The guy in East Texas was shooting one of the .38 Super Comp type cartridges or maybe 9mm Major (only allowed in Open) so he had to be on his toes. We shot 4-5 matches/month there so still a lot for a single stage press. When I was in South Louisiana we shot weeknight matches every week plus 5-6 weekend matches within close driving distance so I was going through 3,000 rounds+/month including organized practice sessions. I spent 3 nights every week casting and one loading but it made me better.
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Caliber and Actual Measurements
- Thread starter rwm
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2018
- Messages
- 7,061
That is a lot of volume. Definitely would take some routine changes and investments to play that hard. During that time, did you ever get your blood lead level tested?
It was post-Katrina. Before the hurricane I worked in New Orleans, lived in Slidell, had a nice home and a good sailboat. The boat was a victim of the storm. The house was undamaged other than the roof. I was told that I could keep my job if I showed up for work in Houma (home of the TV series “Swamp People”). I had to give up my entire way of life. There was nothing/everything to adjust to. Sold the house and lived in a duplex near Thibodaux. The good part of the story was that I ran into a group of USPSA shooters having lunch after a match and started shooting with them as soon as I could get gear together.
When I told my doctor about the casting and shooting and asked for a blood test for lead he wasn’t interested. All of the casting and shooting was outdoors. Lead doesn’t make significant vapors until well over 1100 degrees F and my lead furnace isn’t capable of more than 800 degrees. When I reduce wheel weights to ingots it’s always outside in a breeze. That’s really more hazardous than casting because you never know what’s on the wheel weights.
I sure miss the boat! It wasn’t huge; just 28’ but when I bought it I took it to the boat yard and gave it a bottom of the keel to top of the masthead refit. It was such a pleasure for many years.
When I told my doctor about the casting and shooting and asked for a blood test for lead he wasn’t interested. All of the casting and shooting was outdoors. Lead doesn’t make significant vapors until well over 1100 degrees F and my lead furnace isn’t capable of more than 800 degrees. When I reduce wheel weights to ingots it’s always outside in a breeze. That’s really more hazardous than casting because you never know what’s on the wheel weights.
I sure miss the boat! It wasn’t huge; just 28’ but when I bought it I took it to the boat yard and gave it a bottom of the keel to top of the masthead refit. It was such a pleasure for many years.
I can't imagine loading for USPSA without at least a '650 (or the 7xx that replaced it). But, progressives have made me lazy in terms of pistol loading. I'll often load for a match the morning of the match. I like to take at least 200 rounds to a club match - re-shoots, whatever. Takes just a few minutes. I have bullet-feeders on my progressives, and primer tube fillers, so it's really just pulling the handle and replacing supplies as they go low. I consider a convenient press as money better spent than most firearm 'upgrades'.
Rifle is a different story, but it's not often that I shoot 150+ rounds of rifle in a day.
GsT
Rifle is a different story, but it's not often that I shoot 150+ rounds of rifle in a day.
GsT
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2022
- Messages
- 2,741
I like loading my rifle rounds using my singe throw press, best thing that ever happened for that press was the collar that lets me set the die up then pop it out and back in without further setup. for my pistol I have a turret press, I run 3 die set and a powder tattle tail to ensure I do not make any squibs..... I have an old RCBS press and the rest are Lee's which I like better. I have an electronic powder measure which I like for pistols, I use it for rifles as well but then remeasure before committing to the shell because I have a trust but verify on the larger charges in particular those using spherical or extruded powders......
David2011, when you cast are you casting for rifles also or pistols only? I am setting up to cast and currently have a source for precast but I have heard you want to add additional antimony for rifle bullets to increase hardness for the higher velocities.
David2011, when you cast are you casting for rifles also or pistols only? I am setting up to cast and currently have a source for precast but I have heard you want to add additional antimony for rifle bullets to increase hardness for the higher velocities.
Oh, yeah! All of my frequently used single stage dies are in Hornady LnL bushings. Slickest thing ever, just as accurate as screwing them in and far more repeatable. I've often thought that if I ever had to buy another single stage it would be the top of the line Lee just for its primer handling if nothing else. For rifle I like and use an RCBS Chargemaster. It has always matched the charge weight as verified on my balance scales to the tenth. I also got lucky and got an old Saeco powder measure about 15-20 years go. For difficult stick type rifle powders like 4895 it's amazing. It will be within 0.1 grain every time. My Uniflow is more like +/- 0.5 on 4895. On easy powders like the ball style stuff the Saeco is pretty much perfect. I've never shot long range competition beyond 500. I know it's a whole different ball game in your world.
Have you ever read the article, "The Houston Warehouse"? It's a great read for someone pursuing accuracy.
I have not cast for rifle although it's appealing for my Garand and I will cast for the .375 H&H if I ever shoot it. I've read the same thing about adding antimony to rifle bullets. It gets complex quickly and is based on pressures and velocities to resist deformation of the base of the bullet. My .44 Mag is a Contender with a 14" barrel so it's like loading for a rifle. A charge that is supposed to be good for 1350 fps in a 7-1/2" Super Blackhawk is good for 1600 fps over the chrono out of the 14" barrel. Those bullets are pure linotype. The experts said that linotype bullets would shatter if they hit bone. I shot a hog in the 225-250 pound range with the .44 Contender. Entry was the right shoulder and the exit was the left ham. The bullet didn't expand but the exit was s small round hole just like the entry. I can't imagine that it didn't hit some bone in the entry area. Not a scientific conclusion but the penetration was pretty incredible.
In my stash of casting metal I have a bunch of linotype and a 5 gallon bucket of small monotype which has a lot of tin and antimony. Since most of my handgun velocities are in the 750-950 fps range I just mix 1/2 pound of monotype to 20 pounds of clip on wheelweight alloy. More importantly than hardening, the monotype gives great fillout. The bullets pick up the machining marks in the molds. The guys over at Castboolits that load for rifle seem to start dealing with harder bullets at around 1700 fps. They're a very good source of information on casting for rifle.
Have you ever read the article, "The Houston Warehouse"? It's a great read for someone pursuing accuracy.
I have not cast for rifle although it's appealing for my Garand and I will cast for the .375 H&H if I ever shoot it. I've read the same thing about adding antimony to rifle bullets. It gets complex quickly and is based on pressures and velocities to resist deformation of the base of the bullet. My .44 Mag is a Contender with a 14" barrel so it's like loading for a rifle. A charge that is supposed to be good for 1350 fps in a 7-1/2" Super Blackhawk is good for 1600 fps over the chrono out of the 14" barrel. Those bullets are pure linotype. The experts said that linotype bullets would shatter if they hit bone. I shot a hog in the 225-250 pound range with the .44 Contender. Entry was the right shoulder and the exit was the left ham. The bullet didn't expand but the exit was s small round hole just like the entry. I can't imagine that it didn't hit some bone in the entry area. Not a scientific conclusion but the penetration was pretty incredible.
In my stash of casting metal I have a bunch of linotype and a 5 gallon bucket of small monotype which has a lot of tin and antimony. Since most of my handgun velocities are in the 750-950 fps range I just mix 1/2 pound of monotype to 20 pounds of clip on wheelweight alloy. More importantly than hardening, the monotype gives great fillout. The bullets pick up the machining marks in the molds. The guys over at Castboolits that load for rifle seem to start dealing with harder bullets at around 1700 fps. They're a very good source of information on casting for rifle.
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