lead wire alternitive ??

[cowboyt]

I wonder if any of you out there have used cast bullets direct from the mold to use as the core for swaging instead of lead wire- it seems to me that this will work ok-The Lee mold for 41 mag looks like it would be fine for .44 and .45 and their 150grain .30 cal fp would work for .357- Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

[Lead pot]

Go for it!
That is what a Lee mould is good for.
It will work.

[BrentD]

I do this all the time. I cast my cores so I can easily and cheaply use scrap lead, adjust alloy and whatever I want to do.

I have an adjustable paper patch mould that is .43" that I would sell to anyone wanting to do this as I now have a good core-mould from RCM that casts cores 3 at a time.

The mould that I would sell is not in great condition for anything except core moulds. $30 and postage - let's call it $36 total.

Brent
brentd@iastated.edu

[acemedic13]

I have never swaged a bullet in my life and have no real working knowledge of the process. If anyone could break this down in caveman terms for me I would appreciate it.I understand you push lead into a forming die but, what type of wire is it? Are there form molds to start cores? I just need the basics. Thanks. Joel

[Lead pot]

Here you acemedic13.

http://www.corbins.com/swaging.htm

[deltaenterprizes]

I use 38 148 gr HBWCs to make real nice 44 200 gr HPs,I turn the hollow base up to make the hollow point.

[Lead pot]

I use 38 148 gr HBWCs to make real nice 44 200 gr HPs,I turn the hollow base up to make the hollow point.

Man where do these guys come from??

[acemedic13]

I am not getting the math on that post by delta there.....Thats like trying to subtract 7 from 5.........being new to this whole deal I might be the lame one, so I aint talking s@#!. It sounds like this guy is using a 52 grain jacket or some seriously heavy alloy in that mould. If there is something here I am missing, please fill me in. Thanks fella's.

[shooterg]

A forum member has posted pics of a 240 grain .44 made with a .40 S & W casing used as a jacket. A .40 S & W casing weighs about 60 grains and he used 180 grain boolit as a core. So either that or a commercial casing would produce a 200 grain +/- .bullet with the 148 grain core. Deltaenterprizes knows what he's doing !

[deltaenterprizes]

A forum member has posted pics of a 240 grain .44 made with a .40 S & W casing used as a jacket. A .40 S & W casing weighs about 60 grains and he used 180 grain boolit as a core. So either that or a commercial casing would produce a 200 grain +/- .bullet with the 148 grain core. Deltaenterprizes knows what he's doing !

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I have made more bullets and loaded more ammo than most of these people will see in their lifetime. I am kind of new at this since I have only been at it 25 years,12 years of that was a licenced commercial bullet and ammo manufacturer.

[Southron Sanders]

I cast my own cores using a Magma Engineering casting machine. Since I swage .58 Minie Balls, I simply took an old Lyman mould and drilled out the old cavity using an appropriate size drill on my drill press.

Not suprisingly, the nose of my cast cores have a "point" that is identical to the end of the drill bit I used.

The reason I like casting my own cores ar as follows:

1. Much cheaper than lead wire.

2. I can produce the exact alloy I want by mixing in tin, etc., in my pot in the molten lead.

True, it is more "hassle" casting your own lead cores than cutting lead wire, but the cast cores don't have to be perfect like cast bullets do. Cores with minor wrinkles can be swaged into perfect bullets.

Major Point: One of the propeties of lead is to "work soften", i.e., the more it is "worked," the SOFTER it becomes. When you use lead wire, it is already been"work softened" the first time when it has been made into lead wire.

When you swage lead wire into a bullet, it is "work softened" the second time. By casting your own cores, you only "work soften" the lead wire one time insted to twice

[acemedic13]

Thanks again for the info. Still figuring my way through this. I did not understand how to get a heavier boolit from a lighter core. Is it in the cast material? somewhere else in the process?? Still not totally understanding....I get the gist though Did not mean to hurt anyones feelers........Just trying to convey how it sounds when you look at it through a cavemans eye's........ I dont have years of experience as a commercial ammo maker. I am just trying to enjoy a new aspect of the shooting sports and learn new things. Hope everyone is still alright and their chests dont hurt too much from the flexin' and puffin'!!.. ....lol...If you could put up the link to that thread about the .40 cal,that would be a very kind gesture.Take care guys.

[deltaenterprizes]

When you swage a jacketed bullet you put the core in the jacket. The jacket has weight,you add the weight of the jacket to the weight of the core to get the total weight of the finished bullet! If you want an answer, ask a question that does not make the poster look like HE is uninformed when it is you that does not understand.

[cowboyt]

Thanks for all your replies

[Lead pot]

Well you didn't say you used a jacket to make a jacketed hollow point.
My .44 .550" long thick wall jackets only weigh 41 grains, and I took that into account with my reply.

[acemedic13]

Wow..........Hope all is forgiven............lol....lol....... Yeah I got that about the jacket having weight......sort of figured it had some sort of mass, it is metal. Just did not know how much. I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT YOU PUT THE LEAD IN THE COPPER AND PULL THE HANDLE. WHEN THE HANDLE IS PULLED IT GOES UP AND THE MAGIC HAPPENS INSIDE THE MAGICAL CYLINDER!!( Like putting bread in the hot box, and toast comes out...where the hell did the bread go!!??)These jackets I have here were not that heavy. Thats why it seemed a lil odd to me. After talking and listening...........and considering the last few posts from this dude, there is no way in hell this is difficult. I am over engineering a simple process and looking way too deep into it. Did not mean to make you feel bad or tweek your feelings. This is supposed to be fun. It is obviously more than that to some people. Once again, did not mean to hurt anyone's feelings. If I did.......Then thank god your life is so simple that this is your biggest problem.

[Echo]

'Way back when I was swaging, I would cast a 30 Lee soupcan for a core for my 357 bullets. With jacket, the result was a 131 grain FNRN bullet that I then canalured, and it shot nicely.