Cast Bullet Quality: Photos to Compare ?

[Pointshoot]

Hi guys - is there a website/web page where you can view photos of common errors with cast bullets ?
I bought some recently that don't look that great to me, but I don't cast my own (yet). The only ones I have to compare are much better than these. I got them as part of a deal I made with a fellow who has passed away.
I don't know if I'm just being too picky. But some of these bullets that I just got have very shallow crimping grooves (at least for part of the groove) & what I think are wrinkles. Some of the lube grooves aren't completely filled with lube (maybe 90% of groove filled). I tried to take photos to post here, but unfortunately my camera will not focus close enough to show you the details that I'm talking about. I hoped to find online photos to compare with to see if these bullets are sub-par and should be returned. These were handcast & I bought them off GB because they were said to be real Keith bullets, and not too hard.

If the things I'm seeing are minor cosmetic issues & these bullets will shoot just fine, I'll keep them. Thank you

 

[40-82]

Sometimes minor cosmetic flaws don't affect close range accuracy too much. Wrinkles tend to mean the bullet was cast with a too cool mold. Without seeing them it would be difficult to guess how well they would perform, and even then it would be a guess. To see an extensive inventory of cast bullet pictures look at the Cast Boolit forum.

 

[LiveLife]

Here are some commercial bullet pictures for you to reference with the bullets you purchased.

These are Missouri Bullet Company 45ACP bullets as they are pulled from the box showing excess lube on bullet surface

These are MBC 40S&W bullets with excess lube wiped

These are MBC, Dardas and Z-Cast 9mm bullets

 

[243winxb]

Cast bullet quality

The crimp groove can be different as in this photo. The one on the left is more forgiving when it comes to case trim length and crimping. This Lee shotgun slug has wrinkled from a cold mould or alloy. When i took the photo, it was the only one not loaded. I would load a few and test fire them.

 

[Walkalong]

208 Gr .44 WC for the .44 Spl. Lee mold.

 

[dickttx]

Don't know what you gave for them, but shipping them back would be fairly costly.
If they are pistol bullets they will probably shoot OK. I don't do rifles, so I don't know about them.

 

[Pointshoot]

Thanks guys for you comments and for the photos. I appreciate it.

I'm going to my brothers house next week and he does a lot of photography. I think he has a camera and lens that will focus closer than mine. If so, I'll have him take some photos and post them.

On the bullets I got, some of the crimping grooves are very shallow at some points around their circumference.
I want to be very careful about contacting the seller & making a complaint until I'm sure.

Question please: Can you just melt down bullets that have lube on them ? Does the lube have to be removed first ? Thanks again.

 

[Walkalong]

The lube will act like flux when melting them down.

 

[Pointshoot]

Thanks Walkalong.

 

[bluetopper]

If the bullets you speak of are not to be used in bullseye competition or hunting, shoot them and enjoy them.

 

[41 Mag]

The lube will act like flux when melting them down.

Yes it will and be SURE your outside with a decent breeze and no real pick nicky neighbors as there WILL be plenty of smoke, and probably a little fire on top too.

Don't let that get in your way though it will burn off pretty quick, just wanted to make sure you know it IS a possibility and will probably happen. This is a small 10-15 pound pot with about a 1/4 teaspoon of paraffin in it. Just remember go slow and add them a little at a time.

Personally I would simply sort through them as your loading them. The missing pieces of lube isn't a real deal killer as long as it isn't up to half or more. Even then if they look good by comparrison I might set those aside for later on. As for the wrinkles, as long as they are not on the base, some small wrinkles don't hurt anything. Bigger ones that go full length or are across the driving bands or the base band those would get culled for recast. The ones that look really bad or are missing most of the lube I would use those for recast as well. Everything else would be target practice type loads. Nothing wrong with using what you can out of the batch.

 

[blarby]

One thing I've noticed about cast bullets- and bullets in general regarding imperfections :

I'm usually much pickier than the gun.

This has on more than one occasion made me shoot demonstratably worse with known imperfect bullets -vs- blindly loaded magazines.

Now, there are certainly some types of rejects that need to be culled, but I'm finding that what matters is much more in weight and borefit than cosmetic abnormalities.

As to the missing lube- unless its missing a lot and its the first one down the pipe- fear not.

Everything after the first shot is a re-lubing effort of the grooves at best.

 

[ds/ks]

Far from perfect, shoot great.