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I have the Lyman 3rd Cast Bullet manual, but other than the loading data it seems to be geared towards casting your own bullets. I have some general questions that I don't really see answered in the book. When do you use a gas check? Why do you lube a cast bullet? When do you have to lube the cast bullet? Thanks in advance Wes ---- Towards danger; but not too rashly, nor too straight | ||
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"Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force." --Thomas Jefferson | |||
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I am not casting my own bullets, just wanting to shoot the ones I have bought currently. These Speer Idaho 400gr cast bullets don't have any lub on them, but these Meister 300gr ones have ring of lube in the lower ring/cannelure(not sure what you call them in a cast bullet). So my question was mostly do you have to lube a bullet and when do you know when you should or shouldn't lube it. Wes ---- Towards danger; but not too rashly, nor too straight | |||
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When do you use a gas check? This is actually a tough question to answer, because it's one of those that is best answered, it depends. You might here people say pistols need gas checks when bullets are driven faster than X fps, and rifles need them when bullets are pushed faster than Y fps, but that will only hold for a paticular gun, bullet, alloy and lube. The purpose of the gas check is to prevent leading. The reson for the it depends answer is that leading can be caused by many factors. There is no downside to gas checks other then cost. If you're looking to push bullets to maximum velocity, then gas checks are a good idea. If you're loading for a magnum revolver, at 1300 fps and higher gas checks are a good idea, though not always needed. For rifles, beyond 1800 fps it's a good idea to use gas checks, though they aren't always needed. Why do you lube a cast bullet? The lube prevents the bullet from leading the barrel. Cast bullets should always be lubed. When do you have to lube the cast bullet? After a bullet is cast, it is run through a lube sizer, this both sizes the bullet down slightly, as they come out of the mold slightly oversize, and the lube is added to the lube groove(s) If you buy commercial cast bullets, they should already be lubed. I don't care for the lube most commercial casters use, as it tends to be very hard, and not paticulary effective. They choose a hard lube because it stays on the bullet during shipment. You can use Lee tumble lube to add lube to a commercial cast bullet. The lee lube doesn't require a lube sizer to apply, and I've found it to be a good lube. __________________________________________________ The AR series of rounds, ridding the world of 7mm rem mags, one gun at a time. | |||
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Wes I'll guess that the Speer bullets have some sort of coating/lube all over the bullet. Something similar to the waxy coating on 22 rim fire bullets. The Meister bullets are lubed in a more traditional manner. I'll bet the Speer bullets are intended for lower velocity loads, those that are more in keeping with the Cowboy shooting sport. The Meister bullets should hold up pretty well for more enthusiastic loads. My problem with most commercial cast bullets is the bullets are sized too small, .457 or .458. Jim "Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force." --Thomas Jefferson | |||
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