Thanks 35W, I'll look into NOE and the 314299 mould. I was reading about a technique that may work to get 3.15 - 16, from a 3.14 mould, that's to shim the mould halves with some very thin .001-.002 material even paper according to Lee. Seems to make sense, guess that added shim thickness goes to the size of a bigger bullet.
Ah, that was the term, Beagling...thanks!AKA Beagling. Many use small pieces of foil tree tape, like AC installers use on ductwork, to slightly shim the blocks.
35W
Not an empty claim, but the honest-to-goodness truth.
I've had 'em from Missouri Bullet & Acme Bullet up in Wisconsin.
Very good results - no leading what so ever.
I also cast my own, but use w/o powder coating.
I think I'm gonna have to learn how & get the supplies to coat.
Wish I had someone local to show me how.
On the cast boolits forum there is a vendor that goes by smoke4320. I use his powders (which are very reasonably priced considering ow many a pound will do) and he gave me easy and detailed instructions on how to coat bullets. I needed some non-stick foil, some airsoft BBs, and a convection toaster oven from the thrift shop. Not hard at all.
I started powder coating my cast lead bullets for both rifles and handguns several years ago, powder coating never had to solve the problem of leading in my rifle and pistol bores because I never got leading to begin with. A properly fitted cast lead bullet with a good lube cast from an alloy that matches the velocity and pressure of the load should not lead your bores.
What powder coating does for me is it allows me to coat lots of cast bullets, size and gas check them where needed in a short period of time that can be stored long term in less than ideal conditions like my shop where other form of lube can be affected by heat or cold, PC doesn't get soft or tacky, melt of dry up over time and leaves you hands and dies clean.
As to any negatives I can't think of any, my coated bullets in both rifle and pistol don't smoke, they are just as accurate as any non-coated lead bullet I've ever used that I previously used tradition forms of lube with but now PC. Most bore cleaning after shooting my coated bullets basically entails one wet patch follow by a couple dry patches mainly to just remove any powder residue.
In general most commercial cast lead bullets coated or not are too hard with a few exceptions. I use a 50/50 mix of pure lead / wheel weights with a pinch of tin. Powder coated and air cooled right out of the toaster oven the cast bullets especially my HP handgun bullets are soft enough to give good expansion at 45 ACP handgun or carbine as well as +P 38 Special velocities. They are also fine for my 9 mm RN and TC style bullets. In rifles air cooled powder coated bullet are fine for light plinker loads or mid range velocities with gas checks applied. For HV rifle loads I powder coat my bullets an water quench them right out of the toaster oven and let them age for about three weeks before loading, I shoot these bullets out of my 30-06 at 2300 fps. with excellent accuracy and no leading. I shoot the PC quenched bullets in all my 30 cal. rifle loads in all actions types including gas operated gun with no issues.
If you want a coated cast lead bullet that give terminal performance expansion wise you pretty much have to buy a mold that will cast a bullet designed to expand, cast and coat them yourself or purchased a coated or non coated non-expanding cast lead bullet with a large meplat that creates a large wound channel.
Here is my home cast 45 ACP HP's
View attachment 873968
They expand well with my alloy and powder coating.
View attachment 873969
30 Caliber coated bullet in several colors.
View attachment 873970
50 yd. test target using the above powder coated bullet in my budget Rem. 30-06 at 2995 fps. 5 shot average.
View attachment 873971
On the cast boolits forum there is a vendor that goes by smoke4320. I use his powders (which are very reasonably priced considering ow many a pound will do) and he gave me easy and detailed instructions on how to coat bullets. I needed some non-stick foil, some airsoft BBs, and a convection toaster oven from the thrift shop. Not hard at all.
Not an empty claim, but the honest-to-goodness truth.
I've had 'em from Missouri Bullet & Acme Bullet up in Wisconsin.
Very good results - no leading what so ever.
I also cast my own, but use w/o powder coating.
I think I'm gonna have to learn how & get the supplies to coat.
Wish I had someone local to show me how.
Lead styphnate in primers is probably the cause. It's way more prevalent than the lead from bullets.Do you guys get your lead levels tested? I exclusively shoot hi tek and I came back high. I'm not convinced they're cleaner, or at least not clean enough to be safe.
Do you guys get your lead levels tested? I exclusively shoot hi tek and I came back high.
Lead styphnate in primers is probably the cause. It's way more prevalent than the lead from bullets.
I used to shoot indoors too and I also think that's a big factor.
but I do notice gray residue on my gloves whether I load Jacketed or coated
Who sells lead free primers? I use CCI and thought the lead free weren't readily available?I normally shoot plated bullets, JHP or copper monolithic. I bought some ACME and Missouri. I found the uniformity to be very poor and the coating is easily scratched with a fingernail. They're also too soft for the velocities I normally shoot (up to 1200 fps). I have no continued interest in coated bullets unless there is something completely different that I've missed.
I shoot Berry's, RMR and Speer TMJ plated bullets the most. I will also buy pulled XTP's by the thousands when I find them. Any of these are far superior to any coated bullet I've ever seen.
I did just have my lead levels tested in December. Zero. None at all. I shoot lead-free primers exclusively. I do not go to ranges where other people are shooting except for classes. I do not shoot indoors.
Who sells lead free primers? I use CCI and thought the lead free weren't readily available?