help I want to shoot lead

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biga972

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I have been shooting the X-treme plated bullets and having very good luck out of them.....But every time I go to buy more I find myself looking and thinking about trying to switch to shooting lead, like maybe mastercraft bullets or something like that.

The last time I tried lead it seemed like I got alot of smoke from them and I do shoot indoors somtimes.

Was the smoke normal for lead cast bullets?
I was using titegroup at that time I have since switched over to 231.

Please help or is it not worth the savings to switch to lead over the plated?:banghead:
 
Lead bullet have to be lubed, so there is always going to be more smoke with leaded bullets vs plated or jacketed.
 
99.9% of all my hand gun shooting is with lead bullets. Smoke is generally from the bullet lube and varies with type and amount. Some powders smoke more than others, but since my shooting has been outdoors for the last few years, I don't have a definative answer for that. I used W231, Unique, 2400, and WC820 when I was shooting lead bullets indoors and didn't notice any excess smoke (unless I used alox or an alox based lube). Mebbe someone else has info on how much powders smoke. Alox and alox based lubes smoke more than most, and some of my grease/beeswax lubes are smokey, but commercial cast bullet's lubes are usually hard and don't smoke much...
 
The least smoky load I've used is 125 gr MBC 9mm over 5 gr Unique out of an autoloader. I can shoot them indoors without problem. I haven't had as much luck, yet, with 45ACP or with 357. I say start off small and try a variety of powders.
 
Titegroup is a very hot burning powder it is not a good choice for lead bullets.
If you want to shoot target velocity loads with no smoke or lead fouling buy some Trailboss powder, and look up cowboy action loads on Hodgdon's website under IMR powders, pistol loads. What caliber are you looking to reload and shoot?

9mm isnt a good choice for lead bullets, but light loads of Bullseye work as well as anything else. If you are shooting revolver s .357,.38spl. .44 mag, .45 colt or even .45 acp trailboss works great. For higher velocity loads Unique and 2400 are good powders for cast lead bullets, 231 isn't bad either. The Lyman manual is good as it has lots of cast bullet loads.
 
MBC, Missouri bullet Co., isn't taking new orders except for existing customers. So, another very good alternative is:
http://www.friendswoodbullet.com/
Haven't noted excessive smoke with their bullets.
Assuming you're talking .45ACP, I find Bullseye and Unique are tops.
 
I've switched from buying FMJs to casting my own:

DSCN0123.jpg

To me, there wasn't enough difference between the price of buying commercially-cast vs FMJs to make a difference. There is a HUGE difference between the price of FMJs and the cost of my own cast bullets however.

I shoot 45acp and even with the cost of buying reclaimed range lead, I figure my ammunition costs me the equivalent of $3.50/box (for a box of 50).

THough I am about to upgraded several pieces of my casting equipment, I spent all of about $200 for everything I need, and that includes a nice mold from Tom at Accurate Molds.
 
If you are considering shooting cast bullets, why not take a look at the "Cast Boolit" site. Be prepared to do a LOT of reading and use the "seach" function. If you still have questions, ask. Great bunch of knowledgable people over there.
 
The following are my experience and opinions. YMMV.

I have found my lead bullets to be more accurate than plated and jacketed bullets. I feel a properly sized and lube bullet is superior, but they smoke due to the burning lube. If you are normally a plated/jacketed bullet shooter, the smoke is annoying at first, but you soon get over it.

You will need to slug your bore. Once you have your groove diameter, you want to use a bullet diameter of 0.001"-0.002" larger. This will ensure a good bullet to bore fit. I size all my 9mm bullets to 0.358" and they work great in 9mm, .380, and 38spl.

I prefer softer lubes to harder lubes. I like Carnuba Red and BAC ( several lead bullet manufacturers use these lubes). Thompson's Blue Angel is a decent lube, but it has not performed as well as others for me.
I have found that Vihta Vuori (VV) and WSF powders to put off less smoke than some of the others I have used, but there is still smoke.

Back before I started casting my own, I preferred bullets from Missouri Bullet Co. . I also looked at the bayou bullets. I called them last year, before their site got updated. They quoted me $86 per 1000 for 9mm . I thought that to be a bit high, so I passed.
 
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Check out the website for Penn Bullets. It contains a wealth of information and the owner is super guy to deal with. Some of the very best cast bullets I have ever used.
 
MBC, Missouri bullet Co., isn't taking new orders except for existing customers.
Click to expand...

I know they are planning that, but as of today, I don't see that on their website.
 
Tite Group & lead bullets don't mix well.
They smoke worse than blackpowder.

And yes, I've had blackpowder loads in 38 spl & 45 Colt.

For the 45 Colt I switched to Accurate #5.
Works very well, very accurate & nowhere near the amount of smoke.

For 38 spl, I've been using HSM plated bullets, or Zero jacketed, with Tite Group & again, nowhere near the smoke of a lead pill.
 
1KPerDay said:
I may try that one... I can't abide the "boolit" thing. Drives me MAD for some reason.
Click to expand...
Don't let a small thing like spelling a work keep you away from hundreds of years of experienc in all aspects of cast bullets (cast lead projectiles are "boolits", jacketed projectiles are "bullets"). BTW; how do you feel about clip vs magazine? :p
 
I cast a few bullets today to see if I could make this new mold do it's thing.
Seemed to, I don't know about booolits.
 

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Buy directly from Missouri bullet company, people keep saying they are not taking orders but they are, I heard it straight from Brad. Someday they will go to vendors only but not yet.
 
Lead bullets (lube or whatever) smoke more than FMJ. No way around it. Temp and humidity can effect it, as can powder selection to some degree. But, they will smoke. Some days can be better/worse than others, and it can vary by locale. I run lead in .45acp but gave up on it in 9mm. Price is the only reason I'll use lead.
 
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