casting handgun bullets

Semi automatic and single shot handguns, revolvers and other pistols

casting handgun bullets

Post by id29ohmj@gmail.com » 14 Aug 2020, 3:23 pm

HI All I'am new to reloading and have been reading up on casting lead bullets. Most articles seem to be for rifle rounds and very little for hand guns. AS I can get wheel weights a plenty is there any reason not to cast this lead or do I need to add to the lead. This has confused me a little as I can't find articles that refer to hand gun casting.
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Re: casting handgun bullets

Post by bigpete » 14 Aug 2020, 3:49 pm

You'll be fine with wheel weights under 1500fps with Lee alox lube
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Re: casting handgun bullets

Post by Blr243 » 14 Aug 2020, 4:26 pm

U can buy lead handgun pills so super cheap ts hardly worth the trouble or fumes
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Re: casting handgun bullets

Post by Bugman » 14 Aug 2020, 5:28 pm

Yep. have to agree with Blr, I too looked into casting when I first started reloading for pistols but there is a plethora of cast projectiles, ready made.
Choice is yours which way you want to proceed.
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Re: casting handgun bullets

Post by bladeracer » 14 Aug 2020, 5:31 pm

id29ohmj@gmail.com wrote:HI All I'am new to reloading and have been reading up on casting lead bullets. Most articles seem to be for rifle rounds and very little for hand guns. AS I can get wheel weights a plenty is there any reason not to cast this lead or do I need to add to the lead. This has confused me a little as I can't find articles that refer to hand gun casting.


At low velocities you might get away with pure lead, but I've read of some problems with feed issues in semi-autos, and bullet set-back with heavier bullets due to recoil (the crimp just cuts through the soft lead). I add 60/40 solder and/or hard shot to get pure lead to where I want it. Wheel weights are generally quite hard and work very well. Northern Smelters sell bullet alloy In 5kg ingots also.
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Re: casting handgun bullets

Post by redgum » 01 Sep 2020, 1:56 pm

Casting your own handgun bullets can be really rewarding.
I doubt you will save much money, but you can produce bullets that suit your needs, and you get to controll the quality. Clip on type wheel weights conatin small amounts of antimony and tin. This makes them a little bit harder at around 12 bhn, so they are fine for most applications, but the stick on type are close to pure lead, and are a bit soft at around 5-6 bhn.
Just be aware that a lot of weights these days are zinc, which if combined, will ruin your lead for casting.
For .38 special and light 357 mag loads, my 'spinners' shoot fine with bullets around 10-12 bhn. The semi autos tend to prefer 12-15 bhn.
I also cast hollow point bullets for various calibres, and I like to use pure lead with about 2% tin so they hold together and 'mushroom' rather than shattering. These are often powdercoated to allow them to be pushed to a higher velocity.
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Re: casting handgun bullets

Post by vmaxaust » 03 Sep 2020, 8:12 pm

id29ohmj@gmail.com wrote:HI All I'am new to reloading and have been reading up on casting lead bullets. Most articles seem to be for rifle rounds and very little for hand guns. AS I can get wheel weights a plenty is there any reason not to cast this lead or do I need to add to the lead. This has confused me a little as I can't find articles that refer to hand gun casting.


If you seriously want to cast your own my suggestion is...
1) Buy the proper lead...Northern Smelters "hardball" 92-6-2 (lead, antimony. tin) It will make your process much easier than re-cooking range junk or wheel weights.
2) Buy a bottom dropping lead melting setup like the RCBS
3) Buy moulds with the correct shape and weight bullets you want to cast. You can usually buy 2 cavity,3, 4 or even more. Don't go too many cavities as you will find it difficult to hold by hand when dropping molten lead.
4) You have to decide whether you want to use lubed bullets, Hi Tek coated or Powder Coated. I prefer the Hi Tek coating.
5) You will need a bullet sizing setup to do final sizing after casting. Moulds are designed to drop bullets with about .002-.003" larger in diameter than your gun needs so sizing is required. The sizer can often be bought with lubing capability through the sizing die if that's what you decide to do. Bullet sizing is really a swaging process which stretches the bullet very slightly to final size and perfect roundness and concentricity. Important for accuracy. This depends mostly on the quality of the dies used.

Are you still sure you want to do your own? It's quite an investment in money and in time as well as learning the process. Commercially manufactured bullets are readily sold with Hi Tek coating, sized and ready to go. The typical 9mm 124gr bullet is about $65.00 to $70.00 per 500 which is only 14 cents per bullet.

Think about it carefully before jumping into it. I sell lots of bullets to other shooters at my 2 clubs for this very reason. Many tried the casting process and found that ultimately the time taken actually detracted from their free time to go shooting. My process however is pretty close to some of the commercial manufacturers since I use automated casting and sizing machinery which means high volume and very high quality.

If you want to have a go anyway look here...
https://www.castbulletengineering.com.au/
https://www.northernsmelters.com.au/bullet-casting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jybdckmHDbQ
https://www.rcbs.com/bullet-casting/
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Re: casting handgun bullets

Post by boingk » 04 Sep 2020, 12:31 am

Beware, all ye who enter here.

I looked into the casting process, and for my needs I also discarded it due to the readily available, high quality projectiles.

357 for example? $38 for 250 Berry's copper-coated hollowpoints. $55 for Black Widow powdercoated 125 grain. Yee-ha indeed.

I also homebrew. I stop short of malting my own grain and growing the hops.
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