CAST BULLET QUEST

english setter · 02-28-2008, 01:08 PM

Why cant I cast bullets for 50 cal Kentucky w wheel weights? Most cast bullets for smokeless rifles recommend harder than pure lead and use Wheel wts.

Is it ok if I skim shiny hard alloy off leaving mostly softer lead or will it create dangerous pressures? I know conicals need to be soft to expand and seal gas in barrel but wont WW produce acceptable accuracy even if I skim?
Also pure lead would lead barrel badly. Thanks!!

Semisane · 02-28-2008, 01:35 PM

Well, you can use wheel weights, especially if you're going to shoot them in sabots or as patched balls. But consider this.

In a cartridge rifle, the bullet is larger than the bore and loaded from the breech. Upon firing the bullet swages down to bore size and fills the grooves.
In a muzzle loader, the bullet must either be the same diameter (or slightly smaller) as thebore'sland diameter, or soft enough to force in the bore to fill the groves (the way a Lee REAL does). If you cast a REAL with wheel weights you need a mallet to load it.
Pure lead won't lead the barrel if a decent lube is used and the velocity is kept below 1800 fps or so - even less of a problem if a felt wad is used.
Wheel weight patched balls shoot just fine and are great for plinking, but will punch through game with no expansion at all. I stopped using hard cast bullets in my .41 mag Blackhawk for just that reason. Even a wide flat nose design didn't give me the kind of wound channel I wanted.

cayugad · 02-28-2008, 01:57 PM

You can make them out of wheel weights. Friends and I used to. They will lead the bore of the rifle up, and can be a little harder to load. Also for hunting you would probably get very little expansion, although hitting bone it might really be an advantage. The rule of thumb I was told is .... muzzleloaders use pure lead.

Semisane · 02-28-2008, 02:08 PM

Quote:

They will lead the bore of the rifle up, and can be a little harder to load.

I believe they lead the bore because they don't upset upon ignition and fill the grooves. Therefore, there's hotgasses flowing between the bullet and the barrel all the way down the bore, melting lead along the way. (Well, that's what I believe anyway. I really don't know for sure.

)

johnny2 · 02-28-2008, 04:21 PM

I believe your right about that..

corey012778 · 02-28-2008, 08:52 PM

I still don't have a big pure lead source, that is why I am "mining the range". pritty much, how much I walked back and forth. I got around 5lbs of scrap. smelted down to about 2lbs. getting ready for my quest into casting for muzzleloaders.

HEAD0001 · 02-28-2008, 09:45 PM

First of all-skimming the "shiny" stuff does not remove the hard lead. It is not that easy to separate antimony and tin from WW.

Second-you can use WW for bullets. I have shot a lot of deer at 1600 fps from 45-70's, and WW penetrates and expands just fine. There is no problem getting a bullet to go 1600fps or faster in an MZ.

I understand when people say it is harder to load WW over pure lead. The flaw in that argument is that you should be sizing your bullet-just like they size the White Bullet. You need to slug your MZ barrel. Then buy a few different sizers and try different sizes. Any where from a slip fit up through .001 over. You will find an accurate load if you take your time, and do things right. I cast straight WW and I size them, but I do not lube my bullet's. I do not know why I do not lube them-it is just a practice that I got into. I am going to work up a conical load for my new Knight LRH, and I am going to size and lube these bullet's.

The type of lead you use is not what usually causes leading. Leading is normally associated with velocity and barrel condition. You have to make your alloy considerably harder than WW before you limit the leading. Tom.