Wondering about cast bullets . . .

When I'm looking to buy some bullets, I see "cast" bullets for sale.

What are the pros and cons of using cast bullets instead of the kind I buy from Nosler, Hornady, Spee, etc?

I've never used cast bullets.

What I really wonder is will the lead of the cast bullet mess up my barrel.

Hack

__________________
'06 Road King Classic w/ Sidecar.
Patriot Guard Rider, CMA Member
Retired Science Teacher (taught for 30 yrs).
They call me "Hack" because of the sidecar, not the amputated leg.
Proud Former Paratrooper - 2/505, 3rd Brigade, 82d Airborne Division

What caliber and type gun are you considering cast bullets for? Some semi autos don't like lead bullets. Generally if the gun will feed and cylcle them and you keep them under 1000 fps you should be fine.

__________________

I'm reloading .380 Auto (Ruger LCP), 9mm (Kel-Tec PF9), .40SW (Taurus Millennium Pro) and .45ACP (Springlield 1911 A1 and Ruger XD45)

Hack

__________________
'06 Road King Classic w/ Sidecar.
Patriot Guard Rider, CMA Member
Retired Science Teacher (taught for 30 yrs).
They call me "Hack" because of the sidecar, not the amputated leg.
Proud Former Paratrooper - 2/505, 3rd Brigade, 82d Airborne Division

I use laser cast bullets almost exclusively in the .45 ACP and .38/357. I use copper plated lead in the 9mm and the .40 S&W because the Kahr autos have a different kind of rifling that does not lend itself to plain lead bullets.

In the .45 ACP 4.0 grains of Bullseye and a 200 grain laser cast semi-wadcutter works well in all of my 1911's. I use 3 grains of bullseye and a 158 laser cast semi-wadcutter in the .38 Special load. 4.0 grains of BE and a 115 grain copper plated bullet in the 9mm, and 4.5 grains of BE and a 135 grain copper plated bullet in the .40 S&W. Don't and wouldn't bother reloading a .380.

Keep in mind that these are light target loads and are intended for pratice and not self defense. I have never had a lead fouling problem with these loads, and they are all very accurate.

Bill

Some of the pistols may be a little sensitive to cast bullets. I would buy a small quantity of the .380s and try some before I committed alot of time and resources. I have no experience with the kel-tec, but have a 9 mm browning high power that has no problems with cast bullets. The .40 should be ok. The .45s should have no problems with lead. I reload cast bullets for my Colts and have never had a problem. Lead is a lot cheaper if you are plinking or punching holes in paper. BTW is your pistol doesn't like cast bullets, a gunsmith can usually do a little work on the feed ramp and make it more reliable than ever.

__________________

Bill
I use similar recipes in my reloading. Have used BE for a long time. I bump my .45's up to 4.2 gr because my Gold Cup has an ultra dot on the slide, It take a little more umph to reliably cycle it.

__________________

I've also been using bullets from www.laser-cast.com for several years. I've used them in my 45 auto and haven't had any problems with their leading the barrel. Laser cast even guarantees their bullets not to lead because of how hard they are. They have a good website that might be able to answer some of your questions. At one time, they would even send out free samples for a person to look at, not sure if they do it anymore.

p.s. I also use them in my 45/70.

__________________
Save a tree, eat a beaver.

I went ot their web site and sent them an "info seeking" e-mail.

When you load, say, a Hornady 155 gr FMJ .40SW round, do you use the same load data in the manual from Hornady or do you have to reduce the powder charge?

Hack

__________________
'06 Road King Classic w/ Sidecar.
Patriot Guard Rider, CMA Member
Retired Science Teacher (taught for 30 yrs).
They call me "Hack" because of the sidecar, not the amputated leg.
Proud Former Paratrooper - 2/505, 3rd Brigade, 82d Airborne Division

Hack: For your own safety never use a "Powder load" published for jacketed bullets for your cast bullets or viceversa. Use only published loads for the exact components of powder, primer and bullet by brand name that you choose to use. Internal pressures developed during combustion can and will vary all over the map with changes in components.

IMHO, the use of very small loads of 'Bullseye' powder, while usually very accurate,could be very dangerousfor a beginning reloader. Bullseye is a very powerful fast burning powder and only very small weights are needed to develop high pressures. The usual pistol load will leave lots of unused space within the cartridge. That can lead to double charges or even triple charges. Some very nice handguns have been blown up because of this. In my experience, the slower burning shotgun powders are much more safe, use up most of the cartridge capacity and give very good accuracy when used in pistol cartridges. All reloading manuals give those loads. Hodgdon's 'Clays' is one that gives outstanding performance in both light shotgun loads and nearly all pistol calibers. There are several other powders originally intended for target loads in shotguns that work very well in pistol cartridges. ................ BC

I have to agree with you. Bullseye is a great powder and is more accurate and less expensive, because of the small amounts used, than a lot of powders,but it does leave room for error and double charges unless the reloader is very careful.

I load all of my pistol stuff with a Dillon 550 which is designed to be pretty idiot proof when it comes to double charges. It can be done, but you have to work at it.

If one is using a single stage, even Bullseye has enough volume that you can see a double charge if you look into all of the cases. I used to do this after I had charged a block of 50 before going to the bullet seating stage.

Bill