KYCaster
08-04-2006, 03:13 AM
I can't help thinking of the opening scene of the movie "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" that has Clint Eastwood delivering a sermon in a small rural church when George Kennedy kicks open the door and starts shooting at him.......I know I'm going to get shot at, but there's a convenient window to make my escape and a fast Firebird waiting to get me out of harm's way. Sooooo.........
A couple of days ago, I started a thread titled "Guiding the Unenlightened" in an attempt to answer a question I read on another forum. To my consternation, the thread didn't really answer the guy's question, it just opened the door for a discussion of the merits of cast bullets, a discussion that is repeated here on a regular basis.
One thing that quickly became obvious is, there are many different levels of dedication to the cast bullet. Because of your membership on this elite forum, it is evident that your interest in the subject is far ahead of the individual who posed the original question.
I intend to post a link to that thread on the IPSC list so the "Unenlightened" can find some "Guidance" to make their decisions concerning lead bullets and maybe get some more people interested in the finer points of casting your own.
However, there were some issues I'd like to address that I don't think are appropriate to that thread, so, here we go.......
First, I know that Dan at the Bull Shop doesn't agree with what I have to say about commercial casters. But Dan, please understand that the service you provide has very little resembalence to the service that I provide. I offer the option of one or two thou. different than my standard sizing dia. on special order; whereas you offer exactly what the customer wants, no matter what, right from the start.
If you don't find what you want on my list, you're welcome to go somewhere else to find it. Dan will make whatever you want. The difference is in the price. The bottom line is, what is it worth to you? Vive la difference!!!!!!
Lube.........
I'd like to have a dollar for every time I've seen the phrase "when I dug the bullet out of the berm, the lube was still on it."........Where would you like for it to be? If the bullet fits right, there's not enough room in the barrel for all that lube, so if its not on the bullet, it came off after it left the barrel! So what did that do for the bullet's ballance?
I've tried lots of different lubes, some were OK, some sucked! (for different reasons) As a commercial caster, my needs may be vastly different than yours, but, if a lube will perform satisfactorally from 600 fps. to 2200 fps., what else do you need?
Well, my preferred lube, Dave Thompson's Blue Angel, may have some temperature related issues which first became evident on my first attempt at a cast boolit deer harvest.......no blood, no hair, no venison!!!! Went to the range and the first shot from a cold barrel was 16in. high. That might explain the miss! The third shot was back at POA. So I reasoned, if you want cold weather lube, go to the guy in Alaska! Bull Shop Dan!!!!!
My point is, every problem has a different solution. I'm still testing the lube, I haven't used Dan's lube above 95* and I still need to test Dave's lube at low temps.
Why don't I just use Dan's Speed Green for everything? Cause I buy Blue Angel 25lbs. at a time. I bought two lbs. of Speed Green to test and it was waaaaaay more expensive. AND...lots of my customers buy bullets 5-10K at a time, so they want to simplify their reloading. A soft, sticky lube gets on everything, boolits, fingers, cases, dies, everything. Its a PITA to clean up and if there's a better alternative, use it. If my tests confirm my theories, I'll use Speed Green for my hunting loads and Dave's Blue Angel for everything else. Different strokes for different......uh.......things?
So, what do you say to these guys that ask about lead vs. "that other stuff"? Can I refer them to BobS? Seems like he does very well shooting lead against those HEATHENS! Or BruceB? His results with his M1A rival anything I've seen with those j-word things. Or 44Man? I'd like to shoot groups like that with a rifle! YOU DA MAN!!
And Deputy Al, StarMetal Joe, Wayne The Shrink, Broomhandle, all you guys that work with that wierd $#!+, you're keeping the classics alive. When all the surplus ammo is gone, you guys will still be enjoying your VINTAGE toys.
Point is.......well, I don't know for sure what my point is.:confused: Too many opinions to reach a consensus, too much info to give the *** without going into sensory overload, So, whatcha gonna do? The guy I coppied in the original thread, PVRAONE, gives lessons to IPSC wannabees at the rate of forty bucks an hour. So...how do I compete with that? There's so much misinformation out there, that we'll never catch up.
One last rant... I was at a gun show in Indianoplace a few years ago, guy stops at the table and starts into a rant about how lead bullets ruined his Colt Gold Cup cause they were so hard, stripped the rifleing right out of the barrel. I took a look and, sure enough, it looked like a .44 cal smooth bore. Lead filled up the rifleing from the chamber to the muzzle!
Jerru
A couple of days ago, I started a thread titled "Guiding the Unenlightened" in an attempt to answer a question I read on another forum. To my consternation, the thread didn't really answer the guy's question, it just opened the door for a discussion of the merits of cast bullets, a discussion that is repeated here on a regular basis.
One thing that quickly became obvious is, there are many different levels of dedication to the cast bullet. Because of your membership on this elite forum, it is evident that your interest in the subject is far ahead of the individual who posed the original question.
I intend to post a link to that thread on the IPSC list so the "Unenlightened" can find some "Guidance" to make their decisions concerning lead bullets and maybe get some more people interested in the finer points of casting your own.
However, there were some issues I'd like to address that I don't think are appropriate to that thread, so, here we go.......
First, I know that Dan at the Bull Shop doesn't agree with what I have to say about commercial casters. But Dan, please understand that the service you provide has very little resembalence to the service that I provide. I offer the option of one or two thou. different than my standard sizing dia. on special order; whereas you offer exactly what the customer wants, no matter what, right from the start.
If you don't find what you want on my list, you're welcome to go somewhere else to find it. Dan will make whatever you want. The difference is in the price. The bottom line is, what is it worth to you? Vive la difference!!!!!!
Lube.........
I'd like to have a dollar for every time I've seen the phrase "when I dug the bullet out of the berm, the lube was still on it."........Where would you like for it to be? If the bullet fits right, there's not enough room in the barrel for all that lube, so if its not on the bullet, it came off after it left the barrel! So what did that do for the bullet's ballance?
I've tried lots of different lubes, some were OK, some sucked! (for different reasons) As a commercial caster, my needs may be vastly different than yours, but, if a lube will perform satisfactorally from 600 fps. to 2200 fps., what else do you need?
Well, my preferred lube, Dave Thompson's Blue Angel, may have some temperature related issues which first became evident on my first attempt at a cast boolit deer harvest.......no blood, no hair, no venison!!!! Went to the range and the first shot from a cold barrel was 16in. high. That might explain the miss! The third shot was back at POA. So I reasoned, if you want cold weather lube, go to the guy in Alaska! Bull Shop Dan!!!!!
My point is, every problem has a different solution. I'm still testing the lube, I haven't used Dan's lube above 95* and I still need to test Dave's lube at low temps.
Why don't I just use Dan's Speed Green for everything? Cause I buy Blue Angel 25lbs. at a time. I bought two lbs. of Speed Green to test and it was waaaaaay more expensive. AND...lots of my customers buy bullets 5-10K at a time, so they want to simplify their reloading. A soft, sticky lube gets on everything, boolits, fingers, cases, dies, everything. Its a PITA to clean up and if there's a better alternative, use it. If my tests confirm my theories, I'll use Speed Green for my hunting loads and Dave's Blue Angel for everything else. Different strokes for different......uh.......things?
So, what do you say to these guys that ask about lead vs. "that other stuff"? Can I refer them to BobS? Seems like he does very well shooting lead against those HEATHENS! Or BruceB? His results with his M1A rival anything I've seen with those j-word things. Or 44Man? I'd like to shoot groups like that with a rifle! YOU DA MAN!!
And Deputy Al, StarMetal Joe, Wayne The Shrink, Broomhandle, all you guys that work with that wierd $#!+, you're keeping the classics alive. When all the surplus ammo is gone, you guys will still be enjoying your VINTAGE toys.
Point is.......well, I don't know for sure what my point is.:confused: Too many opinions to reach a consensus, too much info to give the *** without going into sensory overload, So, whatcha gonna do? The guy I coppied in the original thread, PVRAONE, gives lessons to IPSC wannabees at the rate of forty bucks an hour. So...how do I compete with that? There's so much misinformation out there, that we'll never catch up.
One last rant... I was at a gun show in Indianoplace a few years ago, guy stops at the table and starts into a rant about how lead bullets ruined his Colt Gold Cup cause they were so hard, stripped the rifleing right out of the barrel. I took a look and, sure enough, it looked like a .44 cal smooth bore. Lead filled up the rifleing from the chamber to the muzzle!
Jerru