Ok, I just received my order from Beartooth bullets and I am anxious to shoot them.

I reload but never cast bullets. Do I need any other special items to load them? Load like I was loading my usual copper plated bullets?

Any advice would be appreciated. I am looking forward to shooting my 416 rem and 375 ruger and H&H more and less expensively and with a fun amount of recoil.

Thanks

Get a copy of Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook, you'll find it very informative.

http://www.amazon.com/Lyman-Ca...cast+bullet+handbook

start with the basics and work up....

loading cast bullets is a bit "diffrent"....need to pay attention to fit of the bullet to the throat, know what the hardness of your cast bullet is and work up accordingly
bell your case mouths before loading

Also see if the base of your bullet hangs below the case neck...if it does you may not be able to go in to the higher velocity bracket

i load for both my 416 and 375 Ruger...here are a few of my loads

416 RUGER NOSE RIDING BULLETS

400 GN LBT BULLET 30 GNS OF H4227...OF A VEL OF 1500 FPS

400 GN LBT 45 GNS OF 4895 FOR A VEL OF 1750 FPS

400 GN LBT 70 GNS OF VARGET FOR A VEL OF 2150



375 RUGER FULL DIAM BULLETS

300 GN CAST 25 GNS H4227 FOR A VEL OF 1500 FPS

Daniel

So do I need some tool to "bell" (open) the case mouth more?

Both Lyman and Lee make neck expanding dies for loading cast bullets in rifle cartridges

http://www.lymanproducts.com/l...RifleNeckExpDies.php

http://leeprecision.com/univer...e-expanding-die.html

quote:

Originally posted by slim buttes:
So do I need some tool to "bell" (open) the case mouth more?

Yes the case mouth flaring die is just a die body with a screw up or down spigot which fits the case mouth after sizing in a normal Fl die and has a slight flare at the top. Set this up in you press so at the top of the stroke the mouth of the case is given a very slight flare. This allows a cast bullet to be seated without shaving lead or lube.

Chamfering the case mouth as we do for jacketed bullets is not enough for cast, the mouth must be flared.

The flare is usually ironed out in the seating die. You can also set up the sizing die to crimp but this is usually not necessary as it is usual practice to size cast bullets to about .001" over the bore size for best performance so they have good neck tension in the case anyway.

I have adapted a 45ACP flaring die to flare my .404 Jeffery cases ready for seating cast bullets by turning down the spigot to fit in the sized neck and then setting the die up so when the case shoulder stops on the short die mouth the case mouth is flared just enough to seat bullets. The 404 seating die then irons out the flare perfectly when the bullet is seated.

If you can't get flaring dies specifically for your cartridges you could adapt 44 or 41 Magnum ones to do the job as I have had to do.

Start the bullets into the case by hand then run them into the seating die. That way they'll be straight and won't catch on the rim of the case.

Thank you for all your help. have an expander die set on order from midway and can't wait to start shooting. I will keep you informed of my experience.

thanks again your help in highly appreciated