What is your favorite Pistol Brand for handling various cast Bullet profiles?

[Rustynails]

If I were interested in buying a pistol specifically for shooting various types of cast bullets what brands should I look at and which should I avoid?
I have read that some pistols like SWC, some RN, and some bulge the case at the head which is something extra I would not want when reloading.

I am wondering if there are certain brand pistols that just seem to "eat" all different profiles of lead bullets that is given to them.

Which manufacture is the "king"?

[Hickory]

I am evenly torn between Ruger & Smith & Wesson for revolvers.
It's a **** shoot for semi-auto.

[fivegunner]

My 2 cents. To Me Ruger Is King, S&W come`s in 2 place followed by Colt . It all comes down to the fit of the( boolit) to cylinder and barrel . If your new to this sport you have a lot of reading to do.[smilie=2::coffeecom:

[GhostHawk]

IMO hard to go wrong with Ruger if you can afford them.

I have a pair of Mk III 22/45's that my wife and I dearly love.
And a new model single six in .32 H&R Mag that has only shot .32sw longs.

But it shoots them very very well.

I also like cheap guns, Heritage Rough Rider, Phoenix Arms HP 22's.
But it is nice to have a few really GOOD guns.

[ioon44]

I have been shooting Walther PPQ's for several years and they eat any bullet shape I have loaded for them. A good 1911 set up right will feed any shape of bullet.

I don't think any one brand could be called " the king"?

[RED BEAR]

I really don't think it matters what brand. I shoot everything from inexpensive cobra's to smith and wesson and ruger . But i will say buy the best you can afford. My rugers and sw are older guns and things may have changed but ruger is not in the same class as a sw. As far as bullet types ever gun is different and its trial and error. Unless your trying to drive tacks i doubt there is that much difference in bullet shape i tend to find barrel fit to be more important.

[tazman]

Smith & Wesson for revolvers. My experiences with other brands have not been consistent like S&W.
Springfield XD in any caliber for pistol followed by Beretta 92 for 9mm. Either one will work well for 9mm. The XD series works in all calibers.
I dearly love 1911 style pistols, but mine tend to be picky about nose shape and length.

[bob208]

I just replaced my favorite pistol. a ruger security-six 4 inch stainless steel. it is a 1976 made gun. what did I replace it with a ruger security-six 4 inch stainless made in 1988. nothing wrong with the first one just thosr 200 year guns are getting hard to find.

[Norske]

S&W's short cylinders can restrict your bullet choices. If you want to shoot a heavy bullet in 357M for example, you may have to settle for using 38 special cases and slightly reduced powder charges. Single action Rugers have longer cylinders, others may also.

[Rustynails]

Smith & Wesson for revolvers. My experiences with other brands have not been consistent like S&W.
Springfield XD in any caliber for pistol followed by Beretta 92 for 9mm. Either one will work well for 9mm. The XD series works in all calibers.
I dearly love 1911 style pistols, but mine tend to be picky about nose shape and length.

I just got a load working for my XD 45. It took a while, but it seems promising. RCBS 45-230 RN 234gr 4.3 gr Bullseye 1.227oal. This worked after sticking many bullets and locking the slide. Lesson learnt. Like fivegunner said I have a lot to read and learn...thats why I'm here.

[reddog81]

What type of pistol are you looking for? Revolver or Semi-Auto? 45 ACP or .22 LR or something in between. Target gun or pocket gun?

I don't think there's any specific brand that has a lock down on cast bullets.

[Rustynails]

What type of pistol are you looking for? Revolver or Semi-Auto? 45 ACP or .22 LR or something in between. Target gun or pocket gun?

I don't think there's any specific brand that has a lock down on cast bullets.

Well, I'm looking for all of the above. I have a problem with guns...they seem to want to come home with me every time I'm out at the gun store, searching the web etc. I found that if I buy any pistol, revolver, rifle, or shotgun that has the same color shape etc, my wife never notices. So, specifically I'd like one of each that would shoot any cast bullet that fit its barrel.

[marek313]

This is such a broad questions and I dont think you can lock it down to a specific manufacturer. I like my ruger GP100 MC for a revolver and I would have to say my Sig P320 is one auto that will eat everything and loves cast. My last purchase was CZ97 which seems to shoot cast very well too.
At the same time its not that hard to get little modifications done to make many guns shoot cast well. Doug here fixed my Canik TP9 SFX for a very fair price and reamed that tight chamber and even put a crown cut on the barrel and now it shoots cast very well.
Every gun I buy is with intention of shooting cast. I dont have a lot of guns but so far .223 is the only caliber where I dont shoot cast. I had every intention of casting for it I even got the mold but .22 projectiles are so inexpensive that I'm yet to try it. Turns out that 300AAC is much easier to cast for so I do that instead.

[PowPow]

1911 for .45ACP, Beretta 92 for 9mm, Ruger for revolvers. I love 1911s.

[stubshaft]

T/C Contender! Rugers and Smith's can be made to shoot very well, but usually need cylinders opened and the forcing cone lapped for best accuracy. In revolvers Freedon Arms cannot be beat!

[tazman]

Of course, a lot of the responses, including my own, will be effected by personal experiences with individual handguns. Any time a person has issues with one, they won't have a lot good to say about one.
I can only talk about the pistols I have personally encountered. I won't make disparaging remarks about handguns I have never used.

[ghh3rd]

I have been loving my Walther PPQ 45 ... all I shoot is cast from it. Scary accurate... everyone who has tried mine has done surprisingly well with it.

[PowPow]

I have been loving my Walther PPQ 45 ... all I shoot is cast from it. Scary accurate... everyone who has tried mine has done surprisingly well with it.

PPQ 45 has the best trigger of any striker-fired pistol I've ever shot. I don't shoot cast from mine yet. I still need to educate (and de-program if necessary) myself about polygonal rifling and cast boolits.

[Hossfly]

My wife always grabs her Ruger single six .22 magnum when varments show up. I like CZ75 for self defense and TC Contender for hunting hand gun and TC Pro hunter for deer and such.

[missionary5155]

Good evening
Happily I have been a Dan Wesson revolvers owner since 1978. I have not yet owned a DW that needed cylinders reamed. No too large barrel gaps. Seldom heard about one needing to be repaired out of the box (years ago). After thousands of rounds of cast ours still shoot just fine. Wear out a barrel you just unscrew it and put in a new one. Change twist... unscrew the one and screw on the other. Might take 2 minutes and no vices needed.
Built as strong as the "steel critter" game ever needed and won most of the matches.
So when I want a revolver to shoot tight groups out to 200 meters I get out a DW. Whatever the caliber. Attach an 8 inch barrel and have at it. Know of any other revolver so versatile and accurate ? None are out there.
Lots of four figure ($$$$) revolvers out there that have a shop attached barrel cannot shoot any better. Some can but you are stuck with barrel length and cylinder gap. DW's no problem. Loosen the barrel nut and twist away.
Mike in Peru

[CASTER OF LEAD]

My wife always grabs her Ruger single six .22 magnum when garments show up. I like CZ75 for self defense and TC Contender for hunting hand gun and TC Pro hunter for deer and such.

When garments show up? God forbid you put your dirty clothes in the hamper. Sounds pretty dangerous to live there. Lol. :kidding: Sorry I had to. It gave me a good laugh. No offense Hossfly. - Caster

[Hossfly]

None taken, need to proof before I post. Good catch, I read it twice and didn’t catch it.

[Loudenboomer]

I've enjoyed many thousand cast in my ruger bisleys and S&W revolvers. That being said picking a favorite probably would be the HG 68 200 gr. SWC over 5.0 gr bullseye in my 70 series 1911 Gold Cup.

[jonp]

Revolvers: Single Action Rugers
Semi-Auto's: **** shoot. Kahr's are not forgiving and I avoid cast in them

[lostindesert]

Shooting cast in revolvers is easy. Shooting cast in semi-auto requires a ramp friendly nose on the boolit. Profile, sizing, and hardness are always issues with any bullet.

Outside of Glock, I never hear of a pistol causing a bulge. Reloaders can cause brass bulge from multiple issues. I don't think cast has anything to do with it.

For great accuracy and tough as nails, I'm with Mike from Peru; it's Dan Wesson.

My SuperMags/Maximum's are giant beasts, but shoot lights out accurate.

My Rugers and S&Ws are equal in almost all aspects. Hard to go wrong.


Prescut

[MT Gianni]

So much depends on the gun. I have a Kahr 40 CW that eats cast like it does jacketed and groups them well. I find it is much better to find a bullet that shoots in your gun and stick to that load rather than attempting to develop 4 or 5 loads for one gun.

[FergusonTO35]

My late model Glocks eat boolits no problem. Now, you do have to pay attention to pressure, sizing, and lubrication as you should with any gun. I have never experienced bulged brass, that seems to be a problem with the older models. .357 boolits with a soft lube and mid-range charges work great in 9mm and .380. Next batch of boolits I'm going to try .358 to see if I can get rid of the last few streaks of leading. My Glock 22 .40 is a Frankenstein with a frame and slide from two different guns and an LWD barrel, it does awesome with the Lee 401-175-TC at 900 fps.

[Winger Ed.]

When garments show up? Sounds pretty dangerous to live there.

My wife has made comments about my dirty clothes, but things never got that far out of hand.


Back to the topic:
After I tweaked out my Colt Gold Cup in .45ACP for a 190 SWC,
it was like when I moved off the East Coast- I never looked back.

[dragon813gt]

I make the bullets work in every gun I own. That being said there are two brands of semi auto pistols that I buy, CZ and Walther. The issue w/ most semis is no throat. This can be fixed w/ a thrusting reamer assuming the barrels aren’t hardened. None of the ones I own are hardened. The hardened barrel and no throat issue can be solved easily w/ a brand like Glock. You buy an aftermarket value.

The great thing about cast bullets is you make them work. You have complete control over every aspect of them.

[ghh3rd]

The great thing about cast bullets is you make them work. You have complete control over every aspect of them.
Well said...