A question about casting of my own???

[johnny2]

Does anyone know if the Lee real bullet mold is made to be
used with pure lead or is it ok to use a mix of lead and wheel
weights..I suppose the lead(pure) will make a much better
hunting bullet.As far as having the mushrooming effect..
Please correct me if I'm all wrong here..I am going to cast
some of them up tonight or tommorow..I have got to get
to shootin...

[UncleNorby]

Muzzleloading molds are generally made for pure lead.

Your bullets maybe oversized if you use lead with too much other metals in it. Pure lead shrinks more as it cools.

Maxiballs that I cast from wheelweights were oversized for my 50 cal T/C.

[johnny2]

Uncle----By how much were they over sized??

I am going to be making the Lee real Bullet
as well as the Lyman Maxi...My biggest concern is will they
mushroom enough to make a good wound channel for a good
effective kill or not...I wounder if shooting them into wet
news print would help to determin that..

[wabi]

Pure lead for the REALs for the reasons stated.
I find the REALs from my moulds have an increase of about .005 in each "driving band" from the base to the nose. On the 250 grain there's 3 bands and on the 325 grain 4 bands. I would say the 325 would be very hard to start if it were hard lead.

[Semisane]

I would say the 325 would be very hard to start if it were hard lead.

I agree. I don't have the mould for heavy REALs, but do have one for 250s. If I cast them with wheel weights they are a bit*h to start in my New Englander and are no way near as accurate as pure lead ones.

[HEAD0001]

This gets brough up a lot. I do not believe there would be much difference in the mushrooming between pure lead and WW. I actually believe that very few people actually cast pure lead. I have had several experts tell me there is no such thing as "PURE LEAD". They say all lead is alloyed.

There are so many variations in modern MZ barrels as far as bore and land size in concerned. So to blankly say that one bullet would or would not fit has far too many variables involved.

There are very minor differences in bullets cast from different alloys. I shoot WW in BP rifles all the time. I would be careful with WW if I was shooting it in an antique rifle with cheap steel, but modern steel does not have a problem with WW. We have argued this before, and probably will again.

IMO you will have more variations with your Lee molds than you will with the alloy. If you were using a more expensive, custom mold, with tighter tolerances, then there may be a difference in the sizing of your bullets. But it sounds to me as if you are not going to be sizing your bullets, so you are going for a hit or miss situation to start with.

You may be able to play around with your alloy a bit to get a better fit. Have you slugged the barrel??? Tom.

[rem 700]

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but can skimming the surface of molten wheel weights make the remaining lead more 'pure' by removing other less dense materials?

[mcawful]

I don't know enough about casting to say one way or 'tother about that one , REM.
I do know that I cast some REAL 320 grain bullets out of wheel weights and , durn, they were hard to get started. And hard to punch down the bore of my Trade Rifle.
I cast some more out of about 300 Hornady .44 round balls a buddy gave me when he sold his BP revolver ,and I could start them with my thumb.
I just ordered a hardness tester for my homecast bullets.
I not only cast for my MLs , but also for a couple of my cartridge shooters.
I figure the softer the better with MLs.

[Wingbone]

Rem,
Since tin and antimony are lighter than lead, they willcome tothe surface when the alloy is molten. In fact, to keep the mixture from seperating, youshould flux and re-mix occasionally during casting. scimming will remove the other metals.

[Underclocked]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/ good place to get correct answers. I think Head has it right, but the "purest" lead you can find will work best for muzzleloaders in most cases. Gas-checked bullets can also be made to work very well.