Cast bullets

[kevins750]

So I bought some in .310 to shoot reduced loads for friends and kids in my AR.

They are .310 and my barrel is .310, they are said to be hard cast.

Are they to small and will just lead my barrel up? I would just prefer them fast enough to cycle the rifle. Will gas checks make a difference.

Also Lyman manual shows loads for 130gr alloy bullets, is this what I have?

Any help would be appreciated.

[koehn,jim]

If you go to the castboolits website it will provide most of the answers you need. I usually go at .001 over bore diam. when I size. As too the question on cycleing the action, I use cast in an M1 Garand with no trouble, never tried it in an AR but a lot of people have.

[noylj]

In all my guns, the stupidly hard (18-22 BHN) bullets need to be at least 0.002" OVER actual groove diameter. However, Mike Venturino says he shoots his semi-autos and submachine guns with type metal (hard) bullets sized to groove diameter without leading.
So, I know what works for me, but they might work for you.
Personally, I would tumble lube them all in Lee Liquid Alox and not have to worry about leading.
PS: if you don't even know the weight of the bullets, weigh them.

[kevins750]

Sorry, the bullets are 130 gr. Tumbling them would be no problem.

[rsrocket1]

Leading comes from gas cutting. If there is space between the bullet sides and the groove, high speed hot gas will vaporize the lead and deposit it on the barrel. Fortunately, even the "hardest" bullets will obturate slightly and hopefully, the lube may help seal the gap. Unfortunately, the super hard crayon lube in most commercial bullets is the worst type of lube around. They are only super hard so that it won't melt or fall off during shipping, just like "hard cast" lead bullets. The objective is to ship bullets through the mail and have them arrive without dents and the rock-hard lube fully intact.

Tumble lubed LLA will help lube the bullet going down the barrel, but if the groove is bigger than the bullet, you'll have leading. The only way you can tell for sure is to shoot 'em. Be prepared to scrub out lead, but there is just as much chance they'll work out fine.

[jericho89]

Another issue that has occurred in the AR system with lead bullets is plugging of the gas tube. This is done by lead shaving off into it. That being said I have shot hundreds of cast projectiles through an AR but they were all powder coated and gas checked. I recommend gas checking them.

[Capt.Dunsel]

So I bought some in .310 to shoot reduced loads for friends and kids in my AR.

They are .310 and my barrel is .310, they are said to be hard cast.

Are they to small and will just lead my barrel up? I would just prefer them fast enough to cycle the rifle. Will gas checks make a difference.

Also Lyman manual shows loads for 130gr alloy bullets, is this what I have?

Any help would be appreciated.

Do they have the proper design for a gas check ? If not , hard to add them now.
Do you have the sizing dies to gas check ? If not , you'll need to get one.

If they are hard cast ( most likely are) you should be fine . I run some hard cast through my M1 Carbine with no problem , no problems with the gas system. You are planning to shoot them as reduced loads just watch your powder selection ( faster burning / hotter burning powders can help in producing leading )

[stilly]

Do they have the proper design for a gas check ? If not , hard to add them now.
Do you have the sizing dies to gas check ? If not , you'll need to get one.

If they are hard cast ( most likely are) you should be fine . I run some hard cast through my M1 Carbine with no problem , no problems with the gas system. You are planning to shoot them as reduced loads just watch your powder selection ( faster burning / hotter burning powders can help in producing leading )

There are also some weird after market GC systems that might work for PB boolits as well.

https://www.patmarlins.com/product-category/checkmaker/

I have been eyeballing this setup off and on.

[jericho89]

Picked up a set of gas check dies for the 22 and they are cool. With the cost of factory gas checks at $36 for 1000 I will pay off the dies in 2000 rounds. But the plain base dies are interesting and you use soda cans as your gas check, which makes for a really cheap check. He ran a 20% sale recently so keep your eye out and buy when you can get them a little cheaper.

[stilly]

0o0o0oo0, now I gotta check TWO places every day...

[jericho89]

0o0o0oo0, now I gotta check TWO places every day...

15% off when you sign up for his new forum

http://patmarlins.com/patmarlinsforum/index.php

[noylj]

>Tumble lubed LLA will help lube the bullet going down the barrel, but if the groove is bigger than the bullet, you'll have leading.

Have you tried it? Your statement is logical, but in actuality, a coating of LLA prevents the gas cutting and I go from bullet that lead to no leading at all. Maybe it won't work for all, but I have also seen others recommend the same thing. One of the points of LLA was its resistance to a torch and the fact that you can melt lead and leave the LLA "bullet" behind.
PS: Leading is easily removed using some strands of copper wool (all copper Chore Boy, if you can find some the druggies haven't bought) wrapped around a cleaning brush removes it in just few swipes.

[rsrocket1]

noylj,
In your case, I think the LLA is preventing the leading by actually providing lubrication between the lead and the barrel. In any case, I'm glad it works for you. If you decide to use LLA, do a couple of web searches on Recluse's 45/45/10 or mixing with Johnson's Liquid Floor wax. The resulting coating is more of a thin shell of wax rather than a perpetual messy coating of thin grease.

My solution to leading in a barrel is like yours. 45 seconds and a couple of swipes and it's gone. Do this outdoors because you'll see glitter (lead dust) fly out the barrel as you pull the mop out.

[noylj]

Alox used with lead bullets is of two types:
1) grease used in standard bullet lubes such as NRA 50/50
2) a sealant/coating, like undercoating used on cars to prevent rusting. This is the Alox used in LLA. It is very tenacious and is MUCH more a coating than a lubricant. It is a mix of oxidized calcium soaps.
3) I know all about 45/45/10, thanks, but I have no big rush to try it as I use so little LLA on a bullet that they dry completely and are not tacky and, I suspect, the Johnson Paste Wax takes away from the protective coating that LLA by itself provides. If I don't need the coating property of LLA, I find that Anchor Seal, a wax emulsion, works very well as a tumble lube for low pressure cartridges like .45 Auto and .38 Spl.
Here is how I use LLA:
I take 200-500 cast bullets and lay them on their side in a glass casserole dish.
I squirt a little "Z" of LLA on the bullets and then shuffle/rotate the bullets for 30-60 seconds.
I then look at the bullets to be sure they are all shiny/wet looking. If they are all shiny, I dump them onto wax paper/aluminum foil. If there are any dry ones, I squirt a very small amount of LLA (or, sometimes, simply some mineral spirits so residual LLA in the casserole dish can do the job) and shuffle/rotate the bullets again.
When done, you can't even really see or feel the LLA and they are good for use up to full-power .44 Mag.