Loading Lead vrs Plated - New loader ?

[BACKTOSHOOTING]

moved

[ronbo40s&w]

I loaded Rainier bullets first, then bought missouri bullets 180 gr tc for my .40 s&w. The plated are problem-free in every way. The missouri bullets appear to be too small and lead significantly in my pistol. Increasing the charge reduced the leading, but it still leads up after relatively few rounds. The Missouri bullets i bought are 18 brinell hardness on top of being too small. That seems to be causing my issues, but they are still very accurate bullets. I don't regret buying them, they just lead up my barrel. I think my own cast boolits will fix all that. In fact, i am considering a seond barrel to shoot lead and I'll go back to plated in this one. Not that expensive, considering the savings in cast boolits.

God Bless!

Ron

[arkypete]

I've found that all of the plated bullet makers make their products to small. I was really interested in Rainer's 300 grain 45 bullet to use as a plinker in my Rossi model 92. Unfortunately it's .451 which will not work in 45 Colt. I tried 200 grain SWC, who the maker is I'm not sure, but the bullets were .451 whixh just don't work in a 45 auto rim.
I've found that 140 grain and 158 grain .357 work acceptably in medium loads in my 357 pistols. But not any where close to what my 140 grain .3585 plain cast bullets work.

jim

[40Super]

I've said it before here and on other forums that for some stupid reason 99% of commercial casters only offer .401 .40S&W boolits when 85-90% of the barrels out there NEED .4025 to .404 slugs. They have to get constant complaints about leading. You can't even buy a sizer that is oversized. I made my own so I could shoot several of my guns without leading. Makes absolutely no sense.
If you want to buy larger boolits, the only guy that sells them is http://dardascastbullets.com/ , fortunately ,he is a good quality caster, The only other option is to buy your own molds and make them yourself, thats one of the big reasons I got into it myself.

[ronbo40s&w]

Once I shoot up my missouri bullets, I'm smelting them with pure lead and recasting softer boolits. Once I scoop the sand off in the dross, that is.

God Bless!

-Ron

[40Super]

I put my range pick-ups in a small pail and fill with water,stir to loosen up all the dirt and dump, rinse and repeat to get resonably clean, then spread 'em out on an old towel,let dry.

As far as mixing with pure lead, it doesn't really matter. Once the size is correct(at least .001" over bore size) the bhn just doesn't really make much of a difference. Remember rule #1 is fit, #2 is fit and #3 is fit. For the average pistol ammo at least.

[ROGER4314]

I use the Rainier bullets in several calibers. They work great but the copper coating is very thin. Be careful not to use much (if any) crimp as it will break through the copper coating.

Flash

[max range]

One of the biggest frustrations I have ever had with reloading was with plated bullets. The lead under the micro thin copper layer is black powder soft. The bullets were .002 too large and bulged the cases unless I really opened them up. The usual tension was not enough to hold them in place and as mentioned previously, if you crimp too hard the copper crushes the super soft lead and now you have another problem.

All the above is workable, but why would anyone bother when you are paying *almost* copper jacketed bullet prices for the copper plated bullets? Why not A) buy real copper jacket bullets, or save a little and buy lead bullets? I will never buy another copper jacket bullet. I will cast all my fishing sinkers up if I run out of lead. (and I have enough alloyed lead to sink my zodiac).

To prove my point, use your mic on some copper plated bullets. Not a dial caliper but a micrometer on a large sampling. Oops, not very consistent? Then measure another large, random sample. Ooops, not very consistent again? Why bother? My three cents (adjusted for recession). Your mileage may vary.

[mdi]

One of the biggest frustrations I have ever had with reloading was with plated bullets. The lead under the micro thin copper layer is black powder soft. The bullets were .002 too large and bulged the cases unless I really opened them up. The usual tension was not enough to hold them in place and as mentioned previously., if you crimp too hard the copper crushes the super soft lead and now you have another problem
All the above is workable, but why would anyone bother when you are paying *almost* copper jacketed bullet prices for the copper plated bullets? Why not A) buy real copper jacket bullets, or save a little and buy lead bullets? I will never buy another copper jacket bullet. I will cast all my fishing sinkers up if I run out of lead. (and I have enough alloyed lead to sink my zodiac).

To prove my point, use your mic on some copper plated bullets. Not a dial caliper but a micrometer on a large sampling. Oops, not very consistent? Then measure another large, random sample. Ooops, not very consistent again? Why bother? My three cents (adjusted for recession). Your mileage may vary.

Jes a thought; if the bullets are too big, why would you have a problem with neck tension? I only shoot plated in my 9mms and taper crimp only. No reason to crimp so tightly that plating is ruptured...