Casting Around For Bullets

The very first cartridge I handloaded carried a bullet cast by myself. As a complete novice, my only source for information was gleaned from firearms magazines. In such reading, it seemed the only designs of cast bullets worthy of shooting through handgun barrels were full and semi-wadcutters; the first for paper punching and the second for all other handgun shooting.

Round-nose cast handgun bullets were deemed a waste of gunpowder. They were blamed for some tragic police shootings because they failed to stop armed miscreants. The other basic cast bullet shape was the round-nose flat point. They were considered as archaic as the old lever guns for which they were designed. As least that’s how I remember things.

Leading Experts

In those days regarding firearms periodicals, Elmer Keith of Idaho was still in his heyday. The only writer whose popularity rivaled Keith’s (in my opinion) was Skeeter Skelton of Texas. Both gents consistently lauded SWCs but differed on one point. Keith regarded gas checks as useless but Skelton favored them — at least on the 155-grain SWCs from Lyman mold No. 358156. Also they differed on bullet alloys with Keith favoring 1:16 tin-to-lead for non-magnum cartridges or 1:10 for magnum velocities. As I remember, Skeeter scrounged up wheel weights and sweetened the mix with a bit of tin.

My first bullet mold was for Lyman’s 160-grain WC No. 358432. I bought it not out of choice but because a local gent offered it to me for $7.50 including handles. Several thousand of those were cast but from my reading I always felt out in left field because I wasn’t shooting SWCs. After several years with the 160-grain WC, enough coin was gathered to buy a Lachmiller triple-cavity mold for their 150-grain, 0.358″ SWC. Finally I had joined the “in-crowd,” which was ludicrous because I only had one shooting buddy and he didn’t know a WC from a SWC from an RN/FP.

Some readers might find this humorous — In my high school senior year I staunchly refused to get a date for the prom. My folks said they would pay all expenses and give me an additional $20 if I asked some dateless girl. Okay, I went, took the date home immediately after the prom and hot-footed the 80 miles to the nearest gun store stocking bullet molds. I was sleeping in my car when the store opened. By noon that next day I was home, casting bullets with my new mold.

Much has changed in regards on the bullet casting side of handloading. Older companies like Lachmiller are gone, along with the short-lived Ohaus selection of molds. Also gone is the Hensley & Gibbs Company that made those fine gang molds. However, in their places have arisen custom mold makers. Speaking collectively, they can make any bullet design your heart craves and cut blocks for them in iron, brass and aluminum. For handgun shooters these custom mold makers can make blocks with multiple cavities or for cast bullet shooters desiring the upmost in bullet consistency, they’ll make your favored design in single-cavity blocks. Personally I’ve ordered custom molds from Accurate Molds, Arsenal Molds, Brooks Molds, Buffalo Arms, Hoch Molds and even an outfit based in Slovenia named MP Molds. Of course, the mass-produced molds from Lyman, RCBS, Lee and Redding SAECO still flourish.

Melt Down

Something else different from so many years back when I first melted alloy on my mother’s cook stove, are the numerous electric melting furnaces on the market. They range from small ones of 10-lb. capacity upwards to 40 pounders. Also available is a choice of “dip pots” where the caster uses a dipper to pour one bullet at a time — which is what most shooters striving for the best precision do. The other option with electric melting furnaces is the “bottom pour” type that’s best for multiple-cavity molds. What do I use? I have four on hand to handle about every casting chore that may come my way.

Here is another major change in the casting field — availability of inexpensive bullet alloys. In my heyday, there was the plain old wheel weight. These were mostly blends of lead and antimony. I’ve cast tons (literally) of bullets using plain wheel weight alloy, pre-cast in ingots and cleaned of the clips and grit by fluxing it heavily. Nowadays there are warnings to be aware of wheel weights because they may come from abroad and contain mystery metals that will not cast decent bullets.

Over the years I’ve prospered and wheel weights have lost their allure for me, albeit I still have a bucketful in the storage shed. As an avid competitor in the BPCR Silhouette game, I came to realize my alloy should be repeatable. Therefore with a mite of experimentation, 1:20 tin-to-lead blend became my standby.

The first time I ordered a ton from a foundry, I expected a huge pile upon delivery — it turns out a ton of lead does not make such a great big pile! Later, a fellow silhouette shooter named John Walters ([email protected]) began taking orders for alloy mixes of your choice and delivering it to the National Championship in Raton, NM. Every year I picked up a couple or 300 lbs. By the way, I found 1:20 tin-to-lead also works beautifully for non-magnum revolver bullets.

With the plethora of commercial bullet casters now, many shooters buy instead of casting their own. That’s fine — I certainly understand time constraints. This said, sometimes commercially cast bullets work for me but when possible I still like to cast my own. It takes me back to those beginning years of my shooting career when every facet of shooting, handloading and casting was new and exciting.

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