How Good is Good Enough?

[TXTad]

Depends on how accurate you want to be.

If you are chasing sub-MOA at longer ranges you are probably on the right track. Or if you want bench rest competition size groups at 100yd.

The longer the range and higher the vel the more difference it will make.

But, for plinking at 100yd or so you can stand to have some small defects. I used to keep the 'rejects' just for that reason. Especially .30 cal subsonic loads. I could still get less than 2" groups with them. Then cost of primers went up so I don't do much 'plinking'.

I think 50 yards will be what I consider extreme range for my handgun loads, with maybe 80 to 100 yards for .357 and .44 through my lever actions. As per another suggestion here, I just need to compare results with "good" bullets and "rejects".

When I start loading for my .303 Uberti Stalking Rifle, I may be a little more picky, but I'll be looking for casual target shooting and deer accuracy out to an extreme of 200 yards.

[TXTad]

Get it and let us know how it works! I've been thinking about getting one.

What are you using to melt and pour the molten lead? I ladle cast out of a 1 quart saucepan placed over a turkey fryer. I literally put my mold into the flames to heat soak the mold blocks prior to and periodically during casting bullets.

I have a Lee production pot and a thermometer that I bought from Rotometals. I can keep the lead within a 20 degree range without much work, and about 10 degrees with just a bit of effort.

[dverna]

3" at 50 yards is very very very good! Please, can you tell what molds, gun and technique you are using?

My point of view is showing a 6-in group at 50 yards and it has taken me years to get to this point.

I “cheated”. First, a 10 cavity H&G #50 wadcutter…the best mold I ever owned. Second, a Clark target gun. Third, a Ransom rest…I cannot shoot iron sights that well. The load was the age old 2.7 gr of Bullseye. Lube was 50/50. Bullets sized and lubed in a Star at .358. And another “cheat”…Linotype alloy…nothing makes a better bullet than Linotype.

BTW, that was a 50 shot group. There were many 10 shot groups smaller than 3”.

To put things in perspective, the 10 ring at 50 yards is just under 3.4” IIRC. And that is shooting one handed. The 2023 winner of the Precision Pistol slow fire match scored 193x200. He did not miss that ten ring much.

[Bazoo]

I “cheated”. First, a 10 cavity H&G #50 wadcutter…the best mold I ever owned. Second, a Clark target gun. Third, a Ransom rest…I cannot shoot iron sights that well. The load was the age old 2.7 gr of Bullseye. Lube was 50/50. Bullets sized and lubed in a Star at .358. And another “cheat”…Linotype alloy…nothing makes a better bullet than Linotype.

BTW, that was a 50 shot group. There were many 10 shot groups smaller than 3”.

To put things in perspective, the 10 ring at 50 yards is just under 3.4” IIRC. And that is shooting one handed. The 2023 winner of the Precision Pistol slow fire match scored 193x200. He did not miss that ten ring much.

Pretty impressive, thank you for sharing.

[Bigslug]

This is why I think I should add the hotplate.

Yes. Absolutely. But the other answer here if the mold is still not quite "there" is to dunk the far corner of your mold into your pot for roughly a 5-count.

One of my indicators of happy mold temperature is the time it takes for the sprue to freeze. It varies mold to mold - I most commonly run brass molds. If the freeze time is somewhere around ten seconds, I'm usually getting decent bullets. If it takes much north of 15, the mold has gotten too hot.

Rate of pour is another "Goldilocks" issue. Too fast is easy - you can't control the overflow and are spilling everywhere. Too slow and your metal is starting to freeze before the cavity is full. You want the weight of your sprue pushing down into the cavity before the alloy starts to firm up

[Land Owner]

Pre-heat mold on a hot plate. Set mold bottom in liquid alloy - maybe 20 +/- seconds. Turn it over. Set the spru plate in liquid alloy. Then cast.

I use a bottom pour pot. Wrinkled boolits create rotational instability so I reject and recast mine thinking the spru plate, as a heat sink, is cooling the melt prior to mold line fill out. I found this in the Fryxell book, Chapter 8 - Idle Musings of a Greybeard Bullet Caster under the heading "Heating the Sprue Plate". This is not the heat of the melt, which might need to be a little hotter too.

[TXTad]

Pre-heat mold on a hot plate. Set mold bottom in liquid alloy - maybe 20 +/- seconds. Turn it over. Set the spru plate in liquid alloy. Then cast.

I use a bottom pour pot. Wrinkled boolits create rotational instability so I reject and recast mine thinking the spru plate, as a heat sink, is cooling the melt prior to mold line fill out. I found this in the Fryxell book, Chapter 8 - Idle Musings of a Greybeard Bullet Caster under the heading "Heating the Sprue Plate". This is not the heat of the melt, which might need to be a little hotter too.

I'll try this. I think the top of the mold is cooler than the bottom. I've dipped the bottom of the mold into the pot, but never the top. I'll give that a try next time.

[fordwannabe]

I do recommend the hot plate for pre heating your molds. I was NOT a believer until SWMBO (she who must be obeyed) found one at a junk shop for $10 and brought it home. I eventually had to replace that one(something about a fire hazard thingie) but they are available from amazon and WM for less than $20 and it has made a believer out of me. My issue is that I get the mold too hot and start getting really frosted bullets, if they are plinkers...so what gonna PC anyway. If they are "serious bullets" I keep an old sponge on my casting table that I wet with water and rest my mold bottom on it for a second or two and that keeps the temos down.

[Willie T]

Tad, keep sinking the corner of that mold down in the melt until the amount of alloy that hardens on the corner is less and also easily releases from the mold when you lightly tap the hinge bolt between the handles. Once the mold temperature gets there it will not take many cycles to start dropping good bullets. Someone should tell you that most new casters initially struggle to get their mold up to temperature and keep it there. I mostly do my own thing casting and shooting but there are a lot of knowledgeable posters on this forum that are generous with their experience. Enjoy the ride figuring it out. Although a good ways south of you, I’m a fellow Texan.
Willie T

[35 Rem]

I think 50 yards will be what I consider extreme range for my handgun loads, with maybe 80 to 100 yards for .357 and .44 through my lever actions. As per another suggestion here, I just need to compare results with "good" bullets and "rejects".

When I start loading for my .303 Uberti Stalking Rifle, I may be a little more picky, but I'll be looking for casual target shooting and deer accuracy out to an extreme of 200 yards.

I've drooled over the pictures of that Uberti Stalking Rifle quite a few times. Would LOVE to have one. Congratulations of getting one. Let us know how it shoots when you start working up loads for it.

[charlie b]

I think 50 yards will be what I consider extreme range for my handgun loads, with maybe 80 to 100 yards for .357 and .44 through my lever actions. As per another suggestion here, I just need to compare results with "good" bullets and "rejects".

When I start loading for my .303 Uberti Stalking Rifle, I may be a little more picky, but I'll be looking for casual target shooting and deer accuracy out to an extreme of 200 yards.

It's all about how you go about it. Took me a few hundred rounds to find out what pot temp was best for my alloy (Lyman #2). Then more experimenting to find the right temp for my mold and the tempo for casting, ie, how hot does the mold need to be.

This was a ladder test when I first got the mold.



If you want to chase accuracy....

I also did a lot of comparisons when powder coating, like putting on a gas check before or after PC. One of the biggest things for longer range is weight sorting bullets. I sort them into 0.1gn batches. The 210gn bullets are 'bore riders' so I size the nose as well as the drive bands.

I also experimented with how much a flaw in the bullet changed the POI as well as powder coating laying them down or standing.

After a lot of testing I could get this sometimes, usually it is a 10" group at that range.



BUT..............

My pistol bullets I just cast and shoot. I will make sure the edges of the base are nice and square. I don't weigh them, just size and shoot. The difference is the accuracy I expect. If I can keep them in a fist size group at 25yd I am happy.

Biggest things to control. Alloy. Pot temp. Mold temp (use a hot plate, they are cheap).

Experiment with each until the bullets come out good. Spend some time just casting a bunch, put them back in the pot and cast some more, until the temperatures and cast tempo you use gets you a good batch of bullets

[TXTad]

I've drooled over the pictures of that Uberti Stalking Rifle quite a few times. Would LOVE to have one. Congratulations of getting one. Let us know how it shoots when you start working up loads for it.

I'll do that. I've always had an odd interest in the .303 and .358, though I've never really pursed them. I have a couple of Enfields, but nothing in .358. The Uberti is my first nice rifle in either caliber. I was dumb and passed over a Ruger #1 in .303 a long time ago.

[Recycled bullet]

I “cheated”. First, a 10 cavity H&G #50 wadcutter…the best mold I ever owned. Second, a Clark target gun. Third, a Ransom rest…I cannot shoot iron sights that well. The load was the age old 2.7 gr of Bullseye. Lube was 50/50. Bullets sized and lubed in a Star at .358. And another “cheat”…Linotype alloy…nothing makes a better bullet than Linotype.

BTW, that was a 50 shot group. There were many 10 shot groups smaller than 3”.

To put things in perspective, the 10 ring at 50 yards is just under 3.4” IIRC. And that is shooting one handed. The 2023 winner of the Precision Pistol slow fire match scored 193x200. He did not miss that ten ring much.

Awesome dverna!!!