DAVE WOLF E Publisher

NEAL KNOX Editor

HELEN A. MARTIN Asst. to Editor

ROGER T. WOLFE, Ph. D. Associate Editor

JAMES D. CARMICHEL Associate Editor

NORM LAMMERS Technical Adviser

HOMER POWLEY Ballistics Adviser

MAJ. GEORGE C. NONTE JR. General Assignment

WALLACE LABISKY Shotshells

JOHN WOOTTERS Gun Tests

HARVEY A. DONALDSON Historical A dviser

KEN WATERS "Pet Loads"

EDWARD M. YARD General Assignment

DON ZUTZ General Assignment

BOB HAGEL Hunting Adviser

JOHN BUHMILLER A frican Cartridges

DAVE LeGATE Art & Production Mgr.

BARBARA LAFFEY Circulation Manager

JANE CLARK Asst. Circulation Mgr.

POLLY STARBUCK Exec. Secretary

ROY STARBUCK Administrative Asst.

The

Handloader Magazine

September-October, 1971.V01.6-No. 5.Box 3030, Prescott, Az. 86301

FEATURES: Those Mysterious Vapor Trails . . . . . .Grant Cunningham Reviewing the Basics: Cast Bullets . . . . . . John Wootters Pet Loads: The 7.65mm Mauser . . . . . . . Ken Waters What's a Good Trap Load?. . . . . . . . . . . Don Zutz 7mm Magnum a t Long Range . K.C. Sjoberg and D.A. Thompson Component Compatibility . . . . . . . Richard Underwood Ultramodern Obsolete .220 Swift . . . . . . Jim Carmichel Shotshell Primers . . . . . . . . . . . . Wallace Labisky

18 20 26 28 32 35 39 42

DEPARTMENTS: Editorial . . . . . . . . 6 Cartridge of the Month . . 31 Tip to Tip . . . . . . . 9 Propellant Profiles . . . . 45 Lock, Stock and Barrel . . 12 ProducTests . . . . . . 62 Reader Bylines . . . . . 16 Harvey Donaldson . . . . 66

The H A N D L O A D E R , Copyr ight 1971, i s published bi-monthly b y the Dave Wolfe Publishing Company, P.O. Box 3030, Prescott, Arizona 86301. (Also publisher o f Ri f le Magazine.) Telephone (6021 445-7810. Second Class Postage paid at Prescott, Arizona, and additional mail ing offices. Single copy price o f current issue 51.00. Subscription price: six issues $5.00; 1 2 issues 59.00; 1 8 issues 512.50. Outside U.S. possessions and Canada 56.00. 511.00 and 515.50. Recommended foreign single copy price, 51.25. Advertising rates furnished on request.

Publisher o f The H A N D L O A D E R i s no t responsible fo r mishaps o f any nature which might occur f r o m use o f published loading data, or f r o m recommendations b y any member o f The Staff. N o part o f this publ icat ion may be reproduced w i thout wr i t ten permission f r o m the editor. Manuscripts f r o m free-lance writers must be accompanied b y stamped self-addressed envelope and the publisher cannot accept responsibil i ty for lost or mut i lated manuscripts.

1s H OOTI N GI SPORTS j

Change o f address: Please give one month's notice. Send bo th o l d and new address, plus mailing label if possible. t o Circulation Dept., The H A N D L O A D E R Magazine. P.O. Box 3030, Prescott, Arizona 86301.

Official Publica tion of San ta Barbara Reloading Association

Your September - October Cover

Bul let casting can be the most intriguing facet o f the handloading hobby (or the most frustrating fo r the beginner), as John Wootters explains in his "Basics" article in this issue. Our sincere apologies t o Penguin Industries f o r the omission of a Lachmiller m o u l d in the cover display. Shown are, top left, the SAECO, then clockwise, Lyman, Ohaus (prototype), Hensley & Gibbs, and the obsolete Win- chester and Modern Bond. Transparency by Dave Wolfe.

4 HANDLOADER - September-October, 1971

By Neal Knox

HEN I A N N O U N C E D M Y write- W in candidacy for the NRA Board of Directors, and stated some of the reasons why, 1 expected to receive a swarm of irate letters, and hopefully, some support.

To my astonishment, the first critical letter has yet to arrive, but I have been overwhelmed with letters of encourage- ment and promises of assistance. Those letters and phone calls have come pri- m d l y from Life Members, but also from Endowment Members and Annual Members, one of whom said he was willing to buy a Life Membership in order t o vote for me.

Significantly, this support hasn’t come from any one part of the country, but from all over the nation.

All this has been quite flattering, yet I realize that this isn’t so much a

sign of support for me, personally, as it is a measure of the concern about the future of N U . I said I would try t o make changes, those who are convinced changes must be made are willing to vote for me in the hope that I can; it’s as simple as that.

It convinces me that the dissatisfac- tion with the way things are going at 1600 &ode Island is more widespread than I thought. To be sure, some of my correspondents had their own axe to grind, personal grudges and the like. But most of the writers were from the mainstream of the NRA membership, most of them never involved in NRA politics before, but concerned and un- easy about the way things are going - and what recent trends portend for the future of lawful gun ownership and the shooting sports.

Many have expressed cautious op-

timism that the new Executive Vice President, Max Rich, and President Fred Hankenjos will attempt to bring about much-needed changes, but they doubt that these men can do it without a lot of help.

Some have suggested that I put to- gether a slate of 25 candidates, one for each opening on the board, and wage an all-out campaign - including ads in The American Rifleman - to “throw the rascals out.” That I will not do, for there are few “rascals” on the, board - and there are some mighty good men, men whose help I would need, and whom I would hope t o help in their own efforts toward changing the NRA.

However, many have urged that I ask former board member Gary Anderson, who was purged because he dared to dissent, to also run as a write-in candi- date. As I said in the last issue, Gary, twice an Olympic Gold Medal winner, theological seminary graduate, and legis- lative activist, is the kind of man who should be on the board, so I called him and asked if he would consent to be a candidate.

I Gary didn’t hesitate: “Sure. The ty the election process is set up, we’re t likely to be elected, but if we sim- r try, the boys at Headquarters should t the message. And if we are elected, ’ won’t owe our seat to any of the Iwers-that-be.’ ”

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ever had. I don't even know if, we agree or disagree upon the changes that need to be made in NRA. But that's not important. We do agree that changes need to be made.

We also agreed that we have no desire to align ourselves with any of the fac- tions within NRA. We will gratefully accept the support of any who care t o support us, but we will not be sub- servient to any individual or group. And I might add, neither me to him, nor him to me.

As for the mechanics of being elected, that presents a problem. There are about 100,000 Life Members of NRA, but only 30,000 to 60,000 ac- tually vote, I am told. Many of my correspondents say they have never voted simply because there was no rea- son to: 25 vacancies, 25 selected candidates.

As I read the NRA Bylaws, it appears a ballot can be ruled invalid if one or two names are written in and all the others are scratched. In other words, each ballot must show a vote for 25 different individuals.

To understand the significance of this, let's assume 25 people were voting for candidates for the 25 directorships.

Further, that 13 voted for Gary, but that each scratched a different name from the list of nominees. A majority of the voters would have cast ballots for Gary, but he would not be elected. The final count would show that 12 candi- dates would have received 25 votes, 13 would have received 24, but Gary would have received only 13 votes. The fact that a majority supported him would make no difference.

This means that to have a reasonable chance of election Gary and I would have to run against a particular indivi- dual, and neither of us wants to make this a personality thing. Even if we did, until the ballots are prepared this winter we would not know whom the nomi- nees are.

Another possibility would be to ask that you strike the first two names on the ballot, whoever they might be, and write in our names. But that could put us up against a highly qualified man that we would like to see on the board.

So if you are willing to support Gary and me, or either of us, I ask that you vote only for the candidates that you know and would like to have on the board, writing in our names and the m m i s of any Life Member except those nominated by the nominating com-

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mittee. That way you will be voting only for the people you actually want and will be cutting down the vote of the candidates whom Gary or I might defeat.

That's asking you to go to quite a bit of trouble, but that's the only way Gary or I have a chance. And at best our chances are mighty slim. No write- in candidate has ever succeeded in beat- ing this stackeddeck election system (which would be one thing we would try to change) and I'm told that none has received as many as 1,000 votes.

From the response thus far, I'm confident that we are certain to get far more votes than that - how many more depends on you and your friends.

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Many of you have read - in The Rifle, Gun Week, or The American Rifleman, but virtually nowhere else - of the outrageous ATFD raid upon the Silver Spring, Md., apartment of gun collector/handloader Kenyon Ballew. The ATFD agents and county police, 0

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“dressed like hippies,” were armed with a daytime search warrant alleging that the apartment contained unregistered hand grenades.

When Ballew, who was taking a bath, and his wife, who was wearing only panties and said she was frightened by the shouting, failed to immediately open the door, they battered it down with a ram they had brought with them. Ballew, who apparently thought hood- lums were breaking in, ran from the bath stark naked, grabbed a loaded replica of a Colt .44 percussion revolver, and was critically wounded when the agents opened fire.

The physical evidence in the apart- ment indicates that Ballew’s gun was fired once, at a radical angle as he was falling with a bullet in the brain. If he survives, he will be permanently dis- abled, a vegetable, according to one source. The hand grenades? All inert, not legally grenades under the law.

Also, the officers made the raid at dusk, and finished ransacking the apart- ment, taking his collection of legal guns

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and other items not on the warrant, after dark - when the warrant was no longer valid, according to legal authori- ties.

Also, the question arises as to why the agents and the officers with them were bearded and dressed as they were.

Also, why did they approach the apartment through a steel door, when the other door had a glass window. Had Mrs. Bauew been able to see the uni- formed officers reportedly in the group, the tragedy probably would never have occurred.

Also, how in the name of humanity could those officers have restrained Mrs. Ballew from aiding her husband, and shoved her into the apartment hallway undressed as she was?

Also, why was the warrant issued on hearsay evidence, and why were the officers so eager to break down the door? Hand grenades aren’t perishable evidence.

There are many other questions about this case. I hope the investiga- tion ordered by the White House brings some satisfactory answers - and appro- priate legal action against any officers or administrators responsible for this outrage.

We understand Ballew’s family is in dire financial straits (he was a press- room employee for the Washington Post and Star). Contributions for the family’s living expenses, medical ex- penses, etc. may be made to Ballew’s account, No. 600-2220, at the Citizens Bank of Maryland, Silver Spring.

Attorney John T. Bonner, a shooter and collector, has volunteered his legal services, but there are certain to be other legal expenses.

The Ballew case brings to mind an incident reported in Newsweek. During the flap over the Pentagon papers, two reporters went to Supreme Court Jus- tice Berger’s home at 11 p.m. Justice Berger met them at the door, dressed in a robe and carrying a “long-barreled revolver. ”

What if the Treasury Department’s ATFD agents, attired as they were when they raided Kenyon Ballew’s home, had broken down the Chief Justice’s door? That’s something for the courts, the Congress and Treasury Secretary John Connally to consider. 0

HANDLOADER - September-October, 1971 14

Reviewing The Basics

CAST BULLETS

By John Wootters

T’S NO GREAT TRICK for anyone I with a bit of common sense and the ability to read a handloading manual to develop serviceable ammunition for a rifle or pistol using jacketed bullets. But the gent who consistently comes up with accurate, purpose-tailored loads with cast bullets demonstrates not only mechanical competence but imagina- tion, patience, and talent. As I have said before, the making and manage-

ment of cast bullets is the postgraduate level of reloading.

Perhaps the most glaring void in handloading literature today is the ab- sense of a truly comprehensive and authoritative book devoted entirely to casting, loading, and shooting home- poured alloy bullets. There are a few good references - among them the 45th Edition of the Lyman Reloading

Handbook, the out-of-print but classic Lyman Handbook of Cast Bullets, cer- tain chapters in Naramore’s Principles and Practice of Loading Ammunition, and Section Four of the latest NRA Handloader’s Guide - but none of these tells the complete, up-todate story of cast bullets. It may be that no one man could tell it all. In any case, each re- loader must learn the fascinations and frustrations of cast bullets the hard way, usually. This article obviously cannot be comprehensive, but perhaps some- thing herein can make the way a little easier, even for the man already expert in conventional reloading.

The first thing he must do is to throw out all his hard-earned concepts of reloading metallic cartridges and open his mind to many new ideas, as well as radical variations in some of the

different world. ild ones. Cast bullets comprise a whole ,

To some, they may be more trouble than they’re worth. To others, cast bullets are the ultimate challenge in handloading. With them can be accom- plished many worthy ends which are impossible with jacketed slugs, or which

Bullet moulds are temperamental, delicate creatures, and good ones are to be treasured and tenderly cared for. In understanding hands, they’ll give a lifetime of service.

HhNDLOADER - Saptamher-October. le71 20

cannot be done as well with them. For example, only cast bullets can be used in the so-called “squib” loads which are so handy for “silent” elimina- tion of pests and for indoor shooting in large-bore rifles; at these subvelocity levels, jacketed bullets tend to stick in the barrel.

Many competition rifle shooters, and almost all pistol shooters, rely on ac- curate cast-bullet loads for the great bulk of their practice shooting due to their low, low cost and contribution to long barrel life. Hardcast bullets make superb small-game loads for big- game rifles because they will not expand to demolish edible meat. Cast bullets are the one and only source of pro- jectiles for certain odd-sized, obsolete guns and cartridges. The list could go on and on, but I think the best of all reasons for casting bullets is simply in the satisfaction they offer the serious experimenter, plus the pleasure of shooting an MOA group or downing a turkey or deer with a projectile he made himself.

The subject of cast bullets breaks

Qreful selection of design permits one mould to furnish bullets for a variety of cartridges. Here, Lyman’s No. 257312 works well in full-power loadings in .25-20, left, medium loads in -250 Savage and .257 Roberts, center, and light loads in . 2 5 0 6 , right, and other large-cased rounds.

HANDLOADER - Sept-r-October, 1971

itself down into three phases: making the bullets, loading them, and shooting them. In each area there are major differences from jacketed-bullet man- agement. For the purpose of this discussion I shall assume that the reader has a general grasp of the latter.

MAKING THE CAST BULLET The first problem is selecting a cast-

bullet design from among the dozens

available in any given caliber. Exten- sive shooting with a variety of loadings in the rifle or pistol involved is the only way to determine finally the success of the selection, but there are a few rules of thumb which I follow (and with which others may or may not agree). The question of profile is quickly set- tled; I stay away from spitzer-shaped bullets. Round-nosed slugs, semi-wad- cutters, and blunt bullets which are

21

short for their weight almost invariably give best results at reduced velocities in normal rifling pitches. Twodiameter bullet designs whose nose section is about bore-diameter in the barrel in question and whose body is not more than .OO1 larger than groove diameter are generally reliable.

As to weight, it seems to me that a cast bullet design whose weight is in the upper half of the jacketed-bullet weight range for the same cartridge is always a good bet. For example, normal jacketed bullets for the .30-06 range from 110 to 220 grains, and cast designs of 165 grains and up seem to work well for everyone and in almost all rifles. There are exceptions to this rule; I have a mould for the Lyman 311316 gas- check bullet, weighing about 110 grains which shoots extremely well in several rifles of .308, .30-30, and .30-06 cham- berings.

The presence or absence of a gas check depends upon the purpose for which the bullet will be used and the velocities planned for it. In general, any velocity much over 1,500 feet per sec- ond will require a gas check, and I prefer gas checks on almost all rifle bullets, regardless of velocity, simply because I get better accuracy with them. On pistol bullets, plain-based patterns seem to work well enough for all my purposes.

It has been written that cast bullets

Perfectly good bullets can be cast in quantity with simple and inexpensive equipment. Use of a camp stove allows smelly casting to be done outside the house, improving domestic relations.

designed for gas checks can be fired at velocities below 1,500 fps without the checks in place. I’ve tried this many times without any success at all in terms of accuracy, so I say that if a bullet de- sign calls for a gas check, use one.

The other factor in cast bullet design is the number, spacing, and shape of grease grooves. The whole subject of lubricating cast bullets could be ex- panded into an article in itself. It is im- portant, not only in merely preventing leading in the bore but also as a major factor in accuracy - a point well under- stood by the Schuetzen riflemen before the turn of the century and recently re- discovered. The development of the so-called Alox lubricants (sold by Jav- elina, Hodgdon, Lyman, and others, usually as a 50-50 mixture or pure beeswax and a’ petroleum derivative called Alox 2138F) has changed many ideas of bullet design. Indeed, there is experimental evidence that this lubri- cant actually provides too much lubri- cation with certain multi-grooved or “Loverin” bullet styles, even at high velocities, and that patterns with two or three grease grooves often are more satisfactory with Alox. Be that as it may, Alox has been a tremendous breakthrough in cast-bullet technology, and I recommend it for all such shooting.

Where bullet moulds drop slugs of the right diameter without sizing, lubricating can be performed as shown here. Bullets are stood on their bases and molten wax-based lube poured around them to the desired depth. After the lube hardens, bullets are cut out of cake with expanded, chamfered case bodies. Be sure to wipe surplus lubricant off the base!

22

The molten material which will be poured into the mould ultimately se- lected will, of course, be lead, alloyed in varying degrees with tin and/or anti- mony. I believe it best to regard cast bullets as essentially non-expanding pro-

jectiles (exceptions to be noted below), and this suggests the hardest practical alloy, which is printers’ Linotype metal. This is 84 percent lead, four percent tin, and 12 percent antimony, and has a Brinell hardness of 20 t o 22. Although harder than required for many purposes, it has worked so well for me for so many years that I use nothing else.

However, if expansion is needed for hunting loads, a softer metal will be needed. For rifles, a mixture of 90-5-5 or even a little softer will expand on impact and still avoid barrel leading and wide grouping. A hollow-point bullet (either cast or drilled), of approximately this temper and driven at 1,200 fps or more has surprisingly reliable expansion characteristics and can be used with satisfaction for full-power hunting loads in many of the older cartridges such as the .38-55, .32-40, .45-70, and others. For these rounds, there is no advantage at all in jacketed bullets. Pistol rounds for all but maximum velocity magnums are less critical and can be softer yet, with a 40-1-1 blend being about the softest practical. An exception is bullets for auto-loading pistols, for which 1 re- gard straight Linotype as ideal for maxi- mum resistance to deformation in the slam-bang loading cycle.

The mechanics of bullet casting have been described by experts in the refer- ences listed above and in back issues of The Handloader, but a word about equipment may be in order. I’ve dipped thousands of bullets from an iron pot over a gasoline-fueled camp stove, and I’ve dripped thousands more from vari-

HANDLOADER - September-October, 1971

Wootters considers the use of Dacron to hold small charges in place and to insulate cast-bullet bases a major factor in accuracy with large-case cartridges.

ous bottom-draw, electric melting pots. Both methods have their advantages and perfect bullets can be made either way.

I find that I get a higher percentage of good bullets by dipping, but that the bottom-draw furnaces are so fast that I wind up with more good bullets in the same elapsed time. The electric pots do produce more rejects, however, and somewhat closer inspection of the finished product is indicated. Either setup demands frequent and thorough fluxing of the molten metal; the dipper method keeps the alloy homogenous with less effort and is easier to flux and stir, while the electric pot holds a pre- cise temperature effortlessly, permits better management of mould tempera- tures, and allows smaller sprues. Which do I use? An electric pot.

Inspection of the fresh-cast bullets is critical to shooting success. Be hard- nosed, even though it hurts to toss away perhaps one-third of those glittering little beauties you’ve just worked so hard to make. It’s easy enough to produce perfect bullets that there’s no justification for keeping marginal or even suspicious specimens. And don’t get the idea that there’s something wrong with your equipment or tech- nique because you can’t seem to run 95 percent or better perfection; neither can anybody else. If you apply the same acceptance standards to your bul- lets that I do to mine, a 70 to 80 per- cent figure is OK, and even a 60 percent

level is worth the trouble. Much de- pends upon the individual mould.

I have a couple of sets of blocks which produce almost 100 percent good bullets, and others that I can’t shoot more than half the bullets cast in them, for no visible reason and no matter how I vary temperatures and techniques. Oddly, one of my moulds which pro- duces the poorest percentage of shoot- able bullets drops bullets which shoot better than those from other, similar moulds. Bullet moulds are mysterious things; you can’t outguess them. When you get a good one, treasure it and pam- per it, and, above all, don’t loan it!

And just what sort of defects are “acceptable”? None! “Perfect” means just that: without visible flaws of any sort (except possibly the irregular frosty patches which appear on bullets from a bottom-draw pot).

SIZING

Lubrication has been touched upon above, but most of us employ a lubri- sizer which, on one stroke, greases, sizes, and gas-checks the bullet. A heated controversy could no doubt be stirred up over the question of straight vs. crimp-on gas checks. Proponents of the crimping type state that they stay with the bullet throughout its flight and thus contribute t o accuracy. This is probably true, but when using an alloy as hard as Linotype a couple of other problems arise. One is that so much force is required t o crimp the gas-check

skirt into the hard metal that the bullet (especially the ogive) may be deformed by the pressure of the nose punch. Another is that the gas checks may be crimped before being fully seated, re- sulting in a cocked-base condition in the finished projectile - a money-back guar- antee against grouping. The obvious solution is to try both kinds on your bullet, in your rifle, and use the one that shoots best. Since I use Linotype metal almost exclusively, I usually stick to the straight, non-crimping gas checks, and, in the process of chronographing hundreds of rounds, have observed the tell-tale double hole in my screens which means a shed gas check only four or five times.

The proper sizing of cast bullets is a subject for madmen and Satan-wor- shippers. No two rifle barrels will necessarily need the same sizing, and no two bullet designs, no two moulds (even for the same design), and no two re- loaders using them can be expected to produce identical results. There are, however, a few landmarks in this wilder- ness. One is that excessive sizing ruins even the best bullets, and another is that the better sizing dies are those which swage, rather than shave, the bullet to diameter. It is my opinion (and nothing more than that) that, given a good mould, the best sizing is none whatever.

As good a starting point as any, however, is to try to secure a mould for a two-diameter bullet which drops slugs with the nose section approximately bore diameter for the rifle in question, and not more than about .OO2 over groove diameter. Then run these bul- lets through a die which delivers them not more than .OO1 larger than groove diameter, and shoot them. If results are not satisfactory, try sizing to exact groove diameter, or perhaps to .002 oversize, in that order. If that doesn’t work, try shooting them as they come

An almost endless variety of cast bullet designs is available to fit virtually all bore sizes. From left, calibers are .224, .224, .245, .257,

.257, .257, .266, .287, .308, .311, ,355, .357, .358, .457.

HANDLOADER - September-October. 1971 23

I I one or the other best in a given load, but multi-groove bullets will often shoot best with some rings unfilled when using modern lubes such as the Alox blends.

from the mould, unsized. If that fails, you’re on your own.

Most moulds drop bullets consider- ably oversize, and this is another factor to crank into your deliberations. If bullets come from your mould .005 oversize, they may group better when sized, to say, .OO2 or .003 over groove diameter simply because they are less damaged in the sizing process, but not as well as bullets from a slightly smaller mould which can be sized to groove diameter plus .OO1. If that sentence is unduly complicated, I apologize, but that’s how it is with bullet sizing!

Lest the above totally discourage the would-be cast bullet shooter, let me add that more and more moulds these days are coming from the cherry closer to nominal groove diameter for the caliber.

The sizing problem is being steadily re- duced, and few shooters working with popular calibers have difficulty in find- ing a useful fit between barrel and bullet. To a reloader accustomed to working with jacketed bullets, where there is no such thing as a sizing prob- lem, the difficulties will seem larger than they really are.

LOADING One of the keys to success with cast

bullets lies in finding just the right ve- locity. It’s not uncommon, with alloy slugs, to find that a grain, or even a half grain, of powder more OY less will fatten groups. With very few exceptions, suc- cessful cast-bullet loads have a muzzle velocity below 2,000 feet per second, regardless of bullet weight.

Good cast-bullet data is available in

most of the references cited in the sec- ond paragraph, but the powders and charges listed in them should be re- garded as very general guides, rather than specific recommendations. It will be noticed that most of the propellants noted are the quick-burning numbers, and, indeed, such powders as 2400, IMR4227, IMR-4198, Unique, and Norma 200 are all-around “best bets” when properly used. However, almost any powder can be employed in cast loads (Hodgdon’s data handbook gives cast loads with 4831, for example). Beautiful target loads can be developed with the medium-burners like 4895 and 3031, too. It pays, even more than with jacketed pills, to experiment with a wide variety of powders in cast load- ings. They’re quite sensitive, perhaps because the slow barrel times of most of them emphasize uniform barrel vibra- tions more than is normal with jacketed bullets.

These loads can, on occasion, also be sensitive to changes in primer brand and type. Pronounced vertical stringing of groups particularly calls for experi- menting with primers. There is no rule of thumb, but it’s a tip worth remem- bering that many of the wisest old-time cast-bullet loaders were quite emphatic about primer selection in writing about their best loads.

Another aspect of loading with home-made lead slugs is the use of some

Case mouths must be flared for good results with cast-bullet loads, then bullet seating die must be set to remove this flare, even if load is not to be crimped.

HANDLOADER - September-October, 1971 24

While depriming cases in which cast-bullet loads had been fired, the author discovered this gas check jammed in the neck of a 7x57mm Mauser case. The bullet‘s base had been seated below shoulder-neck juncture, and gas check had been stripped from the slug as it departed. This is a good argument in favor of crimp-on gas checks.

sort of fiber filler between bullet and charge, and it’s not hard to get a wide variety of opinion from the experts. In the dear, dead days we used things like Cream-0-Wheat or corn meal, but the development of synthetic fibers has cost the cereal manufacturers that segment of their market. I , for one, believe that a pinch of Dacron tamped down on the powder in rifle cartridges works won- ders for accuracy more often than not, and can do no harm in any case unless too much of the fluff is used. You can purchase practically a lifetime supply of Dacron batting for 50 cents in most upholstery shops. I routinely use be- tween one-half and two grains weight of Dacron, depending on the size of the charge, case, and bullet. With a little practice you can learn to estimate the correct quantity of fiber without weigh- ing, and the extra step in loading is a small price for an improvement in grouping.

I confess to having worked out some very fine rifle loads without the fiber filler, which then showed little or no improvement when the Dacron was added, but I regard these as exceptions to the rule. The springy Dacron holds the powder charge in a uniform shape and in close proximity to the primer, while serving to insulate the base of the bullet from the heat of combustion. It may not be a cure-all for cast-bullet woes, but the use of a Dacron (or kapok) filler is certainly worth a try.

Case preparation for cast bullets dif- HANDLOADER - September-October, 1971

fers from processing for jacketed ones only in that case mouths should be belled or flared slightly. The seating die must then be adjusted to remove this flare, even if the load is not to be crimped.

And, as to crimping, opinions differ once more. I crimp all loads intended for hunting use, as well as those for use in magnum revolvers. Target and plink- ing loads are not crimped in rifle car- tridges.

FIRING The last major “secret” to cast bul-

let success is proper conditioning of the rifle’s bore. It took me a long time to realize just how important this is t o good grouping with alloy slugs, but you can believe it’s a part of my shooting religion now. Cast bullets simply will not consistently shoot worth a hoot from a bore that’s fouled with copper from jacketed bullets. It may have been a non-typical and overly dramatic ex- ample, but I once had a thorough clean- ing of a .308’s bore improve cast bullet grouping by more than 50 percent! Groups went from four to five inches with a few wild fliers to a trifle under two inches (average) with nice round clusters, after a thorough brushing-out and drying of the bore. I’m inclined to think that many shooters, trying cast bullets for the first time, encounter disappointing results simply because they don’t start with a perfectly clean bore.

Incidentally, this bore-conditioning business works both ways; after an ex- tended string of cast bullets the first few jacketed slugs will usually go a little wild unless the barrel is cleaned first. However, jacketed bullets will quickly remove the cast-bullet fouling (and lead- ing, if any). ’

This has not been a compendium of the state of the art of cast bullets; far

Spitzer-type cast bullets rarely provide the ac- curacy potential of two-diameter, blunt-nosed slugs like the one at right.

from it! I have tried to emphasize those elements in the art that I personally find important to success with home- poured bullets. In brief, these are sensible bullet design, correct sizing, the use of Alox-based lubricants and Dacron fillers, and zealous bore cleaning. The only other bit of advice I might offer to the beginner is t o start with a medium- t o large-bore caliber. The smaller the diameter, the more temperamental cast slugs seem to become, and I shudder to think of trying to civilize caliber .17 cast bullets!

At the other end of the scale, the bigger the bore, the more manageable the cast bullets, and I’m in the process of developing a 500-grain .45 caliber gas checked loading with which I fully in- tend to shoot an African elephant through the head next year! Perhaps, better than anything else I can say, that expresses my confidence in these in- triguing bits of alloyed lead as fodder for sporting firearms. 0

1 The history of firearms revolves around the plain lead bullet. Shown here are a pre-Civil War vintage round-ball mould, compared to a modern Lyman gas-checked, lubricated slug mould.

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