Guys,

I need your opinion.

I have had a couple of guys telling me that its not a good idea to shoot cast (lead) bullets in my 500 Jeff as this will bugger up the barrel?

If it is true Why ???

I want to shoot cast bullets for practise and plicking and maybe use them on a couple of plains game animals after I did a water boarding tests.

Thanks,

How in the world could properly sized and lubed and gas checked cast bullets bugger up a barrel? Lead fouling?

Do it right and there will be no worries.

Shoot plain-base bullets at too fast a velocity and don't lube the bullets and you will get lead fouling. Even that would be easily removed with proper cleaning.

I have an NEI mould for 680-grain FN-gas-checked, partially SHark-gilled .511"
bullets. that will see use in the 500 Mbogo at somewhere between 1400 fps and 2200 fps. The 500 Jeffery could do the same.

Glad to hear you will be adding to waterboarding data. It is a medium that should be consistent worldwide: plywood and water.

Brad's 570-grain .511" gas-checked mould would be an excellent plinker.

It would, of course, be best to clean the rifle when switching bullet types, from jacketed to lead or vice versa.

Rip is right on the money. Keep the velocity reasonable. Use the correct Gas Checks and lube and clean your barrel. I will post my mould once Steve gets er done. We are looking for the correct Gas Checks since the Hornady's are not going to work.

Brad

In recent years, I shoot cast practice bullets in 9,3x62, 9.3x74R, .375 H&H, .416 Aagaard, .416 Rigby, .458 AR, and .470 NE. All are gas checked. I use a very, very good lube (LAR45's Carnauba Red).

I clean the same day after shooting. Usually takes 3-4 patches (on both sides). Have noted no barrel damage or loss of accuracy.

Have shot cast bullets in handguns for decades. No damage. No loss of accuracy. Barrels last longer with cast bullets than they do with jacketed bullets.

Jakkals, I can't imagine where such a tale comes from. Certainly does not square with my experience.

Hard cast bullets can be shot to near full speed with gas checks. I have dug .375 H&H cast 300 gr bullets out of the off side of a oak tree that were in good enough shape to be loaded and shot again ,just rifling marks and shiny on the nose. They were cast from wheel weight alloy. There is a whole world out there in cast bullets. You can even cast a bullet with a soft nose that will expand while the bodey is hard to resist leading.
Hear are a couple of links to give you more info.

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/

http://www.lbtmoulds.com/

Bill

quote:

Originally posted by Brad aka Pill Shooter:
Rip is right on the money. Keep the velocity reasonable. Use the correct Gas Checks and lube and clean your barrel. I will post my mould once Steve gets er done. We are looking for the correct Gas Checks since the Hornady's are not going to work.

Brad

Shucks, I was hoping the Hornady gas checks would work.

Are they made for .500 pistol bullets and too small for .510?

I guess if they were big enough for .510 then the mould could have been made to fit?

Thanks Guys,

I had the same idea I just needed you guys to confirm it for me.

I will keep you updated as I go a long.

Just a pitty I can not bring my 500 Jeff to Dubai to plink here

RIP

Steve told me exactly that. He took a look at the Hornady Gas Checks and said they are good for the 500 S&W but not for the .511 Jeffery. Hopefully he will find me a source of them so I can still keep the cost reasonable.

Thanks

Brad

Gentlemen,
Thought I'd add a comment or two. I've been shooting hardcast gaschecked WW bullets in my 425 WR with good results also. The bullet is from a NEI mould and weighs 420 Gr, hardened straight from the mould into cold water. Gas checks are 45 cal, annealed, then swaged to fit using a homemade punch and die. Sizing and seating the Gc is done thru a Lee sizing die, .435 dia. 60 Gr of Varget gives me an average 2085 fps with no leading and excellent accuracy. In the works is a cast WW bullet, heat treated such that the nose remains fairly soft and the driving bands back are hardened. Should work similar to cast bullets using two alloys, pure lead at the nose and WW at the base, but at the higher velocity I'm getting with the Varget load.
Bottom line, as everyone above seems to agree, at the velocities we're working with cast bullets can probably do just about everything we want except possibly replacing a good solid, and I wouldn't bet the farm on that either.
Best.

What about Cast Performance Bullets? Has anyone used them in their 500 Jeffery?

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewP...uctNumber=1988649301

Chuck

Hey Gang. It looks like my 500 Jeffery RSM will finally be done very soon. I will give you all an update once I get it. He is a photo of my cast lead bullet.Aprox 605 grains. This is an old photo without gas check. Found the checks. The other is a 570grn Woodleigh.

Very cool, I've ordered 100 Cast Performance 525g .511 caliber bullets and 4 lbs of Accurate 5744 (actually found powder!).

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewP...uctNumber=1988649301

I'm sure casting them is a lot cheaper, but my wife would have me sleeping outside if I even suggested it lol

Chuck

I shoot cast bullets out of everything that I got including my 470 NE,never a problem,cheap to load & fun on piggies!
just make sure that you clean the barrel well when you switch from lead to copper or the other way around.