First cast and a few ?????

[boca]

Hi guys
This is my first attempt at bullet casting and I have a few questions to ask.91740
The bullet That I cast is the silver one its a 210gr gc .429 and I would like to use it in my marlin .44mag with micro groove as plink rounds for the kids and me. The velocity will be the slowest I can find under 1000fps.
I dont have any lube products and was wondering if I could load both the pictured bullets with no lube or am I asking for trouble. The cast bullet would be #2 alloy the other is pure with a ali washer.
I would appreciate any advice . can I use .44 special data for the .44mag for reduced loads. I will be using trail boss ,I also have apn-70 which is universal .
Regards

[AlaskanGuy]

You gotta have some lube my friend..... If you dont have any lube, how about johnsons paste wax??? Lots of different lube is based on that.... Available at most hardware stores... Its either that or be prepared to clean up a mess.... A Real mess.....

AG

[Bent Ramrod]

The one on the left looks like one of those Prot-X-Bore bullets with the zinc washer. It was supposed to work unlubricated. I would still keep the velocities down though.

Swirling the boolit on the right with a little Lee Liquid Alox or even Johnson's Wax in a plastic container should deposit enough lubricant for the low velocities you want. You could conceivably clean and lube the bore between every shot and shoot them unlubricated, but that would be even more work than a couple minutes of tumbling by hand.

[popper]

Jump directly into dry tumble powder coating or HiTek coating. You won't need to play with anything else. Very good first casting - you did your homework. At that velocity you can cut the #2 with 2x pure and get good results. You really want to shoot the left one? Check the coating thread in the lube section. PC works great in my MG 30/30, is less $$ and quicker than the HiTek. Yes, LLA & Recluse lubes work but you will won't go back if you try coating.

[bangerjim]

You must have some lube. You can use the old-fashioned greases and there are a thousand and one ideas on how to make it. That, in itself, has hundreds of threads here! JPW will work in a pinch. LLA is another easy one.

If you are serious about getting to casting, consider PC'ing. There are 3 methods, liquid slopping, dry tumbling, and electrostatic gun coating. I use and ONLY recommend the latter;

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?209151-Powder-Coating-101-Electrostatic-Method

Perfect boolits every time. No grease, no smoke, and NO LEADING.......!!!!!!!!

Check it out.

And have fun!

bangerjim

[mdi]

Regardless of what lube you put on that bullet, it will lead your rifle's barrel. .429" OD is prolly .003" and mebbe .004" too small for a rifle's groove diameter. Micro groove barrels need a bit of different bullet sizing/alloy than plain rifling, and I haven't all that info. Do a search on "casting for micro-groove rifling" or something like that...

[Rainier]

Welcome to the madness! You first attempt looks really good. I experimented with using just Johnson's Paste Wax and a couple drops of mineral sprits tumbled in a plastic tub. The combination worked pretty well for low velocity .38 special loads in my Puma mod 92. As mdi pointed out size and barrel fit also are going to play an important role. I'd do a bit of reading up before I launched any cast down range. As time goes on you'll also find powder coating is a fantastic way to lube your boolits. Good luck and have fun!

[grouch]

You can always hand lube with your choice of automotive grease. Just seat the bullet on the bottom band, apply grease, seat to final depth and wipe clean. Easier and quicker than it sounds. possibly too slow for a long term solution for a pistol shooter though.
Grouch

[boca]

Well, all done found some bees wax and vaseline have loaded up over 100 rounds will give them a go. Now how do I clean lead from the barrel ? Thats my next question.

[Rainier]

Now how do I clean lead from the barrel ? Thats my next question.

Use a strand of chore-boy wrapped around a bore brush - it gets the lead out. Make sure you get the brass cleaning pad - cut and unravel a piece and just wrap it around a bore brush and have at getting the lead out.

Good luck and have fun!

[jonp]

Wrap a strand or two of ALL COPPER Chore Boy on an old brush. Give it a swipe or two and clean as normal. I usually, if the leading is there, swab the barrel with a good cleaner and let sit first then scrub as normal. Seems to work on a little leading. You can use the Chore Boy if it is a little heavier and in bad cases swab with Kroil, let sit then scrub a few times. Should work.

The All Copper Chore Boy is important. Make sure it is not copper coated stainless, the cheap stuff.

[dondiego]

Now how do I clean lead from the barrel ? Thats my next question.[/QUOTE]

boca - If you do it right, you will get no leading!

[bones37]

Regardless of what lube you put on that bullet, it will lead your rifle's barrel. .429" OD is prolly .003" and mebbe .004" too small for a rifle's groove diameter. Micro groove barrels need a bit of different bullet sizing/alloy than plain rifling, and I haven't all that info. Do a search on "casting for micro-groove rifling" or something like that...

I agree with MDI, which is based on my personal experience with a micro groove 44 mag. My rifle slugged out at .4313" and anything smaller than .4320" leaded the barrel. However, You may get lucky if You don't run them too fast, but I wouldn't expect stellar accuracy out of a .429 boolit going down a bore that is MOST likely .431ish". Btw, SAMMI-specs are different for a rifle vs. a handgun in .44 mag, specifically the bore size being a few thousandths larger (.429" vs. .431"). I had to hand-lap my bore because of tight spots in the barrel underneath the roll mark and where the rear sight dovetail was cut, after doing this, and using mold(s) that were cut to drop a boolit at .4330", I acheived better accuracy and zero leading.
bones.