A Book recommendation and a question.

I

ilikeoldguns

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I have The Lyman 49th edition book and some older stuff, but I feel like I am missing a lot of the info I need on reloading cast bullets.

Noteably; untl I literally tripped over a bullet lubing kit, I had no idea cast lead bullets were supposed to be lubed at all. I come more from a background of Ammunition+Lubrication=Bad.

So, if any of you fine folks could recommend a good book on cast bullet reloading, that would be great and if anyone could tell me if I really need to lube my cast bullets, that would be great as well.

Thanks for your time!
 
One usually sizes and lubes the cast bullets in one operation with a special tool/machine that forces the lube into the rings of the cast bullet at the same time it "sizes" the bullet to whichever diameter you choose ...
 
In a word or two "you really do need to "lube" or "cover" your cast bullets". I include "cover" as well as there are a few of other options besides "lubing". probably the two most popular methods now include the centuries old "paper patching" and the almost new option of powder coating.. All of the above may be thoroughly studied in the Making Bullets forum in this site or at CastBoolits...the other "bible" on this subject.
 
Wait, I need to size them too?

So What good is what the box says for the diameter of the bullet then?

The Cast Bullet Handbook and ABCs I will try to track down.
 
ilikeoldguns said:
Wait, I need to size them too?

So What good is what the box says for the diameter of the bullet then?

The Cast Bullet Handbook and ABCs I will try to track down.
Click to expand...
If you are buying cast bullets, they do not need further precessing. Load and go. If you are casting your own, the bullets are usually oversize and you "size them down" to make all of them uniform.
 
So What good is what the box says for the diameter of the bullet then?
Click to expand...

It's just an indicator of the nominal size. Some bullets can be used as they drop from the mold. Others are best if sized.

Some of this depends on your mold and some depends on what your barrel is for sizes. The conventional wisdom I've learned from the web and which seems to be proving to be valid from my shooting is that you want the bullets to be between 1 and 2 thou bigger than the groove diameter of the barrel. To find that out you want to "slug" the barrel and measure the resulting rifled pill to determine the groove and land diameters of your rifle.

Another option for lubing the bullets if you're lucky enough to have a mold that drops the bullets at the right size is to pan lube the grooves. To see this go to You Tube and in the search line put in "pan lube bullets" to find a whole whack of videos on how folks do this.

Generally MOST molds will drop the cast bullets out at a usable size. At least the ones I've got are doing that for me. But one has to keep the faces clean and ensure that the mold halves close correctly each time. If you don't you'll get over sized oval bullets which is likely part of the issue for many.

Along with the black powder folks here that do a lot of casting of their own a good source of knowledge and help can be found at Cast Boolits dot com.
 
ilikeoldguns said:
I have The Lyman 49th edition book and some older stuff, but I feel like I am missing a lot of the info I need on reloading cast bullets.

Noteably; untl I literally tripped over a bullet lubing kit, I had no idea cast lead bullets were supposed to be lubed at all. I come more from a background of Ammunition+Lubrication=Bad.

So, if any of you fine folks could recommend a good book on cast bullet reloading, that would be great and if anyone could tell me if I really need to lube my cast bullets, that would be great as well.

Thanks for your time!
Click to expand...

Strange. There isn't much, but the 48th addition p. 81 Getting Started, step #7 says "bullet sizing and lubricating tool." Then probably 9 smallish paragraphs on the topic of sizing and lubricating on p.84 and 85 under the headings Sizing and Lubricating Cast Bullets and Sizing and lubricating tips.

I only speak in defense of the Lyman Manual. I have 4 so far and the Lyman is my favourite and I've come to defend her honour. :) It is very well written IMHO.
 
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