Can anyone point me toward a cast bullet primer? I've run them in pistol rounds but I'd like to try some in my new .35 Remington. I've got 500 .358 rnfp, 158gr. That I bought for a .38 revolver years ago. I've gathered about 10 grains of unique should work well for a low recoil plinking load. Will I need to bell the brass to load them? Think I can make. 38 special dies work for that, not sure if the standard two die set I have will bell the brass.

no special primers needed, your regular small pistol or large pistol or small rifle or large rifle primers will work.

Yes, flair the brass then seat the projectile then just take the belling out of the case, no real need to crimp a lot.

as far as powder charges, just consult a reloading manual, what ever wt jackted bullet they use substitute your same wt lead bullet.

I never had good luck with pistol primers in rifle cases. I'd use rifle primers with rifle cases and vice versa with pistols.

If you could find any of the Lyman books it will help you get to where you want to go.
You might look at castboolits.com for more ideas.Some folks are shooting the same setup and have done a lot of work for you already.

I didn't mean primer as in the thing that makes the spark...more in a short read. Took me a couple of days to figure out the strange responses! lol

I tried a similar bullet in my 35 Rem Ballard rifled Marlin with Trailboss without much luck. I suggest Richard Lee's Modern Reloading and the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook.

+1 on the Lyman book. An excellent primer.

Before doing anything though, I would slug the bore of your rifle to determine groove diameter. Optimal plain base cast bullet performance in a rifle almost demands its diameter be a couple thousandths over that dimension. (They'll work if undersized, but accuracy may suffer as well as probably induce leading. One way to find out.)

There is a lot of usefull information on this site,

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

Von Gruff.

I'm a newbie too, haven't cast a bullet yet as I'm still looking for a place locally that has WW I can buy. but I have been checking out a few of the youtube videos, for me it helps watching someone do it as they axplain why they do it this way or that. after seeing a bunch of set ups I've been trying to tailor the set up I'm putting together how I feel it would best suit me, then I'll start and change things a little if I see fit once I'm up and running. I'm still looking for a melting pot. can a guy use the same pot for casting out of as for making ingots? or is there a contamination issue?

When smelting to make ingots I use a large stainless flat bottom dog dish, heat slowly on a turkey fryer burner so any zinc weights don't melt, skim off the steel clips and flux well with sawdust or dry oak leaves, and mold in a muffin tin.
Way too messy for a casting furnace.

thats kinda what I thought but I wasn't sure. thank you for the clarification. I have a small 8"x4"x4" cast iron pot I picked up at an antique store, looks to have been casted in before perhaps, I'm thinking it would work great for smelting, but I'm unsure how to heat it. would a simple hot plate work? or can I use the burner from my propane grill to heat it? I'm thinkin if I do I might take it off the grill and plumb it to a tank and make a metal shroud to hold the pot and keep heat inside. whats best to get the lead into the muffin tin for ingots? the ladle I have is small, I think its a lee. would a simple used ladle from a thrift store work? is that a good place to find a muffin tin too?

Bigger is better for the smelting pot, I do batches rather than adding a little at a time to stay away from the fumes and avoid spatter. A thrift store perforated spoon and a good sized soup ladle work great. Be careful of plastic handles, this stuff is hotter'n my venison chilli. Another handy item is a point and shoot non-contact digital thermometer. I mark my alloy that has tin added by putting a green leaf in the muffin tin before pouring, leaves a fossil like impression.
Be sure to quarantine your equipment so nobody cooks for consumption with any of it.

ok, so the smelting pot doesn't have to be cast iron? I can use an old sauce pan? whats the best way to heat a large pan? will my burner idea work?

cast iron is the best, alum or other material will "melt" and you'll have a mess. May not melt the first or the 10th time but it will.

yep get a big soup ladle, from a thrift store, get a good stainless steel one, works great!

I use a big flat bottom stainless dog dish, works great. Don't forget how heavy it gets. The turkey fryer burner I use is also used to boil a 15 gal keg full of beer.

Find a cast iron dutch oven. Coleman stove on the porch for heat. Check some junk sales for stuff from a blacksmith shop for a big ladle.

This is my set-up. I started with what I could find as cast off heavy botomed stainless steel kitchen pots on a camp burner and it has been very effective for a whole lot of years and uncounted bullets. Simple works. The ply tray is for the bullets as cast.





Von Gruff.

Buy a Lee bottom feed elecric pot, Lee molds, Lee neck expander die, Lee liquid lube and a Lee bullet sizing die to fit your press. Get some beeswax for flux and check with your local tire stores for junk wheelweights. Buy the Lyman cast bullet book and read it several times.
Use Trailboss Powder and LR primers. You'll be shooting for the price of 22 RF ammo.
Results from bone stock Ruger 77 w/2.5X scope @100. 31 gr 4198, 15gr cornmeal, 1600 fps, 292 gr NEI GC, SPG lube, 100 yards.
Bullet below, expanded one dug out of clay berm @ 300 yards.
May will mark my 55th years shooting cast bullets....they work and kill.

The best part of bullet casting is just what interthem is saying. inexpensive shooting and working up a load that will shoot straight. There is a great deal of satisfaction in taking a game animal with your own cast bullet.

Alan