New To Bullet Casting

[Hafast]

I am interested in starting to cast bullets (I'm not comfortable with boolits yet). About 40 years ago I cast my fishing sinkers but no bullets. I have a 22KHornet barrel for a G2 Contender hand gun w/14" barrel that I would like to make lead bullets to run at about 1200fps to 1500fps. Can someone suggest a mould that is fairly simple to cast. The gun prefers 35gr to 40gr jacketed bullets if that is of any help.
Any help greatly appreciated.

[IcerUSA]

Look at the Lyman round nose mould , Lyman has it at 45 gns so expect it would be a little heavier with gas check and lube on it .
I have that mould and it shoots OK out of my SPR 18 in .223 sized at .224 , but I'm only useing WW alloy , need to make up a batch of 50/50 WW/Lino to try as the WW alloy does seem to be a little soft in that small of a dia. boolit
Slug the bore so you know for sure what size to size to for your gun .
With the GC boolit you should have no problem getting to 2K and should be a fun shoot at the level you want to shoot at , kind of like a 22 Mag .

Keith

PS You would have to pick one of the finikiest boolits to cast first , takes alot of playing to get them moulds to cast good with the small dia. boolit as the mould cools fast as the amount of lead is not going to help keep the mould hot , cast as fast as you can for as long as you can and if the mould get to cold float it on top of the melt for a few and repeat , works for me and I'm sure more will chime in with more info .

[HORNET]

Good suggestion. Mold number is 225438, still in production. Run your alloy on the hot side (750-775), preheat your mold (dip one edge like you would a LEE) and run them fairly quickly to keep the mold temp up. I have best results using a dipper, but to each his own. I also make new sprue plates with smaller sprue holes (.094") to improve the base quality.
For the velocity that you want, try sizing them .225, seat them to just touch the rifling or just a hair shorter (Contenders sometimes won't lock evenly if you try to engrave at closing), and try about 3.0-3.5 gr of Unique with a small pistol primer.
P.S. The same design also does well at full throttle (just below the point where primer pockets start to open) if you feel froggy.

[Buckshot]

...............A freind of mine has a M54 Winchester in 22 Hornet. I've heard stories about folks who have made a career out of trying to get a Hornet to shoot accurately. I believe it's the firearm that makes or breaks it. His Winchester will shoot ANYTHING he sticks in the end of tha case, like there is no tomorrow :-)

Pulled 22RF boolits over tiny charges of 700X and 22 cal pellets to whatever the twist will stabilize. His rifle just loves that little RN Lyman, and he can shoot it almost as fast and as accurately as any jacketed bullet. I'm talking 5 rounds in an inch at 100 yards @ 2200 to 2300 fps.

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

[Hunter]

Here is a link to an article I wrote on casting.
I am no expert but it may help you.
http://ezine.m1911.org/casting_frame.htm