Bullet casting advice

[Flamingo]

I am learning (relearning) to cast bullets. The only non-rifle mold I have is a Lyman 148 grain wadcutter. So far it is going pretty good, but the mold is dropping .360 bullets. I am not sure what my alloy is. I have hauled ~150 lbs of wheel weight ingots back and forth across the country for >25 years... the movers love it.

I only have a few frosty bullets:



During my first casting session I forgot about smoking the mold and I had a few bullets stick in the mold and I had to whack the mold handles pretty hard with a whacking stick. The next session I smoked the mold and had a lot less stickers.

I am not sure if I should get a bullet sizer (probably a Lee APP, but I would love a lubrasizer) or just shoot them as they are. I may try powder coating as well, but I have to admit I am not a fan of the crazy colors I see on most of them. The lipstick look will clash with my floral carved holster (that is still 6 months from being delivered).

All in all it has been pretty fun, and I haven't burned myself (yet).

Any advise on eliminating the sticky bullets? Recommendations on non-primary/zombie colored powder coats would be appreciated. I am also keen on recommendations for a heavy for caliber (180 grains to 200 grains) .358 bullet molds and/or loads for .38 Special to shoot in my GP-100.

[AzShooter]

Your bullets look good so stay with what you are doing.

Definitely get a sizer. The little Lee will work well and then lube with Alox. You'd be better off getting a Lubsizer. It's much faster. It really depends on how many rounds you plan to make per session.

.360 is pretty normal for those wadcutters. They do fly well out of all my guns. I size to .358.

Hope this helps.

[mtnbkr]

Concur with AzShooter. Though, I'd tumble lube the bullets before using the push through Lee sizer, then lube again. When I was using those, I had issues with lead smearing inside if I didn't lube first. I use a lubrasizer now. My buddy powdercoats his and it looks like a good process. You don't have to go with crazy colors, there are plain black and white available.

As for heavy-for-38 bullets, check out NOE. They tend to have more variety than the mainstream mould makers like Lee, Lyman, etc and are priced fairly. I have a 35cal rifle mould for my 35whelen from them.

Chris

[okie john]

Some mold designs stick more than others, especially if they have a lot of square corners. A "true" Keith SWC is one of the worst.

You can harden the bullets by dropping them directly out of the mold into a five-gallon bucket full of water. Fill the bucket about half way and have a sponge floating on the surface, then drop them onto the sponge. Also, keep the bucket away from the lead pot--any water that splashes into it will boil instantly, propelling molten lead all over the room.


Okie John

[john c]

See if those bullets will pass through the throats of your revolver with finger pressure. If so, load them as-is and shoot them. I’d rather have bullets .002 oversized than undersized.

I try to size as little as possible. It’s hard to maintain concentricity when sizing.


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[Flamingo]

The wadcutters won't fit through. I tried an ACME bullet that is .358 with my micrometer and it will push most of the way into the throat with finger pressure.

[john c]

The wadcutters won't fit through. I tried an ACME bullet that is .358 with my micrometer and it will push most of the way into the throat with finger pressure.

You might want to still see how they shoot unsized. First load a dummy round and see if it will chamber correctly. I have a bullet mould that drops bullets at .362, so they won't even chamber in a .38/.357 gun.

If that works, try loading up 6 or 12 of these bullets unsized over a wadcutter charge (my recommendation is 2.9-3.5 gr bullseye) and see how they shoot compared to sized bullets. Worst case is that you'll need to clean your chambers.

With respect to a lubrisizer versus the Lee APP, they APP wins hands down. It's so much faster. Also, I think traditional lube has been overtaken by modern tumble lubes. I use 50% Lee Liquid Alox and 50% mineral spirits. I've had good luck with Lee Liquid Alox and Johnson's Paste wax, cut with mineral spirits. A very good friend of mine has used Rooster Jacket, and I would, too, but I got a bunch of Lee Liquid Alox when Rooster Jacket was between owners. It's the best of the bunch.

Powder coating works, but it is 1) super messy and 2) very time consuming. I would avoid it in favor of Rooster Jacket.

[eb07]

How I harden my cast lead:

I don't have a brinell tester but cast lead is usually at 5-12 depending upon the alloys. You can add tin to the lead to increase hardness. I am not sure what alloys are in my reclaimed ww2 lead.... so I harden. Once hardened they go to around 12-19 which is perfect.

460 gets you about 25
440 gets you about 20
420 gets you about 18 ( this is what I do)

Good info and chart:

http://www.lasc.us/heattreat.htm

[willie]

I am learning (relearning) to cast bullets. The only non-rifle mold I have is a Lyman 148 grain wadcutter. So far it is going pretty good, but the mold is dropping .360 bullets. I am not sure what my alloy is. I have hauled ~150 lbs of wheel weight ingots back and forth across the country for >25 years... the movers love it.

I only have a few frosty bullets:



During my first casting session I forgot about smoking the mold and I had a few bullets stick in the mold and I had to whack the mold handles pretty hard with a whacking stick. The next session I smoked the mold and had a lot less stickers.

I am not sure if I should get a bullet sizer (probably a Lee APP, but I would love a lubrasizer) or just shoot them as they are. I may try powder coating as well, but I have to admit I am not a fan of the crazy colors I see on most of them. The lipstick look will clash with my floral carved holster (that is still 6 months from being delivered).

All in all it has been pretty fun, and I haven't burned myself (yet).

Any advise on eliminating the sticky bullets? Recommendations on non-primary/zombie colored powder coats would be appreciated. I am also keen on recommendations for a heavy for caliber (180 grains to 200 grains) .358 bullet molds and/or loads for .38 Special to shoot in my GP-100.

You can tumble lube and then fire these as cast. The case itself will very likely reduce diameter very slightly. A Lyman M die is a two step expander and eliminates bullet deformation when bullets are being seated.

Cleaning mold with a toothbrush and Kroil sometimes eliminates sticking. Also using a manually operated hand drill to spin a brass bristle brush in the cavities is the next step if the toothbrush doesn't work. Use Kroil here too.

Preheating the mold before casting helps. A cheap hot plate works nicely.

Melting and cleaning wheelwrights in the main casting pot keeps the pot internal surfaces dirty and stops up orifices.

Elmer Keith designed Lyman 358429 for the.38 Spl. These bullets are swc's weighing in the 170's depending on alloy. 200 gr bullets take up a lot of powder space in the .38 Spl case. Pressures rise rapidly as charges are increased. Also these bullets have a very high impact point relative to the point of aim. Even in standard pressure loads recoil is very noticeable. The Keith bullet above is an excellent choice.

[Flamingo]

I ordered a Lee push through sizer and some Alox. Midway was OOS for the Rooster Jacket, which looks really interesting.