So who pours their own?

[Duffer]

Conicals that is.

I've never been much into reloading but having gotten this Bighorn and with my typical "can't take the easy route" personality, I'm looking for info on casting bullets! 

What have you done right? What have you done wrong? What's your favorite mold? Discuss.

Tell us your tale 

[flinter]

I have been pouring my conicals for 30+ years. My partners and I all shoot TC Hawkens 50 cal. 1 in 48 twist or 1 in 28 twist barrels. 370 gr. Maxi balls with 100 grs of 2ffg black powder. Shoots about a 3 inch group at 100 yards with my 58  year old eyes We haven taken dozens of elk with this load. This is a hard hitting, deep penetrating load. Once my rifle is sighted in I do all my practice off hand at 100 yards at a 12" x 12" x 3/8" piece of steel plate hung by a light chain. I feel if I can hit this I can hit a deer or elk in the lungs. The great thing about pouring your own is after you have poured enough to pay for your mold you are shooting for the price of powder and scrap lead and you will shoot a lot more, which will make you a better shooter. Good luck!!!

[Duffer]

Thanx Flinter!

The Bighorn is 1:28 and I expect that I would only use it in Wa & Idaho, so sabots and such are not an option. If I have to shoot "all lead full bore" in Idaho then I'd rather just shoot that all the time and get a conical design and load fine tuned for best accuracy. 

I've been doing lots of reading up on conical designs and the Maxiballs come with lots of praise. The Minis not so much and the R.E.A.L. designs are more hit & miss; muzzleloader dependent.

I bought a 500 S&W mold just because it was such a good deal. Been reading an Idaho gents' threads about paper-patching these but they may shoot well with just a greased button.

Once life slows down a bit (probably not until after archery Elk) I'll get more serious about rounding up some equipment and if I can get my hands on some test bullets, try a few different designs to see just what this Bighorn likes the best!   

.... or I'll just start buying molds and trying them as I go! (more typical for weak-willed me) 

[TopOfTheFoodChain]

Keep in mind.... Washington state banned lead wheel weights for passenger vehicles 2 years ago. I work in a retail tire store and our used weights coming off wheels are 90% non-lead now. We do not even sort weights for resale anymore, it all goes into the scrap steel drop box.