Myths and falsehoods in Casting

[Hickok]

Might be of interest to all of us caster's if we could post some of the dubious and outright "untruths" we have personally run into and that caused us leaded bores, casting problems, reloading problems, poor accuracy etc, when in pursuit of our hobby.

Advice we read or took that was pure "bull manure" when it comes to our the cast boolit endeavors. And let's keep it informative and civil so we can all benefit from differing experiences we all have had.


I will start with a myth that caused me problems with accuracy and leading when I started with casting many years ago;
"You must size your cast boolits to groove diameter in revolvers." Some writers put this out as a truth, and it gave me big problems in my handguns when I was a novice to casting.


As we now know, it is best to size a boolit to fit the chamber throats of a revolver. And if the throats are smaller than the groove diameter, it usually, but NOT always, hinders cast boolit accuracy and leading to some extent.

As I said in another post, I believe reading some of Mike Venturino's early articles first got me sizing to throat diameters in revolvers and greatly improved my results.

[Maven]

The following aren't "myths," but are contrary to the conventional wisdom about CB's:

(1) For best accuracy in rifles, the CB must engage the rifling. My Marlin #336 .45-70 hasn't heard this and is very accurate when CB's are seated to 2.55" OAL. The only time I depart from this is when I try to get 70gr. FFg into that case, which means I have to load the rifle one at a time.

(2) For best accuracy in rifles, a bore riding CB, e.g., Lyman/NOE #314299, the bullet nose must fit and ride the bore. My Finnish Nagant (Sako) Model 39 is very accurate, but #314299, even with its .3035" nose isn't marked by the rifling even when the bore is slugged from breech to muzzle. Ditto my Shaw barreled 8 x 57mm Mauser with the Lee 175gr. >323" bore riding design.

In short, it pays to experiment with bullet designs, diameters, and seating depth/OAL.

[Ola]

My personal favorites are the "you will get leading..

-If you shoot lead bullets"
-if the bullet isn't made out of pure lino"
-etc

[rond]

9mm doesn't like lead boolits.

[flyingmonkey35]

You will ruin your barrel.
PC acts like sand paper.
PC the paint will melt in the barrel.


Cast can never be as accurate as fmj. / deadly etc..

[EMC45]

I would add....... "never say never" and also don't accept everything you see here or in magazines in regards to casting as gospel truth. I don't say that to deride any members here, but his gun may be different than your gun or her gun etc. Also applies to techniques- What I or you do may not work for everyone else.

I have experimented with heat ranges in smelting/casting, lube recipes, seating depths, powder/primer combinations, gun/load combinations etc. This site has been more precious than gold to me in that regard, however you WILL be told at times (sometimes not gently) your info is bad or won't work. See for yourself. That is the beauty of this hobby and this site. I like dispelling myths and other's opinions and offering solid evidence to the contrary.

[Bula]

(I don't recommend lead at over 900 FPS)

This is from a well know reloading website. I will say this, that was definately the case when I was buying cast boolits frior to learning. Even .38 spl level loads would lead my bore up something aweful. This was with several of the more 'famous' lead bullet producers.

[newcastter]

This is my all time favorite that tends to rear its head every couple of years. Myth. You can't shoot lead out of a glock, its hexagonal rifling will cause leading and turn the barrel to a smoothbore eventually causing a blow up.

[petroid]

"You can't shoot lead out of an AR15. You will ruin your gun."

[Mk42gunner]

Myth-- "Hard lead is better." The big trouble with this one is that nobody has a definite definition of the word hard. It seems to make sense; everyone know that gilding metal is harder than lead, and it goes through a barrel fine.

Myth-- "Hard lubes are better." I'm not saying there are no good hard lubes, but most of the benefit I have seen from them is they stay in the grooves during shipping.

Myth-- "Wheel Weights are dirty, bullets made from them will ruin your barrel."

On the Glock polygon rifling and lead issue, I like to point out that the Whitworth rifle of Confederate sniping fame had a hex (polygon) form of rifling and it has an outstanding reputation for accuracy.

Robert

[Hardcast416taylor]

"You might as well pour sand down your gun barrel if you use wheelweights"!Robert

[Kraschenbirn]

"You shouldn't shoot cast bullets in that Garand (or any other gas-operated semi-auto) 'cause the lead will crud up your gas port."

The last time I heard this one, I was in the process of policing up the pile of 30-06 brass from in front of my slot on the firing line...192 rounds, to be precise, that had fired and cycled without a bobble.

Bill

[Blackwater]

I think Maven hit on the biggest one. We can go by "conventional wisdom," and what may work in most guns, but unless and until you TRY something, you really don't know anything at all. It might or might not work.

This board has been a real boon to me, and explained many things I'd seen and really didn't understand, but I kept trying stuff until I found something that worked, and that's still a great way to learn how to cast and shoot boolits. Most of us are "time challenged," and in that circumstance, it's just good sense to abide by the advice here, but NEVER assume that it'll work everywhere, all the time, in every gun. Strange things happen in all phases of shooting, and casting and shooting boolits is no exception.

[paul h]

A cast bullet will lead if driven over XXXX fps.

A gas check is needed if velocities are over XXXX fps.

Hard cast bullets are needed if velocities are over XXXX fps.

Pretty much any time I've seen an absolute stated regarding cast bullets I find it isn't completely true, it's only true for the person making it in their limited experience of that paticular gun, bullet, lube, powder etc.

[Tailhunter]

Even the smallest drop of water hitting hot lead will cause an explosion.

[alamogunr]

Even the smallest drop of water hitting hot lead will cause an explosion.

This one I don't plan to test. Too many variables. Past experience says that would be tempting fate to do it on purpose.

[paul h]

Lead is 11.36 times denser than water, which means water will float on top of lead. When a water drop encounters a surface of 700-800 degrees it will bounce around on a cushion of steam.

Now, if you water water trapped say between a wheel weight clip and a wheel weight and drop it into a pot of molten lead, the tinsel fairy will visit you. Of if say you water drop your bullets, get a drop of water in one of your mold's cavities and don't hear it skittering around in the cavity and fill the cavity with molten lead you'll be greated with a pop and the tinsel fairy will emerge from the sprue hole post haste.

One should take all suitable safety precautions when handling molten metal, but one should also should understand the physics of the dangers at hand.

[Mal Paso]

You will save money.

[Wolfer]

You will save money.

This is the biggest myth.

[s mac]

You will save money.

That get my vote. This is a poll isn't it?