Bonjour from France

[fusil]

Bonjour from France,
I’m new to reloading and soon to start casting my own 38 SWC’s. I’ve got a sack of wheel weights and other scrap lead; about 200lbs. I’ve got a cast iron pad and a camping stove, so I’m ready to make ingots.:-D
I’ve read ‘The evolution of the wheel weight’ by Hunter Lee Elliott and thought it was superb, full of good advice and easy to follow.
The only question I have is…..Should I buy a hardness tester? I’m just paper punching with my 686, so will the hardness be a big issue?
I will not be casting rifle ammo or for hot loads.
If you think I should buy a ‘tester’ can you tell me why?:confused:
Merci tout l’monde,
fusil

[fishhawk]

welcome to the group! for your intended use of the WW i wouldn't bother getting a tester myself. you bigger problem will be getting the right size slug so a micrometer might be a good thing. steve k

[mooman76]

Welcome and I agree with Fishhawk. First off you are just punching paper for pistol with WWs so your hardness is going to stay pretty much the same and pistol is less demanding than a rifle. It is more important to have a proper size bullet. You really only need a hardness tester if you are going to be playing with the alloys so you can adjust to a certain degree of harness and you can get by without them. I don't have one and i shoot rifle and pistol. I just don't push mine that hard.

[Shiloh]

Paper punching to me, means mild target loads. Thats what I shoot mostly as well as for accuracy. My .38/.357 WC and SWC loads are not finniky about alloy or hardness. Good mold fill out and good boolit bases ar more important.

Shiloh

[fusil]

Many thanks guy's.[smilie=s:
I'll be ordering my mold this weekend. Lee is the only one you can get in France of the shelf. I'll let you know how I get on.
fusil

[AZ-Stew]

After 35 years of casting, I finally bought a Lee hardness tester. It occasionally comes in handy.

But in the previous 35 years, without the tester, I cast bullets for rifle and handgun. The handgun loads ran from plinkers to magnums. Funny thing... The untested bullets always hit the target and otherwise worked perfectly for my uses. My tested alloys do the same thing. No improvement.

I use the tester mainly to ensure that the scrap I use for muzzle loaders is as close to pure lead as possible. For what you're doing, a hardness tester is not necessary.

Regards,

Stew

[BD]

Lucky guy to have a permit for a handgun in France.

BD

[JDL]

Greetings fusil. You may want to try cutting the w/ws with soft lead, maybe 50-50 if you're just punching paper with mid-range .38s. The accuracy may be better or maybe not. Forty years ago, I found that 30-1, pb-sn, would outshoot harder slugs in my S&W K-.38 and it was cheaper to make, not a bad thing. :-)
JDL

[missionary5155]

Greetings Fussil and Welcome ! I was in France many years ago 1973...
I would also recommend the Softer boolits. I usually use 30-1 to 40-1 in my revolvers up to 1000 fps and even soem faster. My first concern is that the boolit fills the chamber mouths as that is THE place to be sealing the propellant gas. Next is the barrel which would be nice to be .001+ smaller than the chamber mouths.

[rbstern]

Many thanks guy's.[smilie=s:
I'll be ordering my mold this weekend. Lee is the only one you can get in France of the shelf. I'll let you know how I get on.
fusil

Can I suggest buying two molds, of different bullet styles and weights? One heavier, one lighter. If your budget allows. Also get yourself a Lee 358 sizer kit with the liquid tumble lube, if you don't have a sizer.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Bonjour mon vieux et soyez bienvenu chez nous. (tranlation=Hello pal and welcome to the forum)
For the type of target work that you are doing you do not need a hardness tester. Range lead, scrap lead and wheelweight metal is usually fairly soft. As for bullet design a wadcutter type WC design with a weight of 148 grains or a semi-wadcutter SWC design of 158 grains is best for target work, as they both cut neat clean holes in the target and are easier to score. Lee makes both types, and also sells at a reasonable price, a kit for sizing and lubricating your bullets. If you are in range of what used to be the German border, you might consider taking a ride and shopping around for other brands of molds such as RCBS or Lyman. The German gun shops carry a lot more on their shelves in recent years, probably moreso than in France and maybe cheaper. En tout cas (Anyway) bonne chance (good luck) et bon tir (and good shooting). LLS

[MtGun44]

Good advice, no need for hardness tester. Softer alloy likely will work
better. If you are trying for top accuracy, please read the sticky note
at the top of the handgun section on revolver accuracy. If you are just
plinking for fun, then the most important issue is using a boolit large
enough to fill the barrel to the bottom of the grooves plus about 0.001-0.002
inch extra to avoid leading the barrel. If the cylinder throats are undersized,
then you will need to use soft alloy so it will bump back up to fill the
barrel grooves, or have the cylinder throats reamed up to proper size.
This is all discussed in the revolver accuracy section in some detail.

Test your bullets first, if they shoot accurately and do not lead the
bore, you are lucky and need not do all the extra work. If you get
leading and/or poor accuracy, more work will be required to solve those
issues.

Welcome and bon chance!

Bill

[Echo]

I can't add anything except my welcome to the board!

[dromia]

Welcome to Cast Boolits Fusil. :drinks:

[Bret4207]

Welcome and best of luck in your new hobby.

[SCIBUL]

Bonjour et bienvenue chez nos amis les plus expérimentés du web en la matière !:drinks:

Translation : Hello and welcome to the most experimented web friends on the subject :drinks:

[fusil]

WOW,
thanks for all the welcome messages and advice. I'll get started next weekend. :mrgreen:

Merci mes amis, j'commence l'weekend prochain. A bientot.:drinks:
fusil

[Bigjohn]

G,day Cobber from all the Aussie's on the board. :drinks:

Welcome and hope to hear more from you from time to time.

And don't forget our credo: "The only dumb question is the one you don't ask!" :coffeecom


Aussie & Ex-pat Queenslander,
John

[timkelley]

fusil, glad you're here.:smile::smile:

[UweJ]

Welcome to the board. You´ll find everything you´ll ever need on information from these good folks over here on the board.
Uwe