Bullet Casting & Coating MegaThread

Rushing never works.

I cast some 9mm a few days ago. Then I rushed to coat them.
First coat passed wipe and smash. Second coat I didn’t dry long enough. So when I baked them of course the second coat flaked off.
So they’re now unless. Only 3 pounds worth but I wanted to test out 20:1 for hollow points and now it’s not gonna happen.

Ah well I have some HST and V Crowns to try out.
 
38ExtraSpecial said:
Rushing never works.

I cast some 9mm a few days ago. Then I rushed to coat them.
First coat passed wipe and smash. Second coat I didn’t dry long enough. So when I baked them of course the second coat flaked off.
So they’re now unless. Only 3 pounds worth but I wanted to test out 20:1 for hollow points and now it’s not gonna happen.

Ah well I have some HST and V Crowns to try out.
Click to expand...
Any reason your using 20:1 alloy for coated bullets?
Seems like a waste of tin?
Unless of course your using a mold profile that the tin helps fill out better.
 
mac1911 said:
Any reason your using 20:1 alloy for coated bullets?
Seems like a waste of tin?
Unless of course your using a mold profile that the tin helps fill out better.
Click to expand...
For the hollow point expansion. I wanted something easy to reproduce. COWW and range lead and stick ons etc all mixed up can vary from batch to batch. If this works well then I know I can replicate the same alloy very easily.
 
38ExtraSpecial said:
For the hollow point expansion. I wanted something easy to reproduce. COWW and range lead and stick ons etc all mixed up can vary from batch to batch. If this works well then I know I can replicate the same alloy very easily.
Click to expand...
depending on the type of hollow point mold the added tin will help with proper fill out.
I think elmer Kieth 16:1 was the holly grail ….but he also was pushing lead to extremes
 
mac1911 said:
depending on the type of hollow point mold the added tin will help with proper fill out.
I think elmer Kieth 16:1 was the holly grail ….but he also was pushing lead to extremes
Click to expand...
It’s one of the beautiful MP moulds so you can make sexy bullets with just about any alloy. They fill out so well.

I figured the 20:1 would give me some strength for gripping the rifling but not any brittleness that might shear off petals.

I guess I’ll find out next time when I slow down and do it right.
 
38ExtraSpecial said:
It’s one of the beautiful MP moulds so you can make sexy bullets with just about any alloy. They fill out so well.

I figured the 20:1 would give me some strength for gripping the rifling but not any brittleness that might shear off petals.

I guess I’ll find out next time when I slow down and do it right.
Click to expand...
Eh 20:1 is not very hard maybe 10 bhn

Only thing that helps “grip” is proper bullet size and Obturation

What do coated bullets do to the effects Obturation?

Run some and let us know
 
mac1911 said:
Eh 20:1 is not very hard maybe 10 bhn

Only thing that helps “grip” is proper bullet size and Obturation

What do coated bullets do to the effects Obturation?

Run some and let us know
Click to expand...
Yeah I’m looking more for the toughness to grab the rifling and not strip out like pure.

No effect on the expansion. I’ve made some beautiful HPs but the alloy was kind of a guess. Not really easy to reproduce compared to something like 20:1
That’s why all these casters prefer to buy their known alloy from a reputable source when it comes to getting something specific accomplished.

Plinking can be any alloy and most of it just works.


Here’s some of the same bullets. Some mix of soft alloy. I don’t remember what it was.
Factory HST on the left.


uuid=0E636041-E57F-461E-9C3C-E06DB521ACEC&library=1&type=1&mode=1&loc=false&cap=true.jpeg
 
240Geezer said:
Experimenting with a spray on graphite coating. See what happens. Hi tek is tedious at best for a process.
Click to expand...
Really? I find it pretty simple and well worth the results. Unless spray in graphite can do the same thing easier then it would be a no go for me.

If I want easy I just lube size. If I want no smoke and no lube in the nooks and crannies of my carry guns then I coat.
 
Jay77 said:
Have you ever tried running cast in 357 without magnum primers. I have all that enforcer coming I could give it a try with. I’ll do some google searching on it to see if it had issues with non magnum primers.
Click to expand...
I haven’t worked with enforcer but being a ball powder it might need it. I wonder if it’s spherical or flattened. Flattened it might not.
 
ddeck said:
As I am in the process of getting the right bullet size for my 9mm, I have dragged my feet on getting the M type dies to help seat a .358 bullet. It turns out that there have been two additional options added to the market in the last couple months or so. NOE has started selling expanders that fit in the Lee expanders in all different sizes. They are also very inexpensive (and shipping is extremely reasonable). It turns out that Lee has also started producing these. I just saw a video this morning on it. Essentially, they are replacing the standard expander with an M type expander. (For the NOE, I got the .362 x .358 expander which opens the case to .358 and then can flare the case mouth to .362. Expanders | NOE Bullet Moulds

Here's the video discussing the Lee expanders (it's a bit long but if you skip near the end he talks about his conversation with Lee.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npPg9Wlejz8
Click to expand...

Got all of my stuff in the mail over the last few days, so I sized some bullets at 358 and also used the NOE expander. What I found was that the original sizing die with no expander (just belling) was sizing the brass down to .376. With the expander, it's coming out to .383. The spec for 9mm is .380 at the case mouth. So, I crimped it down to .382 and I got it to reliably plunk in my barrel. I pulled one of these bullets and it was still .358, so it wasn't being sized down

So, I'm going to load up 100 and see what I get for leading in my .357 barrel (a 9mm barrel that slugs at .357). As long as I can get it to reliably feed and with no leading, this will be my 9mm cast bullet round for that gun.

I have to say, 45 was way easier.
 
ddeck said:
Got all of my stuff in the mail over the last few days, so I sized some bullets at 358 and also used the NOE expander. What I found was that the original sizing die with no expander (just belling) was sizing the brass down to .376. With the expander, it's coming out to .383. The spec for 9mm is .380 at the case mouth. So, I crimped it down to .382 and I got it to reliably plunk in my barrel. I pulled one of these bullets and it was still .358, so it wasn't being sized down

So, I'm going to load up 100 and see what I get for leading in my .357 barrel (a 9mm barrel that slugs at .357). As long as I can get it to reliably feed and with no leading, this will be my 9mm cast bullet round for that gun.

I have to say, 45 was way easier.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you’re doing all of the right diagnostic work here.

Yeah that’s why 45 is better. It’s sooo easy to load. Same for 38. It’s almost cheating.
 
OK, so it was a little disappointing today (I think). I loaded up 100 of the ones sized to .358. The problem is that 24 of them were just too big for the throat. I chamber checked each one to make sure and a bunch did not fit. So, I ended up shooting 76. I did find that Blazer would always work, as I've often heard that the walls are thinner. For my gun, .382 seems to be the largest allowable case mouth diameter. (SAAMI spec is .380). This is a 142 gn cast round nose flat point, being pushed by 3.2 gns of Titegroup, COAL of 1.130. This is wheel weight lead. The barrel slugged to .3575.

Anyway, here is what it looked like after 74 rounds of .358, some leading.

9mm at .358.jpg

For reference, here it was after .357 (30 rounds), some leading


9mm at .357.jpg

And here it was after .356 (50 rounds), appears as the least amount of leading

9mm at .356.jpg

So, I'm probably going to run a bunch more .357 and .356 to see what I get. I don't want to have to sort through 9mm brass to find ones that will work for .358. I will note that with 3 passes of a well lubed bronze brush, the lead comes right out, so it's not a big deal.
 
ddeck said:
OK, so it was a little disappointing today (I think). I loaded up 100 of the ones sized to .358. The problem is that 24 of them were just too big for the throat. I chamber checked each one to make sure and a bunch did not fit. So, I ended up shooting 76. I did find that Blazer would always work, as I've often heard that the walls are thinner. For my gun, .382 seems to be the largest allowable case mouth diameter. (SAAMI spec is .380). This is a 142 gn cast round nose flat point, being pushed by 3.2 gns of Titegroup, COAL of 1.130. This is wheel weight lead. The barrel slugged to .3575.

Anyway, here is what it looked like after 74 rounds of .358, some leading.

View attachment 856699

For reference, here it was after .357 (30 rounds), some leading


View attachment 856700

And here it was after .356 (50 rounds), appears as the least amount of leading

View attachment 856701

So, I'm probably going to run a bunch more .357 and .356 to see what I get. I don't want to have to sort through 9mm brass to find ones that will work for .358. I will note that with 3 passes of a well lubed bronze brush, the lead comes right out, so it's not a big deal.
Click to expand...
Regarding the cleaning of leading, I grabbed some real copper ChoreBoy and wrap strands of it around a brass bore brush with Shooters Choice as my solvent. Seems to do a better job than Hoppes with lead. Had it for 22lr cleaning. Good luck!
 
ddeck said:
OK, so it was a little disappointing today (I think). I loaded up 100 of the ones sized to .358. The problem is that 24 of them were just too big for the throat. I chamber checked each one to make sure and a bunch did not fit. So, I ended up shooting 76. I did find that Blazer would always work, as I've often heard that the walls are thinner. For my gun, .382 seems to be the largest allowable case mouth diameter. (SAAMI spec is .380). This is a 142 gn cast round nose flat point, being pushed by 3.2 gns of Titegroup, COAL of 1.130. This is wheel weight lead. The barrel slugged to .3575.

Anyway, here is what it looked like after 74 rounds of .358, some leading.

View attachment 856699

For reference, here it was after .357 (30 rounds), some leading


View attachment 856700

And here it was after .356 (50 rounds), appears as the least amount of leading

View attachment 856701

So, I'm probably going to run a bunch more .357 and .356 to see what I get. I don't want to have to sort through 9mm brass to find ones that will work for .358. I will note that with 3 passes of a well lubed bronze brush, the lead comes right out, so it's not a big deal.
Click to expand...
Is this a pistol? What are you running for lube? Size to your throat.
 

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