Grizz Axxemann
05-09-2011, 02:58 AM
Hey guys, I'm new here. Been reloading for a couple years, but never before with cast.
Recently, I had cast up some .401" 170 grain bullets (a first for me, used a 2 cavity Lee mould, they turned out pretty good) and I'm planning on loading them up as soon as I get them sorted by weight. So far, the most variance I've seen has been 3 grains light, maybe 1 in 10 have been more than 1.5 grains light, nothing over yet, with the average being less than half a grain variance, not bad for a first time with a brand new mould. I used a wheel weight based alloy that a good friend and long-time caster has been using for everything from .44 Mag, to .30 cal to 12 ga slugs.
Now, I've loaded FMJs before (my favorite load is 8.5 grs of Power Pistol under a 180 gr FMJTC, nice and toasty, still controllable, and huge flash indoors, which impresses newbies) but I've never done cast.
I have a teeny bit of WSF left over from a previous batch of handloads (6.5 gr load with the 180s) but not enough to do more than 10-20 rounds. I've found WSF data for the cast bullets, but my local powder sources have none in stock. I have plenty of Power Pistol, and most of a can of Universal Clays (from when I was reloading .38SPL) and was wondering if anyone had any data for either of those with cast. None of my manuals have anything, and nothing has turned up online so far.
In case anyone is wondering, this is a 1911 Delta Elite, factory 23 lb dual-spring (probably swapping out for a Wilson 24 lb spring and full length guiderod soon) so it'll need to be hot enough to cycle, but not so hard that my frame takes a beating.
Cheers,
Grizz
Recently, I had cast up some .401" 170 grain bullets (a first for me, used a 2 cavity Lee mould, they turned out pretty good) and I'm planning on loading them up as soon as I get them sorted by weight. So far, the most variance I've seen has been 3 grains light, maybe 1 in 10 have been more than 1.5 grains light, nothing over yet, with the average being less than half a grain variance, not bad for a first time with a brand new mould. I used a wheel weight based alloy that a good friend and long-time caster has been using for everything from .44 Mag, to .30 cal to 12 ga slugs.
Now, I've loaded FMJs before (my favorite load is 8.5 grs of Power Pistol under a 180 gr FMJTC, nice and toasty, still controllable, and huge flash indoors, which impresses newbies) but I've never done cast.
I have a teeny bit of WSF left over from a previous batch of handloads (6.5 gr load with the 180s) but not enough to do more than 10-20 rounds. I've found WSF data for the cast bullets, but my local powder sources have none in stock. I have plenty of Power Pistol, and most of a can of Universal Clays (from when I was reloading .38SPL) and was wondering if anyone had any data for either of those with cast. None of my manuals have anything, and nothing has turned up online so far.
In case anyone is wondering, this is a 1911 Delta Elite, factory 23 lb dual-spring (probably swapping out for a Wilson 24 lb spring and full length guiderod soon) so it'll need to be hot enough to cycle, but not so hard that my frame takes a beating.
Cheers,
Grizz