Casting fun

P-J

P-J

CGN Regular
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Wild West
Well, today I am home sick but not sick enough to hold me down!

I had cast some 170grn Lee FP bullets awhile ago, just today I figured out a way to lube them (melted bullet lube/wax, dipped GC'd bullet and then it through the lee sizer) and my first load was really good.

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On my measured 100 yard range I got 3" 5 shot groups out of my 20" model 94 and 2" 5 shot groups from my 16" Trapper. thats better then I can do with factory ammo!

Velocities I was blasting at were ~2030 from the trapper, and ~2125 from the 20" barrel. Best of all, is both my sights are dead on now too!

I didn't notice any leading, but I only fired about 20 shots through each gun, how many rounds is normal before you see leading from a bad load?

When I first fired these through the chrono I thought I was way to hot and would have leading for sure.... but it seems ok, still nice shiny bores with lube traces on the muzzle right after shooting.

All in all, Unless I cast a ton, these weren't any cheaper then just buying bullets, but it is something fun to do. I know now if I can't buy projectiles anymore I can atleast make em :)
 
I'm just getting into casting and can't believe how satisfying it is. Can't compare to high quantity savings from buying bulk pojectiles, what you can't buy skills and knowledge that it gives you. I'm learning allot and it's allot of fun.
 
I agree with gunlaker, if you are going to get leading you will see it in 10 to 20 shots.

Last summer I played a bit with reduced loads and plain based WW cast bullets. I guess I didn't reduce the load enough because the leading showed up really fast.
 
I agree with Gunlaker and Cactus, if you were going to have a leading problem it would have shown up already for you... I load cast bullets in the .32 Spcl, darn near identical to the 30-30. You are definitely doing things right if you are getting the speed you are getting without lead.

Just curious, what are you using for bullet alloy? Are they water quenched too?
 
Just WW, Water quenched from the mold.

I thought if these didn't work I would experiment with actually adding zince and pooring extra hot. But, they seem to work well.
 
Thanks, for the info PJ...

Just a word of caution on zinc... Do some reasearch on that, from what I recall it will give you nothing but headaches if you get your pot contaminated with it, and it will cause your bullets to not fill out properly...

I have had good luck using nickel babitt as a hardner when I need extra hard bullets.
 
P-J said:
Just WW, Water quenched from the mold.

I thought if these didn't work I would experiment with actually adding zince and pooring extra hot. But, they seem to work well.
Click to expand...

NO! Don't add zinc, as it will cause the alloy to not fill out the mold properly, no matter what you do. What you might want to do is add tin, this hardens up the alloy. Tin is easy to come by, sold as lead-free solder for plumbers. Not cheap, but easy to find.

However, if you're getting good results as is, I'd leave well enough alone.
 
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