...and I welcome input from Mike @ Mastercast since this guy lives and breathes cast bullets. And anyone else who can help.
I love cast bullets. If it shoots accurately and it's cheaper, I don't care nearly as much about anything else. If it's not the best ballistic performer, I don't mind. If it makes my handguns dirty, no problem because I enjoy cleaning them. If it's a health hazard indoors, not a big deal to me because I shoot outside. If I can't send them at magnum velocities, I'll load them slower, no problem.
But that's just it. As I understand, shooting undersize cast bullets, especially at a high rate of speed is where you begin to lead up your barrel. It's not the speed, right? It's the gas cutting around the edges of the bullet, melting the lead?
I'm left with questions. I'd like to know how I'm supposed to load my cast bullets and how hard I can push them before I've gone too far. I've seen suggestions of slugging the barrel to see what my particular handgun has to say, but that only leaves me with more questions.
Questions such as--how do I do this? A lead sinker, for fishing is the tool, yes? Which part am I slugging? If it's a revolver, am I pushing lead through the cylinder too, or just from the forcing cone on down? And how far do I push it? Out the muzzle... and if so, how do I accomplish this with a revolver?
I currently load cast in 9, 38/357, 10, 45 and 44 mag.
In 38 and 45, I'm not concerned with pushing bullets fast.
In 9, I don't need fast either, but I do need the load to operate my pistol every time. In 10, I'd like to keep the speed in check, but this is a high power, high speed, high pressure round and the pistol begs to be pushed just so it'll function. In .357, I want to make the rounds feel, sounds and act like a .357 round is supposed to. Can I do that with cast lead, or only jacketed?
In .44 mag, I'm using a T/C Contender with a 10-inch barrel so I've got a stout platform. Should I be staying at or under 1,000 fps, or is the sky the limit?
How do I approach these loads with cast bullets? The bullets I have are from a semi-local caster named Vance Bullets out of Rushelvania, Ohio. There's no BHN hardness listed on these boxes. They also don't list a bullet diameter, just a caliber.
I'm sure that these are questions answered easier if you are familiar with the specific bullet maker. I'd imagine Mike can answer things about his bullets that may not apply to "Joe's Homebrew Bullet Works". Just the same, I seek help on this subject.
I'm disappointed because I tried to figure out all these answers myself on www.castboolits.com, but those folks are so far deep in to their hobby that most everything on there is either over my head or completely uninteresting to me.
So who among us is a cast bullet guru with all the answers I seek?!
I love cast bullets. If it shoots accurately and it's cheaper, I don't care nearly as much about anything else. If it's not the best ballistic performer, I don't mind. If it makes my handguns dirty, no problem because I enjoy cleaning them. If it's a health hazard indoors, not a big deal to me because I shoot outside. If I can't send them at magnum velocities, I'll load them slower, no problem.
But that's just it. As I understand, shooting undersize cast bullets, especially at a high rate of speed is where you begin to lead up your barrel. It's not the speed, right? It's the gas cutting around the edges of the bullet, melting the lead?
I'm left with questions. I'd like to know how I'm supposed to load my cast bullets and how hard I can push them before I've gone too far. I've seen suggestions of slugging the barrel to see what my particular handgun has to say, but that only leaves me with more questions.
Questions such as--how do I do this? A lead sinker, for fishing is the tool, yes? Which part am I slugging? If it's a revolver, am I pushing lead through the cylinder too, or just from the forcing cone on down? And how far do I push it? Out the muzzle... and if so, how do I accomplish this with a revolver?
I currently load cast in 9, 38/357, 10, 45 and 44 mag.
In 38 and 45, I'm not concerned with pushing bullets fast.
In 9, I don't need fast either, but I do need the load to operate my pistol every time. In 10, I'd like to keep the speed in check, but this is a high power, high speed, high pressure round and the pistol begs to be pushed just so it'll function. In .357, I want to make the rounds feel, sounds and act like a .357 round is supposed to. Can I do that with cast lead, or only jacketed?
In .44 mag, I'm using a T/C Contender with a 10-inch barrel so I've got a stout platform. Should I be staying at or under 1,000 fps, or is the sky the limit?
How do I approach these loads with cast bullets? The bullets I have are from a semi-local caster named Vance Bullets out of Rushelvania, Ohio. There's no BHN hardness listed on these boxes. They also don't list a bullet diameter, just a caliber.
I'm sure that these are questions answered easier if you are familiar with the specific bullet maker. I'd imagine Mike can answer things about his bullets that may not apply to "Joe's Homebrew Bullet Works". Just the same, I seek help on this subject.
I'm disappointed because I tried to figure out all these answers myself on www.castboolits.com, but those folks are so far deep in to their hobby that most everything on there is either over my head or completely uninteresting to me.
So who among us is a cast bullet guru with all the answers I seek?!