Casting bullets

[ninjastar310]

Hi all I was just got into casting bullets and I was wondering if the casted bullets have to be perfect from the base to the lube groves. Also does anyone have any tips for casting bullets?

[shooterbill]

The closer the bullets are to perfect, the better they will shoot. I know guys that skip some of the steps in casting and their ammo still goes bang. I like my rounds to be as good as I can make them. Look at videos on YouTube and read as much as you can.

[koehn,jim]

Go to the castboolits website and you will find a ton of information. the base of a cast bullet is very important to the accuracy of that bullet. the sides of the bullet are not as important as the base as they will be resised by the barrell. What caliber and weight of bullet are you using.

[gemoose23]

for higher velocities, there are options of Paper patching and gas checks to ensure "perfect" bullet bottoms and sealing.

do not go to http://castboolits.gunloads.com/ you will start joining group buys for pretty mold blocks like this:


That make bullets like this:

[thomashoward]

for higher velocities, there are options of Paper patching and gas checks to ensure "perfect" bullet bottoms and sealing.

do not go to http://castboolits.gunloads.com/ you will start joining group buys for pretty mold blocks like this:


That make bullets like this:

OK, now you've done it

[gemoose23]

OK, now you've done it

you are welcome.. luckily group buys take 1 month too 12+ months over there.. depending who's making the molds..

I am still waiting, but it has allowed me to keep gathering "stuff" and practice on some Lee moulds once the weather gets better here.

[sargenv]

That one on the left has some strange frosting or crystallizing on top.. I wonder which alloy he is using?

In most cases, it really depends on the range that you will be shooting.. if under 30 yards, they don't need be perfect.. if shooting past 50 yards, I'd try to get them as perfect as possible.. it also depends on what you want to hit.. Tiny targets at long distance? Try for consistency.. 10" plate @ 100 yards.. don't need to be as perfect..

[J-cat]

It's not hard to get perfect bullets. You have to cast at the correct temperature for the alloy and get it to fill out the mold. So the mold needs to be hot too. Then you need to keep the alloy hot while pouring it into the mold. What I do is this: I marry the male spout on the ladle with the female funnel in the sprue plate. I hold them together for five seconds. What this does is transfers heat to the sprue plate and gets the bases to fill out. In fact, my bases are razor sharp and if they were not made of lead they would cut skin. This slows down your casting a bit but its well worth the results. Otherwise the bases will be slightly rounded and will vary. The sprue plate is the one thing on the mold that loses heat the fastest and it just happens the quality of the base of the bullet is the most important factor in accuracy.

[Bill Steele]

I occasionally shoot next to a guy at the range who casts his own bullets for his vintage rifles. He shoots in competition with these guns and is very focused on quality and consistency. The bullets he casts are more perfect in every respect than anything you could buy commerically.

I have watched him shoot 10 shots through the same hole at 100yds with open tang sights. Not a large ragged hole, a single round hole, just slightly larger than the original caliber.

The tools he uses to get these results are decidedly primitive, mainly it is about his know-how and skill.

[CalTeacher]

Make sure you keep your mold at the optimum temperature, and add a bit of tin to your lead to help properly fill the cavities. Run your bullets through a sizing die for uniform sizing.

[koehn,jim]

gemoose23 is that a Mihec mold you are showing.

[ninjastar310]

Go to the castboolits website and you will find a ton of information. the base of a cast bullet is very important to the accuracy of that bullet. the sides of the bullet are not as important as the base as they will be resised by the barrell. What caliber and weight of bullet are you using.

Well at the current moment I cast for my 45acp and I use the lee 45acp mold that I can tumble lube. But I was wondering I heard that I didnt have to size most of the time. Also I will be useing these rounds for practice and competition use

[bohoki]

my goal is just to weed out ones that cast undersize with the lee sizer die

some of the butts look rounded over but i figure at my low velocity its not critical

[J-cat]

Well at the current moment I cast for my 45acp and I use the lee 45acp mold that I can tumble lube. But I was wondering I heard that I didnt have to size most of the time. Also I will be useing these rounds for practice and competition use

Yes, you can shoot them as cast. They will prolly shoot better that way.

[ninjastar310]

But for imperfected bullets, is it doesnt have to be perfect if it were just for practice vs the ones I used for competitions right? And if i shoot imperfect bullets, does it really affect accuracy since Im shooting under 50yards?