hard cast and gas checked bullets

[model 70]

what exactly do these terms mean and how are they accomplised?

[Adam Helmer]

model 70,

The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook is a good introduction to bullet casting and discusses this and other matters. Lyman has a standard of a #2 alloy for cast bullets that uses wheelweights and tin and gives a Brinell Hardness suitable for handguns. For magnum handgun loads and rifle bullets a harder alloy is needed and linotype fills the bill there. Some bullet moulds cast a bullet with an indentation at the base of the bullet for the crimping on of a brass or copper disk (gascheck) that shields the bullet base (especially for rifles) from the hot powder gases on firing.

I use gaschecks on my rifle bullets, but not for my handgun bullets. I quench my cast bullets by dropping them from the mould into a bucket of cold water. Lyman discusses quenching bullets to double the hardness. They have a process of "cooking" cast bullets in an oven and then dropping them into a bucket of water. I have found that dropping them from the mould to the water gives me the same hardness. My magnum handgun bullets do not lead after my quenching process. I use Aalox lube and have fine accuracy. Hope this helps.

Adam

[Bullseye 2]

I have always heat treated all my cast bullets for my 44 mag.

By heat treating in an oven at various temperatures for various time limits, you can customize your bullet to do what ever you want.

For target shooting, I will normally heat treat mine at 450 degrees for 1 hour and drop in ice water. This gives me a BHN hardness of 33-35 with WW metal.

For hunting, since I can push 300gr cast bullets from my 15" contender over 1800fps, I will heat treat as above, and after the bullets are stable, I will then re-heat treat at 250 degrees for 45 minutes and let them air cool. This will draw the hardness back down to around 16-18 BHN, which will have controlled expansion at 1800fps.

The best item to get is a book titled "Jacketed performance with Cast Bullets" by Veral Smith. He is a custom die maker and has compiled a very good paperback going through all the particulars and recipes for making cast bullets and how to get them to perform their best for your needs.

Hope this helps a little.:)

[Rocky Raab]

Welcome aboard, Bullseye2.

[BILLY D.]

bullseye

great info and welcome aboard.

[model 70]

i see. to put it in simpler terms......?

[BILLY D.]

ok, i'll bite

hard cast simply has to do with the materials used to contruct the bullet. it means it has less lead content and more hardner in ratio. soft lead is usually 1/ 20 parts lead.

gas checks are a copper cap attatched to the base of the bullet. purpose: two.

one, keeps the powder gases away from the bullet base and usually utilized in magnum type loadings with lots of hot gases.

two. also cleans the barrel of lead deposits to prevent build up of further lead deposits and spreads open to seal the barrel.

and thats about as much as i know. and i'm as simple as can be:rolleyes:

[model 70]

exactly what i was looking for. thanks a ton everybody.