[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by mossguy

Thanks all, for all the information.

Jeff; Do you have any concerns or precautions you take when melting lead for casting bullets?

Just common sense precautions. Plenty of ventilation, gloves, long sleeves, no eating or drinking, clean workbench, etc. I wash my hands (regardless of the gloves) when done and strip all of my clothes off and straight into the laundry with them.

Originally Posted by mossguy

Jeff, I would like to talk to you at the next XXX about shooting and reloading in general
Thanks,
Tom

I would love to talk.

Originally Posted by Green 912

Don't melt your own lead if you don't have to. Lead oxide is the nasty part and unless you are careful all during the process of sorting the old weights and disposal of the slag you will contaminate your property and or yourself.

Nonsense. Common sense precautions and basic cleanliness are all that is required. These are simply old wives' tales perpetuated by folks with no experience with casting bullets.

Originally Posted by Green 912

some time looking and you can get good deals on used equipment. look for deals on the consumables and you can save plenty of $ without messing up the place mucking around smelting lead. A case cleaner is very good to have as well.

Smelting lead is a far different process than casting lead bullets.

Originally Posted by Green 912

found that jacketed slugs ended up being worth the extra $ as they are clean, easy to use and produce good reloads that feed well. the gun barrels stay cleaner as well. Another good part of reloads is you can tune the power to the use. Light loads for paper target and the like.

Reloads are fine and all but the house gun has Hydra-shok in it. 13+1

The very best modern jacketed bullets will not yet match the accuracy, velocity, and terminal performance of a proper cast bullet. Done right, cast bullets simply do not lead the bore in a handgun unless there is something wrong with the handgun itself. They feed just as well in the autos and are no messier to shoot than jacketed bullets.

I can afford to shoot any bullet I please. I shoot cast bullet by choice, not by necessity. I have found their performance superior in every way (in handguns) than any jacketed bullet. Jackets on handgun bullets introduce a whole plethora of new problems and compromises not found in cast bullets. They are an answer to a question that maybe never should have been asked, an expedient for large manufacturers to be able to produce bullets in quantity that more or less satisfy the needs of magnum revolver shooters and autoloader shooters.

Casting, sizing, and lubricating bullets is far more time consuming than swaging them, either with or without a jacket. It's just not economically viable to produce them commercially for the general reloading market. Without a jacket, pure lead (about the only form of lead soft enough to swage economically) bullets are too soft and therefor unsuitable for magnum handgun velocities. The method of application for the bullet lubricant, where they are dipped or tumbled, does not lend itself to proper application of enough bullet lube. All of this adds up to leading at magnum velocities. The soft bullets can be problematic with regards to feeding in the autoloaders.

The "answer" to these problems has been the jacketed bullet. While we do have some great jacketed bullets available these days, they do remain a compromise, and they are expensive. They are, however, the best option for "serious" loads for those who cannot or will not cast their own. Commercially swaged lead bullets likewise remain the best option for "informal" or plinking loads.

I would not even consider commercially cast bullets. Most are cast from far too hard of an alloy and lubed with far too hard of a lubricant in an effort to facilitate handling in bulk. I've never found one that is accurate and doesn't lead the barrel. I'm sure that is where some of the bad rap cast bullets get must come from.

Alas, this is an endeavor where one cannot "buy success". Good cast bullets only come from home. A proper mold is chosen for the intended application, a proper lead alloy, a proper lubricant, and the proper finished size. They wind up too soft to handle in bulk, with soft lube applied in big, deep grooves that will gum up everything if not handled with care. They are stored in ammo boxes, individually separated so as not to deform one another. There is no "free lunch" here, but, properly done, there is nothing that will match the performance of a cast bullet in a handgun.