Cast Bullets

S

Slowshot

Member
Today, while rereading the Lyman's Reloading Handbook, I became intrigued with the idea of cast bullets. Has anyone on this site, had any experience with casting your own bullets? If so, how did it turn out in regard to accuracy? That is, was it worth the bother?
 
Cast bullets - small groups?

Is it worth the bother, many people, myself included, think so, yes.

You will not be able to match the performance of jacketed bullets but you can have some very satisfying shooting and reloading.

I have shot groups under 1 MOA using gas checked, cast, 6mm bullets at 100 yards and have read contest results where half MOA was approached but not bettered using .30 cal.

Now that is not good enough for some people. If you don't already have enough variables to play with this is a way to add more, alloy, lube, check, bump, size.

I want to build a .30 PPC to shoot cast bullet benchrest for score.

Tim
 
I believe the current 10 shot cast bullet group record for 200 yards is .521. This was fired by James Walsh using a 32-40 Winchester HiWall. The bullets did not have gas checks.

I've shot quite a few 100 yard 5 shot groups under 1 inch using a New England Firearms single shot in 45-70. I would get 2 or 3 under an inch and then get radical flyers until I started breech seating the bullets. After that, one inch groups were common as long as I was careful to place the rifle on the rest and hold it exactly the same way for each shot and to use over 500 grain bullets. My son has shot 100 yard sub one inch groups with our 1875 C Sharps with iron sights, again using breech seated bullets weighing 525 or 535 grains. The best I have done with iron sights is just under 2 inches.

The 30PPC cast bullet rifle sounds interesting. From my experience, I would recommend breech seating the bullets. It eliminates so many variables.
 
Cast bullets

Casting your own is a completely different discipline with all together different results achieved. That said, i cast for a 45 cal. 1874 Sharps (reproduction) that i enjoy as much as any of my jacketed rifles. The casting, sizing and lubing, loading (black powder for me) are as simple or complex and satisfying as one chooses to make it

Vita est breves
jerrold
 
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jerroldsr said:
Casting your own is a completely different discipline with all together different results achieved. That said, i cast for a 45 cal. 1874 Sharps (reproduction) that i enjoy as much as any of my jacketed rifles. The casting, sizing and lubing, loading (black powder for me) are as simple or complex as satisfying as one chooses to make it

Vita est breves
jerrold
Click to expand...

What he said. I enjoy cast bullets out of my 30-30 with a tang sight. They shoot better then jacketed by a wide margin. Cheap to shoot, easy recoil and better accuracy from my rifle. I use cast bullets for 100 yd offhand practice or teaching new shooters. If you can find some used equipment that is a bonus or try buying some cast bullets first to see how you like it.
 
There are many cast bullet suppliers out there, and the few that I have
bought from have been excellent. I just joined the Beeson Club in Etna Green, Ind. and they only allow cast bullets with out G/C . I am still
new with cast bullets and I don't want to bother with casting them myself.
I spend most of my time with 1,000 yard BR but, I am a gun nut and I love
the old classic guns too. :D It's a Hoot shooting an old 45-70 Sharps Buffalo
Rifle.
 
I used to cast my own bullets, and still have all the equipment. But at this point in my life, I do not do the volume of shooting that would really justify all the fussing around and work.

I have had good luck with LaserCast brand bullets for use in my .44 Magnum. They are accurate and when loaded at about 900 fps they do not lead the barrel.

I am sure there are other brands that are also good. But be careful, I have seen postings warning against a couple of brands that do not seem real satisfactory.
 
bullet casting

I began casting about 25 years ago after visiting the home of a police office and watching him cast some .38 round nose. It is addicting to say the least. At least it was for me. Only time I have ever been hurt doing it is when i violated basic safety and did stupid things. I cast for ML, hand guns, and rifle. Even tried my hand at making shot.....never tried that again...lol. I have a siamese mauser barreled to .45-70 and I love to load for it.
 
I could not agree with you more. The worst thing to do is get into it to only save money on bullets. You definitly need to have the curiousity to know why they act the way they do. A can tell a dedicated caster because he is always trying to recover his fired bullets to see how they look...lol
 
Do you need a hobby? Do you like to eat? Bullet casting is a lot like cooking or baking. Which end-product would you enjoy more? I have casting equipment and a fully equipped kitchen. I like to eat, but I don't cook. Also, I buy my cast bullets. I don't want another hobby.

Some of these things can be more fun from a distance than actually experiencing them.
 
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