Casting 9mm for JR carbine

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FLYBYU44

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All I have done before in terms of bullet casting was to cast round balls for my muzzleloader. I recently got a JR carbine and since I have all the components and dies to reload I am reloading 9mm for it. The last thing in the equation to get the price down is to cast lead bullets for it. That went okay, I cast about 100 and sized them in a .356 sizing die. I then use what I used in my muzzleloader for lube, which is coconut oil. I have tons of it as my wife can get it from work really cheap. It isn't an oil as such, but looks like lard until you heat it up a bit and it melts. I never had an issue coating my patches with it, but after about 40 rounds in the JR, I had a ton of lead in the barrel and accuracy was terrible.

I think the coconut oil is essentially vaporizing when shot, so I am looking for something else. I have looked at powdercoat, but I wanted something that is easy and cheap to make up with minimal trips to stores if that makes sense. Trying to keep the operation as cheap and self sufficient as possible.

Any ideas? Has anyone used coconut oil for lube?
 
tumble lube in Lee Alox works good and is simple. A lot of guys have experimented myself included with different ingredients. Castbollits web site has lots if recipes. As others said powder coat works good too.
 
It's not a muzzle loader. I double tumble lube for my 45 Win Mag carbine. No problem's so far. When I did have leading it came out with a couple pass's with a copper brush
 
Powder coat them. Powder is $8-15 a pound (it will do roughly 8000 thousand bullets), Oven is $10-20 at value village or other thrift store, ziplock container is 50 cents. Thats all it takes to coat them.

When I started casting I looked at lubersizers and seen some for over $200. Said heck with that. Got a free oven and some powder then went to town. Casted and coated around 100 pounds if not more. I also pick up some speed compared to what guys lubing are getting. You can also use a softer mix with coating.
 
Have you slugged your barrel to measure what bullet diameter you need?

On a warm summer day your coconut grease will turn into oil since the melting point is only 76 deg.
 
bertn said:
Have you slugged your barrel to measure what bullet diameter you need?

On a warm summer day your coconut grease will turn into oil since the melting point is only 76 deg.
Click to expand...

Yes I did actually, it slugged to .356, so I also think maybe I should leave the bullets as cast which is .358, or is that too oversized I wonder?
 
Just squirt some alox on em in a bucket and shake em a bit an leave on parchment or a plastic bag over night to dry...

Are you using a Lee push thru sizer? It should of came with a bottle of alox.
 
I run my .40 jr with .401, 185 gr cast. That's what I used in my pistol and I never slugged either gun. I used alox at first but now I use a lubsizer. Your coconut oil might not be cutting it, but it's more likely undersized bullets.
Are you sure it's lead fouling? Blowback guns get dirty quickly, just with carbon and crud from powder.
 
Like a complete rookie I loaded 100 rounds too, could have been more I guess. I have reloaded for a long time, I got some range lead from a friend that works for an environmental company and decided to try casting. Like most things I should have done a bit of reading first.
 
FLYBYU44 said:
All I have done before in terms of bullet casting was to cast round balls for my muzzleloader. I recently got a JR carbine and since I have all the components and dies to reload I am reloading 9mm for it. The last thing in the equation to get the price down is to cast lead bullets for it. That went okay, I cast about 100 and sized them in a .356 sizing die. I then use what I used in my muzzleloader for lube, which is coconut oil. I have tons of it as my wife can get it from work really cheap. It isn't an oil as such, but looks like lard until you heat it up a bit and it melts. I never had an issue coating my patches with it, but after about 40 rounds in the JR, I had a ton of lead in the barrel and accuracy was terrible.

I think the coconut oil is essentially vaporizing when shot, so I am looking for something else. I have looked at powdercoat, but I wanted something that is easy and cheap to make up with minimal trips to stores if that makes sense. Trying to keep the operation as cheap and self sufficient as possible.

Any ideas? Has anyone used coconut oil for lube?
Click to expand...

I don't know about coconut oil.

What is your lead alloy? Too soft or too hard are both likely to contribute to leading. Pure wheelweight or equivalent should be about right.

What size are the bullets as-cast? Maybe you don't need to size them. Bigger is better in cast bullets for preventing leading.

Best case - you can use the bullets without sizing them, and you tumble lube with liquid Alox (or coconut oil?).
 
I would save the coconut oil for frying your eggs. As mentioned above, it will make a mess on a hot day; it is often packaged in bottles instead of wide-mouth jars in tropical countries.

It might make an acceptable lube if mixed with something like beeswax, but I would be inclined to use powder coating nowadays.
 
jethunter said:
I don't know about coconut oil.

What is your lead alloy? Too soft or too hard are both likely to contribute to leading. Pure wheelweight or equivalent should be about right.

What size are the bullets as-cast? Maybe you don't need to size them. Bigger is better in cast bullets for preventing leading.

Best case - you can use the bullets without sizing them, and you tumble lube with liquid Alox (or coconut oil?).
Click to expand...

I am using old shotgun slugs for lead. I will have to cast some more and measure, definately larger than .356 as the sizer takes some off.
 
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