how do I pick the right bullet

[v-tech]

I am starting to cast my own bullets both pistol and rifle how do I pick the right type and weight of bullet. I wil be shooting from my browning HP, lee enfield, m95 styre, and enfield revolver.

Thanks for the input

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[Andy]

Welcome to bullet casting! This is a must for many of the old milsurps, as jacketed bullets just aren't available for them. Furthermore, there are many advantages to cast bullet over jacketed, not to mention the enjoyment that comes from making them.

Casting is a pastime that is easy to get into, but that you will never really master. There is so much that could be said that I must suggest that you do what I did and buy the "Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook". Almost all your questions (and some you haven't though of) will be abswered in that book. At the same time subscribe to the "Cast Boolits" Forum and watch and learn. Before long you'll be contributing.

[nicholst55]

I would suggest that you join the Cast Boolit forum here: Cast Boolits - Dedicated To The World Of Cast Bullets!

There is a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge to draw on there, and the members are more than willing to help out a new caster!

For the 9mm, you'll find that the most common cast bullets will be between 115-125 grains. Some will use lighter (100 grains) and some heavier (147 grains) bullets, but most will be within that range.

I would want a bullet between 160 grains and 200 grains (or so) for the Lee Enfield. Unfortunately, there isn't a wide selection of bullet molds available that cast bullets of a suitable diameter for the Lee Enfield. Many LE barrels will be found with groove diameters of .313-314"; a .309" bullet can't be expected to give the best accuracy in them.

It's important to match your bullet's diameter to the groove diameter of your gun. That's an important step in developing an accurate cast bullet load. You'll also need to match your bullet alloy to the pressure and velocity of your loads, and your bullet lube to the velocity as well.

I don't shoot either an M95 Steyr or an Enfield revolver, but there are members on the Cast Boolit forum that do. I'm sure they would be willing to offer advice on bullet selection.

Good luck!

[Beadwindow]

Hi V-Tech and welcome to bullet casting!

I cannot say much about casting for pistols, but have gotten into the hobby in the past year and have had the pleasure of making bullets for my M95, Lee Enfields and 8mm Mausers. I initially used the info on bullet casting from the Lee manual, surplusrifle.com, and the Cast-boolits forums plus a few other websites. In particular, there's an article about casting for milsurps by CE Harris on the Castboolits forum that's invaluable. This past summer I had the opportunity to try shooting cast with H-4227, H-4198 and IMR 3031 in my Steyr's and Lee Enfields, and had some good success in two K98s with 3031.

If you follow the directions from all of your sources, you'll find it fairly easy to make your first batch of bullets, though I found that I'd improved so much by the second time I'd tried casting some that I could hardly believe that I got the accuracy that I did out of the first batch. And while I got okay accuracy out of all of the loads, I found out that little changes made a big difference. For instance, I've discovered two really accurate loadings (24grains of IMR3031 behind a 205gr bullet in my M95 Steyr and 31grains of the same powder behind the same bullet sized to .323 in one of my K98s), but even then found the accuracy to vary widely from rifle to rifle with the same loads. The same load that had four shots touching at 50 yards with my M95 rifle made 2-4" groups with my M95 carbine, even though the latter's bore looked like it was practically new. In the next batch of bullets that I'll be loading, I'm going to press the gas checks onto the bullets instead of using the sizer to see how an extra .001-.003" in diameter will shoot in my Enfields and Steyr carbine. If that doesn't work, it will be time to slug the bores and match the bullets accordingly.

For the Steyr, I use the Lee 205gr bullet, with gas check, Lee Liquid Alox Lube and sized to .329 with a Lee sizer. I also read of someone who then resized the same bullets to .323 in another Lee sizer and had good success with them in his Mausers, and was very happy when I tried the same for my K98s. It will probably pay off if you slug your rifle bores first, and don't get disappointed if it takes two or three tries to come up with a load that works in your rifles.

Oh, and I should note that I've just used wheel weights and 50/50 lead tin solder to make the #2 alloy that's hard enough for low to medium power loads like the one's that I've tried thusfar.

Good Luck,

Frank