casting bullets

[koehn,jim]

cgt80 please think before using a pointed bullet in a 30-30.If you load the tube magazine, you will have primers sitting on points and recoil could set one off, rare but has been known to happen. The 311291 is a good choice. devister55 if I have any cast i will let you know what caliber.

[devster55]

Thanks man!

[bohoki]

i cast for 9mm and 45 its not so hard you just need a small skillet and a coleman stove

[CGT80]

cgt80 please think before using a pointed bullet in a 30-30.If you load the tube magazine, you will have primers sitting on points and recoil could set one off, rare but has been known to happen. The 311291 is a good choice. devister55 if I have any cast i will let you know what caliber.

I wasn't planning on using my gas check pointed boolit in the 30-30, due to that reason. I did some research and found that some people do not even like round nose in the 30-30, but others say it is just fine, and factory ammo is loaded with round nose. I will try the pointed bullet in the 30-06 and I can also use the round nose in the 30-06 to compare two different boolits in the same rifle.

Thanks for the heads up though.

devster, I do have some cast 38/357 seimi wadcutter 158 grain and some 38/357 155 grain round nose that are commercial cast. I have not used them yet, but I could set you up with some. I also have more of the 30-30 rn bullet that I showed. My mold doesn't drop them perfectly round and I think that is causing me some loss of accuracy. I would recommend keeping the load very mild for these. Trail boss or red dot would be perfect.

How many are you looking for?

[gunboat]

cgt80 -- "mould does not drop them perfectly round"
Don't you use a method of sizing and lubing?

[CGT80]

cgt80 -- "mould does not drop them perfectly round"
Don't you use a method of sizing and lubing?

Yes, RCBS LAM I. .311 sizing die and bullet drops at 308.5-311 thousandths. I also have 308 sizing dies, but I have not slugged my barrel and most people use 309-311 diameter bullets. A 308 die would probably true up that bullet.

Today, I remembered that I have some old roof jacks that are very soft, maybe close to pure lead. I could cast a boolit with some of that lead and slug the barrel. My current alloy should be wheel weights that my dad and grandfather had melted down. Boolits are air cooled. Lead temp is just hot enough to get decent flow from my lee 10 pound drip-o-matic pot. I may build or buy a PID temp controller for it. Bullet mold is run hot enough that the boolits are just frosty, when I run the brass MP mold and shiny to just frosty with the steel mold used for the 30 cal round nose.

I have heard of some people shimming a mold to get another thousandth or two, but I haven't tried it. I considered buying a multi-cavity mold if I end up really liking the cast bullets in rifles. They do run well, and cheap. I still need to clean the 30-30. The muzzle end of the rifling looks to be free of lead streaks. I just see powder residue.

The MP mold, used for my 460 revolver, drops bullets that are very true and to specified size of the mold, .452". MP molds are known to drop as advertised, unlike other molds.

I have some alloy that is mixed with linotype, but I don't know the ratio or hardness.

I just got back into casting, a year ago, when I picked up my revolver. I had cast bullets about 15 years ago, as a teen, but didn't know much about it then either.

[gunboat]

cgt80 -- I think the process of making a mould slightly larger is called "leementing". Check out castboolits forum and do a search --

[CGT80]

I went back and looked at the mold I used for the 159 RN PB boolit in the 30-30. It is an Ideal 308241. No wonder my boolits are on the small side. I remember that I knew that going in, but I didn't want to size them with my .308 die and possibly end up with a bunch of leading.

I cleaned up my Ideal 311413 and I will try some of those. I had a sample boolit or two, and they are a bit bigger. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to do more casting yet. I am going to give the RN boolit a shot in my 30-06. I was actually just searching google to find some recommendations for red dot powder with that boolit in 30-06. I am on CastBoolits, so I will check there as well, and I have some old cast boolit load data books.

[wellfedirishman]

Casting and mold sizing

The process of making a mold slightly bigger is called 'beagling':

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?78746-beagling-a-mold

I do it all the time to expand a .312 to a .315, or a .316 to a .319. For old military rifles like Enfields where the bore is worn this works great in improving accuracy. Cast bullets are easy to make and as long as you don't drive them too fast they can outshoot regular jacketed ammo. I have done a bunch of shooting with heavy cast bullets (247 grain 30 cal) using Trailboss powder, and it is a very accurate combination in my book:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?141735-Range-report-for-Gew-88-with-cast-boolits

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?136086-Range-report-on-K31-with-NOE-247grain-Whisper-bullet

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?140022-Range-Report-for-Mosin-Nagant-with-Scout-Scope-and-cast-boolit-load

At this point Trailboss is just about the only cast bullet powder I use for both rifle cartridges (like above) and cowboy action loads. This combination works great for 30-06, 30-30, 7mm, 6.5mm, 8mm, etc. Basically any early 1900s era military or hunting mid-size cartridge. Of course, purchase a load manual and follow it carefully, you are responsible for the safety of your own loadings.

You need molds suited to each caliber (bore diameter) you want to shoot. I have molds in 6.5 mm, 7mm, 8mm, 30-cal, fat 30-cal (Enfields) etc. NOE (Night Owl Enterprises) up in Utah makes great custom molds:

http://noebulletmolds.com

I use Lee molds for all my pistol shooting, but prefer NOE for rifle bullets.

Cast Boolits is a very helpful casting site, as others have mentioned:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forum.php

Good luck and be safe, and make sure you get all the protective equipment: Heavy leather gloves, heavy pants, closed toe boots, safety glasses, etc. Hot lead can really burn if you are not careful and diligent. Make sure kids, animals, etc. cannot come anywhere near your casting setup. Cast outside or at least somewhere where you have good ventilation.

If you need bullets cast to a certain caliber I would refer you to a gentleman in San Jose who does good work in the Cowboy Action circles:

http://www.whyteleatherworks.com/BigLube.html

cgt80 -- I think the process of making a mould slightly larger is called "leementing". Check out castboolits forum and do a search --

[CGT80]

WOW! That is a ton of info. Thanks.

I am very careful when casting. I use a full face shield with prescription glasses under and my long welding gloves. I also hang out on CastBoolits with the same screen name.

I tried Trail Boss with jacketed bullets, but haven't tried it with lead bullets in rifles yet. I have a few 15 pound kegs of red dot, so I hope to find a good load with it for plinking. Trail boss would be fine for some "precision" rounds.

Thanks for the link on beagling. Maybe that will help my plain base bullet.

Now I have some more studying to do.