AKsoldier
04-22-2010, 06:35 AM
It's bee a while since I posted here, and for that I apologize. Many of you here have helped me out and you deserve my gratitude.
Since I began my quest for the affordable, and almost limitless supply of lead available to those of us who can't live with shooting only on Saturdays, I have found a veritable wealth of knowledge here, as well as a generous and enthusiastic crowd eager to help me learn the art of casting boolits!
Folks here have sent me books, lube, and lead. I had only to purchase the remaining components, and considering my fifth child is on the way - THANK YOU! I cannot afford to buy much these days!
So now on to my experience.
I've posted this before, but as a re-cap: I bought a 5-gallon bucket of wheel weights from a local tire shop for $25.00. So far, I have smelted about 1/3 of it and cast about 250 boolits for .45 ACP, water-dropped, loaded with both Universal, and 700X. These are waiting delivery of my battalion commemorative pistol (Para Ordnance 1911) to test.
I also cast about 200 boolits for my 460 S&W. These are 300 gr. gas-checked wide-meplat boolits from a Lee mold. I have loaded and fired them. What I have found is that they are extremely accurate with low-pressure loads using trail boss powder. They grouped into under an inch from 25 yards off-hand. High-pressure loads are a different story though. With 40 grs. of lil gun, they quickly lost accuracy and the groups went WIDE. I looked at the bore, and it looked like a smooth-bore. Lead-city!
I am going to experiment with a different lube to see if that will help. I used LLA, ran them through a LEE .452 sizing die and coated them again with LLA.
Blammer, a member here was kind enough to send me some LLA and some home-made lube to get me started, so I'm going to try his lube first.
I will say though, that I whole-heartedly recommend trail boss powder for anyone who is looking for light-recoiling loads. According to Handloader magazine, it can even be used for jacketed bullets in bottle-necked rifle cartridges!
I'm really looking forward to shooting my .45 ACP boolits when my Para 1911 arrives. I used wheel weight alloy, water dropped from a LEE 228 gr. mold for those. I have about 125 or so loaded with Universal, and the rest with 700X. More updates to follow!
Since I began my quest for the affordable, and almost limitless supply of lead available to those of us who can't live with shooting only on Saturdays, I have found a veritable wealth of knowledge here, as well as a generous and enthusiastic crowd eager to help me learn the art of casting boolits!
Folks here have sent me books, lube, and lead. I had only to purchase the remaining components, and considering my fifth child is on the way - THANK YOU! I cannot afford to buy much these days!
So now on to my experience.
I've posted this before, but as a re-cap: I bought a 5-gallon bucket of wheel weights from a local tire shop for $25.00. So far, I have smelted about 1/3 of it and cast about 250 boolits for .45 ACP, water-dropped, loaded with both Universal, and 700X. These are waiting delivery of my battalion commemorative pistol (Para Ordnance 1911) to test.
I also cast about 200 boolits for my 460 S&W. These are 300 gr. gas-checked wide-meplat boolits from a Lee mold. I have loaded and fired them. What I have found is that they are extremely accurate with low-pressure loads using trail boss powder. They grouped into under an inch from 25 yards off-hand. High-pressure loads are a different story though. With 40 grs. of lil gun, they quickly lost accuracy and the groups went WIDE. I looked at the bore, and it looked like a smooth-bore. Lead-city!
I am going to experiment with a different lube to see if that will help. I used LLA, ran them through a LEE .452 sizing die and coated them again with LLA.
Blammer, a member here was kind enough to send me some LLA and some home-made lube to get me started, so I'm going to try his lube first.
I will say though, that I whole-heartedly recommend trail boss powder for anyone who is looking for light-recoiling loads. According to Handloader magazine, it can even be used for jacketed bullets in bottle-necked rifle cartridges!
I'm really looking forward to shooting my .45 ACP boolits when my Para 1911 arrives. I used wheel weight alloy, water dropped from a LEE 228 gr. mold for those. I have about 125 or so loaded with Universal, and the rest with 700X. More updates to follow!