Ive been having some leading issues. Tried all sorts of things to fix it. Lubing, water dropping, crimping, etc...
Well, I learned a valuable lesson today. SLUG YOUR BARREL!!
I was a dumb newb and bought what molds I thought would work. Well, I was wrong. I bought a .401 for my .40cals, and a .430 for my S&W 629-1 44mag. After tons of googling I thought those would work. Well both my 40s slugged @ .401 and my S&W slugged @ .430. Those numbers are exactly what my molds spit out.
General rule for casting. Bullets should be +.002 bigger than barrel.
I was very intimated by the whole process, ended up being WAYYYY easier than I was making it out to be. I mean it literally took me less than 5 minutes to slug 4 barrels. That time doesn't count making slugs or dismantling the firearms.
*Tips for people like me*
-Buy some lead fishing weights from walmart, or any other pure lead or as close to pure as you can get.
-Throw a few weights in a ladle, put over a fire (If you are casting you should have a ladle) I used the side burner on my grill. Melts pretty fast.
-Pour lead into a used brass casing. I used fired/non-sized pieces brass since its expanded from firing. (This will make a nice round elongated slug.) The casing should be from the caliber being slugged.
-Use a kinetic bullet puller and smack the slug out after it cools (you should have one if you reload)
-Slugs will be sloped on one end, stick that end into barrel. Clean and lube barrel before you start.
-Use some sort of rod to push through. This is up to you. I used my lyman ladle handle. I wrapped the end with electrical tape and put a small piece of brass case over the tape. Use enough tape so the piece of brass fits on snug. I then put a little bit of tape over the bottom of the brass. (The brass needs to be small enough to fit easily through the barrel, it should just fall right through.)
-Lightly tap with whatever you have handy. Hammer, mallet, your kinetic bullet puller, etc. Should be small resistance at the beginning, once it gets past the muzzle it only takes really light taps to finish pushing through.
-Use micrometer to measure.
There are more elaborate methods. This was quick and easy and you get the overall diameter of the barrel.
If anyone needs picture let me know, I could update if needed.