Anyone Tried Hard Cast Bullets In Your Tommy?

[timkel]

Just wondering if I should give them a try. Way back, I tried lead bullets in a subgun, it left lead in the barrel. But these were soft lead bullets. I have used only FMJ since.

Does the hard cast still leave lead in the barrel when used in full auto??

[StooperZero]

bolt action, semi, F/A shouldnt matter. Your bullet make-up is what matters and that it is lubed properly.

 

 

I switched from Alox to a Lubrisizer-4500 using Moly-lube and Orange Magic sized to .451 and none of my .45 guns have any evidence of leading.

 

 

 

I had around 1100 rounds through my thompson barrel and just replaced it and other than filth from using bullseye I had no lead anywhere .

The new barrel with a Cutts on it has about 100 thorugh it so far with no signs other than the cutts collects powder residue.

Edited March 23, 2013 by StooperZero

[smkummer]

My first 150 rounds in my new to me 1928A1 Savage with Lee TL452-230 left alot of lead in both the barrel and compensator but the Lee tumble lube bottle I used was thinned out and appeared to be way too thin so more testing is needed. These bullets were water dropped and sized .452. I also reaquired Lyman's 452374 RN bullet, that may prove better. Usually I have minor leading problems in my M3 grease gun and Reising so again more testing is in order. Now getting 9mm lead bullets hot enough to cycle open bolt subguns without leading is a whole different story.

[Grasshopper]

Hi, I've shot thousands with no signs of lead. I just buy Dardas bullets sized to .453 as my guns have military chambers and "mature" bores. I'd buy .454 if I could. I found back in the 70's that about .002 over groove worked best (if the round fits in the chamber!). I read later, back in the 30's, good old Elmer Keith had figured out that lead bullets .001-.003" over groove diameter work best. I always add Lee tumble lube to commercial cast bullets as I've never had much luck with the crayon wax that comes on them. SAAMI for 45 is .450-.453" for lead bullets, .451-.455 for groove FWIW.

 

That's my take on it. I don't bother cleaning the barrels of the guns I normally shoot. They look bright so I just wipe out the receiver, wipe the outside with oil, and back into the safe.

 

BTW, my .45 guns are not compensated. On the 9mm compensated (aka Beretta 38 series) I paint the compensator with #9 and store muzzle down in a zip-lock bag. The crap falls out/off eventually. (I use bullets sized to .358" for the 9mm SMG. Again, military chambers.) For the squeamish, the SAAMI spec for a 9mm bore is .355"-.359". While jacketed bullets are covered in the spec, lead bullets are not. As usual, work up loads and watch for pressure signs as OAL is critical in 9mm, especially with 158gr bullets.

 

YMMV,

 

Good Luck,

 

Grasshopper

Edited March 23, 2013 by Grasshopper

[NavyEngineer]

I've been mainly shooting Missouri Bullet Company Softball! 230 grain roundnose lead bullets (sized to .452, Brinell hardness 18) through my Savage M1, and have seen no signs of leading yet (approximately 300 rounds). I've been using a fairly light charge of Accurate Arms #5, because I have a good quantity of it on hand.

[Balder]

I'm casting 230 grains Lee, quite a bit of lead is left in the compensator but not much in the bore.

 

Balder

[timkel]

Well...I will have to give it a try. I hope the lower cost of hard cast is not more trouble then its worth. I'm still waiting for the bullets to arrive. I will report back in a few weeks.

[just4grins]

Have you tried plated bullets? I shoot 230 grain RN plated from X-treme bullets,with no leading or issues. A little more expensive than hardcast lead, but much cheaper than jacketed. Feeds nicely in my Thompson.

[timkel]

Hmmm...$122/K.....They are of course, out of stock. But I may give them a try.

[emmagee1917]

Precision delta has FMJ for $135 /1000 shipped.

Have a few thousand on order but have not tried them yet. Have had good luck with Barry's and Rainer's 230TMJs though.

Chris

[just4grins]

I got together with some friends and ordered 25,000 bullets (various calibers) from X-treme. For a 25,000 bullet minimum, you get the wholesale price, pay the freight, and it comes out to be about 75% of the retail price. Good deal if you don't mind transporting a small pallet that weighs 1500 lbs (or more).

[Waldo]

I have had a 1928AC with a Cutts Compensator on it since the early 1980's. I have shot thousands of cast bullets thru it. I buy whatever cast bullet I can get a deal on. I have used Dardas and S&S casting recently. I used to belong to a club that had some active IPSC shooters. They would always try to get a big order of cast bullets organized. I would generally buy 10,000. They would always go with the best price they could find. So I have used a bunch of different suppliers over the years. I use either Bullseye or Unique. I have never had a problem. I will get some lead on the compensator, but very little to none in the barrel. I use 230 gr. RN and/or 200 gr. SWC. I have also ran a few 185gr. SWC thru it. I load them to duplicate factory velocities. I have also shot cast bullets thru a MAC 10 in .45 ACP and a Sten MKII and Uzi in 9MM. Never any problem. I was at a shoot once and a guy was there with a 1917 Browning water cooled. He was playing with cast bullets. Trying to find a load that would work the gun but not be so hot that he would get leading. I think he was pretty close.