Why do you cast, or why dont you cast?

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chris in va

New member
Now that I have the correct formula for 9mm and 45acp, there's simply no way I'd go back to FMJ considering how much they cost. I can crank out 500 9mm boolits for about $5 worth of wheelweights.

If you're concerned about lead exposure just wear gloves and a respirator.
 
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kraigwy

New member
With me, its varied reasons.

Pistols & revolvers, its cheaper and seems to me more accurate.

Rifles: I use to cast for the M1A so I could practice in an indoor range on 50 ft SM targets in the winter.

To save time and money, I can practice on reduced target at 100 yards for compition.

I can shoot reduce loads in my heavy rifles without getting beat up. Try compairing a 95 grns of 4831 pushing a 400 grn 416 rigby vs. a cast 416 bullet pushed by Trailboss, One hurts and one is a pleasure to shoot.

I built my grandson a 308, to get him to learn to shoot instead of flinch, I load him up cast bullets pushed by trailboss at reduced targets at 25 yards.

In BPCR,...............well you are just suppose to shoot cast bullets, its the law.
 
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hangfirew8

New member
45ACP is 40 cents a shot for the plain stuff, half a dollar and more for the fancy stuff. :eek:

Cast, we are talking about 6 or 7 cents a shot depending on how long ago I bought the primers (longer ago, cheaper the price).

I have a .310" bore 30/06 that doesn't shoot copper bullets accurately, but I can cast .310-.311 bullets for it and make it accurate.

Its almost impossible to shoot out the throat of a rifle with cast bullets.

I can not only afford to shoot all day, but moderate recoil means I CAN shoot all day.

Some cartridges were originally intended for cast bullets (38 Special, 45 Colt), and receive no benefit from jacketed bullets.
 
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Slamfire

New member
I cast 308 rifle bullets and 58 Caliber Mini Balls.

Because I cannot find local sources.

My lead pistol bullets, I buy. I shoot too many of them to spend time casting.

Finding lead, making ingots takes a lot of time.
ReducedDSCN7698Scraplead.jpg


ReducedGoodViewofpouringingotsDSCN8.jpg


Melting, pouring lead takes too long, sizing and lubing take too long. Overall, casting is great if you have a lot of time on your hands.

ReducedLyman450with308bulletread-1.jpg
 
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Magnum Mike

New member
I like to do it!! I'm a tight wad plus I've got a ton of lead. It go hand in hand with my shot making and reloading. I still need to perfect my shot making but it breaks targets. The bullets work great and I reload for next to nothing. Makes my friends jealous! :D
 
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GP100man

New member
Ya know what ?? I think I shoot so I can cast & reload , no I cast so shootin will be cheaper ,NO I cast so I can get styles of bullets I want !!!

The heck with it MY NAME IS GP100man & I`M ADDICTED TO ANYTHING DEALIN WITH FIREARMS !!!


TOO MUCH TIME !!! Just cut the TV off for a week & we`ll see :D:D

I watch the news ,Supranos & lock & load thursdays , couple of movies with the girls a month , That`s it !
 
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Lavid2002

New member
I started the process. I collected a bunch of WW's and have smelted a little over 100 lb in muffin ingots : D

Its pretty fun too...Feels like im getting paid to do it :p
 
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salvadore

Moderator
coupla months ago I shot ten 32/20s from my marlin 94cl into a little over 2" at 100yds with my cast lyman gascheck @ 1600, 1700 fps, with 8 of them in 1.25". Ya can't get that kinda satisfaction from a $40 box of factory.
 
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WESHOOT2

New member
I didn't; I don't; I don't plan to

I can buy superb yet affordable lead bullets from Penn Bullets and Meister.
For certain applications I can buy Beartooth, and Cast Performance, Oregon Trail, or Leadheads, or Lyman, or a million others.

I can buy them easier than make them.
 
D

Del

New member
Lead bullits in 1911

Gentilemen,
I am going to give reloading a try along with casting, but I always thought bare lead was not a good idea for the 11s.


Thanks very much Del
 
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snuffy

New member
I didn't; I don't; I don't plan to
I can buy superb yet affordable lead bullets from Penn Bullets and Meister.
For certain applications I can buy Beartooth, and Cast Performance, Oregon Trail, or Leadheads, or Lyman, or a million others.

I can buy them easier than make them.
Click to expand...

But can you order them custom alloyed, sized other than the standard for caliber, AND with a lube of your choice?? Of course not. You wanna play ya have to pay, or in this case you want to load custom lead bullets, you have to make them yourself. Time consuming? Yes. I can have bullets ready to load in as little as 3 hours, up to 200 that is. Some may take a little longer, especially if they're gas checked, takes a bit longer to apply the gas check.

Gentilemen,
I am going to give reloading a try along with casting, but I always thought bare lead was not a good idea for the 11s.


Thanks very much Del
Click to expand...

Who told you that? They're not bare, they're lubed with various type of grease. 45 acp bullets don't have to be very hard either. It's a low pressure cartridge, so it doesn't tend to have too much trouble with leading.
 
A

armoredman

New member
I have a casting setup I use sometimes. Cast today, first time in over a year, ran out of bullets! Also casting a new 160grain .311 sized gas checked boolit to use in my CZ 527 7.62x39mm. Excited to get those started, and see how it does, since in this 1.5 horse town everything has to be ordered in. I got lead from some buddies, so I do NOT smelt, but I won't run out of lead any time soon. :)
I like it, and it is cheap and easy. I also agree, it MUST be treated with respect, I wear heavy leather gloves, kevlar arm guards, goggles, apron, etc.
 
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IllinoisCoyoteHunter

New member
Why do I cast??? Well...

I cast because 460 SW mags and 454 Casull rounds are expensive and I like to shoot more than 20 rounds through my guns per year. :D

These boolits courtesy of a Night Owl Enterprises mold. These babies are 220 grn gas checked HP's.

DSC00990.jpg
 
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Lavid2002

New member
Wow...

Nice boolits ICH : D



Edit: ICH...you got me wondering how you got your brass so SHINY! Tumble after loading perhaps? Then I got to wondering....Can I tumble lead heads after they're loaded? Or will I contaminate my media with lead or something....Maybe it will mess up the boolit?

I dont know....

-Dave
 
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IllinoisCoyoteHunter

New member
That is brand new unfired brass. The 454 brass is trimmed down 460 brass. I don't tumble live rounds, but don't see a problem with it...as long as you don't do it for a long time.
 
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