our consumption.

Bullets= Machine made utilizing Full Length Gas Checks as to provide projectiles for the masses.

Now, you can accept this reasoning, or you can be a stick-in-the-mud, insist on---- it's spelled
bullets.

xsquidgator, if you have to limit your boolits to that low a velocity, your lead is too soft. Hospital scrap is usually x-ray lead and is pure lead. See if you can find a source for linotype lead. 3# of lino with 17# of your lead will result in approximately lyman #2 alloy. You should be able to get 1800-2000 fps without leading from your (SKS?) rifles. If you'd use a gas checked style boolit, you can easily reach jacketed BULLET velocity.

xsquidgator · October 10, 2008, 01:06 PM

Snuffy,
Thanks for the advice. The stuff I'm using is actually similar (the last time I checked a year ago, anyway) to wheelweights - these are the old 'pigs" or little lead jars that they mailed radioactive material in. I was getting about BHN 10-14 with them, and I also drop my boolits into a can of water to try and harden them up some more.

Interesting though, I actually haven't tried going above 1400 fps with these in a controlled way, maybe I should. My initial loads of 24 grains of BL-C(2) had the boolits flying downrange at 2000 fps, but the accuracy was so poor I am sure they weren't stabilizing. At that speed, my fancy SKS was just a repeating musket. Using cream of wheat filler though, despite the bad accuracy I still had no leading- that cream of wheat really does a nice scrub-job on the bore!

October 10, 2008, 08:41 AM	#4
sundog Senior Member Join Date: November 22, 1999 Location: Green Country, OK Posts: 782	if you cast'em yerself, it's "boolits." No 7.62x39 here, but I cast for everything else except 7 mag (I've even tried that, too, but it kinda defeats the purpose for that one). It's very satisfying when you walk down range for score and the guy next to you who is shooting expensive match ammo admires your target and just can't get over the idea that homemade "boolits" can shoot that well. Besides, you don't have to beat yourself half to death with recoil. __________________ safety first

October 10, 2008, 12:29 PM	#5
snuffy Senior Member Join Date: May 20, 2001 Location: Oshkosh wi. Posts: 3,055	http://castboolits.gunloads.com/ 45nut, the owner of the cast boolits website says it like this, in his signature; Boolits= as God laid it into the soil,,grand old Galena,the Silver Stream graciously hand poured into molds for our consumption. Bullets= Machine made utilizing Full Length Gas Checks as to provide projectiles for the masses. Now, you can accept this reasoning, or you can be a stick-in-the-mud, insist on---- it's spelled bullets. xsquidgator, if you have to limit your boolits to that low a velocity, your lead is too soft. Hospital scrap is usually x-ray lead and is pure lead. See if you can find a source for linotype lead. 3# of lino with 17# of your lead will result in approximately lyman #2 alloy. You should be able to get 1800-2000 fps without leading from your (SKS?) rifles. If you'd use a gas checked style boolit, you can easily reach jacketed BULLET velocity. __________________ The more people I meet, the more I love my dog They're going to get their butts kicked over there this election. How come people can't spell and use words correctly?

October 10, 2008, 07:14 AM	#1
xsquidgator Senior Member Join Date: June 14, 2007 Posts: 115	Casting your own boolits for 7.62x39 I've been doing this for a while and was wondering what other people who do it think and what they get out of it. In my case I get the lead for free (scrap from a hospital) so excluding my hobbyist time it takes to cast and reload, it costs me maybe 8 or 9 cents per round of rifle ammo, just the powder and primers. Couple of things make shooting my cast lead rounds different from handloaded FMJs or JSPs. By trial and error I found I had to reduce the loads a fair amount so as to allow the softer lead bullets to stabilize, down to about 1300 or 1400 fps. I use cream of wheat filler on top of the reduced load, and this has kept my bores totally lead free and clean, and at these slower speeds accuracy isn't too bad. Certainly good enough to hit COM at 50 yards, and good enough to raise hell on soda cans at 25 yards. I like being able to make my own for not much $, and I like that I can't run out of ammo for my rifles that shoot 7.62x39, well not until I eventually lose or run out of reloadable brass. The ballistics of these lead rounds are different from the typical 125 grain FMJ rounds one finds, but for up close shooting, plinking, and practice I don't think it matters. In the unlikely event of using these rounds for say home defense, downloading these cast bullets to 1400 fps (160 to 170 grains) makes them nothing to sneeze at, that's somewhere in the ballpark of .357 magnum or .30 carbine territory performancewise, isn't it? Anyway, what do YOU get out of casting for 7.62x39? Just cheap practice ammo, or a little more?

October 10, 2008, 07:43 AM	#2
Tommy Vercetti Senior Member Join Date: June 26, 2004 Location: Fairhope, Alabama Posts: 1,119	it's spelled bullets __________________ "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." Sinclair Lewis, (It Can't Happen Here, 1935) "Orators are most vehement when their cause is weak" Marcus Tullius Cicero

October 10, 2008, 08:34 AM	#3
lotech Junior Member Join Date: January 17, 2008 Posts: 1	If you can locate it, there is an extensive article in the October-November 1995 (#177) edition of HANDLOADER magazine entitled "Cast Bullets in the 7.62x39 Ruger Mark II". Included are a number of loads using bullets ranging in weight from about 160 grains to 220 grains.

October 10, 2008, 01:06 PM	#6
xsquidgator Senior Member Join Date: June 14, 2007 Posts: 115	Snuffy, Thanks for the advice. The stuff I'm using is actually similar (the last time I checked a year ago, anyway) to wheelweights - these are the old 'pigs" or little lead jars that they mailed radioactive material in. I was getting about BHN 10-14 with them, and I also drop my boolits into a can of water to try and harden them up some more. Interesting though, I actually haven't tried going above 1400 fps with these in a controlled way, maybe I should. My initial loads of 24 grains of BL-C(2) had the boolits flying downrange at 2000 fps, but the accuracy was so poor I am sure they weren't stabilizing. At that speed, my fancy SKS was just a repeating musket. Using cream of wheat filler though, despite the bad accuracy I still had no leading- that cream of wheat really does a nice scrub-job on the bore!