cast lead bullet in bottleneck case?

[anweis]

I am happy about how my hunting reloads for .338 Fed turned out; i get great accuracy and velocity/power (.5" 5 shot group with loads 1 grain short of maximum, consistent in time). However, they are on the expensive side and i would like to develop a reduced load for practice that would spare the barrel from tear and wear and me from recoil and expense.
There is a .235 cast lead GC bullet (Beartooth Bullets) that i would like to try with AA 5744. 20-24 grains of 5744 and careful bullet sitting vs. lands and throat should put me in the 1300-1600 fps area.

How is reloading lead bullets different from jacketed bullets?
Do i need to flare the mouth of the case with a special die? Must i crimp the case mouth/bullets? Any advice? 
Thanks.

[PawPaw]

Yes, you need to flare the mouth of the case, just a little, not even enough to see, but enough that you can start the bullet without shaving parts of it off.

 No, you don't need to crimp cast bullets, unless there is some other reason to crimp.  I always crimp levergun rounds and I crimp for revolvers.

[BCB]

Yep, you need to bell (flare) the case mouth a bit…

They make neck expander dies and you can purchase whatever size expanding plug you need.  They put a bell on the case mouth and expand the neck to a certain diameter…

Or, if you have a steel punch of some type and it is tapered, you can put it in the case mouth and if it touches the case mouth before bottoming out in the case, a light tap on it will put a minimal bell…

Or, if you have a set of needle-nosed pliers, you can put them in the case and turn them.  That will also put a slight bell on the case mouth…

Both are crude and don’t size the neck for the boolit diameter, but it will let you seat the boolit without shaving lead…

Unless you have several different diameter boolits and cases you are working with, it is not cost-effective to by the expanding die and the plugs…

Good-luck…BCB

[FW Conch]

Lee sells a "universal" neck expanding die for a very resonable price.  It works great !  - Jim

[BCB]

Lee sells a "universal" neck expanding die for a very resonable price.  It works great !  - Jim

Yep, Lee does.  I have one...

It only bells the case mouth and does nothing with the diameter of the inside of the neck.  Works fair with straight wall cases, but with bottle neck cases, you get only the bell...

But, it is inexpensive and functional...

BCB

[mbopp]

I use a 35 caliber Lyman medium "M" die to flare 357 Herrett cases for loading cast bullets. I don't know if they make one in 338.

[darkgael]

I do put  a very slight bell on straight walled cases. I do not on bottlenecked  cases; instead,  I chamfer the mouth of the case. I am careful about seating the bullet. That is all that I have ever needed to do for .30-30, .30-06,.375,.416.
Pete

[BCB]

darkgael,

Are you seating gaschecked boolits or plain base boolits?...

If plain base boolits, you are pretty lucky to still not get lead shavings from cases that aren't belled, but merely chamfered...

Especially if the boolits are being shot "as cast" and they are oversized...

BCB