Pros & Cons of Cast Bullets
 

Hey guys,

Want to hear what your opinions are on cast bullets.

A pro I know obviously is price. They are much cheaper.

A con I know is less expansion.

Are there any other pros? What are the cons? How do barrels like them?


People often shoot cast in the .45-70 why don't more people shoot 30 cal cast bullets?

Tom

Pro's
Penetrate like no other

Con's
Can't be pushed near as hard as jacketed

The 45-70 is a relatively low velocity round by design. Most popular .30cal rounds push bullets too fast to use lead. Lead bullets do not handle high velocity well at all.

Thanks for the info.

Are there any other reasons?

Tom

I shoot just plain based spitzer type cast bullets in my 30-06',32Rem/Winchester special,8mm Mauser,357Mag rifle and pistol 9mm and 45 Colts .

I have no issues in the rifles as long as I hold them under 1800 fps .When I go over that I get serious leading in the last 6-8 inches of the bbl.The 06'was pretty easy to over speed . Early on I shot some that went 26-2700 fps the bullets just blew up at the at the muzzle lead all over the bbl . The pistols shoot fine with a cheap bullet lube that I make up with stp vasoline and candle wax ,

While the expantion isnt great the flat nosed pistol bullets do make a big hole and have generous "tissue disruption" . I have a 200 grain bullet for my 06' and 308 still trying to find its combination , it does ball up in plywood and phonebooks , my bullet looks a lot like a tsx with a .1 flat nose . The typical cast spitzers don't expand .

Pro's I get to play in the man cave more and spend more time shooting and rabbits and yotes under 100 yards are in a lot of trouble. I get to burn 14.0 grs of Unique instead of 50.0 grns of 4350 and that means 500 rounds per pound instead of only 350 . I cast about 2000 bullets on 5 gals of propane and I use range scrape and wheel weights and as of now I am recycling about 60% of my own bullets.

Cons all that time I wasted getting the lead out before I figured out that my 06'shoots fast about 200 fps and all the time I spent stressing out about the magnum alloy needs for the 9mm and 357.I use jacketed bullet cores for everything except rifle for which I'm using wheel weights at the moment.

Wow. That's pretty cool.

Sounds like you do a lot of shooting.

Thanks for the info.

Tom

pros

they are cheaper and used in the right applications they compare very well with jacketed bullets.

The newest latest greatest hardcast bullets with gaschecks can be pushed very hard and still leave a clean bore.

cons

they can't be driven as fast as jacketed bullets in high pressure chamberings. This reduces their effective range but not necessarily their accuracy.


I have shot some Beartooth Bullets 185 gr. .358" hardcast gaschecks out of my .357 max that were plenty accurate enough we could shoot prairie dogs with them out to 150 yds. or so.

How dangerous is casting bullets? Ive dabbled in it a bit melting and casting wheelwieghts, but I read lead exposure is dangerous.

You need to do this outside. I haven't done my own bullets yet, but I have an electric melting pot for making fishing sinkers. You have to resist the temptation to do it in the garage with the door down. I know that it's natural to be bored this time of year when it's freezing outside, but don't do it without ventilation.

My wife usually does not get involved with my giggles, but she made a big stink out of me casting. We got a new baby in the house and all. I don't know. I can't imagine its that bad.