Casting your own bullets

[Hotfire]

I was told not to try an cast my own bullets due to its hard on your rifle, even if you powder coat them.
What type rifles or pistols are good for shooting your own casting bullets and why?
I would love to try it but not unless it can be safe on the weapon.
Whats everybody think about this?

 

[Hotfire]

The other reason I am looking into this is, if ammo becomes extremely or impossible to find I would like to think I have the capability to save my own brass, cast m th own bullets and depend on my stock pile of powder and primers to keep me in ammo,

 

[MEHavey]

I was told not to try an cast my own bullets due to its hard on your rifle

I cannot imagine why anyone would say that.
If anything, cast bullets will prolong and smooth out barrels better than anything I can think of.

What were some of the specifics of what you were told?

 

[Targa]

Cast bullets will not be hard on your rifle but barrel leading is a real concern with cast bullets at high power rifle velocities, it won’t hurt the barrel but it can be a pain to remove. This is just me, I am sure people use cast bullets with success in rifles but I have my limit with cast bullets that I do not plan to exceed which is my 2300 fps loads for my 30-30 after that I am buying jacketed bullets.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I was told not to try an cast my own bullets due to its hard on your rifle, even if you powder coat them.
What type rifles or pistols are good for shooting your own casting bullets and why?
I would love to try it but not unless it can be safe on the weapon.
Whats everybody think about this?

Before jacketed bullets, cast is all they had. The list of “it depends on…” is a mile long, here: what gun, what action, what range, what lead alloy, how much time and research are you willing to commit to, how much experience do you have in reloading…?
There’s some really good books out there you can start with that will help. The Lyman Cast Bullet manual is a good start.

 

[Hooda Thunkit]

I was told not to try an cast my own bullets due to its hard on your rifle, even if you powder coat them.

I suppose the veracity of that statement depends on what the definition of "... hard on your rifle... " is.

I have fired thousands upon thousands of cast bullets from several rifles. I have fired more cast bullets than most people shoot regular jacketed bullets.
I find no evidence of any wear whatsoever from firing cast bullets.

For myself, if someone told me that I would ignore them from that moment on, at least regarding firearm questions.

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

I was told not to try an cast my own bullets due to its hard on your rifle, even if you powder coat them.
What type rifles or pistols are good for shooting your own casting bullets and why?
I would love to try it but not unless it can be safe on the weapon.
Whats everybody think about this?

Lead is softer than copper. It's not going to be hard on the barrel.

You're limited to around 1400fps without gas checks and 2200fps with gas checks, so it's not an excessive speed/pressure thing.

Maybe whoever told you this was thinking about excessive leading, but that shouldn't be an issue with properly sized and lubed boolits.

 

[Alaskamike]

I've gone up to 2500 fps with cast bullets in .30-06 without any issues, but once you get past maybe 2000 to 2200 fps there are a lot of factors that really become critical for maintaining good accuracy. Quality of bullet lube, lead alloy that isn't too brittle, but yet tough enough, etc.

Loads below 2000 fps are far less demanding.

But no, anyone saying cast bullets are somehow universally harmful to guns simply has no idea what they're talking about.

 

[jmorris]

Start by asking the most specific questions you can. General “what’s it take”, gets a variety of information that may or may not be important.

There are a bunch of us here that cast and a number of us are also member’s here https://castboolits.gunloads.com/ where the discussions of cast bullets often gets more in depth.

For question #1 As far as coefficients of friction, a lead bullet will cause less wear than a copper/alloy jacket will and its not uncommon to be running them at lower pressures, that extends the life of everything.

#2, lower velocity, “odd ball” rounds are often the best because the “odd balls” would be the most expensive to buy, saving you the most money/per hours spent and the lower velocities helps with leading, if you are not coating.

First thing I would try and figure out is what you want out of it. Are you wanting to craft your own precision, long range rifle bullets? Swaging, might be a better choice, unless you just play cast games.

If cheap is a goal, how are you going to get and deal with your lead. No telling how many times I have fired some pieces of lead but I have traps that catch my bullets, so I just melt them down and put them into the shapes I need. If you have to buy lead, that may be a deal breaker from the start.

In any case the process of casting and shooting bullets is as safe as you are. No different than reloading in general, from that stand point. You just control more variables in the process than most.

 

[PapaG]

I've been casting my own bullets since 1958. Thousands of rounds fired through rifles and handguns plus some shotguns. Hard on a barrel! Hardly. Unless you roll them around in dirt or sand.
My Model 70, after a couple thousand cast bullets is smoother than when it left Big Red W in 1953. My Smith 19 and Stainless Blackhawk are also.
I think I must have around 75 moulds, five lube sizers and never worry about damage to my bores.
Don't listen to your source of information. About anything casting related, and probably anything else.

 

[DMW1116]

I've switched over to mostly cast bullets coated with Hi-Tech polymer coating for pistols and for my 30-30. I don't cast my own as it's not economical without a very cheap source of lead/alloy. For my 357 Magnum, a heavy load of powder and heavy bullet are just as punishing pressure wise to both me and the gun. However, it's not something specific to the lead projectile. Handgun velocities are low enough that you generally don't have to worry about leading unless something else is off. I shoot 357 Mag, 38 Special, and 9mm cast loads. Maybe try some cast bullets from a good source and decide if you want to cast your own. I got some cast wadcutter bullets with traditional lube in the grooves from a member here in trade and they were every bit as accurate as the ones manufactured by Hornady. This sounds like a backhanded complement, but the Hornady bullets set a very high standard. If one can equal them with a casting set at home, they're doing their homework. Acme, Missouri Bullet Company, Gallant, and Hunters Supply are the different brands of cast bullets I've tried. I use the Hornady Hollow Based Wadcutter too, but those are swaged lead, not cast.

Loading cast is slightly different than loading jacketed bullets. I'd recommend starting with something in 38 Special using one of the makers above and see how you like it. Get a copy of the Lyman Cast Bullet Manual too. That's the only written reference I have, and it was more than sufficient to get me started. I got a lot of help here and other sources, but if I'd have followed just the Lyman manual, I would have had good results. I will caution that I have not tried gas checked bullets yet. Those haven't been needed even in my 30-30, though I don't generally exceed 1600 fps even in the rifle.

 

[P Flados]

I did some casting as a teenager in the late 1970s, but gave it up after leaving home.

I got back into casting around 2009. In 2014, I tried powder coat and have rarely used purchased bullets since then (mostly for 223 and one 300 BO gun). I have probably loaded 100k rounds with my cast bullets since 2009.

My lower power stuff (32s, 38 Sp, 380, 38 power in a 357 case, 45 ACP) is usually tumble lube and higher power stuff is ASBB shake & bake powder coat.

Casting bullets does take effort and having a cheap source of lead really helps. They can be "tricky" to work with at times. Cast bullets do have performance limitations, but for "just shooting" they work fine up to a power level more than a typical magnum handgun. For hunting, specific profiles can work pretty good from the right cartridges. They can provide effective self defense ammo in some applications.

Most folks talking down cast bullets simply do not know what they are talking about.

 

[dannyd]

I only shoot cast bullets, rifle or revolver or shotgun.

 

[archeryrob]

Copper is a BHN of 36 and I never heard anyone saying you can't shoot them or hard on your barrel.

I shoot 9mm and 45 in pistols. I shoot 30-30 and 30.06 powder coated and gas checked. 2000fps in 30-30 and 2400 fps in 30.06. I shot 30.06 over 2600 fps in the ladder rounds, but the groups got more over one past 2400, so I loaded at 2400 for my cases.

 

[AJC1]

The number one killer of barrels is heat and the degeneration of the throat.... your informant is not well versed in firearms period. Traditionally lubed cast bullets are the easiest on a bore when shot low and slow. Nothing will last forever but irreplaceable family heirlooms get Traditionally lubed cast in my possesion.

 

[dannyd]

I shot 3,160 rounds out of Ruger 77 in 300 Winchester Magnum with an RCBS 165 Silhouette cast bullet with a gas check. When I sold the rifle the barrel looked like new, can't do that with Jacketed bullets.

Any gun will last longer with Cast Bullets, there's definitely enough information on the internet to fact check me. That cooper jacket leaves a trail every time the bullet goes down the barrel, you will never find that with a good cast bullet properly lubed.

The most fun was watching a guy shooting store purchased 300 Winchester Magnum, wondering how in the world I am shooting a box of 50 with out any recoil problems at all until I hand him one round to try.

Every Range as the Guy that says you can't use that, yet he has never casted a bullet or studied the information about them. He is always on the Rifle line too.

 

[armoredman]

I shoot cast out of darn near everything I have in my tiny collection, no problems so far. Powder coating also seems to help with cleanup as well.

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

I shot 3,160 rounds out of Ruger 77 in 300 Winchester Magnum with an RCBS 165 Silhouette cast bullet with a gas check. When I sold the rifle the barrel looked like new, can't do that with Jacketed bullets.

Any gun will last longer with Cast Bullets, there's definitely enough information on the internet to fact check me. That cooper jacket leaves a trail every time the bullet goes down the barrel, you will never find that with a good cast bullet properly lubed.

The most fun was watching a guy shooting store purchased 300 Winchester Magnum, wondering how in the world I am shooting a box of 50 with out any recoil problems at all until I hand him one round to try.

Every Range as the Guy that says you can't use that, yet he has never casted a bullet or studied the information about them. He is always on the Rifle line too.

What I don't understand is, why have a .300 Win Mag if you're gonna download for it?

No criticism at all; just curious since I've never owned one myself.

 

[Anchorite]

What I don't understand is, why have a .300 Win Mag if you're gonna download for it?

No criticism at all; just curious since I've never owned one myself.

For the pleasure of experimenting. That’s *my* answer.

When I was in my teenage years my father cast bullets and shot downloaded loads in a 7mm Rem Magnum. I shot cast bullets for years in a 22 Hornet and a 222 Remington. It was messy, but fun and surprisingly accurate.

 

[dannyd]

What I don't understand is, why have a .300 Win Mag if you're gonna download for it?

No criticism at all; just curious since I've never owned one myself.

It was left handed and at that time they were hard to get, also it was 400 dollars.

Florida is a strange place for guns because you see 300 win mag and 7mm rem mag for sale all the time. Mostly because of guy's going out of state to hunt.

I used it for a simulated F-class match out to 200 yards, the match director first response was you can't use cast bullets, they won't work.

With the Ruger 200 yards was no problem, so he left me alone after I shot.

 

[DMW1116]

It’s a question of versatility. You can get a different caliber, say 300 BO or download the same cartridge.

 

[Mostly Lead]

I was told not to try an cast my own bullets due to its hard on your rifle, even if you powder coat them.
What type rifles or pistols are good for shooting your own casting bullets and why?
I would love to try it but not unless it can be safe on the weapon.
Whats everybody think about this?

Think you should pick up some books on the topic. You need to re-start your education with better sources...

 

[Show Me]

Lyman cast handbook

 

[lightman]

I was told not to try an cast my own bullets due to its hard on your rifle, even if you powder coat them.
What type rifles or pistols are good for shooting your own casting bullets and why?
I would love to try it but not unless it can be safe on the weapon.
Whats everybody think about this?

I don't agree with that. Myself and thousands of other casters would disagree. Harmful to the gun, I doubt it? Shooting cast bullets indoors is probably not good for you. Especially with revolvers.

 

[theotherwaldo]

I've been casting my own pistol, rifle, shotgun and muzzle-loader rounds for around fifty years.
None of my gun barrels have suffered very much from this.