Casting bullets

[kaptag]

Thinking about casting bullets for my handgun (.357) but will probably reload in 38 Special just to become a better shot (less expensive). I am a big fan of Lee Precision, has anyone used their bullet molds? I have used the REAL bullet mold for muzzle loader with good success. I am now interested in the 358-140-swc. Also interested in sources for lead. I have made fishing sinkers with wheel weights with some success but I understand they aren't good for making bullets, perhaps there is a recipe out there to make them good as I do have a good source for more wheel weights (and they are free). However, if wheel weights are going to ruin my gun or cause excess leading in the barrel, then I'll buy the right stuff. Also, what is this about sizing, some of Lee's molds don't need sizing. You got it, I'm new at casting and looking for answers from people who have already "gone down that road." Also, I will probably use the light loads to hunt rabbits with my Basset Hounds. Any suggestions on bullet weight (mold), type (wc, swc etc...). I already a bottle of "Clays" in my powder cabinet, so any load data using clays would also be good. I've reloaaded several hundred rounds of .357 / 30-06 / 22-250 and 12 ga. (trap). I have a Lee 3 turret press I use for the handgun and rifle loading and a MEC 650 Super I use for the shotgun.

[Edward429451]

Lee makes great moulds. They're aluminum so heat up faster and cool down faster. They're more fragile than iron moulds, careful. Wheelweights are perfect as is for your gun and will not harm it in any way. The leading will come from driving them too fast (1100-1200 fps) or from shooting them undersized. The general rule is to shoot lead sized at .001 over jacketed bullet size. As for shooting them unsized...you gotta get the mould and then measure them to see what size they drop at. Sometimes they need sized, sometimes not, and sometimes they come undersized from the mould. Lee is nortorious for this. Wise to slug your barrel to see what size you need.

Many long time masters of the silver stream here at this site;

http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/...earchid=119095

[JJB2]

i cast my bullets for shooting .38 spl-.357 mag...... i cast great bullets from an old lyman 358477 mould that throws 150 gr swcs..... i do use a lee production pot but i've never used lee moulds the fact they are aluminum concerns me as sometimes you really have to whack the sprue cutter pretty hard.... i had one of those lee sizer kits for awhile and i have some of the liquid alox lube somewhere around here..... i didn't like the lee sizer very much...... it's about the only lee product i didn't like.....i used a lyman lubrisizer for my homecast bullets........ as for casting alloy i lucked out and got a chance to help a friend of mine clean out an indoor range sometime back...... we look alot of lead out of that place... as it once was bullets it makes great cast bullets!! i also had a large bar of linotype given to me that i haven't even got cut up yet... that should make some good hard bullets i'm thinkin.......


LIFE IS SHORT...............

[Edward429451]

i've never used lee moulds the fact they are aluminum concerns me as sometimes you really have to whack the sprue cutter pretty hard....

They're not THAT fragile. Cast away.

[kaptag]

Thanks for the replies, this is getting interesting. But before I spend the cash or put it on my birthday list. How do you slug the barrel? I'm assuming this is to get the diameter of the barrel? Also, I'm reading about checking the hardness of the lead, is this needed? I'm not looking so much for pefection as I am just being able to do something enjoyable, save some money (sometimes I've found it costs more to make your own), and become a better shot. One thing is certain, the cost of store bought ammo will prevent me from ever becoming a decent shot.

[Paul B.]

Well, first off, to slug your barrel, get a few fishing sinkers that are slightly larger than the bore of your gun. Oil the barrel and carefully drive a coulpe of the sinkers down the barrel and carefully measure them. You don't state whose .357 mag. handgun you have but at least one make used 5 grooves and lands which make measurement a bit difficult. Whether they still do or not I don't know, but I have three revolvers from them and they're old enough to have the five groove barrels. Oh yes, they're by Smith & Wesson. Assuming your barrel has a .358" groove diameter, the next thing to do is measure each and every one of your gun's cylinder throats. Again, the fishing sinkers, one for each cylinger hole. Measure those. Now, assuming that both the groove diameter and cylinder throats are .359". a bullet sized to .359", or preferably .360" is what you should strive for. My .359" bullets do well in my S&Ws.
I use three different bullet molds for my .38 Spl. and .357 Mag. revolvers. It just depends on what type of shooting I plan on doing.
For the .38 Spl. I use either 2.7 gr. of Alliant Bullseye or 3.0 gr. of Winchester's W-231 with a 148 gr. wadcutter, or 5.0 gr. of Unique with a 150 gr. Semi-wadcutter. The latter load works well on small game.
For the .357 mag., I have two loads. First is 5.4 gr. of Unique with a 160 gr. SWC bullet for plinking and relatively small game and 14.0 gr. of Alliant #2400 for bigger game.
I shoot strictly cast bullets in my sporting handguns. jacketed bullets afre used only in defensive firearms, and those are strictly factory loads in a .45 ACP.
I have never used Clays in anything so I can't give data.
The bullets I use are as follows:
1. Lyman #358495 Nominally a 148 gr. wadcutter.
2. Lyman #358477 Nominally a 150 gr. plain based semi-wadcutter.
3. Lyman #358156 Nominally a 158 gr. gas checked semi-wadcutter.

Cleaned wheel weights are usually a good alloy for what you seem to want. They're about all I use. If straight wheel weights fail to fill out your mold, invest in a roll of 95/5 percent lead free solder and add about a three foot piece to the pot and stir well. That's for a 10 pound pot. I'd try the three foot piece even in a 20 pound pot first. If that's enough tin, then you're good to go. If you still need a bit more, probably another three foot piece should turn the trick. it all depends on the existing tin content in your wheel weight metal. Bullets cast from the wheel weight/lead free mix will probably weigh a bit more than the nominal weight advertised by the manufacturor. For example, #358156 weighs according to my Lyman cast bullet manual #2, 155 gr. my completely finished bullet ready to load weighs 166 grain. How good is that bullet? I won't give the load as it is too hot for normal .38 Spl. revolvers, but in an S&W 38/44 Outdoorsman, the forerunner to the .357 magnum, I once shot a 250 pound black bear with that bullet and it was dead right there. Current .357 mag. loads from the factory are roughly 200 FPS slower than the original 1935 load. That's because of the lightweight guns that came out in the late 1950s, early 1960s. (S&W M19 and later M66) A properly loaded .357 round in a strong "N" frame S&W is capable of handling hotter loads than the lightweights.
That 14.0 gr. of #2400 is considered max for all guns nowadays. I'm going to have to go along with that as Alliant's version seems to be faster burning than when Hercules made the powder.
Anyway, all the loads I mentioned except the 14.0 gr./2400 are reasonably mild and should be just fine. Personally, I prefer to stick with .357 Mag. brass in a .357 Mag. gun. By using different bullet designs, it's easy to tell which load you're using.
Hope this helped some.
Paul B.

[kaptag]

1st - Thanks for all the great information. I checked out the Casting Boolits website. I think I'll be joining soon. Great information, in the last post, on slugging too! I dug out out my 48th Edition Lyman Reloading manual and they have a good description, but I like yours better. Even better is the advice on how to get the wheel weights to work properly for casting. My wife is going to be happy as my birthday is coming and usually there isn't anything I want this time of year, but now I can give her a good list of casting supplies that will be beneficial. Thank you all, now I'll have something to do this week (slug my barrel). Oh, my handgun is a Taurus (I know all you S&W / Ruger guys are rolling your eyes) Model 608, 8 shot revolver. I have taken one deer with it using 16.7 gr of H110 pushing a 158gr Sierra JHC bullet (and yes I found this recipe in a Hodgden manual). I've always wanted to cast, but didn't know anyone that did it and had heard horror stories about leading, so I have been reluctant to try. Now I feel confident I can do it w/o much difficulty and am excited about taking game with my own cast bullet.

[Branspop]

I am a fan of Lee as well, but I can't stand their molds. It is just too hard to maintain a good temperature for me. A major PITA. My RCBS and Lyman molds cast pretty quickly and I never seem to have hot/cold issues. You can pick up some good used molds on ebay pretty cheap if you watch closely.

Good book on the topic: http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=796528

[c.j.sikes]

if you find the cost of all the equpt. it takes to make a good bullet , you will have a lot of money invested . molds and handles, pot, lub. and sozing dies , gas checks, if you push the bullet.it goes on and on. best bet is invest in a bullet hardner tester and buy from the pros, check their hardness. belive me you will be money ahead. buy lyman hard cast hand book. thanks c.j.sikes

[Edward429451]

Too much hassle for me to bake my boolits. I drop them straight into cold water from the mould. A five gal bucket works fine with a towel on the bottom to cushion the fall. A couple carwash sponges on top to break their fall.

I had a buddy test em for hardness. Straight aircooled wheelweights are about 8 bhn. Water quenched they were 24 bhn in 2 weeks and dropped to around 20 bhn in another month. About 4 months later they were 15.4 bhn.

Casting does not require a huge outlay of cash unless you're hung up on having all top o the line fancy stuff at once to begin with. I started with a cast iron soup pot, a ladle and one mould. The 100 dollar sizer lubricator was the most expensive thing. A few things from the 2nd hand store (CI pot, spoons, muffin tins, metal box) and I was on my way for less than 200 bucks. It is addicting and stuff will pile up over time...but this is not a rich mans thing. It is a poor man thing. I found a 10 lb Lee bottom pour pot at a garage sale for 3 bucks, and a RCBS 20 lb bottom pour on ebay for 95 bucks. Deals are out there and come over time. Thats part of the fun is putting a superb personalized casting outfit together pc by pc over time.

[Powderman]

Sometime ago, I posted a series of short posts concerning casting bullets. Here they are; I hope that they help!


http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/...+A+Quick+Start

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/...+A+Quick+Start

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/...+A+Quick+Start

By the way, wheelweights will be fine for handgun use. I use them in .38, .44 Mag and .45, with velocities approaching 1200 fps.

[cheygriz]

Powderman,

I use straight wheelweights, lubed with Rooster Labs "Zambini Red" and Hornady gas checks in the .454 Casull to 1600 FPS with no problems.

I realize the gas checks make a difference, but they're cheaper than buying virgin linotype!

[Hankster]

I have a number of Lee, Lyman and RCBS molds. I find the Lee molds a lot simpler to prepare and use than the iron molds. I have Lee molds for 38/357, 9mm, 40, 45 and 44mag. They are a little tricky at first to prepare. When you get them, clean them very well, then smoke the molds with several matches. When you go to use them lube the sprue plate and mold with a bullet lube (stick). I then use a propane torch to heat them and burn out any lube that may have been in the cavity. Good luck.

[Windwalker]

Edward429451 wrote,

I had a buddy test em for hardness. Straight aircooled wheelweights are about 8 bhn. Water quenched they were 24 bhn in 2 weeks and dropped to around 20 bhn in another month. About 4 months later they were 15.4 bhn.


Very interesting, I had absolutely not idea. I can see where quinching the hot lead bullet right out of the mold will harden it, (high school metal shop.) But I had no idea a new lead bullet will lose its hardness over time. Again, very interesting. What is the rock bottom bhn will they drop too??

J.R.

[Edward429451]

I don't know how low they drop over time. Back to the original hardness eventually? This was my first experiance at having them tested for hardness.

To correct my typo, (was going on memory before) aircolled WW's were 12 BHN and not 8, I just checked my notes.