Are store-bought bullets lubed?

[RufusG]

Here's a suitably basic question for you. If I buy a box of cast bullets, will they already have lube on them or is that something I have to do myself? You can see I'm pretty much starting from ground zero here.

[357maximum]

I have never seen store bought cast boolits without lube...they may exist..but I have not seen it...

Welcome and if you stick around and are willing to learn...you won't need to buy any....you can make em just as good and better..if you sit a spell here...

Michael

[Bullshop]

Most will be yes but some custom casters will give you whatever you ask for.
BIC/BS

[John Boy]

Nearly all the vendors that make bullets for Schuetzen, Black Powder Cartridge Rifle or for BP revolver calibers will sell them to you lubed or unlubed. I buy from Sagebrush and they are all shipped unlubed

The norm is with lube. And if you have a 'magic' home brew lube, you can put the bullets in the oven. Melt the lube off and then grease em up with your own.

[montana_charlie]

When first starting, I looked at buying pre-cast bullets, but never bought any.
Most came sized and lubed, but they were always sized to a smaller diameter than I thought I needed. So, I just bought a mould and started making my own.

But, buying bullets of different designs...to find out what your gun likes before plunking down the bucks for two or three moulds...is still not a bad plan.
CM

[RufusG]

Thanks for the responses guys. I plan on starting out just purchasing the bullets, and see where it goes from there. I will likely be trying .32, .357, .41, and .45, so i have a little research and experimentation to do.

[snowtigger]

Thanks for the responses guys. I plan on starting out just purchasing the bullets, and see where it goes from there. I will likely be trying .32, .357, .41, and .45, so i have a little research and experimentation to do.

Start by slugging your barrels and ordering your bullets .001-.002 larger than the bore. You will save yourself a lot of grief trying to get your guns to shoot cast.
On revolvers, especially if that .45 is a Ruger, check your throat diameters. The throat should be .001-.002 inches larget than bore dia. If it isn't, you may not EVER get decent accuracy with cast.
I shoot several handguns and the only ones that regularly get condoms are the 9mm's. Bullets for them are too cheap to mess with casting.

[Leftoverdj]

If you must buy store bought, Hornady makes really good swaged .32 bullets. They are .314 which is large enough for anything I have run across. Keep the velocity down, and they should do very well for you.

If you are buying by mail, buy only from those who will ship in in the flat rate USPS priority mail box. Shipping by any other method can easily add $20 to the cost of your order.

[Hip's Ax]

Thanks for the responses guys. I plan on starting out just purchasing the bullets, and see where it goes from there. I will likely be trying .32, .357, .41, and .45, so i have a little research and experimentation to do.

I highly recommend Bullshop, dealing with Dan and Tina is a real home run. I'm not casting myself yet but I wanted to size my own bullets and experiment with lubes and Dan made me "as cast" bullets to my requested BHN, some with his mold, some with my mold and Dan and Tina were gracious enough to purchase a certain Lyman mold to complete my order. No idea of anyone else who provides service like that. Price is awesome and they ship flat rate Priority Mail. I made the mistake of ordering from another web based bullet business once before I found this site and Bullshop, never again.

[BrushBuster]

RufusG:

That's how I got started with cast boolits, buying from a reputable dealer. You've had some good advice here already, and slugging your barrel and thinking oversize is my primary recommendation. Also, don't settle for less than a custom caster that will give you options of boolit size and lube. The first lubes I had to shoot with were great for shipping and storage, but harder than the boolits .

It's a good way to get started, and you would be best to start off with smaller orders until fully satisfied, but I don't think you really start learning until you roll your own (or is that suffering?).

[RufusG]

Thanks for the additional advice guys. I'm slowly working up to it. Been looking at various bullets, but haven't bought any yet.

The .45 is a Smith 25 with a bored cylinder that started life in a 29, and the smith tells me that .452 should work fine.

[Hunter]

I shot store bought lead for years before I decided last month to start casting my own. I shot several brands of lead and though all were lubed they used a hard lube (so it will stay put in shipping). I have since found that in my own casted bullets using a soft lube like Alox I am getting less leading in my barrel. I also found my own bullets to be a little more constant than store bought.

[dakotashooter2]

Also, don't settle for less than a custom caster that will give you options of boolit size and lube. The first lubes I had to shoot with were great for shipping and storage, but harder than the boolits

.

I have to agree with this and add the following. My experience with commercial cast bullets, mostly from local sources has not been impressive. I have found that most of the bullets are too hard and often the lube is too hard (necessary for shipping) and cause excessive leading in my guns. The bevel based ones especially. Unless they are a bit oversized (usually not) and you are driving them at max or near max velocities they just dont want to obturate (sp) enough to properly seal the bore. If you do go this route a coat of lyman liquid allox often helps.