So i finally got arround to casting

[georgerc]

I had a chance this weekend to fire up the pot ad cast some boolits, something I have been meaning to get around for some time.

I started with a 358-125 RF and followed it with a 000 buck, couple sessions, ended up with about 3 shotshell boxes worth of projectiles, pretty straight forward process, didn't go as well as I hoped, but I can't complain either, did ok for a first try.

now part of the reason I wanted some 000 buck was to slug some barrels.

my 9mm measured .355, my 357 measured .357, and the .380 wait for it, .358 that was a bit of a surprise, I slugged each barrel twice and measured several times, so where do I go from here?

I want to order some sizing dies next, my boolits measure .360, well at least the ones I closed the mold tight do, I have had them larger, so If I were to shoot cast, about .002 over, I read, but how about if I am planning to powder coat them? same? do you guys load PC boolits to cast charges?, jacketed? or somewhere in between more like plated projectiles?

all that being said, the thought has crossed my mind to make up some .380 loads using the 000 buckshot, I saw the 38/357 duplex loads, but search as I might I have not come across such an example for the .380, read about the #3 in 25 acp thou.

those balls are supposed to weigh about 70 gr, I have yet to weigh some but the lowest 380 load I came across was 90? gr, read somewhere when a load is not avail for said projectile go to the next weight up.

any thoughts?

[Yodogsandman]

Did you cast the 000 buck from pure lead?

[georgerc]

nope, all clipons

[runfiverun]

.358 sizer for them all.

[shoot-n-lead]

.358 sizer for them all.

What he said...^^^^

[georgerc]

I'm a little compulsive about shooting cast, my first experience with cast bullets were the PPU 38 specials, I bought 500 rounds, still have most of them, they lead the snot out of my revolver in a couple shots, not sure what gives, I plan on pulling a few at some point, I was thinking more like a 357 and a 359, but my main question was in regards to powder coating, same .002 rule applies? was wondering maybe 002 may be too much and shave the coating, or maybe get slightly smaller sizing dies to account for the coating and only size once B4 the coating?

[shoot-n-lead]

I'm a little compulsive about shooting cast, my first experience with cast bullets were the PPU 38 specials, I bought 500 rounds, still have most of them, they lead the snot out of my revolver in a couple shots, not sure what gives, I plan on pulling a few at some point, I was thinking more like a 357 and a 359, but my main question was in regards to powder coating, same .002 rule applies? was wondering maybe 002 may be too much and shave the coating, or maybe get slightly smaller sizing dies to account for the coating and only size once B4 the coating?

I powder coat and run them through a .358 sizer...never have a problem with leading in any of my guns.

Your guns may be different.

[georgerc]

do you run them in a 9mm that slugs .355? I love the idea of one size does all but Lee dies are cheap, I can afford a couple just figured there are 4 sizes avail, I believe, what would be a better approach? size b4 coat? after or both?

also was hoping for some input on loading data, use cast, jacketed or start somewhere in between?

[georgerc]

oh wait, .356 , 357, .358 are the only Lee options, guess .358 it is, wont it be a little too big for the .355? especially with the powder coat, considering the sizing is done after.

[Walter Laich]

my 9mm and 38/257 are run through two different sizers.

I PC first and then run through sizer.

[MrWolf]

nope, all clipons

If you were using the 0000 to slug barrels I believe you want to use pure lead and not COWW. Gonna be to hard in my opinion. Good luck.

[runfiverun]

the load data can get a little rough to figure out.

here is how I do it.
I make some dummy rounds 2-3 of them.
I make them drop into the chamber.
and I play with the oal to make sure they feed from the magazine.
once I know they will feed 100% of the time I have a starting point to work from.

why do I need that information?
because I now know how much case volume to work with.
the 357 isn't super critical because I can safely work with jacketed data but cast data is readily available for a broad weight range of projectiles.
where it is critical is in the smaller cases where just using jacketed data and deep seating a boolit down on the powder will raise my pressures [and not incrementally]
and you need to be especially careful with titegroup and clays.

so what I do is compare my case volume with known load data for anything I can find that is similarly shaped or is seated to nearly the same oal with a similar drive band length.
[the Hornady XTP has pretty good data to follow in the 9mm]
if my CASE VOLUME not oal appears similar your results will be similar.
target a velocity of about 850 fps [in the 9mm] and work from there looking for function and accuracy.

if you need a 359 diameter for some reason you can easily open the lee size die with stuff you probably have at home.

[georgerc]

yeah I read about the dowel and sandpaper method, I have access to mills and lathes, just for $20 figured I'll just get one, plus it comes with a bottle of allox

[georgerc]

If you were using the 0000 to slug barrels I believe you want to use pure lead and not COWW. Gonna be to hard in my opinion. Good luck.

000, it went fairly easy, the 9mm .355 was a little hard to pound through, the .380 went right through, .358 barely even left an impression

[runfiverun]

you might need to bump the slug a bit for the bigger one.