The other alternative to lubed home cast lead is coated. So if you don't want lubed lead home cast bullets you can coat them just like a lot of the bullet manufacturers do. This stuff is a polymer coating that bonds to the lead surface and is extremely slick. No lube needed and leaves the gun cleaner.
At least in a rifle, I see no real disadvantage to shooting cast bullets (gas checked) except that in most calibers you can't do a lot over 2000 FPS.
Basically the polymer coating is a lube, just a different form of lube that encapsulates the entire bullet as it provides a barrier between the lead bullet and the steel of the rifle or handguns bore. I've used about every type of lubing process there is such as pan lube,which I don't do anymore or Alox tumble lube which I do with only one bullet I use for sub sonic loads because it's just so easy, traditional lube using a lubesizer and I also powder coat most all my bullets these days with just a couple exceptions just because I can and I like the end results.
If done properly leading in rifles and handguns never has to be an issue as long as you do your part correctly unless there is some issue with the gun that just causes it to happen regardless of how well you construct your loads for a particular gun. Leading has never been a issue regardless of the type of lube I used as long as I followed the mechanics of what makes the cast bullet work, not only in not causing leading issues but in performance accuracy wise as well as on game, for me at the ranges I shoot at and the type of plinking, target shooting and hunting I do there is nothing a cast lead bullet want do for me. There is a wealth of knowledge in reloading and cast bullet manuals, books and on internet forums that will explain all that in detail.
When I got my first 9mm semi auto shooting cast lead bullets in it was never an afterthought. I promptly slugged the bore and found I needed a bullet that was sized to .357" did my research to find out what weight and style of bullet was popular or gave the best result in a handgun that was basically designed around 124 gr, NATO FMJ ammo. I ended up with a
NOE 124 gr. TC bullet that cast both gas check as well as plain base bullets as I like to have options depending on what alloy I'm using, the gas check version also works well in 357 Mag. loads with soft alloy. Needless to say it's a great bullet that feeds, functions and shoot very accurately in my 9mm handguns powder coated or using traditional lube.
As for cast lead in rifles I shoot cast lead bullets in all my rifle in all action types which includes my SKS and Mosin rifles as well as my old Sav. 30-30 and Sav.99 in 300 Sav. and my 45 ACP carbine if you want to count that. The only limitation with a naked lubed cast bullet is the twist of the rifles bore. As hard as we try to make our cast bullets perfect even though they may appear so to the naked eye they are not as structurally sound or balanced as say match grade jacketed bullet. Defects in cast bullet accentuate wobble, yaw and pitch as the bullet leave the bore and during flight, as the velocity increases with a given twist bore so does the RPM's imparted to the bullet and at some point along the velocity/RPM threshold the bullet will become unstable and accuracy will go south. With rifles with 1:10 twist bores 2K fps. is about the limit but I can push much heavier bullet with a nice meplat at that velocity and at the ranges I shoot and hunt at they get the job done. I can push some bullets in some rifles much faster and still retain accuracy but those rifle have much slow twist bores like my Sav. 30-30 which has a 1:12 twist bore I can push a 170 gr. RD flat nose bullet at factory 30-30 velocity but the bullet is only spinning at roughly the same RPM as it would be in a 1:10 twist bore at that velocity when it leaves the bore so it's still in the stability range. Honestly though I don't need that much velocity as 1800 to 2K fps. does just fine and kill game just as dead.
Current Mosin load I'm working on using traditional lubed bullets, I still have 8 grs. I can move up but I probably what get that as I'm right in the 1800 fps. range at the moment.
9mm plain base powder coated bullets, I pretty much use 50/50 alloy with my 9mm and 45 ACP bullets.
Some clear coated gas check version.
