Are poorly formed cast bullets unsafe or just inaccurate?

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AJC1 said:
Maybe we read what was said and were hoping that continuous discussion of producing the best ammunition your capable would rule the day... if one has safety concerns based on what they observe I refuse to encourage people to continue in that endeavor. Mail me the lead and I'll make you some decent bullets because what you pictured is garbage.
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If that truly was your intention I appreciate it. It is the nature of internet forums (and barroom banter for that matter) for the discussion to venture somewhat afield once the original question has been answered (which it has).

As long as it isn't a safety risk, loading these bullets and comparing their performance to better quality bullets will allow me to learn from personal experience and decide what level of perfection is sufficient for me in my ammunition. Do whatever you want with yours. It's all good. :thumbup:
 
barnfrog said:
If that truly was your intention I appreciate it. It is the nature of internet forums (and barroom banter for that matter) for the discussion to venture somewhat afield once the original question has been answered (which it has).

As long as it isn't a safety risk, loading these bullets and comparing their performance to better quality bullets will allow me to learn from personal experience and decide what level of perfection is sufficient for me in my ammunition. Do whatever you want with yours. It's all good. :thumbup:
Click to expand...
I enjoy casting and loading... components are to hard to get for waste..... but testing on the other hand is science and that's gooder.
 
Yes it's safe and it will fire. But to be safe I'd make a crimp and do not use too heavy loads.
I've fired these type of bullets before out of my plinking ammo with no problems. Just dont expect it to perform accurately and expect a little leading (using a appropriate powder solves this one.)

Soon you'll get better at casting and you will begin to wonder how you ever let such poor casts get loaded.
 
When I start getting pills like that I remelt and turn up the heat. If they keep coming I clean my mold and re cast. Either or both works, I also powder coat all of my cast bullets so using those that have slight wrinkles from low heat isn't a problem, but those I would re melt. If I didn't cast my own like you, I'd lube and shoot a few, with gas checks.
Those look like my Lee 358 158 grain SWC's. Either way I have seen a lot worse when I first started casting, it's a learning curve, but you did the right thing by asking the guys here, they know what they're talking about.
 
By the way that is a Lee c358-158-swc and is similar in used case capacity as Lyman 358156. My samples of each show the lee seating .035 deeper in the case.

When it was mentioned, at least for me, it was somewhat unclear, do you need 35 caliber gas checks? I can send you some if you need them.
 
Those wrinkles are ugly but there is no danger shooting them. The one on the bottom right is a bit much and I'd toss it into the scrab bucket. Personally, my OCD/ego won't allow me to load those, but I cast and it's easy to pick a bad one out of the pile and toss it back into the pot. Just for grins, if for some reason I needed to load those, I'd run them through my sizer and lube them, but not expect much...
 
Thing is, you run those wrinkled bullets through a lubamatic and they begin to look ok. I've shot plenty of wrinkled/void, rounded bases, and less than stellar driving band bullets out of handguns when I began casting. When they're all mixed in with the good bullets its a bit tough to decipher between bad shooting and bad projectiles. While you're asking for problems if you shoot cast rifle loads with bullets that look that like I doubt you'll notice those unless you're bullseye shooting. I'd take a free wrinkled bullet over buying a factory cartridge any day.
 
Not dangerous or un-safe to load .
Looking at your photo's ... look at the base - perfectly filled out sharp base with no hole ...
They will be more accurate than you think ... shot in a handguns at under 25 yard and they will probably be just as accurate as perfectly perfect bullets ... you will have to be a very good marksman to tell the difference.
I used to strive for " Perfect" but have learned at short range ... a slight imperfection up front isn't a reason not to shoot them .
Also when you size and lubricate the bullets they iron out and cover up some of the imperfections .
The ones in your photo's ... size, lube and Choot Em' !
Gary
 
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