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I've been reloading for my rifles and my 357 for 30 years but have only used jacketed bullets. I recently picked up a 44 MAG Blackhawk and would like to reload the less expensive lead bullets for it. I'm going to use the Hornady 240gr SWC lead bullets. My question is: is there anything I must do differently with these lead bullets vs using jacketed bullets? Only thing I can find in the various reloading manuals is the comment that leading will likely occur when using lead vs jacketed bullets. Thanks. NRA Life Member | ||
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The bullets you bought are swaged and therefore very soft. I would be sure to keep the velocity below 900 fps or so. If you want to launch lead faster then you need to move to a harder cast rather than swaged bullet. Montana Bullet Works offers very fine cast bullets and they allow you to specify diameter as well as hardness for a number of bullets. | |||
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Yes. It is convention to spell 'boolit' when referring to those made from lead. It should be obvious but you need to use lead boolit data, not jacketed even though they're the same weight. Since lead boolits will be larger in diameter than jacketed, you'll need to bell the case mouth a bit to get them seated. Check your seater die periodically to make sure the lube has not built up causing each successive boolit to seat deaper than you intended. Lead boolits need to be crimped in a cannelure; neck tension usually isn't enough. They will tend to unseat themselves from the recoil of a revolver. If they pull out far enough they will keep the cylinder from rotating. Also obvious, lead is toxic. Don't be licking your fingers after handling them. | |||
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Go to the Beartooth bullets website and READ what's there, then read it again. Cast boolits are a different breed of cat. If you have further questions, go to the montana bullet works website or call Beartooth and ask for Marshall Stanton. He'll be able to answer your questions And sell you boolits. | |||
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Thanks guys! I think maybe I'll just sell the box of 400 boolits and stick with the jacketed ones. NRA Life Member | |||
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Doggone man, don't let them scare you away. All I shoot in my .44 mags are my own home cast bullets. It's not all that different or complicated really. You already have to bell the necks for the jacketed bullets so no change there. Granted, the bullets you bought are softer than what is usual, but hat's a manufacturing thing. Less wear and tear on the swaging dies with pure or nearly pure lead. With commercial cast, most are more than hard enough. To insure the best accuracy you should slug your bore and the cylinder throats for compatability. Assuming your bore is .429" for example, the cylinder throats should be .429 or better yet .430" Bullets should be .430" to .431", at least that's what works for me. Bear with me. If your cylinder throats are .429" and your barrel .430", you will get lots and lots of leading. You'll have a .429" bullet rattling down a .430" bore. That, BTW will also affect accuracy with jacketed bullets. Maybe not as much but it will make a difference. Those soft commercial bullets will lead the barrel if pushed too hard. I would look at about 900 FPS as a top level for that type bullet. Other than that, basically it's load as usual. Once you do the above all you have to do is check the diameter of the bullets when you buy some and if they're not too small, load up up and shoot them up. I'm trying to find the reference, but Elmer Keith didn't shoot many jacketed bullets preferring his home cast bullets. It's in one of the older Lyman manuals where he say he shoots 5.0 gr. of Bullseye for practice and that the load shoots to the same point of impact as his full power serious shooting load. I still shoot his full powder load with his bullet and I've used his "practice' load as well. He was right, it did shoot to the same POI as the full power load. Don't give up on the lead bullets. Someday, you never know you just might have to make your own because Big Brother won't let you buy any. You might even want to learn to cast your own A whole new ball game that is addictive as hell. I started to feed a .38 Spl. I got when I was 16. I'm 72 Y.O. now. That's 56 years of shooting lead in handguns and rifles. I probably shoot 100 or more cast bullets in my firearms for every single jacketed load and no jacketed at all in my handguns. None. Nada. Leading is easily taken care of with a stiff brush and some Chore Boy scouring pads. Wrap a bit of the pad around a tight brush and in a couple of minutes of scrubbing the lead is gone. You have to clean your guns anyway so it's just one more step. Paul B. | |||
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Great advice and stick with those lead slugs. The really is no mystery to loading them. I'm loading lead (Lazer Cast) bullets that are probably harder than those you are using in .44 Mag., .40 S&W, .38 Special,.45-70, and .45 Colt or aka .45 Mag all with lead bullets and have been doing so for many years. Velocities in some calibers have been above 1100 fps with some slight leading. The leading problem is not that serious and easily cleaned out. After many rounds down the tube most barrels will lead less. Good luck and try those Lazer Cast from Oregon if you wish. | |||
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You all are missing the point. He bought Hornady swaged lead bullets. They are soft and cannot be loaded as we do with harder cast bullets. Even Hornady's manual limits loads to <1000 fps with sadi bullet. | |||
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All you need do is slather on some Lee liquid Alox with your fingers or dip them(messy) and you'll bee OK. Follow the advice on Beartooth, Cast Boolits, or just about any cast bullet reloading forum. I've been blowing off cast lead AND swaged lead(my own and factory brands) bullets for 50 odd years in pistols rifle AND shotguns...I still get leading sometimes and when I do, I just add a little more Alox. The way people talk about leading you'd think it was the pox, and ex-wife or something as bad...leading DOES clean up and not much harder than getting the copper out. Just study up on how it's done and remember there's a whole lot of BS on the net...just cut through the krap and have fun. There's a lot to learn about lead casting, but all the info is out there and believe what Paul said about "someday"... Luck | |||
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I'm exactly on point. See below for the info you missed; read sloooowwwwer next time!!!!! I'm loading lead (Lazer Cast) bullets that are probably harder than those you are using | |||
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shootit--Hard to believe after 30 years you havent switched to cast bullets and make your own a long time ago. You mentioned what you have read about it. Read what Lyman Manuals have to say---they make casting equipment and what they had to say is what prompted me to start casting in 1967. Sure you might get some leading--drive your car on the street and you could get some mud on it--neither a big deal. | |||
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boolits is used on one forum and most everyplace else it is viewed like someone having a sign that says backhole work when they mean backhoe. Would you want a bumper stcker that says boolit and 99.99% not familar with it thinking you are ignorant? | |||
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It's about all my revovlers see anymore is lead bullets. Cheaper to shoot & just as accurate. Does less damage to the forcing cone & top strap w/ full power loads. Not much leading if loaded correctly. Soft swaged, like the Hoenady & Speer, are best shot at lower vel, under 1000fps. If your cyl throats are too small or too large, lead bulelts may give you some leading &/or accuracy issues, but easily overcome w/ proper bullet size or opening the throats a bit. LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT! | |||
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boolits...that is enough to drive a man to beat his exwife. | |||
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Leading isn't an issue; a bit of cleaning will take care of that. I was concerned about having any different steps like having to lube the bullets first or having to put gas checks on the bases. Since I have neither, I didn't want to purchase if not necessary. I've never loaded lead before because I never shot much. I recently retired and am looking forward to having more time to shoot. If this works out with the 44, I'm sure I'll also start using lead in the 357. Thanks for the input so far! Sure gives me some more references to read on cast "boolits". NRA Life Member | |||
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Just load up to 900 fps shoot them up they make great paractice loads. Easy on you easy on the gun. If you want to get into the higher vel just buy some harder bullets. I have loaded shot and casted 10s of thousands of lead bullets. They are just as easy to load and used as jacketed bullets. | |||
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There are all kinds of reasons for Leading: 1. Too Fast. 2. Too Slow. 3. Wrong Burn Rate Powder. 4. Wrong Lube for the Velocity. 5. Wrong Diameter. 6. Chamber is not a good match with the Bore. 7. Blow-By. 8. Skidding. 9. Alloy too Soft. 10. Alloy too Hard. 11. Lube grooves too small. 12. Lube grooves too large. 13. Lube grooves in the wrong place. And on and on. But..., even with all that, shooting them is well worth the effort. Most of those issues never occur today. And a barrel can last over 100,000 shots with Lead. | |||
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Recently retired? Then you're a prime candidate for casting your own boolits from, for instance, wheelweights. Then, weld yourself a bullet trap to recycle that lead scrap over and over. Cast, shoot, recast...what a hobby!  | |||
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I'd beat my exwife for a lot less than that.  Even my spell checker wants to replace Obama, it just doesn't have any suggestions. jerry.baldwin06@comcast.net | |||
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onefunzr2, That bullet trap you posted a picture of looks interesting. Can you post more details/specs on it? Will it handle .44 mag bullets? 99% of the pistol bullets that I shoot are lead. Most I cast myself, but occasionally I'll trade for or be given quantities of other lead bullets. I've shot lead bullets in all of my pistols and some of my rifles (including my .375 RUM) since the early '70s. I've never had a problem or other issue from shooting lead bullets. NRA Endowment Life Member | |||
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Shootit--Many will disagree with me on this---but Ive ALMOST came to the conclusion that gas checks are useleess--no purpose. Why do I say that? I have some molds that are gas check design --this would be .22 cal and 6mm and I have shot them both checked and without the check and saw no difference in accuracy nor leading. Many will try to make casting bullets to be rocket science. It aint. Get a small cast iron pot and a heat source you can take outside--Coleman stove works fine and if you don't have one they go pretty cheap at garage sales. Melt down some wheel weights (many call this smelting--it aint--it's remelting--smelting is separating lead from ore) You do it outside as all the grease,dog pee etc on the wheel weights will make smoke. Skim off the clips, flux it , and pour it into an ingot mold. The ingots are now ready for your casting pot--I like electric pots and cast indoors (not in living room--but garage or my workshop area). With the clean ingots not a whole lot of smoke. Pour the molten lead into bullet mold. You can use ladle or bottom pour furnace--I prefer bottom pour. Then size and lube. I use the RCBS but there are other methods. Before you do all that--get a LYMAN Manual and do some reading. Cost a little to get started. Some folks buy wheel weights. I've been lucky and have always managed to get them free and still can. | |||
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Nice thing about 44 mag and all the big bore pistols is that they really come into their own with cast bullets. A nice 200 gr bullet at 800-900 fps and you can start to really shoot the gun well and often. | |||
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I got the inspiration from Savage Snailtraps. The top and bottom funnel plates are ASTM A516-70 pressure vessel steel, .375" thick. The circular portion is the same grade of pipe .750" thick walls, cut in half. Side plates are AISI 1050, 3/16" thickness. Steel grades are not set in stone...they're just what I picked up at a scrapyard for 25 cents/pound. Stopping a 44 mag is child's play. My most powerful handgun cartridge is the +P 45 Colt...doesn't even phase it. I once, on a whim, fired a few 230gr 375 H&H bullets into it from 25 yards. That dented the upper funnel plate slightly. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again but wouldn't make a habit of it. If I did, I'd weld on another thickness of metal. | |||
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I read the post fully, "probably"? | |||
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I fully agree on the gas checks except for my big bores, the 475 and 500 Linebaugh. They almost always shoot better with GC's for some reason. | |||
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Can't speak for anyone other than my self on gas checks . I use them on occasion with lead .429 .430 bullets in my Ruger Red hawk and Model 29 Smith and they allow faster loads with reduced leading . Serious hunting or other purposes I use jacketed ammo . I don't remember who manufactured these cast bullets Bartlett Bullets ? Red lube ring ,240 SWC price is still on the box but label is toast . $32.95 a K , an I purchased 3 boxes . More than likely for additional savings knowing ME !.Never checked Brinell as they seemed to work well enough .   | |||
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Ditto. I've mostly used cast bullets in my Mod. 29/6" and RBH .357/6" for over fourty years. My hard cast stuff holds up to full power loads with great accuracy and little to no leading. BUT, they are hard, they are sized correctly and they are lubed with the NRA Alox/Beeswax mixture. I quit useing gas checks long ago for anything but rifle loads in excess of 1600 fps. Anything up to 1500 does as well without checks in my handguns and that's as fast as I care to shoot a 158 gr. .357 or 250 gr .429 SWC! The softer swaged bullets would serve great for what they are meant for, low to mid range practice loads. | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Reloading Question on lead bullets for 44 Mag
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