Making Muzzy Bullets - Lee R.E.A.L .50 cal

[SmokepoleJR]

We got some new bullet making stuff.  Went into Discount Tire and asked the guy for some old wheel weights.  Didn't have enough, so we melted down some old fishing weights to make a pot full.  Ended up with 135 bullets. 

It stinks when you're making them, but it's easy to make and saves money.  Can't wait to try them out! 

[carpsniperg2]

Cool! Just make sure you guys have a lot of ventilation when melting. Its always cool to take a animal with a bullet or arrow you have made.

[SmokepoleJR]

yeah its outside

[carpsniperg2]

  Good deal. Didn't wat you guys getting sick. I have been around the stuff, and it can make you light headed very quick.

[Whitelightning]

Now you need to make some bullet lube, google bullet lube there are many recipes for bullet lube out there. Also Wheel weights are not pure lead they are usually an alloy your bullets being real shiny can mean they are harder than you may want. Recover some and decide on how well they work. You are going to have a blast with your new hobby. Enjoy!!!

[ML_Hunter]

When using the bullet mold, after every 5 rounds you make, let the mold cool.  Your mold can expand making the bullets a little larger and tough to fit in your bore.  A few Friends and I tried it and found this as an issue, we decided to invest in two more molds and it quickly solved the problem.  they are a blast to shoot and i'm sure you'll enjoy it!!  I use them mainly for shooting at the range, I'm sighted in and hunt with the TMZ bullets...I wonder If i can make an all Copper Bullet  

[SmokepoleJR]

Now you need to make some bullet lube, google bullet lube there are many recipes for bullet lube out there. Also Wheel weights are not pure lead they are usually an alloy your bullets being real shiny can mean they are harder than you may want. Recover some and decide on how well they work. You are going to have a blast with your new hobby. Enjoy!!!

  you're very right we had slight trouble with them. But you can skim the other alloys off the top and it works
just fine

[SmokepoleJR]

When using the bullet mold, after every 5 rounds you make, let the mold cool.  Your mold can expand making the bullets a little larger and tough to fit in your bore.  A few Friends and I tried it and found this as an issue, we decided to invest in two more molds and it quickly solved the problem.   they are a blast to shoot and i'm sure you'll enjoy it!!  I use them mainly for shooting at the range, I'm sighted in and hunt with the TMZ bullets...I wonder If i can make an all Copper Bullet  

I'm not sure if you could make a copper bullet.    but it will probably be harder to melt. I'll look into it.

[Special T]

no more lead tire weights in Wa so suck up the lead while you can!

[Heredoggydoggy]

Be aware that blackpowder bullets are to be made of pure soft lead ONLY!  Wheel weights are too hard for BP bullets.  Guys who cast bullets add wheel weights to soft lead to make it harder for smokeless powder loads.  Saw a kid a while back who put a jacketed .45 bullet into a .45 cal. muzzle loader "for better accuracy" and the gun blew up in his face.  He wasn't even wearing safety glasses, or glasses of any kind, and if a piece of shrapnel had been 1/2 inch higher, he'd have lost his right eye!  You may get away with using hard lead muzzy bullets--then again you might not.

[Smokepole]

Be aware that blackpowder bullets are to be made of pure soft lead ONLY!  Wheel weights are too hard for BP bullets.  Guys who cast bullets add wheel weights to soft lead to make it harder for smokeless powder loads.  Saw a kid a while back who put a jacketed .45 bullet into a .45 cal. muzzle loader "for better accuracy" and the gun blew up in his face.  He wasn't even wearing safety glasses, or glasses of any kind, and if a piece of shrapnel had been 1/2 inch higher, he'd have lost his right eye!  You may get away with using hard lead muzzy bullets--then again you might not.

Thanks for the info.  Some of the wheel weights we tried floated to the top.  Must be made of some other metal.  We ended up using mostly lead fishing weights, with a little wheel weight material mixed in.  I'm hoping they are soft enough .  We'll try cutting a few in half with a knife to check them.

One of our friends is a retired fisherman, and he has piles of beaded lead chain and lead line to give us.  He said he has plenty.

Thanks for the tips.

[Smokepole]

Tried cutting them with a knife, and we decided not to shoot them.  Gonna go get some lead line and start over.

Heredoggy, thanks for the advice.  I would shoot them in sabots, but they are full 50 cal.  Maybe if it quits raining we can do up another batch of pure lead reals.

[ML_Hunter]

When using the bullet mold, after every 5 rounds you make, let the mold cool.  Your mold can expand making the bullets a little larger and tough to fit in your bore.  A few Friends and I tried it and found this as an issue, we decided to invest in two more molds and it quickly solved the problem.   they are a blast to shoot and i'm sure you'll enjoy it!!  I use them mainly for shooting at the range, I'm sighted in and hunt with the TMZ bullets...I wonder If i can make an all Copper Bullet  

I'm not sure if you could make a copper bullet.    but it will probably be harder to melt. I'll look into it.

The Copper idea was purely a joke!  .  The bullet would have to be hollow point and they would need to expand propperly.  I would really not recomend it  .  Hopfully you guys can have a few days of decent weather and make more bullets.  Casting your own bullets is fun and really cuts down on the cost at the range.  Enjoy!

[Smokepole]

Me and the kid picked up 10 gallons of lead line sinkers from our friend today.  Should be a lifetime supply of lead.  Made another batch, and you can tell they are a lot softer.  Decided to recycle the ones with wheel weight material in them.  Can't wait to shoot some next weekend and see how they group.

[Heredoggydoggy]

Tried cutting them with a knife, and we decided not to shoot them.  Gonna go get some lead line and start over.

Heredoggy, thanks for the advice.  I would shoot them in sabots, but they are full 50 cal.  Maybe if it quits raining we can do up another batch of pure lead reals.

I'm relieved that you took my advice.  I was concerned that you might think I was full of B.S.  If you know anyone that casts bullets for modern cartridges you migt be able to sell the hard lead to him, or trade it for soft lead.  Good luck!

[JackOfAllTrades]

You could learn a lot from http://castboolits.gunloads.com

For most lead bullet shooting you want bullets with a brinnel hardness of at least 14 to avoid leading your barrel. Alloy bullets of lead/tin/antimony will be harder.  Yes, the type of lube used can also determine the amount of leading you'll experience. Size/diameter of the bullet/clearance to the bore/lands also determines leading. Lead wheel weights as half of a 50/50 mix with pure lead fishing weights would be right around 12 or so. For velocities of 1200 to 1800fps those shouldn't lead your barrel at all.  

As for allowing your mold to cool... NUTZ!  No..

I've been pouring lead for 25 years. I always preheat my molds and keep them warm throughout my pouring session. Hundreds of bullets at a time. Having your lead and mold at a warm temperature allows the mold to fill out completely resulting in more uniform pours. Your lead should be 730-800 degrees. Allowing your mold to cool between pouring, will get you variations in your bullets, which will then give you a different poi for given loads of powder. To get your bullets all the same size, (diameter), You use a bullet sizer die. They can be had from Lee that screw into your rifle loading press, or you can buy a lead bullet lubri-sizer. There are many ways to lube your bullets too. Read/inquire at the website I listed.

Your bullets look a bit shiny, so I figure your mold is a bit cool. Any ripples in the lead or rounded edges of the bullet where the mold has sharp edges, also indicate a cool mold. Your bullets should be bit on the 'frosted' side

Pouring your own bullets is a great hobby. But there is a little more to it than just melting some fishing weights. Saving money by pouring lead is great but there's also the added benefit of creating an accurate bullet.

-Steve

[ElkTipper]

I think the above link should really be the following

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

Pretty cool forum!

[JackOfAllTrades]

Oh wow... I typo'd the url.

Thanx.  (I've corrected my post.)

-Steve

[Smokepole]

We did find that site, and the huge amount of info there.  We haven't tried our R.E.A.L. bullets yet, but when we do we will give a full report on how they grouped in our 1:28 poles. 

[Hangfire]

I always used pure lead for muzzle loader bullets and balls. I never kept about the first 10 I poured, wrinkles etc. Once the mold heated up they were more consistent. I always weighted each bullet. You will soon establish a average weight. Any odd weights I would discard. I have cut a number of off weight in half. You would often find a air pocket in the bullet, seriously affects accuracy. I was match shooting then, club shoots every month, other shoots in between. You wanted as consistent of bullet or ball as possible. I molded minibullets and round balls.  Plumbers lead was a source of good lead.The last I bought, last year, was from a recycle firm.

[Smokepole]

Thanks for the good info, hangfire.  We're gonna have to buy a scale to weigh them.  We were hoping to use the bullets for hunting if they group o.k.  We used lead commercial fishing weights from an Alaska fisherman.  Go rid of the wheel weight lead.  We preheated the mold, and the first bullet looked perfect, but I don't know if the weights are consistent.  Might have to shoot a few to see what happens.

[Smokepole]

Did a lot of shooting today using our homemade bullets.  Using a log for a rest, we were grouping inside a pie plate at 100 yards.  So I'm impressed with these bullets, and they seem to be just great for our 1:28 guns.  Used 80 grains of Pyrodex rs.  They load much easier than sabots, so that's a big plus.  Not to mention they are cheap.

Next time we go out with a proper bench and some sand bags.  Try some out to 150 yards.  I think we're gonna like this new mold.

[Jason]

Maybe I missed it   but what did they end up weighing?

[Smokepole]

Didn't weigh any yet, but we did have a few shots that were about a foot high.  Wondering... need to buy a scale.  Don't want to hunt with them unless they are all perfect, but for target shooting right now we don't care too much.  The Lee R.E.A.L. mold we got is 320 grains.

[BK]

You might want to try the Lee .501 440 g boolet and paper patch it and run it through the .501 sizer. I got the Idea from IdahoRon who posts over on the cast boolets site. I get phenomenal accuracy with this in a 1:28 twist barrel. I've ran about 3-4 gallons of wheel weights through my muzzle loaders with no problems, With minne balls I can run a bit more power since the skirts art tougher than pure lead, accuracy is not as good however. With reals and maxi balls accuracy is worse, with the paper patched and sized to bore dia it does not seem to matter if I use wheel weights or pure lead. When casting anything above about 250 grains I've found that I get better fill out and more consistent weight when running the mold and melt HOT, I turn my Lee 20#er up all the way, float my mould on top of the melt until it will lift away with no lead frozen to it and then cast at a leisurely pace. with 50 cal start at about 70 grains of your powder of choice and work up slowly until you find your most accurate load. Remember that the bison were all but wiped out with the 45-70 and that Billy Dixons shot at Adobe Walls was made with the same.