First Cast - Heavy - Ideas

[saphelps]

After considerable time lurking, finally cast my first set. Starting with .45, I'm concerned about the end weight. Mold (Lee) is a TC 230, however, a weight check is showing them at the 240 grain range.

Using WW as the alloy, any ideas of what I may be doing incorrectly or how to lighten things up a tad?

[C. Latch]

It's pretty normal for molds to throw heavier bullets than they advertise, when you cast with WW. My Lee 452-255-rf throws 262 grain bullets. My 452-300-rf throws 311, iirc. The advertised weight is based on an alloy with much more tin and antimony than WW have.

[saphelps]

Good to know about throwing heavier. Searching Google, others reported similar, although 10 gr over has me being cautious. Particularly when getting them combined with powder. Other than weight, happy with the TL452-230-TC, bullets dropped right out. I'll play with tin mixture and see how that works. Definitely an educational hobby.

[AlaskanGuy]

Dont worry about them.... Shoot them suckers ... Lol

[runfiverun]

just make some dummy's and see where they need to be seated to function 100% through your gun.
then look at where the base sits in the case.
compare it to a known and see how much less/more case capacity you have.
base your starting loads on what you see.
start from the bottom and work up to accuracy with a small lot of brass. [50-60 pieces]
stop load development there, load all your lot of brass, empty all your lot of brass.
now make an honest assessment as to what changes you think you might need.

[quilbilly]

Most of my boolits from Lee molds run a bit high. My 45 -200 gr boolit drops at 214 +/- 1 gr. I don't mind if they are consistent.

[gwpercle]

Stop weighing them...it just causes you nothing but imagined problems. Inspect them carefully for casting flaws, keep the perfectly filled out ones with a perfect base...load and shoot.
45 cal. handgun bullets don't have to all weigh the same. Use loading data for 230 gr. and go with it. It's common for a mould to say XYZ grains on the box and cast with an alloy ABC grains...the alloy makes a different. You not doing anything wrong...boolits look just fine, LUBE, LOAD and SHOOT...have fun
Gary

[fastfire]

Stop weighing them...it just causes you nothing but imagined problems. Inspect them carefully for casting flaws, keep the perfectly filled out ones with a perfect base...load and shoot.
45 cal. handgun bullets don't have to all weigh the same. Use loading data for 230 gr. and go with it. It's common for a mould to say XYZ grains on the box and cast with an alloy ABC grains...the alloy makes a different. You not doing anything wrong...boolits look just fine, LUBE, LOAD and SHOOT...have fun
Gary

When I get a bit anial about accuracey I weigh all my bullets into groups, and weigh the powder to the .00 of a grain.
I shoot a match 4 times a year,5 shots at each distance that we start at 1400yds then 1 mile then 2000yds and last 2200 yds. We are shooting 338 Lapua and 338 Edges, using 300gr Berger OTM.
We shoot at a plate 4' square; the first 2 distances are a piece of cake. 2000yds it starts to get interesting and 2200yds very much so. Some are talking about 2400yds but most are out of adjustment at 2200.
In the last 3 years the wind has never been below 8mph and most times 10-14mph.

[MtGun44]

Normal. Ignore.

Bill

[9w1911]

ah this reminds me of my first ever posts here, agree ignore and shoot

[NVScouter]

Also lead boolits will have less pressure than jacketed so just use 230g data and go for it!

[Driver man]

Over weight is pretty normal. Good looking boolits. Shoot them and enjoy.

[MarkP]

They look very nice! But not too nice to load & shoot.

Nice Job!

[saphelps]

Ignoring and prepping to shoot! Thanks for the feedback. Always a + when you do something new, think you goofed, only to find out things were done right after all.

On a side note, tested hardness and it came out to 14.5 on the Lee tester (already hate that microscope). Not bad for a rookie. First batch drying the Alox.

[cbrick]

I'll play with tin mixture and see how that works. Definitely an educational hobby.

All the advice to shoot'em is right on. The metallurgy of a Pb/Sb/Sn alloy is not to exceed the percentage of Sb with Sn, in WW alloy that pretty much means no more than 2% Sn should you add any.

Rick

[saphelps]

Got out to the range Sunday and gave these a go. After warming up with 50 factory loads, ran two load configs to see how this particular powder/boolit combo fared. Also cast some 9mm since my last post and ran 5 sets of 10 (first set was 9 rds due to my having clipped a primer during seating). 45 showed little leading but I did go heavy on my first application of LLA (newbie move). 9mm had serious leading going on, so more research to come.

The boolits were not run through a sizer, micro'd at .452 and .356. Molds used were Lee 6-cav TL452-230-TC and TL356-124-TC.

Firearms:
Ruger SR1911 .45 ACP (slugged at .451)
Sig Sauer P250C 9mm (slugged at .355)

Powder: Power Pistol
Primer: CCI (.45) and Win (9mm)
Load Data: See attached

No bench rest was used due to the range sand bag having holes and first test fire if factories resulted in dust all over the guns and loaded magazines, resulting in an unscheduled cleaning session.

Overall, not bad and I do welcome feedback (positive and negative).
89672
89674
89675
89676
89677
89678

[myg30]

Great job for first cast ! Your on the right track here. I love casting. Shooting is fun but casting is great, I love it. Your targets looking good too. A little leading is better than a lot of leading.
Now this is where the fun begins ! Enjoy

Mike

[Maven]

Stop weighing them...it just causes you nothing but imagined problems. Inspect them carefully for casting flaws, keep the perfectly filled out ones with a perfect base...load and shoot.
45 cal. handgun bullets don't have to all weigh the same. Use loading data for 230 gr. and go with it. It's common for a mould to say XYZ grains on the box and cast with an alloy ABC grains...the alloy makes a different. You not doing anything wrong...boolits look just fine, LUBE, LOAD and SHOOT...have fun
Gary


This is the voice of reason, saphelps. Ignore it at your peril (LOL)! I.e., why torture yourself over inconsequential matters? Btw, my 6 cavity Lee 30-150-TL has never dropped a bullet weighing the nominal 150grs. 139-140grs. is typical of my WW + 1% tin alloy.

[Adam10mm]

I use that bullet with the normal lube grooves in .45 ACP at 1.185 OAL. Feeds in anything and everything. I use WW with 2% tin added and I think they usually drop about 235gr-237gr. No biggie. That is a fantastic bullet in the .45.

[rsrocket1]

I love those bullets. My boolits also come out closer to 240g than 230g. I was sizing them in order to seat them at 1.190", but now I just tumble lube them once and load them unsized. I seat them to 1.17" COL which is right at the end of the cone. I only use 5.0g Unique so the increase in pressure from the deeper 20 mils is still pretty low but high enough to expand the case and seal off the blowback of gases. They feed perfectly in my old Thompson AO 1911 and shoot real good.

I'm also using them in sabots with my .50 cal muzzleloader. Excellent shooter at 50 yards.
The groups open up at 100 yards I think because of the bullets, but at a production rate of 400+/per hour with my 6 cavity mold, I'll be happy to punch holes at 10 yards with my 1911 and at 50 yards with a ML.
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[saphelps]

Great job for first cast ! Your on the right track here. I love casting. Shooting is fun but casting is great, I love it. Your targets looking good too. A little leading is better than a lot of leading.
Now this is where the fun begins ! Enjoy

Mike

The 9mm is showing the heavy leading so going to be isolating/implementing potential soutions listed in similar posts/stickies. Lee sizers should arrive tomorrow so that will be my first step. Step 2 will be add a tad bit more LLA. From there eliminate and isolate a solution.

[wistlepig1]

90021

If you are worried about it, just add a little Tin. WW air cooled

PS if you look in the background, you will see Lee 170 gr 30 cal, as cast they are 177 grs. Like others have said, "shoot them" and have fun!