Cast bullets assortment for slugging?

[wileynet]

was just referred to this post from another, fixin to jump off into cast bullet reloading, does anybody have  1 or two cast bullets they could drop in a envelope, for slugging that seems to be a requirement before i start buying a bunch of bullets and or molds?
357, 308, 30-06, 45-70, 303 smle, 45 acp,45 LC

[Graybeard]

I personally don't agree it is necessary or even needed. I've never slugged a bore yet and have been successfully shooting cast bullets at least 40 years perhaps longer.

If you slug tho you want a pure lead or nearly pure lead slug NOT a hard cast bullet which such a request is likely to generate. You might get that hard cast stuck in the bore trying to push it thru as you do when slugging. It might not but still a swaged NOT a cast bullet would be the one if you were gonna.

Veral Smith a GBO Sponsor sells small quantities of bullets for slugging bores.

[wileynet]

thanks for the info, going to take my boy to albq. tommorow for another round of skin grafts going to look around for some cast bullets.

[res45]

I just use the appropriate size egg sinker,you want to get a nice little lead ring around it  when you tap it into the muzzle end of the bore so you know it's filling the grooves.  If the sinker needs to be a bit larger stand it on end and give it a few taps with you mallet to fatten it up.

I run a lightly oiled patch down the bore and grease the slug well before pushing it through with a hardwood dowel or brass rod.  Commercial cast bullet for the most part work in lots of gun but on occasion you will get a bore that is just oversized and the commercial cast bullet is just to hard to obturate and fill the grooves properly,I've had and have a couple firearms that are just like that. 

[Bob J]

I usually cast a number of bullets in dead soft lead just for slugging....  Long bullets (rifle rounds) I usually clip in half using a set of wire cutters before using those.....  I lube the bore and bullet both very well and then drive the bullet home using a soft faced mallet like this one:


http://www.harborfreight.com/soft-face-mallet-39528.html

For obvious reasons you want to keep anything steel away from your crown and bore......

I then use a brass rod (and the hammer of course) to drive the slug through the entire length of the barrel...  Once the slug is through I measure the diameter with a 1" micrometer....  Each slug is then put in a small plastic bag, labeled with the gun and measured diameter and saved in case I need a reference in the future.....


I've done this on most of my guns and over time have only found it to be necessary (given the results) on my milsup stuff....   

[Reverend Recoil]

I have used muzzle loading 32, 36, and 45 cal lead balls for bore slugging.  They are quite soft.  They can be bumped up in size by slightly mashing them with a hammer.  I think there are two sizes of 36 cal balls.  One is 0.350" and the other is 0.375".  The 45 cal ones are 0.451" and 0.457".

[anachronism]

You will want dead soft lead for slugging. Alloys containing antimony have a bit of "memory", and spring back a bit after being compressed. I too use egg sinkers for this.