Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting tested some RED DOT / CAST loads today

44 Mag Ruger SBH, 6.4grn Alliant Red Dot, WLP, TL-430-240 mold, straight WW air cooled, Alox tumble lubed.
Nice moderate load, no visual signs of pressure, lots easier to shoot that the normal H110 loads. Iron sights, grouped about 3 inches at 25 yards. Not great but that was without a decent rest. Certainly a hell of a lot cheaper to shoot than store bought stuff. Still a surprisingly potent round.











Next trial is same bullet with UNIQUE.

I've always had good results shooting bullets cast from lee molds, and there is something to be said for casting a big pile of bullets, glopping on some tl, and loading them up once they try. I had the convential lube groove version of that mold and it was a good shooter.

I think you'll find somewhwere between 9 and 10 gr of unique will tighten up your group.

That's a very good bullet. I cast and load it exactly the same way, except for .44 Special. By the way, congratulations for being the very first guy I've ever seen who doesn't over-lube with LLA. Most LLA-lubed bullet photos look like chocolate-covered slugs, which is grossly excessive. They should have a very pale honey tint at most.

You might back that RD load off a couple tenths and see what you get with those bullets. Upon Brian Pearce's Handloader recommendation I've burned a couple of pounds of Red Dot 6.2 grains -or so- at a time behind 255 grain cast bullets in the 45 Colt. The lighter bullet in a slightly smaller case should get a similar speed with less powder. I get around 970 fps +/- in my 45s with 6 point something.

Nice report.

Digger,
is the mold a 6 or 2 cavity? Did you "Leement" it with a lap to smooth it up or is it working as delivered?
I am looking at a similar mold for the 38 and those look like just the ticket for plinking with the free lead I get from a local source.

Thanks for the report.

good shooting! Trigger time is what it's all about. The more you practice the better you'll get. Casting and loading and shooting!

Bob It's a 2 cavity mold, and yes it has been lee-mented but those bullets were prior to the lapping. The mold worked OK as delivered.
I accidentally got some lube in one of the cavities and was producing some ugly bullets, so I lee-mented it. Open sprue plate, center a 3/8" nut over the closed cavity and pour lead into the mold cavity up to the top of the nut. Some crest toothpaste and a ratchet and socket does wonders.

digger44,

I recently bought a Lee 6 cavity and haven't used it yet. I am not familiar with the term Lee- mented, please indulge me!!!

Also, nice report and good luck. I'm just now getting back into handgun hunting and am trying to develope plinking loads for my 460 S&W!! memtb

This is just a way to clean / polish the mold cavity.
Some folks drill a hole in the base of a cast bullet and add a screw to it to be able to spin it in the mold. I used a nut. poured lead in thru the nut into the mold cavity,,, lead up to top of nut. You can use a very fine grinding / lapping compound. Toothpaste works in a pinch. Clean and degrease the mold first. Place cast bullet with lapping compound or toothpaste back in mold cavity slow turns are plenty. you can feel it smooth up.

Digger, thats a Great Idea/method. I have three Lyman molds that have been awaiting a tune up. If you originated the idea, have an Attaboy....

I usually use an old broken/dull tap, but they were bitchy to align, this looks to be the way to go.

not my idea. I saw it here somewhere on the net. It does work well though.

Thanks for the picture of the work on the mold. Looks like a good way to get it dropping them out with out the hammering.


I see a bullet mold in my future.

Friend has a Lee Pot.

Will report back.