With as bad as their supposed to be

[Wolfdog91]

You know as much as I hear how hard they are to cast and how inaccurate they are yadda yadda yadda I noticed it's mighty hard to find used .224-.227 molds. Even something like a lee 6 banger used has been near about impossible ,well at least when I have the spare change in the budget. For one that is lol. What's with that ?

[sigep1764]

Its my belief that a lot of people cast for this size of projectile and others have bought up molds in case they ever HAVE to cast for a projectile in this size range. Then there are the ones that say they don't see the point. My prediction is that when the current drought is over, we are gonna see a flood of molds hit the secondary market as well as some nice "I was gonna load, but don't have the time" used reloading equipment.

[rbuck351]

I have several 22cal molds but I also have several 22 CR rifles that get used mostly with cast boolit. I won't be selling any of mine.
NOE has a few available and are very good molds.

[Larry Gibson]

I've numerous single, double and a four cavity moulds for .22 caliber bullets. With #2, linotype or 30-1 alloys using a Lyman Mag20 bottom pour I never have any problem casting bullets with them. I suspect those that do have problems mostly haven't cleaned the moulds properly, use a poor alloy or cast at too low a temp with to slow a cadence.

As far as "how inaccurate they are yadda yadda yadda" I've found as long as they are kept under the RPM threshold they can be as accurate as most any other cast bullets. Most who have accuracy problems are gas gun shooters (mostly with ARs) having 7 - 9" twists and are trying to get a load that functions the action, runs at high velocity of 2800 +/- fps and what the same accuracy match jacketed bullets give. I pretty much don't load 22 cal cast bullets for ARs unless they have 12 - 14" twists anymore simply because at the velocity range where accuracy is acceptable I find performance is poor. Since I shoot my ARs out to 500 yards I find what is acceptable performance at 50 or maybe even 100 yards is not acceptable to me. Ergo I stick with M193 jacketed bullets mostly.

However, in my single shots and bolt actions with 12 - 16" twists I shoot a lot of cast bullets. Mostly I shoot them out of my Contender 22H and my Savage M40 22H but I still shoot a lot out of my Savage 24 in 223/20 ga with 14" twist and my M70 XTR in 223 with a 12" twist.

[dverna]

I have a new MP mold and a "replacement" as the original was not made to spec.

I have never cast with either one and hope to never do so. You may wonder WHY.

I plan for the worst....Should the SHTF, I want to be able to make bullets for the AR's. I expect they will not be very good but good enough to defend my home. Even 3-4 MOA beats throwing rocks.

I am cheap but lazy. I cast to save money and that makes sense for pistol bullets. where I can "save" $15/hr and get the same or better performance than commercial lead bullets.

But I currently buy very good jacketed bullets for less than $8.50/100. Cost of a cast 224 bullet with gas check is $4/100 using commercial (92-2-6) alloy. The jacketed bullet is more accurate and can be driven to higher velocities. Is it worth the savings?

Here is a link to the Hornady bullets I buy...BTW paid $420/6000 for the last batch...currently at $500 for either SP or FMJ

https://www.armorally.com/shop/hornady-55-fmj-bullets/
https://www.armorally.com/shop/hornady-22-caliber-55gr-spire-point/

I am too lazy and want better performance than cast. So, for me, saving $45/1000 is not worth the time or effort (casting, lubing/sizing, adding GC, weigh sort). But I do not enjoy any aspect of making bullets. For others, it is an enjoyable pastime and they can justify it.

You can decide what works for you.

[Mk42gunner]

I haven't cast a lot of .22 or .25 caliber boolits, but I have cast enough to know that it isn't all that hard.

Are they harder to cast than 30+ cal? Not really, it just takes a bit more attention to detail. It may take a bit more heat, and maybe a touch of pressure filling to get the mold to fill out completely; but I cast mine of the same straight WW blend I used for everything else. (More tin would probably make it easier).

I was mainly looking for small game boolits (read 22 Long rifle replacements) so I didn't try Linotype, I wanted at least a little bit of expansion.

I never tried them for group at 100 yards, that wasn't what I was looking for, but my impression is that they aren't as accurate as factory made jacketed. At 25-30 yards, who cares?

Robert

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Long ago I cast with a single cavity Lyman 225415 for the 22 Hornet, Savage 219 with 1-16 twist, I have also used cast in 223 1-12 twist. I have not/do not find casting good 22 bullets to be difficult, but lacking in cost-benefit. Casting 9mm's for 20 yards is different than casting 22's for 150 yards. The price of jacketed bullets makes casting for the .223 not worth while for most shooting done with a center fire 22.

[charlie b]

Pre-COVID I felt that the accuracy I could get from cast was not worth the small savings in cost of bulk .223 ammo. Some people have done well with it, but, it depends on your rifle, especially the rifling twist rate, and how fast you expect to push the bullets

Post-COVID every gun owner out there seemed to go out and buy a reloading setup and many seem to have bought casting setups. I doubt few of them have ever been used, and probably will not ever be used. They will go on a shelf waiting for the SHTF day. When everything settles out and they find themselves in need of money all this extra stuff will be put back in the market at a decent discount.

Until then, use what you have and keep an eye out for the stuff you want. FWIW, Accurate is still making molds as you order them. The wait is reasonable. NOE has some stuff in stock. If you ask for a specific item he may move it up in the production lineup.


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[tankgunner59]

I cast .224 pills for my 22-250 Remington with a Lee Bator (Lee 225-55-RF). I haven't had any accuracy problems with it. I can normally get MOA groups at 1oo yards.

[rbuck351]

I have a Rem M700 V 1/12 twist in 223 that I cast and load a 40 gr lyman or a 55gr NOE both of which shoot about 1 1/2" at 100yds and around 2000fps. No, it won't match a decent jacketed bullet for speed or accuracy but at 5 to 6 cents per round it's kind of like a hopped up 22mag only a bunch cheaper. I also have a couple of 22H and a 22KH but don't get quite the accuracy as the 223. These and my 2 25/20s are just plain fun to shoot with cast making it well worth the effort.

[Winger Ed.]

Of people in the market for molds, I'd figure they get ones that cast boolits that do well at 2,000-ish or lower speeds.
Most folks shooting center fire .224 stuff typically want them to get the speeds up around 3,000-ish.
If you're in the mold making business- there isn't much market for them compared to the larger calibers.

Check some youtube videos of folks who are already switching over to casting with Zinc.
They're sizing, but not lubing or powder coating them, and getting speeds right up there with jacketed ammo.
If ya really want to cast for .223, using Zinc might appeal to you.

[dale2242]

I have cast for and shot cast bullets in my 22 Hornet and 218 Bee.
I did not find them hard to cast from 50/50 lino/WW.
They shot as well as jacketed in the 218 and better than jacketed in my22 Hornet.
All were shot at 50 yds.
Both these guns have slow twists.

[bedbugbilly]

I purchased a rifle before the shortage and Covid - I'm older - never thought I would own a ,223 but a young fellow I shoot with was a "bad influence" on me. I even bought a K of jacketed to load with but as someone who has cast since Adam ate an appetizer, I of course bought some molds. The are no harder to cast than any other boolit and I have never figured out why some folks say that.

Add on the shortages, the current politics and everything else, a lot of first time buyers and it seems like a lot of small bore plastic rifles have been sold - so mold sales go along with that. Unfortunately, supply and demand, plus a good dose of "greed" has driven the price of molds to ridiculous.

About all you can do is keep your eyes open for a mold - put a WTB on this site and maybe someone has one sitting unused that they would sell at a reasonable price. I had several different Lyman designs/weights but sold them and just kept my Lee double cavity as it is the one that worked out the best. My mold and cast boolits are in AZ and I am in MI and will be until later Oct. or I'd be happy to send you some. I gave up looking for a Lee 6 cavity because if I'm going to pay what some of the clowns want for a new one, I'd rather spend the $$ on a NOE if they have one in stock or have one cut by Accurate.

Good luck in your search but don't fret about the "hard to cast with" thing - they pour like any other boolit.

[dverna]

Interesting responses...especially from folks who have had success with cast .224's. Of course, "success" means different things to different people.

I almost got pumped up enough to try out one of those MP (NATO?) molds I have had sitting around for years, and "test the waters"....then realized I have about 10k jacketed bullets. I am so well prepared I may never need the damn molds anyway...LOL.

Maybe I will put them up on the S&S forum or see what the sheep on eBay will give me for them. Wish I had put them on eBay 9 months ago...maybe wait for the next great shortage???

[waksupi]

I never had any real problems casting and getting good loads in a .223. They are just finicky, as any imperfection in the bullets really show up with a light bullet. I found it was necessary to weigh each projectile to get the best groups. They are one of the few bore sizes I find it helpful to add a bit of extra tin to the melt. I quit shooting them, just because I have big hands, and loading the bullet into the case was a pain.

[405grain]

"A wise man will try to learn as much from a fool as he will from a master"
Wolfdog91: Here's some pretty stoopid advise. Right now everything's in lock-down because of a nation wide shortage of everything shooting related. Either everything's sold out, or some low-life will sell you what you're looking for at a 1000% markup. This is a good time to plan ahead for what to do once these bad times lift.
I'm going to take this time to make a suggestion and see what you think. Casting and shooting 22 caliber is great and all, but.... While you've got the time, (because next to nothing's available right now), how do you feel about moving up to a bolt action in 308? Casting for 30 caliber opens up a ton of options and is a lot of fun. With a bolt gun you can tailor your loads from mouse farts to cruise missiles without having to worry about cycling the gas system. By the time that the markets open back up to the point that a plethora of 22 molds will be available again, you'll have had enough time to stash away some coin to move up to a bigger caliber. (I don't know if anyone explained to you that shooting cast can be addictive, but yeah it is.)

[frkelly74]

Now you made me wish I hadn't gotten rid of my 22 molds. I had a real nice RCBS mold that was just sitting there minding its own business and something caught my eye and I grabbed it to sell and buy something else and now I can't even remember what it was that I wanted.

[Wayne Smith]

I have a nice 9.3x57 that I bought from Simpsons and it will be the next rifle I try cast booits in. My condom loads are just under 2000fps, so it seemed logical. I'm not worried about charging deer or bear if I can get that big boolit going that fast accurately.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

You know as much as I hear how hard they are to cast and how inaccurate they are yadda yadda yadda I noticed it's mighty hard to find used .224-.227 molds. Even something like a lee 6 banger used has been near about impossible ,well at least when I have the spare change in the budget. For one that is lol. What's with that ?

I have a fist full of 22 molds in many different flavors. Once you learn to cast fast, so the mold stays hot, then purty little boolits will pile up. Like Waksupi said, you need to cull out any flawed boolits for best accuracy.

Are you thinking of loading for AR-15? because that adds to the complexity to get the boolit ammo to cycle, and end up on the paper in good groups.

[Wolfdog91]

"A wise man will try to learn as much from a fool as he will from a master"
Wolfdog91: Here's some pretty stoopid advise. Right now everything's in lock-down because of a nation wide shortage of everything shooting related. Either everything's sold out, or some low-life will sell you what you're looking for at a 1000% markup. This is a good time to plan ahead for what to do once these bad times lift.
I'm going to take this time to make a suggestion and see what you think. Casting and shooting 22 caliber is great and all, but.... While you've got the time, (because next to nothing's available right now), how do you feel about moving up to a bolt action in 308? Casting for 30 caliber opens up a ton of options and is a lot of fun. With a bolt gun you can tailor your loads from mouse farts to cruise missiles without having to worry about cycling the gas system. By the time that the markets open back up to the point that a plethora of 22 molds will be available again, you'll have had enough time to stash away some coin to move up to a bigger caliber. (I don't know if anyone explained to you that shooting cast can be addictive, but yeah it is.)

I've been looking into it more and more . Seems much easier than the smaller calibers. Looking hard at the NOE 30 cals and MP. But I only have like 300 various large rifle primers if that where as I still have a bout 800 small rifle. Also the .22 cals are such a fun little challenge.
All that being said I haven't had the time or money in the budget right now to do much casting or shooting the way I prefer. So I'm just kinda compiling what all I want to make my casting top class. New pot , pod , convention oven , ect.

[Wolfdog91]

I have a fist full of 22 molds in many different flavors. Once you learn to cast fast, so the mold stays hot, then purty little boolits will pile up. Like Waksupi said, you need to cull out any flawed boolits for best accuracy.

Are you thinking of loading for AR-15? because that adds to the complexity to get the boolit ammo to cycle, and end up on the paper in good groups.


https://youtu.be/bDV6dfY1aZs

Yep! Got a whole little series of me learning to do it. Been pretty fun all in all

[quilbilly]

I have one rifle, a T/C Venture in 223 that absolutely loves 58 gr. CB's from an NOE mold loaded for an MV of 1950. It routinely outshoots jacketed at a much higher velocity but both are well under MOA at 100 yds. The only reason I continue to shoot jacketed in that rifle is that I have accumulated so many bags of jacketed 22's over the years. My 22 Hornet also adores CB's at about 1750 fps so I no longer shoot any jacketed in it.

[Texas by God]

I tried some provided by kind members here and I liked them in my 22-250; 14" twist. Around 1900 fps; they worked on mud turtles very well. My best 100 yard group was 2" for 3 shots.
I may aquire a mold and sizer when things straighten out. I'm not willing to mess with them in my .223 ARs and their fast and faster twists.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210807/49af8f12491e6fc564c72068dd38bf27.jpg

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[Shopdog]

R700V 22-250. This was very early in the process of this particular bullet/rig. I had the 60g for awhile. Not busting on RCBS but,this particular mould wasn't their best effort. It doesn't drop round enough to really scream. But after a little(a LOT) massaging,I can get it pretty round.

It also gets the nose swaged and "spun" in a little goober. Throw in a some knurling for lube retention(this also is the drive mechanics for roll sizing). This load was early,and about where I started.... it's up now around 38g.

No windflags,shooting with medium level BR setup. Too lazy to drag all the heavy match rests out. I yanked the snot outta shot #4. This rig will bughole around 2800fps.