Hard cast lead bullets

[IheartGUNS]

Really don't want to this route cause I don't want to deal with the lead but I'm thinking about reloading hard cast bullets. Just wondering whats the going price for 1k 230gr. rn 45acp bullets. I found a place online $90 for 1k bullets + $11 for shipping. Does that sound about right? I usually buy xtreme bullets but trying to find cheaper ways to reload.

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[Mica]

try badman bullets. they are here in oregon I load and shoot them all the time in my XDM and G witha storm lake drop in.

 

[k7grc]

+1 on Badman Bullets..

Use them, 180gr. 45 Colt, 200gr. 45acp, 85gr. 25-20, 405gr. 45-70.. happy with them all.

 

[noylj]

I am shocked that people shoot anything except cast or swaged lead in .45ACP. You have to be rich to shoot jacketed.
Go to MasterCastBullets.com or Missouri Bullets. For the .45ACP, first try to 14BHN bullets. Never needed the really hard bullets for .45ACP or .45Colt, only for some real hot Magnum loads--and I almost never load them hot enough to need harder bullets. When I started casting in the '70s, 14BHN was a very hard bullet.
For .40 caliber and up, lead is the only thing I can afford and never had any problems.
To try to ensure success, slug your barrel. Most, but not all, .45ACPs are quite happy with 0.452" bullets. However, if the groove diameter of your barrel is larger than 0.451", you may have leading and lousy accuracy and you will need to get 0.453-0.454" lead bullets.
I particularly like MasterCastBullets.com because he lowers the price for the less expensive "soft" alloy, which is still over-kill if you ask me (and you didn't).
The 14BHN bullets at MasterCastBullets.com are:
.45 200gn SWC $55.71/1000
.45 230gn RN $64.07/1000
They are accurate and well worth the money. I prefer the 200gn L-SWCs for all my .45ACP shooting.
Try to order about 67 lbs of bullets (about 2000 230gn or 2300 200gn bullets), if you are ordering them to be shipped, as that will fit in the large fixed-price USPS boxes so shipping will be minimized.
If you are afraid of lead and rich, go to Precision Delta (230gn FMJ for $130/1000, or $128/1000 if you order 6000)--a LOT cheaper than Hornady, Sierra, Remington, Winchester, and Speer. No reason NOT to stock up now if you have the money--prices will only be going up.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I cast my own.. free if you know where to get the lead scrap

 

[Throckmorton]

'leading' in a barrle is much ado about nothing inmost cases.I've shot thousands of cast bullets in my sixshooters at 45acp veolities and the barrels clean up quite nicely..when I feel they need it.usually just a quick brush between matches unles I"m gonna be idle for a while. the price ur looking at is not bad,but do look at Badman Bullets.I shoot with te owners,and they are folks to ride the river with.they'll treat u right.

 

[IheartGUNS]

I cast my own.. free if you know where to get the lead scrap

Question, is there different types of lead? Like for instance, wheel weights, fishing weights, lead from a car battery etc...etc...all can be used for bullets?

 

[deadshot2]

Question, is there different types of lead? Like for instance, wheel weights, fishing weights, lead from a car battery etc...etc...all can be used for bullets?

There are almost too many types of "lead" to list. Bullet lead is not usually pure lead unless it's inside a jacket. It's mixed with other metals in order to harden it so it will hold it's shape better. Most common are Tin, Zink, and Antimony. Wheel weights used to be a good inexpensive source of casting lead as they didn't require much "mixing". Linotype metal, the stuff used to set up printing plates, was also great. Today wheel weights are No Lead, Linotype machines have become history and plumber's lead is almost extinct.

Get yourself a book on casting bullets and learn what readilly available metals make good bullets and how to "alloy them". For hardness testing, Lee makes a good Brinnel hardness tester for not a lot of money.

DO NOT MELT CAR BATTERIES for casting lead. If you don't eat out your own lungs, you will do so to all the other living beings within the "fog zone". Car batteries are filled with sulphuric acid and it's also absorbed in the spongy metal plates. You can't drain them enough to remove it. In past days "hillbillys" used to put a bunch of batteries in an old cast bathtub and build a fire in the tub. The cases would melt and burn, melting the lead, and the molten metal would drain out the bottom hole of the tub. The ones that lived a long time lit the fire and then retreated far away until the fire went out. Those that stuck around to watch usually died young. The fumes would often kill everything within hundreds of feet around the tub.

If you expect to cast a lot of bullets and haven't been saving wheel weights and plumbers lead for years, look to buy some casting metal online, either from other shooters or metal supply companies. There's one in the San Francisco Bay area that will sell good bullet alloy "pigs" and ship them free. They're pretty big so you'll have to saw pieces off in order to get them into your melting pot.

 

[Jacurso]

I cast my own.. free if you know where to get the lead scrap

Yep...me too...been casting my own for over 30 years......I have a lifetime supply of lead....

I use to load .38s and 9mms for 85 cents a box...now they cost me about a $1.50.....I stocked up on supplies in '06-'07 before they started to gouge us!

 

[deadshot2]

Yep...me too...been casting my own for over 30 years......I have a lifetime supply of lead....

I use to load .38s and 9mms for 85 cents a box...now they cost me about a $1.50.....I stocked up on supplies in '06-'07 before they started to gouge us!

Good thing you stocked up. Just the primers alone for a box of 50 cartridges will cost a guy $1.50 today, especially if you buy US made. Even if you use the "Russian Primers" that won't leave much for powder.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Question, is there different types of lead? Like for instance, wheel weights, fishing weights, lead from a car battery etc...etc...all can be used for bullets?

Yes, except for batteries, as dead said the lead there is toxic and produces very nasty vapors.. you simply need to do a little research and join a good reloading forum

 

[Jacurso]

I've never used Russian primers.

I use WW or Federal...I prefer Federal. I do not like CCI. The last primers I purchased were $15.50 per 1000 for WW. I still have many Federal and WW that I bought for $12.50 per 1000.

My cast bullets work out to about 10 cents per 100.

 

[Jacurso]

I was fortunate enough to know a guy from a company that switched from lead wrap, to plastic shrink wrap, for bundling their high tensions wires. Currently, I have about 200 lbs. of lead from that, wheel weights and linotype. At my age, it will last me the rest of my life.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I got a bunch of that old telephone cable sheathing myself, free long ago

A buddy of mine and I cut the sheathing off with an air shear and he took the copper wire for scrap, I got the lead

 

[deadshot2]

I've never used Russian primers.

I use WW or Federal...I prefer Federal. I do not like CCI. The last primers I purchased were $15.50 per 1000 for WW. I still have many Federal and WW that I bought for $12.50 per 1000.

My cast bullets work out to about 10 cents per 100.

When you shoot those up you're in for a real shock. For nostalgia sake I held on to a Remington primer tray I bought back in the late 70's or early 80's. Had a price tag of $0.97 and that was for a single tray. Box prices were about 20% less. Today, the Russian primers are the only ones that seem to be available for less than $20/Box.

 

[Jacurso]

'leading' in a barrle is much ado about nothing inmost cases.I've shot thousands of cast bullets in my sixshooters at 45acp veolities and the barrels clean up quite nicely..when I feel they need it.usually just a quick brush between matches unles I"m gonna be idle for a while. the price ur looking at is not bad,but do look at Badman Bullets.I shoot with te owners,and they are folks to ride the river with.they'll treat u right.

I think the lead actually laps the barrel and is good for it!

 

[Jacurso]

I got a bunch of that old telephone cable sheathing myself, free long ago

A buddy of mine and I cut the sheathing off with an air shear and he took the copper wire for scrap, I got the lead

I tell my kids that I was recycling before it became fashionable....

 

[Jacurso]

When you shoot those up you're in for a real shock. For nostalgia sake I held on to a Remington primer tray I bought back in the late 70's or early 80's. Had a price tag of $0.97 and that was for a single tray. Box prices were about 20% less. Today, the Russian primers are the only ones that seem to be available for less than $20/Box.

Being an instructor, I keep up with gun, ammo and component prices....almost daily. So no shock....but I have so many thousand, I really don't expect to be buying any more. BiMart had a sale about a month ago and I think the WW were $2.89 per 100.
When I was new at reloading('79-'80)I use to buy CCI from BiMart on sale for .69 cents per 100. Then I started having ignition issues on occasion during a match and an old salt told me to switch to Federal and I never had a problem since. The WW do ok too. He told me that the CCI had a harder surface, the Federal was the softest and the WW were in between. I never did any sicentific test on them other than the shooting....and when the gun goes off properly and I can hit the X-10 on a silhouette target....at 50 yards and closer.....I'm happy.:winkkiss:

 

[deadshot2]

I think the lead actually laps the barrel and is good for it!

The only thing that "laps" a barrel is something harder than the barrel metal. It's usually the abrasive crap that can accumulate on lead if your handling practices are careless. Lead just builds up in the bore and can cause extreme pressure issues.

That said, "laps" that are made for finishing a barrel are made of lead and then just coated with varying sizes of abrasive, working down to a polish "grit".

 

[humdrum]

I think the lead actually laps the barrel and is good for it!

I agree. Shooting hardcast lead is a bit different than other"softer" (for lack of a better term) lead, as it seems to lube the tube and actually makes it easier to clean in my opinion. Hardcast can be pushed a little faster as well.