many questions

[lordgroom]

I am fairly new to casting. I have just casted for my fourth session last night for 2 new calibers, 45-70 (45 300 FN) and 8mm (323470 AV). I have a sporterized 98K and a Marlin 1895 new in the past 2 years.

1- How do I determine the sizing die to use for each bullet? I assume I will have to slug the barrel. Then what? What do I add to the measurement for a cast bullet? Is there another method?

2-Can I use one of the bullets I cast to slug the barrel?

3-What are typical sizing dies and top punches used for these calibers?

4-When reloading for the 45-70 using Unique, my Lyman Cast load data states I should use a Dacron Wad. Where is a good source for Dacron or can I use something else, perhaps some material I already have?

5-What about Cream of Wheat? Will this work and if so do I have to fill the case to compress the load?

6-When lubing. How many of the bands do I fill with lube? If there are 2 do I fill both or will one suffice? I ask this because I friend told me to fill only one lube groove for a bullet in another caliber.

7-Should I seat a bullet to embed in the rifling or slightly back? Again, I have a friend who told me to seat all bullets into the rifling for best accuracy, but I read an article that said don’t do this with the 45-70.

Any help you have is greatly appreciated.

[docone31]

An awful lot of those questions are in the threads in this forum.
I go .002 over slug diameter for rifle. My .30 cal, I size .311.
I use bolt guns, but I single feed them. I set my castings so they just touch the rifling.
I do not use any filler.
Read as much as you can. It helps get the feeling for the final casting. Read, read, then read some more.
The only stupid question is the one not asked and acted upon.
I have about driven these folks on this forum nuts with my questions. No one has given me an hard time about it.
I got some real help here.

[mooman76]

Setting the bullet into the lands can encrease pressure. I don't do it but some do and I don't think it is a pressure problem as much with cast as it is jacketed. You can use drier lint for a filler. I don't care for COW myself but some do. That is a lot of COW with a big 45-70 case and if you use it add the weight of the COW to your load because it will raise pressure also. Dacron is that pillow fiber and you can get it at most any store that sells material or sewing stuff such as Walmart.
it's best to use softlead to slug your barrel. A round ball works well because it has less drag pushing through the barrel. One of those egg shaped lead sinkers will work if you can find the right size. You can fill as many lube grooves as you want. I don't feel one lube groove in a 45-70 would be saficiant but you have to work it to know. I myself would rather have too much lube and not have leading to worry about. They make all those grooves for a reason.
Top punch doesn't go by bullet size so much as it does the shape of the bullet nose so it doesn't deform it. You will know the sizing die size after you slug the barrel and deturmine the size of bullet you will need. Another thing you can use for a fillet is styrofoam. I use the ones from meat that you buy that it is sitting in. ou can gut it with a piece of pipe sharpned that is the right size ot an old brass shell. You don't need to fill it up, just a piece to hold the powder in place.

[Buckshot]

................First suggestion is to buy the Lyman cast bullet manual. You've gotten some good answers so far. I'll add mine and hopefully some others also chime in. There are several ways to do things lots of times, and folks tend to end up doing what's easiest, fastest, fits their thinking, or was the way their daddy did it :-)

1- How do I determine the sizing die to use for each bullet? I assume I will have to slug the barrel. Then what? What do I add to the measurement for a cast bullet? Is there another method?

You can use Cerrosafe or a similar low melting temp alloy. It's easy to use this to also get a neck, throat, and beginning barrel casting. This will tell you lots of info. The Neck OD will show max OD of a caseneck, knowing the caseneck thickness gives you your max boolit sizing OD, the throat (if your rifle has one) OD will allow you to fit the slug to the throat, instead of just the groove. Aids in guidance.

2-Can I use one of the bullets I cast to slug the barrel?

You can, but soft lead is SO much easier to deal with.

3-What are typical sizing dies and top punches used for these calibers?

Size dies? You'll know that once you've checked your firearm. Top punches are 'Design Specific'. This means they were machined to match some particular nose form. May or may not be caliber specific.

4-When reloading for the 45-70 using Unique, my Lyman Cast load data states I should use a Dacron Wad. Where is a good source for Dacron or can I use something else, perhaps some material I already have?

Try that load without a filler or wad first. Also any wad or filler will increase pressure. In the case of Dacron (spun polyester fiber) it due more to increasing ignition efficiency then it's negligable weight. Other common stuff besides dacron is a quarter sheet of toilet paper, floral foam, shipping peanuts, or kapok.

5-What about Cream of Wheat? Will this work and if so do I have to fill the case to compress the load?

Questions 4 & 5 are a subject that people have strong pro or con feelings about. Some will have nothing in the case except the powder charge, and possibly a card or LDPE wad against the boolit's base if it's a PB design. COW is heavy and I use it over BP charges. Actually I use it as an 'Active' filler (not my name or invention). Again, for BP ONLY with COW as a active filler you mix 30% BP with it.

A filler I like better then COW for smokless is a granulated polyetheylene. Winchester used to offer it as a component and called it GREX. It was intened to be used as a shot buffer.Graff & Sons sells some stuff for the same purpose and it's called Super Sam.

6-When lubing. How many of the bands do I fill with lube? If there are 2 do I fill both or will one suffice? I ask this because I friend told me to fill only one lube groove for a bullet in another caliber.

There is not a definative answer. Usually you fill them all. However lube technology has moved on since the late 1800's, so some older designs will carry much more then needed. Commonly for light target loads using WC's, they'll have 3 or 4 LG's. I think you'll find that filling only one (bottom one) will work fine. Also, with Loverin rifle boolit designs you may not have to bother filling any outside the caseneck. Experiment!

7-Should I seat a bullet to embed in the rifling or slightly back? Again, I have a friend who told me to seat all bullets into the rifling for best accuracy, but I read an article that said don’t do this with the 45-70.

As a rule I will try to seat a boolit so it engraves. I feel it does 2 usefull things. One is to provide some guidance, and secondly it can help to build pressure. Many of the common cast boolit loads won't fill half the case under the boolit. BP burns about as energeticly in a pile out in the open as it does confined in a cartridge. Smokless is very inefficient unless it is contained and allowed to build pressure. The more pressure there is the more efficient and energetic it is.

At one extreme you have a flame out, or fizzle while at the other you have a bomb. We all endeavor to avoid either extreme.

Many people experiment with varying the amount of jump a boolit makes into or though the leade, just like with jacketed bullets. Or to function you may not be able to seat the slug out. This is just another area to experiment in.

...............Buckshot

[missionary5155]

If you do not have a soft slug about the size of the barrel you want to slug.... you can easily "bump up" any near diameter soft bullet, round ball, fishing sinker in a vise, vise grips, a tap with a hammer... And the most important diameter is at the throat... the beginning of the chamber area. If the muzzle is all wallered out from steel cleaning rods (or other insanity) then there are a couple solutions for that IF you want a shooter more than a collector.

[runfiverun]

do not "wall off" the powder from the boolit the filler should touch both.
a card or similar can protect the boolit base.

[lordgroom]

Thanks for all of your responses. I do have the Lyman cast bullet handbook, but haven't read it since last year. I will have to look at it again.

I have soft lead from a shower pan but I do not have any soft lead round balls. I could melt this down in my dipper and then pour into a mold. This may be a silly question but can I just cut off a section and use a hammer or pliers to form into a rough ball and use the soft lead to slug the barrel? I can get some fishing sinkers in a few weeks. I was looking for a method with what I have that is available.

The only reason I discussed a wad filler was Lyman Cast Bullet handbook lists this as required for a load of unique. I am hearing some of you say that it is not required.

To protect the bullet base I was going to use a gas check,will Styrofoam fill the role of a gas check?

[jonk]

Generally speaking fast powders such as unique are not 'position sensitive' and do not need a filler per se. You may or may not get an accuracy increase if you use one. For other powders- such as 4895- that are slower, but in a less than 2/3 full case, it usually helps.

[mooman76]

I read here where someone drills into a board to make a make shift mould for sluggs.

[boogerloo]

How far do you drive the slug in the barrel? All the way through?
kevin

[mooman76]

I run them all the way through but some like to do part way though each end and one to the middle to get a better perspective.