New to Reloading....Help!

[thinktwice]

I have been shooting for years, and have just now come to the wise decision to start reloading. I will be loading 45 acp for now. I have several friends that have been reloading, and this is where my question comes in. Some of them tell me not to shoot/reload lead bullets, the others say use only lead , and no copper jacketed. The ones that tell me to use lead only says it will save your barrel wear, the others tell me the lead will really lead up my barrel and make it very hard to clean. Also I have heard swc's feed better (200gr) in 1911's. Can anyone of you guys that know what you are doing give me some advice? I have always shot factory FMJ for practice, and my barrel's seem fine. Although when I start reloading I will be shooting a lot more. Thanks

[NWPilgrim]

I don't think gilding metal jackets or lead will wear out a steel barrel. As far as I know barrels wear out either due to sloppy use of a cleaning around around the muzzle, or throat erosion from the hot gases of the powder burning.

Your friends are partially correct. The jacketed bullets are probably the simplest approach. Lead bullets of the wrong hardness or driven to high velocity (not likely in .45ACP) can cause excessive leading. Most commercial bullet casters know this and use a proper lead alloy to prevent excessive leading.

I have shot thousands of rounds of both jacketed and lead round nose bullets through my 1911 and neither give me any unusual barrel fouling. The thing about lead bullets is they are perhaps half the cost of jacketed bullets.

In between the two in cost and construction are plated bullets such as Berry's and Rainier. A jacketed bullet uses a soft lead core and a thick copper alloy (gilding metal) jacket. Lead bullets have no jacket of course but use a much harder lead alloy. You can get super hard cast bullets tough enough for big game or moderately hardcast lead bullets for target shooting. Plated bullets use a thinner all copper jacket plated to the soft lead core.

[Rangefinder]

My answer depends on how involved you want to get and how much you intend to shoot. NEITHER are particularly bad for a barrel--wear on a bore is more related to the gases and pressures, not the bullet.

I cast my own bullets for nearly everything I shoot. At the rate I shoot, it's the only way I can afford it--but I really enjoy being involved as deep as I am in the whole science of it.

Lead can be tricky and demanding to initially find what combination works best. If you intend to shoot a LOT, and have the time to spend tinkering with it, lead is the way to go--and casting your own is very rewarding.

However, if you don't have a lot of excess time and aren't planning to shoot so much that lead would be a huge difference, then buying jacketed will keep things simple for you.

PERSONALLY, I really like shooting lead, I like casting lead, I like developing new loads for things that are odd, difficult, or just different. My winchester fires a paper patched 160gr. lead bullet that performs as good or better than any factory bullet/load I've ever used. My .40S&W is on an almost exclusing diet of lead--my hollow points perform better than factory, more accurately, and run me $0.04 a pop.

I HATE scrubbing copper fouling. Once lead is dialed in right, I wipe it out with a couple passes. Can't beat it with a stick.

[CherokeeT]

There is no reason to ignore lead bullets but they do have some negatives verses jacketed. Correct size is important, usually .452. The bullet lube will smoke and leave more residue (make your gun "dirty") but I don't find that a problem to clean. Trace leading is normal for me, cleans right up with usual cleaning brush and patches. Excessive leading means something is wrong: bullets wrong size, too hard (for 45ACP, a low pressure rounds), bad lube.

I've been loading and shooting lead bullets in 45 ACP for a long time, many thousands of rounds. They work great. The SWC style bullet is very popular with target shooters and many others because it cuts a nice round hole in the target and is generally accurate. At one time SWC's did not feed well in 1911's because the usual barrel was not set up for them. Now days, most 1911 barrels are set up so SWC's are no problem. I personally like the truncated cone design and that is what I use the most. Never used the round nose except in factory/GI ammo.

Some think is easier for a new reloader to start with jacketed, then go to cast bullets. To me, just go to cast. You'll save money (shoot more for the same money) and have a great time.