If you were going to hand load for your 45 Colt 44 Magnum 357 Magnum Etc what companies hardcast bullets would you load for maximum penetration?

I use these folks exclusively. Good prices and great bullets, rifle or handgun.

Gardener's Cache

http://www.missouribullet.com

Good bullets, good people. Last order I placed on a Thursday afternoon, shipped the next day, delivered on Monday. BnH12 or BnH 18
your choice.

https://www.montanabulletworks.com

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/

400 grainers, baby!

http://www.mattsbullets.com/

I'm partial to Leadhead bullets out of Kansas. Their 270 gr plain base LBT-based WFN is what I prefer with my S&WM329pd. Although I've been pondering trying MBC''s 300gr coated WFN next.

Well.....that narrows it down....doesn't it? LOL

You want 2 things when you're buying commercial cast bullets. Good bullets & good service, not all of them do both, so check them out! Look at MBW & Rimrock for sure. I never buy cast bullets but they both have great reputations for both.
Also, everyone has a different opinion of just what a "hard" cast bullet really is. When Elmer Keith used a hard cast 20-1 bullet (lead-tin) it was only a 10 BHN hardness which isn't very hard but still a good six gun bullet 90% of the time, especially now that most of us are powder coating. If you need to go faster then you need a harder bullet, something up towards Lyman #2 alloy or WW alloy water quenched. Stay away from alloys that are high in antimony & low on tin.

Dick

Rim Rock.

I have shot everything from gophers to deer with cast bullets from a handgun and only shot whatever I could find on sale...

Shrapnel,
When you were over by Custer's battle ground, did you happen to notice the few prairie dogs? Kinda makes me think a spring shoot should be put together.
W. Bill

Thank you so much fellas!!!!

Matt hand casts and in some older molds in tougher to find bullets and will do special orders. The 160gr Round flat for in 38 is a great bullet.

For blasting, I like Missouri bullets posted above.

Laser Cast bullet in Oregon make good a great product also. I use their 350 and 405 grain in my 45-70 loads. They shoot great from 1,100 to 1,800 fps. I can tell you right now, I'm not going to shoot any more of the 1,800 fps again. Damn, out my Marlin they do kick some.

Of course, but I’m not sure they would appreciate shooting them that close to the battlefield...

You are probably right about that. I was just wondering about a shoot somewhere. I do a shoot in Idaho where a few of us park our RV's on BLM land and shoot sage rats for three or four days.

We shoot them around Harlowton, only about 100 miles from here...

.357 Mag. - 180 to 200 grains

.44 Mag. - 300 to 310 grains


.45 Colt. - 360 to 400 grains

memtb

You could also cast your own. It is pretty easy and cheap and fun

I haven't ever killed a big game animal with a handgun, but I sure like the coated bullets from Missouri Bullets. No leading and still all the qualities of a hardcast bullet, including the lower cost.

Here are some of their 315 grain Slammers loaded for my .45LC. John Linebaugh says that one of his ideal big game loads is a 310gr bullet loaded over 13.0 grains of HS-6 at 1000 fps. I'm really hoping to test this load on deer and elk this fall.

Rim Rock for me.

I shoot laser cast 405's in my 45/70 and they work and shoot great. I need some for my 45 colts. some 255's over 9gr of unique should handle business

just a question, why not cast and lube and size your own projectiles?
Ive tried a few dozen different brands and types of commercial cast bullets ,
over the decades and Ive yet to find any available that are really cast with a hard yet not brittle alloy
thus I cast my own, in my experience you want a projectile that expands slowly ,
but not one that is so hard its likely to fracture or break-up if it hits bone.
95% wheel weights plus 5% pure tin is in my experience close to ideal
it rivets out on impact marginally well, but won,t lead bores and the projectile penetrates very well on game,
in most cases you get exits, and excellent accuracy once you've developed proper loads matching the fire arms characteristics and preferences


yeah commercial alloys are expensive and finding a source of lead and tin is becoming much harder lately, but its still an option,
yes it requires extra and semi expensive molds lube/sizer and a furnace, yeah it can be a P.I.T.A. at times,
but its also far cheaper in the long term, and you get to fabricate projectiles that exactly match your firearms requirements,

not ideal but it works
https://www.rotometals.com/1-to-20-bullet-alloy-alloy-95-lead-5-tin/


this tends to be decent
https://www.rotometals.com/linotype-alloy-alloy-5-pounds-4-tin-12-antimony-and-84-lead/

https://www.rotometals.com/bullet-casting-alloys/

When you can prove that a 200 gr. 45 ACP SWC using 92/6/2 for 18 brinell comes in at less than 9.2 cents per bullet shipped, I will believe you. But according to your link it would come in at roughly 175 bullets per 5 pounds or 11.3 cents per bullet without shipping just for the lead. Throw in all the other stuff needed plus time and mess it’s not cheaper.

I provided the links for those few members who may not have other sources
I've over decades,fortunately ,I had the contacts and foresight,
too purchased hundreds of lbs of sail boat ballast ingots,
telephone cable lead sheath , used wheel weights, etc.
back when a lb sold for 10 cents a lb or less.
yes theres zero doubt commercial alloy is expensive,
but there are other sources for suitable alloy components,
it just takes research and work to acquire
check local salvage yards and marinas

Casting my own is another hobby I don't need right now. Much cheaper for me to buy.

I've used Beartooths for 20+ years. They are excellent quality.

I've used Beartooth 300 grain WFN and LC DCG in .44 mags, rifle and revolver. No problems.

In my .45-70, I've used 350, 425, and 525 Beartooths (the Piledriver series), and CastPerformance 420 WFNs, but I realize this is not relevant to your question.

I am about to try some Missouri Bullets 250 grain Pinbusters in a .45 Super. Hunter Supply 275 grain bullets are a possibility.

Damn that's a stomper, Wade. At 1000 fps it will take about anything you turn it on.

I'm not a big believer in 'hard' cast bullets. If you increase bullet weight and keep the velocity up, you're going to shoot through game. Most of what I shoot is 11 to 18 BHN and I'm getting essentially no leading and more accuracy than I can use from field positions.

I've use Missouri Bullets, hand cast 315 grain gas check SWCs and Maplewood Bullets excellent Lee 452-255-RF all for the 45 Colt. Ol' Ed at Maplewood turns out great bullets and gets a lot of my business.

I don't even bother with tin any more. Straight clip-on wheel weight alloy works just as well.

I have never bought commercial alloy, have enough of a supply of wheelweights and other lead. a friend of mine and i cleaned out a plumber's supply house of lead free solder in rolls a few years ago, had a lot of tin in it.
i add about a foot of that rolled solder to the mix of wheelweights, and it seems from testing to come up to about lyman no 2.
also seems to help crinkles go away etc in casting.
leading isn't an issue anymore if it ever was, given powdercoating.

Same here, since the mid-70’s.....works well in handguns and rifles! memtb

No time with all the handloading I do

if you get the alloy correct and if your using wheel weights as your main source of lead,youll want to add about 5%-6% tin to 95% -94% wheel weights by weight youll avoid that brittle issue even casting so hot they look frosted and dropped strait into a 5 gallon bucket of water, strait wheel weights without tin tend to be brittle, the resulting bullet may be fairly hard but if you take and whack one with a 3 lb hammer that has the tin added to the alloy, on the concrete floor it rivets out and doesn,t shatter, most guys just don,t add enough tin.
as mentioned above adding the 5% tin to the alloy helps vastly reduce wrinkles in the cast bullets ,
it reduces bore lead fouling, a bit and helps with the bullet mass retention, in a single projectile,
and promotes riveting vs fracturing on impact with bone,
strait WW alloy works ok, in many guns below about 1400 fps ,
if your bullet design has lots of lube grooves and you use a quality lube
try to cast at abut 750-800 degrees, or just a bit below the temp they look totally frosted on the surface.
Ive killed dozens of hogs with my 44 mag using those 300 grain, bullets and almost all exit, but the few I find are riveted out a bit on the nose

Depends on your definition of brittle I suppose.

This is straight ww alloy, air cooled. In my experience they fragment more when lots of tin is added.

I have always used straight wheel weights both air cooled and water quenched and have never seen one that was brittle.

those pictures you posted certainly look like they should perform rather well,
but they also look considerably softer and exhibit a bit more expansion then I generally see.
bullets I've recovered that consistently chronograph-ed in the 1400-1800 fps range,
from various rifles and a few pistols rarely showed that much expansion
,the few 44 caliber bullets I found that did not exit were about 55-60 caliber, the .458 maybe 68-70 caliber
(most exit and are not recovered) I,ve shot diagonally through dozens of deer and hogs ,
and a couple elk with out recovering a projectile as most exit.

that level of expansion, ( about 10%-15% more )might not seem all that impressive,
but accuracy is very good, and my hand loads have proven
its very consistently, and rapidly lethal with good shot placement

I usually shoot 70% wheel weights & 30% lead & powder coat them for my six guns & I see no need to add any tin.. It's worked for me for many years & many animals. Sometimes I'll juggle it 10% one way or the other depending on animal & velocity & I almost never recover a bullet.

Dick

340mag, nose shape & style (i.e. rn, wfn, hollow point, etc) all play a part, but straight air cooled wheel weights is plenty soft and ductile enough to do anything you want it to with the right nose shape. If it's a hollow point, the hollow point dimensions are pretty important to match to the velocity. Expansion like your picture above is easy in straight WW with the right nose dimensions for the impact velocity.