[rodfac]

CastBoolits, a forum here in the US has any and all answers regarding cast bullets. A good, and probably the best source for information on their use.

I've cast my own for over 50 years now...shoot lead alloy bullets in all of my revolvers 95% of the time and over 75% of the time in my auto-loaders. The following are some of the best techniques for avoiding leading.

For revolvers, the bullet dia. must fit the cylinder throat. You check that by driving a pure lead slug through the chamber throats and measuring with a micrometer. A caliper is not accurate enough. Throat dia.'s must be the same as or 0.001"-0.003" larger than the groove dia. of your bbl. By far the critical dia. is the throat measurement. If your bore dia. is smaller than your throat dia., you'll need to have the throats opened up to the correct dia.

Most commercial lead alloy bullets use hard lube, and are too hard for lower velocities. That lube does not do its job until magnum velocities are reached. Try re-lubing with Lee Liquid Alox, using their swirl lube method with these overly hard-lubed bullets...it'll help. In addition, most commercial offerings use alloys that are too hard for less than magnum velocities. Try Missouri bullet company for brinell ratings down around 12 for .44 special or magnum loads less than 1200 fps.

Leading deposits are easily removed with the Choreboy, all copper, scrubbing pads. I order mine here in the US via Amazon. A Lewis Lead Remover works as well, but is needlessly expensive...I used one for 40 years, cutting my screen patches from a sheet of copper bug screen back when it was available. I use cheap, Choreboy for clean ups now, tho rarely needed.

Mercury is toxic, forget using it if you value your health.

Plain base lead alloy bullets can be driven to 1200 fps from any good revolver with correct throat/bbl. bore measurements. I've never had a problem with bullets as soft as plain wheel weights with ~1% tin added to help mold fill out. Gas check bullets can be driven faster, but are needlessly expensive, adding 4 cents to the cost of the bullet, and that was before the current insanity. My revolvers will produce 5-shot groups down around 2" at 25 yds, some considerably smaller in fact, with loads that they like...comparable to my best jacketed loads. Point being that good cast bullets are every bit as accurate, without leading, as quality jacketed varieties, and with little add'l effort on the reloader's part.

In my Marlin 1894 .357 carbine, I get 1-1/2" groups at 100 yds with a 2.5x scope mounted and using Lyman 358156GC bullet cast of wheel weights and sized 0.359", for example. And my 1894 Marlin .41 Magnum carbine does as well with plain base cast bullets, if the muzzle velocity is limited to 1200 fps.

In 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP, my autos (Sig's, Colts, Rugers, and one very old Luger P08) do very well with my own cast bullets. I size them to bore dia. plus 0.001": 9mm = 0.357", .40 = 0.402" & .45 = 0.453". All will produce groups rivaling those shot with best quality jacketed bullets, and they do not lead the bore even at velocities in 9mm & .40 S&W, of 1100 fps.

Shooters have routinely used lead alloy bullets for over a century with outstanding results. The "secrets", if any, to good performance are well known with a little research and some attention to detail while assembling loads. The site mentioned above is a treasure trove of information that'll help. For now, get a Choreboy or Lewis Lead Remover, clean up your guns...then order correctly sized bullets, re-lube with a 50-50 lube using the swirl method and have some fun.

Best regards, Rod