Lots Of Good Advice Here

[IDSS]

I've been lurking around for quite a while and reading up on the intricacies of casting boolits.

I finally got everything together: cast iron lead pot, ladle, small gas stove, COWW alloy, and a couple of Lee 2 cavity molds; and turned out my first real batch. I had previously done a few of the TL430-240's and loaded them to .44 Special levels using Unique, but this was my first effort with a big, serious boolit.

I cast a little over sixty of the C430-310RF and only had to cull five rejects.
Here's how they turned out:

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad117/cmoore457/060fdee5-0aed-418b-8d07-6b307b24f3e1_zps274ae12c.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/cmoore457/media/060fdee5-0aed-418b-8d07-6b307b24f3e1_zps274ae12c.jpg.html)

I lubed them my home-brew approximation of Speed Green (3:1 by weight of beeswax and 2-cycle engine oil) and made the gas checks from 12 gauge aluminum flashing with my newly-arrived Freechex-II. Credit for my even knowing about that stuff goes to this forum, as well.
I'll load these for my .44 Mag. SBH and Rossi R92 using either 2400 or IMR 4227 for use on edible critters and scratchy animals who might get the idea that I'm edible.

I seated the gas checks and sized the boolits to .430 with a Lee push-thru sizer. I backed off a couple grains from the listed max in my Lyman manual of 19 gr. of IMR 4227 and tried them out in the Ruger. Recoil wasn't bad and I didn't get any leading.

Any comments or observations, including load recommendations with those two powders, are welcome. Once again, thanks for all the great info and advice on this forum.

[tomme boy]

Have you made up any dummy rounds to see if these will cycle thru the Rossi? I hear they can be picky about the nose profile. Something about the channel where the lifter lifts the bullet up. If the nose is too fat, it will not lift it from the magazine. I would check with one round before you load up a bunch and they will not cycle.

Other than that, they look great.

[IDSS]

Have you made up any dummy rounds to see if these will cycle thru the Rossi? I hear they can be picky about the nose profile. Something about the channel where the lifter lifts the bullet up. If the nose is too fat, it will not lift it from the magazine. I would check with one round before you load up a bunch and they will not cycle.

Other than that, they look great.

Yessir, I did up a dummy at each crimp groove and found out that, luckily, the Rossi will feed the long one from the magazine. Next step is, I assume, to confirm that with a magazine full. If they don't feed, I'll just have to burn 'em all through the Ruger.

[IDSS]

A whole magazine full of the big boolits fed and fired through the Rossi like clockwork. Held minute-of-pumpkin at around 30 yards, too. Not much of a test, but that's all I was willing to do, postholing in knee deep snow.
I haven't been this happy since the last time I found .22 lr in stock at Walmart.

[cbrick]

You asked for comments, I only have one.

I wish my first boolits looked that good all those years ago. Congratulations, I hope you do realize that you are hooked and there is no 12 step program. :mrgreen:

Rick

[Smoke4320]

Welcome to the club .. its addicting .. find myself at work wishing I was casting :) :)
enjoy

[waco]

I'm with Rick on this one. Great looking boolits for your first go at it! Congrats!

[runfiverun]

17-18 grs of 2400 does rather well under that boolit...
your jacked now b.t.w. it doesn't stop........... ever.

[IDSS]

You asked for comments, I only have one.

I wish my first boolits looked that good all those years ago. Congratulations, I hope you do realize that you are hooked and there is no 12 step program. :mrgreen:

Rick


17-18 grs of 2400 does rather well under that boolit...
your jacked now b.t.w. it doesn't stop........... ever.

Thanks for the kind words, all.
The above seems to be very true.. I was driving around at work today thinking about how I could (Should?) throw the remaining commercial cast boolits I have into the pot and and remake them into my own. At any rate, it's pretty clear I'll never have to buy bullets for those .44's again.

[runfiverun]

I save that commercial cast stuff.
I use it as a 3/4-1 ww alloy bumper, or I mix more tin in it to make a 4/6/90 alloy that is outstanding in many rifle applications.

[cbrick]

it's pretty clear I'll never have to buy bullets for those .44's again.

Buying bullets is a silly thing to do when you can have better quality plus the satisfaction of having made them with your own two hands. For me the most satisfying shooting experience was winning at an NRA Championship long range handgun match, beating everyone that was shooting the best bullet money could buy. It don't get no better than that. :mrgreen:

What part of NW MT are you in? I used to have some land just outside of Eureka on lake koocanusa.

Rick

[IDSS]

I'm over on the other side of the Park from there. Just about as far north, though.

[Trinidad Bill]

Very nice! I hope I can be as successful upon my first try.