Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting from ground 0

if you were to build a setup from the ground up:

so cartridge, to reloading dies, casting equipment and just for fun we could even include firearm too

what's ur ideal setup for casting and shooting say a 1 to 2k rounds a year. we have access to lots of free lead.

weighing pros and cons of say a lever gun in 357 magnum for the kids to have fun on.

vs say a bolt gun in 308. or heck even a 223 bolt gun.

this is wide open. would like decent accuracy to keep it relevant. and not worry about stockpiling bullets and powder. we got a couple 4lb jugs of free pistol powder from a local grey beard.

been hiking a billion miles getting into shape. good to chew on something while ur putting in the work.

Oh my God, what a question!!

Very first step, before buying a single thing, and before acting on any advice from anybody regarding equipment (including me): get a copy of Lyman's cast bullet handbook, for sure, and any other cast bullet books you can lay your hands on. Read the how-to section of the book, then re-read it. That way you can start formulating in your mind what gear you'll need that'll suit your goal, and can ask intelligent questions and understand the answers you'll get. At that point start inquiring of the old hands for practical advice.

One thing to know before jumping in: just how involved do you want to get? Are you a techno-junkie who revels in having lots of "stuff", or are you a K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid) kind of guy?

Personally, of your choices of gun to start casting for, I would go with the .357 Magnum lever gun. Easy to load for, easy to cast for, and very versatile for everything from backyard plinking to whacking deer at fairly close range - and a hoot to shoot. The .223 is more for someone who's attained a little knowledge in casting - not difficult, for sure, but requires a bit of experience. The .357 is very forgiving. A .308 is excellent, and lots of effort has gone into providing a dizzying array of .30 molds, but I still think the .357 is easier to get your feet wet with.

Good luck and have fun!!

I agree on the 357. I’d be looking for a Ruger 77/357 most likely myself. Or if I had to have a lever rifle I’d go ahead and find a late model Winchester 92, much more gun for the money.

I’d recommend that if you’re serious and want to get into the hobby that you buy a good mold right out of the gate. I’m cheap and I limped along with Lees and junk Lymans that I rehabbed in one way or another since they were cheap. It’s so much more enjoyable when you don’t have to fight with your equipment.

A nice mold in a RNFP or TC nose profile or even a RN design if it’s just for targets, all of these shapes will feed well in a rifle. A set of carbide 38sp dies. A sack of brass and a keg of Unique, 231, Power Pistol, or some other medium burn rate powder will have the potential for a lot of fun.

This is going to be a long read.

Even though you sound like a younger man....Maybe it'd be fun to widen your horizon to some old classics (nothing in the world wrong with the .357 for sure) but records lasting a hundred years were set with such dinosaurs as the .32-40, .38-55 or even the versatile .38-40. If you prefer the common and available fine, it makes good sense. If you go classic, there are firearms that range from fairly cheap, "I think it'll clean up and I can make it shoot" to old closet queens with perfect bores and collector value. Only accurate rifles are interesting, and a well maintained, properly fed classic doesn't give up much, if anything, to the mass produced rifles of today.

I agree with the practical 357(38 Special), but I would entertain a 1894cl 32-20 Marlin and throw a Skinner peep on it, maybe snag a Ruger Blackhawk to go with it or an old Smith or Colt.

I used to use a 115 FN for both purposes, lots of pistol powders work in it, Blackhorn or the real deal.

Get a four or five cavity NOE, I prefer RCBS dies, lubesizer and the only pots I'd recommend are backordered or are no longer made. A Star if you're serious on the sizer.

Bolt gun in either 308 or 358.
Both have a wide variety of loading velocities and projies.

I've had more fun with casting the .358" in 35 rem and whelen than the 308, but 308 is close. Pistol bullets have shot amazingly well in the whelen at modest speeds. It's a hoot to show up with it at a handgun only range that requires lead bullets and pistol velocities. I enjoy them all, but 35 and 308 are my favorites. I seldom cast 22's and 45-70, but they work there too.

Where you going to shoot? Free lead lasts forever if your smart enough to build and use a reclaimable backstop from the get go. Especially when you consider tin and antimony are not free and damned expensive to replace when you don't recover it. Address that first. You asked..mb

Dan,

I can't get that link to work for me.

Ed

I cast for a lot of stuff, and for different reasons.

357 in a lever action with 16" (or longer) barrel will work well for whitetail where I am. And you can shoot 38 through it too.

What I like about 38 special, it's inherently subsonic. And if using a good 9mm suppressor on it, is just as quiet (or maybe even moreso) than 147 gr 9mm subsonics.

Even +P 38 are subsonic, even out of a 16 inch barrel, so it is a really good host caliber.

The same applies to 44 magnum and 44 special too.

But like I said, I cast for a lot of things. 45acp. 40/10mm. 9mm. 12 gauge slug. There are others, but I don't cast for full bore rifle rounds. I don't like using gas checks and to me, pistol caliber stuff (or subsonic rifle) stuff is more what interests me.

I would also suggest buying a small toaster oven from a thrift store and do your own powder coating as well. I do the shake n bake method. Works really well. Cheap too and saves some work scrubbing the bore of your gun(s) too.

Another bonus about pistol calibers.

They use A LOT less powder per charge too. You can load around three or four 38 special for every one 223.

You can load ~five or more 357 for every one 308.

Dunno why, it works for me. Try your Googlefoo on "Los Angeles Silhouette Club" and see what pops up. The link above is for the "Notes" page...the informative page.

The guy hasn't even cast his first bullet yet....

What's this "bore scrubbing" you refer to? I can't remember the last time I scrubbed leading out of a bore, and I have yet to powder coat my first bullet (although I have shot a few that were gifted me through one gun only, successive experiments in that gun have been with traditional bullets and my results were then better). PC'ing is superfluous, IMO, for .38 Special/.357 Magnum. Join the fad and try it if you must, but shooters got along fine for over a century without it, and those who didn't get along fine without it were doing something drastically wrong.

^^^^This should be engraved on Mt Rushmore^^^

This is just plain Jane w/o powder coat.



Why would I start powder coating?

35 whelen for rifle

easy enough to shoot hi power loads and plinkers for all seasons.

357mag for pistol, same reason

I'm with gnoahhh, flintlocke, & DigitalDan on this powder coat thing. Have nothing against it but have no personal reason to go there.

If, like most folks, you have a lubesizer like the RCBS or Star you can (must) lube and size at the same time ... one operation. Bullet fit is key and if you are lucky enough to have a mold that casts the exactly correct bullet diameter than no sizer is needed. Chances of that happening are slim though.

Point is that you are likely to need to size your bullets. You will then also need to lube. Lubing makes sizing easier so why not do both operations at the same time.

Have not seen the point in powder coating - yet.

Why wasn't the word "creedmoor" incorporated into the powder coating concept from the very beginning?

There are other ways. I have three lubesizers. None of them will size a bullet straight. They all want to cock the bullet sideways when entering the die. Because of this I size all of my bullets through a Lee push through die. NOE also offers a push through system but I have no experience with it. I then lube my bullets is one of the lubesizers in a die that is at least .001" larger than my bullets. I don't have crooked bullets this way. Many say that your bullets should be at least .001" or more larger than your bore. I take a different approach which has worked very well for me. I use the largest bullet that will fit in the neck of the case and still chamber in my rifle. This will also result in enhanced accuracy. I have not seen the point in powder coating either.
Good Luck all!
Rick

You discovered that not all lubrisizers are created equal. I had a Lyman 45 that was so misaligned that I ended up throwing it in the trash rather than foist it onto someone else. Another sizer, a Lyman 450, has a loose sloppy fitting ram that dances all over the place but I found that to be an advantage as it self-centers as the bullet enters the die. The other two sizers I use, an RCBS and a Saeco, were nicely line bored at the factory and perform dead nuts straight. (I tend to keep two of the sizers set up for my most commonly used handgun bullets and the Saeco gets switched around a lot for rifle sizes.)

When I get serious about pure accuracy in a rifle I strive to have a mold created that matches the throat in the body of the bullet and the bore diameter (not groove diameter) in the nose, created out of a specific alloy. Custom mold makers today are very adept at making molds that drop bullets at a prescribed diameter if they know what alloy you intend to use. (Tom at Accurate Molds is a wizard at that.) Then I'll either pan lube the bullets or lube them in a machine with a slightly oversize die like Rick does - either way allows their use as-cast. If it's a gas checked bullet the check either gets installed via the gas check seating feature on the Saeco or in a push-through die. Off the shelf molds often involve application of skullduggery skills to make work which makes for lots of chatter on advice forums. By following simple protocols for determining optimal size, predicting a favorable alloy, going with a known design and employing a moldmaker who knows his stuff, then success right out of the gate has great odds of happening (which translates into satisfied cast bullet shooters). It's really that simple. Where guys get in trouble is when they don't follow basic protocols, listen to Jake down at the corner bar, view old wive's tales as gospel when trying to make mass production molds match their needs. Don't get me wrong, there's lots of fun to be had there. Outwitting a recalcitrant old gun with a recalcitrant old mold has its own rewards!

Case in point: I went through three Lyman/Ideal #311284 molds before I found one with nose dimensions that suited a Krag rifle. Could've saved time and money had I just called Tom at Accurate Molds.....

As for bullets being .001" over bore diameter (and I'll guess you actually mean groove diameter, as bore diameter is across the tops of the lands, ie: the bore before it's rifled), that's a hit-or-miss proposition. It sometimes coincides with throat diameter, sometimes not, and it's throat diameter that drives best performance. (I have another Krag with a .312" throat and .309 groove diameter/.302 bore diameter which will pose a challenge.) Ditto making bullets at largest size to fit a case and still chamber - not a bad approach, but a crude acknowledgement of throat fit.

I guess that whole diatribe partially explains one reason I drag my feet over powder coating. It's one more fly in the ointment when chasing those oh-so-critical dimensions of a cast bullet.

I recently upgraded to a Star sizer after wrestling with my RCBS that was sizing crooked. I PMed with a poster here who has given me good advice in the past and we figured it out and got the RCBS running again. But I’m pretty sure after I get caught up buying all the dies I need, I’m not going back to a push pull sizer.

I sized a few hundred bullets night before last, in about 1/3 of the time it would have taken with the RCBS. They’re all straight too.