newbie casting

[PULSAR]

OK been hanging around for over a year ,just reading and learning form you guys . Just getting into casting for my 1911 and 38/357. I am using straight wheelweights , mixed with a small amount of pure lead with some added tin for my alloy .I am using Lee 2 cavity molds in the .45acp ,one is the lee #TL 542-230-2r,which is dropping boolits averaging 240 grains . The other mold a lee 452-200-swc ,dropping at an average of 210 grains . Having been reloading for years with rifle and pistol jacketed loads but am new to the whole cast thing . I need some loading data for these boolits ,possibly with UNIQUE and BULLSEYE which I already have on hand . Thanks for any help and when i figure out how iI will post some pics

[462]

Get a copy or two of Lyman's Reloading Handbook or their Cast Bullet Handbook.

[chris in va]

Let's see what my Lyman manual states.

Keep in mind, once these are loaded you'll want to drop them in your (removed) barrel to make sure they chamber properly.

225gr LRN 1.272oal max
Unique 5.5 - 7.3gr max
Bullseye 4.0 - 5.0gr max

200gr SWC 1.235oal max
Unique 6.0 - 7.5gr max
Bullseye 4.9 - 6.0gr max (also listed as the most accurate)

I'm sure you can also get reloading data online from the powder companies.

[Al_sway]

Don't worry that you are casting at 240 and 210 grains. Use the starting data for 230 and 200, and work up from there. It is not unusual for cast bullets to be slightly off their nominal value as the mould maker has no control over the exact alloy that you use.

[thegreatdane]

with 210gn boolits, I load 6.0gn Unique for about 850 fps and great groups from an XDM-45