Bullet casting?

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Trekon86

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I was wondering, is it possible to hand-cast slugs for the 9mm Luger cartridge?

Obviously I'd have to use hard lead and lube them well if I were handloading, and use a light load.

I've seen varying opinions on this matter. Some say that it's a big no-no and others say that it's only off limits for Glocks...and of course there's always the crowd who says "ammo is cheap...buy it, shoot it, and scrap it!"

What say you? Feasible, Possible, or downright Unnecessary?:D

PMZ
 
Also, what other calibers are possible candidates for cast bullets?

Can you load necked cartridges with cast or only straight-walled ones?

PMZ
 
You can load cast bullets in pretty much anything. Light loaded rifle loads are excellent for practice & kids.

As far as I know Glocks & lead don't mix, can't remember why.

As far as the 9mm goes, I don't see why not. Just load them light, no +p

This might help you get started
http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp
 
If you have a source of cheap lead, there is no reason not to cast your own. Just remember safety and be sure to set up in a well ventilated situation. Be sure to flux often and most of all keep all moisture from dropping in any way into the molten lead. It will hurt to have that blow out of the pot and onto your flesh.
 
Probably not really feasible. The cost of the equipment and materials these days would be pretty high. You would have to shoot tens of thousands of rounds to come out on it. If you just want to cast as an additional hobby then get out your checkbook and go for it.
( I bought my casting/sizing stuff over thirty years ago when things were much more reasonable)
 
I used to cast bullets, but its not worth the hassle anymore. I end up sinking a lot of time into casting and I truly dislike doing it.

The only thing I cast anymore is fishing sinkers. In 2 hours, I can cast enough sinkers to fulfill the needs of my parents, girlfriend, and I for a whole year.
 
IF, you can get the lead at a good price,or free, and use good used or Lee molds, then it is worth it. You can cast, pan lube, and resize if needed for a fraction of the cost of buying.
However, on the other hand, Speer and Missouri Bullet Co. have some pretty good prices for cast boolits.

Paul
 
I do quite a bit of casting, and mostly using Lee equiptment.

I am set up with melt pot, 10# for about $60 bucks, 6 cavitity mold w/handles, $40 bucks, and sizer/gas check dies about $20 bucks per caliber.

Wheel weight lead, free from tire store, good for bullets that shoot at higher speeds, 1200-1500 fps, w/gas checks.

Pure lead, harder to come by, but is real good for casting round balls, and mini balls, for muzzleloader...and shot gun slugs.

Most auto loaders, say in the manual 'do not shoot re-loads", and I sure this is more of a warrenty/preformance issue, than anything.

I don't re-load for the 9mm, just buy cheap ammo, which mostly is non-reloadable any way.

If I were to start reloading for the 9mm I would go to a progressive press set up, one per caliber.
 
casting

Itbwont be economical to cast just an few boxes of ammo per year. It takes a little volume for it to pay off.

As for rifles, the only way I can shoot my Sharps and 45/70 leverguns is to cast.

Casting can be as spendy or economical as you want to make it. During the buff running days guys would sit around an fire casting lead bullets and loading ammo with simple hand tools, using that ammo the next day to wipe out buffalo herds. All they had was an mould, campfire and simple handtools. If it worked then it will work just as well now.

Maybe that would be an good bushcraft skill to practice. Go and forage some bullet material, cast it on the trail and load it with an 310 handtool.
 
I just recently got into casting and find it to be a great hobby as well as extremely cost effective. I've got lots of free lead from our local recycling depot. I've been casting for my .30-30 and so far results have been good. If you use gas checks or paper patch there's no need to go slow. With gas checks you can go up to 2200 no problem (obviously not relevant for handguns), and with paper patching a guy I know has pushed 113gr bullets up to 2700fps out of a .30-30.

It's really not too hard to get into. The basics you need are an old cast iron pot from a thrift store, and a coffee scoop to use as a lead ladle. Add some leather gloves and mold and you're good to go. If you like the process, then you can invest more in sizers and fancier lube applicators. I just tumble lube with Liquid Alox and so far that's worked well.

I'd highly recommend checking out the Cast Boolits forum. That's where I've learned most of what I know so far. Plus a knowledgable old gentleman at the range who got me started.
 
Do not use pure lead for casting rifle and pistol bullets , un less for a muzzle loader it is way to soft. Wheel weights are the best they are harder. Ideal casting material is Lyman #10 material. It is a mix of 50/50 bar solder, lead, and antimony. You can make this up using wheel weights, bar solder and lead too, I forget the exact mix. Most pistols and rifles can be loaded with cast bullets, I have even seen loads for a .458 mag using the. If you are really interested, I suggest you get a copy of the Lyman Cast bullet Handbook. It will tell you most everything you will to need or know about the subject.
I am a big fan of the Lyman handbooks on any reloading subject, they contain a wealth of information..
 
Straight wheel weights are more than adequate. Hard lead is the wrong way to go unless you are trying to push the bullets very fast. You need a heat source-yard sale hot plate, something to melt in, same yard sale will probably have a stainless steel pan, something to dip an pour with and a mold. Easiest lube would be the Lee Liquid Alox. Pan lubeing works well also. all with small investment.
Light loading is not necessary and actually not really wanted. In 9mm, load'em the way you want to shoot'em.
I don't know the names but many companies are making replacement barrel's for Glocks so that cast bullets can be used.
I don't Glock, so I can't help with the "why" polygonal rifleing doesn't work.

Casting is not nearly as difficult or expensive as we sometimes make it out to be. All you really need is alloy, fire and:

castingneeds.jpg


BF
 
arcarius said:
My suggestion was already posted...
Click to expand...

Yea, Butler Ford nailed it down in 200 words or less! I knew he cast by the slag droppings in this thread, http://bushcraftusa.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1005604&postcount=570

Trekon86, it's like some have pointed out here. Start off small. There's no need to blow thousands on dedicated bullet casting and reloading equipment. As time goes on, you can upgrade.

Casting your own bullets and reloading them isn't done to save money, it's done so you can shoot 5x or10x as much on the same budget as commercial ammo.

I started off on a Lyman Tru-line Junior press at age 12, and 10 years later I picked up a RCBS Rock Chucker O press to do full case resizing. I was reloading a good 15 years before I went to a Dillion 550 progressive. During that time, I didn't save a dime reloading because I just shot more. I went from 50 - 100 rounds per month to about 4,000 at my peak.

I never bothered casting my own because at the time, pistol bullets were 30 bucks for 1,000 of the copper plated cast ones. Midway had factory seconds in 5.56 and 7.62 by the thousand cheap.

However, back then, the shooting friends I had that cast their did what Butler Ford described. They didn't have fancy equipment, they just used second hand kitchen and camping gear to heat and ladle the lead. One man I knew did it on his wood burner out in his garage that was separate from his home. It was his winter hobby.

If I were shooting today, you can bet I'd be casting! Free lead, free bullets! My old Lyman book has loads for plain base cast rifle bullets in all calibers, a very light load of Unique powder, and muzzle velocities of 1,000 - 1,500 fps. That's some cheap plinking/target ammo out to 100 yards.

Wolf primers are fine. I've a friend that buys them in bulk. 30 - 40K at a time with a 27 dollar hazmat fee per order. That's less than 20 dollars per 1,000.
 
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I actually have a lead on a Lee Junior press that a friend is trying to sell.

So that may save me money...and I have done some lead melting, and I do find lead wheel weights from time to time and if I go to the recycling center and ask they may give me some lead, I dunno, maybe it would go against their policy but maybe not:)

I'm not looking to save money per se, but I am looking to get more out of my budget. I can't afford to buy a lot of expensive components to use for plinking (I'd like to learn to make match loads by casting small slugs if that's possible) and really it has to do with making my little bit of gun/ammo money go further.

Thanks a lot, all! You may have just given me another hobby:rolleyes:

"Paul, why don't you go out with your friends?"
"Mom, I've got to finish this project! I'm trying out a new hobby!"
"You collect hobbies like little kids collect bottle caps and rocks."
"Yeah, I know."

:D
PMZ
 
Trekon86 said:
.................
Thanks a lot, all! You may have just given me another hobby:rolleyes:

"Paul, why don't you go out with your friends?"
"Mom, I've got to finish this project! I'm trying out a new hobby!"
"You collect hobbies like little kids collect bottle caps and rocks."
"Yeah, I know."

:D
PMZ
Click to expand...

Ain't that the truth....LOL, comes right after DW's favorite saying, "what do you want to be when you grow up?"
 
Many of us have started with the Lee Classic and a plastic hammer, I would NOT recommend that approach. I don't know the "Junior" press but I do have the "C" press that sits next to the Redding and Dillion. It's purpose was use with a universal deprime die but it has loaded many hundreds of rounds, just keep it properly lubed and you'll have no problem with it. Nothing wrong with Lee dies. For pistol, carbide sizing is worth the very few extra dollars.
As far as loading light, I just checked 3 manuals, STARTING loads for 9mm parabellum with a 125 gr bullet is from 1050 to 1100+ fps depending on powder.

Try: Graybeard Outdoors

then scroll down to Casting and Reloading section. More information than you'll ever need and and questions answered quickly.

Also there is Cast Boolits
and these two will get you hooked up on many others.

Casting is a contagious disease so consider yourself warned!


Trekon86 said:
I actually have a lead on a Lee Junior press that a friend is trying to sell.<snip>

Thanks a lot, all! You may have just given me another hobby:rolleyes:

"Paul, why don't you go out with your friends?"
"Mom, I've got to finish this project! I'm trying out a new hobby!"
"You collect hobbies like little kids collect bottle caps and rocks."
"Yeah, I know."

:D
PMZ
Click to expand...
 
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Well reloading is a fun hobby that really has asense of satisfaction. And FWIW, leaving out the cost of already owned equipment, a factory box of 100 .45acp costs me $35.00 plus tax. Molding free wheel weights I broke down the actual cost per round and it extrapolated to $4.40 for my home rolled .45 acp. At saving $30 a box of ammo if I only shoot 1 box a week that is a yearly savings of

$35*52 weeks = $1820 a year for factory ammo

$4.40*52 weeks = $228.80 a year

$1820-$228.80= $1591.20 a year savings.

Obviously this number changes with different calibers but yes in my case reloading, and casting for certain calibers, is really worth the savings.
 
Trek, you've received a lot of good advice here, but I'll just add a couple of things that I didn't see or maybe missed. I cast a lot of big bullets for competition with my blackpowder cartridge rifles and they demand a relatively soft bullet. To get that extreme consistency that this game requires, I have to start with good soft lead. I found the best place to buy it is at a scrapyard where they have roof flashing and lead that has been used for shielding in X-ray lab walls. It is as pure as the driven snow (after melting, fluxing and skimming the dross) and does NOT absorb radiation. With that as a base you can alloy with pure tin, bar solder, wheel weights....there's all kinds of mixes for different applications. As has been mentioned, wheelweights are cheap if not free from your local tire repair joint......great handgun bullets.

There was something else, but I just went blank......happening more lately:25:
Is that one of the symptoms of lead poisoning?
 
When I was in high school, one of the boys I hung around with had a police detective father and a Sheriff's LT. mother, both who were competition pistol shooters. They did all their own reloading in a shed in the back.

He basically had a little thing that was like a hand held electric crucible that he melted the iron in, and a little steel mold he poured the lead in. If he was making jacketed ammo, he loaded the jackets in before closing up the mold. Then he just poured in the lead, tapped it to make sure there were no bubbles, then after about a minute popped it apart and the slugs came out. Then he measured the power, poured it in the brass and pressed the bullets in.
Needed different molds for different calibers, and I am sure it probably cost a bit.

I really wish I was closer to my moms family when I was younger.. They owned a gun shop..
 
I reload cast bullets for my .45acp. but for the cost of the bullets vs. setup and the time to do it. buying the cast bullets by the 1000 , i come out farther ahead than if I would do it myself. I cast for my muzzleloaders and for th etime it takes for just 2-3k of them, that one is a cost issue .
 
Hey Trek, I used to cast 9mm in a LEE mold for my Dad's model 39 S&W. I may still have the mold if you're interested. I cast using straight wheel weights from friends tire shop. I think we used Blue Dot powder but gotta double check the load data, it's been 20 years since I reloaded 9mm. When my dad passed away I gave the 39 to my BIL who gifted the gun to my dad years earlier. I also have the dies I'm not using. If you're interested in any of these let me know. ;)
 
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i cast bullets for all my handguns, 2 of them being glocks in 9mm and 40 s&w. as long as you water drop your bullets to ensure they are hard enough and get the right amount of lube on them u shouldnt have any problems. just make sure you get all the copper out before shooting lead and vice versa, all meaning running copper killer through for copper and choir boy through for lead. of course check your bore ocasionally for leading to be on the safe side. i like to run choir boy on a bore brush down the barrel a few times every few hundred rounds to be on the safe side. also check your chamber for lube and lead buildup, it does happen.
 
Over the years, I cast a lot of bullets, mainly for .38/.357, .44 Mag, .45 ACP, .454 Casull, and 30-06. These were cast mostly of hard linotype alloy, and they all shot fine at velocities up to about 2000 ft/sec, when the right lube was used on them.

Occasionally, I made alloy from bullets recovered from traps at the range, and from wheel weights. (You can't use old lead batteries, because that lead contains additives that interfere with good casting.)

Be aware that the nation is moving slowly toward phasing out lead wheel weights, because they fall off from time to time and end up polluting water sources. There's a map of pending legislation at http://www.leadfreewheels.org/
 
My son shoots competitive pistol cast his own bullets for 9mm 45 uses old tire weights and melts his lead over an open fire in a old pot out of kitchen he has shot prob. 1500+ no problems.saves a ton of money .
 
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