Bullet Casting & Coating MegaThread

Jay77 said:
I checked the other 9mm I brought with me and it has the same lead ring at the throat. This is the mold I’m using with a light charge of silhouette and these were sized at both .356 and .357 (different batches)

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Look it up on CastBoolits. Common issue with 1911s. No throat. Shaves off a lead ring on the sharp “throat” usually a gentle reaming relieved all issue.
 
Jay77 said:
Thanks. Would changing the bullet itself be a solution? I have a bunch of Lees I could test out in different barrels. I’ll have to look into reaming them.
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I don’t think it will. You’ll always have some part of the bullet that’s full diameter and that non existent leade will shave off a ring instead of sizing it down like a proper throat.

Do you have a bore scope to look in there a bit better?
 
I need to buy a borescope for sure. I’m going to check out the 9mm barrels I have and see if I have one that is more rounded and see if I can recreate it. No shortage of 9 mm barrels and I suspect this is the cause of me leading issues. Oddly inside the barrel there is not much leading… just the ring and a small splash on the crown and it cleans up easy.
 
Jay77 said:
I got a good picture of what I think is causing my lead issues in the 9mm and leaving little lead rings around. It explains why after about 30 rounds the gun starts having chambering issues…..


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Can you chamber cast and check if there are any weird dimensions in there?
It’s hard to tell if it’s the throat or not really.
You’re not having any shaving during seating and crimping right?
 
Jay77 said:
Being an iPhone guy I’ve been looking at the Teslong iPhone version but the reviews say the software is iffy.

Amazon product ASIN B081T1DN1PView: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081T1DN1P?ref=emc_b_5_mob_t


Teslong NTH100H
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I have yet to get any bore scope to work with any of my phones.
Teslon took the last one back with out hesitation.
Im not sure how they are supposed to work but I just plug mine into my PC and it works?
I gave one to Mountain thats supposed to work with android phones. It did not with mine?
 
Jay77 said:
@pastera I might need to pick your brain about PID controllers at some point. I was baking a batch last night after I enclosed my oven in an insulated cabinet. Basically I wrapped the side and the back with some insulation to keep the temps more stable since it exposed to wind. I’m a glutton for punishment or maybe just stubborn but I was baking a batch of tru blue coated 45’s and the oven cut out. I still have power to the oven because I can hear the convention fan running but no power to the PID. I’m going to rip it apart at some point but I’m using an ink bird PID and I didn’t know if you would recommend one brand over the other if I need to replace.
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Probably popped the safety fuse in the oven with the insulation
 
IMG_9493.jpeg

I opened her up and the 15a fuse held. The power line into the PID looks like it cooked around my wire connector. I tested the power coming out of the relay and everything looked good minus the PID. For $25 bucks I swap it out. I just wish I had my latest settings. I was using p-25 I-26 d-6. I actually ended up blowing the fuse after the fact when I was tinkering.
 
Sorry guys a couple of updates. Swapped out my PID and the oven is back up and running. I have to tune it again but I have enough 45’s I can mess up and lube after the fact.

My 9mm ring of lead issue seems to have gone away with the slightly shorter COAL and tighter crimp. I need to load more up and do additional testing. Jan is my busy month at work…..
 
I took the same bullets from the 359 mold and loaded some hot .357’s. Hollow point with the penta pins that weighed about 130gr sized to .358 with 9.0gr of True Blue…. Zero lead. I’m starting to think cast in 9mm is my Achilles heal and I should give up….. no I’m stubborn. The kid loves the hot loads
 
Jay77 said:
I took the same bullets from the 359 mold and loaded some hot .357’s. Hollow point with the penta pins that weighed about 130gr sized to .358 with 9.0gr of True Blue…. Zero lead. I’m starting to think cast in 9mm is my Achilles heal and I should give up….. no I’m stubborn. The kid loves the hot loads
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Cast 9 is a different animal. Try a custom expander. There is a sticky on CB forum about cast in a 9. Also the hi-tek coating thread is a great resource over there
 
Jay77 said:
I took the same bullets from the 359 mold and loaded some hot .357’s. Hollow point with the penta pins that weighed about 130gr sized to .358 with 9.0gr of True Blue…. Zero lead. I’m starting to think cast in 9mm is my Achilles heal and I should give up….. no I’m stubborn. The kid loves the hot loads
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Slow down the powder and try again - My best results in 9mm are autocomp, CFE pistol and Silhouette which are clustered way down the chart from True blue.
 
38ExtraSpecial said:
Cast 9 is a different animal. Try a custom expander. There is a sticky on CB forum about cast in a 9. Also the hi-tek coating thread is a great resource over there
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Isn't this mostly due to different barrel sizes? I'm about to try .358 in my 92FS since it is a .357 barrel. Obviously, the 356 and 357 produced some leading.

I'm going to go with the 38/357 expander to open it up a bit and then seat them.

The Hi Tek thread on CB is 740 pages long....and their search function is a mystery to me :)
 
ddeck said:
Isn't this mostly due to different barrel sizes? I'm about to try .358 in my 92FS since it is a .357 barrel. Obviously, the 356 and 357 produced some leading.

I'm going to go with the 38/357 expander to open it up a bit and then seat them.

The Hi Tek thread on CB is 740 pages long....and their search function is a mystery to me :)
Click to expand...
Hahahaha. Yeah their search is worse than ours.

Due to
higher pressure than some handgun cartridges
Higher than normal neck tension
Tapered case
Some guns with tight chambers that don’t like to allow proper diameter bullets.
 
38ExtraSpecial said:
3.1 grains of clays and that bullet work wonders for me.
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Cool I have some Clays I’ll give a whirl. I was using 4.5gr of Silhouette as a starting point but was getting some leading.
ddeck said:
Isn't this mostly due to different barrel sizes? I'm about to try .358 in my 92FS since it is a .357 barrel. Obviously, the 356 and 357 produced some leading.

I'm going to go with the 38/357 expander to open it up a bit and then seat them.

The Hi Tek thread on CB is 740 pages long....and their search function is a mystery to me :)
Click to expand...
Are you going to try it with the Dillion 38/357 powder/expander? I could give that a whirl also.
 
Jay77 said:
Cool I have some Clays I’ll give a whirl. I was using 4.5gr of Silhouette as a starting point but was getting some leading.

Are you going to try it with the Dillion 38/357 powder/expander? I could give that a whirl also.
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I'm a pov. I have the Hornady LnL. They make a 38/357 expander (at .358) in their case activated powder drop which is what I will use.

I'm just waiting for a .358 sizing die to arrive so I can make some .358 bullets.

In the meantime, I can shoot 50 rounds of the .356 or .357 and not have an issue. I just come home and run a bronze brush through the bore and it's clean.
 
ddeck said:
Isn't this mostly due to different barrel sizes? I'm about to try .358 in my 92FS since it is a .357 barrel. Obviously, the 356 and 357 produced some leading.

I'm going to go with the 38/357 expander to open it up a bit and then seat them.

The Hi Tek thread on CB is 740 pages long....and their search function is a mystery to me :)
Click to expand...
Hitek is pretty simple - follow the directions, mix clean acetone and apply very thin coats.
Fit is #1 but if there is little taper into the lands then fast powder can slam the bullet into the rifling striping lead even with proper fit and coating
 
So I pulled and measured a loaded round and below the lube groove it was coming in around .352 so it’s compressed a bit and I’ll have to looking into a custom expander. But the oven is back up and running and I’m coating away…. Going to top off the .357 can.
 
Jay77 said:
So I pulled and measured a loaded round and below the lube groove it was coming in around .352 so it’s compressed a bit and I’ll have to looking into a custom expander. But the oven is back up and running and I’m coating away…. Going to top off the .357 can.
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What alloy? I’ve found if I use COWW and water drop them, allowing a week or two to harden that they don’t deform under the neck tension. It’s an easy way to try it before you buy the expander.
 
Another idea was to try a smaller bullet. I have sitting on my desk from a previous class a little bean that @pastera coated for a 380. I just got done coating 12 pounds for the 357. What if I snag a batch I already did up, throw them in the oven at 400 for 12 mins and water drop them and wait a week or two to harden. Its not going to be a show stopper if I can’t get nines to work.
 
Jay77 said:
Another idea was to try a smaller bullet. I have sitting on my desk from a previous class a little bean that @pastera coated for a 380. I just got done coating 12 pounds for the 357. What if I snag a batch I already did up, throw them in the oven at 400 for 12 mins and water drop them and wait a week or two to harden. Its not going to be a show stopper if I can’t get nines to work.
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You can do the bake and water drop. It should be just fine.
 
Jay77 said:
So I pulled and measured a loaded round and below the lube groove it was coming in around .352 so it’s compressed a bit and I’ll have to looking into a custom expander. But the oven is back up and running and I’m coating away…. Going to top off the .357 can.
Click to expand...
What are you running for an expander?
Also how are you crimping - that can also swage a bullet down.
 
I’m running the default Dillon powder expander die that comes with the 9mm Dillon die set. Like the guys were saying on the other forum it mic’s out to .352. I was going to try what @38ExtraSpecial suggested to see if I could get that to work. This is more for the fun of tinkering than anything. I definitely found some swaging due to the taper. At the base it was .352-.353 but as I approach the crimp area it mic’s about .356ish so a little bit. I can definitely see the taper in the measurements.

My tinkering = more daily trips to the range for load testing.
 
Jay77 said:
I’m running the default Dillon powder expander die that comes with the 9mm Dillon die set. Like the guys were saying on the other forum it mic’s out to .352. I was going to try what @38ExtraSpecial suggested to see if I could get that to work. This is more for the fun of tinkering than anything. I definitely found some swaging due to the taper. At the base it was .352-.353 but as I approach the crimp area it mic’s about .356ish so a little bit. I can definitely see the taper in the measurements.

My tinkering = more daily trips to the range for load testing.
Click to expand...
If you're interested, I can cut a 0.356 dillon expander
Only issue is that my data for the length is wrong (too short) so I need to get a better number on that
 

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