Pure Lead Bullets

[Hogger]

Since I'm new here and this is my first post I will start off by telling you that this is my first go at casting bullets to reload for my .45 ACP. However, I have done a fair amount of casting in the past for muzzleloader bullets and fishing lures. I have a good bit of wheel weights to smelt down into ingots for later casting. From there my question is can I use this pure lead from the wheel weights to cast bullets for my .45 ACP without adding anything else? My loading will be the following as its a nice easy load and works well. I will be casting into a RCBS Mould .45-230-RN and shooting that on top of 4.5 grains of Red Dot at about 750 FPS. Just want to check and see if I can run this load with just pure lead. Thanks

[johnvid]

You should be good with wheel weights. Sometime I add 30% linotype to get the boolit to drop .001 wider.

[RBak]

Welcome to the forum Hogger!

Wheel weights, as cast, are considered a "God Send" by many folks, myself included.
Some of the more knowledgeable will be along shortly to offer you a few tips on the loading of your .45 using pure lead.

Like you, I am at a point right now where I have only pure lead, and I am sorely missing my wheel weights, although I am getting by for right now, I am looking hard for some more.

Russ

[AZ-Stew]

If your WWs are the clip-on variety, they aren't pure lead and will make dandy .45 ACP boolits. If they're of the stick-on variety, they are nearly pure lead and will probably need something to harden them up a bit, such as linotype.

Regards,

Stew

[Cherokee]

Wheel weights (clip on type) are not pure lead, they have antimony and some tin in them, making them very useful for casting bullets. Some of us add a little tin to improve casting quality, some don't. So, yes, you can use your WW's to cast the bullets for your 45. Make sure you have the lead & mold hot enough to yield good bullets.

[frankenfab]

"Some of us add a little tin to improve casting quality"

Yup, I melt 1/4"-5/16"off a 1 lb. stick of pure tin from Roto Metals into every 20 lb. pot of WW. It seems that's about all it takes for me.

[44man]

I actually get good boolits from straight WW's. Added tin a few times but can't tell any difference except for the cost. I save tin for my other alloys.
I would only add a touch of tin if the WW's you have give you trouble with fill out in the mold.

[mooman76]

45 acp is a good one to start with and being it is a slow low pressure round you could get away with a soft lead bullet or straight WWs if you wish.

[mannyCA]

I've had good results in pistols with 1/2 WW & Pb, no leading up to approx. 1000fps, when retrieved they tend to get shorter. I'm assuming they seal the barrel pretty good.

[chris in va]

Just don't water drop the boolits out of the mold. Air drop them on a towel or something soft. I have excellent results with my 45 wheelweight boolits in my Sig 220.

[DLCTEX]

I use straight WW for my 45 boolits, but have used 50/50 (WW/lead0 with no problems. I have more access to WW than pure lead, so I save the pure. size them .452 and shoot away.

[Marcus the Cat]

I use straight WW for my 45 boolits, but have used 50/50 (WW/lead0 with no problems. I have more access to WW than pure lead, so I save the pure. size them .452 and shoot away.

I just cast my first .45acp's from a Lee 200 grain mold and they are measuring out at .453 fairly consistently. The mold claims a .452, so I'm not running to large it seems. My question is (I have measured my bore and it is .450) will I have any trouble shooting these .453's without resizing them..?

Or should I back off the powder charge a little to avoid too much pressure in the bore and chamber..?

[jleneave]

Since I'm new here and this is my first post I will start off by telling you that this is my first go at casting bullets to reload for my .45 ACP. However, I have done a fair amount of casting in the past for muzzleloader bullets and fishing lures. I have a good bit of wheel weights to smelt down into ingots for later casting. From there my question is can I use this pure lead from the wheel weights to cast bullets for my .45 ACP without adding anything else? My loading will be the following as its a nice easy load and works well. I will be casting into a RCBS Mould .45-230-RN and shooting that on top of 4.5 grains of Red Dot at about 750 FPS. Just want to check and see if I can run this load with just pure lead. Thanks

I also use the RCBS 45-230-RN and I love that mold for the .45 ACP. I also use Bullseye some, but I mostly use Unique. My favorite load consists of 5.9grs of Unique, CCI#300 Lg Pistol primer, seated to a COAL of 1.240". My bullets are cast with water dropped range scrap and sized to .452" and lubed with Lars Carnuba Red lube. I also use a Lee factory taper crimp die. This load will tear the center out of a target @ 25yds out of my Kimber 1911s and my Colt 1911s. I have no leading what so ever out of any of the pistols that I shoot this load out of (a total of four 1911s). I hope this info helps you out a little. Take care.

Jody

[243winxb]

Just want to check and see if I can run this load with just pure lead. No, pure lead is to soft + bullet diameter as it drops from the mould may make undersized bullets. You need .452" dia. The soft bullets may not feed well when they hit the ramp on loading.
pure lead from the wheel weights If you want to use wheel weight , it Ok. Not Pure Lead.

[44man]

I don't have an ACP so can't say. In my .44 and up revolvers I shot a lot of 50-50 boolits and get zero leading. It is a great hunting mix too.
However I get fliers with it. I get 3 to 4 in one ragged hole at 50 yards but every single group will have one or two fliers.
Now these are not bad enough to prevent shooting deer to 100 yards.
But my boolits need a gas check with this alloy. If I shoot PB, groups are very poor, looking more like a pattern.
PB does not shoot good for me until I use water dropped WW's and above.
I suppose 50-50 might be good in the ACP because it is more or less a close range gun. Toughen them by water dropping if groups are too large.