jaysouth

I no longer have a supply of 'bullet stoppers' but once upon a time a deceased family member left behind several cases of Depends Guards that the VA sent him.  I contacted the VA.  No, they did not want the back.   I had just purchased a 1950 vintage FN Mauser in 30-06.  Rather than beat a piece of lead down the bore to get an accurate bore/groove diameter, I cast some Lee 113 cast bullets made with pure lead.  Then five of these bullets were loaded over 4 grains of bullseye in old 30-06 brass.  Then I fired all five rounds into the end of the case.  Opening the box, I found that each bullet only traveled about 6-8" inches in the Depends and were perfectly intact for accurate measurement.  Each case would adsorb about 50 rounds before the Depends were totally shredded.     If you find a box of Depends to use a a low velocity bullet stop, tape it securely before putting out for the trashmen.  One that I put out came apart in the rain and the wind scattered Depends 'fragments' over several of my neighbor's yard.  I tried to play dumb but that didn't work.  The rest of the day was spent raking up Depends 'shrapnel'.  The was just one of many incidents that left my neighbors scratching their heads and thinkin' "that boy ain't right".

  My issue was chamber diameter not length or throat depth.  They could have told me to go buy a set of better dies because their chamber was SAAMI spec.  They chose to solve my problem in their shop.  It only cost postage to get the barrel back to them.  I now own two of their barrels and will gladly buy another should the need arise.   Good folks.

Lone Wolf is a very customer service oriented company.  I had a conversion barrel that would not chamber my reloads in 9mm.  At the suggestion of the owner, I sent 3 dummy reloads and the barrel back to them.  They reamed the chamber to fit my reloads.  No charge.   The first thing I would do is to call LW and discuss the issue.

  The part of this story that worries me is the omission, major glaring omission of bullet size.  If your bullet is too small, it will lead if it's made of linotype( the hardest alloy you are likely to use for bullet casting).  If your bullet is properly sized to the barrel, properly lubed and shot over slower burning powder, it will not lead at normal speeds.   If you think of shooting cast bullets, do yourself a favor and slug your barrel.  Groove diameters of 9mm pistols range from .355 to .359.  If you shoot a nominally sized, mass produced lead bullet sized at .356 in a ..358 barrel it will lead. period.   Barrel leading with cast bullets is an algorithm that considers alloy content, size, lube, speed (second part of speed is base protection, gas checks)  and burning rate of powder used.  If you get leading, the first step is to look at size. 

Those are very attractive prices for coated bullets shipped.   Has anyone on the board used them?

As a good rule, commercially cast bullets will be lubed prior to shipment.  They will not normally be gas checked, nor is there need for gas checks at target velocities.  The cast bullets that you buy normally have bevel or flat bases and cannot be gas checked in your shop.  The price for gas checked bullets will be close to the cost of jacketed bullits.   The lube used on most commercial bullets will be not be a 'bath' lube like Alox but a paraffin based lube forced into one or more grooves in the bullet during the sizing operations.  It will appear as a red or blue band of wax close to the base of the bullet.  In my opinion, that is not the best lube but is adequate for pistol velocities and speeds the production process.   It is my experience that a bath type of lube like Alox is a superior lube up to velocities of around 2,000 fps.  Howver, it should be noted as observed elsewhere in this thread, that there is a threshold of 1400-1500 fps for plain base bullets above which you will get leading from velocity, not improper sizing.  If I my load approaches that threshold, I apply a gas check to protect the base of the bullet.

If you are of a curious nature and have lots of time on your hands, go to www.castboolits.gunloads.com.   You will be in danger of being consumed for years about such things as cast boolit hardness and boolit lubes.

To stay in business, you must price your merchandise so you can afford to replace it.  If you bought a box of cartridges for $10 and the cost to replace it is now $40, you must charge replacement cost plus overhead and profit markup.  Failure to do so will put you out of business.    Market spikes are driven by the uncertainty of the future market.  Watch gasoline prices.  Everytime the wardrums beat in the Persian gulf, the price of gasoline goes up because of the uncertainty of future availability and price flucuation.  The future market of the shooting industry is destabalized by left wing politicians who promise to take ALL of our guns and cease production of ammunition, for the children, of course, causing spikes in everything associated with it.  And abetted by our media and fueled by speculators like the guy you know who buys ammo at walmart every day and trys to sell it at triple his cost.   Reloader's bench is not cheap, but in normal times, they will have the best selection of reloading gear and components for many, many miles around.  In normal times, they are the only store that carries used reloading gear and have cannabalised spare parts in the back room that are unobtainable anywhere else inclusing manuacturers.  Go to basspro and ask them to go in the back room and find spare parts for your 1965 Herter's dies.

Spots,   I dont own a .250 savage, but a friend hunts with one and he struggles to find ammo at any price.  Last week I bought some 260 Rem ammo at the Reloaders bench and it was 29.95 a box which is a bargin for this seldom encountered ammo anymore.  As I recall I passed up 260 ammo at Bass pro last year because it was over 30 something a box.

  Ranch Dog closed it's doors many months ago and Lee is out of every mold they list.  For what's it's worth, my lee 308-180 drops at .311

I don't understand why you would be upset at the Reloader's Bench because they were sold out of ammo.  What are they supposed to do in this panic era?  WalMart is sold out, are you mad at them?   clue us in.  Quite frankly I think you are being childish.

"in the business of:"  No need to worry unless you really intend to make a business of it.  A casual sale is not being in business.

Show us a picture of your Kimber.  Once upon a time, honest holster wear was a statement of  care and usage.  Shows character like laugh lines on the face of a beatiful woman or highly polished well worn custom boots.   Is it worn to the point of constantly rusting?  Absent, that, I would carefully wipe it down everytime it was used and enjoy it's testiment to long careful use.

The voice on the phone "Don't tell anyone I told you this, but for 9mm on your Dillon 550B, get a lee sizing die for the number four station.  It's better than ours on 9mm".   Without going out to shop and counting noses, I know that I have dies from Lee, Dillon, Hornady, Lyman, Redding, RCBS, Herter and CH.   They all appear to clones of each other except the Lee.  It seems like Lees are a little bit better thought out but don't really outperform any others.  I do like the marketing of Lee Deluxe sets.  Seater, neck sizer, full length sizer and factory crimp die with a shell holder and powder scoop in the same box.  I do wish that Lee boxs had hinges like the rest of them.

What is the brand and model number on that mold please?  Bullets look good, plain wheelweights?   Tumble lube?   Thanks

Most.........?     46 inventory line items OUT OF STOCK, 22 inventory line items IN STOCK?     If you need brass try locally for realistic quantities.  Here in N'ville, you can buy what you need at A-H, Reloaders Bench, Nashville Sporting Arms or David Mosley.

I have a 23 with the LW 9mm conversion barrel.  My load is a 124 cast bullet over 4 grs. HP-38.  A very light load that works perfectly in my 9/40.  Issues I have had are not related to hardware or ammo. LOL   Using .40 mags is a hit or miss.  Better to use 9mm mags.

I started this post five weeks ago when I placed an order with Mastercastbullets.com in Illinois.  When I placed the order, I was told that everything I ordered was in stock and would be shipped in a day or two.  No bullets, nor has there been any response to my email, two phone calls or text message.   The shortages notwithstanding, this is not the way to run a business.  I am sending him a letter cancelling my order.    Please note that this in no way relfects on MASTERCAST.ORG, a bullet maker in PA who gets good press here on this board.  I would place an order with them but they do not carry the .357 180 gr. RNF that I am looking for.    I place an order with BSL bulletworks earlier today and have had two email responses from the owner.  He volunteered to make up an order of 100 in BNH 10 and and order of 100 in BNH 14.  Not the thing that your average bullet maker volunteers to do for an order that size. 

I got some cartridges loaded up and went to the range. The target below was shot with 125 JHPs and 158 Plated over 20.5 grs. Lil Gun. It was cold and windy. The gun was more hardy and accurate than the shooter. I see great things with this little thumper. When it warms up a little and I can set up my chrony, we will get serious about working up a jacketed hunting load and cast hunting and plinking loads.

A couple of years ago I actually found and bought a Remington 7600 Police.  It is a Remington pump rifle in .308 with a 16 1/2 inch barrel.  When fired, you can feel concussive shock in your chest cavity and get seared on both sides.  A deer shot under 20 yards will be cooked medium rare when you field dress it.

This just came back from D&T Custom. It was a handi in .357 Mag. It is now a .357 MAXIMUM with the barrel cut back to 16 1/2 inches, a trigger job and a scope rail bedded with glass. The 3-9X scope is for load development. Then I get the right loads, it will wear a Weaver V-3 for the woods. The ideal load will be a 180 gr. spire point bullet around 2100 fps. I am working up loads with AA1680 and lil' gun. After the hunting load, I am going to find the sweet spot for 180 gr. cast bullets for range and plinking fun. As soon as I figure out how to use my new chronograph and get some loads worked up I will post back with a range report.

Quick question for lubing mold hinges and pins.   Do you lube cold or wait until they get molding temp?

This is old news.  Nothing has changed in decades.  The VA can declare you incompetent for physical or mental grounds and that threshhold is waaaay above PTSD.     The author of this article is trying to manufacture something sensational to sell his rag.  You have to border on a vegetatative state to be declared incompetent.  A veteran awarded 100% disability on a permanent and total basis is not close to being denied any civil rights.

How many rounds of Boxer primed brass cased ammo are you looking for? 

You desperately need to join Bridegrooms Announomous.  When you get the urge to propose, you did out your membership card and call the emergency number.  They send two local members over to drink with you until the urge passes.   You can always find a wife, but these days it's getting harder to find a decent 1911 at  a reasonable price.  Without a wifey, you could afford  custom 1911s, a custom motorcycle, a red Corvette and date different good looking women whenever the urge strikes.