Welding Boolits for hunting ?

[Winger Ed.]

honestly if my time was that valuable to begin with I probably wouldn't bother casting anyhow

Too funny.

It's all relative buddy: I've got a ex-wife that thinks I'm not smart enough to feed myself,
and my time is worth about 6 cents an hour-- for skilled labor.

[Larry Gibson]

Is he a member here ?

Haven't seen him post here for a long time. Probably went over to another forum.

Checked members list, still a member but last post was June of last year.

[GregLaROCHE]

Yeah that's basically me lol, I get bored pretty quick so things like this always peak my interest.

If you’re getting bored with what you have, you need to buy some new calibers to cast for and shoot. Ever consider muzzle loaders?

[JSnover]

The late Bruce B posted a great thread about this. Done correctly it works but is fairly tedious.
A good thing to know, I guess, but not really practical if you have other options.

[Wayne Smith]

search the BruceB method - and you may have to use the way back machine to do it?

[archeryrob]

A lot of guys have been shooting WW lead at deer for long time and many of them shooting it naked and lubed and slower. Maybe 1600. Read on someone pouring some SL in the tip, let it cool. Then pour HL over top and let it cool. Dip mold into pot until the sprue melts without tipping it. Lift out, don't jossle it and let it cool to be welded. Sounds like way too much work. Shooting a bullet with a big meplat will help more than that round target tip. Round tips are for targets and long distance shooting and FP bullets are for killing.

I am going to use some WW lead I have that registers about an 11 for me. I am planning on running them just under 2000 and powder coating to replace jacket and see how that hangs. If I don;t get any leading then I might try the water bottle and wet jeans for expansion test later this summer.

[nekshot]

i spend considerable time with this method and various ways and techniques, I found 2 pots running very hot worked best for me. Now a little softer(i don't need more than 4) and flat nose and HP works for me.

[Three44s]

Check this out:

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...d+cast+boolits

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Wolfdog91,

Enjoy and best regards!

Three44s

[dverna]

Heck, why not just buy some Sierra 165 gr HPBTs and go hunting? Good accuracy and excellent performance. Is four hours of labor worth the $35 you'd save?

Not the Gamekings (which is what I use) but still a good bullet...In stock and a decent price:

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/10...ampaign=741952

I view casting of .30 cal. (or smaller) hunting bullets as a waste of time and resources. With a box of decent jacketed bullets you will get a sub 2 MOA load before using up about 50 bullets. The other 50 bullets will put deer on the table for another 5 years. A couple of three shot groups to check zero every year and a couple to hunt with.

BTW, I bought 5 boxes of the 165 GameKings about 8 years ago. Worked up loads for two .hunting rifles and have about 350 bullets left. A lifetime supply for less than $150. You will invest that in a mold, or molds, and components trying to find a cast .30 cal bullet that gives you 2500 fps with 2 MOA accuracy and a bit of expansion. (Bear in mind the current cost of powder and primers, and plan on 15-25 combinations of molds, alloys, lubes, bullet sizing, and loads to find something useable).

If you want to cast .30 bullets for target shooting go for it. It will teach you how tough it is achieve jacketed performance. I see a lot of posts using .308's with cast bullets at less than .30/30 levels for deer hunting. Negates the reason to use a .308 IMO.

And as Shelly posted sometimes it a search for experience.

Bottom line is you need to establish why you cast. If doing it for "fun", how much you spend is not that important. My opinions are based on my needs....I only cast to save money...it is a tedious and boring way to spend my time. When I hunt, I want the deck stacked in my favor, and cast bullets are a distant second place in the .30 calibers.

[mdi]

Sometimes it's just about the knowledge gained from experimenting and not the end result.

Shelly

All knowledge is good and sometimes a feller jes wants to know...

[onelight]

Didn't Lyman offer a 2 piece bullet that you cast in separate molds and glue together .
I never tried them figuring they would separate on impact . But similar idea .

[barkerwc4362]

Yes, Lyman offered several two piece molds. I believe in 38, 44, and 45. The nose portion was to be cast of a soft allow and the rear of a harder alloy. The two portions were to be epoxied together. Several CBA members also published methods of producing soft nosed case bullets by either putting a small amount of solid pure lead in the nose of a hot mold and then filling the rest of the mold with a harder molten alloy or by pouring a small amount of molten pure lead into the nose of a hot mold followed by filling the mold with a harder molten alloy. At one time some one offered a bottom pour pot that had two sections. One was intended to contain pure lead for the nose, while the other would contain the harder alloy for the base. It was my understanding that the pot was designed to allow you to limit the pour of pure lead, so there would be consistency between bullets. This was gee 30 years ago. I think.
Bill

[tmanbuckhunter]

Pole vaulting over a mouse turd. Standard cast bullets with a nice meplat have been killing game effectively for decades at this point. Neat idea, but is it worth the extra effort?

[country gent]

Here is how I did it, 2 pots one 4 lber for nose alloy and 10 pounder to finish fill. Made a dedicated ladle of the volume for the nose, think powder dipper here.I cut the mouth at 20* or so so the low side was the limit and high side formed a spout. Attached a handle with insulator on it. Run both pots side by side. run 4 lb dipper pot on the warm side around 800* and the 10 lb in the 750*range. You have to move quick. Fill nose with the ladle and mive under the 10 lb and fill t a large sprue. Let sprue cool. when mould is up to temp you will only see the difference in color between the 2 alloys

[country gent]

another route for cast bullet expansion is the old Paper Patched bullet. All soft lead with the paper jacket contacting the bore.

[Mr_Sheesh]

On evilbay I've seen a lot of electronics related kits etc. from China etc. listed as "welding" instead of soldering so this was easy to figure out, for me, but at first I was trying to figure out how welding was supposed to be involved, LOL - Language can be hard until I have some caffeine onboard

[GaryN]

another route for cast bullet expansion is the old Paper Patched bullet. All soft lead with the paper jacket contacting the bore.

This is what I'm eventually going to try if I want higher speeds with softer alloy. There's a lot of info in the paper patched section of this site.