9mm bullet casting

[KYregular]

Thinking about casting my own bullets, and totally new to it. In the "research" stage at the moment. If I do cast, I plan on powder coating as well. My main gun is a CZ P09, which slug tests at 355.

1. Im thinking of either going with a 356 or 357 mold, if my CZ will chamber them in that size.

2. Let's say I want 357, should I cast them at 357, then powder coat, then size them back to 357 after powder coating?

3. How effective is powder coating to prevent leading? Its my understanding that it is.

4. Since I'm powder coating, what mix/hardness should I be aiming for?

Thanks for any input.

 

[brewer12345]

You can size down a few thousandths so any mold up to 360 should be fine. Bullet shape and size are more important than the exact mold diameter. You will be sizing no matter what you do, so cast, powder coat, give it a week or two, then size.

I have a revolver that leads like crazy. Powder coat the bullets and no leading at all. Magic!

I usually try for something like bhn 12 or so for handgun. Rifle bullets meant for higher pressure target loads I dump a bunch of linotype in to raise hardness. Fit matters more than hardness (giggity) and powder coating makes hardness less important.

 

[Jim Watson]

Have you shot any commercial coated bullets in that gun?
It seems smart to buy some bullets to get a grasp of the loading process. There are several manufacturers who will custom size cast bullets, even coated.

 

[kcofohio]

I'm quite young to the bullet casting scene.

Here is a good read, if you already hadn't read it;
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...to-Target-A-Cast-Bullet-Guide-for-Handgunners

Lots of knowledge and reading.

 

[brewer12345]

Ah yes, lest I forget. Lots of people have decided to start casting, so if you do not already have equipment, molds, etc., I would start looking for them now. Last I checked, Titan Reloading was accepting backorders of Lee brand stuff. It takes a little while, but they are a master distributor and do get shipments in, so you will get your stuff.

 

[earplug]

We had a local powder coated cast bullet company sell sample packs. They were a big bullet advocate and I have found that .357-.358 works fine in my three 9MM pistols. .358 gives you lots of options for molds. I use several molds that were designed for 38 SPL revolvers and the 38 Super.
I cast out of scrap and powder coat with HF. I use the LEE push through sizer. Big bullets are much easier to size.
Soft scrap lead will cause a bullet to weigh a bit more then the mold as factory listed. Its a easy thing to adjust for.

 

[Barbaroja]

Here is some “light” reading to get you started. Don’t let it intimidate you. Casting can be really simple or very complex. All about what you want you want out of it.

http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_textonly2.pdf

http://www.nzha.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/CastBullets-s.pdf

http://marvinstuart.com/firearm/Man...et Handbook - 3rd Edition - 1980 - Reduce.pdf

 

[reloaded_in_pa]

One thing to line up first.....a supply or source of lead. It's getting harder to find free

 

[GoldieMI]

or at least a cheap source of it. I buy the reclaimed lead from the indoor range at my private club. at 50 cents/lb.- that's 56 bullets at 125 grains...so right around 1 cent per cast bullet...obviously there's waste and spill to be considered. I have no problem buying lead and instead looking for free. Reclaimed pistol bullets cast up just fine for me and I'm able to have "cleaner" lead because it wasn't dug out of a berm. Just my two cents though. I'd rather be casting and reloading than hunting down lead. Reclaimed pistol lead is air cooled BHN 11-12 and if you want to quench after powder coating, you can get some into the 20s on the BHN scale. I fit to the barrel +.001-2 and then find virtually no leading with powdercoating and/or HiTek coating in pistols.

Good luck with your decision...it's another rabbit hole to fall down.