Probably a dumb question

[Flinch]

Please excuse my lack of knowledge in this area but im not a bullet caster, yet anyway.  I was wondering if it is possible to put gas checks on some 240 gr. .429 bevel base comercial bullets that I bought by mistake? I cant use them because they are too small and lead my barrel something awful. Can gas checks be crimped on some how or would I need casting equipment? I have aprox. 450 or so left that I would like to use some how other then sling shot ammo. Any ideas are apreciated,Thanks.

[Lloyd Smale]

gas checks will only work on a bullet designed for them. I would guess that alot of your problem could be the comercial hard lube they were sold with. One thing to try would be to buy a bottle of lee tumble lube and lube them according to the instructions on the bottle. Another would be to load them with fiber wads simular to what are used in cap and ball guns. One other thing no question is dumb. I learn new things everyday.

[Graybeard]

I think it more likely that the stupid bevel base and the bullets being too hard for the pressures you're running them are the culprit. Most of the commercial bullets are way too hard and in case you've not noticed I'm not a fan of bevel base bullets either.

I really don't think you can salvage anything from them other than the lead if you get into casting. Unlikely lube is gonna do the trick for you.

GB

[Lead pot]

Flinch>I think Lloyd might have forgoten to say when loading fiber wads on the powder,I'm assuming your using smokeless,even if laoding black,make sure there is no airspace between the powder and the bullet,or you will have a two part gun.I would not put a wad on smokless powder.

Just remelt the bullets,the lube on them will make them prefluxed :lol: or give them to someone.
I never have found a good use for a beveled cast bullet.

Kurt

[Flinch]

Thanks. I have had them on a shelf in the garage now for a while, I guess they can just stay there until im ready to cast my own.  Since we are on that subject, is bullet casting cheap to get in to? I dont even know where to shop for stuff like that. I havent seen anything for bullet casting at our local outdoor stores. What would I need to get started? I already have a bunch of lead. I would want to make bullets for the 44 mag and 444. Probably gas checked around 300gr. .4315 or .432 would be nice and would cover both guns. This seems like it would be a lot of fun too.

[Lloyd Smale]

I too dislike bevel base bullets but way back when i didnt cast i too had a simualar problem with a bunch of bevel base bullets that were given to me. I hated to waste them but found them usuable with fiber wads glued to the base it was alot of work for what i got out of it but recasting wasnt an option.

[Larry Gibson]

Flinch

"I was wondering if it is possible to put gas checks on some 240 gr. .429 bevel base comercial bullets that I bought by mistake?"


Depends on the length and taper of the bevel and the hardness of the alloy.  I have GC'd these bullets before and just did 500 215 gr bullets last month for the .44.

If the taper is long then Hornady GCs work good.  That's what I used with the 215s.  After I washed the hard wax lube off I seated the GCs and relubed them with Javline in a Lyman 450 with a .430 sizer.  They now weigh 224 gr and shoot extremely well out of my 4" Anaconda at 1425 fps with no leading whatsoever.  I can drive them faster but accuracy deteriorates.

I have done this with several other commercial bevel base bullets of 9mm/.357, .44 and .45 calibers.  If the bevel is short the Lyman GCs most often work ok but a bullet with a bvel short than the inside depth of the GC is best shot as is.  

I was given 500 147 gr bullets for use in 9mm a while back.  These had a TC nose and a fairly long bevel base.  I had intended to use them in my Destroyer carbine as they were but they didn't do well.  They were .357 diameter so I ended up washing the hard wax lube off and seating Hornady GCs and lubing with Javlina in a .358 sizer on the 450.  I loaded them to 1800 fps in a M91 Argentine rebarreled to .35 Remington and they shot wonderfully.

Go ahead and try seating a GC on the ones you have, probably will work out ok.

Larry Gibson

[45nut]

There are ways to get into casting your own boolits on the cheap  :-)  It is even likely that you already have some equipment suitable just sitting there.
You need lead,you got that in the form of the underperforming commercial rejects.
 You need a heat source, A coleman camping stove,a heatplate,or a furnace can do . Many folks get by with the coleman and I even know a guy that used his old gas BBQ !
You need molds of course.  Help on the choosing a suitable example  is ample.
 You need a way to lubricate the as cast boolits, You can pan lube using melted commercial sticks, or use Lee's Liquid Alox to "tumble lube" .
Casting your own can be enjoyable or frustrating,but the process in itself is as simple as melting the lead,pouring the lead into the blocks and dropping them out after they have "set"  There are probably eight hundred variations on this theme though.   Ask away and take a look around your home to see what you might already have that be put to use. 45nut

[Flinch]

I have been looking at several web sites (Lyman, Lee,RCBS) at bullet casting stuff and had a question about mold sizes. I did not see any molds that make a .431 or .432 bullet, which is what I need. They all make a .429 mould but that size is just too small for my needs. Is a .431 mould a specialty size that will cost me an arm and a leg?  Also is a sizing die for a lube sizer capable of making a .429 bullet into a .431 somehow? How do you 44 shooters get the right sized bullet with so little options to choose from?   Thanks for any help. like I said im fairly green in this casting business so I really want to learn as much as possible before I buy anything.

[Mikey]

Flinch:  I don't think you can resize up from 429 to 431.  Once you have 'squoze' it down it won't unsquoze much.  But, much is the operative word here - most molds will drop bullets anywhere from .001 to .004 larger than what you want to size them down to, hence the need for lubers and sizers to get the bullets down to the correct size.  You can obtain lubers and sizers in just about any dog-gone diameter you can think of.  Your .429 mold might actually drop bullets at .432 or ever .433, then you lube and size them in the diameter sizer you want, say .431 or .430 or whatever.  Sawright, sawright!  HTH.  Mikey.

[Flinch]

Thanks, Mikey. I guess I wont take it to heart that a .429 mold is actually what it says then.  Im still learning. I picked up a lyman cast bullet hand book and started reading it. Hopefully most of my questions will get answered.